Written questions by Jarvis.

Whether her Department plans to review its policy on freezing state pensions for people who move abroad.

The Department has no plans to review such reciprocal social security agreements.

How many dedicated mental health professionals are employed in secondary schools in (a) Hampshire and (b) Eastleigh constituency.

This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.Information on the numbers of staff employed in schools is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2023. The department does not collect information on how many dedicated mental health professionals are employed in secondary schools in (a) Hampshire and (b) Eastleigh constituency.The government has committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding mental health support teams (MHSTs), so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. The teams act as a link with local children and young people’s mental health services and are trained and supervised by NHS staff.At the end of 2024/25, around 600 NHS-funded MHSTs were operational in 10,100 (41%) schools and colleges in England. At the end of 2024/25, 5 million pupils and learners were covered by MHSTs which equates to 52% coverage of pupils in schools and further education learners in England. In Hampshire local authority, 43% of pupils/learners and 43% of schools/colleges were covered by MHSTs, as at end 2024/25, compared to 52% and 41% nationally, respectively.Around six in ten pupils will have access to a mental health support team by March 2026, with the rollout prioritised based on NHS identification of local need and reaching the most vulnerable children first.The government will also recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults, and open new Young Futures Hubs with access to mental health support workers.

How many specialist SEND nurseries have (a) closed and (b) been replaced by a mobile SEND service since 2015.

The information requested is not held centrally.Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ’Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2.The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

Media and Sport, with reference to the press release entitled Prime Minister announces multi-million pound boost for grassroots cricket, published on 5 April 2024, how much and what proportion of that funding was allocated to projects in (a) Eastleigh Borough and (b) Hampshire.

The Future of Cricket fund was publicly announced by the previous Government before the General Election but did not receive formal business case sign off nor any financial commitment.Future funding of sports facilities will be considered as part of the upcoming Spending Review.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of waiting times for cardiology services.

The latest data from March 2025 show that 60.9% of waits for cardiology services are within 18 weeks, which is a 1.6% improvement on the same month in the previous year. While this shows progress, we know there is more to do.That is why, as well as our commitment to returning to the 92% referral-to-treatment standard for elective care by March 2029, the Elective Reform Plan commits to significant elective reform in cardiology. This includes a key milestone for 2025/26, as set out in National Health Service operational planning guidance, that by the end of March 2026, 65% of waits will be within 18 weeks, with the expectation of a 5% improvement from each provider.Cardiology is one of five priority specialties identified for significant elective reform in the Elective Reform Plan, due to it being a large volume specialty with waiting list challenges and a high proportion of non-surgical care. Reforms will include increasing specialist cardiology input earlier in patient care pathways, and developing standard and efficient care pathways for common cardiology symptoms. It also includes improving access to cardiac diagnostic tests, including through implementing more straight-to-test pathways, where a general practitioner can refer a patient directly to secondary care for a test, which can reduce unnecessary outpatient appointments and improve waiting times even further for patients across England. These improvements to common cardiology pathways help standardise patient care, reduce inequalities, and improve access to care, especially in the early stages of the pathways, for patients across England.

If his Department will reintroduce a NHS dementia diagnosis target.

The Government remains committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7% and agrees that timely diagnosis is vital to ensuring that people with dementia can access the treatment and support they need.The Darzi Investigation found that there were too many targets set for the National Health Service, which made it hard for local systems to prioritise their actions or to be held properly accountable.This is why we have taken a new approach to NHS Planning Guidance this year, reducing the number of national directives from 32 to 18. We will only turn the NHS around by doing things differently. These are the first steps on our journey for the long-term reform of the NHS.NHS Planning Guidance is not an exhaustive list of everything the NHS does, and the absence of a target does not mean it is not an area of focus.

Whether her Department plans to introduce a Ukrainian language GCSE.

Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations – AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC – rather than by central government. These organisations have the freedom to create a Ukrainian GCSE based on the subject content for modern foreign language set by the department. We have recently written to these organisations to ask them to consider introducing a Ukrainian GCSE.​The British government stands steadfast behind the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government. The department is proud to support children and families from Ukraine during their transition to a new life in the UK. To do our part to support the Ukrainian people, we are supporting the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science in policy development and this year have launched a UK-Ukraine Schools Partnership Programme, twinning 100 schools in the UK and Ukraine.

Whether she has considered reviewing Police Remuneration Review Body processes to help increase (a) trust and (b) transparency in that system.

The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) and Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) make recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers. The pay review bodies gather and invite parties to submit evidence to inform their decisions. This includes both written and oral evidence from the Government, police employers and police staff associations. They weigh the evidence, consider independent research, and formulate detailed recommendations. We are committed to the Pay Review Body process and the Government appreciates and values the independent, expert advice and contribution that the pay review bodies make.

What steps her Department is taking to increase funding certainty for schools over a multi-year period.

The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning that it will total £65.3 billion, compared to £61.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This is a 6% overall increase.The government is considering how it can support schools to plan their budgets from the perspective of both their funding and their costs. The teacher pay award this year has been announced two months earlier than last year as part of the government’s ambition to improve the pay round process. This is alongside £615 million of additional funding to support schools with their overall costs, including staff pay awards.Budgets for the 2026/27 financial year and beyond are still to be agreed and this includes the 2026/27 Core Schools Budget. This will be subject to the multi-year spending review, which the department expects to be concluded later this month.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of bank branches moving to a counter-free system on accessibility.

The Government works closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the independent regulator of the UK’s financial services sector, to ensure that all customers get the right support with their financial products and services. The FCA requires firms to provide a prompt, efficient, and fair service to all of their customers. This includes special considerations for vulnerable customers, including the elderly and disabled customers. Furthermore, under the Equality Act 2010, banks must make reasonable adjustments to ensure their services are accessible to all.

What estimate she has made of the number of students taking heritage language GCSEs in the academic year 2024-25.

Provisional data on GCSE entries for the 2024/25 academic year will be published by Ofqual on 12 June 2025.The department will publish provisional key stage 4 performance statistics for the 2024/25 academic year in October 2025.

What steps his Department is taking to help reduce staffing shortages in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

This year the Department is investing an extra £688 million in children and young people’s mental health services. This will allow us to hire more staff, deliver more talking therapies, and get waiting lists down through our Plan for Change. Early interventions in mental health support for young people can have positive ramifications for the rest of their lives. We will deliver on our commitment to get every child who needs it access to mental health support within school, and over the course of this year we will roll that support out to nearly a million extra children. Under Government plans, all pupils will have access to mental health support in school by 2029/30. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we will recruit 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services to help ease the pressure on busy services. We continue to work with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment, alongside publishing a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade. In addition, targeted retention work has been undertaken through the NHS Retention Programme which works with trusts to help them understand why staff have left. This has focused on better support for line managers and improved support for new joiners.

How many and what proportion of trains were delayed between London Waterloo and Eastleigh in each financial year between 2015 and 2025.

The number and proportion of services between London Waterloo and Eastleigh which arrived within 15 minutes of the timetabled arrival for each year between 2020-21 and 2024-25 is set out in the table below. The year to date position is given for 2025-26. Data from before 2020-21 is stored in a legacy system and is not readily accessible. Eastleigh to WaterlooWaterloo to EastleighOn Time to 15 (Number)On Time to 15 (Percentage)On Time to 15 (Number)On Time to 15 (Percentage)2020-21722498.84%689998.53%2021-22743597.95%741897.17%2022-23712997.46%694795.82%2023-24717497.13%671794.50%2024-25735696.47%695693.17%2025-26 year to date144697.75%135198.04%

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that cancer test results requested by secondary care are routinely shared with patients' GPs in a timely manner.

The Government is supporting NHS England to ensure that information on diagnoses and treatment, including cancer test results, are shared between services routinely and in a timely manner.NHS England has been supporting National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in acquiring and developing the effectiveness of their electronic patient records, and support is available to bring trusts to an optimum level of digital maturity which will further reduce barriers to the sharing of information needed to treat patients. Further information can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/data-and-clinical-record-sharing/The Department supported the NHS’s Connecting Care Records programme which joins up information based on the individual rather than through one organisation. Through targeted investment, local Connecting Care Record systems have been established in all integrated commissioning board areas. 97% of trusts and 92% of primary care networks are now connected, in order to share information such as medications, allergies, test results, and clinical correspondence.Furthermore, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has announced the intention for there to be a single patient record which would provide a comprehensive patient record, reducing duplication when patients have to repeat their medical history when interacting with the NHS.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK is on track to meet United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The UK is committed to working with partners at home and abroad to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.The United Nations (UN) does not measure individual countries' progress towards the SDGs, but the collective global progress. However, there are complimentary reports produced using UN data that assess countries' progress towards achieving the SDGs, such as the Sustainable Development Report, which assessed the UK as ninth out of 166 countries in 2024, with a progress score of 82%. The UK's Voluntary National Review (VNR) in 2019 provided a detailed account of actions being taken to achieve the SDGs across the UK government and other actors. This government has not yet taken a decision on undertaking a second VNR.

What is the daily messing rate for a soldier in the British army in each quarter in each of the past five years

The Daily Messing Rate (DMR) differs across our overseas bases and the multiple Operations and Exercises carried out across the globe each year. The table below sets out the DMR rates for each quarter of the last five years in the UK, for Service personnel, noting the differences in kcal requirements from May 2024; kcal requirementsQuarter3000 kcal4000 kcal5000 kcal20/21 Q1 (Apr-Jun 20)£3.58£4.14£6.3920/21 Q2 (Jul-Sep 20)£3.62£4.17£6.4120/21 Q3 (Oct-Dec 20)£3.63£4.19£6.4320/21 Q4 (Jan-Mar 21)£3.63£4.19£6.4321/22 Q1 (Apr-Jun 21)£3.64£4.21£6.4521/22 Q2 (Jul-Sep 21)£3.66£4.22£6.4721/22 Q3 (Oct-Dec 21)£3.63£4.11£6.0621/22 Q4 (Jan-Mar 22)£3.63£4.11£6.0622/23 Q1 (Apr-Jun 22)£3.69£4.18£6.1322/23 Q2 (Jul-Sep 22)£3.62£4.12£6.0722/23 Q3 (Oct-Dec 22)£3.62£4.12£6.0722/23 Q4 (Jan-Mar 23)£3.62£4.12£6.0723/24 Q1 (Apr-Jun 23)£3.90£4.52£6.4723/24 Q2 (Jul-Sep 23)£5.19£6.01£8.0123/24 Q3 (Oct-Dec 23)£5.28£6.11£8.1723/24 Q4 (Jan-Mar 24)£5.22£6.05£8.0524/25 Q1 (Apr 24 only)£5.22£6.05£8.05Note; Defence Catering Strategy Implemented from 1 May 24 (Revised kcal requirement and DMR calculation method).Quarter2900 kcal3600 kcal5000 kcal24/25 Q1 continued (May-Jun 24 only)£5.64£6.10£8.5624/25 Q2 (Jul-Sep 24)£5.64£6.11£8.5924/25 Q3 (Oct-Dec 24)£5.60£6.05£8.4524/25 Q4 (Jan-Mar 25)£5.65£6.12£8.88Current (Apr-Jun 25)£5.77£6.24£8.96

Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on publishing a timeline to bring forward legislative measures to end trail hunting.

The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal, such as Foxes, with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. The aim of Trail Hunting is to simulate traditional hunting as practised before the Hunting Act came into force. The trails are laid along a route that might be taken by the traditional quarry, through hedgerows and woods, along ditches, across fields, to simulate the natural movement of the wild mammal, e.g., a fox, as much as possible.  The most common method of laying the trail is to drag a scent infected sock or cloth along the ground. The scent occasionally lifted for a distance and dropped again, thus allowing the hounds to cast (search for the scent if they lose it). The Huntsman and followers often do not know where any of the trails have been laid, so that the days hunting will mimic its realistic form. The Government made a manifesto commitment to ban Trail Hunting as part of a set of measures to improve animal welfare. Work to bring this forward is at a very early stage and there is not yet an agreed timetable.

Whether she plans to introduce indefinite leave to remain for Ukrainians living in the UK.

I refer the Honourable Member to my answer given on 1 May to PQ UIN 47468.

What steps she is taking to improve pedestrian safety in areas of high footfall from potential vehicle incursions.

Homeland Security Group (HSG) works closely with the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), who provide publicly available technical and practical advice relating to Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM). This includes the 'NPSA Public Realm Design Guide for Hostile Vehicle Mitigation' document, available publicly at npsa.gov.uk.Additionally, the National Counter Terrorism Security Office provides support to local authorities and businesses through the ProtectUK platform (protectuk.police.uk) and networks like the UK-wide Counter Terrorism Security Advisor network, supporting the development of suitable mitigation measures to protect from vehicle incursions.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of existing measures to prevent vehicles from entering areas with high pedestrian footfall.

Homeland Security Group (HSG) works closely with the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), who provide publicly available technical and practical advice relating to Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM). This includes the 'NPSA Public Realm Design Guide for Hostile Vehicle Mitigation' document, available publicly at npsa.gov.uk.Additionally, the National Counter Terrorism Security Office provides support to local authorities and businesses through the ProtectUK platform (protectuk.police.uk) and networks like the UK-wide Counter Terrorism Security Advisor network, supporting the development of suitable mitigation measures to protect from vehicle incursions.