Written questions by Evans.

Pursuant to the Answers of 10 September 2024 to Questions 3805 and 3806 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, if she will hold discussions with (a) public and (b) private bodies on taking steps to ensure that new charging points offer guaranteed high speed chargers for electric vehicles.

The Government communicates regularly with chargepoint operators, trade associations and industry to discuss the rollout of fast and reliable chargepoints.

What steps her Department is taking to support the long-term funding of Leicestershire Police.

The 2024-25 police funding settlement provides Leicestershire Police with funding of up to £256.0 million in 2024-25. The Home Office will provide additional government grant funding of £175 million to policing in 2024-25 to support the costs of the 2024 police pay award, from which Leicestershire will receive a further £2.4 million.The Budget published on 30 October confirmed that the core government grant for police forces in England and Wales will increase in 2025-26. Further details and force level allocations will be set out at the forthcoming provisional settlement in December.Funding for future years beyond 2025-26 will be set out in phase 2 of the Spending Review.

With reference to the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to (a) agricultural property relief and (b) business rate relief on long-term food security.

The Government has published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-are-the-changes-to-agricultural-property-relief#:~:text=From%206%20April%202026%2C%20the,rather%20than%20the%20standard%2040%25. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief in 2026-27 are expected to be unaffected by these reforms. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill. Agricultural land and associated buildings are exempt from business rates. The Government made announcements at Autumn Budget 2024 to support and improve food security. The Government has provided £5 billion across this year and next to support the ongoing transition towards a more productive and environmentally sustainable agricultural sector in England. This will strengthen the domestic sector and improve food security.

What assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of retention of teaching assistants; and what steps her Department is taking to support recruitment of teaching assistants.

School support staff play a vital role in children’s education and the smooth running of schools. They are crucial to ensuring children are given the best possible life chances.In the survey ‘Use of teaching assistants in schools’, carried out by the department in 2023, 75% of school leaders reported they found it either 'fairly’ or ‘extremely’ difficult to recruit teaching assistants. The survey found that retention was difficult for 29% of leaders. The department values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce and will address recruitment and retention challenges by reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB). The SSSNB will be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook, training, career progression routes and fair pay rates for support staff. This reform will ensure that schools can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver high quality, inclusive education and drive high and rising standards, so that every child has the best life chances.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) increasing levels of pay and (b) reviewing conditions for teaching assistants.

School support staff play a vital role in children’s education and the smooth running of schools. They are crucial to ensuring children are given the best possible life chances.In the survey ‘Use of teaching assistants in schools’, carried out by the department in 2023, 75% of school leaders reported they found it either 'fairly’ or ‘extremely’ difficult to recruit teaching assistants. The survey found that retention was difficult for 29% of leaders. The department values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce and will address recruitment and retention challenges by reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB). The SSSNB will be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook, training, career progression routes and fair pay rates for support staff. This reform will ensure that schools can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver high quality, inclusive education and drive high and rising standards, so that every child has the best life chances.

Media and Sport, when she plans to conclude her review of Arts Council England.

The previous public body review of Arts Council England was paused during the election and has now been closed.We have announced a new review of Arts Council England and further details will be announced in due course.After 14 years of indifference and cultural vandalism, this government is committed to making sure that arts and cultural activities will no longer be the preserve of a privileged few.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help support the (a) TV and (b) film industry outside of London.

The government is firmly committed to supporting the growth of the TV and film industry across every nation and region.Our TV sector, in particular, is centralised in London and the South East, which is why my Right Honourable Friend the Secretary of State has called on broadcasters to be more ambitious in growing the sector outside of London and the South East, and to commission more content from right across the UK. My Department is taking forward work to understand the barriers to further growing the industry outside of London and we are committed to working with the sector to ensure the right framework, conditions and support are in place for this to happen.Through our UK-wide funding programmes, investment in infrastructure, tax reliefs and support for independent British content, we want the UK to be the best place in the world to make films. We fund the British Film Institute (BFI) to support the film sector through nationwide funding and initiatives. The BFI’s ten year strategy, Screen Culture 2033, sets out its core principle to reach across the full breadth of our nation. The BFI have sought to devolve funding, share power, and support networks across regions, in particular through their Film Audience Network (BFI FAN) which is a collaboration of 8 film hubs.The BFI is also tackling skills shortages in the sector to underpin growth across the UK. Under the BFI’s National Lottery Skills Clusters Fund, £8.1 million has been awarded to enable six Skills Clusters across the UK to identify skills gaps, coordinate local skills training, and develop clearer pathways to long-term employment in the sector.We support the British Film Commission’s (BFC) work, with £6 million in funding, over the last five years. This funding has supported the growth of seven geographic production hubs across the UK, by investing in infrastructure and attracting global film productions that bring inward investment into the local and national economy.We also want to support independent British content, to ensure stories from across the UK are told on screen. We recently brought in the Independent Film Tax Credit to support homegrown talent. This will mean that for the first time productions with a budget up to £15 million will be eligible for a relief of 53% on qualifying expenditure. Films with a budget up to £23.5 million are also eligible for the IFTC and the relief will be tapered. We also support indie content across the nations and regions to grow internationally through the £28 million UK Global Screen Fund (UKGSF).At the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor confirmed that from 1 April 2025, UK visual effects costs in film and high-end TV productions will receive a 5% increase in Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC), for an overall rate of 39%.In addition, to boost the contribution of film tourism to local economies, DCMS Arm’s-Length Body VisitBritain uses high profile filming locations across the UK as part of its international tourism marketing activity.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2024 to Question 5385 on Pension Credit, how much extra funding her Department has secured for additional staffing to improve processing times.

The details of the departmental budgets for 24/25 and 25/26 will be agreed through the Spending Review. This will include details of funding to support Pension Credit claims.

Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with Universal Studios on proposals for a theme park in Bedfordshire.

DCMS supports NBCUniversal’s proposal to invest in Bedfordshire. A world-class, large-scale resort and theme park has the potential to transform the area, drive growth, create thousands of jobs and boost UK tourism.The details of conversations between private investors and the Government are confidential.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of Universal Studios’ proposed theme park to be situated in Bedfordshire.

DCMS supports NBCUniversal’s proposal to invest in Bedfordshire. A world-class, large-scale resort and theme park has the potential to transform the area, drive growth, create thousands of jobs and boost UK tourism.The details of conversations between private investors and the Government are confidential.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department plans to take through the new joint government working group on children’s online safety to assess the impact of the illegal sale of IPEDs and anabolic steroids via social media platforms on young people.

The UK’s Online Safety Act places duties on online platforms to tackle illegal content and protect children’s safety by mitigating risks identified. Platforms will need to put in place proactive measures to prevent the unlawful supply, or offer to supply, of controlled drugs on their services.The government recognises that these issues must also be addressed working with our international partners. Once established, the new UK-US working group will facilitate the sharing of expertise and evidence, including from implementation of the UK’s Online Safety Act.

If she will introduce a road safety campaign to reinforce the importance of safe driving around horses and their riders.

The Government's flagship road safety campaign, THINK!, aims to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads. The THINK! Campaign plays an important role in raising awareness of, and encouraging compliance with, new road safety legislation. This has recently included changes to The Highway Code, which were made on 29 January 2022 and aimed to improve road safety for people walking, cycling and horse riding.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department plans to take through the new joint government working group on children’s online safety to assess the impact of digitally-manipulated body images on young people’s mental health.

Under the UK’s Online Safety Act relevant services will need to prevent children from accessing the most harmful content, including content promoting eating disorders. Ofcom has also proposed in its draft child safety codes that platforms take steps to protect children from depressive content and body image content.The government recognises that these issues must also be addressed working with our international partners. Once established, the new UK-US working group will facilitate the sharing of expertise and evidence, including from implementation of the UK’s Online Safety Act, on the impact of social media on children’s mental health and well-being.

Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the Government’s response to the consultation entitled The Enterprise Act 2002 (Mergers Involving Newspaper Enterprises and Foreign Powers) Regulations 2024.

We are currently considering the responses to the consultation that we received, and hope to publish a response in the near future.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of charging VAT on independent school fees on local authority costings to support displaced former private school children with special education needs.

This government is committed to ending the VAT exemption that private schools enjoy and will confirm the introduction of these changes at the Budget on 30 October. The Office for Budget Responsibility will also certify the government’s costings for these measures at that time. The right time to discuss any funding for state funded schools is at the Spending Review.Children with Education, Health and Care plans that provide a necessary local authority funded place at a private school will not be impacted by this policy. This is because local authorities can reclaim VAT on service expenditure through existing routes.Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) assumes a net gain to the public finances of £1.3 to 1.5 billion per year in the medium to long run as a result of removing tax exemptions from private schools. This would allow for about a 2% increase in state school spending in England. This analysis can be found here: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/tax-private-school-fees-and-state-school-spending.The IFS report also projects that transfers from the private to the state-sector will be low at equivalent to less than 1% of state funded places.The department regularly speaks to local authorities about all local pupil place planning pressures.

What recent discussions she has had with local educational authorities on the potential costs of supporting displaced former private school children with special educational needs.

This government is committed to ending the VAT exemption that private schools enjoy and will confirm the introduction of these changes at the Budget on 30 October. The Office for Budget Responsibility will also certify the government’s costings for these measures at that time. The right time to discuss any funding for state funded schools is at the Spending Review.Children with Education, Health and Care plans that provide a necessary local authority funded place at a private school will not be impacted by this policy. This is because local authorities can reclaim VAT on service expenditure through existing routes.Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) assumes a net gain to the public finances of £1.3 to 1.5 billion per year in the medium to long run as a result of removing tax exemptions from private schools. This would allow for about a 2% increase in state school spending in England. This analysis can be found here: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/tax-private-school-fees-and-state-school-spending.The IFS report also projects that transfers from the private to the state-sector will be low at equivalent to less than 1% of state funded places.The department regularly speaks to local authorities about all local pupil place planning pressures.

What recent discussions she has had with (a) police chiefs, (b) other statutory bodies and (c) third party bodies and community organisations to progress the her Department's objective to halve knife crime in a decade.

The government has launched a coalition to tackle knife crime with campaign groups, charities and victims’ families alongside key partners.The coalition will bring together key stakeholders and work with experts to develop an extensive understanding of what causes young people to be involved in knife crime as well as holding government departments to account for progress in halving knife crime in a decade

What initial steps her Department is taking to progress the Government’s objective to halve knife crime in a decade.

Halving knife crime over the next decade is a moral mission for this Government and we are already taking a range of initial steps to realise this ambition.We implemented the ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes approved by Parliament in April. It is now illegal to manufacture, supply, sell or possess these dangerous weapons. We will also introduce a ban on Ninja swords as soon as possible. We will be launching a consultation shortly and plan to introduce the legislation afterwards when Parliamentary time allows.Intervening early to stop young people being drawn into crime is a fundamental part of our approach and that is why we are creating a new Young Futures Programme. It is vital that we have a system to identify and support this cohort who need it most and we will be introducing Local Prevention Partnerships and Young Futures Hubs to help deliver this.The Prime Minister launched a Coalition to tackle the scourge of knife crime last month. The Coalition will bring together key stakeholders to work with experts to develop an extensive understanding of what causes young people to be dragged into violence.

Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential impact of proposals for the regulation of short-term lets on the tourism industry.

Short-term lets are integral to our visitor economy and we know they bring a range of benefits to the UK on a national and local scale. We believe that communities in tourism hot spots need to be able to benefit from a thriving tourism sector, but they also must be able to access genuinely affordable housing to rent or buy in their local area. DCMS and MHCLG continue to discuss their respective policies to ensure a joined up approach that looks at the short-term lets sector as a whole. DCMS will be examining the impact of the registration scheme for short-term lets on the sector through an impact assessment and will update in due course.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of terminating the furnished holiday lettings tax regime on the tourism sector.

The Government will abolish the Furnished Holiday Lets (FHLs) tax regime from April 2025. This will equalise the tax treatment of FHL and non-FHL landlords’ income and gains. The Government wants to support visitor accommodation alongside housing for longer-term residents to rent or buy. Achieving this balance is crucial in supporting the tourism sector, and many of the people that who work in the sector need access to local housing.