Written questions by Evans.

Whether he plans to continue the Mental Health Investment Standard.

Despite the challenging fiscal environment, the Department expects all integrated care boards to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard in 2025/26. Spending on mental health support in 2025/26 is forecast to increase compared with 2024/25, reaching £15.6 billion. This represents an increase of £688 million in cash terms. The Government recognises the need for a new approach to mental health in order to reduce waiting times, improve the quality of care, and increase the productivity of mental health services. Funding is a key component of this. The NHS Medium Term Planning Framework therefore sets out that integrated care boards will be required to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard over the next three years by protecting mental health spending in real terms, ensuring that spending increases in line with inflation.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs during Environment, Food and Rural Affairs questions on 13 November 2025, Hansard col 291, on what date does she plans to publish the animal welfare strategy.

As set out by the Prime Minister, we will publish our Animal Welfare Strategy this year which will set out our priorities for animal welfare.

With reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Net Zero during Energy and Net Zero questions on 18 November 2025, on what date he plans to launch the fuel finder service.

The government is committed to launching Fuel Finder as quickly as possible. The Motor Fuel Price (Open Data) Regulations 2025 were debated in the House of Lords on 4 December 2025 and should be in place from 18 December 2025.

What recent discussions he has had with OFCOM on a) the business challenges facing Royal Mail and (b) Royal Mail's ability to meet the Universal Service Obligation.

Ministers and officials meet with Ofcom regularly to discuss a range of issues in relation to its role as the independent regulator for the postal sector. It is for Ofcom to oversee Royal Mail’s delivery of the universal service obligation and decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations. Ofcom takes compliance with its regulatory targets seriously and this involves conducting thorough investigations where failures have been identified. In October, Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21 million for failing to meet its quality-of-service targets and has told Royal Mail it must urgently publish and deliver a credible plan that delivers major and continuous improvement.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2025 on WPQ 90372 on Agriculture: Subsidies, what plans her department has to (a) conclude and (b) publicise the outcomes of their work on future agricultural grant funding models.

We are working to simplify and rationalise our grant funding from 2026 onwards to ensure they are targeted towards those who need them most and where they can deliver the most benefit for food security and nature. We will communicate more on future grants in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to consider legislative and non-legislative options to take forward changes to low-welfare activities abroad.

The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities abroad. We continue to engage with stakeholders including the tourism industry and animal welfare groups to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2025 to Question 31508 on religious freedom, what issues have been recently considered between the Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Minister for Human Right to inform wider foreign policy.

The UK Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief continues to work closely with ministers and officials across a range of issues and geographies, including the current situations in Sudan, Nigeria and Syria. He also works to strengthen international coalitions and represent the UK internationally, most recently at the High-Level International Religious Freedom or Belief (Article 18) Alliance Conference, held in Prague on 12-13 November.

What steps he is taking to ensure that the patterns of social engagement by young men about issues concerning (a) anabolic steroids and (b) image and performance enhancing drugs are captured as part of improving men's health literacy.

On 19 November 2025, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the first ever Men’s Health Strategy for England. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community, and family networks, and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.We are taking a range of actions to improve men’s health literacy. For example, our landmark partnership with the Premier League will bring together football clubs and the Government to improve health literacy, particularly around mental health and suicide prevention. We are also ensuring health literacy improvements are embedded at the community level, building the evidence base on heath literacy in men, and identifying ways to build media literacy skills in men to help them critically assess health information and protect against misinformation that harms health.We will consider the impacts on young men in the implementation of the strategy. The strategy sets up a strong foundation for improving how we think and act on men's health and we will learn, iterate, and adapt as new challenges emerge. As a first step, we will work with the Men's Health Academic Network and the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector to develop and publish a one-year-on report, highlighting the improvements made and where future efforts will need to be targeted.

What plans he has to provide clarity to the trustees of the British Coal staff superannuation scheme on the possibilities of return of the £2.3 billion investment reserve of the British Coal superannuation scheme back to its members.

The Department is engaging with HM Treasury with a view to agreeing a way forward on the transfer of the reserve to members. The Government is aiming to reach agreement on an outcome that can be implemented later this year which will benefit scheme members.

What recent conversations he has had with Treasury about the potential impact of the return of the £2.3 billion investment reserve of the British Coal staff superannuation scheme on the economy.

As at 30 October 2024, there were 39,251 members of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme. Any transfer of the reserve would be used to enhance member benefits.

What recent conversations he has with the Treasury regarding the return of the £2.3 billion investment reserve of the British Coal staff superannuation scheme.

The Department is engaging with HM Treasury with a view to agreeing a way forward on the transfer of the reserve to members. The Government is aiming to reach agreement on an outcome that can be implemented later this year which will benefit scheme members.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Billions to be redirected back into patient care with NHS reform, published on 11 November, if he will publish the upfront costs of these reforms.

The reforms announced on 11 November will involve some upfront costs associated with organisational change, including the reintegration of NHS England and the restructuring of integrated care boards.The Government is committed to ensuring that Parliament and the public are appropriately informed of these costs. Information will be published at the appropriate time, in line with established reporting mechanisms, to ensure transparency and accountability. The Department will continue to provide updates as the reforms progress.

Further to his Department’s press release entitled Billions to be redirected back into patient care with NHS reform, published on 11 November, if he will publish the calculations for the stated £1bn a year saving.

The reintegration of NHS England and the restructuring of integrated care boards will deliver efficiencies that are expected to save £1 billion a year by the end of this Parliament. These savings will be achieved through streamlining functions, reducing duplication, and redirecting resources towards frontline patient care.The Government is committed to transparency in how these figures are calculated. The methodology underpinning the £1 billion saving estimate will be set out through established mechanisms, including publication of supporting documentation where appropriate. This will ensure that both Parliament and the public are able to scrutinise the basis of the savings. Further detail will be brought forward in due course, in line with our commitment to provide clear and timely information.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 83938 on Roads: Horses, if she will make an assessment of trends in levels of equestrian related incidents in (a) England and (b) Leicestershire.

The number of reported personal injury road collisions involving ridden horses for the last 10 years in England and Leicestershire (local authority) are shown in the table:YearEnglandLeicestershire2015904201697220178132018690201951020207312021762202268020234902024591

What steps he is taking to ensure transparency of fuel prices at petrol stations.

The government is launching Fuel Finder, an open data scheme to increase fuel price transparency, drive up competition, drive down prices, and help drivers find the best deal. This is real action to help tackle the cost of living.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had ahead of the Autumn Budget 2025 with supported accommodation providers on sustainable levels of funding support.

The government values the vital role played by supported housing in helping older, disabled and other vulnerable people to live independently and well, and the contribution it makes to wider government objectives, including tackling rough sleeping and homelessness. I have been fully briefed on the challenges facing the supported housing sector and, together with my officials, I am committed to working together with the sector on the issues.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 82927 on Special Educational Needs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the outcomes of the Curriculum and Assessment Review feed into the forthcoming White Paper on SEND provision.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review looked closely at how to break down the barriers that hold back children and young people, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.We have already accepted the Review’s recommendation to develop new evidence-based resources to support curriculum adaptation for all children and young people.

With reference to the report by the NAO entitled Home to School Transport, published on 31 October 2025, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities about the increasing demand for home to support transport; and whether she intends to include policies to support home to school transport provision as part of the forthcoming Government White Paper on SEND.

Department officials hold regular forums to which all local authority home-to-school travel teams are invited. These meetings provide the department with valuable information about the challenges local authorities face. We have committed to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system to enable more children to thrive in local mainstream settings, whilst guaranteeing access to excellent specialist provision where needed. This will mean fewer children will need to travel long distances to access education which will reduce the financial and logistical burden on local authorities and leave the service better able to meet the needs of the children that continue to rely on it. These reforms to the SEND system will be set out in a Schools white paper early in the new year.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including issues about (a) personal taxation and (b) tax codes in the financial education syllabus arising from the outcomes of the Curriculum Review.

On 5 November, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review published its final report which includes recommendations for a refreshed curriculum and assessment system in England.As part of the response to the Review’s report the government has made a commitment to strengthen pupils’ foundational understanding of financial education in mathematics and citizenship, with digital resources to support teaching. From budgeting to understanding credit, through our revised curriculum all children will learn about the fundamentals of money, ensuring every pupil develops the skills needed to succeed in the modern world.The department will engage with sector experts and young people in working out how best to reflect this in the updated curriculum. There will be public consultation on the updated curriculum programmes of study, to seek views on the content before they are finalised.

Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with Ofcom on in-contract mobile phone bill increases.

The Secretary of State wrote to Ofcom’s CEO on 31st October to ask for Ofcom’s assessment of telecoms consumer protections and what could be done further and faster on transparent and fair pricing.It is imperative that people feel empowered when interacting with the telecoms market and that they can be confident they are getting a fair deal. This includes prominent and transparent information in consumer contracts on any in-contract price rises and a consumer’s right to leave within 30 days of notification of an increase beyond that outlined in the contract.