Written questions by Davies.

When she plans to set out her planned timetable for the urgent review of the 2014 Reforms to the SEND Code of Practice.

I refer the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield to the answer of 9 July 2025 to Question 64225.

What discussions he has had with representatives of the brick-making industry from East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency on replacing the EU Carbon Leakage List.

Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of launching a comprehensive review of student loan interest rates.

Student loans are subject to interest so that those who can afford to do so contribute to the full cost of their degree. To consider both students and taxpayers and ensure the real value of the loans over the repayment term, interest rates are linked to inflation.Interest rates on student loans do not affect monthly repayments made by borrowers. Regular repayments are based on a fixed percentage of earnings above the applicable student loan repayment threshold. Any outstanding debt, including interest built up, is written off after the loan term ends (or in case of death or disability) at no detriment to the borrower.A full equality impact assessment of how the student loan reforms may affect graduates, including detail on changes to average lifetime repayments under Plan 5, was produced and published under the previous government in February 2022 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.

What steps she is taking to support councils with home to school transport costs for SEND children.

I refer the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield to the answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62198.

Pursuant to her oral answer in response to the question from the hon. Member for Lichfield of 16 July 2025, Official Report, Column 282, over what period that £445 million covers; and what the allocated spending is in each financial year.

Following the Spending Review, the UK Government is investing at least £445m into Welsh rail infrastructure upgrades, with the vast majority of this funding to be spent within the Spending Review period.This investment will mean new stations and more and faster trains on the key lines across North and South Wales. The UK Government is working in collaboration with the Welsh Government, Network Rail and Transport for Wales, through the Wales Rail Board.

Pursuant to her oral answer in response to the question from the hon. Member for Lichfield of 16 July 2025, Official Report, Column 282, what the evidential basis is for her statement on historic underfunding.

I regret that the Hon. Member seems to refuse to accept or acknowledge the historic underfunding. When I gave evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee in January, there was widespread agreement that this was the case and many others have expressed similar sentiments.The low levels of enhancement spending we have seen in recent years makes it more difficult to realise the modal shift needed to sustain a continuous enhancements pipeline. Denying that there has been underfunding is not the way address the problem. This government prefers to tackle the issue head on, starting with at least £445m of spending, front-loaded to support delivery of Wales' priorities for rail infrastructure during this next Spending Review period.

Whether his Department has issued guidance on the maximum distance that a patient should travel to see their registered GP.

As part of the arrangements for the provision of primary medical services, general practices (GPs) are required to agree an area within which they will accept patients onto their list. This ensures there is a sufficient distribution of GPs for all patients in England and provides for an area in which practices feel they are able to provide home visits, should they be needed. Changes to the GP Contract arrangements in 2014/15 brought in a measure allowing GPs to register patients from outside their catchment areas without a duty to provide home visits for such patients.If the practice feels it is not clinically appropriate or practical for the patient to be registered so far away from home, it can still refuse registration, but should explain the reason for doing so.

What steps his Department is taking to conduct regular financial audits of GP practices that are part of national chains on an (a) national and (b) local individual surgery basis.

It is not the responsibility of the Department or NHS England to undertake financial audits of general practices (GPs). GPs are private businesses that are commissioned by integrated care boards to provide general medical services via a National Health Service contract. Practices have a range of auditing requirements, including disclosure of earnings, and maintaining an audit and system management function on their computer system, allowing NHS England to carry out audit functions relating to the maintenance of patient records.

What steps his Department is taking to help prevent fraud by nationwide GP chains.

The Government takes fraud against the National Health Service extremely seriously and we will use every available tool to bring fraudsters to account. A comprehensive three-year Counter Fraud Strategy is in place and a Fraud Risk Assessment has been undertaken for contracted services within general practice, to identify fraud risks so that preventative action can be taken. The NHS Counter Fraud Authority is also in place as a dedicated special health authority tasked with leading the fight against fraud, bribery, and corruption in the NHS in England. Where allegations of fraud are received, they will be thoroughly investigated, and appropriate action will be taken.

On how many occasions waiting time targets were exceeded at major points of entry in 2024.

The specific data requested is not available in an accessible format but below are the relevant statistics taken from Border Force’s transparency data.Of the 832,739 queue samples measured across the UK in 2024, 97.55% of queues were within Border Force’s service standards above the 95% target. These service standards are 25 mins EU/EEA and 45 mins non-EU/EEA.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/682b149302662c6f8ec24411/border-force-transparency-data-q1-2025.ods (tab BF01).

What the (a) travel and (b) other costs were of back filling shortfalls in Border Force staff in 2024; and how many (i) posts and (ii) hours of time were backfilled.

There was no shortfall in Border Force staffing against its budgeted headcount in 2024; as such, there were no additional travel nor other costs incurred specifically for backfilling staff, and no posts nor hours required backfilling.Border Force operates a flexible resourcing model, regularly assessing operational needs and deploying staff dynamically in response to passenger volumes and security requirements. Maintaining the security and efficiency of the UK border remains a top priority, and we continue to allocate resources accordingly to ensure the smooth flow of passengers and goods.

How many officers were contracted in the seasonal workforce within Border Force in 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 23 July to Question 68251.

How many former seasonal workforce officers were offered permanent positions after their contacts ended prior to 2024; and how many vacancies there were for them in 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 23 July to PQ UIN 68079.

What the budget was for the seasonal workforce for Border Force in 2024.

The budget for Border Force’s Seasonal Workforce was £9.424m for calendar year 2024.

What the (a) sickness and (b) staff retention rates were of the seasonal workforce in Border force in 2024.

Data on (a) sickness rates for this cohort is not centrally held by the Home Office.As regards (b) retention, at the start of 2024, Home Office was authorised by the Civil Service Commission to recruit on an exceptional basis up to 1000 SWF staff to meet short term needs as required. This cohort was not under general employment by Home Office but could be offered short term employment contracts, which they were free to accept or reject. These contracts specified there was no expectation of extension or offer of a further contract, on expiry of the initial term. Following the Civil Service Commission confirming that authorisation for this form of recruitment would not be extended beyond early 2025, all SWF staff contracts were ended by 31 January 2025.

Whether (a) his Department and (b) ICBs have issued guidance to larger GP practices with multiple sites across several ICB areas.

Integrated care boards (ICBs), as commissioners of primary medical services, are responsible for the quality, safety, and performance of services delivered by providers within their areas. Large general practitioner (GP) practices spanning multiple commissioner areas will ordinarily hold individual contracts within each commissioning area they operate in and will therefore be held to account for the quality, safety, and performance of services by the responsible commissioner in each area.The Department does not collect information on all guidance that is issued by ICBs.

How much funding was (a) allocated and (b) spent on railways in Wales between 2010 and 2024 by fiscal period.

The table below shows the UK Government funded expenditure on operations, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of railways in Wales for each financial year, noting that we do not have data for the financial year 2010/2011. Financial Year11/1212/1313/1414/1515/1616/1717/1818/1919/2020/2121/2222/2323/24£million230249318307388508502551460414434521525 Spending on railways in Wales by the Welsh Government, including continuing subsidy for rail services operated by Transport for Wales is not included, nor is payment made by the Department in respect of services that Transport for Wales operates wholly within England.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the electrification of the train line between Uckfield and Hurst Green on economic growth in Sussex.

A Strategic Outline Business Case was developed by Network Rail in 2021 which considered the potential benefits of electrifying the line between Hurst Green and Uckfield. This assessment concluded that the scheme would have positive impacts on train service performance and reliability, together with wider economic benefits. The scheme was paused by the previous government following Spending Review 2021; no development work has taken place since that point.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the electrification of the train line between Uckfield and Hurst Green on passenger service.

A Strategic Outline Business Case was developed by Network Rail in 2021 which considered the potential benefits of electrifying the line between Hurst Green and Uckfield. This assessment concluded that the scheme would have positive impacts on train service performance and reliability, together with wider economic benefits. The scheme was paused by the previous government following Spending Review 2021; no development work has taken place since that point.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the electrification of the train line between Uckfield and Hurst Green on train reliability.

A Strategic Outline Business Case was developed by Network Rail in 2021 which considered the potential benefits of electrifying the line between Hurst Green and Uckfield. This assessment concluded that the scheme would have positive impacts on train service performance and reliability, together with wider economic benefits. The scheme was paused by the previous government following Spending Review 2021; no development work has taken place since that point.