Written questions by Evans.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2025 to Question 96945 on Ophthalmic Services, what steps his Department is taking to share best practice between Integrated Care Boards in order to reduce regional inequalities in access to eye care services.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are encouraged to share best practice to help reduce regional inequalities in access to eye care services via the NHS Future Platform The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme also has best practice guidance for ophthalmology. More information is available at the following link:https://gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/surgical_specialties/ophthalmology/

Pursuant to Question 101467 answered on 5 January 2026 about Men, if he will speak to Cabinet colleagues about the potential merits of the appointment of a Minister or Government-appointed Ambassador to capture common themes and trends facing men and boys arising from the Men and Boys Summit and the Men's Health Strategy.

The Prime Minister has tasked the Deputy Prime Minister and myself, the Minister for Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls, with leading the Government’s efforts to tackle the challenges faced by men and boys. This work is in development, but we will of course ensure that the Men and Boys Summit and its outcomes align with existing strategies and activity across Government, including the Men’s Health Strategy. We will keep Cabinet colleagues updated and provide further detail in due course.

What steps she is taking to determine the number of educational psychologists required to meet demand as part of the Government's forthcoming plans for SEND.

Educational psychologists play a critical role in the support available to children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. That is why we are already investing more than £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists over two cohorts, starting their studies in 2024 and 2025. This is in addition to the £10 million currently being invested in the training of more than 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.As these trainees complete their studies, they will join the workforce to support local authority educational psychology services, including contributing to statutory assessments. Trainees who have had their training funded by the department are required to remain in local authority employment for a minimum period. For trainees beginning their course in September 2024, this period is three years.

Whether she will make an assessment of trends in levels of fuel theft, such as drive-offs or biking, from petrol stations and the measures that can be taken to tackle the crime.

We would encourage retailers to report any instances of fuel theft to the police.We are also making it easier for retailers to recover the costs when fuel is taken without payment.Improvements have recently been made to the service provided by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) allowing fuel retailers and their agents to request information to allow recovery of costs when motorists drive away from fuel stations without paying for the fuel taken.This provides a quicker and more efficient approach compared with the existing manual service.

Communities and Local Government, what routes are available for local housing authorities and homelessness providers outside of Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities to apply for funding through the Social Housing and Affordable Homes Programme.

All registered providers of social housing, including local housing authorities, are eligible to apply for funding from the Social and Affordable Homes Programme, from Homes England outside London, or the GLA within London. This is true both in areas with an Established Mayoral Strategic Authority and those without.

Food and Rural Affairs, when the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group last met; and if she will set out the matters that were discussed.

The National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group last met in October 2025. The matters discussed included a policy update from Defra officials, which included an update on the review of local authority vehicle seizure powers, statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance, digital waste tracking and reform of the waste carriers, brokers, dealers and permit exemptions regime. In addition to a broader discussion among members, there were presentations by Fortix AI and Certified Rubbish.

Pursuant to Question 100423 answered on 22 December 2025 about Crown Courts Midlands, out of the 111,250 sitting days how many extra sitting days were allocated at [a] Leicester Crown Court, [b] Coventry Combined Court Centre and [c] Warwick Crown Court in the current financial year compared to the 2024-2025 financial year.

The Government is committed to bearing down on the backlog. We allocated the highest number of Cown Court sitting days on record this financial year (2025/26) and have allocated a further 1,250 sitting days for this financial year. The Deputy Prime Minister and Lady Chief Justice continue discussions on the allocation for 2025-26 and we will say more in due course. The table below shows allocated sitting days for Warwick and Leicester Crown Courts. It should be noted that Coventry Crown Court is a “satellite site” primarily used by Warwick, but also utilised by Birmingham Crown Court for sittings. It therefore has no sitting day allocation (as the sitting days come from the allocations of either Warwick or Birmingham). Financial yearWarwick Crown CourtLeicester Crown Court24/251377 days1578 days25/261517 days1560 daysSource: Internal HMCTS management information On top of the above allocations, during 25/26 Leicester has been allocated an additional 60 sitting days, and Warwick has been allocated an additional 25 days.

What steps she is taking to increase the number of educational psychologists to respond to SEND needs.

Educational psychologists play a critical role in the support available to children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. That is why we are already investing more than £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists over two cohorts, starting their studies in 2024 and 2025. This is in addition to the £10 million currently being invested in the training of more than 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.As these trainees complete their studies, they will join the workforce to support local authority educational psychology services, including contributing to statutory assessments. Trainees who have had their training funded by the department are required to remain in local authority employment for a minimum period. For trainees beginning their course in September 2024, this period is three years.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many times did the National Fly- Tipping Prevention Group meet during the Calendar Year of 2025.

The National Fly-tipping Prevention Group met twice in the 2025 calendar year.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the speed camera anomaly on the numbers of commercial drivers where the incorrect enforcement of speeding has resulted in the [a] loss of employment, or [b] compromised the ability for prospective drivers to gain driving opportunities.

This anomaly resulted in a very small number of people incorrectly facing enforcement action for speeding offences and the Police have begun the process of redress. Anybody affected by the anomaly will be contacted directly and, where appropriate, be reimbursed and/or have points removed from the licence. Steps will be taken to remedy any incorrect prosecutions.

What discussions she is having with National Highways to determine how many drivers are impacted by the speed camera anomaly and rectify the issue to prevent the anomaly from occurring in the future.

As set out in the 16 December Written Ministerial Statement, National Highways has confirmed that this technical anomaly has occurred approximately 2,650 times on the impacted cameras over four years since 2021 and National Highways are now looking back to 2019. To place this in context, fewer than 0.1% of activations since 2021 were impacted by this anomaly and not all of the erroneous activations will have resulted in enforcement action. A Home Office approved solution has been developed which National Highways are now working with the police to implement. It is important that road users have confidence in the technology on our roads and that is why I have committed to an independent investigation into how this anomaly came about to prevent this reoccurring in the future.

With reference to the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls's oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth during the Oral Statement of 18 December 2025 on Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, if he will set out the list of invitees to the men and boys summit.

Our cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy places prevention at its heart. Building a positive agenda for men – and acknowledging the challenges young men and boys face in today’s society – is a critical part of this work. To this end, we will host a Men and Boys Summit this year, which the Deputy Prime Minister and I are pleased to be leading on behalf of the Prime Minister. We will share further details in due course.

With reference to the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls's oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth during the Oral Statement of 18 December 2025 on Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, when will the men and boys summit be held.

Our cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy places prevention at its heart. Building a positive agenda for men – and acknowledging the challenges young men and boys face in today’s society – is a critical part of this work. To this end, we will host a Men and Boys Summit this year, which the Deputy Prime Minister and I are pleased to be leading on behalf of the Prime Minister. We will share further details in due course.

With reference to the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls's oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth during the Oral Statement of 18 December 2025 on Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, if he will publish the terms of reference for the men and boys summit.

Our cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy places prevention at its heart. Building a positive agenda for men – and acknowledging the challenges young men and boys face in today’s society – is a critical part of this work. To this end, we will host a Men and Boys Summit this year, which the Deputy Prime Minister and I are pleased to be leading on behalf of the Prime Minister. We will share further details in due course.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of opportunities for installing solar panels on commercial properties.

We are aware of the significant potential that commercial rooftops have in supporting our Clean Power mission, and we are working closely with industry to unlock this potential. Commercial rooftop solar has been a key agenda item at both Solar Council meetings this year as we continue to monitor delivery of the Solar Roadmap actions.

Whether he has made an assessment of the (a) effectiveness of the Pharmacy First Model in Scotland and (b) potential merits of expanding a similar service in England.

Pharmacy First in England was launched on 31 January 2024. This incorporated existing elements under the former Community Pharmacist Consultation Service and introduced a new clinical pathways element. The new clinical pathways element allows patients to receive treatment for seven common health conditions without the need for a general practitioner (GP) appointment.As health is a devolved matter, the Pharmacy First service in Scotland is commissioned separately to the one in England. The conditions covered by the English and Scottish schemes do differ slightly, but the services operate in a similar manner. Both operate a consultation service under which pharmacists can provide some prescription only medicines without the need to see a prescriber. In addition, Scotland commissions the expanded Pharmacy First Plus service, which has a broader scope and can be provided by pharmacists with a prescribing qualification. In line with the 10-Year Health Plan, we are committed to giving pharmacists in England more ability to prescribe and to manage a range of health conditions.The Department has not formally assessed the Scottish scheme, but the Pharmacy First service design was informed by best practice from similar locally commissioned services and services commissioned by the devolved governments. NHS England will keep the clinical scope of the service under review.

What steps he has taken to consider increasing the number of sitting days at [a] Leicester Crown Court [b] Coventry Combined Court Centre and [c] Warwick Crown Court.

The Government is committed to bearing down on the backlog. In the Crown Court for this financial year, we have allocated 111,250 sitting days - the highest number of sitting days on record and over 5,000 more than the previous Government funded for the last financial year.The Deputy Prime Minister and Lady Chief Justice continue discussions on the allocation for 2025-26 as part of the Concordat process and we will say more in due course.

Which external bodies has he recently spoken to about the potential impacts of proposals to reduce jury trials.

In developing his recommendations, Sir Brian Leveson and his expert advisers, including Professor David Ormerod, engaged with several external bodies with invaluable expertise of our Criminal Justice System including criminal legal organisations, charities, academics, and members of the judiciary. A full list is at Annex C of his report.When considering Sir Brian’s recommendations and developing our proposals, I have engaged regularly with stakeholders and relevant sectors over the last 12 months including representatives from the legal sector (Law Society, Bar Council, Criminal Bar Association), victims and victims representatives (the Victims Commissioner, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Rape Crisis), judiciary (Circuit leaders, Judicial leadership), magistracy (Magistrates’ Association, Magistrates’ Leadership Executive), non-governmental organisations (Appeal, JUSTICE, Transform Justice), court staff in criminal courts around the country (Wood Green, Snaresbrook) and similar international jurisdictions. For example, I met judges and visited courts in Canada, which uses types of judge-only trial.

What assessment she has made about the current levels of [i] drink driving and [ii] drug driving related accidents and fatalities on roads in the [i] UK, and [ii] Leicestershire.

Statistics regarding drink and drug driving in personal injury road collisions in Great Britain are based on data reported to police using the STATS19 system. The estimated number of collisions and fatalities in drink-drive collisions for Great Britain and Leicestershire for 2023 (the latest figures available) are given in the table below. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 therefore 0 fatalities for Leicestershire indicates that the estimated number was less than 5:AreaCollisionsFatalitiesGreat Britain4,390260Leicestershire500These are based on the results of breath tests conducted by the police at the scene of personal injury road collisions and combined with data from coroners on blood alcohol levels of those killed in collisions. While STATS19 does not attribute cause of collision, reporting officers attending the scene are able to assign up to 6 road safety factors which, in their opinion, based on the information available within a short time of the collision, they consider may have contributed to it. In 2024, the latest year available data there were 18 personal injury collisions in Leicestershire where “affected by drugs” was assigned to a driver or rider in the collision. This is 3% of all collisions in Leicestershire where a police officer attended the collision and assigned at least 1 road safety factor, the comparison for Great Britain is 3% of collisions. There was 1 fatality in Leicestershire in a personal injury collision where “affected by drugs” was assigned to a driver or rider in the collision, this is 4% of all fatalities in Leicestershire in collisions where a police officer attended the collision and assigned at least 1 road safety factor, the comparison for Great Britain is 8% of fatalities.

Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with [i] Local Councils and [ii] third party charities and advice organisations to understand the potential challenges faced with [a] supporting people with council tax debts and [b] using bailiffs to collect unpaid council tax.

The government has recently consulted on the administration of council tax, including its collection and enforcement. As part of this consultation, my officials held direct engagement sessions with local councils and the debt advice sector on these issues. The government is currently considering all responses to the consultation and will publish its response in due course.Separately, the Ministry of Justice has consulted on proposals to introduce independent statutory regulation of the enforcement sector. The government will publish its response to that consultation in due course.