Written questions by Jarvis.

What steps he is taking to ensure the forthcoming HIV Action Plan will strengthen awareness of HIV risk among women.

The new HIV Action Plan, published on World AIDS Day on 1 December 2025, sets out how the Government will enable every level of the healthcare system to work together to engage everyone in prevention, testing, and treatment, tackle stigma, and reach our ambition to end new HIV transmissions by 2030. This includes a focus on women, as we know from the UK Health Security Agency’s latest data that they are not benefitting equally from the progress made on HIV in recent years.Women will benefit from all of the actions in the HIV Action Plan, including improved testing and prevention services, rapid treatment, and support for those living with HIV. We will commission a new national HIV Prevention England programme backed by a total of £4.8 million of funding from April 2026 to March 2029. This programme supports communities disproportionately affected by HIV, including women, in particular black African and heterosexual women. The current programme delivers National HIV Testing Week, aimed at improving testing and increasing awareness of HIV prevention. In Testing Week 2025, heterosexual women accounted for 30% of all testers compared with 25% in 2024. We will also fund formula milk, and related sterilising equipment, for the infants of women living with HIV, thereby removing financial pressures and reducing the risk of transmission to babies.

What steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for Child Maintenance Service appeals that proceed to a Tribunal.

Data on Tribunals performance is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Receipts, disposals and the outstanding caseload for individual Chambers in the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal, the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.Appeals against Child Maintenance Service decisions are heard by the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal, which is part of the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal.The Ministry of Justice is working to reduce the outstanding caseload across the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal, which includes the Social Security and Child Support jurisdiction. This is key to reducing the waiting time for tribunal hearings.The Department continues to invest in improving tribunal capacity and productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, the deployment of additional Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of new, modern case management systems, and the use of remote hearing technology where appropriate. If an expedited hearing is requested, a Judge or Legal Officer will consider this, taking all the circumstances into account.We expect these actions to have a positive effect, improving timeliness and overall performance of the Tribunal in Child Maintenance Service appeals, and the Social Entitlement Chamber more broadly.

Pursuant to parliamentary question 78887 answered on 20 October, whether freight traction decarbonisation is within the scope of its long-term infrastructure and rolling stock strategy.

The main focus of the strategy will be on the future needs for passenger rolling stock, and for associated changes to the railway infrastructure. However, within the strategy, the approach to decarbonisation will also need to take account of the needs of freight users.

What discussions has he had with organisations that deliver supported accommodation on work for young people living in supported housing.

We acknowledge there is a challenge arising from the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for working age customers (including young people) living in supported and temporary accommodation. We are considering options to improve work incentives for residents of supported housing and temporary accommodation, while taking into account the views of stakeholders. Any future decisions on housing support will be made in the round, prioritising measures that best meet Government objectives within the current fiscal environment. It remains our priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter and sustain employment.

What steps he is taking to improve access to dental care for people with a cleft.

We recognise that certain groups of patients may be more vulnerable to oral health problems, including patients with clefts.NHS England commissions services for children, young people, and adults with a cleft lip and/or palate. The patient pathway can start from pre-birth and continues into adulthood. Cleft services provide care through multi-disciplinary teams, and the comprehensive care pathway will include elements such as paediatric dentistry, restorative dentistry, and orthodontics. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d07-cleft-lip.pdfRegarding access to general primary care National Health Service dentistry, the responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from 1 April 2025.ICBs are also recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for complaints submitted to the Housing Ombudsman to be (a) processed and (b) resolved.

The Housing Ombudsman is independent of government.As its Sponsor Department, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government tracks its progress on delivery in line with Cabinet Office Standards for working in partnership.The Housing Ombudsman’s Corporate Strategy for 2025-30 sets stretching KPIs (agreed by the Secretary of State) aimed at further reducing casework timescales.Complaints and enquiries received by the Ombudsman have increased from 32,126 in 2022-23 to 40,945 in 2023-24. The organisation has grown from an average full time equivalent staff (FTE) of 187 in 2022-23 to 340 FTE in 2023-24. There was a 107% increase in the number of determinations made by the Ombudsman in 2024-24.The Corporate Strategy sets out how the Ombudsman will continue to meet this demand by further expanding the workforce and continuing to explore new approaches to case investigations.Work to reduce the number of complaints needing to reach the Service is also ongoing and includes the Ombudsman sharing best practice to help landlords improve their complaint handling. A transformation programme launched at the start of 2025-26 also aims to drive further efficiencies from processes and systems.

When her Department expects all eligible retired members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme to receive their McCloud remedy payments; and what steps she is taking to expedite payments to retired teachers impacted by the McCloud pension remedy.

Capita, as administrator of the teachers’ pension scheme, is processing Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) for retired members affected by the McCloud remedy as quickly as possible. As of 15 October 2025, 69,798 RSSs have been issued to retired members.Payments are made as soon as possible following the return of completed RSSs. To speed up delivery, the department is working with Capita to increase staffing, automate processes, improve IT systems, and prioritise complex cases. Members will continue receiving their original pension until remedy choices are implemented, and any backdated payments will include interest to ensure no financial disadvantage.This is a high priority for the department and we are committed to resolving this with Capita and ensuring retired members receive their RSSs as quickly as possible.

What steps her Department is taking to increase access to Bikeability cycle training for children.

The Department for Transport announced in February an additional £30 million to support the delivery of Bikeability cycle training to children across England in 2025/26. This includes funding to ensure sessions are accessible to people with additional needs, such as households without cycles or basic cycle training to prepare children for Bikeability training. In 2024/25 the Bikeability programme provided access to over 4,700 new cycles, supporting the delivery of 500,000 training places, which equated to almost 3 million hours of cycling for children. In 2024/25, approximately 10% of children trained were children with special educational needs and disabilities, which has increased from 8% in 2023/24.

What assessment his Department has made of the challenges faced by not-for-profit care homes.

The Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector in tackling any challenges they face. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have the duty to shape their care market and commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes building close working relationships with care providers to achieve a sustainable balance of quality, effectiveness, and value for money.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing business rates relief for independent nurseries.

For early years (including maintained nursery schools), the Government funds local authorities to deliver the early years entitlements through the early years national funding formula (EYNFF) for the 3- and 4-year-old entitlement and a separate formula for the 2-year-old entitlement. The hourly funding rate paid to local authorities for these entitlements is designed to recognise the average costs across different provider types and is intended to reflect staff and non-staff costs, including business rates. Business rates are a broad-based tax on the value of non-domestic properties, including nurseries. To protect small businesses, the Government has frozen the small business multiplier for 2025-26. Taken together with Small Business Rates Relief, this intervention ensures that over a million properties will be protected from inflationary increases.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of increases in employers' National Insurance contributions on trends in levels of fees for care homes.

The Government took the cost pressures facing adult social care, including changes to employer National Insurance contributions and increases to the National Living Wage, into account as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the 2024 Autumn Budget process.To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government has made available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26.In addition, the 2025 Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26.We recognise the importance of fee rates, which meet the costs of delivering care and which enable providers to recruit and retain staff, which is why we have also provided the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund to local authorities since 2023/24, with one of the three target areas local authorities can spend their allocations on being to improve fee rates to providers.

What steps his Department is taking to generate public recognition of the (a) contribution and (b) value of workers in the care sector.

Every day our 1.6 million-strong adult social care workforce provides vital care and support to people of all ages. The 2025/26 Adult Social Care recruitment campaign, Make Care Your Career, launched on 6 October 2025, and advertising is appearing on television, social media, radio, and online highlighting the amazing work that staff across the adult social care sector do, helping to ensure that it is regarded by all as a profession, and that the people who work in care are respected as professionals. These adverts will also improve understanding of careers in care, from the variety of roles to the training and progression opportunities available, while shedding light on the everyday empowering moments between real care workers and care users. The Government recognises the scale of reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth, and to improve the retention of the workforce. This is why we are introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) to the adult social care sector so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do. Backed by £500m funding, which will be given to Local Authorities to support providers to improve pay and conditions for the adult social care workforce, this represents the most significant investment in improving pay and conditions for adult social care staff to date. In addition, promoting opportunities to develop skills and knowledge is essential to raising the status of adult social care as a career. That is why we are implementing the Care Workforce Pathway, the first ever universal career structure for the adult social care workforce which sets out the knowledge, skills, and training needed to develop a career in adult social care. The Government is also committed to funding eligible care staff to complete courses and qualifications, including the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate through the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme, with £12 million of funding this financial year.

If he will take legislative steps to remove the consideration of Armed Forces compensation from means testing for the Disabled Facilities Grant.

In England, we continue to fund the locally administered Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes. We have provided an additional £172 million across this and the last financial year to uplift the DFG, which could provide approximately 15,600 home adaptations to give older and disabled people more independence in their homes. This brings the total funding for the DFG to £711 million in 2024/25 and 2025/26.To ensure the DFG is as effective as possible, we will continue to keep different aspects of the grant, including the means test, under consideration.The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme is independently reviewed every five years to ensure it remains fit for purpose, providing appropriate financial support to those members of the Armed Forces who are injured, become ill, or die as a result of service, and identifying opportunities for policy improvement.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty across his Departmental responsibilities.

The Government’s election manifesto committed to placing the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law. During Armed Forces week in June, the Prime Minister announced that Military personnel, veterans, their families and the bereaved are to have their unique circumstances legally protected by central and devolved governments for the first time under new plans to extend the Covenant Legal Duty to more policy areas and across the UK. The Covenant Legal Duty will now be extended from three policy areas to encompass 14 policy areas in a much broader scope. The policy areas are healthcare, education, housing, social care, childcare, employment and service in the Armed Forces, personal taxation, welfare benefits, criminal justice, immigration, citizenship, pensions, service-related compensation and transport. The Government aims to make the changes in the next Armed Forces Bill, anticipated in 2026.

What his planned timetable is for the introduction of the Armed Forces Covenant into law.

The Government’s election manifesto committed to placing the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law. During Armed Forces week in June, the Prime Minister announced that Military personnel, Veterans, their families and the bereaved are to have their unique circumstances legally protected by central and devolved Governments for the first time under new plans to extend the Covenant Legal Duty to more policy areas and across the UK. It is our ambition to include these statutory changes in the next Armed Forces Bill, which is required every five years to continue to have an Armed Forces.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77729 on Horizon IT System: Compensation, whether his Department has a timeline for when this process will be available to claimants.

The Government is committed to ensuring that postmasters receive full and fair financial redress as quickly as possible. While we are not yet able to confirm a specific timeline due to the complexity of these cases where there is no evidence of shortfalls, work is progressing at pace. Work is underway to resolve claims where postmasters are awaiting Fixed Sum Offers under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme due to a lack of available data to verify that shortfalls occurred.

What plans his Department has to update the NHS Car Parking Guidance 2022 for NHS Trusts and NHS Foundation Trusts.

The Department currently has no plans to review National Health Service car parking guidance. Free hospital car parking is available to the groups that are most in-need, including disabled people, frequent outpatient attenders, the parents of sick children staying overnight, and staff working night shifts.

Whether her Department is monitoring the (a) importation and (b) online sale of imitation firearms; and whether she plans to make an assessment of whether the online sale of imitation firearms contravene (i) product safety and (ii) trading standards legislation.

The Government works closely with the National Crime Agency and the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) to address any potential risks to public safety posed by the sale and possession of imitation firearms. The Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 makes it an offence to manufacture, import or sell a realistic imitation firearm. It is also a requirement that imitation firearms are safe for their intended and foreseeable use before they are placed on the market.The Government, the National Crime Agency and the NPCC, together with Border Force, have taken, and continue to take, action to prevent the import and sale, including online sales, of certain types of blank firing firearms, which are viewed as readily convertible, to prevent these getting into the hands of criminals. Such imitation firearms are contrary to existing legislation, and to remove these particular types of imitation firearms from circulation, a four-week amnesty was run by the NPCC in February this year saw around 3,000 such firearms being handed in to police forces, and further action is being planned to remove further makes of blank firing imitation firearms from circulation as they have been found to be readily convertible.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the online sale of imitation firearms.

The Government works closely with the National Crime Agency and the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) to address any potential risks to public safety posed by the sale and possession of imitation firearms. The Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 makes it an offence to manufacture, import or sell a realistic imitation firearm. It is also a requirement that imitation firearms are safe for their intended and foreseeable use before they are placed on the market.The Government, the National Crime Agency and the NPCC, together with Border Force, have taken, and continue to take, action to prevent the import and sale, including online sales, of certain types of blank firing firearms, which are viewed as readily convertible, to prevent these getting into the hands of criminals. Such imitation firearms are contrary to existing legislation, and to remove these particular types of imitation firearms from circulation, a four-week amnesty was run by the NPCC in February this year saw around 3,000 such firearms being handed in to police forces, and further action is being planned to remove further makes of blank firing imitation firearms from circulation as they have been found to be readily convertible.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a national fire and rescue service statutory advisory body to oversee national standards on (a) fire cover, (b) training, (c) equalities and (d) health and safety.

The government has accepted, in principle, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s recommendation to establish a national college of fire and rescue. The Inquiry report suggested a range of potential functions for a college to fulfil, including the development of policies and procedures to ensure both the effectiveness of fire and rescue services and the safety of firefighters and the public. The government response to the Inquiry’s report notes that a necessary first step in the process will be to consult on the functions a college should have, what these functions should look like and how the college could best be structured and delivered. We expect to launch this consultation in the coming months. Any future college function relating to national standards would build on the work already undertaken by the Fire Standards Board (FSB), which currently develops and maintains a suite of professional standards for fire and rescue services in England. The 19 standards currently published by the FSB cover a range of topics relating to operational management, leadership and ethics.