Written questions by Bishop.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a 20 years’ service medal for Police Community Support Officers.

The Home Office will consider any proposal for national long service recognition for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).It is only right that we recognise the commitment shown by PCSOs across the country and whose roles are undeniably at the sharp end of policing, diffusing community tensions and providing visible policing presence in our communities.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 47133 on Mobile Broadbands, whether the implementation of part two of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 will be included in the review of the telecommunications market.

The Government is continually engaged with developments in the mobile sector. This involves considering sector-wide investment challenges and technological innovations and their impact on the market and rollout of high-quality infrastructure, as well as mobile signal and coverage issues and the quality of service afforded to mobile customers. This is separate to the Government’s work on the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022. The Government monitors the impacts of the PSTI Act reforms through ongoing tracking of progress against connectivity targets and stakeholder engagement.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking with key stakeholders to meet (a) the requirements of commercial broadcasters and (b) secure public access to live sport.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring access to live sport so that it can be enjoyed by a wide audience. However, this must also be balanced with the ability of sports national governing bodies to generate revenue to invest in their sports at all levels, given broadcasting rights provide essential income for these organisations. All UK broadcasters are operationally and editorially independent of the government. Decisions relating to coverage of particular sporting events are ultimately a commercial decision for the relevant broadcaster and/or the rights holder of the specific sporting event.

Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to undertake a review of the mobile telecommunications market.

The Government constantly reviews the mobile sector. As part of this, we are reviewing sector-wide investment challenges, technological innovations and their effect on the market and considering what Government can do to support the telecoms sector to invest in their networks over the next decade. We will also consider any impact on the rollout of high-quality wireless infrastructure and concomitant mobile signal and coverage issues, and the quality of service afforded to mobile customers.

What plans he has to establish specialist care pathways for people with bipolar to (a) improve treatment and (b) reduce misdiagnosis.

It is unacceptable that too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long, including for people with bipolar disorder. We are determined to change that.As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England, create a network of open access community Young Futures hubs, recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to cut wait times and provide faster treatment, and modernise the Mental Health Act.We are also committed to new models of care for mental health, including reforming care for people experiencing a mental health crisis. We are testing neighbourhood mental health centres for people aged 18 years old and over with serious mental illness. These six pilot schemes are based in Tower Hamlets, Lewisham, Sheffield, York, Birmingham, and Whitehaven.These models will offer 24/7 open access care closer to home, with an integrated service including healthcare providers, local authorities, and the voluntary sector. These pilots build on international evidence which shows that similar models have led to a reduction in hospitalisation and waiting times, and support our efforts to move more care into the community.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that all NICE-approved medicines for osteoporosis are included in (a) ICS and (b) local formularies.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS based on an assessment of their costs and benefits.The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by the NICE, usually within three months of final guidance.The 2025/26 NHS Standard Contract, which applies to all contracts between NHS commissioners and providers, stipulates that, where any service involves or may involve the prescribing of medicines, the provider must ensure that its formulary reflects all relevant positive NICE technology appraisals.The NICE has also published guidance on developing and updating local formularies, which is intended to support commissioners and healthcare providers, including those working within integrated care systems, in developing formularies that reflect local needs, reducing variation in prescribing, and allowing for the rapid adoption of new medicines and treatments. This guidance is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/mpg1

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to strengthen legislation on tackling hare coursing.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England and Wales only. This government recognises the importance of tackling rural crimes such as Hare Coursing. The previous Government made changes to address illegal hare coursing through a package of measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This broadened the circumstances in which police can investigate and bring charges for hare coursing related activity. There are no plans to further change the legislation of Hare Coursing.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase available social housing in the Forest of Dean.

At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 November 2025 (HCWS549). The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes. We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent. The government has also announced the £450m third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund, followed by an uplift of £50m, enabling councils to grow their housing stock. We also confirmed a range of new flexibilities for councils and housing associations, both within the Affordable Homes Programme and in relation to how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts. Having reduced Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels, we have allowed councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales. The government recognise that Registered Providers need support to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. Between 30 October 2024 and 23 December 2024, the government consulted on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement, to give Registered Providers the certainty they need to invest in new social and affordable housing. The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes a number of changes that make the planning system more supportive of affordable housing, in particular Social Rent homes. These include new Golden Rules for development on the Green Belt. Prior to development plan policies for affordable housing being updated in accordance with the revised NPPF, the affordable housing contribution required to satisfy the ‘Golden Rules’ is 15 percentage points above the highest existing affordable housing requirement that would otherwise apply to the development, subject to a cap of 50%. We estimate that under this model, the median Green Belt local planning authority affordable housing requirement will be 50%.

Media and Sport, with reference to the University of Manchester's blog entitled Addressing the UK’s heritage skills crisis: why we must act now, published on 23 January 2025, what steps she is taking to preserve heritage buildings.

My response to PQ 30997 sets out how we are considering heritage skills in relation to the University of Manchester's blog and associated report.On preserving heritage buildings, there is funding and a protection regime in place. In particular, the Secretary of State announced in February £15 million of additional funding for Heritage at Risk, building on Historic England's existing Repair Grants for Heritage at Risk programme - providing grants for repairs and conservation to heritage buildings at risk, focusing on those sites with most need, and a new £4.85 million Heritage Revival Fund to enable local people to take ownership of heritage they love and bring historic buildings back into use. The National Lottery Heritage Fund also delivers project-based heritage funding. Since 1994, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has distributed £8.6bn of National Lottery funds to more than 47,000 projects.

With reference to the University of Manchester's blog entitled Addressing the UK’s heritage skills crisis: why we must act now, published on 23 January 2025, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of including (a) heritage skills and (b) the Sloyd method in the national curriculum.

The national curriculum focuses on the key knowledge that must be taught to children aged 5 to 16 years-old in maintained schools. The national curriculum provides a broad framework which ensures schools have flexibility to organise the content and delivery of the curriculum to meet the needs of their pupils.The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.The Review seeks to deliver a curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and ready for work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to thrive.The Review Group has now published a well-evidenced, clear interim report, which sets out its interim findings and confirms the key areas for further work. This highlights the successes of the current system, making clear that the most trusted and valued aspects of our system will remain, whilst setting a positive vision for the future. The report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-interim-report.The government will consider any changes it wishes to make to curriculum, assessment and qualifications whilst the Review is conducted, and will respond to the final recommendations in autumn 2025.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the School Games Organisers in supporting school children.

Our mission-led Government puts children and young people at the heart of our priorities.This includes breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child to access high-quality sport and physical activity, especially those who are less likely to be active.The School Games Organisers (SGOs) are essential in ensuring that all children have the opportunity to take part in local and accessible sport and physical activity.In the 2023/24 academic year, the country-wide network of 450 SGOs provided 2.3 million opportunities for school children to engage in local and inclusive sporting competitions across 40 different sports and activities.We are currently undertaking a review of the School Games Organisers network, which will address the impact and value for money of a variety of school sport models in place across the network of 450 SGOs, and develop and appraise different delivery models of a future school sport network. Findings from the review will be published in due course.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that funding for early years services meets the financial needs of providers.

The department has been clear in our commitment to the early years as our number one priority. It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving the life chances for every child and the work choices for every parent. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver the entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, the department is continuing to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.In the 2025/26 financial year alone, this government plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements and we announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45%, compared to 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. On top of this we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require.We are also providing £25 million through the forthcoming National Insurance contributions grant for public sector employers in the early years.

What plans her Department has to reconvene the Police Covenant Oversight Board; and if she will include the National Association of Retired Police Officers in the membership of that Board.

The Police Covenant Oversight Board was most recently convened in January, with the next meeting planned for the Spring.Beyond the oversight board, interested organisations, such as the National Association of Retired Police Officers, are engaged on the Covenant through a consultation group.Individual organisations may be invited to attend the oversight board, as they have in the past, where specific discussions are of particular relevance to the interests of those they represent.

What steps his Department is taking to support maternity services in the Forest of Dean constituency.

Several steps are being taken to support maternity services in the Forest of Dean constituency, in addition to those being delivered nationally through the three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services across England. These include, but are not limited to:the trust actively working to recruit additional staff and retain existing staff, including through the adoption of flexible working arrangements and a ‘retire and return’ scheme for midwives without on-call commitments, and with plans to recruit an additional 26 midwives by the end of March 2025;a new programme to manage predicted staff turnover and reduce reliance on temporary staffing; anddedicated support through the Maternity Safety Support Programme, following the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) Section 31 notice in March 2024. The maternity leadership team has been expanded to support staff and implement the improvements identified by the CQC.

What steps she plans to take to increase recruitment in SEND services.

The department knows that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) frequently require access to additional support from a broad specialist workforce across education, health and care, including speech and language therapy and educational psychologists.This is why the department introduced the speech and language degree apprenticeship, which is now in its third year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist.The department is working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with SEND.The department is also investing a further £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024, in addition to the £10 million currently being invested in the training of over 200 educational psychologists, who began their training in September 2023.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to increase the supply of housing in the Forest of Dean.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes a new Standard Method for assessing housing needs that is aligned to our Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million new safe and decent homes in England by the end of this Parliament.  Under the revised standard method, the Forest of Dean’s annual housing target has risen from 330 dwellings per annum to 600.In rural areas, local planning authorities should support opportunities to bring forward rural exception sites that will provide affordable housing to meet identified local needs and consider whether allowing some market housing on these sites would help facilitate this. Planning policies should also identify opportunities for villages to grow and thrive especially where this will support local services.

What steps she has taken to help increase economic growth in the Forest of Dean.

Economic growth is the number one mission of this Government and ensuring growth is felt in all regions of the UK is a core part of the Growth Mission.At Autumn Budget, we set out the first major steps in our approach to regional growth through devolution, investment and reform. We have made clear the government’s focus on attracting inward investment across the country, and to investing in the infrastructure needed to support cities and regions to grow.Fostering an environment where businesses can thrive and reach their potential irrespective of where they are is a core objective of our modern, ambitious industrial strategy.Through the one-year expansion of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the Forest of Dean will receive £300k to support local economic interventions in 2025/26.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to mitigate the potential impact of housebuilding on air quality.

National planning policy sets out the appropriate consideration of air quality both in individual planning decisions and when developing Local Plans. In addition, Defra are developing new guidance on how the Environment Act 2021 air quality targets should be integrated into planning decisions. We have issued interim guidance to be considered until the full guidance is published.

What steps he is taking to (a) help create and (b) support job opportunities in industries that contribute to achieving net zero targets.

The Office for Clean Energy Jobs (OCEJ) has been created to ensure that clean energy jobs are abundant, high quality, paid fairly, and have favourable terms and good working conditions. The OCEJ is engaging widely with industry, experts, and trade unions for a clear assessment of the skills opportunities and challenges. It is working closely with Skills England and other government departments to ensure that skills systems reforms support the clean energy transition. The OCEJ will set out targeted interventions to support specific skills needs in the clean energy workforce. It has recently launched the initial version of the Energy Skills Passport to support oil and gas workers into new roles in the clean energy sector.

Whether she plans to utilise (a) audiobooks and (b) audio resources in the Curriculum and Assessment Review.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will support the innovation and professionalism of teachers, enabling them to adapt how they teach the curriculum to their students’ lives.The Review Group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work, and publish its final report with recommendations this autumn.The department respects the autonomy of teachers in terms of what resources they choose to use or recommend to their individual pupils, based on individual need in their own educational context and circumstances.