Written questions by Wilkinson.

What steps her Department is taking to support secondary schools with increases in SEND costs.

Through the national funding formula in the 2025/26 financial year, secondary schools are being allocated over £4 billion through formula factors that act as a proxy for their pupils’ special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and other additional needs. In addition, high needs funding will total over £12 billion this financial year, a proportion of which local authorities will use for supporting secondary schools with their pupils who have more complex SEND. Of the total high needs funding, Gloucestershire County Council is being allocated over £105 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant.In the high needs funding system, it is the top-up funding allocated to schools by the local authority which is intended to reflect the cost of provision for pupils with complex SEND. Schools should therefore discuss with their local authority the funding that they believe is necessary to make the provision that has been commissioned, taking into account expected levels of inflation and particular costs such as for energy and staff pay, as well as any reprioritisation within their budget that schools can achieve to ensure best value from their overall resources.

What changes he plans to make to rules governing SME procurement in public contracts, in the context of the Spring Statement 2025.

This Government is taking major steps to give SMEs greater access to public contracts - including the publication of the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) which sets out a mission-led procurement regime focused on driving economic growth that supports Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSEs), giving them greater opportunities to win public contracts by instructing contracting authorities to maximise their spend with these organisations. To support implementation of the NPPS in central government, we have announced new rules requiring all government departments and their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies to set three-year targets for direct spend with SMEs from 1 April 2025, and from 1 April 2026 for VCSEs, and publish progress annually. We will be consulting on more reforms including a requirement for large contracting authorities to publish their three-year targets for small business and social enterprise spend and report on this annually - as well as the exclusion of suppliers from contracts worth more than £5million if they don’t complete prompt payments of invoices. In the Spring Statement, the Chancellor also announced measures to reform our procurement system to give small businesses across the UK better access to Ministry of Defence contracts.

What discussions her Department has had with the Association of School and College Leaders on increases in employer National Insurance contributions.

In developing our National Insurance contributions (NICs) grant methodology for mainstream schools and academies, the department considered both the impact of the change to National Insurance rates and the changes to the threshold at which NICs are applied. By taking this approach, we have ensured that funding accounts for where increases to NICs will be most significant.The department knows that the impact of the increase to NICs differs depending on the proportions of staff on relatively higher or lower salaries and have taken that into account in determining how much funding is allocated to primary, secondary and special schools. The technical details of how the funding is split between those phases of education has been discussed with stakeholders, including the Association of School and College Leaders.We keep our grant methodology under review to ensure funding can best support schools and their pupils. That is why, for the first time, we are providing additional grant funding for mainstream schools with special units and resourced provision to support them with the higher staffing costs they typically face.

What steps her Department is taking to support schools with budgetary challenges resulting from teacher salary increases.

Overall school funding is increasing by over £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning it will total over £64.8 billion compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25. The department recognises that the increases for individual schools will vary, with some getting more and some getting less than the average increase.The guidance ‘Schools’ costs: technical note’ forecasts £400 million of headroom in schools’ budgets nationally in the 2025/26 financial year, before staff pay awards.This follows the government’s written evidence to the School Teacher’s Review Body, published in December, which proposed a pay award for teachers of 2.8%. Schools will be expected to fund the 2025 pay award from the additional investment provided at the Autumn Budget 2024, alongside their existing funds.All parts of the public sector are being asked to improve their efficiency. The department will be developing a suite of productivity initiatives to help schools manage their budgets to maximise opportunities for learners.

Whether her Department plans to increase funding for sixth forms.

This government inherited a challenging fiscal context which means tough decisions are needed across the public sector. However, the department is investing over £7.5 billion in 16-19 study programmes during the 2024/25 academic year to help to ensure that all young people have access to high quality education and training that meets their needs and provides them with opportunities to thrive.In the guidance ‘16 to 19 funding: information for 2025 to 2026’, published March 2025, the department announced an additional £100 million investment in 16-19 education in the 2025/26 financial year on top of the £300 million announced at the Budget. This means we will now be spending over £400 million to ensure enough funding is available given the very significant increase in student numbers and other pressures on the system. In addition, we are providing funding to compensate colleges and schools for increased employer National Insurance contributions, which will add a further £155 million to funding for post-16 education in the 2025/26 financial year.

Media and Sport, how many Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme projects (a) were completed between 5 July 2024 and 27 March 2025 and (b) were incomplete on 27 March 2025; how much and what proportion of the funding allocated for the provision of multi-sport grassroots facilities in this financial year has (i) been and (ii) not been committed.

Since 5 July, a total of 728 Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities projects were completed in England (as of 13 March), 14 projects were completed in Scotland, 17 projects were completed in Wales and 11 projects were completed in Northern Ireland (all as of 27 March).A total of 513 Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities projects remained incomplete in England, 16 remained incomplete in Scotland, 37 remained incomplete in Wales and 4 remained incomplete in Northern Ireland.For the financial year 2024/25, other than a £1.2k underspend, the full £125m proposed investment into the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities programme has been committed, with delivery of projects funded ongoing. The Programme has sought to maximise value for money to ensure this funding directly impacts communities across the UK by providing high-quality sports facilities and offering places for people of all backgrounds to get active.

Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an impact assessment of the decision to allow up to 80 gaming machines in certain casinos.

The Department has considered the available evidence and a full impact assessment will be published for the measure which allows casinos to site up to 80 gaming machines. The Government’s Better Regulation Framework classifies the sports betting measure as a de minimis measure, and therefore a de minimis assessment will be completed for this measure, although this won’t be published.

Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an impact assessment of the decision to allow sports betting in all casinos.

The Department has considered the available evidence and a full impact assessment will be published for the measure which allows casinos to site up to 80 gaming machines. The Government’s Better Regulation Framework classifies the sports betting measure as a de minimis measure, and therefore a de minimis assessment will be completed for this measure, although this won’t be published.

What his planned timetable is for publishing the independent economic review of pharmacies.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. The findings of this work were published by Frontier Economics on 28 March 2025.We have now concluded the consultation on funding for 2024/25 and 2025/26, and have agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a commitment to rebuilding the sector.

What the status is of the independent economic review of pharmacies, in the context of the recently announced abolition of NHS England.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. The findings of this work were published by Frontier Economics on 28 March 2025.We have now concluded the consultation on funding for 2024/25 and 2025/26, and have agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a commitment to rebuilding the sector.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing immediate cash-flow funding for pharmacies.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. The findings of this work were published by Frontier Economics on 28 March 2025.We have now concluded the consultation on funding for 2024/25 and 2025/26, and have agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a commitment to rebuilding the sector.

Media and Sport, if she will publish a list of the sports governing bodies she has met with since 5 July 2024.

DCMS publishes transparency data on GOV.UK, including details of ministers’ meetings with external organisations. Details of all meetings between 1 July and 30 September 2024 were published on 30 January 2025 and details for the following quarter will be published in due course.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of moving sports and leisure policy into his Department on public health.

There have been no discussions with Cabinet colleagues on moving the responsibility for sports and leisure provision into the Department of Health and Social Care, nor are there any plans to make an assessment of the potential impact on public health of doing so.Addressing physical inactivity and getting people moving more is important for improving health outcomes, reducing demand on the National Health Service, and supporting economic growth, and the Government recognises the important role sport and leisure plays within that.Officials in the Department of Health and Social Care work closely with their counterparts at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and across other Government departments to ensure that sport and leisure is reflected in the Government’s ambition to reduce levels of physical inactivity as part of the Health Mission.

Whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of moving responsibility for sports and leisure provision into his Department.

There have been no discussions with Cabinet colleagues on moving the responsibility for sports and leisure provision into the Department of Health and Social Care, nor are there any plans to make an assessment of the potential impact on public health of doing so.Addressing physical inactivity and getting people moving more is important for improving health outcomes, reducing demand on the National Health Service, and supporting economic growth, and the Government recognises the important role sport and leisure plays within that.Officials in the Department of Health and Social Care work closely with their counterparts at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and across other Government departments to ensure that sport and leisure is reflected in the Government’s ambition to reduce levels of physical inactivity as part of the Health Mission.

If she will make an assessment of the potential (a) merits of reducing taxes on developers of brownfield sites and (b) impact of doing so on the regeneration of town centres.

The government has announced reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework that will deliver key steps to get Britain building, and the reforms introduced through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will streamline the delivery of new housing and regeneration projects.The government has also committed to deliver 1.5 million new homes as part of our mission to achieve economic growth across the country. At Autumn Budget, the government announced over £5 billion total housing investment in 2025-2026 to boost supply.Tax stability is important for investment in regeneration, and the government has committed through the Corporate Tax Roadmap to provide the stability needed for businesses to make investments that are critical to boosting growth in the UK.

Whether he has had recent discussions with Gloucestershire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on the potential impact of the Big Space Cancer Appeal on cancer care at Cheltenham General Hospital.

As set out in the recent Autumn Budget 2024, we are providing an additional £1.8 billion to directly support elective recovery and activity in 2024/25, which includes cancer care. This funding is being provided to reduce waiting times and support the National Health Service to deliver 40,000 additional appointments each week.As my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, capital spending is set to increase to £13.6 billion in 2025/26, representing record levels of capital investment into health. This includes £1.65 billion for investments aimed at improving NHS performance against constitutional standards, delivering new surgical hubs, diagnostic scanners, and beds to increase elective and emergency care capacity. This funding also includes £70 million for new radiotherapy machines to improve cancer treatment. The Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board has been provisionally allocated £4.5 million from our Constitutional Standards Recovery Fund for 2025/26.

What assessment she has made of the potential cumulative impact of her Department's (a) economic forecasting and (b) fiscal rules on economic policy.

The Treasury does not produce economic forecasts. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the Government’s independent official economic and fiscal forecaster. The Government uses the forecasts and analysis it produces to inform policy decisions. The OBR will publish its next Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 26 March alongside The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Spring Statement.The fiscal rules demonstrate the Government’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and help underpin economic stability. The stability and investment rules put the public finances on a sustainable path and prioritise investment to support long term growth.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Big Space Cancer Appeal on funding for cancer care at Cheltenham General Hospital.

As set out in the recent Autumn Budget 2024, we are providing an additional £1.8 billion to directly support elective recovery and activity in 2024/25, which includes cancer care. This funding is being provided to reduce waiting times and support the National Health Service to deliver 40,000 additional appointments each week.As my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, capital spending is set to increase to £13.6 billion in 2025/26, representing record levels of capital investment into health. This includes £1.65 billion for investments aimed at improving NHS performance against constitutional standards, delivering new surgical hubs, diagnostic scanners, and beds to increase elective and emergency care capacity. This funding also includes £70 million for new radiotherapy machines to improve cancer treatment. The Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board has been provisionally allocated £4.5 million from our Constitutional Standards Recovery Fund for 2025/26.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of reducing taxes on the developers of brownfield sites on the development of new homes in town centres.

The government has announced reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework that will deliver key steps to get Britain building, and the reforms introduced through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will streamline the delivery of new housing and regeneration projects.The government has also committed to deliver 1.5 million new homes as part of our mission to achieve economic growth across the country. At Autumn Budget, the government announced over £5 billion total housing investment in 2025-2026 to boost supply.Tax stability is important for investment in regeneration, and the government has committed through the Corporate Tax Roadmap to provide the stability needed for businesses to make investments that are critical to boosting growth in the UK.

What his Department's policy is on promoting deep geothermal energy.

The Government supports the development of geothermal projects, provided they deliver affordable energy for consumers and are environmentally appropriate. The following schemes are open to applications from deep-geothermal projects: Contracts for Difference (for geothermal power); the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and Green Heat Network Fund (for geothermal heat). Recognising that cost is a barrier, the Government commissioned research to understand how we can support the geothermal sector to achieve its potential.