Written questions by Ward.

What steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for driving tests in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy constituency.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. Further information on these actions and progress on the DVSA’s 7-point plan, which was set out last year, can be found on GOV.UK. A recruitment campaign has recently closed, and from this DVSA hope to recruit examiners for test centres that serve the Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy constituency.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not made a formal assessment of the adequacy of the regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists. The Government is clear that the level of regulatory oversight must be proportionate to the risks to the public, and that statutory regulation of healthcare professionals should only be used where the risks to public and patient protection cannot be addressed in other ways, such as through employer oversight or accredited voluntary registration.The Government believes that anyone using counselling or psychotherapy services deserves to have confidence and trust in their healthcare professionals, which is why we urge the use of qualified practitioners holding voluntary registration accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory minimum expiry dates on gift vouchers.

The Department asked the Law Commission to examine the protection given to consumer prepayments, including gift cards and vouchers, and consider whether such protections should be strengthened. The Law Commission concluded that that there was no need to introduce additional measures for gift cards and vouchers including in relation to expiry dates.

Whether he plans to bring guidance on the sale of (a) paracetamol and (c) ibuprofen into law.

Paracetamol and ibuprofen are well-known medicines for pain, which, when taken in line with the recommended posology, have well-established safety profiles. The vast majority of patients use paracetamol responsibly, as an effective pain-reliever. However, if taken in excess, it can cause serious physical harm.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) monitors the safety of medicines, including the sale of paracetamol and ibuprofen without a prescription. Paracetamol and ibuprofen may be obtained without a prescription, under the supervision of a pharmacist, or through general sales outlets. The Human Medicines Regulations 2012, Schedule 15, states that the maximum pack size for both paracetamol and ibuprofen that may be sold through general sales is 16 tablets. Larger packs, up to a maximum of 100 tablets, may be sold under the supervision of a pharmacist, where it becomes a prescription item.The MHRA has recently updated the voluntary best practice guidance on the general sale of medicines for pain, to further highlight the risks of overdose, to address public concerns, and to recognise current sales techniques. Further risk mitigation measures are also being considered.The update to the best practice guidance forms part of the suicide prevention strategy that is currently being developed, Suicide prevention strategy for England: 2023 to 2028, which includes a reference to paracetamol, and which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/suicide-prevention-strategy-for-england-2023-to-2028

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on restarting civil-military cooperation with UNRWA.

The UK has repeatedly set out our grave concern about the Government of Israel's legislation on the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and our support for UNRWA's vital work to provide essential services and humanitarian assistance in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. On 31 January, together with France and Germany, we shared our grave concern regarding the Government of Israel's implementation of UNRWA legislation and called on Israel to abide by its international obligations and responsibility to ensure full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance and the provision of basic services to the civilian population. The Foreign Secretary continues to raise these issues with Israeli counterparts and discussed this with the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, on 14 March.

How many people in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy constituency have received compensation through the Post Office Horizon redress schemes.

As of 31 March 2025, the total amount of redress paid has increased by more than three and a half times since the beginning of July 2024, with £892 million having now been paid to over 6,200 claimants. We do not provide information about redress recipients at this geographic level due to confidentiality. Releasing this type of information risks the identification of vulnerable individuals if combined with other information that may become available via other means outside of our control.

How many people are eligible for the Warm Home Discount Scheme in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy constituency.

The latest published Warm Home Discount statistics are for 2023/4 and use the constituency boundaries operating prior to the 2024 General Election. Most (84%) of the residential premises in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy constituency come from Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency under the previous boundaries, in which 1,666 households received the Warm Home Discount rebate in 2023-24. The statistics only cover receipt of the Warm Home Discount and not eligibility.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Israel on the arrest and detention of (a) Mahmoud Muna and (b) Ahmad Muna.

We are concerned by reports of the detention of Mahmoud and Ahmad Muna by the Israeli authorities. Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv, and the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, tweeted to express concern at the police raid, and to reiterate our support for freedom of expression as a fundamental right. We continue to call on Israeli authorities to exercise restraint and adhere to international law.

Media and Sport, how much money has been released through the Dormant Assets scheme in each year since it began.

The Dormant Assets Scheme has unlocked over £1 billion of dormant assets for good causes. The National Lottery Community Fund distributes all funding between the four nations in the UK. This is done in accordance with the Distribution of Dormant Account Money Order 2011: England receives 83.9%; Scotland 8.4%; Wales 4.9%; and Northern Ireland 2.8%. DCMS is responsible for the English portion and the relevant Devolved Governments are responsible for their own portion.As of 2023-2024, a total of £984.5 million has been allocated to the Dormant Assets Scheme in the UK:2011/12: £47.5 million2012/13: £49.5 million2013/14: £83.3 million2014/15: £49.1 million2015/16: £36.6 million2016/17: £94.3 million2017/18: £152.6 million2018/19: £71.3 million2019/20: £68.7 million2020/21: £90.1 million2021/22: £53.4 million2022/23: £92.9 million2023/24: £95.2 million

What steps her Department is taking to reduce average waiting times to access independent tribunals to hear appeals from parents against Child Maintenance Service decisions.

Appeals against Child Maintenance Service decisions are heard by the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal, which is part of the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal. Reducing the outstanding caseload is the key measure to bring down the waiting times for tribunal hearings. We are currently focused on reducing the outstanding caseload in the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal. HM Courts & Tribunals Service continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, the deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology as appropriate. If an expedited hearing is requested, a Judge or Legal Officer will make a decision on that issue, taking all the circumstances into account. Data on Tribunals performance is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Receipts, disposals and the outstanding caseload for individual Chambers in the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal, the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal can be found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.

Media and Sport, how much money released by the Dormant Assets scheme has been allocated to Scotland in each year since the scheme began.

To date, the Dormant Assets Scheme has unlocked over £1 billion for good causes across the UK. The National Lottery Community Fund distributes all funding between the four nations in the UK. This is done in accordance with the Distribution of Dormant Account Money Order 2011: England receives 83.9%; Scotland 8.4%; Wales 4.9%; and Northern Ireland 2.8%. To date, £82.7 million has been allocated to Scotland:2011/12: £4.0 million2012/13: £4.1 million2013/14: £7.0 million2014/15: £4.1 million2015/16: £3.1 million2016/17: £7.9 million2017/18: £12.8 million2018/19: £6.0 million2019/20: £5.8 million2020/21: £7.6 million2021/22: £4.5 million2022/23: £7.8 million2023/24: £8.0 million

Innovation and Technology, if he will hold discussions with the Manchester Breast Centre on the potential merits of providing additional support for their research into lobular breast cancer.

Cancer research is a critical priority for the Government. The Government does not ringfence funding for specific cancer types but is committed to supporting cancer research such as that conducted at Manchester Breast Centre. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology invests approximately £200 million into cancer research annually via UK Research and Innovation, and The Department of Health and Social Care spent £121.8 million in 2022/23 on cancer research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The Department of Health and Social Care is currently engaging with the sector to develop a new National Cancer Plan which will outline the Government’s strategy to improve outcomes for cancer patients, including lobular breast cancer.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that all communities have access to local radio stations.

There are a wide range of local commercial and community radio services across the UK operating on analogue (FM/AM) and on digital radio. In addition, there are increasing numbers of commercial and community radio stations which are digital-only and have been able to take advantage of DAB and small-scale DAB, allowing more local radio stations to reach their audiences.Ofcom’s progress report on small-scale DAB published on 22 October 2024 announced that Ofcom was planning to run two additional rounds of SS-DAB licensing in the near future, enabling more communities and prospective businesses to develop new stations and get on air.Local stations continue to make a significant contribution to local media plurality and choice, providing communities with access to news and local information. We are also considering the role that local commercial and community radio can make in helping to strengthen local media more generally as part of our comprehensive review of local media.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the cost of procuring (a) audio and (b) tactile voting solutions at every polling station to guarantee blind and partially sighted people a secret and independent vote.

The Government is committed to ensuring eligible disabled electors are supported in being able to register and vote in elections.The current law requires Returning Officers to take account of what electors want in terms of support and the Electoral Commission gives guidance on how to do this. The Tactile Voting Device, introduced in 2001, has proven effective for some voters with sight loss but we are aware that other options, such as magnifiers, digital reading applications and lighting aids, are also used to support individual elector’s preferences. The aim of the legislation is to support individuals and there is no one-size-fits all solution to achieve that.To support the changes brought in by the Elections Act 2022, money was made available to local authorities through new burdens funding and to Returning Officers where polls are funded directly by central government.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support community radio.

In December 2024, the Community Radio Order 2025 was laid in draft in Parliament. It enables Ofcom to extend community radio licences for a fourth time and to remove restrictions that limit the amount of income a community radio licence can receive from advertisements and sponsorship, except for community radio stations whose coverage area overlaps with small independent commercial stations. These changes are designed to secure the long-term success and financial sustainability of the UK’s community radio stations and, subject to Parliamentary approval, are due to come into force in April 2025.The Ofcom-administered Community Radio Fund also allows community radio stations to bid for funding to meet their core costs and seeks to support the sector towards self-sustainability. The current annual budget for the Community Radio Fund was set at £400,000 in 2015. We are currently looking at whether there is scope to increase funding as part of the Spending Review.

What recent progress his Department has made on strengthening national resilience.

As my Rt. Hon friend, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, set out in his statement to the House last week, we continue to make improvements to strengthen our national resilience. In April the UK Resilience Academy will be launched and will train over 4000 people a year and;Later this year we will undertake a full national pandemic response exercise. The review of national resilience also continues. I will be inviting Members from across this House to attend drop-in sessions to discuss the review.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Israeli government on the attack on Balata refugee camp in December 2024.

The Foreign Secretary has regularly raised issues of International Humanitarian Law compliance with the Israeli Government. Stability in the West Bank is crucial to ensure that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza can last. All sides should work to ensure a lowering of tension in the West Bank at this time. The ceasefire marks the first step in ensuring long-term peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians, and the wider region, bringing much-needed stability. Our attention must turn to how we secure a permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people - grounded in a two-state solution that will guarantee security and stability for Israel, alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine state.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to tackle websites which (a) promote and (b) normalise suicide.

Under the Online Safety Act, websites that allow user-generated content must proactively prevent all users from encountering illegal suicide content, and children of all ages from encountering legal content which encourages, promotes or provides instructions for suicide. Last year, the Secretary of State wrote to Ofcom to ask about its plans to tackle suicide forums which breach their obligations under the Online Safety Act. The regulator confirmed it stands ready to move to rapid enforcement action, where necessary. The Act also provides search services with targeted duties to minimise the risk of all users encountering illegal search content either in or via search results.

How many people claimed asylum by country of origin in each month of 2024.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum claims, by nationality, is published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2024.

Communities and Local Government, what proportion of funding from the most recent round of the Community Ownership Fund was allocated to bids from Scotland.

In Round 4 Window, this government awarded £36.2 million to 85 projects across the UK, with £5 million allocated to 11 projects in Scotland.The full list of successful projects can be found on GOV.UK.