Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

How many victims of the infected blood scandal have received their full compensation.

In late October, the Infected Blood Compensation Authority began contacting the first group of people so that they could begin making their compensation claims. As of 12th December, 10 people have been offered compensation totalling over £13 million. The first few people have accepted their offers and the first payments have now been made. Between now and January, the Authority will reach out to more people so that they can begin making their compensation claims. The Authority is aiming to reach around 250 claims in early 2025 and continue ramping up payments from there. At the October Budget the Government committed £11.8 billion of funding for the compensation scheme. The individual payments build on the more than £1 billion which victims have received so far in interim payments.

Whether he plans to meet representatives of the hair and beauty industry to discuss the potential impact of the Budget on their sector.

The Chancellor has been clear that the government must take difficult choices. This was a budget to fix the foundations of the economy, and these tough decisions are intended to provide a platform for growth. I met with representatives from the sector at a Personal Care Roundtable on 19 November 2024. Representatives from the hospitality and personal care sector attended a Budget Broadcast call with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on 4 November 2024. There is ongoing engagement with the sector both at Ministerial and official level to understand the challenges facing the sector, including the impact of measures announced at Budget. Details of ministerial meetings are published quarterly on gov.uk in line with transparency data releases and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbt-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.

What recent discussions he has had with NHS England on the future of the mental health investment standard.

Ministers and officials hold discussions regularly with NHS England on a range of issues. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will set out expectations for mental health funding, including the share of overall National Health Service expenditure in 2025/26, in due course, as required under section 3(2) of the Health and Care Act 2022. NHS England is also expected to issue its priorities and operational planning guidance for the NHS for 2025/25 shortly.

If she will make it her policy to fund the Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme beyond 2025.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.The Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme brings together integrated care boards, local authorities and schools, working in partnership with parents and carers to support schools to better meet the needs of neurodiverse children and their families. PINS deploys specialists from health and education workforces to build teacher and staff capacity to identify and meet the needs of neurodiverse children in around 1,600, or 10%, mainstream primary schools. The programme is being evaluated and the learning will inform future policy development around how schools support neurodiverse children.The Spending Review for 2025/26 has been allocated and business planning is underway so that programmes can be given certainty about funding as soon as possible.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of maintaining the state pension age at 67.

State Pension age will rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028, as set out in section 26 of the Pensions Act 2014. Under Section 27 of the Pensions Act 2014, the Secretary of State has a statutory duty to periodically review whether the existing rules about State Pension age are appropriate. To date, there have been two reviews of State Pension age, one in 2017 and one in 2023 and both confirmed that the timetable for the rise to 67 remained appropriate. The 2017 review can be found at: State Pension age review 2017: final report - GOV.UK. The 2023 review can be found at: State Pension age Review 2023 - GOV.UK The next review of State Pension age must be completed by March 2029.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Housing First pilot schemes; and whether she plans to expand those schemes.

I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 15811 on 3 December 2024.

If she will extend the Employment Allowance to (a) GPs and (b) other people providing public services.

The Government has not changed the eligibility rules on the Employment Allowance beyond removing the £100,000 eligibility threshold. Government guidance on the Employment Allowance states that you ‘cannot claim if you’re a public body or business doing more than half your work in the public sector – unless you’re a charity’. The eligibility of a specific sector or organisation will depend on the make-up of an individual business's work.

If she will review the planned increase in the state pension age to 68.

Under Section 27 of the Pensions Act 2014, the Secretary of State has a statutory duty to periodically review whether the existing rules about State Pension age are appropriate.To date, there have been two statutory Government reviews, one in 2017 and one in 2023.The next review must be completed by March 2029.

Whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of e-passports that do not work at UK airports; and what steps she is taking to help resolve that issue.

It has never been Government practice, for reasons of law enforcement, to comment on operational issues relating to border security and immigration controls. This includes offering commentary on the performance of border systems and of ePassport Gates data specifically.However, the Hon Member with be pleased to know that the Home Office is making significant investment to improve the underlying technical infrastructure which performs border checks to identify individuals more precisely. This will reduce the number of individuals unable to use the ePassport Gates. These improvements have begun to be introduced, and further improvements are envisaged to identify persons of interest more precisely.

If she will widen the eligibility of free school meals to all children whose parents are in receipt of Universal Credit.

The government has a central mission to break down barriers to opportunity for every child.The government has inherited a trend of rising child poverty and widening attainment gaps for children eligible for free school meals and their peers. Child poverty has increased by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, by tackling the root causes and giving every child the best start at life. To support this, a new ministerial taskforce has been set up to develop a Child Poverty Strategy, which will be published in spring 2025. The taskforce will consider a range of policies in assessing what will have the greatest impact in driving down rates of child poverty. As with all policies, the government keeps the approach to free school meals under review.

Whether she plans to increase funding for (a) universal infant free school meals and (b) benefitted free school meals.

An uplift to the per-meal rate for universal infant free school meals and further education free meals was announced on 4 December 2024. The uplifted meal rate will be increased from £2.53 to £2.58 for 2024 to 2025, backdated to the start of the academic year.To support the provision of benefits-related free school meals (FSM), the government provides funding at £490 per eligible FSM pupil per year as a factor value within the national funding formula. This value will be increasing to £495 per eligible FSM pupil in 2025/26.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of existing waste incineration facilities for the next five years.

The Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy, which will support economic growth, deliver green jobs, promote efficient and productive use of resources, minimise negative environmental impacts and help us accelerate to Net Zero. There will however still be a need for the safe and sanitary management of residual waste. In accordance with the Waste Hierarchy, sending residual waste that cannot currently be prevented, prepared for reuse, or recycled to Energy from Waste plants is preferable to disposal in landfill. We are clear however that we do not support incineration overcapacity. Before the end of this year, the Government will publish an analysis of residual waste treatment capacity, including waste incineration, in England setting out our future capacity needs to inform future policy directions.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help end child homelessness.

Homelessness levels are far too high. This Government recognises the devastating impact this can have on those affected. We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25) and brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26. Allocations for individual local authorities in England will be set out later in December, which will include Slough, West Dorset, the Thames Valley region and wider rural communities.The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to tackle the underlying causes of homelessness and deliver long-term solutions to end all forms of homelessness, including rural and child homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across Government to develop a long-term homelessness strategy.We have also established an Expert Group to bring together representatives from across the homelessness and rough sleeping sector, local and combined authorities and wider experts. The role of this expert group is to provide knowledge, analysis and challenge to help Government understand what is working well nationally and locally and where improvements are needed.The department also has a lived experience forum to ensure the voices of those with lived experience of homelessness are reflected in the homelessness strategy.More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness by delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.The Government is also abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to encourage local authorities to plant more trees.

Local authorities have an important role in contributing to England’s tree planting targets and maximising the benefits of these trees, for example through planting urban and street trees, which are often the closest green infrastructure to people’s homes. Defra supports local authorities’ tree planting activity through access to several of the Nature for Climate Fund grant schemes, as well as through support for the Community Forests.

Which authority is responsible for the recovery and disposal of boats that have sunk or are stranded near the shoreline when they do not present a navigation hazard.

In the case of sunk or stranded vessels, the owner of that vessel is responsible for carrying out any actions required to mitigate environmental consequences under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. This may be carried out in conjunction with an insurance company. Sunk vessels that are not hazards to navigation may be assessed for their potential environmental impact by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and Secretary of State's Representative for Maritime Intervention and Salvage (SOSREP). Where vessels are stranded near the shoreline, the responsibility for the removal of the vessel still sits with the owner. In some cases, it is not possible to trace an owner for stranded vessels on the shoreline. In these cases, the responsibility for remediation may fall to the landowner. The landowner may choose to instigate legal action against the vessel's owner where possible. Regulations such as the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (England and Wales) may apply. In such cases, the vessel could also be salvaged voluntarily, by any person, to prevent further damage and in return for a salvage fee from the owner, or insurer.

If she will take steps to ensure that homeless children have the same rights of access to (a) education and (b) health care as looked-after children in corporate parentship.

The department knows that homelessness levels are far too high, and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, especially children. Too many children are spending years in temporary accommodation, at a point in their lives when they need space to play and develop, nutritious food to thrive and access to education.We understand the physical and mental health impacts of poor housing on children and families. The Child Poverty Unit is exploring options with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), to encourage greater integration of health, housing, education and care services at a local level which will better meet the needs of children and families in poverty.More detail on the approach and priorities for the Child Poverty Strategy is set out in the 23 October publication ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy’, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-poverty-developing-our-strategy.Through the supporting families programme and our reforms to family help from April 2025, we will ensure that more children and families can access the help and support they need at the earliest opportunity. Support will be delivered by community based, multi-disciplinary teams, made up of professionals from relevant agencies. This could include specialist homelessness advisors.My right hon. Friend, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, is leading cross-government work to deliver the long term solutions we need to get back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long term strategy.We are also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including by delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.MHCLG are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced in the Autumn Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.This government will also abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions with immediate effect, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.In relation to healthcare, clearly homeless children have the same right to healthcare as children in any other situation in England. All children have equal access to use the NHS, and DHSC and the NHS are working together to ensure health inequalities in ease of access are mitigated.

What steps she is taking to increase collaborative working at local authority level to improve school attendance.

The statutory ‘working together to improve school attendance’ guidance sets out that schools, trusts and local authorities should work together to tackle absence. The guidance makes clear that local authorities are expected to work with the child’s parents and school to support them to return to regular and consistent education.Local authorities are expected to build strong and collaborative relationships across a range of services and partners that can help pupils and families with specific attendance barriers. These services and partners can include health, youth justice, the voluntary and community sector, early help, children’s social care, local safeguarding partnerships, special educational needs, educational psychologists, the police and housing support. Local authorities should encourage shared ownership of attendance improvement across these partners.The guidance also includes the expectation that local authorities will hold regular targeting support meetings with schools as an opportunity to work collaboratively with them to discuss and agree support approaches for persistently absent pupils.To support local authorities to implement the expectations in the guidance, including improving collaborative working, the department has offered each authority the support of an expert attendance adviser.The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of embedding (a) social and (b) emotional learning interventions into curriculums.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, which is chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.The review will seek to deliver a curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive.The review group ran a call for evidence, receiving over 7000 responses, and held events over the autumn term to gather the views of education professionals and other experts and stakeholders, as well as parents, children and young people. The feedback received will help the review group to consider its next steps and recommendations.The curriculum currently provides many opportunities for schools to promote pupils’ social and emotional development. For example, through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, pupils should be taught about the diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding.Health education, which is compulsory for pupils in all state-funded schools, has a strong focus on mental wellbeing, including a recognition that mental wellbeing and physical health are linked. Health education should also support a school’s whole-school approach to fostering pupil wellbeing and developing pupils’ resilience and ability to self-regulate.At primary school, pupils learn to recognise and talk about their emotions, the benefits of exercise and simple self-care techniques. At secondary school, pupils will learn about common types of mental ill-health and how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns. Pupils are taught where and how to seek support, including recognising the triggers for seeking support. They receive guidance on who they should speak to in school if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions.The department is separately reviewing the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance in addition to recommendations from the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to increase the funding for services supporting victims of domestic abuse.

On 28 November, the Government announced a funding increase of £30 million to the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Grant, bringing the total investment in this Grant to £160 million in 2025-26. This funding will enable local authorities in England to continue to invest in essential support within frontline safe accommodation services, ensuring victims of domestic abuse can access the support they need.This is part of the Government’s commitment to tackling domestic abuse, and our manifesto commitment to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, with improved support for victims.Funding from April 2026 will be a matter for the Spending Review.

Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to require building and health and safety standards in (a) emergency and (b) temporary accommodation provided to homeless families.

All tenants deserve a safe and decent home, and the Government is working to improving standards across all sectors with a commitment to introduce a new Decent Homes Standard.Local authorities must ensure temporary accommodation is suitable and should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Housing authorities should as a minimum ensure that all temporary accommodation is free of Category 1 hazards as identified by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). To enable effective enforcement, we have given local authorities strong powers, including financial penalties of up to £30,000, extending rent repayment orders and introducing banning orders for the most serious and prolific offenders.The Renters’ Rights Bill will drive significant improvements to conditions in the private rented sector. Ensuring landlords adhere to a legally binding Decent Homes Standard and extending ‘Awaab’s Law’ to private landlords will significantly reduce the number of poor-quality privately rented homes and empower tenants to raise concerns about damp, dangerous and cold homes.Through the Bill, the Government has introduced powers to apply the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector, which includes new powers to bring temporary accommodation into scope of the DHS. This will ensure that safe, secure housing is the standard people can expect in temporary accommodation.The Renters’ Rights Bill will also make it possible to apply Awaab’s Law to temporary accommodation occupied under licence through regulations. We will consult in due course on how best to apply Awaab’s Law to such accommodation occupied under licence to make sure we strike the right balance by providing protections to residents while maintaining ambitions on supply.