Written questions by Wood.

What assessment she has made of whether public spending plans in the (a) Autumn Budget 2024 and (b) Spending Review phase (i) one and (ii) two will require (A) compulsory and (B) voluntary redundancies in the civil service.

At Autumn Budget, this government committed to developing a long-term strategic workforce plan for a more efficient and effective Civil Service. During Spending Review phase two, departments will set out their long-term spending plans, including for their Civil Service workforces.

With reference to page 28 of the policy paper entitled Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led government, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, what key performance indicators he plans to use to track the implementation of the 10 year health plan; and if he will publish definitions of success for each indicator.

The 10-Year Health Plan is being developed in line with best practice for policy making set out in the HM Treasury Green Book. This includes consideration of monitoring and evaluation before, during and after implementation.Identifying appropriate performance indicators will be done in conjunction with developing the detail of the plan. Further detail will be set out at an appropriate time, including any plans to publish specific success metrics and their definitions.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, if she will make it her policy to publish an annual report on progress towards the target to build 1.5 million homes.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 19066 on 20 December 2024.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, how she plans to measure progress towards her target for safer town centres; and what her target is for reducing levels of (a) anti-social behaviour, (b) shoplifting and (c) other specific crimes.

We are currently in the process of devising a new performance framework for neighbourhood policing to improve standards and performance across the country. We are engaging with police forces, the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council to agree the content of the performance framework, including assessing which measures are available nationally and at the local level. The Guarantee and associated performance framework will ensure everyone, regardless of where they live, receives strengthened and more consistent neighbourhood policing.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, how she plans to measure progress towards her target for children to be thriving at school; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using data on attainment gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers as a core metric for this target.

The Opportunity Mission will break the link between a child’s background and their future success. Driving high and rising standards is at the heart of the department’s vision for all schools, and these standards are crucial in supporting all children and young people to both achieve and thrive. As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education set out in her speech to the Confederation of School Trusts in November 2024, achieving and thriving go hand-in-hand, with children who are healthy and have a sense of belonging at school most likely to achieve well. We are looking at a range of indicators for this and will set out more details. At every stage, improving outcomes for disadvantaged children and young people, and those with special educational needs and disabilities, will be a priority.

With reference to page 34 of the policy paper entitled Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led government, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, how she plans to measure the success of the neighbourhood policing guarantee; and if she will publish data on (a) police visibility and (b) public satisfaction at the community level.

We are currently in the process of devising a new performance framework for neighbourhood policing to improve standards and performance across the country. We are engaging with police forces, the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council to agree the content of the performance framework, including assessing which measures are available nationally and at the local level. The Guarantee and associated performance framework will ensure everyone, regardless of where they live, receives strengthened and more consistent neighbourhood policing.

With reference to page 33 of the policy paper entitled Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led government, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, how she plans to measure success in building confidence in the criminal justice system; and whether she plans to regularly (a) collect and (b) publish victim satisfaction data.

We are still developing this pillar of the mission and will say more in due course.We regularly publish victim engagement data for the criminal justice system in the Criminal Justice System Delivery Data Dashboard. These metrics cover the percentage of investigations closed because the victim does not support police action, cases stopped after a defendant has been charged because a victim no longer supports the prosecution, and cases in which the victim or witness no longer supports prosecution on the day of trial.

With reference to page 28 of the policy paper entitled Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led government, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, whether his Department plans to measure the success of the neighbourhood health service model by (a) patient satisfaction, (b) health outcomes and (c) service delivery times.

We are committed to moving towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered in local communities to spot problems earlier, supporting people to stay healthier and maintain their independence for longer.We recognise the need for robust evaluation and are developing plans to do so, including the appropriate measures of success. This will be aligned with the monitoring and evaluation activities of the 10-Year Health Plan.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led government, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, how he plans to measure the impact of digital transformation in the NHS; and what performance targets he has set for patient access to single health records.

Digital transformation offers substantial opportunities for the National Health Service to improve care outcomes and to lower cost, while improving the experience of patients. The impact of digital tools and programmes are measured individually, and organisations are required to identify, manage, actively track and report impacts, outcomes and benefits against agreed plans. The Government has announced its intention to develop a Single Patient Record, and specific investment decisions and targets will be subject to the forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan, Spending Review Phase 2, and further detailed work. The Government has continued to take action in the short term on joining up patient records, including investing £19.5 million in Shared Care Records.

With reference to the written statement entitled Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led Government, published on 5 December 2024, HCWS285, and the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, whether funding announced in the Plan for Change includes funding previously announced by the Government; and whether there will be Barnett consequential funding for devolved administrations.

The government sets out its plans for departmental expenditure at regular Spending Reviews. The current Spending Review (SR25) is split into two phases. Phase 1 of the Spending Review was published alongside Autumn Budget 2024, resetting budgets for 2024-25 and setting departmental budgets for 2025-26, including funding which will support delivery of the Plan for Change priorities. Autumn Budget confirmed the largest real-terms funding settlement for the Devolved Governments since devolution. Phase 2 of the Spending Review will conclude later this year and the milestones announced in the Plan for Change will be the core priorities. Phase 2 will allocate departmental budgets between 2026-27 and 2028-29, with an additional year (2029-30) for capital spending. The Barnett formula will continue to apply in the usual way.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, if she will make it her policy to publish an annual spending review for the milestones set out in the Plan for Change showing how much funding has been (a) allocated, (b) spent and (c) reallocated for each of the five milestones.

The Prime Minister’s Plan for Change sets out the government’s agenda and priorities for the remainder of this Parliament, to strengthen our country through a decade of national renewal. The Spending Review will deliver on this agenda. Phase 1 of the Spending Review was published alongside Autumn Budget 2024, resetting budgets for 2024-25 and setting departmental budgets for 2025-26. Phase 2 of the Spending Review will conclude later this year and the milestones announced in the PfC will be the core priorities. Phase 2 will allocate departmental budgets between 2026-27 and 2028-29, with an additional year (2029-30) for capital spending. The government has committed to regular Spending Reviews, allocating all departmental spending, every two years to provide a more stable and transparent spending framework.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, at what grades new teachers will be recruited; and if she will publish recruitment targets by subject area.

​​Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child. The within school factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcome is high-quality teaching. Yet this government has inherited a system with critical shortages of teachers with numbers not keeping pace with demographic changes. This is why the government has set out the ambition to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools, both mainstream and specialist, and our colleges over the course of this Parliament, including targeting shortage subjects. The department will continue to work alongside the sector as it develops its delivery plan and seeks to re-establish teaching as an attractive profession. The department’s measures will include getting more teachers into shortage subjects, supporting areas that face recruitment challenges and tackling retention issues. The department has already made good early progress towards this key pledge by accepting in full the 5.5% pay award, by expanding our ‘Every Lesson Shapes a Life’ recruitment campaign, by making £233 million available for bursaries in 2025/26 and by doubling retention payments for new teachers of mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing working in disadvantaged schools. However, the best recruitment strategy is a retention strategy to ensure teachers stay and thrive in the profession. This is why the department is doing more to support workload and wellbeing. This includes introducing new report cards to replace Ofsted single-word judgements to provide parents with a clear picture of their schools and proportionate accountability for schools, allowing teacher’s planning, preparation and assessment time to be taken from home and making key resources to support well-being, developed with school leaders, available to teachers.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, how her Department plans to measure progress towards the target to raise living standards in every part of the UK; and if she will make it her policy to publish data on changes in real household disposable income per head in each local authority.

A range of metrics are needed to understand progress towards raising living standards across the UK. The Department has worked with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to increase the granularity of a variety of statistic publications such as Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI) at small area geographies including local authorities.These data are also available through ONS’s Explore Local Statistics (ELS) service. This means that anyone can find, compare and visualise statistics about places in the UK using over 70 indicators.The Department is continuing to work with ONS to identify possible future metrics to monitor the progress of raising living standards across the UK.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, what metrics she plans to use to measure progress towards the target to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7.

Improving economic growth is one of the core missions of the government and our Plan for Change. We aim to have the highest growth in the G7 by the end of the parliament, measured using estimates of real terms Gross Domestic Product per capita.

With reference to page 6 of the publication entitled Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led government, what metrics his Department will use to track the commitment to generate at least 95% clean power by 2030.

The Government will take a whole-system approach towards measuring progress towards our Clean Power 2030 target, including tracking power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, in addition to the development of flexible power production, consumption and smart demand.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, what metrics she plans to use to measure economic stability beyond gross domestic product.

The government’s Plan for Change can only be delivered on the foundation of a stable economy. Achieving economic stability requires macroeconomic stability, which gives firms and households the certainty to plan spending and investment; financial stability, which supports the real economy and ensures we can withstand shocks; fiscal credibility, which keeps inflation expectations anchored; and long-term policy certainty, which encourages investors. The Autumn Budget took significant steps to restore stability to public finances and improve our public services. Only by achieving stability can we grow the economy and keep both taxes and inflation low.The breadth of economic stability will require the use of many metrics to track it. These may include measures of price stability and inflation; measures of policy uncertainty; and a range of financial market indicators.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, if she will make it her policy to publish regular reports on progress towards the target to fast track at least 150 major infrastructure projects; and what her definition is of a major infrastructure project in this context.

As part of its Plan for Change, the government has committed to making decisions on at least 150 major infrastructure projects within this Parliament. This target is aimed at projects of a certain type and over a certain size as set out under the Planning Act 2008, which are considered by government to be of national importance and therefore should be consented at a national level through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime.Progress on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project decisions that make up the 150 milestone are publicly trackable on the Planning Inspectorate website which provides information on each project going through the process. We are currently considering how best to summarise and present this information and will announce plans in due course.

For which public appointments the Prime Minister is directly responsible.

The Prime Minister is directly responsible for public appointments to 61 bodies and offices across government departments. Individual appointments made by the Prime Minister are publicly announced at the time of appointment.

Whether the Government records the details of meetings Ministers have at party conferences.

Ministers’ meetings with external organisations at party conferences will generally be in a political capacity so there is no need to normally declare these, unless a senior media figure was also present. Annex D of the Ministerial Transparency Guidance, which is published on GOV.UK, states that ministers’ meetings with external organisations at party conferences will generally be in a political capacity so there is no need to normally declare these, unless a senior media figure was also present. However, if ministers exceptionally hold meetings in the margins of Party conferences in an official ministerial capacity, then these should be recorded and published in the normal way.

What discussions he has has with the defence sector on the potential impact of environmental, social and governance policies on levels of divestment.

There is nothing contradictory between Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) consideration and the defence sector. A strong national defence is a pre-requisite for the freedoms and aspirations that investors and financial services companies seek to address using ESG considerations. The Government is committed to bringing forward a Defence Industrial Strategy which ensures the imperatives of national security and a high-growth economy are aligned. Through the Defence Industrial Strategy we will consider the impact of environmental, social and governance policies. The Ministry of Defence also strongly supports the introduction of the regulation of ESG ratings providers which will improve transparency and promote good conduct and address some of the issues which defence companies have raised.