Written questions by Wrigley.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of not funding the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme beyond 2026 on those places of worship.

Future Government spending is a matter for the 2026 Spending Review.

Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with religious leaders on the Listed Places of Worship Grant scheme.

The Government holds a range of meetings with representatives of religious organisations.DCMS officials have discussed the changes with the Church of England and Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Ministers have also exchanged correspondence and met with representatives from most religious organisations.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make importing dogs with cropped ears illegal.

The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by the hon. Member for Winchester. The Bill will give the Government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to the United Kingdom. We will use these powers to prohibit the bringing into Great Britain of dogs with non-exempted mutilations such as cropped ears. We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using the Single Transferrable Vote system in English local elections.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 23541 on 22 January 2025.

If she will make it her policy that the existing level of funding for Education and Health Care Plans will be provided in Newton Abbot constituency in 2025-26.

I refer the hon. Member for Newton Abbot to the answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 35870.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing the Parkinson's UK Parky Charter.

We acknowledge the challenges that neurology services have been facing, particularly regarding the workforce, delays to treatment and care, and the lack of information and support that some patients have experienced. However, whilst no assessment has been made on the potential merits of the Parkinson’s UK Parky Charter, I am pleased that there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with Parkinson’s disease. These national initiatives include the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit, the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, and the Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme to develop a new model of integrated care for neurology services. Furthermore, we have delivered an additional two million appointments between July and November 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, seven months ahead of schedule, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks. These additional appointments have taken place across a number of specialities, including neurology. This summer, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients, including those with Parkinson’s, on time again. We will ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it. Approximately 89% of prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge, and there are a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place. People with Parkinson’s who are 60 years old or over are entitled to free prescriptions. For those that have to pay for prescriptions, the cost can be capped by purchasing a pre-payment certificate. Additionally, the NHS Low Income Scheme can provide help with health costs on an income-related basis. The Government spent £79.06 million on research into Parkinson’s between 2019/20 and 2023/24, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and is continuing to invest in Parkinson’s disease research.

With reference to the Social Metrics Commission's report entitled Measuring Poverty 2024, published in October 2024, if she will undertake a review of the finding that 47 per cent of families with at least one disabled child or adult were in poverty compared to 19 per cent of those families without a disabled person in 2022/23.

The government's impact assessment regarding Health and Disability Reform is available at Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts. As part of our Plan for Change we're introducing the most far-reaching reforms in a generation, with £1 billion a year being invested to give people the best possible chance with tailored support that can be adapted to meet their changing circumstances - including their changing health – while also scrapping the failed Work Capability Assessment in Great Britain.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of abolishing the lower standard rate of Universal Credit for under 25s.

There are no current plans to remove the under 25 Standard Allowance rate. Young people in work typically earn less than those over 25 and are also more likely to live in someone else’s household, with lower living costs. A reduced Universal Credit rate maintains the incentive for young people to find, and progress in, work, as we continue to support them into employment and to improve their career opportunities. Support is available to help those who live independently or have additional living costs. Depending on their circumstances, they may also be eligible for additional Universal Credit elements, including for housing, children, childcare costs, and disability.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 39206 on Personal Independence Payment: Neurodiversity, if she will make it her policy to maintain the level of the Personal Independence Payment for (a) neurodivergent people and (b) people with severe mental distress.

Our intention is that the new eligibility requirement in Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in which people must score a minimum of four points in one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component, will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. The PIP assessment considers the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability, not the health condition or disability itself. Therefore, the impact in each case will depend on an individual’s circumstances. From November 2026, at their next award review, people will be reviewed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional and assessed on individual needs and circumstance. More information on the impacts and equality analysis for these changes published on 26 March can be found: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 35454, whether he has made an assessment of the level of defence procurement can be moved to the UK from the US.

The Strategic Defence Review will guide the Ministry of Defence's future investment priorities and will also shape the Defence Industrial Strategy. To support the UK’s Armed Forces we procure a diverse range of systems both domestically and in collaboration with our international allies and partners. The United States is the United Kingdom's primary defence and security ally. Our collaboration in defence is mutually beneficial, and we maintain robust working partnerships in the areas of intelligence, nuclear, science and technology, and operations.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of schools being unable to challenge placement decisions made by local authorities on children with special educational needs.

Where a local authority has issued an education, health and care (EHC) plan for a child or young person, they must consult a school or college before naming it in the plan and the school or college can express concerns about being named.When responding to a local authority on a consultation about being named in an EHC plan, the school can make representations in relation to its total pupil population and its capacity, where it feels that admitting the pupil might have an impact on the efficient education of other pupils already in the school. This is a matter that the local authority would need to carefully consider in reaching its decision about whether to proceed to name the school. If the local authority goes ahead and names it in the plan, then the school or college is under a statutory duty to admit the child or young person.A school can make a complaint to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education if it feels that a local authority has not carried out its statutory duties appropriately, such as where the school suspects the local authority did not follow due processes in reaching a decision to name it on an EHC plan. However, whilst that complaint is being resolved, because the school is named in the EHC plan, it must admit the child with immediate effect.The department knows that many children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) struggle to find a suitable school placement that is close to their home and meets their needs. This government is committed to addressing this by improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.We work with the sector as valued partners to ensure that every child or young person with SEND can access a school placement that meets their needs, including in mainstream where appropriate. In doing so, we want to improve pupil outcomes and experiences and restore parents’ trust.

Whether the identity and nationality documents for the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme applications must be pre-translated.

In response to the invasion, the Government set up three generous schemes – the Ukraine Family Scheme, Home for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and the Ukraine Extension Scheme – and have provided temporary sanctuary for over 300,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war.The Homes for Ukraine scheme remains open, uncapped and free of charge for Ukrainians in need of sanctuary to apply to come to the UK.On the 4 February 2025 the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme opened to applications. This enables Ukrainians and their eligible family members who are already in the UK with Ukraine scheme permission, or Leave outside the Rules in certain circumstances, to apply for a further 18 months' permission in the UK.The scheme will provide the same rights and entitlements to access work, benefits, healthcare and education as the existing Ukraine schemes.As part of the application process, individuals will be asked to provide evidence to prove their identity. For documents not in English, applicants must upload a certified English translation. Providing translations up front helps us to progress applications quicker.The Ukraine schemes are temporary sanctuary visa schemes rather than humanitarian protection schemes and are not routes to settlement. This approach recognises the Ukrainian Government’s desire for the future return of its citizens. It is important that our approach reflects their wishes.Other visa routes are available for those wishing to settle permanently in the UK, provided they meet the eligibility criteria of those routes.

Whether it is her Department's policy that the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme is a humanitarian protection route.

In response to the invasion, the Government set up three generous schemes – the Ukraine Family Scheme, Home for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and the Ukraine Extension Scheme – and have provided temporary sanctuary for over 300,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war.The Homes for Ukraine scheme remains open, uncapped and free of charge for Ukrainians in need of sanctuary to apply to come to the UK.On the 4 February 2025 the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme opened to applications. This enables Ukrainians and their eligible family members who are already in the UK with Ukraine scheme permission, or Leave outside the Rules in certain circumstances, to apply for a further 18 months' permission in the UK.The scheme will provide the same rights and entitlements to access work, benefits, healthcare and education as the existing Ukraine schemes.As part of the application process, individuals will be asked to provide evidence to prove their identity. For documents not in English, applicants must upload a certified English translation. Providing translations up front helps us to progress applications quicker.The Ukraine schemes are temporary sanctuary visa schemes rather than humanitarian protection schemes and are not routes to settlement. This approach recognises the Ukrainian Government’s desire for the future return of its citizens. It is important that our approach reflects their wishes.Other visa routes are available for those wishing to settle permanently in the UK, provided they meet the eligibility criteria of those routes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the nature restoration fund on (a) peatlands, (b) ancient woodlands and (c) other irreplaceable habitats.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill provides an opportunity to accelerate housebuilding and infrastructure delivery by using development to fund nature recovery. This will create a win-win outcome, benefitting both the economy and nature, where both are currently stalled. The Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) will offer an alternative way for developers to discharge existing environmental obligations related to protected sites and species, without reducing overall levels of environmental protection. The Bill sets out that the specific environmental obligations which may be in scope of Environmental Delivery Plans in future are only those stemming from the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, or the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats, which includes ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees, as well as blanket bog and lowland fen (which are peatland habitats), should be refused, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and a suitable compensation strategy exists. These protections will continue to apply.

What steps her Department is taking to support Ukrainians living in the UK on a long-term residency basis.

In response to the invasion, the Government set up three generous schemes – the Ukraine Family Scheme, Home for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and the Ukraine Extension Scheme – and have provided temporary sanctuary for over 300,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war.The Homes for Ukraine scheme remains open, uncapped and free of charge for Ukrainians in need of sanctuary to apply to come to the UK.On the 4 February 2025 the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme opened to applications. This enables Ukrainians and their eligible family members who are already in the UK with Ukraine scheme permission, or Leave outside the Rules in certain circumstances, to apply for a further 18 months' permission in the UK.The scheme will provide the same rights and entitlements to access work, benefits, healthcare and education as the existing Ukraine schemes.As part of the application process, individuals will be asked to provide evidence to prove their identity. For documents not in English, applicants must upload a certified English translation. Providing translations up front helps us to progress applications quicker.The Ukraine schemes are temporary sanctuary visa schemes rather than humanitarian protection schemes and are not routes to settlement. This approach recognises the Ukrainian Government’s desire for the future return of its citizens. It is important that our approach reflects their wishes.Other visa routes are available for those wishing to settle permanently in the UK, provided they meet the eligibility criteria of those routes.

What guidance her Department has issued to (a) local authorities and (b) schools on (i) annual reviews for EHC plans and (ii) the responsibilities of all parties involved.

Education, health and care (EHC) plans should be used to monitor children and young people’s progress towards their outcomes and longer term aspirations. Local authorities have a statutory duty to review EHC plans every 12 months as a minimum.The local authority should provide a list of children and young people who will require a review of their EHC plan that term to all headteachers and principals of schools, colleges and other institutions attended by children or young people with EHC plans, at least two weeks before the start of each term. This will enable professionals to plan attendance at review meetings and/or provide timely advice or information about the child or young person where necessary.The department has issued guidance on EHC plan reviews in the special educational needs and disabilities Code of Practice which explains the roles and responsibilities of local authorities and schools in the review process, as well as other relevant professionals.

Whether Ukrainians who have (a) jobs, (b) homes and (c) families in the UK will be able to stay once the war has ended.

In response to the invasion, the Government set up three generous schemes – the Ukraine Family Scheme, Home for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and the Ukraine Extension Scheme – and have provided temporary sanctuary for over 300,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war.The Homes for Ukraine scheme remains open, uncapped and free of charge for Ukrainians in need of sanctuary to apply to come to the UK.On the 4 February 2025 the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme opened to applications. This enables Ukrainians and their eligible family members who are already in the UK with Ukraine scheme permission, or Leave outside the Rules in certain circumstances, to apply for a further 18 months' permission in the UK.The scheme will provide the same rights and entitlements to access work, benefits, healthcare and education as the existing Ukraine schemes.As part of the application process, individuals will be asked to provide evidence to prove their identity. For documents not in English, applicants must upload a certified English translation. Providing translations up front helps us to progress applications quicker.The Ukraine schemes are temporary sanctuary visa schemes rather than humanitarian protection schemes and are not routes to settlement. This approach recognises the Ukrainian Government’s desire for the future return of its citizens. It is important that our approach reflects their wishes.Other visa routes are available for those wishing to settle permanently in the UK, provided they meet the eligibility criteria of those routes.

If her Department will develop a longer term child poverty strategy.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy, and we are exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. Our focus is on bringing about an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, thereby reversing the trend that is seeing forecasts of child poverty continuing to increase. More details, including on the time horizon, will be set out in the strategy publication. We are supporting claimants to identify what support may be available including through providing extensive information on Universal Credit on Gov.uk. Additionally, we show potential customers external benefit calculators where they can identify what they are likely to be eligible for. We also work closely with Citizens Advice who provide Help to Claim support for claimants to make a claim to Universal Credit, including marketing and publicising Help to Claim support.

What steps her Department is taking to increase the take up of means-tested benefits amongst households with children in poverty.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy, and we are exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. Our focus is on bringing about an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, thereby reversing the trend that is seeing forecasts of child poverty continuing to increase. More details, including on the time horizon, will be set out in the strategy publication. We are supporting claimants to identify what support may be available including through providing extensive information on Universal Credit on Gov.uk. Additionally, we show potential customers external benefit calculators where they can identify what they are likely to be eligible for. We also work closely with Citizens Advice who provide Help to Claim support for claimants to make a claim to Universal Credit, including marketing and publicising Help to Claim support.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the time spent by schools in requesting assessments for EHC plans on the provision of SEND services.

Schools are required to identify and address the special educational needs (SEN) of the pupils they support and, in the case of mainstream settings, to use their best endeavours to make sure that a child or young person who has SEN gets the support they need. This includes asking local authorities to carry out an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment, if necessary.All schools should apply the ‘graduated approach’ that is outlined in the SEND Code of Practice, which means identifying a child’s needs, planning appropriate support, implementing that support and reviewing it regularly to ensure it continues to meet the identified needs. Through this, schools should develop personalised approaches to supporting the unique needs of individual pupils. If necessary, the local authority can be asked to carry out an EHC needs assessment.In addition, all mainstream schools and maintained academy schools, including free schools, must have a qualified teacher, or the headteacher, designated as the special educational needs coordinator (SENCO).SENCOs have day-to-day responsibility for the operation of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) policy and co-ordination of specific provision made to support individual pupils with SEND, including those who have EHC plans.Schools should ensure that the SENCO has sufficient time and resources to carry out these functions. This should include providing SENCOs with sufficient administrative support and time away from teaching to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities in a similar way to other important strategic roles within a school.