Written questions by Wrigley.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make a comparative assessment of the (a) Devon and Torbay Devolution deal and (b) English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024.

In September last year, this Government confirmed the establishment of a non-mayoral Combined County Authority with Devon and Torbay, in line with the devolution deal agreed with that area under the previous government. This was an important first step as we continue to consider options to deepen and widen devolution in the area.As set out in the White Paper, we want to see all areas, including Devon, access the strongest powers set out in new Devolution Framework.We will work with local leaders, both before and after local elections, to deliver on these ambitions. This government would consider postponing elections only where the relevant local authorities explicitly request it, and where this will help the area to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe.

What steps she is taking to help tackle unpaid child maintenance.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to ensuring separated parents support their children financially, taking robust enforcement action against those who do not.The CMS has a relatively low percentage of unpaid maintenance. Only 8% of the total maintenance due to be paid since the start of the CMS remains to be collected through the Collect & Pay service.The CMS has been improving its service to allow Direct Pay arrangements to quickly move to Collect and Pay when the Paying Parent is not paying or when Direct Pay is no longer appropriate.The CMS has a range of strong enforcement powers that can be used against those who consistently refuse to meet their obligations to provide financial support to their children including deducting directly from earnings, bank accounts and forcing the sale of a property.The Department plans to streamline the enforcement process further by removing the requirement to obtain a court issued liability order and instead allow the Secretary of State to issue an administrative liability order. Introducing this simpler administrative process will enable the CMS to take faster action against those paying parents who actively avoid their responsibilities.

With reference to the letter from her Department to the hon. Member for Truro and Falmouth, published on 10 December 2024, whether she plans to fully fund phase 5 of the South West Rail Resilience Programme at Dawlish.

The Chancellor has been clear about the nation's finances and has launched a multi-year Spending Review. Decisions and timescales about individual projects, including the fifth phase of the South-West Rail Resilience Programme, will be informed by the review process and confirmed in due course.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, in what circumstances Mayors will vote with other elected officials.

Mayors and Combined and Combined County Authority board members will vote on the areas set out in their governance arrangements. The new statutory framework will make these consistent across the country.In Mayoral Combined and Combined County Authorities, a majority vote which includes the Mayor will be required to approve decisions on the use of most functions. Specific functions set out in the Devolution Framework will be exercisable only by the Mayor. We will confirm the final arrangements when we lay the English Devolution Bill.

Communities and Local Government, how parameters set out in section 2.2.1 of the English Devolution White Paper, will be applied to Devonshire.

In September last year, this Government confirmed the establishment of a non-mayoral Combined County Authority with Devon and Torbay, in line with the devolution deal agreed with that area under the previous government. This was an important first step as we continue to consider options to deepen and widen devolution in the area.As set out in the White Paper, we want to see all areas, including Devon, access the strongest powers set out in new Devolution Framework.We will work with local leaders, both before and after local elections, to deliver on these ambitions. This government would consider postponing elections only where the relevant local authorities explicitly request it, and where this will help the area to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe.

Communities and Local Government, whether she will take account of the results of upcoming local elections in Devonshire in the implementation of the English Devolution White Paper.

In September last year, this Government confirmed the establishment of a non-mayoral Combined County Authority with Devon and Torbay, in line with the devolution deal agreed with that area under the previous government. This was an important first step as we continue to consider options to deepen and widen devolution in the area.As set out in the White Paper, we want to see all areas, including Devon, access the strongest powers set out in new Devolution Framework.We will work with local leaders, both before and after local elections, to deliver on these ambitions. This government would consider postponing elections only where the relevant local authorities explicitly request it, and where this will help the area to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe.

Communities and Local Government, how she will ensure that district councils are in agreement with county councils following the outcome of the 2025 May local elections in Devonshire.

The government’s starting point is for all elections to go ahead in May 2025, unless there is strong justification for postponement. It is a matter for councils themselves to work together to develop plans and reach agreements that are in the interests of their communities.On 16 December, I wrote to leaders of all councils in two-tier areas and neighbouring small unitary authorities to set out further detail on our plans for a joint programme of devolution and local government reorganisation. I acknowledged that for some areas, the timing of elections affects their planning for devolution, particularly alongside reorganisation, and to help manage these demands, we will consider requests to postpone local elections. I will only consider these requests where it is clear that postponement will help the area to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe. I am currently considering such a request from Devon County Council and a decision will be made in due course, recognising the need to give confirmation as soon as practically possible.My 16 December letter is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-reorganisation-letter-to-two-tier-areas.

Communities and Local Government, what her policy is on holding local elections in May 2025; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that policy on levels of (a) democracy and (b) devolution in Devon.

The government’s starting point is for all elections to go ahead in May 2025, unless there is strong justification for postponement. It is a matter for councils themselves to work together to develop plans and reach agreements that are in the interests of their communities.On 16 December, I wrote to leaders of all councils in two-tier areas and neighbouring small unitary authorities to set out further detail on our plans for a joint programme of devolution and local government reorganisation. I acknowledged that for some areas, the timing of elections affects their planning for devolution, particularly alongside reorganisation, and to help manage these demands, we will consider requests to postpone local elections. I will only consider these requests where it is clear that postponement will help the area to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe. I am currently considering such a request from Devon County Council and a decision will be made in due course, recognising the need to give confirmation as soon as practically possible.My 16 December letter is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-reorganisation-letter-to-two-tier-areas.

Communities and Local Government, whether the population sizes in the English Devolution White Paper refer to (a) electorate and (b) total population.

The population sizes outlined in the English Devolution White Paper for creating new unitary councils and new devolution geographies refer to total population.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has issued a map similar to that shown in Figure 1 of her Department's English Devolution White Paper, published in December 2024 for new English Devolution authorities.

The Government has not published a map of England showing potential future devolution geographies.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to implement a statutory code of conduct for parking operators that includes appropriate levels for permissible charges within this Parliamentary session.

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities.This government is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector and will announce its plans for the new Code in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what plans she has for establishing a mayor for Devon and Cornwall.

In September, the Government confirmed a non-mayoral devolution agreement with Cornwall and to establish a Combined County Authority in Devon & Torbay. These are important first steps for devolution in the region.We have set out the framework in the English Devolution White Paper so that counties can self-organise to reach a consensus on proposals for their areas.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 101 of the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, whether she plans to postpone local authority elections in Devon in 2025.

It is usual for the government to take account of requests for reorganisation, and to decide on the appropriateness of elections taking place to local authorities which are planned to be replaced, usually postponing to allow elections to the new shadow authorities soon after.I will consider any requests I receive to postpone the May 2025 local authority elections in Devon, Essex or elsewhere only where this will help the areas to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe – either through the Devolution Priority Programme or where reorganisation is necessary to unlock devolution or open up new devolution options. As I set out in my letter of 16 December to those councils, I will need a clear commitment to these aims, including a request from the council(s) whose election is to be postponed, on or before Friday 10 January.

How much funding his Department plans to provide for meeting the Mental Health Investment Standard in the 2025-26 financial year.

We remain committed to the Mental Health Investment Standard. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will set out expectations for mental health funding, including the share of overall National Health Service expenditure in 2025/26, in due course, as required under section 3(2) of the Health and Care Act 2022. NHS England is also expected to issue its priorities and operational planning guidance for the NHS for 2025/26 shortly.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has conducted an impact assessment of the decision to accelerate reduction of direct payments to farming businesses.

The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26. Accelerating the phase out of Direct Payments will allow us to focus more of this funding on Environmental Land Management schemes, which will boost nature and sustainable food production. We publish regular statistics on farm income in England, including data earlier this year looking at how farm business income has changed since the start of the agricultural transition (Monitoring the agricultural transition period in England, 2022/23 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). This release will be updated in February 2025 with the 2024/24 data. On 14 November 2024, we published our Farm Business Income statistics (Farm business income - GOV.UK), which looked at how farm business income has changed in 2023/24, including the contribution of Direct Payments and agri-environment payments to farm incomes, including analysis by farm type. Data relating to farm businesses are regularly published. Agriculture in the UK 2023 was published in June 2024. Farming evidence packs have been recently updated including key statistics and farm performance (Farming statistics evidence packs - GOV.UK). These set out an extensive range of data to provide an overview of agriculture in the UK, and the contribution of farm payments to farm incomes, including analysis by sector, location in England and type of land tenure. We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development.

What criteria her Department is using to assess the viability of the fifth phase of the Rail Resilience Programme for Dawlish.

Proposals for a fifth phase of the South West Rail Resilience Programme will be assessed against the criteria described in the document entitled ‘Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline - A New Approach for Rail Enhancements’ published in March 2018.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to (a) agricultural property relief and (b) business property relief on farm business productivity.

The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms. It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR in 2026-27, with around half of those being claims that involve AIM shares. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) 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.

If she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the timing of the funding for phase five of the Dawlish Rail Resilience Programme on the cost of phase four of that programme; and whether she plans to seek additional funding through the spending review for those costs.

Decisions in relation to a phase five of the South West Rail Resilience Programme do not impact the cost of phase four, for which all physical works have now been completed. Phase five is being considered as part of the Spending Review in 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of Capital Grant Applications on (a) farm productivity and (b) food security.

We have allocated the largest ever budget for sustainable food production through the farming budget. In the first week of December, we paid £343 million into the rural economy, benefiting more than 31,000 farmers. After unprecedented demand, parts of the Capital Grant have been temporarily closed. Protection and Infrastructure grants, Woodland Tree Health grants, Capital Grants plans, Woodland Management Plan and Higher Tier Capital Grants all remain open. We are reviewing the offer to ensure funding goes further to improve outcomes for food security and nature conservation and will provide an update in early 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with the National Farmers' Union on their statistical information relating to changes to agricultural property relief.

We are listening to the sector to ensure their views are heard. Ministers and officials regularly meet with a range of farming stakeholders, including the National Farmers Union (NFU), the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), and the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA). We will continue to meet with stakeholders to ensure their views are heard.