Written questions by Pritchard.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to publish an annual brownfield site audit for England.

Local planning authorities are required to maintain a register of brownfield sites that they have assessed as appropriate for residential development. My Department has no current plans to undertake an annual audit of such registers.

If he will hold discussions with his (a) Danish and (b) Greenlandic counterparts on the establishment of a NATO naval presence on the east coast of Greenland.

NATO’s maritime posture is determined collectively by Allies rather than through bilateral negotiations. The UK has a close defence relationship with Denmark, including through NATO and the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).

If she will take steps with the Royal Household to establish an inventory of (a) publicly and (b) privately owned items in royal residences.

The Royal Collection Trust is responsible for the care and conservation of the Royal Collection and there is already a publicly available inventory of object records held by the Royal Collection Trust on the rct.uk website.Separately, the Royal Household maintains fixed asset registers, which are audited annually by the National Audit Office, for items funded by the Sovereign Grant.

If she will take steps with mobile phone companies to introduce a (a) single and (b) central emergency telephone number paid for by mobile phone (i) operators and (ii) manufacturers to allow reporting by victims of unlocked mobile phone theft to report those thefts immediately; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on (A) (1) financial and (2) personal data theft and (ii) the number of police hours dedicated to mobile phone crimes.

The Home Secretary and Policing Minister are determined to take the strongest possible action to reduce the number of phone thefts in London and elsewhere across the country.This is a crime that causes significant distress to victims and fuels wider criminality. That’s why we are driving greater collaboration between policing leaders, the Metropolitan Police, National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, leading tech companies and others to break the business model of mobile phone thieves. This has included exploring what technical interventions would be most effective, including discussion around improving reporting mechanisms when a mobile phone is stolen. Positive developments include commitments to improving visibility of unique identification numbers/IMEIs to help identify stolen devices and raising awareness of existing mechanisms for reporting the theft of mobile devices, which include calling 101, going to a local police station or reporting the crime anonymously via Crimestoppers.All stakeholders must play their part in designing out and disincentivising this type of theft, disrupting the resale of stolen phones, exploring technological solutions to make devices harder to re-register or resell, and helping the public protect themselves and the data and personal information on their devices.

Representing the Church Commissioners, what support the Church of England is providing to military chaplaincy training in Ukraine.

Anglican chaplains, as part of the Royal Army Chaplaincy Department, have been involved with training and providing ongoing to support to approximately 200 Ukrainian chaplains over the last 3 years.The Bishop to the Armed Forces and the former Archbishop of Canterbury have met with Ukrainian chaplains and prayed with them. The former Archbishop also visited Ukraine on several occasions to see the work of the local church and to offer his personal support to humanitarian aid efforts, families displaced by the ongoing conflict, and to meet with civilians who have been directly impacted by the violence in Ukraine.

What steps he is taking to support military chaplains in Ukraine to receive training and development from UK armed forces chaplains.

The Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre (AFCC) at Shrivenham has been providing training for Ukrainian chaplains since May 2023, with planned programmes scheduled until at least November 2026. The centre offers two distinct two-week courses: a foundational programme and an advanced course designed for chaplaincy leaders. The curriculum focuses on spiritual leadership, ethical leadership, and pastoral care, and is delivered by UK Defence personnel in collaboration with academic partners. Enduring links have been established between UK Chaplaincy and Ukrainian colleagues and the relationships established at AFCC have enabled alumni to develop stronger mutual support networks.

If she will have discussions with the Royal Household on (a) publishing data and (b) promoting access to published data on Royal Household finances to ensure (i) accessibility and (ii) transparency for the public.

The rules governing the Sovereign Grant were set by Parliament in the Sovereign Grant Act 2011. No member of the Royal family receives a private income from the Sovereign Grant or any other public funds. The Sovereign Grant accounts are audited by the National Audit Office and laid before Parliament every year. Those accounts are also published on the official website of the Royal Family, along with other information regarding the finances of the Royal Household, and are available here: https://www.royal.uk/royal-finances.

What steps he is taking to increase the number of RASSO trained judges and advocates in the West Mercia region.

We commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to propose bold and ambitious measures to deliver swifter justice for victims, including for victims of sexual violence, in his Independent Review of Criminal Courts. This Review will make recommendations to ensure there is sufficient capacity within the courts to address the record Crown Court caseload, which this Government inherited, across all case types - including rape and other sexual offences. Work on Part 2 of the report, which is looking at how the criminal courts can operate as efficiently as possible, is underway. We expect it to be finalised this year.Statutory responsibility for judicial training in the courts is held by the Lady Chief Justice. This responsibility is fulfilled by the Judicial College. All judges authorised to hear serious sexual offence (SSO) cases must complete the relevant induction training course before starting to sit and regular continuation training every three years. Presiding judges undertake an annual assessment of the business need for authorised SSO ticketed judges within their respective circuits and new approvals are decided by the senior judiciary.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Advocate Panel is a time limited list of quality assured advocates to undertake criminal prosecution advocacy for CPS. Positive changes made by the CPS to the application process in May 2024 have seen rape and serious sexual offence (RASSO) advocate Panel membership increase by 51%. This includes a 38% increase in advocates prosecuting on the Midlands Circuit. These advocates have received CPS accredited RASSO training within the last 3 years and can demonstrate the experience and ability to undertake RASSO cases.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the use of petrol leaf blowers in public spaces on (a) noise pollution and (b) air quality.

The Department for Business and Trade is responsible for the legislation covering noise from outdoor equipment which is governed by the Noise Emission in the Environment by Equipment for use Outdoors Regulations 2001 as amended by the Product Safety and Metrology (Amendment) Regulation 2024.

If she will work with (a) local authorities and (b) bus network operators to ensure new bus stop installations minimise weather exposure on bus users.

The Government recognises the value that high-quality public transport infrastructure provides to passengers, including bus stops. Local authorities are responsible for the bus stops in their area, however the Department has published Local Transport Note (LTN) 1/24 Bus User Priority which provides guidance on good practice in the design of bus stops, including providing weatherproof shelters in passenger waiting areas. The Government’s Bus Services (No.2) Bill also provides powers for the Secretary of State to produce statutory guidance on the inclusivity of the design of bus and coach stations and stops, and to require authorities commissioning work to provide new or upgrade existing facilities to pay due regard to this guidance. At the Autumn 2024 Budget, the Government confirmed over £1 billion to support and improve bus services, including £712 million allocated to local authorities in England outside London in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services. This includes capital funding which can be used to improve infrastructure such as bus stations and stops. Shropshire Council and Telford and Wrekin Council have been allocated £4.5 million and £3.5 million of this funding respectively.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make it her policy to amend the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 to (a) strengthen the powers and (b) expand the (i) jurisdictional reach and (ii) scope of the Cyber (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 to help reduce ransomware attacks.

The government is committed to calling out malicious cyber activities that threaten the UK's national interests and economic prosperity. Sanctions are an important part of our diplomatic toolkit, helping us to disrupt ransomware operations.Our cyber sanctions regime allows us to impose cost and risk on those that carry out malicious cyber activity, and to deter others who consider similar acts. The regime is suitably broad, and allows us to freeze the assets of those around the world who have undermined the integrity, prosperity, or security of the UK and its partners. Under these powers, we have designated seventy-nine people, including sixteen members of prolific Russian cybercrime gang Evil Corp, and one of the senior leaders of LockBit which, at the time, was one of the most harmful ransomware operations affecting the UK.We will continue to explore future use and implementation of our cyber sanctions regime against ransomware actors as part of a broader range of approaches to combat cybercrime globally.

If he will take steps to prevent businesses claiming to be based in the UK requiring customers to return purchases to China to secure refunds.

Consumer law prohibits commercial practices involving misleading actions or omissions that might lead the average consumer to make a different decision. This includes misleading consumers about where a trader is based or where items must be returned to. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act strengthens consumer law enforcement by giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) new administrative powers, and the CMA and courts the ability to impose significant monetary penalties of up to 10% of turnover.

Whether she is taking steps to increase the accessibility of adoption files for adoptees who have reached adulthood.

Local authorities have been advised to retain adoption records for at least 100 years, an increase from the previous 75-year requirement. The department has also asked them to ensure timely access to these records.Subject to Parliamentary approval, the department will make this a legal requirement by introducing regulatory changes. These changes will ensure that all adoption case records for individuals adopted before 30 December 2005 are preserved for a minimum of 100 years. This is already a requirement for records for individuals adopted after 30 December 2005.In addition, the department is supporting and working with Adoption England, who have recently published new guidance to promote consistent and legally compliant practice on access to records across all regional adoption agencies. Adoption England also continues to fund FamilyConnect, a pilot national advice line that supports adopted adults, birth parents, relatives, and professionals with searching for and accessing adoption records.

When the UK National Screening Committee will commence its next cardiac screening review.

The UK National Screening Committee is currently examining the evidence for screening for risks of sudden cardiac death and will open a public consultation to seek comments from members of the public and stakeholders on this in due course.

Who the responsible lead for promoting and ensuring compliance with the NHS Accessible Information Standard will be following the abolition of NHS England.

Following the merger of NHS England with the Department of Health and Social Care, the responsible lead for the Accessible Information Standard will be determined as part of the arrangements for how the new organisation will support equal access to health and social care services and information about them.

What steps his Department is taking to improve early diagnosis rates of blood cancers in Shropshire.

The Department continues to support the National Health Service to diagnose and treat cancer, including blood cancers, as early and fast as possible. We recognise that patients with cancers with non-specific symptoms (NSS) such as blood cancer, are waiting too long for diagnosis and subsequent treatment.To tackle late, emergency setting diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS has implemented NSS pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. There are currently 115 NSS services operating in England, including in Shropshire, with blood cancers being one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.Early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan. It will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment and ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, ultimately driving up this country’s cancer survival rates.

If she will take steps to improve driving test availability in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it takes decisive action to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. Information on these actions and progress on the plan can be found on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/news/transport-secretary-acts-to-make-thousands-of-extra-driving-tests-available-each-month.  DVSA is continuing to recruit as many driving examiners as possible. Following successful completion of training, one new driving examiner will be joining Shrewsbury test centre, and this will help deliver more tests in the area. DVSA currently has a live recruitment campaign which is recruiting for additional driving examiners at Shrewsbury and Telford test centres. The campaign closed on 22 September.

Whether any solar infrastructure built with the support of GB Energy will use solar panels built in regions where supply chains have evidence of (a) modern slavery and (b) other exploitation.

Great British Energy will lead the way in ethical supply chains, and there is no place for forced labour or unethical practices in the UK's energy transition. The Procurement Act 2023 enables public bodies to reject bids and terminate contracts with suppliers known to use forced labour. As a state-owned company, Great British Energy is expected to be a first-in-class example of adherence to the UK’s legislation and guidance on modern slavery, including the Modern Slavery Act 2015. All contracts issued under the schools and hospitals solar initiative have complied with UK procurement rules, including extensive requirements under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Great British Energy will uphold these standards in its contracting arrangements and is actively engaging with international partners to raise the bar globally on solar supply chain accountability.

Whether he plans to ban the import of (a) solar panels and (b) solar panel components from Xinjiang.

The Government is committed to tackling forced labour in solar supply chains, including in Xinjiang. We are strengthening due diligence requirements through the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023 and by reviewing Section 54 of the Modern Slavery ActThe Solar Roadmap outlines actions to build ethical, resilient supply chains, including support for the Solar Stewardship Initiative, which is conducting independent audits of manufacturers. Furthermore, Great British Energy (GBE) is committed to acting on any evidence of forced labour in its supply chains, as required by the GBE Act.

If she will provide additional training for teachers on supporting pupils with dyslexia.

I refer the hon. Member for The Wrekin to the answer of 1 August 2025 to Question 61402.