Written questions by Jarvis.

What steps his Department is taking to support integrated care boards to offer ear wax removal services for patients when the ear wax is contributing to (a) hearing loss and (b) other symptoms.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) have a statutory responsibility to commission cost-effective healthcare to meet the needs of their local population. This includes the arrangement of services for ear wax removal.Manual ear syringing is no longer advised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) due to the risks associated with it, such as trauma to their ear drum or infection, so general practitioners (GPs) will often recommend home treatment remedies to alleviate ear wax build-up.However, in line with the NICE’s guidance, a person may require ear wax removal treatment if the build-up of earwax is linked with hearing loss. A GP could then consider referring the patient into audiology services, which ICBs are responsible for commissioning.ICBs should therefore arrange for the provision of ear wax removal services when a patient has a clinical need for ear wax removal beyond home treatments.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to (a) compression treatment and (b) other follow-up care for women with arm lymphoedema after breast cancer treatment.

No assessment has been made on the adequacy of access to compression treatment or follow-up care for women with arm lymphoedema after breast cancer treatment.Local health service commissioners – through Integrated Care Boards - determine what lymphoedema services are needed locally, based on the needs of their local population.The NHS’ roll-out of personalised care ensures people with cancer have a holistic needs assessment, covering both their physical and psychosocial needs, and are referred to services where appropriate. Lymphoedema support is in the NHS’ Personalised Stratified Follow-Up (PSFU) handbook as a required part of PSFU pathways, however it does not cover the specifics of treatment.We know that more should be done to support people living with and beyond cancer. The National Cancer Plan, coming later this year, will set out how we will seek to improve the experience and outcomes for people at every stage of the cancer pathway. It will look at how we can improve communication and coordination for patients, so that they feel informed and in control of their care.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to increase online safety for children and young people.

The government is implementing the Online Safety Act as quickly and effectively as possible, so children can be protected from criminal behaviour and harmful content online.The illegal content duties are now in force, so platforms already need to act to protect their users.The child safety duties will be in force from the Summer, at which point companies will need to further protect children from harmful content such as pornography, suicide and self-harm material.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the 1.7% increase in benefits that are linked to inflation from April 2025 for disabled people receiving a state pension.

Attendance Allowance (which provides support for pensioners with care needs) has been consistently uprated in line with inflation since it was introduced and will be increased by 1.7% from April 2025. This means that the higher rate of Attendance Allowance will be £110.40 per week, and the lower rate £73.90 per week in 2025/26. Expenditure on Attendance Allowance was around £6.9 billion (real terms) in 2023/24 and is forecast to increase to £7.7 billion in 2024/25, before rising to £8.6 billion by 2029/30. Extra-costs disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance, which may also be paid to people over state pension age, will also be increased by 1.7% from 7 April 2025. In addition to this, over 12 million pensioners will see their basic or new State Pension increase by 4.1% in April 2025, worth up to £470 a year. Our commitment to protect the Triple Lock on the new and basic State Pensions means that, over the course of this Parliament (up to and including 2029/30), the OBR forecasts that Government spending on the State Pension will rise by over £31 billion. We are also increasing the standard minimum guarantee in Pension Credit by 4.1%. Pension Credit provides extra money to help with living costs for people over State Pension age and on a low income and includes additional amounts for those with a severe disability, caring responsibilities, responsibility for a child, or certain housing costs. Extra-costs disability benefits can also give rise to a disability addition in Pension Credit, meaning that disabled pensioners are more likely to be entitled to Pension Credit, and at a higher amount, than those without disabilities.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help women re-enter the workforce.

The Government is committed to tackling the challenges women face in the labour market, whether they want to find a job, return to work, or progress in-work. We are driving this forward through the support measures in the Employment Rights Bill, Make Work Pay and the Get Britain Working White Paper. We are making flexible learning a Day One right, opening up access to childcare with £8 billion investment to roll out further free hours, and tackling the gender pay gap to ensure women are paid fairly.

How many dental patients in Eastleigh constituency will benefit from the 700,000 extra urgent appointments.

We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, with integrated care boards (ICBs) asked to start making extra appointments available from April 2025. The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to ICBs across England. Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, which includes Eastleigh constituency, is expected to deliver 30,032 additional urgent dental appointments. The urgent appointments will be available to NHS patients experiencing painful oral health issues, such as infections, abscesses, or cracked or broken teeth. Patients can contact their usual dental practice or call NHS 111 if they do not have a regular dentist or need help out-of-hours.

Whether she plans to remove barriers for families of non-UK Armed Forces personnel to stay in the UK.

HM Armed Forces personnel are exempt from immigration control in service. Those who do not naturalise as British during service, can apply for settlement under Appendix HM Armed Forces of the Immigration Rules on discharge when their exemption from immigration control ends, up to 18 weeks before their discharge, or for two years after.HM Armed Forces personnel can be accompanied by their family members, and there are special Immigration Rules in place to ensure that those who serve, have served, or their family members are not disadvantaged due to that service. This takes into account the unique nature of their service, the Armed Forces Covenant, and the recruitment and retention of HM Armed Forces personnel in order to maintain national security.A manifesto commitment was made to “strengthen support for our Armed Forces communities by putting Armed Forces Covenant fully into law”, and to “scrap visa fees for non-UK veterans who have served for four or more years, and their dependants.”.We continue to keep this policy under review in the context of our wider considerations of various aspects of the immigration system.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to allow heritage-appropriate alternative materials to be used for listed properties in instances where traditional materials are (a) unavailable and (b) prohibitively expensive.

It is for local planning authorities to determine applications for proposed works to listed buildings, including what materials should be used. Each case will be different and needs to be considered on its own merits. As such, the government does not intend to make changes to national policy in this area.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing new methods for expatriates to receive access to premium bond earnings without a UK bank account.

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) can only make payments to, and receive payments from, a UK bank or building society account in pounds sterling. Therefore, to save with NS&I, customers must have a UK bank or building society account in their name. This policy ensures value for money for taxpayers and minimises the risk of fraud.

Which (a) legal authority and (b) procedural rules permit judges to withhold notes from employment tribunal hearings.

The provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 2018 do not apply to information gathered and personal data processed in proceedings before the courts and tribunals. Together these exemptions protect judicial independence and judicial proceedings, allowing the courts and tribunals to maintain judicial control over access to information in proceedings, ensuring that access to information is provided through existing access and discovery regimes.With respect to the Employment Tribunal, access to audio recordings and transcription of recordings is governed by the Practice Direction: Recording of Employment Tribunal hearings and the transcription of recordings. This includes details of how and the circumstances in which a party may be able to access audio-recordings, request a transcript of proceedings, or obtain a Judge’s notes of a hearing.The Practice Direction: Recording of Employment Tribunal hearings and the transcription of recordings, can be found at: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/PD-recording-and-transcription-final.pdf.

Whether he plans to achieve the Access and Waiting Time Standard for Children and Young People with an Eating Disorder in every area.

It is vital that children and young people with a diagnosed or suspected eating disorder, as well as their families and carers, can access effective help quickly. Given this, NHS England is in the process of publishing updated commissioning guidance for children and young people with eating disorders and updated Access and Wait Time Standard guidance. NHS England has also recently published updated guidance on caring for children and young people in a mental health crisis.The updated guidance will reflect NHS England's ambition to improve eating disorder services and align with the latest evidence-based care, improve outcomes and experiences of care, and focus on prevention, where possible, to reduce prevalence and re-occurrence. It supports providers in meeting the standard that 95% of children and young people referred for assessment or treatment for an eating disorder receive National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-approved treatment with a designated healthcare professional within one week for urgent cases, and four weeks for all other cases.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of thatching materials.

My Department has no plans to make an assessment of the availability of thatching materials at this time.Following discussion with the National Society of Master Thatchers, Historic England has updated its roof guidance to clarify the decision-making process for both applicants and local authorities on applications for listed building consent.Historic England’s update roof guidance is available on that organisation’s website here.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the number of nurses in acute inpatient mental health settings.

The National Health Service has been facing workforce shortages for a number of years and, while there has been growth in the mental health workforce over recent years, more is needed. That is why, as part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment. We recognise that bringing in the staff needed will take time. We are working with NHS England on options to deliver this expansion of the mental health workforce.More broadly, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. This plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from hospital to the community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. A central part of this will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.This summer we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again. We will 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.

Whether she will undertake a review of the effectiveness of the off-payroll working rules.

The Government keeps all tax policy and legislation under review as part of the Budget process. HMRC published both external research and internal analysis looking at the impacts of the reform to the off-payroll working rules in the private and voluntary sectors, introduced in April 2021. HMRC will continue to provide support and guidance to individuals and businesses operating the rules and will continue to look for opportunities to improve the way these rules work in practice.

If he will make a comparative assessment of the number of beds provided for Psychiatric Intensive Care Units in (a) Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Trust and (b) other trusts.

We have no plans to currently do so. The 2025/26 Planning Guidance sets a requirement for integrated care boards (ICBs) to reduce the average length of stay in adult acute mental health beds, improving the availability of local beds and reducing inappropriate out of area placements. It also asks ICBs to maximise the use of crisis alternatives, including 111 mental health option, crisis resolution and home treatment teams, and community mental health services to keep people well at home.

Whether she plans to extend the Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday for first-time buyers who sign a memorandum of sale before 31 March 2025.

In September 2022, the previous Government announced a change to the level at which first time buyers start paying Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) from £300,000 to £425,000, and the purchase price limit for accessing the relief is currently £625,000. These changes were made temporary in November 2022. After the rates revert on 1 April, first time buyers will still benefit from paying no SDLT up to £300,000, and will be able to claim relief on purchases up to £500,000.The previous Government made these changes temporary SDLT rates. Individuals will therefore be liable to pay the SDLT at the point at which they complete their property purchase.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support access to spectrum for (a) new entrants and (b) underrepresented groups under the Community Radio Order 2025.

The community radio sector is a key part of the UK radio landscape – there are now around 320 analogue (AM / FM) services, plus a further 75 unique community digital services that exclusively broadcast on small-scale DAB to local communities across the UK.The changes made by the Community Radio Order 2025 will enable Ofcom to extend the duration of community radio licences for a fourth time and to remove restrictions that limit the amount of income a community radio licence can receive from advertisements and sponsorship, except for a small number community radio stations whose coverage area overlaps with small independent commercial stations.The Order does not include measures that deal with access to spectrum for community groups wanting to establish new services. Ofcom has a wide range of powers to license new community radio stations on analogue or on DAB digital radio, including specific requirements to roll out new small-scale DAB services, which remains its stated priority for the time being. The timing of any new licence awards is a matter for Ofcom.

Whether she has plans to allow police survivors who (a) remarry and (b) cohabit after losing a spouse to retain their full pension entitlement.

With the introduction of the 2006 police pension scheme on 6 April 2006, all eligible police officers were able to join a pension scheme that provides life-long survivor benefits for spouses, civil partners and unmarried partners, including those who remarry or cohabit after losing a spouse.Police pension schemes prior to the 2006 police pension scheme did not have life-long survivor benefits and any retrospective changes to those schemes would need to be fully costed and affordable.There are no plans at this time to make any such changes to benefits accrued in previous schemes.

What steps he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) tackle the illegal availability of Ozempic injections online.

The illegal sale and supply of human medicines is recognised as a significant challenge for regulators across the world. Buying medicines, including weight loss medicines, from illegally trading websites can be harmful to health, as the medicines received are generally unlicenced in the United Kingdom, and can contain too little, too much, or incorrect active ingredients. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) works hard with law enforcement partners and others to tackle illegal sales and prevent products from entering the UK. Offending often takes place beyond the geographical reach of UK legislation, but where offences are identified in the UK, the MHRA can investigate and, where appropriate, bring those involved to justice. In addition to taking enforcement action where possible, the MHRA operates the #FakeMeds campaign, offering safety advice and providing practical tools to help the public stay safe when buying medicines online.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help protect children from the impact of climate change in conflict-affected states.

We are focused on tackling the climate and nature emergencies and global development challenges together with partners, by working for peace and preventing conflict, supporting the most vulnerable people, and promoting the global economic development and growth necessary to deliver opportunity for all. We know that children are disproportionately at risk from the effects of climate change, including in conflict-affected states, and children and young people will be at the forefront of shaping a resilient, sustainable future. The UK-led Glasgow Climate Pact urges Parties and stakeholders to ensure meaningful youth participation and representation in multilateral, national and local decision-making processes.