Written questions by Evans.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of demand responsive travel in rural areas in (a) the UK and (b) Leicestershire.

The government believes demand responsive transport (DRT) has an important role to play in ensuring communities can access transport services in areas where more traditional, regular stopping services may not be viable. The Department has funded 17 innovative DRT pilots through the Rural Mobility Fund. Each scheme is taking part in a detailed monitoring and evaluation process. This will provide a strong base of evidence and good practice for DRT and a better understanding of both the role it can play in rural areas and the challenges associated with introducing it. The final process evaluation will be published later in 2025, and an impact and value for money evaluation is underway, with findings available in late 2026. Some of the Rural Mobility Fund schemes have grown beyond their original pilot areas, including Fox Connect in Leicestershire. This has expanded from serving an area in south west Leicestershire into five zones around Market Harborough and two zones around Melton Mowbray. Three new zones will shortly commence in north west Leicestershire and will connect parts of Hinckley and Bosworth. These zones provide access into the local town centre and also serve train stations and East Midlands Gateway, also served by Nottinghamshire’s DRT service.

If she will take steps to highlight the importance of safety at railway level crossings during the school summer holidays.

Educating users is critical to ensuring that level crossings are used safely and we look to Network Rail as the owner of these assets to do this. Network Rail produces a wide range of educational material on safety on and around the railway, including on level crossing safety, which it promotes through media campaigns and through school and community events. It recognises that the school holidays can pose particular challenges and focuses significant effort in attending local schools and community events in the vicinity of level crossings to promote railway safety.

Whether she plans to replace the business rates system from 2026-27; and whether she plans to hold a consultation to inform the new system.

Over the course of this Parliament, the Government will create a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century. The Government published a Discussion Paper at Autumn Budget 2024 setting out priority areas for reform. This paper invited industry to help co-design a fairer business rates system that supports investment and is fit for the 21st century. The Treasury received over 160 written responses to that Discussion Paper and met with over 250 stakeholders. On 17 February, the Government published a ‘forward look’ of the expected timeline for reforms announced at Autumn Budget 2024, and how stakeholders should engage with the Government on business rates reform going forwards. In the summer, the Government will publish an interim report that sets out a clear direction of travel for the business rates system, with further policy detail to follow at Budget 2025.

Whether she has completed the capital review of transport projects.

The Capital Review was undertaken by an external panel of independent experts, and has now concluded.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2025 to Question 59764 on Chagos Islands: Sovereignty, what estimate he has made of the cost of payments to Mauritius for the (a) FCDO and (b) MOD as part of the Agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia.

The payments to Mauritius will be split between the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence. They will be published in the normal manner alongside other departmental spend in the annual accounts.

If she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of school career services in (a) highlighting and (b) encouraging apprenticeships.

The department has introduced a ladder of support and intervention, as set out in our careers statutory guidance, to support compliance with the provider access legislation which requires schools to offer pupils encounters with providers of technical education and apprenticeships. We will continue to monitor compliance, the support in place and the impact on young people.We will also continue to monitor progress against the Gatsby Benchmarks, especially benchmarks 5, 6 and 7 which are relevant for highlighting and encouraging apprenticeships take-up.Alongside this, the Careers and Enterprise Company’s (CEC) future skills questionnaire shows a move from 38% understanding of apprenticeships in year 7 to 88% by year 13.There are multiple resources available to schools and young people to highlight and encourage apprenticeships participation:CEC’s network of Careers Hubs (covering 95% of schools and colleges) works with schools and colleges to support their careers education programmes.The Skills for Careers Apprenticeships support page, which can be found here: https://www.skillsforcareers.education.gov.uk/pages/training-choice/apprenticeships.CEC’s resource directory, found here: https://resources.careersandenterprise.co.uk/.‘Amazing Apprenticeships’ resources and support for schools and colleges.The ‘Find an apprenticeship’ government website which currently hosts over 40,000 live vacancies and is available here: https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeshipsearch.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of good quality agricultural land being used for the development of large scale solar farms.

Defra produces statistical estimates of agricultural land areas each year from the annual June Survey of Agriculture: In 2024, the utilised agricultural area (UAA) in England was 8.7 million hectares and this has remained broadly stable, only changing by around +/-1% each year over the past decade. Full breakdowns of agricultural land areas are published here Agricultural land use in England - GOV.UKIn 2024, around 7,300 hectares of this land were used for solar panels (less than 0.1% of UAA). However, 50% of this land is still being used for agricultural production e.g. for livestock grazing. It is recognised that solar can, when delivered in line with relevant planning policy, have a positive impact on the natural environment, and large-scale solar farms can contribute significant gains for local biodiversity with intelligent design and planning.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in employer National Insurance contributions on the (a) fiscal position and (b) sustainability of independent SMEs.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts. The Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.

What recent discussions he has had with independent SMEs on the impact of his Department's policies.

The UK has 5.5m SMEs and we are committed to hardwiring their voice into government policy, engaging with them in various ways including through roundtables, visits and events.Hundreds of individual SMEs have been engaged across all sectors and regions as part of co-designing our SME Strategy, including through roundtables across key areas, such as High Streets, Markets and Finance as well as specific policy events such as at Wilton Park.Engagement with individual SMEs will continue to be a priority pre and post-launch of the SME Strategy to assess the impact of these policies on SMEs across the UK.

How much and what proportion of funding the National-Level Transport Scheme allocates to the (a) investigation and (b) completion of business cases; and to the immediate construction of schemes that are ready to build.

The department does not recognise the ‘National-Level Transport Scheme.’ and is therefore unable to provide an answer to this question.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of teacher's awareness of young people's caring responsibilities.

Young carers have been a hidden cohort for too long. They provide essential care and support to their loved ones, often stepping up in challenging situations at the expense of their own development and wellbeing.The department is using school census data to shine a light on young carers’ attendance, suspensions and exclusions, and is aiming to publish data on their educational progress and attainment this autumn. This will ensure they receive tailored support and do not miss out on vital educational opportunities.The statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ requires designated safeguarding leads to undergo training to provide them with the knowledge and skills to carry out their role. This includes having a good understanding of, and alertness to, the needs of young carers to identify their needs.

Communities and Local Government, what plans her Department has to ensure that neighbourhood plans continue to (a) determine and (b) deliver local housing needs.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 59114 on 19 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to fund support services for local neighbourhood plan development.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 59114 on 19 June 2025.

If he will facilitate increased sittings of the Independent Panel to assess payments for LGBTQ+ veterans.

As of 23 June 2025, the FRS had made payments totalling £3.4 million to 69 applicants with life-limiting conditions or serious health concerns. We are now processing applications based on date received. The first payments were issued within 15 weeks of the scheme going live. The Ministry of Defence remains committed to ensuring all eligible veterans receive the recognition they deserve.

If she will make an assessment of the challenges faced by young carers in balancing their caring responsibilities with (a) education and (b) training.

Young carers have been a hidden cohort for too long. They provide essential care and support to their loved ones, often stepping up in challenging situations at the expense of their own development and wellbeing.The department is using school census data to shine a light on young carers’ attendance, suspensions and exclusions, and is aiming to publish data on their educational progress and attainment this autumn. This will ensure they receive tailored support and do not miss out on vital educational opportunities.The statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ requires designated safeguarding leads to undergo training to provide them with the knowledge and skills to carry out their role. This includes having a good understanding of, and alertness to, the needs of young carers to identify their needs.

What her planned timetable is for the Midlands Rail Hub project; and what steps she is taking to ensure that the Hub supports rail travellers from (a) Leicestershire and (b) Hinckley and Bosworth consistency.

The Chancellor’s commitment to progress Midlands Rail Hub in the 2025 Spending Review follows the release of £123 million last year to design the first phase (with additional services in central Birmingham, to the South West and South Wales, and improved reliability of services through New Street), which could be delivered by the early 2030s. Network Rail is working on the case for later phases, which could include improved services between Birmingham and destinations in Leicestershire including Hinckley.

What steps she is taking to help ensure that guidance and resources for School Attendance Support Teams includes young carers.

The department wants to ensure that young carers have the best life chances by supporting them in their education. We recognise that absence from school is almost always a symptom of wider needs and barriers that a family are facing and is often also the best early indication of need in a family that may not be in contact with other services.The department’s expectations of local authorities and schools, as set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, were made statutory on 19 August 2024 and include specific reference to young carers. The ‘support first’ ethos of the attendance guidance is that pupils and families, including young carers, should receive holistic, whole-family support to help them overcome the barriers to attendance they are facing. This includes holding regular meetings with the families of pupils who the school, and/or local authority, consider to be vulnerable to discuss attendance and engagement at school. Schools are expected to recognise that absence is a symptom and that improving pupil’s attendance is part of supporting the pupil’s overall welfare. This ethos is reflected in resources provided to schools on school attendance, and our Attendance Toolkit for Schools includes reference to supporting young carers in its self-assessment tool.The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.The toolkit can be accessed via: https://attendancetoolkit.blob.core.windows.net/toolkit-doc/Attendance%20toolkit%20for%20schools.pdf.The department also publishes daily attendance data fortnightly and will continue to monitor the quality of data on young carers that is collected via the school register for consideration to include in the daily data collection in the future.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of AI companion software on (a) children's mental health, (b) children's social skills and (c) trends in the level of children's loneliness.

The department is working to build evidence of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) tools for education, both on the opportunities and the risks. We are supporting the sector to use AI safely.We are funding the development of global guidelines for the safe and effective use of generative AI in education, in partnership with the OECD and, in January 2025, we announced that leading global tech firms had committed to making AI tools for education safer by design. Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Amazon Web Services have helped develop a set of expectations AI tools should meet to be considered safe for classroom use. These are accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/generative-ai-product-safety-expectations/generative-ai-product-safety-expectations.The Generative AI product Safety Expectations framework was announced on 22 January 2025 and we have published online materials to help all educators. These materials can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/using-ai-in-education-settings-support-materials.Screens are prevalent in children's lives at home and in education. It is crucial to have protections like the Online Safety Act, while using technology to benefit children. Schools play a key role in promoting balanced technology use, minimising harmful content, and teaching online safety.The department is working across government to implement the Online Safety Act and address technology-related risks, including AI in education, while maximising opportunities for these technologies to support education.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57375 on Responsible Dog Ownership Working Group, on which dates the Responsible Dog Ownership Taskforce has met since July 2024; what topics it is considering; and what the action points were from its last meeting.

The Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce was reconvened in May 2025. The taskforce is considering four themes: education, training for both dogs and their owners, enforcement, and improving data on dog attacks. We look forward to receiving the findings and recommendations from the taskforce in due course.

When his Department expects NHS England to publish updated guidance on children's and young people's eating disorders; and which third party bodies were consulted on updates to that guidance.

NHS England is in the process of refreshing its guidance on children and young people's eating disorders, which includes increasing the focus on early identification and intervention across the care pathway, including in settings such as schools and primary care. The guidance focuses on community provision of care, whilst ensuring swift access to specialist support as soon as an eating disorder is suspected. It is not yet known when the updated guidance will be published. The updated guidance is being produced in partnership with a task and finish group comprising of internal and external clinical, academic, and policy stakeholders, including from royal colleges, regional and system children and young people and eating disorder leads and children, young people, and parents with lived experience.