Written questions by Hendrick.

What steps he is taking to (a) encourage the installation of heat pumps and (b) ensure that homes are properly insulated to support the effective operation of those heat pumps.

The Government is making is easier for households to install heat pumps. This includes increasing the budget for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and amending Permitted Development Rights in England to give households greater flexibility to install a heat pump. Our schemes such as the Warm Homes: Local Grant, Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Energy Company Obligation provide support for energy efficiency measures and low carbon technologies like heat pumps. The Warm Homes Plan (WHP) will focus on ensuring homes are more comfortable to live in and cheaper to heat. In many cases, that will mean improvements to the fabric of the building in order to maximise the bill savings and thermal comfort, alongside switching to low carbon heat. Further detail on the WHP will be announced by October.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 60420 on Health Services: Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of cancelled appointments (a) at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and (b) in England; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of missed appointments at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals in the last three years.

As set out in the Plan for Change, we will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. The Government is clear that to help achieve this target we must reduce the cancellation of procedures wherever possible.The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, states that systems and providers will be expected to consistently focus on the smaller aspects of service delivery that can make a big difference in reducing cancellations, including embedding theatre scheduling for elective surgery, and reviewing list allocation for past and upcoming theatre lists.At the Lancashire Teaching Hospital, a number of initiatives are in place to reduce the number of cancelled appointments, including theatre efficiency and utilisation programmes, focused on the reduction of late starts, improved turnaround times, and reduced overruns. The opening of the new elective admissions unit, the Lancashire Elective Surgery Unit, at the Royal Preston Hospital supports improved admission processes and theatre efficiency. Investment in the Hospital Sterilisation and Decontamination Unit workforce and tracking systems within theatres helps reduce the number of cancellations due to equipment issues. This is in addition to improved administrative processes to ensure care is delivered in the most productive way.No specific assessment has been made of the cost of cancelled appointments at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 60419 on Surgery: Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of cancellations of elective operations for non-clinical reasons at (a) Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and (b) hospitals in England.

As set out in the Plan for Change, we will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. The Government is clear that to help achieve this target we must reduce the cancellation of procedures wherever possible.The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, states that systems and providers will be expected to consistently focus on the smaller aspects of service delivery that can make a big difference in reducing cancellations, including embedding theatre scheduling for elective surgery, and reviewing list allocation for past and upcoming theatre lists.At the Lancashire Teaching Hospital, a number of initiatives are in place to reduce the number of cancelled appointments, including theatre efficiency and utilisation programmes, focused on the reduction of late starts, improved turnaround times, and reduced overruns. The opening of the new elective admissions unit, the Lancashire Elective Surgery Unit, at the Royal Preston Hospital supports improved admission processes and theatre efficiency. Investment in the Hospital Sterilisation and Decontamination Unit workforce and tracking systems within theatres helps reduce the number of cancellations due to equipment issues. This is in addition to improved administrative processes to ensure care is delivered in the most productive way.No specific assessment has been made of the cost of cancelled appointments at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals.

What the average processing time was for asylum applications in the latest period for which data is available; and what steps her Department plans to take to reduce the time taken to process asylum applications.

Available data on processing of asylum claims is published in table ASY_01 of the ‘Immigration and Protection data’. The latest data is as of 31 March 2025.The Home Office continues to invest in a programme of transformation and business improvement, to speed up decision making and improve the quality and consistency of our work.

Whether his Department plans to have further phases of civil service relocation; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of relocating civil servants to (a) Preston and (b) other host cities.

The next phase of Places for Growth will move thousands more roles out of London to bring the Civil Service closer to the communities it serves. Preston will continue to have a thriving Civil Service community as part of the North West Digital and Cyber Security corridor. Government departments can also continue to build on the existing Civil Service presence there if it aligns with their business needs.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that patients seeking fertility treatment are protected from unregulated concierge IVF clinics that fall outside the remit of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

Digital clinics do not currently fall within the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act and therefore are out outside of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) remit at present.The HFEA published Modernising Fertility Law in November 2023, which made a number of recommendations for legislative change, including around its regulatory powers.Ministers have met with the HFEA Chair and discussed the emerging regulatory challenges. The Government is considering the HFEA’s priorities for changing the law and will decide how to take this forward at the earliest opportunity.

How much funding has been allocated to the police to help tackle hate crimes against people from the LGBQT+ community in (a) Lancashire, (b) Cumbria and (c) Greater Manchester.

The Government is also committed to giving police the resources they need to tackle crime. That is why the Chancellor has announced a real terms increase in police spending power over the next three years. This builds on the 25/26 police funding settlement, which provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales and includes an additional £200 million to kickstart the first phase of putting 13,000 additional police officers and personnel into neighbourhood policing roles. As usual, more detail on force funding allocations will be set out at the provisional police settlement.It is for Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners to make operational decisions, including how to allocate resources based on their local knowledge and experience.We currently fund an online reporting portal to ensure victims do not have to visit a police station to report any hate crime they experience, and we also fund a National Hub which provides expert advice to police forces across the country on what they can do to tackle the increasing levels of online hate crime.

How many court cases listed for trial in a Crown Court were (a) cancelled and (b) rescheduled in (i) Lancashire, (ii) Cumbia and (iii) Greater Manchester in the last three years.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information concerning trials which are rescheduled (ineffective) but does not have a measure of trials “cancelled” - rather we publish information concerning trials which are cracked.A cracked trial is a trial that does not go ahead on the day as an outcome is reached and so does not need to be re-scheduled. This occurs when an acceptable plea is offered by the defendant, or the prosecution offers no evidence against the defendant.This data regarding trial effectiveness at the Crown Court including cracked and ineffective trials by LCJB area is published in the “Trial effectiveness in the courts” data tool (latest to March 2025). This can be downloaded from the Criminal Court Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics.

How many ADHD assessments are outstanding for (a) children and (b) adults in Lancashire; and what steps he is taking to ensure that people receive a timely assessment.

For the first time, NHS England published management information on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) waits at a national level, on 29 May 2025, as part of its ADHD data improvement plan. It has also released technical guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) to improve the recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waiting time data and to publishing more localised data in future. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors, to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June 2025, with the final report expected later in the summer.

How many claims for compensation have been made under the Windrush Scheme from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

Information on the number of people who have received documentation confirming their status and the number of people who have been granted British citizenship under the Windrush Scheme is published as part of the quarterly Transparency Data release. The latest published data, covering the period up to the end of Quarter 1 2025, is available here: Windrush Status Scheme data: Q1 2025.Information on the number of claims received by the Windrush Compensation Scheme is published as part of the monthly Transparency Data release. The latest published data, covering the period up to the end of May 2025, is available here: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: May 2025 - GOV.UK.

Media and Sport, what funding her Department has allocated to local authorities to provide arts and culture in (a) Preston and (b) Lancashire over the next three years.

Typically, DCMS does not directly fund local authorities, nor their arts and cultural organisations, which are commonly funded by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Arts Council England.In last month’s spending review, the government committed to providing an additional £3.4 billion of grant funding to local government in 2028‑29 compared to 2024‑25. This equates to an average annual real terms increase in overall local authority core spending power of 3.1% across the spending review period.Whilst individual decisions on how to invest departmental resources will be determined in due course, there will be significant investment into Arts and Culture over the spending review period, including to Arts Council England (ACE) which will continue to support local arts programmes and projects across the country.In the 2024-25 financial year, ACE provided over £450k of funding to arts projects in Preston, and almost £6.5 million to arts organisations and projects across Lancashire. Details of this funding can be found on the ACE website here https://culture.localinsight.org/#/map

Media and Sport, what funding her Department has allocated to local authorities to provide youth services in (a) Preston and (b) Lancashire over the next three years.

Local authorities hold the statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. Local Authorities fund youth services from their Local Government Finance Settlement in line with local need.This Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29.

How much funding has been allocated to tackle Serious Organised Crime for police forces in (a) Lancashire, (b) Cumbria, and (c) Greater Manchester in (a) this financial year and (b) the 2026-27 financial year.

In 2025-26, the Home Office are providing c.£1 billion to the National Crime Agency to tackle Serious and Organised Crime.The Home Office does not allocate Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) specific funding to local police forces as setting annual budgets is the responsibility of chief constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners.

How many people received documentation confirming (a) their status and (b) British Citizenship under the Windrush Scheme between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.

Information on the number of people who have received documentation confirming their status and the number of people who have been granted British citizenship under the Windrush Scheme is published as part of the quarterly Transparency Data release. The latest published data, covering the period up to the end of Quarter 1 2025, is available here: Windrush Status Scheme data: Q1 2025.Information on the number of claims received by the Windrush Compensation Scheme is published as part of the monthly Transparency Data release. The latest published data, covering the period up to the end of May 2025, is available here: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: May 2025 - GOV.UK.

How much of the funding allocated in the Spending Review 2025 will be spent on (a) public transport and (b) bus services in (i) the North West and (ii) Preston.

The North-West of England will benefit significantly from increased government investment to improve local public transport. Some larger city regions in the North-West will receive long-term funding through the Transport for City Regions (TCR) programme, with a total of over £4 billion allocated for the period 2027/28 to 2031/32. This funding will help local leaders deliver better bus, rail, cycling and walking networks with greater certainty and flexibility. For areas in the North-West not receiving TCR settlements, the Local Transport Grant (LTG) will provide over £413 million from 2026/27 to 2029/30 in simplified, consolidated funding to support improvements in local priorities such as zero-emission buses, public transport upgrades, and safer, more accessible streets. Together, these investments will make everyday journeys quicker, greener, and more reliable across the region. The Lancashire Combined County Authority is set to receive a £215 million capital allocation through the Local Transport Grant. As a major town within this area, Preston will benefit from the funding through improvements to local transport infrastructure. At the 2025 Spending Review, the Government also announced a major long-term investment in bus services, committing around £900 million of resource funding each year to maintain and improve services and to extend the £3 fare cap until March 2027. Including capital investment, this represents over £1 billion a year in total support for the bus sector. Individual allocations for the North-West have not yet been confirmed, as the Department for Transport is still carrying out internal business planning. However, this guaranteed funding will support and improve bus services for passengers across the region, helping to grow the economy, boost household incomes and improve access to opportunity.

What steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for driving tests in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) England.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain. Further information on these actions and progress of DVSA’s plan to reduce driving test waiting times, which was announced in December 2024, can be found on GOV.UK. From recent recruitment campaigns for the Preston and Lancashire areas, DVSA has a potential new driving examiner (DE) starting training next month. DVSA will continue to recruit in the area and has had four successful potential new DEs from the latest campaign. Once background checks have been completed, DVSA will offer these candidates training courses.

How many medical appointments were (a) missed by patients and (b) cancelled by the health trust at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals in each of the last three years.

The following table shows data on the number of outpatient appointments missed by the patient where they Did Not Attend on the day, without prior cancellation, and the number of outpatient appointments cancelled by the provider, for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust: 2022/232023/242024/25Missed by patients55,24356,28656,383Cancelled by hospital58,36757,81757,108 The table above includes all outpatient appointments, both new and follow up, where the patient Did Not Attend on the day, or where the hospital cancelled, with the latter including some rearrangements of appointments, such as where a patient has been brought forward or delayed. This data excludes where the patient has cancelled in advance. Please note that the accuracy of the type of missed appointment ascribed could be impacted by incomplete documentation.

How many medical samples were lost and required resubmission by the patient at (a) Lancashire and (b) Blackpool teaching hospitals in each of the last three years.

The Department does not hold the requested information. The Government is spending £600 million of capital this year on diagnostics, including funding all pathology networks to increase digital capabilities by March 2026, which will reduce unnecessary waits and the need for repeat tests.

Whether his Department holds data on how much notice was given to patients about the cancellation of their planned medical operation at (a) Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and (b) Blackpool Teaching Hospitals in the last three years.

The Department does not hold data on how much notice was given to patients about the cancellation of their planned medical operations.

How many medical operations were cancelled at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals in each of the last last three years; and what the cost to the NHS was of those cancellations.

The following table shows the total number of elective cancelled operations for the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, for 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25:YearCount of cancellations2022/236842023/246542024/25600Source: Cancelled Elective Operations Data, with further information available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancelled-elective-operations/cancelled-ops-data/ Note: this is for last-minute elective operations cancelled for non-clinical reasons, and excludes emergency and trauma cases.No estimate has been made for the cost of these cancellations.