Written questions by Wilkinson.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of conducting efficiency savings to fund more (a) clinical staff and (b) equipment in the NHS.

NHS England’s 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance made it clear that the National Health Service must live within the budget it is allocated, reduce waste and increase productivity to deliver growth against demand. The Autumn Statement 2024 reaffirmed a 2% NHS productivity growth target for 2025/26, and the recent Spending Review set out the commitment to achieve 2% productivity growth across the Spending Review period, supported by up to £10 billion of technology and digital investment.As part of the 2025/26 planning process, all NHS systems set efficiency and savings targets necessary to achieve a balanced financial position, and planned delivery of the other national priorities set out in planning guidance including recovering elective activity. To help organisations identify savings and plan for 2025/26, NHS England shared core productivity and efficiency metrics with benchmarked opportunities. For a given budget, savings and productivity opportunities can enable the same level of clinical staff to do more activity, or can involve savings to non-clinical areas or reduction in input costs, for example, procurement and agency savings, to enable reinvestment in additional clinical staff or non-capitalised equipment.

What funding his Department has allocated to GP practices to hire more GPs.

We are starting to see consistent growth in the general practitioner (GP) workforce.  In July 2025, there were 658 more fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs working in practices than in July 2024.The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs in primary care networks (PCNs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25. This is part of our initiative to secure the future pipeline of GPs, with over 1,000 doctors otherwise likely to graduate into unemployment in 2024/25. Data on the number of recently qualified general practitioners for which PCNs are claiming reimbursement via the ARRS show that, since 1 October 2024, over 2,000 GPs were recruited through the scheme.Newly qualified GPs employed under the ARRS will continue to receive support under the scheme in the coming year as part of the 25/26 contract. Several changes have been confirmed to increase the flexibility of ARRS. These include: GPs and practice nurses included in the main ARRS funding pot; an uplift of the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme; and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.We are boosting practice finances by investing an additional £1,092 million in general practice to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP contract in 2025/26 is faster than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.

What steps his Department is taking to support the solar industry.

The Government supports ground mount solar through its Contracts for Difference scheme, which has supported 7.5GW so far. It supports demand for rooftop solar by various means, including favourable tax treatment, permitted development rights, new building standards, the Smart Export Guarantee, and the £13.2bn being made available through the ambitious Warm Homes Plan.The Government recently published the Solar Roadmap, which set out actions for government and industry to remove barriers to deployment. Progress will be monitored by a Ministerially chaired Solar Council, allowing industry representatives to engage directly on any challenges or opportunities which arise.

What is her Department's policy on targets for net migration.

This Government recognises and values the contribution that legal migration makes to the UK.But under the previous Government, between 2019 and 2024, net migration almost quadrupled, heavily driven by a big increase in overseas recruitment.The Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper, published on 12 May, sets out reforms to legal migration, so that we can restore order, control and fairness to the system, bring down net migration and promote economic growth.Previous governments have set targets and then not met them, which has undermined the credibility of the system. Instead, we want to restore public confidence with a series of steps to replace our failing system with one that reduces net migration substantially.

What steps he is taking to review NHS outsourcing contracts.

All public authorities, including the National Health Service, follow the guidance and principles set out in the Sourcing Playbook when planning and making sourcing decisions to deliver public services in partnership with the private and third sectors. The playbook is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-sourcing-and-consultancy-playbooksThe consultation, Public Procurement: Growing British industry, jobs and skills, is one considering further reforms to public procurement. More specifically, it is proposed that public bodies would be required to carry out a quick and proportionate public interest test, to understand whether that work could not be more effectively done in-house before any service is contracted out. The Cabinet Office will consider the results of the consultation, and the Department will comply with any changes to the law. Details of the consultation are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/public-procurement-growing-british-industry-jobs-and-skills-consultation-on-further-reforms-to-public-procurement/public-procurement-growing-british-industry-jobs-and-skills-html

What steps he is taking to deliver a pay restoration framework for resident doctors.

Each year the Government allows the independent Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB) to make recommendations on headline pay for doctors, including resident doctors.In May 2025, the Government announced the 2025/26 pay awards for National Health Service staff in England, accepting the headline pay recommendations of the DDRB, for consultants, specialty and specialist doctors, and resident doctors for the 2025/26 period.Resident doctors received one of the highest pay awards of the entire public sector this year, meaning an average 28.9% pay rise compared to three years ago.The DDRB has been remitted and the process for 2026/27 pay is already under way.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support defence companies.

The Defence Industrial Strategy is the defence sector plan for the Modern Industrial Strategy and underlines this Government’s commitment to making defence an engine for growthThe DIS outlines how the Government will back UK-based businesses by launching the offsets consultation, increase spending on SMEs, create a Defence Office for SME Growth, and provide additional support to companies to export. It announced an ambitious skills package of £182million to enable industry to recruit and build the well-paid jobs that will keep the UK secure in the future. The DIS also outlines how the MOD will conduct early market engagement with industry to inform procurement decisions.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress his Department has made with international counterparts on cooperating to protect the human rights of Uyghurs.

This Government will stand firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.We will continue to work closely with international partners in a number of areas, including holding China to account in international fora. For example, we joined a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang and Tibet at the UN General Assembly in October. We also work together to monitor, expose and react to human rights violations in Xinjiang. This includes working with international partners to understand the impact and effectiveness of measures to combat forced labour.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what response he received from his Chinese counterparts on the concerns he raised about human rights abuses in Xinjiang in October 2024.

I am not able to comment on the details of discussions with international counterparts. The effective conduct of the UK's international relations depends upon maintaining the trust and confidence of other states and international organisations.This Government will stand firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor, Energy Secretary and I all raised human rights recently with our counterparts. We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account, for example, joining a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang and Tibet at the UN General Assembly in October.

Communities and Local Government, whether at any stage of the local government reorganisation process she will bar the formation of new (a) town and (b) parish councils.

The formation of new town and parish councils is devolved to principal local authorities through the Community Governance Review process. The government believes that these should remain local decisions.Areas considering the establishment of new town and parish councils should think carefully about how these might be funded to avoid putting further pressure on local authority finances and/or new burdens on the taxpayer.We encourage local authorities to consider local neighbourhood working arrangements in their own structures to empower local residents and frontline councillors to work together for positive change in their area.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has implemented the recommendations of the Second Report of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Session 2021-22 on Never Again: The UK's Responsibility to Act on Atrocities in Xinjiang and Beyond, HC 198, published on 29 June 2021.

The UK has carefully considered and implemented several of the Foreign Affairs Committee's recommendations on responding to human rights violations in China since 2021. This Government will stand firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor, Energy Secretary and I all raised human rights recently with our counterparts. We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account, for example, joining a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang and Tibet at the UN General Assembly in October. In the recently published Trade Strategy, the Department for Business and Trade launched a Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) review to consider the effectiveness of the UK's current RBC measures and alternative policy options, including approaches to tackle forced labour.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that British businesses follow human rights obligations set out in the Second Report of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Session 2021-22 on Never Again: The UK's Responsibility to Act on Atrocities in Xinjiang and Beyond, HC 198, published on 29 June 2021.

The UK has carefully considered and implemented several of the Foreign Affairs Committee's recommendations on responding to human rights violations in China since 2021. This Government will stand firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.Regarding recommendations on forced labour and the business sector, this Government has launched a Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) review to consider the effectiveness of the UK's current RBC measures and alternative policy options, including approaches to tackle forced labour. There are a number of ways in which HMG currently tackles the issue of Uyghur forced labour in supply chains. The Overseas Business Risk Guidance makes clear to UK companies the risk of operating in certain regions and urges them to conduct appropriate due diligence when making business decisions. The UK also has reporting requirements for companies with a turnover of £36 million or more under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act.

Media and Sport, whether she plans to intervene in negotiations on the Horserace Betting Levy to (a) increase the rate to 11.5% and (b) include overseas races within the scope of that levy.

The Horserace Betting Levy is vital for the financial sustainability of horseracing. The Government believes a voluntary deal is the fastest path towards delivering appropriate funding for the sport. We continue to encourage the betting and racing industry to resume negotiations and reach a new agreement in the best interests of horseracing.

Which Department will present the bill on regulating secondary ticketing markets.

The government is committed to putting fans back at the heart of live events by clamping down on exploitative practices in the ticket resale market. We ran a consultation earlier this year to seek views on a range of proposals, including a price cap that would restrict the price at which tickets could lawfully be resold.We are currently reviewing all the evidence that we received in response to our consultation. We will set out our plans in the government response, which we intend to publish in the coming weeks.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the harmonisation of gambling duty rates on levels of promotion of more addictive forms of online gaming.

The Government consultation on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one closed on 21 July 2025. Responses are now being analysed and a response to the consultation will be published at Autumn Budget 2025. If any changes are made to gambling duties at a future Budget following the consultation, they will be accompanied by a Tax Information and Impact Note which will set out the expected impacts.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposals in her Department’s consultation on the harmonisation of gambling duty rate on the horseracing industry.

The Government consultation on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one closed on 21 July 2025. Responses are now being analysed and a response to the consultation will be published at Autumn Budget 2025. If any changes are made to gambling duties at a future Budget following the consultation, they will be accompanied by a Tax Information and Impact Note which will set out the expected impacts.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the contribution of secondary ticketing platforms to the economy.

Earlier this year, the government consulted on the resale of live events tickets to seek views on a range of proposals aimed at improving fairness for consumers – including a price cap that would restrict the price at which tickets could lawfully be resold. In the consultation document, we set out our assessment of the beneficial role of the secondary ticketing market and ongoing issues relating to how it currently operates. We are currently reviewing all the evidence that we received in response to the consultation and we intend to publish the government response later this summer.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act 2023 for preventing fraud.

The Online Safety Act now requires in-scope platforms to implement effective measures to prevent illegal fraudulent user-generated content and activity. Ofcom has launched an enforcement programme to monitor compliance with the illegal content duties and a consultation to strengthen codes of practice, including proposals for automated tools to detect illegal content, including fraud. Additionally, the largest user-to-user and search services (Category 1 and 2A) must tackle paid-for fraudulent ads once the relevant codes are in force.The Government is required to review the effectiveness of the online safety framework, two to five years after key provisions have come into force.

How many meetings ministers in his Department have had with secondary ticketing platforms since July 2024.

Details of the Department for Business and Trade’s ministerial meetings can be found at Gov.uk.

What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act 2023 in preventing fraud.

The Online Safety Act (OSA) was passed in November 2023 and requires all in-scope platforms to tackle fraud on their platforms. The OSA’s first codes, dealing with illegal content, came into effect and were enforceable from March 2025. This means that all in-scope companies will need to put in place systems and processes to stop fraud from appearing on their platforms and services.In addition, the Act’s fraudulent advertising duty will require the largest companies to appropriately tackle fraudulent advertising. According to Ofcom’s Online Safety Act Roadmap the draft codes for this duty will be published in draft in early 2026.The Government is working closely with Ofcom on the implementation of the Online Safety Act and will continue to monitor its efficacy as the Act is enforced.