Written questions by Evans.

What steps he is taking to improve access to speech and language therapy.

We inherited a broken National Health Service with waiting times across all areas unacceptably high. In his investigation into the NHS in England, Lord Darzi highlighted the crisis in children’s community services with too many children waiting too long for services, including speech and language therapy, impacting their wellbeing, education and life chances. Lord Darzi also made clear we need to need to focus on community services. Too many adults are waiting too long to receive speech and language therapy, negatively impacting their communication or swallowing abilities. Through our 10-Year Health Plan, we will shift healthcare from hospitals to community. This shift to community services, like speech and language therapy, helps to prevent costly and intensive support later. Through the 10-Year Health Plan, we will revisit the Long Term Workforce Plan to ensure we have the right staff delivering the right services in the right place. We continue to improve access to speech and language therapy, including though the Early Language and Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme, with the Department of Education and NHS England. The ELSEC programme provides training and support to education settings, to increase their ability to support speech, language, and communication development.

With reference to his interview with BBC Radio 5 Live on 28 February 2025, if he will publish the data showing that 900 new GPs have been employed since July 2024.

Data on the number of general practitioners in the workforce is available through the General Practice Workforce series of Official Statistics, at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/general-and-personal-medical-services/31-january-2025Information on the number of recently qualified general practitioners for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme will be published shortly

What assessment she has made of the level of (a) importance of the Adoption and Special Guardian Support Fund to families with adopted children and (b) funding provided to families out of the Fund in the last reported financial year.

As part of spending review discussions, there are regular conversations between the department and His Majesty’s Treasury. We will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being made as part of these discussions.The ASGSF has provided valuable support to both adoptive and special guardianship families during 2024/25, helping them to thrive and enabling children and young people to make the best start in life. In 2023/24, the last full financial year, the Fund supported a total of 19,495 children and families with funding of £49,191,908.

What discussions she is having with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the future of the Adoption and Special Guardian Support Fund.

As part of spending review discussions, there are regular conversations between the department and His Majesty’s Treasury. We will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being made as part of these discussions.The ASGSF has provided valuable support to both adoptive and special guardianship families during 2024/25, helping them to thrive and enabling children and young people to make the best start in life. In 2023/24, the last full financial year, the Fund supported a total of 19,495 children and families with funding of £49,191,908.

Whether she is taking steps to ensure the continuance of the funding for the Adoption and Special Guardian Support Fund after March 2025.

As part of spending review discussions, there are regular conversations between the department and His Majesty’s Treasury. We will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being made as part of these discussions.The ASGSF has provided valuable support to both adoptive and special guardianship families during 2024/25, helping them to thrive and enabling children and young people to make the best start in life. In 2023/24, the last full financial year, the Fund supported a total of 19,495 children and families with funding of £49,191,908.

What estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the abolition of NHS England.

We recognise there may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake the integration of NHS England and the Department but these costs and more will be recouped in future years because of a smaller and leaner centre. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.

What the cost to the public purse is of the redundancy package for staff being made redundant from NHS England.

We recognise there may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake the integration of NHS England and the Department but these costs and more will be recouped in future years because of a smaller and leaner centre. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 36448 on Pension Credit, how many staff were seconded from the Child Maintenance Services and Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt to process pension credit applications; and for what time period.

100 colleagues have been redeployed from Child Maintenance Services and 20 colleagues redeployed from Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt to support Pension Credit activity.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had on the adequacy of the (a) training, (b) registration and (c) regulation of dog (i) trainers and (ii) behaviourists.

Defra is working hand in hand with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to encourage responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog, including considering the role of education and training (for both dogs and their owners).

What recent discussions he has had with (a) police forces and (b) local authorities on the (a) effectiveness of current legislation on and (b) adequacy of resources for encouraging responsible dog ownership in public areas.

The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police and local authorities with a range of flexible tools and powers, including Community Protection Notices, Civil Injunctions and Public Spaces Protection Orders, that they can use to tackle irresponsible dog ownership.Appropriate use of the powers is a local decision for police, local authorities and other agencies; however, the Home Office regularly engages with police and local authority partners to discuss the effectiveness of the legislation.Set against our Safer Streets Mission, this government is committed to reducing anti-social behaviour (ASB). We are making changes to some of the powers in the 2014 Act via the Crime and Policing Bill, introduced to Parliament last month, to ensure the powers – based on engagement with police and local authorities – are as effective as possible. These changes include increasing the upper limit for a fixed penalty notice for breaches of Community Protection Notices and Public Spaces Protection Orders from £100 to £500 to act as a stronger deterrent to ASB.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2024 to Question 19399 on Dangerous Dogs, what the outcomes were from his discussions on improving data (a) collection and (b) recording on dog attacks; and what recent discussions he has had with (i) police and (ii) local authorities on this matter.

Defra is continuing to work with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to explore measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. This includes continuing to consider how we can improve data collection and recording so we are in a better position to take action.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) police forces, (b) local authorities and (c) animal welfare groups on helping to prevent future dog-on-dog attacks.

Defra is continuing to work with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to explore measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. This includes continuing to consider how we can improve data collection and recording so we are in a better position to take action.

Whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on using funding reallocated from the Overseas Development Assistance budget to fund the Chagos settlement.

FCDO and the MOD are the lead departments for the Chagos agreement, and must balance any commitments under an agreement against wider priorities in their budgets – and in line with the Managing Public Money framework. OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) guidelines on ODA eligibility will continue to be applied in the usual way to any financial obligations arising from an agreement. The Prime Minister recently announced that the UK will spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by the 2027/28 financial year, funded by a reduction in ODA spending to the equivalent of 0.3% of GNI.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2025 to Question 31507 on Pension Credit, from which directorate have the additional staff been deployed to process pension credit applications; and for how long the additional staff have been seconded to process pension credit applications.

The directorates within DWP where colleagues were redeployed to support Pension Credit activity were from Child Maintenance Service and Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt. Other additions were via use of a flexible pool of DWP colleagues that move across functions as required. Our approach to deploying additional people to support Pension Credit activity was taken in a manner to not disadvantage other services. Backlogs have not emerged as a consequence of these moves.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2025 to Question 31507 on Pension Credit, whether she is taking steps to ensure that backlogs of work are actioned within directorates that have seconded additional staff to process pension credit applications.

The directorates within DWP where colleagues were redeployed to support Pension Credit activity were from Child Maintenance Service and Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt. Other additions were via use of a flexible pool of DWP colleagues that move across functions as required. Our approach to deploying additional people to support Pension Credit activity was taken in a manner to not disadvantage other services. Backlogs have not emerged as a consequence of these moves.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the annual cost to the public purse is of maintaining the Chagos Marine Protected Area.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) provides money for the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Administration for the good governance of the territory, including environmental protection. The FCDO does not itself spend money for maintaining the BIOT Marine Protected Area, outside of the Blue Belt programme. The Blue Belt Programme, which is funded by the FCDO, has provided £1,230,562 since 1 April 2022 to support BIOT manage its Marine Protected Area.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding his Department has provided through the Blue Belt Programme to help protect ocean health in the British Indian Ocean Territories since 2022.

The Blue Belt Programme, which is funded by the FCDO, has provided £1,230,562 since 1 April 2022 to support the British Indian Ocean Territory manage its Marine Protected Area. This includes measures to prevent illegal fishing through satellite monitoring and joint surveillance with Sri Lanka and India, as well as a coastal monitoring plan.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February to Question 31434 on Animal Products: Labelling, what discussions he has had with (a) statutory bodies and (b) animal welfare campaign groups on including animal welfare labelling in future food labelling regulations.

The Government was elected on a mandate to improve animal welfare and has committed to introducing the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation. The Department is engaging with a range of key animal welfare stakeholders as part of the development of our overarching approach to animal welfare. We will be outlining more details on this in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed treaty with Mauritius on the Chagos Islands on the long term sustainability of the Chagos Marine Protected Area.

The agreement will be supported by an enhanced partnership between the UK and Mauritius on conservation. This partnership will prioritise high conservation standards, with the UK supporting Mauritius' ambitions to establish a Marine Protected Area (MPA) that protects the globally significant ecosystems in the Chagos Archipelago. This will extend to technical, financial, capacity-building assistance, fostering long-term sustainable management.

If he will publish the dates on which (a) he and (b) the Minister of State for Care has met with (i) Community Pharmacy England and (ii) the National Pharmacy Association since 4 July 2024.

Ministers regularly engage with external stakeholders on a variety of issues, including but not limited to pharmacy. Details of ministerial meetings with external stakeholders are published quarterly in arrears on the GOV.UK website.