Written questions by Law.

What steps she is taking to support women’s economic empowerment.

This government is breaking down barriers to opportunity for working people, driving up household income for everyone. A 5% increase in female employment could boost the UK economy by up to £125 billion every year; which is why women’s economic empowerment is so crucial.Through the Employment Rights Bill, we are setting out the first steps towards requiring employers to publish action plans alongside their gender pay gap figures; detailing the steps they are taking to narrow their gap and support employees during the menopause. We have already launched practical guidance to help employers to narrow their pay gap.A number of other measures in the Bill will also support women’s economic empowerment; by increasing access to flexible working; improving protections for pregnant women and new mothers; and, strengthening protections against workplace sexual harassment.We understand that the barriers women may face are diverse, whether it be access to investment to start or grow a business, to being able to receive timely healthcare in order to remain in work. This government recognises the varied challenges women face, and is committed to removing them.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to give Community Land Trusts improved access to Registered Provider status.

Community Land Trusts and other community-based organisations can already apply to become registered providers of social housing. The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) sets registration criteria with respect to an applicant’s financial situation, constitution, or other arrangements for its management. Applicants who meet these criteria, regardless of the specific model of the provider, must be registered by law.Being a registered provider brings significant responsibilities. RSH’s registration criteria are designed to ensure that, once registered, social landlords are capable of meeting ongoing regulatory requirements to provide safe, well-maintained homes through organisations that are well governed and financially viable.The Regulator uses an outcomes-based approach to regulation; this also applies to the registrations process. This means that applicants have flexibility in how they demonstrate that they meet the criteria, allowing applicants with a range of business structures to have an approach that suits their needs.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Oral Statement by the Prime Minister of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, column 631, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reduction in overseas development aid on local development service providers.

To fund a necessary increase in defence spending, the government has taken the decision in the current fiscal and economic circumstances to reduce our Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget.The impacts of reductions are being worked through, informed by equality impact assessments. Inevitably, reducing our ODA spend means that for some countries and themes there will be less to spend.However, we are committed to transforming how we work in partnership with countries and organisations on development, reflecting the changing needs of our partners through four essential shifts. This includes moving from international intervention to local provision, working through local partners and civil society to deliver sustainable, locally-led solutions.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to allocate fines to housebuilders from the Competition and Markets Authority to support the community land trust sector.

Seven housebuilders have agreed to pay a total of £100 million to affordable housing programmes across all four nations of the UK following a CMA investigation in response to concerns that they exchanged details about sales including pricing, number of property viewings and incentives offered to buyers.The CMA is currently undertaking a consultation on how the money may be used. That consultation closes 24 July. Decisions on how the money is allocated will be made after the responses to the consultation have been analysed.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote the separation of clean water from (a) sewage systems and (b) natural surface water drainage ponds in new housing developments.

The Government is strongly committed to improving the implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and we are looking at what additional steps might be taken to support this. Better delivery of SuDS may be achieved by continuing to improve the current planning policy-based approach and looking at ways of improving the approach to adoption and maintenance, rather than commencing schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. A final decision on this matter will be made in the coming months. In June this year, the Government introduced new national standards, making clear that SuDS should be designed to cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits in the form of flood prevention and storm overflow reduction, offering reuse opportunities, reducing run off, and helping to improve water quality, amenity, and biodiversity.

Media and Sport, whether the National Visitor Economy Strategy will include provisions to support areas with a majority of domestic tourism.

We are in the process of developing a Visitor Economy Growth Strategy with the Visitor Economy Advisory Council and are happy to hear representations on what it should include, but we want to grow the tourism industry beyond London and champion visits to the British countryside and coastal areas to a worldwide and domestic audience.

Whether she plans to increase the personal allowance in 2028-29.

The Government is committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events.

What guidance his Department has provided to (a) local healthcare trusts and (b) ICBs on the specification for Neighbourhood Health Centres.

The Government has set out its vision for Neighbourhood Health Centres in the 10-Year Health Plan, co-locating National Health Service, local authority and voluntary sector services and bring historically hospital-based services into the community. These should be part of a broader offer that is defined locally to meet the local population needs holistically, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. NHS England’s health building notes give best practice guidance on the design and planning of new healthcare buildings and on the adaption or extension of existing facilities, including for primary and community care services. These are available to both NHS trusts and integrated care boards, and are available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/estates/health-building-notes/

Communities and Local Government, whether she is taking steps to expand the definition of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests to include (a) being in receipt of an employment offer and (b) being a candidate for employment in an ongoing employment process.

Section 28 of the Localism Act 2011 (‘the Act’) requires a local authority to make provisions in its member code of conduct not just for the registration of pecuniary interests but also for other interests; this may include employment offers.Under the Act, local authorities are required to have member code of conduct provisions that conform to the Nolan Principles and promote and maintain high standards of conduct. The Local Government Association has produced guidance on gov.uk a model code of conduct, recommending that they include provisions that members must not use their position improperly to the advantage or disadvantage of themselves or anyone else.It is currently for local authorities to decide their code of conduct in line with lawful requirements. We consulted on a mandatory gov.uk minimum code of conduct for local authorities in England and will respond to the consultation in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of allowing the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund to be used for the acquisition of sustainable refrigerated light commercial goods vehicle transport.

The Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund will invest £360 million over the next 12 years to support the next generation of fishermen and breathe new life into our coastal communities. We will work with the industry to target investment where it matters most, for example considering investment in new technology and equipment to modernise our fishing fleet. We will provide more detail on this in due course. In the meantime, England’s Fisheries and Seafood Scheme is open for applications and provides grant funding for electric and hybrid refrigerated vehicles.

What steps she is taking to ensure (a) that victims of violent crime are promptly contacted by police and (b) that statements are taken without delay; and what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of police resourcing and funding to support timely investigations.

The Government is committed to tackling violent crime and boosting public confidence in policing. Those are central ambitions within our Safer Streets mission.In 2025-26 total funding to police forces will be up to £17.6 billion, an increase of up to £1.2 billion compared to the 2024-25 police funding settlement. This equates to a 7.1% cash increase, and 4.6% real terms increase in funding.

If she will take steps with local authorities to that ensure travel distance is taken into account when (a) calculating school catchment zones and (b) offering school places.

Admission arrangements are set and applied locally by a school’s admission authority, which for academies is the academy trust and for maintained schools is either the governing body or the local authority.Admission authorities must determine the criteria that they will use to allocate places if a school receives more applications than it has places available. These must be fair, clear and transparent, and comply with the statutory School Admissions Code.Admission authorities are already able to prioritise applications on the basis of distance to the school, including through the use of designated catchment areas. In setting such criterion, admission authorities must ensure they are reasonable and clearly defined, including making clear how distance from the child’s home to the school will be measured.Where a school is not oversubscribed, every applicant must be offered a place.

What her planned timetable is for the roll out of free breakfast clubs to all state‑funded schools with primary‑aged children; and what support her Department plans to provide schools to facilitate implementation of that programme.

The government is committed to delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state funded school with primary-aged children. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day.From the start of summer term 2025, the department has funded 750 schools to deliver a free breakfast club to early adopters.We are currently working through the outcomes of the latest spending review and the departmental business planning processes. Further details will follow in due course.

What steps her Department is taking to help ensure that accessibility improvements at railway stations can still be delivered in cases where applications to the Access for All scheme are unsuccessful because that scheme is over-subscribed.

Accessibility improvements at stations are delivered in a variety of ways, in addition to those funded via the Access for All programme. Whenever the industry installs, replaces or renews station infrastructure, this must meet current accessibility standards. In addition, accessibility improvements can be developed and funded locally, in partnership with Network Rail and train operators. If there are any sources of funding that can be identified locally, for example from s106 monies, that would also be a way of bringing accessibility at stations further forward.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of increased funding for transport infrastructure on economic growth.

Growth is this government’s top priority and formed a fundamental part of the analysis informing the Spending Review. Our significant investment in transport infrastructure will deliver a step-change in transport connectivity across the country, which is vital for economic growth. It boosts productivity by reducing travel time for businesses; widening access to markets and supporting trade; better matching workers’ skills to high quality jobs; and increasing the economic density of the country.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered introducing a code for black mass, in the context of the forthcoming (a) industrial and (b) circular economy strategy.

Prospective changes to the List of Waste in England will be considered as we develop proposals for our Circular Economy Strategy. Any specific regulatory changes should be subject to consultation.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered introducing a waste code for black mass to align the UK and EU classification systems.

Prospective changes to the List of Waste in England will be considered as we develop proposals for our Circular Economy Strategy. Any specific regulatory changes should be subject to consultation.

What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the resourcing of (a) the Environment Agency and (b) other environmental regulators for environmental regulation in the context of his Department's industrial strategy.

DBT's Secretary of State has corresponded with the Defra Secretary of State on this government's approach to regulation to understand the challenges faced by regulators, including resourcing challenges for environmental regulators such as Natural England and the Environment Agency.This engagement focused on working together on the Regulation Action Plan, published in March, to identify opportunities for growth and innovation. This has also informed our approach to the Industrial Strategy, and we will continue to work closely with departments to deliver it and the government's regulatory reform agenda.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of stockpiling (a) critical minerals and (b) (i) cathode active materials, (ii) black mass and (iii) other derivative products in the context of (A) industrial resilience and (B) supply chain security.

This Government recognises the importance of domestic supply in insulating UK industry from potential economic shocks, but working with international partners to diversify global supply chains is also essential in building resilience and improving security of supply.Solutions such as targeted stockpiling measures (both government and industry led), diversified international supply, and expansion of recycling capabilities provide opportunities to improve resilience and security of supply while reducing demand for virgin inputs. We need to take a proactive approach and will work with UK industry to ensure that policies developed have clear, tangible benefits for both economic security and growth.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of replicating GB Energy’s investment in hospital rooftop solar for commercial and industrial buildings aligned with the UK’s industrial strategy.

The investment in solar power and complementary decarbonisation technologies totalling £180 million, announced by the Government and Great British Energy (GBE) in March, is for schools and hospitals for the 2025/26 financial year. Beyond 2025/26, we expect future decisions on funding and investment to be made by GBE as it becomes fully operational. The UK’s overall approach to Net Zero commercial buildings will be set out in the government’s Warm Homes Plan strategy later this year. It will provide long-term regulatory clarity for industry and unlock considerable UK and foreign investment in commercial buildings driving economic growth.