Written questions by Foy.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that hospices receive the required funding to increase staffing wages in line with nationally agreed NHS pay rises.

We are immensely grateful for the critical role healthcare workers, including hospice staff, play in our health service and the high quality, compassionate care they deliver.The impact that National Health Service pay uplifts will have on the hospice sector will depend on the structure of the charity, which includes the number of employees and the salary levels. Independent organisations, such as charities and social enterprises, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment, including the pay scales.It is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate, and how to recoup any additional costs they face if they choose to utilise the terms and conditions of NHS staff on the Agenda for Change contract.We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26.  I can also now confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the three years of the next Spending Review period, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local integrated care boards and on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26.  This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.

What estimate she has made of the number of retail businesses impacted by (a) the business rates reduction for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure properties and (b) the higher business rates multiplier in the City of Durham.

The Government is creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century. As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with ratable values (RVs) below £500,000 from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so the Government will introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties in 2026/27 - those with RVs of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants. The final design, including the rates, for the new business rates multipliers will be announced at Budget 2025, so that the Government can factor the revaluation outcomes and broader economic and fiscal context into decision-making. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.

What discussions she has had with the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure industries on the level of business rates relief which would help to drive (a) investment and (b) local employment.

The Government is creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century. As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with ratable values (RVs) below £500,000 from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The rates for new multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the revaluation outcomes as well, as the economic and fiscal context. The Government has engaged with a broad range of stakeholders on business rates. The Transforming Business Rates: Interim Report, published on 11 September, brings together extensive feedback from stakeholders and outlines the Government’s next steps to deliver a fairer business rates system, that supports investment and is fit for the 21st century: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-business-rates-interim-report/transforming-business-rates-interim-report.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle Asian hornets.

Defra is continuing to follow an eradication strategy against Yellow Legged Hornet (also known as Asian Hornet) to prevent this invasive non-native species from establishing in GB. Contingency action is delivered by the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit (NBU). As of 10th October 2025, the NBU have found and destroyed a total of 143 Yellow Legged Hornet nests.

If she will take steps with the Financial Conduct Authority to help ensure that (a) Gypsies and (b) Travellers are able to access homes and contents insurance.

As set out in the answer to question 75505 on 11 September 2025, the Government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly, and insurers must comply with all relevant regulations and legislation. This includes the Equality Act 2010 which generally prohibits discrimination based on certain protected characteristics, including race.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the independent regulator of financial services firms, requires firms to treat customers fairly under its rules. This includes ensuring that firms meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010.The FCA operates independently within the statutory framework agreed by Parliament and has robust powers to take action where necessary.

Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made in implementing the civil society covenant.

The Civil Society Covenant was launched by the Prime Minister in July at a major civil society summit. Its ambition is to strengthen relationships and encourage partnership between civil society and all levels of UK government. Achieving this will require the collective commitment of organisations across the full breadth of both civil society and government.At the launch we also announced the initial steps that DCMS is taking to implement the Covenant. This includes establishing a cross-sector Joint Civil Society Covenant Council to drive implementation and provide strategic oversight, and a Local Covenant Partnerships Programme to support collaborative working at the local level between civil society and public sector organisations. We are making progress and plan to share details and engage civil society in due course.

What steps her Department plans to take to ensure that Gypsies and Travellers are able to access homes and contents insurance without discrimination.

Insurers make commercial decisions about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the relevant risks. This is usually informed by the insurer’s claims experience and other industry-wide statistics. The government does not usually intervene in these decisions. However, the government is determined that insurers treat customers fairly and insurers must comply with all relevant regulations and legislation. This includes the Equality Act 2010 which generally prohibits discrimination based on certain protected characteristics, including race. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the independent regulator of financial services firms, requires firms to treat customers fairly under its rules. This includes ensuring that firms meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010. The FCA actively monitors firms and has robust powers to take action if firms do not comply with its rules. Individual insurers may take a different view of the relevant factors in determining whether they will offer insurance and at what price. Consumers may wish to contact the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, who can offer guidance on how to look across the insurance market for the best deals and may be able to provide names of specialist brokers.

What steps she is taking to improve rail services on the East Coast Main Line.

The Department has invested £4bn in route-wide upgrades – including new trains and improvements to platforms, tracks, signals and junctions. This will deliver journey time, reliability and capacity improvements, with more than 60,000 extra seats across the route each week, faster services between London and Edinburgh, and London to Leeds, and a third train per hour to and from London and Newcastle. This will all form part of the new timetable in December. The Department are now working closely with Network Rail and industry stakeholders to develop a long-term strategy for the route.

What fiscal steps she is taking to support small retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in City of Durham constituency.

Businesses in our retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are foundational to our economy and our high streets, and we are supporting them to succeed.From 2026-27, we will introduce a permanently lower business rates multiplier for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with rateable values under £500,000.We have increased the Employment Allowance to £10,500, pledged to cut business admin costs by 25% during this parliament, and introduced tougher retail crime measures, including a new offence for assaulting retail workers and ending immunity for shop theft under £200.

What steps she is taking to ensure that PSHE education is consistently embedded as part of the curriculum in all year groups in secondary education.

All schools should teach personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, drawing on good practice, and this expectation is outlined in the national curriculum framework document.The department published revised relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance on 15 July, which sets out a comprehensive and age-appropriate curriculum for all pupils in England. The revised guidance will become statutory on 1 September 2026, replacing the existing guidance which has been in force since 2020. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education. We know that many schools choose to teach some of the content from the curriculum in their PSHE or similarly described programme for their pupils.The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which wants to ensure a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work. Their final report and recommendations will be published in the autumn, followed by the government’s response.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help improve mobile telephone signal in (a) Brancepeth Village, (b) County Durham and (c)) across the country.

Ofcom reports that 4G is available across 96% of the City of Durham constituency from all four mobile operators, while 5G (standalone and non-standalone) is available outside 94% of premises in the constituency from at least one operator.However, I know Ofcom data does not always reflect lived experience and I have raised my concern about this with Ofcom. I welcome their much improved online mobile coverage checker which went live on 26 June.I am keen to strengthen the mobile infrastructure across the UK, which is primarily the responsibility of the mobile operators, so I would urge the honourable member to engage directly with the mobile operators to encourage improvements in her patch.We continue to work closely with the mobile operators and are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework in place to support investment into mobile networks and competition in the market.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report of the National Literacy Trust entitled Children and young people’s writing in 2025, published in June 2025.

​​I refer my hon. Friend the member for the City of Durham to the answer of 03 July 2025 to Question 62713.​

What additional steps her Department plans to take to improve the process of accessing evisa accounts.

eVisas are a key part of delivering a border and immigration system which will be more digital and streamlined, a change that will enhance the applicant’s experience and increase the immigration system’s security and efficiency.The UKVI account provides people with the ability to use online services to ‘view and prove’ their immigration status, including their rights to rent, work, study and access public services, by sharing relevant information about their permissions in the UK. People can easily keep the Home Office updated with any changes in their details or documentation using their account. For example, they can tell us about changes to their name, nationality or a new passport.Our aim is that new and existing immigration status holders will have access to a UKVI account and their eVisa, and that creating a UKVI account is a smooth and straightforward process.To help people create and use their UKVI accounts, we have provided information and guidance videos on GOV.UK which show users how to access and use their UKVI account. We have listened to feedback from users and have plans to make our GOV.UK pages easier to follow. These planned improvements are currently being drafted and are scheduled for release later in 2025.We are continually improving the functionality and ease of use of the UKVI account. For example, we recently added the facility for a person without an identity document to create an account and we will add the ability to link a Home Office issued travel document to a UKVI account later in 2025.Monitoring of the system since the end of December 2024 suggests that for most people the transition to eVisa has gone smoothly. By the end of April 2025 over 4.3 million people had created an online (UKVI) account to access their eVisa, with the latest statistics published on GOV.UK on 22 May 2025. Further statistics will be published in due course.Between Q4 2019 and Q1 2025, the 'view and prove' service has seen over 41.9 million views by individuals and over 6.3 million views by organisations checking immigration status.Should anyone find themselves needing support with creating their UKVI account or getting access to their eVisa, the latest updates and guidance can be found on GOV.UKWe are continuing to listen to the views and concerns of stakeholders and users of our digital systems and aim to continually enhance the user experience wherever possible. We have also increased the number of support services available to vulnerable people and have delivered £4m of grant funding to 72 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK to support people to be able to set up and access their eVisa accounts.

Whether he had discussions with transgender individuals on the Sullivan Review.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has not met with transgender individuals to discuss the Sullivan Review. We have acted on the findings of Professor Sullivan’s report by suspending applications for National Health Service number changes for children under the age of 18 years old, to safeguard them. Taking such action does not prevent the NHS from recording, recognising, and respecting trans people’s gender identity.The Government is steadfast in its dedication to listening to LGBT+ people. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has hosted constructive, open, and honest roundtable discussions with the LGBT+ community and has set out his intention to maintain an open dialogue and to continue to listen to all views.

When the Care Quality Commission plans to inspect medical care services at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.

It is not usual practice for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to announce when inspections will take place.Unannounced inspections of healthcare services allow the CQC to obtain a realistic view of how the service is operating. It also allows the CQC to observe normal practice and assess more accurately the quality of care being provided. While most inspections are unannounced, some services may receive notice to minimize disruption to care.The CQC can also inspect at any time in response to risk.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure NHS trusts consistently meet the 62 day target for starting cancer treatment.

As set out in the new plan for reforming elective care, the Government is committed to improving performance on cancer waiting times. The National Health Service’s annual operational planning guidance set out a national commitment to improve waiting times, including improving performance against the 62-day cancer standard to 75% by March 2026.The Department is committed to improving waiting times for cancer treatment across England by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment; we have exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, having now delivered over three million more appointments. £70 million will also be spent on replacing out-of-date radiotherapy equipment so that cancer patients benefit from faster and safer cancer treatment using the most up-to-date technology. Replacing these older machines will save as many as 13,000 appointments from being lost to equipment breakdown.Additionally, providers have also been asked to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the faster diagnosis standard, to reduce the number of patients waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer and start treatment.The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment.

Whether she has assessed the potential impact of making pensions subject to (a) inheritance tax and (b) probate on bereaved families.

Most unused pension funds and death benefits will be included within the value of a person’s estate for inheritance tax purposes from 6 April 2027. This removes distortions resulting from changes that have been made to pensions tax policy over the last decade, which have led to pensions being openly used and marketed as a tax planning vehicle to transfer wealth, rather than as a way to fund retirement. These reforms also remove inconsistencies in the inheritance tax treatment of different types of pensions. Estates will benefit from the normal nil-rate bands, reliefs, and exemptions available. For example, the nil-rate bands mean an estate can pass on up to £1 million with no inheritance tax liability, and the general rules mean any transfers to a spouse or civil partner are fully exempt from inheritance tax. The reforms are forecast to raise £1,460 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024. Most estates will continue to have no inheritance tax liability following these changes. The Government estimates that, out of around 213,000 estates with inheritable pension wealth in 2027-28, 10,500 estates – or around 1.5 per cent of total UK deaths - will become liable to pay inheritance tax where this would not previously have been the case. Around 38,500 estates will pay more inheritance tax than would previously have been the case. Unlike the revenue forecast, these figures do not take into account potential behavioural changes following the announcement of these measures and are illustrative. An assessment of impacts was included in the recent technical consultation on the processes required to implement these changes. This can be found at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/inheritance-tax-on-pensions-liability-reporting-and-payment/technical-consultation-inheritance-tax-on-pensions-liability-reporting-and-payment#part-4-assessment-of-impacts. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

What steps his Department is taking to improve (a) continuity of care in cancer treatment pathways, (b) assigning named points of contact and (c) back-up contacts for all patients.

The Government and NHS England are committed to improving continuity of care and provision of support contacts for cancer patients. All patients, including those with secondary cancers, should have access to the right expertise and support, including a Clinical Nurse Specialist or other support worker to aid their navigation through the cancer pathway. Accessing this support is in line with the NHS Comprehensive Model for Personalised Care.In the most recent National Cancer Patient Experience Survey, 91.2% of respondents said they had a main contact person within the team looking after them who would support them through treatment. After cancer treatment, the National Health Service provides end of treatment summaries for patients, to support people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer. End of treatment summaries provide people with a route back into the system if they notice any worrying changes or need to seek help.The Government’s National Cancer Plan, due to be published later in 2025, will aim to improve the efficiency of patient pathways as an essential part of improving cancer outcomes and experiences.

What oversight mechanisms her Department has established to ensure that Serco fulfils its contractual obligations as the operator of Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre.

Onsite Home Office Compliance Teams are responsible for ensuring that Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) contracted centre providers are fulfilling their contractual requirements. Performance is monitored through a robust and comprehensive system of contract management, to ensure that the Home Office is receiving effective service and value for money. As part of this contract monitoring process, contractual failures have been identified at Derwentside IRC and appropriate action taken.

With reference to the report entitled Evaluation of Action Access, an Alternative to Detention Pilot by UNHCR, published in January 2022, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of community-based alternatives to detention for women.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a range of experts and stakeholders.