Written questions by Blake.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is he taking to help tackle the theft and trade of wild falcons captured in the UK.

Bird of prey persecution is a national wildlife crime priority and there are strong penalties in place for offences committed against them. Restrictions on the commercial use or trade of birds of prey are in place under the UK Wildlife Trade Regulations. Where any wild falcon is taken and traded illegally the full force of the law should apply to proven perpetrators of the crime. Defra is a principal funder of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), which helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats and directly assisting law enforcers in their investigations. It has played a key role in securing the convictions of criminals found to have been illegally taking peregrine falcon eggs and chicks from the wild. Defra is providing 494,000 for the NWCU in 2025-2026. Defra also provides funding to Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture to develop DNA forensic analysis for the police and other organisations investigating crimes against peregrine falcons. DNA profiling of peregrines is a critical element in deterring wild take and illegal export, and convicting criminals.

What is the size of the shortfall in NHS Consultant Dermatologists as a proportion of the total number of working Consultant Dermatologists needed by the NHS.

The Department does not hold data on the current shortfall, or vacancies in the National Health Service, for consultant dermatologists.The 10-Year Health Plan for England set out that 1,000 more medical specialty training places will be created over the next three years, with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.

What implication the shortage of Consultant Dermatologists has for NHS waiting lists (i) nationally and (ii) in South Yorkshire.

Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government, including for dermatology. The Department is committed to ensuring that the proportion of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, including for dermatology services, returns to 92% by March 2029, and to 65% by March 2026.NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is working to improve waiting times through its established Further Faster programme to transform patient pathways and improve access and waiting times for patients. Dermatology is one of 24 specialties in focus for GIRFT’s Further Faster work.A Further Faster handbook for dermatology has been produced to share best practices, and the GIRFT team is carrying out regular visits to, and meetings with, challenged departments in order to provide support in improving performance across dermatology.NHS England more widely is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence (AI), including autonomous AI, to manage skin cancer referrals, which now represent approximately 50% of dermatology referrals. This can free up clinicians to see more patients and help to reduce waiting lists. AI is already in use across more than 20 trusts, with seven trusts deploying autonomous AI, and further plans in place to expand adoption safely and effectively.The Department does not hold data on the current shortfall, or vacancies in the National Health Service, for consultant dermatologists, including in South Yorkshire.Local providers are best placed to make decisions on workforce capacity to reflect local service demand and circumstances, including management of their waiting list.The 10-Year Health Plan for England set out that 1,000 more medical specialty training places will be created over the next three years, with a focus on specialties where there is the greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.

What steps he is taking to reduce Dermatology waiting lists (i) nationally and (ii) in South Yorkshire.

Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government, including for dermatology. The Department is committed to ensuring that the proportion of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, including for dermatology services, returns to 92% by March 2029, and to 65% by March 2026.NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is working to improve waiting times through its established Further Faster programme to transform patient pathways and improve access and waiting times for patients. Dermatology is one of 24 specialties in focus for GIRFT’s Further Faster work.A Further Faster handbook for dermatology has been produced to share best practices, and the GIRFT team is carrying out regular visits to, and meetings with, challenged departments in order to provide support in improving performance across dermatology.NHS England more widely is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence (AI), including autonomous AI, to manage skin cancer referrals, which now represent approximately 50% of dermatology referrals. This can free up clinicians to see more patients and help to reduce waiting lists. AI is already in use across more than 20 trusts, with seven trusts deploying autonomous AI, and further plans in place to expand adoption safely and effectively.The Department does not hold data on the current shortfall, or vacancies in the National Health Service, for consultant dermatologists, including in South Yorkshire.Local providers are best placed to make decisions on workforce capacity to reflect local service demand and circumstances, including management of their waiting list.The 10-Year Health Plan for England set out that 1,000 more medical specialty training places will be created over the next three years, with a focus on specialties where there is the greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.

What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of requiring lower earning parents to take the other parent to court for child maintenance payments rated on income worth more than £3000 a week.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) calculates maintenance using the paying parent’s gross weekly income up to £3,000, ensuring contributions are fair and lower earners are protected through flat or nil rates. Where income exceeds £3,000, the receiving parent can apply to the courts for additional “top-up” maintenance beyond the statutory cap. The CMS formula was introduced in 2012. At that time, Parliament chose to leave securing additional maintenance assessed on income over the level of a cap set at annual earnings limit of around £156,000 to the family courts, via top-up orders, as income of this magnitude tends to be generated and invested via more complex financial mechanisms than the administrative service is designed to handle. The cap therefore ensures that the statutory scheme remains a simple, administratively efficient formula, and the courts handle bespoke, higher value disputes. All cases can secure substantial maintenance payments via the existing administrative system, and for the vast majority of cases this will be their only source of maintenance. For the small minority where their former partner has exceptionally high income, the system is designed to ensure that court involvement is available, by limiting that involvement to cases where judicial discretion is genuinely required.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of a Substitute Teachers Register to help ensure supply teachers are not underpaid or maltreated by their employer.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Sheffield Hallam to the answer of 26 February 2026 to Question 109848

Food and Rural Affairs, whether all species of Zebra will be included in the proposed ban on hunting trophies.

Defra is continuing to engage with relevant stakeholders to help determine the most appropriate scope for a ban on the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern. Timeframes for introducing legislation and details of its scope will be provided once the Parliamentary timetable for future sessions is determined. Species of conservation concern are listed primarily on Appendices I and II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) based on the level of threat that international trade poses to their conservation status.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending a Northern Ireland style Substitute Teachers Register to England in respect to ensuring supply teachers are not underpaid or maltreated by their employer.

Schools, academies and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers, which includes deciding whether to use private supply agencies to fill temporary posts or cover teacher absence.A supply teacher’s pay and working conditions will depend on who employs the supply teacher.​Supply teachers employed directly by a state maintained school or local authority must be paid in accordance with the statutory arrangements for teachers laid down in the school teachers’ pay and conditions document.​If a supply teacher is employed by a private agency or non-maintained school, the employer can set the rate of pay and conditions of employment.Tackling unacceptable practices and excessive supplier margins within the teacher supply market is a core part of our ‘Maximising value for pupils’ programme. As part of this, we have introduced an expectation for schools to use the new iteration of the supply teachers and temporary staffing framework when sourcing agencies, which offers a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which must be transparent with schools about the rates they charge.

What steps her Department is taking to support young people with Education, Health and Care Plans who stay in education after the age of 18.

Education, health and care (EHC) plans can remain in place after age 18. If a young person has an EHC plan, it does not have to end when they leave school. Their plan can continue up to the age of 25, if they still have special educational needs and remain in education or training.EHC plans must have a formal annual review every 12 months conducted by the local authority to ensure that the support and arrangements are relevant and fit the individual’s circumstances. The local authority can cease the EHC plan if it is no longer necessary for special educational provision to be made for the young person.An EHC plan helps a person aged 18 or over by securing legally‑backed, tailored support across education, health, and social care so they can achieve their learning goals and move more confidently toward independence and employment.

What steps his Department is taking to support local authorities with the cost of non-residential adult social care.

The Government is making approximately £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector in making improvements. This includes additional grant funding, growth in other sources of income available to support adult social care, and a £331 million increase to the National Health Service contribution to adult social care via the Better Care Fund, in line with the Department’s Spending Review settlement. Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people.

What steps her Department has taken to increase public awareness of the changes to the Highway Code introduced in 2022.

Improving road safety is one of my Department’s highest priorities. Injuries and fatalities from road collisions caused by driving are unacceptable, and this Government will work hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users. That is why on 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. Following updates to the Highway Code in 2022, the Department ran large-scale THINK! advertising campaigns to raise awareness of the changes. Via the THINK! campaign, we are also running year-round radio filler adverts encouraging compliance with the guidance to improve safety for those walking, cycling and horse riding. We will also continue to promote the changes via THINK! and Department for Transport social media channels, as well as through partner organisations. However, as set out in the strategy, more work is needed to continue embedding these changes and overall awareness of the Highway Code. We are considering options in this area, and further details will be shared in due course. As our road environment and technologies evolve, providing education for all road users throughout their lifetime is vital to improving road safety. As announced in the strategy to support a Lifelong Learning approach in the UK, the Government will publish for the first time national guidance on the development and delivery of road safety education, training and publicity. Alongside this, the Government will publish a manual to support the implementation of a Lifelong Learning approach for road safety.

What assessment has been made of the potential merits of using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as treatment for post-stroke complications other than depression.

The 2023 National Institute for Health and Care guideline NG236, on recommendations on stroke rehabilitation, reviewed the evidence and concluded that whilst there was some evidence on the effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the short term, the research does not yet support adoption other than for depression. The guideline NG236 is available at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG236

What steps her Department is taking to provide support for young people with EHCPs who stay in academic education after the age of 18.

Our forthcoming special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms will improve both access to and the quality of the support provided to enable children and young people with SEND to achieve and thrive at all stages of statutory education. It is already the case that those young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) who need more time to complete their learning can retain their EHCP and, where necessary, remain in statutory education until age 25. The EHCP will continue to be reviewed regularly and will set out the support and provision the young person needs to achieve and thrive. Disabled learners who go on to study in higher education will receive individual reasonable adjustments made by their university or other higher education provider under the Equality Act 2010 and can access Disabled Students’ Allowance for more specialist support.

Whether she has considered the potential merits of providing free bus travel to over 60s across the whole of the UK.

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age. The ENCTS costs around £795 million annually in reimbursement costs to bus operators, and any changes to the statutory obligations would need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability.  The potential merits of extending free bus travel to over 60s across England were debated in parliament on Monday 5 January, following an e-petition on this topic. Local authorities in England have the power to offer concessions in addition to their statutory obligations, including lowering the age of eligibility. These are additional local concessions provided and funded by local authorities from local resources.The Government is investing in bus services long-term and has confirmed over £3 billion from 2026/27 to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services over the remainder of the spending review period. This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities under the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year.South Yorkshire Combined Authority has been allocated £52.4 million under the LABG from 2026/27 to 2028/29, in addition to the £17.8 million they are already receiving in 2025/26. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, including funding discretionary concessions.

Whether she has considered the potential merits amending the Equality Act 2010 to explicitly forbid perceptive and motivated discrimination.

Provisions under the Equality Act 2010 already account that discrimination may be perceptive and apply regardless of the motivation of the person who is discriminating. The 2010 Act provides protection against discrimination, harassment, victimisation and unfair treatment because of any of the protected characteristics covered by the Act. It protects people from discrimination in the workplace, access to services and in wider society. Direct discrimination is when a person is treated less favourably because of a protected characteristic. This includes treating a person less favourably because of a perceived protected characteristic, or because they are associated with someone who has a protected characteristic. Indirect discrimination is where rules, policies or practices apply in the same way for everyone but put people who share a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage, unless the person applying the rule, policy or practice can objectively justify it. Harassment involves unwanted conduct that is related to a relevant characteristic and has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for the complainant or of violating the complainant’s dignity. Victimisation is where a person is treated unfairly, punished, threatened with punishment or subjected to a detriment because they make a complaint about discrimination, or give evidence when someone else makes a complaint (irrespective of whether the complaint is upheld). These protections apply regardless of the motivation of the person discriminating. With this in mind, the Government has no current plans to amend the 2010 Act.

Communities and Local Government, if he has considered the potential merits of ensuring that Sport England maintains its role in the statutory planning consultee framework.

On 17 November 2025, my Department published a consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system. That consultation closes on 13 January 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here. No decision will be made on Sport England’s role until views on impacts of these consultation proposals are fully reviewed.

How many (a) children and (b) adults are subject to the No Recourse to Public Funds condition.

Data regarding how many people in the UK are subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition (NRPF) is currently in development and not ready for release. We will continue to explore what further information on NRPF can be produced. We are unable at this time to provide a specific timeframe for data publication or indeed confirm what will be published.The earned settlement model is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026. Details of the earned settlement scheme will be finalised following that consultation.The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Consideration will then be given, if appropriate, to how transitional arrangements may be designed to ease the impact of policy change, especially for individuals or groups already afforded permissions by the previous system.The final model will also be subject to equality impact assessment, which the government has committed to publish in due course.Free school meals are not classed as a 'public fund' for immigration purposes. It is the Department for Education who set the eligibility criteria for who can access free school meals.

With reference to Restoring Control Over the Immigration System: White Paper, whether her Department plans to apply the 5 and 10 year penalties for accessing public funds to those on limited leave to remain who are currently living in the UK and receiving benefits.

Data regarding how many people in the UK are subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition (NRPF) is currently in development and not ready for release. We will continue to explore what further information on NRPF can be produced. We are unable at this time to provide a specific timeframe for data publication or indeed confirm what will be published.The earned settlement model is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026. Details of the earned settlement scheme will be finalised following that consultation.The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Consideration will then be given, if appropriate, to how transitional arrangements may be designed to ease the impact of policy change, especially for individuals or groups already afforded permissions by the previous system.The final model will also be subject to equality impact assessment, which the government has committed to publish in due course.Free school meals are not classed as a 'public fund' for immigration purposes. It is the Department for Education who set the eligibility criteria for who can access free school meals.

With reference to Restoring Control Over the Immigration System: White Paper, whether families accessing Free School Meals under the No Recourse to Public Funds extension could be subject to penalties of 5 or 10 years under the earned settlement scheme.

Data regarding how many people in the UK are subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition (NRPF) is currently in development and not ready for release. We will continue to explore what further information on NRPF can be produced. We are unable at this time to provide a specific timeframe for data publication or indeed confirm what will be published.The earned settlement model is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026. Details of the earned settlement scheme will be finalised following that consultation.The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Consideration will then be given, if appropriate, to how transitional arrangements may be designed to ease the impact of policy change, especially for individuals or groups already afforded permissions by the previous system.The final model will also be subject to equality impact assessment, which the government has committed to publish in due course.Free school meals are not classed as a 'public fund' for immigration purposes. It is the Department for Education who set the eligibility criteria for who can access free school meals.

Whether data is available on the average length of time people spend living in the UK before acquiring Indefinite Leave to Remain, including (a) all individuals, (b) those on work routes, and (c) those on family routes.

The Home Office publishes data on individuals granted indefinite leave to remain, by initial leave type, and number of years into their journey in the ‘Migrant journey’ annual release. Data are published in table ‘MJ_D01’ of the ‘Migrant journey detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from 2005 to 2024.