Written questions by Smart.

What steps his Department is taking to improve access to cognitive behavioural therapy for people experiencing insomnia.

It is for local integrated care boards to decide whether cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) should be offered to their populations as a treatment for insomnia.NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression offers low-intensity therapy which may include interventions around sleep hygiene. Individuals who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depression can be referred by their general practitioner, or can self-refer, to NHS Talking Therapies. This is available via the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/nhs-talking-therapies/Individuals can also access helpful resources on sleep problems on the Every Mind Matters website. This is available at the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-health-issues/sleep/In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Prioritisation Board has recently agreed to prioritise digital technologies that deliver CBT interventions for insomnia and insomnia symptoms as a topic for the development of HealthTech guidance.

What the annual profits of NHS Professionals Ltd were in each of the last five years; and whether those profits were (a) reinvested into NHS service provision and (b) returned to his Department.

NHS Professionals Ltd (NHSP), a limited company wholly owned by the Department, is a supplier of clinical and non-clinical temporary workforce to client National Health Service trusts.The following table shows NHSP profit before tax and dividends paid to the Department over the last five years: Year Ended 31/3/24 £millionYear Ended 31/3/23 £millionYear Ended 31/3/22 £millionYear Ended 31/3/21 £millionYear Ended 31/3/20 £millionProfit before Tax3.78.516.818.911Dividends paidnil1018nil10Dividends received from NHSP are not ringfenced for specific purposes, but they are directly invested back into the wider healthcare economy by the Department. Where dividends are not taken, any profits generated are retained within the business and reinvested to support the delivery of its strategy.Full details of profits, dividend payments and declarations are shown in NHSP’s statutory accounts which are available at the following link:https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06704614

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of differing pay and conditions between people employed by NHS Professionals Ltd and people directly employed by the NHS on (a) recruitment, (b) retention and (c) staff morale.

No such assessment has been made. National Health Service trusts will locally identify the mix of permanent and temporary staffing that fits their workforce requirements and delivers value for money. This can include the use of NHS professionals.The Government values the dedicated staff we have working in the NHS, and is committed to supporting them so that they can continue to thrive, and we can retain their valuable skills and experience within the NHS. NHS England is leading a national NHS retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.

What steps she is taking to increase the number of judges to help reduce the backlog of court cases.

We are continuing to invest in high volume, regular judicial recruitment of around 1000 judges and tribunal members each year.

What comparative assessment he has made of the potential impact of EPC band requirements on (a) all homeowners and (b) homeowners with (i) detached and (ii) bungalow-style properties.

We have recently consulted on reforms to Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) to ensure these are better aligned with our key policy objectives of achieving Clean Power by 2030 and accelerating to Net Zero, and effectively delivering the Warm Homes plan to reduce peoples bills and address fuel poverty. The consultation has now closed, and we are analysing the responses. As part of this we will consider the impact on relevant groups including homeowners and will publish the Government response in due course.

What information his Department holds on the number of contacts that UK NHS Ambulance Trusts have had with people who are (a) experiencing suicidal ideation and (b) committing suicide in each of the last five years.

This information is not held centrally. We know that suicide is complex and there are a range of factors outside of the mental health system that we will need to address if we are to achieve the Government’s aim.We will need to continue working across Government and with a wide range of organisations outside of Government to do this. That is why we have a dedicated cross-Government Suicide Prevention Strategy.We have commissioned research to explore why suicide rates amongst children and young people were increasing until recently. We expect the results to be published very shortly, and will use the findings to inform next steps.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support young people in the music industry in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport.

The government is committed to extending music opportunities for young people across the UK. As part of this, in March, we launched a National Music Education Network to promote arts opportunities to children and young people, support excellent teacher training in the arts, and boost partnerships between schools and arts organisations.We are providing an additional £3m to expand the Creative Careers Programme (CCP) in 2025/26. Stockport has been identified as a priority area for the CCP, which seeks to boost opportunities and provide information on creative careers and pathways for young people aged 11 - 18 from backgrounds that are under-represented in the creative industries.The government has announced £2.5m of continued funding to Arts Council England (ACE)’s Supporting Grassroots Music Fund for 2025-26. In Stockport, The Strines Nightingale, which is based in Hazel Grove, has received £26,592 to allow them to expand their live music programming and improve their accessibility and infrastructure.Through ACE’s investment in National Portfolio organisations and through our Music Education Hub programme, we fund organisations that provide music education and opportunities to young people from every background and in the boroughs across Greater Manchester. Examples include Brighter Sound and Factory International, both of which are based in Manchester city but which have a number of programmes aimed at developing talent in the region.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the closing of the Community Ownership Fund on local assets that previously received funding.

On 23 December 2024, we announced that the Community Ownership Fund (COF) is now closed and that there will be no further application windows. We took this difficult decision due to the challenging inheritance left by the previous government. COF’s purpose is to bring assets that are at risk of closure into sustainable community ownership. Funding was awarded to projects to secure the long-term future of their local asset. Monies will continue to be paid to successful projects from previous windows in line with the conditions set out in their Grant Funding Agreement (GFA). This Government remains committed to the communities’ sector and to community empowerment. The Devolution White Paper, which was published on 16 December 2024, set out plans which demonstrate our commitment. There will be further announcements relating to communities this year, including on the community ownership of assets.

Media and Sport, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of funding allocated to local leisure facilities.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities.The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level. We are committed to supporting Local Government, recognising the significant financial challenges faced by the sector, and that the public leisure sector plays an important role in the delivery of sport, physical activity and leisure.The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities to (a) maintain and (b) improve community leisure centres.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities.The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level. We are committed to supporting Local Government, recognising the significant financial challenges faced by the sector, and that the public leisure sector plays an important role in the delivery of sport, physical activity and leisure.The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of classifying income from pensions payments as unearned income for the purposes of Universal Credit assessments on people who are unable to work due to their partner's disability or health condition.

No assessment has been made. There are no plans to change the way that income from pensions is treated under Universal Credit.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to reopen the Community Ownership Fund.

On 23 December 2024, we announced that the Community Ownership Fund (COF) is now closed and that there will be no further application windows. We took this difficult decision due to the challenging inheritance left by the previous government. COF’s purpose is to bring assets that are at risk of closure into sustainable community ownership. Funding was awarded to projects to secure the long-term future of their local asset. Monies will continue to be paid to successful projects from previous windows in line with the conditions set out in their Grant Funding Agreement (GFA). This Government remains committed to the communities’ sector and to community empowerment. The Devolution White Paper, which was published on 16 December 2024, set out plans which demonstrate our commitment. There will be further announcements relating to communities this year, including on the community ownership of assets.

How many hospital admissions were recorded for inflammatory bowel disease in the Hospital Episode Statistics dataset in (a) Hazel Grove constituency and (b) England in each of the last five years.

The following table shows the annual number of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis recorded for inflammatory bowel disease in England, in each of the last five years:YearFinished admission episodes2023/24358,0632022/23327,6932021/22308,5282020/21259,0582019/20282,335Source: Hospital Episode Statistics.Data on the number of admissions for the Hazel Grove constituency is not available.

Whether his Department plans to review Shared Care arrangements to ensure they are delivering effective outcomes for patients.

There are currently no plans to review shared care agreements.General practices (GPs) are independent contractors that provide National Health Services. Shared care agreements between a GP and a specialist are voluntary and are not part of the GP Contract. The General Medical Council is clear that a GP cannot be mandated to enter into a shared care agreement, and there is guidance in place to help GPs decide whether to accept shared care responsibilities.On initiating a treatment, the specialist clinician must follow General Medical Council guidance, that if continuation of the treatment is dependent on shared care, then an agreement with the GP must be in place before the treatment is started.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of educational provision for children diagnosed with cancer.

If a child is too unwell to attend school, local authorities have a duty under section 19 of the Children's Act 1996 to provide suitable and (normally) full-time education for children of compulsory school age who, because of exclusion, illness or other reasons, would not receive suitable education.Ofsted holds local authorities to account for the sufficiency and commissioning of alternative provision as part of their area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspections.Where full-time education is not possible due to a child’s health needs, local authorities must arrange part-time education on whatever basis they consider to be in the child's best interests.Full and part-time education should still aim to be equivalent to the education the child would receive in their mainstream school. Any part-time education should be reviewed regularly, with the aim of eventually increasing the number of hours up to full-time as soon as the child’s health allows.The law places a duty on parents to ensure that their child of compulsory school age who is registered at school attends regularly. However, section 444 of the Education Act 1996 sets out exemptions to this duty. This includes where the child cannot attend due to illness. Parents cannot be penalised if their child is ill and unable to attend to school.There is nothing in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that has a direct impact on children being absent from school due to illness. The full suite of impact assessments of the measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill can be found on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments.Educational provision for children who cannot receive their education in school for health reasons, including those in hospital, is funded from local authorities’ high needs budgets.Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding to over £12 billion.

Whether her Department plans to review speed limits on non-residential roads.

Traffic authorities (including National Highways for the Strategic Road Network) have the power to set local speed limits on the roads for which they are responsible where they consider that the national speed limit is not right for the road. The Department for Transport issues best practice guidance on setting local speed limits designed to make sure that speed limits are appropriately and consistently set while allowing for flexibility to deal with local circumstances.Measures to address speeding will be considered for inclusion within the forthcoming road safety strategy.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to Energy Performance Certificate requirements on trends in the level of privately rented housing stock.

The Government is consulting on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation includes proposals for rented homes to achieve EPC C or equivalent by 2030, unless a valid exemption applies, and is accompanied by the Department’s impact assessment. The assessment makes clear that we are unable to quantify the extent to which this will impact the supply of properties as landlords may take different approaches. We encourage stakeholders to feed in views and evidence on the potential impact of these proposals. Following the consultation process, a government response and full impact assessment will be published.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a national funding scheme to support the education of children diagnosed with cancer.

If a child is too unwell to attend school, local authorities have a duty under section 19 of the Children's Act 1996 to provide suitable and (normally) full-time education for children of compulsory school age who, because of exclusion, illness or other reasons, would not receive suitable education.Ofsted holds local authorities to account for the sufficiency and commissioning of alternative provision as part of their area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspections.Where full-time education is not possible due to a child’s health needs, local authorities must arrange part-time education on whatever basis they consider to be in the child's best interests.Full and part-time education should still aim to be equivalent to the education the child would receive in their mainstream school. Any part-time education should be reviewed regularly, with the aim of eventually increasing the number of hours up to full-time as soon as the child’s health allows.The law places a duty on parents to ensure that their child of compulsory school age who is registered at school attends regularly. However, section 444 of the Education Act 1996 sets out exemptions to this duty. This includes where the child cannot attend due to illness. Parents cannot be penalised if their child is ill and unable to attend to school.There is nothing in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that has a direct impact on children being absent from school due to illness. The full suite of impact assessments of the measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill can be found on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments.Educational provision for children who cannot receive their education in school for health reasons, including those in hospital, is funded from local authorities’ high needs budgets.Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding to over £12 billion.

Whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of private landlords who will sell their properties as a result of the proposed change in Energy Performance Certificate standards.

The Government is consulting on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation includes proposals for rented homes to achieve EPC C or equivalent by 2030, unless a valid exemption applies, and is accompanied by the Department’s impact assessment. The assessment makes clear that we are unable to quantify the extent to which this will impact the supply of properties as landlords may take different approaches. We encourage stakeholders to feed in views and evidence on the potential impact of these proposals. Following the consultation process, a government response and full impact assessment will be published.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of provisions within (a) the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and (b) other relevant legislation intended to promote school attendance on children required to take extended absences from school following a cancer diagnosis.

If a child is too unwell to attend school, local authorities have a duty under section 19 of the Children's Act 1996 to provide suitable and (normally) full-time education for children of compulsory school age who, because of exclusion, illness or other reasons, would not receive suitable education.Ofsted holds local authorities to account for the sufficiency and commissioning of alternative provision as part of their area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspections.Where full-time education is not possible due to a child’s health needs, local authorities must arrange part-time education on whatever basis they consider to be in the child's best interests.Full and part-time education should still aim to be equivalent to the education the child would receive in their mainstream school. Any part-time education should be reviewed regularly, with the aim of eventually increasing the number of hours up to full-time as soon as the child’s health allows.The law places a duty on parents to ensure that their child of compulsory school age who is registered at school attends regularly. However, section 444 of the Education Act 1996 sets out exemptions to this duty. This includes where the child cannot attend due to illness. Parents cannot be penalised if their child is ill and unable to attend to school.There is nothing in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that has a direct impact on children being absent from school due to illness. The full suite of impact assessments of the measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill can be found on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments.Educational provision for children who cannot receive their education in school for health reasons, including those in hospital, is funded from local authorities’ high needs budgets.Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding to over £12 billion.