Written questions by Smart.

Whether the Windrush Commissioner will have (a) statutory powers of investigation and (b) access to Home Office data to fulfil their role independently.

The Windrush Commissioner will be a public appointee, operating independently of the Home Office to serve as an advocate and trusted voice for victims, families and impacted communities affected by the Home Office Windrush Scandal. They will provide independent scrutiny, challenge and advice to the Home Secretary and Ministers ensuring the lessons from Windrush are applied across the Home Office and are acted on throughout government.We have actively engaged and listened to stakeholders’ views on the key responsibilities of this position, ensuring their reflections informed the role specification. On appointment, it is anticipated that the Commissioner will also engage with impacted groups to understand their viewpoint and identify how they can deliver meaningful change through this new role.The recruitment process is being conducted in line with Cabinet Office principles and guidelines, with two independent panel members included on the Advisory Assessment Panel to ensure transparency and fairness.Like other Home Office Commissioners, the Windrush Commissioner also will have dedicated funding to recruit and build their team, while also receiving civil service support from the re-established Windrush Unit in the Home Office. A Memorandum of Understanding will be drawn up between the Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office on the governance arrangements between both parties in line with the approach taken for all independent public officer holders.To maintain momentum, drive early progress, and refine the role based on stakeholder engagement, the Commissioner will initially operate on a non-statutory basis. It may be put on a statutory footing at a later date subject to Parliamentary approval.The Windrush Commissioner will also assure delivery of the Windrush Compensation Scheme to provide advice to Ministers on the scheme’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives and provide assurance that the needs of Windrush communities are met.

Whether she considered the potential merits of consulting the Windrush scandal's (a) victims and (b) victims' representatives in determining the role specification of the Windrush Commissioner.

The Windrush Commissioner will be a public appointee, operating independently of the Home Office to serve as an advocate and trusted voice for victims, families and impacted communities affected by the Home Office Windrush Scandal. They will provide independent scrutiny, challenge and advice to the Home Secretary and Ministers ensuring the lessons from Windrush are applied across the Home Office and are acted on throughout government.We have actively engaged and listened to stakeholders’ views on the key responsibilities of this position, ensuring their reflections informed the role specification. On appointment, it is anticipated that the Commissioner will also engage with impacted groups to understand their viewpoint and identify how they can deliver meaningful change through this new role.The recruitment process is being conducted in line with Cabinet Office principles and guidelines, with two independent panel members included on the Advisory Assessment Panel to ensure transparency and fairness.Like other Home Office Commissioners, the Windrush Commissioner also will have dedicated funding to recruit and build their team, while also receiving civil service support from the re-established Windrush Unit in the Home Office. A Memorandum of Understanding will be drawn up between the Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office on the governance arrangements between both parties in line with the approach taken for all independent public officer holders.To maintain momentum, drive early progress, and refine the role based on stakeholder engagement, the Commissioner will initially operate on a non-statutory basis. It may be put on a statutory footing at a later date subject to Parliamentary approval.The Windrush Commissioner will also assure delivery of the Windrush Compensation Scheme to provide advice to Ministers on the scheme’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives and provide assurance that the needs of Windrush communities are met.

What steps she is taking to ensure the the independence of the Windrush Commissioner in terms of (a) appointment, (b) resourcing and (c) reporting mechanisms.

The Windrush Commissioner will be a public appointee, operating independently of the Home Office to serve as an advocate and trusted voice for victims, families and impacted communities affected by the Home Office Windrush Scandal. They will provide independent scrutiny, challenge and advice to the Home Secretary and Ministers ensuring the lessons from Windrush are applied across the Home Office and are acted on throughout government.We have actively engaged and listened to stakeholders’ views on the key responsibilities of this position, ensuring their reflections informed the role specification. On appointment, it is anticipated that the Commissioner will also engage with impacted groups to understand their viewpoint and identify how they can deliver meaningful change through this new role.The recruitment process is being conducted in line with Cabinet Office principles and guidelines, with two independent panel members included on the Advisory Assessment Panel to ensure transparency and fairness.Like other Home Office Commissioners, the Windrush Commissioner also will have dedicated funding to recruit and build their team, while also receiving civil service support from the re-established Windrush Unit in the Home Office. A Memorandum of Understanding will be drawn up between the Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office on the governance arrangements between both parties in line with the approach taken for all independent public officer holders.To maintain momentum, drive early progress, and refine the role based on stakeholder engagement, the Commissioner will initially operate on a non-statutory basis. It may be put on a statutory footing at a later date subject to Parliamentary approval.The Windrush Commissioner will also assure delivery of the Windrush Compensation Scheme to provide advice to Ministers on the scheme’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives and provide assurance that the needs of Windrush communities are met.

What metrics will be used to assess the effectiveness of the Windrush Commissioner in assuring delivery of the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

The Windrush Commissioner will be a public appointee, operating independently of the Home Office to serve as an advocate and trusted voice for victims, families and impacted communities affected by the Home Office Windrush Scandal. They will provide independent scrutiny, challenge and advice to the Home Secretary and Ministers ensuring the lessons from Windrush are applied across the Home Office and are acted on throughout government.We have actively engaged and listened to stakeholders’ views on the key responsibilities of this position, ensuring their reflections informed the role specification. On appointment, it is anticipated that the Commissioner will also engage with impacted groups to understand their viewpoint and identify how they can deliver meaningful change through this new role.The recruitment process is being conducted in line with Cabinet Office principles and guidelines, with two independent panel members included on the Advisory Assessment Panel to ensure transparency and fairness.Like other Home Office Commissioners, the Windrush Commissioner also will have dedicated funding to recruit and build their team, while also receiving civil service support from the re-established Windrush Unit in the Home Office. A Memorandum of Understanding will be drawn up between the Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office on the governance arrangements between both parties in line with the approach taken for all independent public officer holders.To maintain momentum, drive early progress, and refine the role based on stakeholder engagement, the Commissioner will initially operate on a non-statutory basis. It may be put on a statutory footing at a later date subject to Parliamentary approval.The Windrush Commissioner will also assure delivery of the Windrush Compensation Scheme to provide advice to Ministers on the scheme’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives and provide assurance that the needs of Windrush communities are met.

Whether the Windrush Commissioner will have the authority to compel responses from government departments or agencies in the course of their work.

The Windrush Commissioner will be a public appointee, operating independently of the Home Office to serve as an advocate and trusted voice for victims, families and impacted communities affected by the Home Office Windrush Scandal. They will provide independent scrutiny, challenge and advice to the Home Secretary and Ministers ensuring the lessons from Windrush are applied across the Home Office and are acted on throughout government.We have actively engaged and listened to stakeholders’ views on the key responsibilities of this position, ensuring their reflections informed the role specification. On appointment, it is anticipated that the Commissioner will also engage with impacted groups to understand their viewpoint and identify how they can deliver meaningful change through this new role.The recruitment process is being conducted in line with Cabinet Office principles and guidelines, with two independent panel members included on the Advisory Assessment Panel to ensure transparency and fairness.Like other Home Office Commissioners, the Windrush Commissioner also will have dedicated funding to recruit and build their team, while also receiving civil service support from the re-established Windrush Unit in the Home Office. A Memorandum of Understanding will be drawn up between the Windrush Commissioner and the Home Office on the governance arrangements between both parties in line with the approach taken for all independent public officer holders.To maintain momentum, drive early progress, and refine the role based on stakeholder engagement, the Commissioner will initially operate on a non-statutory basis. It may be put on a statutory footing at a later date subject to Parliamentary approval.The Windrush Commissioner will also assure delivery of the Windrush Compensation Scheme to provide advice to Ministers on the scheme’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives and provide assurance that the needs of Windrush communities are met.

What his planned timetable is to establish a duty of candour for public servants.

The Government remains committed to implement a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities. The details of this Bill will be announced in due course.

Whether her Department has plans to restore the core schools budget to 2010 in real terms.

Overall core revenue funding for schools totals almost £61.6 billion for the 2024/25 financial year. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.2 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total over £64.8 billion.The latest schools funding statistics release from 30 January shows that, adjusted for inflation using the GDP deflator, funding per pupil for 5 to16-year-olds stood at a little under £7,400 in the 2010/11 financial year in 2024/25 prices. This has risen to £8,020 in the 2025/26 financial year in 2024/25 prices. This does not take into account the increase of over £900 million this government is also providing for schools and high needs settings to support them with the cost of National Insurance contributions increases. Funding per pupil in the 2025/26 financial year is therefore higher than the level reached in the 2010/11 financial year, in real terms.These increases, against the backdrop of a challenging fiscal picture, demonstrate the government’s commitment to enabling every child to achieve.

What progress has been made on the upcoming parental leave review; and if he will make a statement.

The government has committed to review the parental leave system to ensure it best supports working families. Planning work is underway across government. Details of the timeline of the review will be shared in due course.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of four-day working weeks.

While the government continues to monitor the impact of flexible working, it has made no assessment of the four-day week specifically. Additionally, the government has no plans to mandate a four-day week, however, through the Employment Rights Bill we are giving employees better access to flexible working arrangements, where reasonably feasible. Not all businesses will be able to offer all forms of flexible working, and not all arrangements will suit all employees equally. We want to create a framework that encourages employers and employees to explore options for flexible working arrangements that suit both parties.

What steps her Department is taking to support visually impaired people in the workplace.

Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. The DWP & DHSC are committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including visually impaired people, with their employment journey. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.  As announced in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, we are investing £1 billion a year by the end of the decade in new employment, health and skills support – one of the biggest packages of new employment support for people with health conditions and disabled people ever - including new tailored support conversations for people on health and disability benefits, and more intensive programmes of support with health and work to break down barriers and unlock work. In addition, consulting on the future of the Access to Work scheme so that it better helps people to start and stay in work through reasonable adjustments, such as aids, appliances and making use of assistive technology It is also recognised that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have launched the Keep Britain Working Review. This review will consider how to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities; promote healthy workplaces and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. After conducting an initial discovery into the underlying issues, Sir Charlie Mayfield has published his early findings on 20 March which sets out the key areas that he would like to explore in the next phase of the review. This publication is a call to all stakeholders to engage with the early review findings and input views, including via a survey also launched on GOV.UK. The review is expected to produce a report to Government in autumn 2025. Additionally, the Joint Work and Health Directorate has developed a digital information service for employers, continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.

What steps his Department is taking to increase recruitment in NHS mental health services in Greater Manchester.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers nationally to reduce wait times and provide faster treatment. To ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it, we will also publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan later this year to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again. The Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust reports that recruitment to substantive posts has improved, and the use of temporary staff has reduced, with the overall vacancy rate reducing to 9.4% in January 2025, against an in-year target of 11.4%.The trust recognises the need to retain its skilled workforce, and it has seen significant improvements in its turnover, which has reduced from more than 17% in June 2023 to 9.8% in January 2025, against an in-year target of 12.5%. In the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, recruitment to substantive posts has also improved, whilst the use of temporary staff has reduced. Its vacancy rate in January 2025 had reduced to 8.5%, against an in-year target of 9.5%. Plans are in place to address vacancies within the nursing and medical workforce, and improvements in retaining the skilled workforce have resulted in a turnover which has reduced from 12.1% in June 2023 to 9.5% in January 2025, against a target of 9.6%. In addition, a child and adolescent mental health services recruitment campaign is running across Greater Manchester between January and July 2025, to recruit to roles within this specialism.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support grassroots music venues in Greater Manchester.

The government is urging the live music industry to introduce a voluntary levy on tickets for stadium and arena shows, to help safeguard the future of the grassroots music sector. We welcome steps taken by industry to set up a charitable trust to distribute funds from the ticket levy, and commitments made by artists to support grassroots music.The government has announced £2.5m of continued funding for the Arts Council England’s (ACE) Supporting Grassroots Music Fund (SGMF) for 2025-26. This enables grassroots music venues, recording studios, promoters and festivals to apply for grants of up to £40k to develop new revenue streams, make repairs and improvements, and enhance the live music experience for fans.Through the SGMF, ACE has provided funding to support various music venues in Manchester, such as Matt and Phreds, who have received funding to upgrade equipment and develop a new website for streaming. The Snug in Atherton received £40k to launch The Early Doors Club, bringing high-quality events to local audiences, and in Stockport, The Strines Nightingale secured £26k to expand live programming and enhance accessibility.

Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2024 to Question 13614 on Arts: Finance, what progress her Department has made on ensuring that artists and creators are appropriately remunerated for the use of their works.

This government is committed to ensuring that all creators receive the recognition, respect, and fair compensation they rightfully deserve for their work, while also fostering an environment that enables the creative industries to flourish, innovate, and sustain long-term success.We also recognise the principle that rights holders should have control over and seek payment for their work, including when thinking about the role of AI. The current UK Copyright Framework enables creative right holders to prevent the use of protected works, but we are aware that this can be difficult to implement in the context of AI, especially for individual firms and creators.Our consultation on the impact of AI on the copyright regime, which closed on 25 February, received over 11,500 responses. We will now consider the full range of responses and will continue to develop our policy approach in partnership with creative industries, media and AI stakeholders. Addressing this is an urgent priority for the government, but no decisions will be taken until we are confident we have a practical plan that delivers for the creative industries.On music streaming, we are continuing to engage with stakeholders across the music industry. This includes through the Creator Remuneration Working Group, which is dedicated to pursuing industry initiatives in this area. The group has convened four times so far, most recently in February, and is set to meet again in the coming weeks.

If his Department will increase the number of dementia specialist nurses working in transitions of care roles.

The Government wants a society where every person with dementia receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs), and may include dementia-specialist nurses. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. These guidelines recommend providing people living with dementia with a single named health or social care professional who is responsible for coordinating their care.In addition to dementia-specialist nurses, we want all health and care staff to have received appropriate training to provide high quality care to people with dementia. Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver appropriate treatment for patients. The required training needs are set out in the Dementia Training Standards Framework, which is available through Skills For Health.

What his planned timetable for when the review of the parental leave system will report.

The government has committed to review the parental leave system to ensure it best supports working families. Planning work is underway across government. Details of the timeline of the review will be shared in due course.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to update the Decent Homes Standard to provide for at least 10 per cent of homes for social rent to be offered furnished.

The government will consult this year on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sectors. The Deputy Prime Minister is part of the ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce, which is aiming to publish a Child Poverty Strategy. As part of the development of the strategy, the Taskforce is considering the impacts of living in poor quality housing. People in need may be able to get help for essential furniture from their local council through the ‘Household Support Fund’ and other services available locally.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with the Child Poverty Taskforce on (a) furnished tenancies and (b) the potential impact of the Decent Homes Standard on trends in the levels of furniture poverty.

The government will consult this year on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sectors. The Deputy Prime Minister is part of the ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce, which is aiming to publish a Child Poverty Strategy. As part of the development of the strategy, the Taskforce is considering the impacts of living in poor quality housing. People in need may be able to get help for essential furniture from their local council through the ‘Household Support Fund’ and other services available locally.

What progress his Department has made on the upcoming parental leave review; and if he will make a statement.

The government has committed to review the parental leave system to ensure it best supports working families. Planning work is underway across government. Details of the timeline of the review will be shared in due course.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of companies closing and subsequently setting up a new similar company, with the result of (a) job losses, (b) workplace bullying and (c) changes to working conditions on employees’ rights.

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduced new measures to help combat ‘phoenixing’ - when a director dissolves a company to avoid debts or other responsibilities, to then set up another similar company. The accompanying impact assessment provides the government’s assessment of the evidence relating to this practice. Alongside this, the Employment Rights Bill is delivering the biggest upgrade to workers rights and protections in a generation, including strengthening collective redundancy rights and ending unscrupulous practices of fire and rehire.

Whether the future of NHS continuing healthcare will form part of the scope of the (a) NHS 10-year Health Plan for England and (b) Casey Commission.

We have committed to developing a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future. It will set the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs.The independent commission into adult social care, to be chaired by Baroness Casey, is part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will start a national conversation about what people expect from adult social care. The commission will be split over two phases. The first phase, reporting in 2026, will focus on how we can make the most of existing resources to improve people’s lives over the medium term. Phase two, reporting by 2028, will then consider the long-term transformation of adult social care, setting us on the road to fundamental reform that will build a social care system fit for the future.