Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

Pursuant to answer on 10 February 2026 to Question 110293, what steps are being taken in response to the number of Armed Forces pensions that remain unclaimed, beyond the 60 day tracing exercise conducted after the pension due date.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is expanding its communications to better reach those with unclaimed pensions, developing new online materials specifically aimed at deferred members who have not yet submitted a claim. The Defence contribution to the National Pensions Dashboards Programme will provide members with a single, secure online platform where they can view all their pension information. The dashboards will help reunite individuals with forgotten or previously unclaimed pensions by making their entitlements visible and easy to access at a time convenient to them. Alongside the 60‑day tracing activity conducted when a pension becomes due, the MOD intends to introduce a second tracing exercise approximately one year after the initial attempt for any pensions that remain unclaimed. In addition, the MOD plans to carry out a wider tracing exercise covering all existing unclaimed pensions. These improvements will create repeated opportunities to locate members whose circumstances or contact information may have changed over time.Together, these measures form an expanding and proactive approach designed to ensure that every individual who has earned pension benefits through service in the Armed Forces is able to be located and supported to claim them.

Media and Sport, what role Young Futures Hubs will play in the delivery of the National Year of Reading.

The National Year of Reading is a Department for Education initiative, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust. Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive. Local Authorities participating in the programme will co-design the services in each hub alongside young people in the community to ensure it meets local needs. Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape, and will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing.

Media and Sport, what role public libraries will play in the delivery of the National Year of Reading.

Public libraries are central to the success of the National Year of Reading’s campaign to engage people of all ages with reading. The Reading Agency has been appointed to work with sector partners to deliver and support public library engagement. The Summer Reading Challenge in 2026, and World Book Night, the annual celebration of reading for adults on 23 April 2026, will be key moments for libraries during the National Year of Reading 2026. Throughout the year, The Reading Agency will provide public libraries with resources, toolkits, and print and digital materials to support their work and boost engagement.Local authorities such as Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Hillingdon, Oxfordshire and Nottinghamshire are actively celebrating and participating in the National Year of Reading programmes with various activities and events at their library branches.

What steps she is taking to improve Poole train station.

South Western Railway (SWR) is responsible for making sure its stations are well-maintained and meet the standards that passengers expect. Now SWR is in public ownership, it is working more closely with Network Rail and together jointly developing a strategic station plan to improve the station building and facilities. SWR is also planning a station adoption group with local stakeholders to improve the general look of the station.

Whether she plans to remove VAT from refurbished building work.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations. Residential renovations are subject to a reduced rate of VAT of five per cent if they meet certain conditions. These include conversions of buildings from one residential use to another, conversions from commercial to residential use, and the renovation of properties that have been empty for two or more years. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the overall public finances.

What his proposed timeline is for implementing community energy generation and storage across the UK.

This Government is hugely ambitious about the role that local and community energy will play in achieving our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. On 10 February 2026, Great British Energy and the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero published the Local Power Plan which sets out the UK’s largest ever public investment in community energy. Backed by up to £1 billion, GBE aims to support more than 1,000 local and community energy projects by 2030. DESNZ will issue a Call for Evidence in 2026 to assess the role of community batteries in the transition and identify measures to scale deployment.

Whether she is taking steps to regulate credit card providers to ensure they lend to those who are (a) vulnerable and (b) persistently in debt in a responsible way.

Lenders offering credit are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This oversight ensures that lending practices are fair and that consumers are protected – firms regulated by the FCA must comply with its strict lending affordability rules, lending only to those who can afford repayments based on a thorough assessment of their financial situation. Under the FCA’s Consumer Duty, firms are required to take steps to identify and respond to signs of vulnerability, support customers to disclose their needs, and make them aware of available assistance. The Government is committed to supporting people who are experiencing problem debt. Through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), the Government funds a range of national and community-based debt advice services in England, so households can access the specialist support they need to get their finances back on track.

Whether he plans to introduce a form of licencing for high street vape shops.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, currently being considered in the House of Lords, provides powers for ministers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to introduce a licensing scheme, in their respective nations, for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products. This will strengthen enforcement and support legitimate businesses, while acting as a deterrent to retailers who breach the law. In doing so, it will support public health.We recently launched a call for evidence to gather views on a range of topics related to tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products, including the proposed licensing scheme. The call for evidence ran for eight weeks and closed in December 2025. The evidence gathered will be used to inform the development of the licensing scheme, and we will launch a subsequent consultation on our policy proposals before bringing forward secondary legislation.

What assessment his Department has made of (a) the prevalence of respiratory disease and (b) the number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in Poole constituency compared with national averages; and what steps he is taking to ensure respiratory health is prioritised nationally, including through the introduction of a Modern Service Framework for respiratory care.

The Government will consider long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks (MSFs), including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future MSFs will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in the quality of care and productivity. After the initial wave of MSFs is complete, the National Quality Board will determine the conditions to prioritise for new MSFs as part of its work programme.The Department holds data on emergency Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis of respiratory condition for Poole and England, for activity from August 2024 to November 2025, although the data is provisional. The following table shows the number of emergency FAEs with a primary diagnosis of respiratory condition, for Poole and England, for activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector, from August 2024 to November 2025:Westminster Parliamentary Constituency of Residence2024/25 (August 2024 to March 2025)2025/26 (April 2025 to November 2025)Poole1370985England608,449423,588Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England. Available data on trends in respiratory conditions can be found on the Department’s Fingertips dataset. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data is available at a regional, county, unitary authority, and integrated care board level. Information for Dorset is available at the following link:https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/respiratory#page/1/gid/1/pat/15/ati/502/are/E06000059/iid/40701/age/163/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1 The Government has committed to delivering the three big shifts that our NHS needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving respiratory health in all parts of the country. Through our community diagnostic centres, we are building capacity for respiratory testing and enabling people to get diagnosed closer to home. 101 community diagnostic centres across the country now offer out of hours services, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning patients can access vital diagnostic tests around busy working lives. This is alongside action being taken to expand capacity and improve the quality of pulmonary rehabilitation services to support patients living with respiratory conditions.

What steps is her Department taking to help ensure pedestrians are kept safe from accidents involving e-bikes and scooters.

The safety of pedestrians like all road users is a priority for this government.The Highway Code updates in January 2022 implemented a Hierarchy of Road Users. This places those road users most at risk in the event of a collision, such as pedestrians, at the top of the hierarchy.Our new Road Safety Strategy, published in January 2026 sets out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads, including pedestrians, by 65% by 2035.We are also making our streets safer for pedestrians, by introducing new cycling offences in the Crime and Policing Bill to tackle those rare instances where victims have been killed or seriously injured by irresponsible cyclist behaviour.It is illegal to ride a cycle, e-cycle or e-scooter on the pavement; enforcement against illegal or irresponsible e-scooter use is a matter for the police.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) objectives and (b) workplan will be for the working group on fur.

As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy published in December 2025, we will publish the results of the previous Government’s call for evidence on the fur trade. Defrawill also publish and consider carefully the report from the Animal Welfare Committee on the responsible sourcing of fur. This is due to be completed shortly and will be published on GOV.UK thereafter. The strategy also stated that we will bring together a working group on fur. The group will include both industry experts as well as those who support restrictions on the trade in fur. The aim of the working group will be to explore concerns regarding the trade in fur and the different ways in which they could be addressed.

Food and Rural Affairs, when the working group on fur will be established; and whether animal welfare organisations will be asked to participate.

As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy published in December 2025, we will publish the results of the previous Government’s call for evidence on the fur trade. Defrawill also publish and consider carefully the report from the Animal Welfare Committee on the responsible sourcing of fur. This is due to be completed shortly and will be published on GOV.UK thereafter. The strategy also stated that we will bring together a working group on fur. The group will include both industry experts as well as those who support restrictions on the trade in fur. The aim of the working group will be to explore concerns regarding the trade in fur and the different ways in which they could be addressed.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to publish a response to the call for evidence on the fur trade, published on 31 May 2021.

As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy published in December 2025, we will publish the results of the previous Government’s call for evidence on the fur trade. Defrawill also publish and consider carefully the report from the Animal Welfare Committee on the responsible sourcing of fur. This is due to be completed shortly and will be published on GOV.UK thereafter. The strategy also stated that we will bring together a working group on fur. The group will include both industry experts as well as those who support restrictions on the trade in fur. The aim of the working group will be to explore concerns regarding the trade in fur and the different ways in which they could be addressed.

Food and Rural Affairs, what information she holds on when the Animal Welfare Committee plans to publish its report on the responsible sourcing of fur.

As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy published in December 2025, we will publish the results of the previous Government’s call for evidence on the fur trade. Defrawill also publish and consider carefully the report from the Animal Welfare Committee on the responsible sourcing of fur. This is due to be completed shortly and will be published on GOV.UK thereafter. The strategy also stated that we will bring together a working group on fur. The group will include both industry experts as well as those who support restrictions on the trade in fur. The aim of the working group will be to explore concerns regarding the trade in fur and the different ways in which they could be addressed.

Whether she plans to end the sale of written-off consumer debts to third-party debt purchasers.

The Government expects that consumers are treated fairly by firms purchasing and collecting debt, and recognises the importance of responsible debt recovery practices.Firms that purchase or collect consumer credit debts must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and comply with its rules, including requirements to treat customers fairly and to offer appropriate forbearance options to customers in financial difficulty. The FCA has a broad range of supervisory and enforcement powers to address misconduct.The Government remains committed to supporting individuals in financial difficulty and keeps the regulatory framework under review.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that subcontractors supplying Government departments have high standards.

The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses. The Procurement Act 2023 allows contracting authorities to require that suppliers meet specific standards by, where appropriate, setting them as conditions of participation in a procurement. Contracting authorities must be satisfied that any such conditions of participation have been met before awarding a public contract, including when a supplier proposes to meet them via a subcontractor. The Procurement Specific Questionnaire template, published on the Procurement Pathway, helps contracting authorities collect relevant subcontractor information. The Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS) also helps to protect UK subcontractors working with government suppliers by providing a free, anonymous, and confidential way to report poor public sector procurement practices, including contract management issues and unfair, late payment issues. The UK Government Supplier Code of Conduct v3.0 (published May 2023) outlines the ethical standards expected of suppliers working with the government. Although the Code is not legally enforceable, it encourages transparent dialogue where standards are not met and, in extreme unresolved cases, escalation to the Government Chief Commercial Officer. We will set out further reforms to procurement rules, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course.

What steps his Department has taken to respond to breaches of the Supplier Code of Conduct v3.0 Ethical Behaviour provisions.

The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses. The Procurement Act 2023 allows contracting authorities to require that suppliers meet specific standards by, where appropriate, setting them as conditions of participation in a procurement. Contracting authorities must be satisfied that any such conditions of participation have been met before awarding a public contract, including when a supplier proposes to meet them via a subcontractor. The Procurement Specific Questionnaire template, published on the Procurement Pathway, helps contracting authorities collect relevant subcontractor information. The Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS) also helps to protect UK subcontractors working with government suppliers by providing a free, anonymous, and confidential way to report poor public sector procurement practices, including contract management issues and unfair, late payment issues. The UK Government Supplier Code of Conduct v3.0 (published May 2023) outlines the ethical standards expected of suppliers working with the government. Although the Code is not legally enforceable, it encourages transparent dialogue where standards are not met and, in extreme unresolved cases, escalation to the Government Chief Commercial Officer. We will set out further reforms to procurement rules, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course.

What steps his Department is taking to help protect the interests of UK subcontractors that are engaged by Government suppliers.

The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses. The Procurement Act 2023 allows contracting authorities to require that suppliers meet specific standards by, where appropriate, setting them as conditions of participation in a procurement. Contracting authorities must be satisfied that any such conditions of participation have been met before awarding a public contract, including when a supplier proposes to meet them via a subcontractor. The Procurement Specific Questionnaire template, published on the Procurement Pathway, helps contracting authorities collect relevant subcontractor information. The Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS) also helps to protect UK subcontractors working with government suppliers by providing a free, anonymous, and confidential way to report poor public sector procurement practices, including contract management issues and unfair, late payment issues. The UK Government Supplier Code of Conduct v3.0 (published May 2023) outlines the ethical standards expected of suppliers working with the government. Although the Code is not legally enforceable, it encourages transparent dialogue where standards are not met and, in extreme unresolved cases, escalation to the Government Chief Commercial Officer. We will set out further reforms to procurement rules, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish the consultation on restricting Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in consumer articles.

The Government published a PFAS Plan on 3 February 2026. This sets out the Government’s approach towards PFAS in consumer articles.

What discussions he has had with stakeholders on his Department's modelling of workforce numbers in the 10 Year Workforce Plan.

The Government will publish the 10 Year Workforce Plan in spring 2026. This plan will set out action to create a National Health Service workforce which is able to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. It is important we do this in a robust and joined up way. We are therefore engaging extensively with partners to ensure this plan delivers for staff and patients.That engagement began well before the call for evidence was closed. In early November, ministers hosted an event with nearly one hundred representatives of partner organisations to hear views from across the health system.Engagement is now continuing while we analyse the submissions to our call for evidence, including a roundtable with medical royal colleges on 14 January, which I chaired.We have committed to publishing regular workforce planning. This will start with the 10-Year Workforce Plan, which will include updated workforce modelling and its underlying assumptions when published in spring 2026. The updated workforce modelling will be subject to independent scrutiny by our appointed external scrutiny panel.