Written questions by Perteghella.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of (a) levels of risk and (b) rates of checks on plants at the UK border.

An enhanced risk-based approach is already undertaken at the UK border, where regulated plants and plant products have been categorised into high, medium, and low risk categories. The principle of risk-based controls, as previously applied under the EU regime, remains unchanged, but the GB regime now focuses on risks to Great Britain, rather than risks to the EU. Controls are then appropriately weighted against the risks posed – so the higher the risk category of a plant or plant product, the more biosecurity assurances we need, in the form of import controls. There are also plants and plant products which are not regulated at all, and those that are prohibited entirely. We undertake systematic, proactive screening of plant health risks. Risks are reviewed monthly by an expert group and Ministers, and prioritised for actions such as surveillance, enhanced inspection, regulation, national measures, import controls, research and awareness raising. Ensuring the most appropriate risk categorisation and rate of inspection is important, from a biosecurity perspective, but also to avoid unnecessary disruption to our critical supply chains and ports. Risk categorisation will remain dynamic and Defra will monitor import and interception data and Inspection rates may change in response to changes in risk, for example, an upsurge of interceptions of pests or a new threat emerging.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of schools that have applied full-time attendance targets for (a) autistic and (b) neurodivergent children without reasonable adjustments in place.

The department’s guidance to schools, trusts and local authorities on supporting school attendance sets clear expectations to provide a ‘support-first’ approach to attendance, while maintaining high ambitions for all pupils.The department knows that some pupils face more complex barriers, including pupils who have long-term physical or mental health conditions, or who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Their right to an education is the same as any other pupil and therefore the attendance ambition for these pupils should be the same as it is for any other pupil. However, additional support may need to be provided to deliver those ambitions.For pupils with SEND, schools are expected to:Work in partnership with parents to develop specific support approaches including, where applicable, ensuring the provision outlined in the pupil’s education, health and care plan is accessed.Work in partnership with families to address barriers where school transport is regularly being missed and work with other partners to encourage the scheduling of medical appointments and other interventions outside of the main school day.Establish strategies for removing any in-school barriers, including considering reasonable adjustments for uniform, transport, routines, access to support in school and lunchtime arrangements.Consider adjustments to practice and policies to help meet the needs of pupils who are struggling to attend school, as well as making formal reasonable adjustments under section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 where a pupil has a disability. Any adjustments should be agreed by and regularly reviewed with the pupil and their parents.Ensure joined-up pastoral care is in place where needed and consider whether a time-limited phased return to school would be appropriate.The department’s ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf, and additional information about SEND support can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/children-with-special-educational-needs/special-educational-needs-support.

What steps she is taking to ensure the equitability of payment amounts between the (a) old State Pension, awarded until 2016 and (b) new State Pension, awarded from 2016 onwards.

We are absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement. It is not possible to make direct, like for like comparisons between State Pension amounts received under the pre 2016 State Pension system and the new State Pension. Under both systems, the amount people are entitled to varies according to their National Insurance record. It is not the case that everyone in the new system receives more than everyone in the pre 2016 system.

What progress her Department has made on preventing automated software programmes from buying driving test appointments.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests, often at significant profit. The agency encourages all customers to book a test through the official channel on GOV.UK where customers can book, change and cancel tests. The agency does not license any service to resell test slots.DVSA is deploying enhanced bot protection on its public facing booking system to stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing and DVSA continues to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system. DVSA has had a number of external reviews of its bot mitigation methodology and approach. To date, none of the reviews have indicated any improvement was necessary or suggested changes in approach.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing (a) fines and (b) other sanctions on companies that use automated software programs to buy driving test appointments.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests, often at significant profit. The agency encourages all customers to book a test through the official channel on GOV.UK where customers can book, change and cancel tests. The agency does not license any service to resell test slots.DVSA is deploying enhanced bot protection on its public facing booking system to stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing and DVSA continues to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system. DVSA has had a number of external reviews of its bot mitigation methodology and approach. To date, none of the reviews have indicated any improvement was necessary or suggested changes in approach.

Whether she plans to allow (a) churches and (b) other religious buildings to continue to recover VAT.

The Chancellor has now set out departmental budgets and the spending priorities for Phase 1 of the Spending Review. The outcome of individual programmes, such as the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, will now be assessed during the departmental Business Planning process.

What steps she is taking to tackle knife crime in late night venues.

This Government is taking action to prevent knife crime across the country. Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s mission to take back our streets. We are taking steps to realise this ambition and ensure all our community venues are kept safe. For example, we have banned Zombie style knives and zombie style machetes. The manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes was outlawed on 24 September 2024.We will also create a new Young Futures programme - intervening earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime. It is vital we have a system that can identify and support those young people who need it most and we will be introducing Prevention Partnerships and Young Futures Hubs to help deliver this.

If she will take steps to help mitigate the ongoing financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on (a) individuals and (b) small businesses.

The Government is working to improve living standards for everyone across the country. A new Ministerial Taskforce has been established to develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce child poverty. In addition, the government is introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on debt deductions in Universal Credit (UC), extending the Household Support Fund for another six months until 31 March 2025 – then extending this further for 2025-26, and continuing to make Discretionary Housing Payments in 2025-26. This package – which provides help on debt repayments, help during a crisis, and support for those struggling most with the cost of essentials – will improve economic security and resilience for those who need it most. The Government has also put growth as its number one mission, which will help families by boosting wages and putting more money in people’s pockets. The approach of this government will centre on fostering good work. We will ensure the minimum wage is a true living wage and reform employment support to offer more people the dignity and purpose of meaningful employment. In relation to small businesses, the government is committed to making it easier for start-ups and scale-ups to access external sources of financial support. This includes extending the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trust schemes to 2035; committing over £250 million in funding in 2025-26 for the British Business Bank’s small business loans programmes; ensuring small businesses can access UK Export Finance’s support and exploring the need for new products to support small exporters to access the insurance and finance they need; and publishing post implementation reviews of the Bank Referral Scheme and Commercial Credit Data Sharing Scheme. The government now intends to consult on enhancing both policies to better support SME access to finance. Late payments can bring cash-flow challenges for small businesses. We have already taken action to tackle late payments through passing additional reporting requirements for large firms in August, and the announcement of a consultation on options to go further. At Budget, we also announced from 1 October 2025, companies bidding for government contracts over £5 million per annum will be excluded from the procurement process if they do not pay their own suppliers within an average of 45 days. The government also views increasing its procurement spend with small businesses as an important economic growth lever, with further details on implementing this to be set out in the National Procurement Policy Statement next year. The government will maintain the Corporation Tax Small Profits Rate and marginal relief at their current rate and thresholds. This means 9 in 10 actively trading companies, including a majority of SMEs, will have a Corporation Tax rate lower than 25%. The £1 million Annual Investment Allowance will also be kept in place to provide the certainty businesses need to invest.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to help improve processing times for applications made to HM Land Registry.

Improving speed of service remains the top priority for HM Land Registry (HMLR). It has been making the improvements needed through hiring and training staff and enhancing the services its customers use. This has been undertaken alongside continuing to deliver the essential services required to enable property transactions to complete. Following these activities and a renewed focus on the oldest applications, HMLR has seen a reduction in the overall age of applications. It is committed to continuing this progress over the coming months.HMLR acknowledges that some customers will not yet feel the positive impact of these improvements. Anyone who is concerned that a delay with their application may cause financial, legal or personal problems or put a property sale at risk, can apply to have their application expedited free of charge. HMLR processes nearly 1,300 expedited applications every day, with around 95% actioned within 10 working days.HMLR publishes information each month about its latest processing times on GOV.UK here.

If he will commit funding for research into glioblastoma brain tumours.

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department spends £1.5 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with cancer being the largest area of spend, at over £121.8 million in 2022/23. The NIHR spends more on cancer than any other disease group, reflecting its high priority.In the five years between 2018/19 and 2022/23, the NIHR spent over £11.3 million on research projects focussed on brain tumours. In addition, our wider investments in NIHR research infrastructure, including facilities, services, and the research workforce, further allows us to leverage research funding from other donors and organisations. These investments are estimated to be £31.5 million, between 2018/19 and 2022/23, and have enabled 227 brain cancer research studies to take place in the same period.Brain cancer remains one of the hardest to treat cancers in both adults and children and we urgently need more research to inform our efforts, which is why in September the NIHR announced new research funding opportunities for brain cancer research, spanning both adult and paediatric populations. This includes a national NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium, to ensure the most promising research opportunities are made available to adult and child patients, and a new funding call to generate high quality evidence in brain tumour care, support, and rehabilitation. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-funding-opportunities-novel-brain-tumour-research-launchedWe are committed to furthering our investment and support for high-quality brain tumour research, ensuring that the funding is used in the most meaningful and impactful way.

If she will make it her policy to (a) replace new Universal Credit claim (i) advance and (ii) benefit transfer loans with new claim grants and (b) to write off overpayments made in error.

As not all new UC customers require the same level of immediate support, replacing every new customer’s advance with a UC grant would lead to significantly increased expenditure and the potential for increased fraud and error in the social security system. We are committed to reviewing Universal Credit, to make sure it is doing the job we want it to. We will set out the details of this in due course. The Secretary of State has an obligation to protect public funds and to ensure that, wherever possible, an overpayment is recovered. It is our policy to recover all debt where it is reasonable and cost effective to do so. Debts should be recovered as quickly and cost effectively as possible without causing undue financial hardship. There are no plans to write off overpayments made in error.

If she will make it her policy to maintain the link between Local Housing Allowance rates and rent cost increases each year.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were restored to the 30th percentile of local market rents from April 2024 for one year. Decisions on LHA for future years will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, housing priorities, and the fiscal context.

Whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of increasing the Digital Services Tax.

The Chancellor set out her plans on tax at the Budget. The Digital Services Tax (DST) is a 2% tax on digital services providers, and it was implemented in April 2020 as a temporary solution to widely held concerns with international corporate tax. The UK remains committed to reaching a global solution on the taxation of the digital economy through Pillar 1 of the G20-OECD Inclusive Framework project. It is the UK’s intention to repeal the DST when this international solution is in place.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make her policy to bring forward legislative proposals for compulsory purchase powers for local authorities so that they are able to compulsory purchase at current use value rather than at hope value.

The government recently brought into force regulations that provide for the removal of ‘hope value’ from the assessment of compensation, where there is justification in the public interest. Guidance and a fact sheet on the measures was published on 3 October 2024 and can be found here. Further reform of compulsory purchase compensation rules will be included in the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Announcements on the timing of that Bill will be made in the normal way in due course.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the system used to elect Members of Parliament.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 5974 on 14 October 2024.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to support research and innovation campuses in the West Midlands.

The government remains committed to delivering economic growth across all regions of the UK. We are working with local leaders in the West Midlands to develop their local growth plans, through which we will seek to make research and innovation the foundation of future growth in the region.DSIT’s Innovation Accelerator programme is empowering local businesses, universities, and civic leaders in the West Midlands to work together to catalyse innovation-led local growth, supported by around £33 million of public funding that is supporting projects in health and clean technology such as the Biochar Clean Tech Accelerator.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support freelancers in the creative industries.

We are committed to giving British creators increased security at work and providing the creative industries with a regulatory and fiscal environment where their imagination and innovation can flourish.A significant proportion (28%) of the creative industries workforce is self-employed. As outlined in the Plan to Make Work Pay, we will support and champion self-employed workers by strengthening rights and protections to help them thrive. This includes the right to a written contract; action to tackle late payments; and extending health and safety and blacklisting protections to self-employed workers. Self-employed workers will also benefit from our plans to strengthen trade union rights. We will also explore how to implement the targeted and specific manifesto commitments to enhance protections for self-employed workers through consultation.We are working with creative industry stakeholders to consider the recommendations of the Good Work Review, a sectoral deep dive funded by DCMS into job quality and working practice. This sets out a number of priorities, including developing dedicated support and guidance for self-employed creators. We are working closely with the sector as it responds to these recommendations.DCMS and its public bodies, including Arts Council England and the British Film Institute, are taking proactive steps to support self-employed workers in the creative industries with Arts Council England supporting more than 1,200 individual practitioners through National Lottery Project Grants totalling almost £30 million, and more than 1,200 individuals through the £14.5 million Developing Your Creative Practice Programme.

Media and Sport, what support her Department provides to UK artists touring in the EU.

This Government is working collaboratively across departments to look at how best to help touring artists, and improve arrangements for musicians, performing artists and their support staff being able to tour across the EU.The Government provides support for UK artists through initiatives such as the Music Export Growth Scheme, co-funded by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and the International Showcase Fund, which is funded by the DBT. These schemes are designed to help artists access international markets, expand their reach, and promote the UK’s creative talent globally.We will engage with the new European Commission and EU Member States, seeking improved arrangements across the European continent without a return to free movement. Our priority remains ensuring that UK artists can continue to thrive on the global stage.

Whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of specialist input in PIP Reviews.

I have interpreted your question to refer to the adequacy of the input provided by the assessment supplier (AS) health professional (HP) during a PIP review. All decisions on entitlement to PIP, whether at initial claim or review, are made by DWP case managers (CM). CMs, whilst not medically qualified, do receive extensive training to enable them to evaluate a claim and assess the individual’s needs. They have access to expert advice from HPs, if required, and can make requests for supplementary advice at any stage in the decision-making process. Advice should be clear, succinct, justified and in accordance with the consensus of medical opinion. Where a CM is then still unable to make a decision on the PIP review, the case will be referred to the AS for an assessment. During the assessment stage the HP is able to source additional evidence from professionals such as the individuals GP, occupational therapist, community psychiatric nurse and/or any other health professionals involved in the individual’s care. They have access to guidance and support (such as Condition Insight Reports and Continuous Professional Development modules) on how certain conditions present and how they might affect function. The APs also have access to Mental Function Champions (MFC) who can provide advice and support to HPs on health conditions and disabilities affecting mental, cognitive, intellectual, and behavioural function. The quality of any advice provided by the HP, whether via supplementary advice or the assessment report is a priority for all AS’s and the department. The department works extensively with ASs to make improvements to guidance, training, and audit procedures to ensure a quality service, supported by an independent audit function that continually monitors performance and provides feedback to its ASs.

If she will make it her policy to reduce the frequency of PIP Reviews.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to her previous Question 6897 on 14 October. We continue to keep under review awards, their durations and award review periods.