Written questions by Heylings.

If she will make a comparative assessment of per-pupil funding in South Cambridgeshire constituency with other regions.

Core funding allocations for schools is distributed through the dedicated schools grant (DSG). Annual DSG allocations are published at local authority level. Allocations are not available by constituency, since local authorities are responsible for distributing the funding they receive locally through their own local formulae.Funding for schools in South Cambridgeshire constituency is determined by reference to Cambridgeshire’s local formula.Through the DSG, Cambridgeshire is receiving £518.9 million for mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year. This represents £5,405 per primary pupil and £6,924 per secondary pupil, and is an increase of 2.4% per pupil compared to the 2024/25 financial year, excluding growth and falling rolls funding.The DSG allocations for each local authority can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2025-to-2026.The schools national funding formula (NFF) distributes funding for mainstream schools based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics. The purpose of the NFF is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding. It is right that schools with more pupils with additional needs, such as those indicated by measures of deprivation, low prior attainment, or English as an additional language, receive extra funding to help them meet the needs of their pupils. In addition, schools in more expensive areas, like London, attract higher funding per pupil than other parts of the country to reflect the higher costs they face.Due to the timing of the general election and the need for certainty for schools, the schools NFF for the 2025/26 financial year has the same structure as the previous year. This continuity minimises disruption to local authorities and schools. Longer term, the department will consider changes to the formula, recognising the importance of establishing a fair funding system that directs funding where it is needed.The department is also providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities to £11.9 billion. Of that total, Cambridgeshire County Council is being allocated over £114 million through the high needs funding block of the DSG, which is an increase of £7.5 million on this year’s DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs NFF. This NFF allocation is a 7% increase per head of their 2 to 18 year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.In addition to the DSG, local authorities will also receive a separate core schools budget grant (CSBG), and funding in respect of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, in the 2025/26 financial year. This CSBG continues the separate grants payable this year, which are to help special schools and alternative provision with the costs of teachers’ pay and pension increases and other staff pay increases. Individual local authorities’ allocations of this funding for 2025/26 will be published in due course.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the level of teacher salaries on staff retention in (a) Cambridge and (b) other areas with high living costs.

High quality teaching is the within school factor that makes the biggest difference to children’s outcomes which is why this government is determined tackle staff recruitment and retention challenges, making work pay and support teachers to stay in the profession.Fair pay is key to ensuring teaching is an attractive and respected profession, which is why this government accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body’s (STRB) recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for the 2024/25 academic year. This pay award was equivalent to an increase of over £2,500 for the average teacher, taking median pay to over £49,000 for 2024/25.This also means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools have seen a combined increase of over 17%, over the last three pay awards.The starting salary for qualified teachers is now at least £31,650 outside London, including in Cambridge. Experienced teachers can earn up to £49,084 at the top of the pay scale outside London, including in Cambridge, and earn more if they take on additional responsibilities.The teacher pay system is set up to reward teachers as they progress through their career, encouraging retention through an annual review that can lead to increased pay. Around 40% of classroom teachers also progress each year to the next pay point, meaning even greater increases in their salary.Teachers’ pay is reviewed, on an annual basis, by the independent STRB, which considers what is an appropriate award in the context of the wider economy and public sector finances, and the cost-of-living pressures facing households.Final decisions on the teacher’s pay award for 2025/26 will be made following recommendations from the independent pay review body process.

Whether he plans to take steps to decouple electricity prices from the wholesale gas price.

The electricity market in GB operates on the principle of marginal pricing, whereby the price of electricity is set by the last technology needed to meet overall demand. In the current market, gas prices often set the wholesale electricity price because it is typically the last source of supply to meet demand. Decarbonising the power system will increase energy security by reducing dependence on imported oil and gas, which will in turn reduce the exposure of consumer bills to volatile international prices. The ever-increasing participation of renewables in the wholesale market means that over time, cheaper electricity produced by renewable technologies will determine the price more often and gas will play a much more limited role in setting the wholesale market price. Increasing the number of renewables on Contracts for Difference (CfDs) has already made a tangible difference. When wholesale electricity prices spiked in the winter of 2022/23, the CfD delivered the equivalent of an £18 saving on a typical annual household bill. Expanding the CfD scheme to enable more renewables in the wholesale market will help to rapidly decouple electricity from gas prices without the need for more complex arrangements. The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) programme is considering what further steps can be taken to shield consumers from the impacts of potential price spikes. The second REMA consultation sought views on some specific proposals, including retaining marginal pricing across the wholesale market alongside futureproofing the CfD scheme as the best tool to decouple gas and electricity prices.

What plans he has for electricity market reform.

The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) is considering a range of reforms to unlock renewable investment and pass through the benefits of cheaper renewables to consumers. REMA’s Autumn Update, published on 13 December, detailed the progress of policy development in the assessment of options. The Government is aiming to conclude the policy development phase of the REMA programme by mid-2025, after which the final decisions and timetable for implementation will be announced.

Whether he is taking steps to help end regional differences in domestic energy bills.

Standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, and are regulated by Ofgem, but we know that too much of the burden of the bill is placed on them. The Government has worked constructively with the regulator on the issue of standing charges, and we are committed to lowering the cost of them. Ofgem’s recently published update on reform of standing charges outlines how it will look to make standing charges fairer for consumers. Ofgem has also committed to consider whether these regional differences should remain or whether there is a different option that would better protect consumers overall.

With reference to paragraph 3.11 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of investments by occupational pension schemes on the (a) place, (b) people and (c) net zero pillars of the growth mission.

The Government published the Interim Report of the Pensions Investment Review at Mansion House, which sets out proposals to reform the UK Pensions system. These reforms could unlock up to £80 billion in new productive investment including in businesses and infrastructure. Amongst other things this would help improve returns for savers and support the net-zero transition. The proposed reforms to the defined contribution workplace pension market will accelerate consolidation, creating fewer, larger schemes. This will allow schemes to deliver better value, governance, and investment opportunities, through larger ‘mega-funds’ more able to undertake productive investment. The Review also proposes reforms to the Local Government Pension Scheme (England and Wales) to tackle fragmentation and inefficiency. The LGPS manages £392 billion worth of assets, and the Interim Report proposes to require all 86 administering authorities to delegate investment management to pools. This will create large pools of professionally managed capital, in line with international best practice, and enhance the capacity and capability of the scheme to continue to drive national, regional and local investment. The final Pensions Investment Review report, including the final proposals to be legislated for, will be published in the Spring ahead of the introduction of the Pension Schemes Bill.

If she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the Independent Review of the Loan Charge.

The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.The Government does not think it is right for people affected by the Loan Charge to have to wait years for any progress on bringing this matter to a close for them. The Government has therefore ensured that the review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025.Alongside the review, the Government is committed to tackling promoters of tax avoidance and will consult on measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance, including new powers focused on those who own or control promoter organisations and options to tackle legal professionals behind avoidance schemes.

Whether she made an assessment of the potential merits of including the (a) role and (b) conduct of HMRC within the terms of reference of the independent review of the loan charge.

The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.The Government does not think it is right for people affected by the Loan Charge to have to wait years for any progress on bringing this matter to a close for them. The Government has therefore ensured that the review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025.Alongside the review, the Government is committed to tackling promoters of tax avoidance and will consult on measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance, including new powers focused on those who own or control promoter organisations and options to tackle legal professionals behind avoidance schemes.

If she will have discussions with Ray McCann on including the role of people who (a) recommended and (b) operated disguised remuneration schemes with the Loan Charge review.

The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.The Government does not think it is right for people affected by the Loan Charge to have to wait years for any progress on bringing this matter to a close for them. The Government has therefore ensured that the review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025.Alongside the review, the Government is committed to tackling promoters of tax avoidance and will consult on measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance, including new powers focused on those who own or control promoter organisations and options to tackle legal professionals behind avoidance schemes.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with local authorities to maximise the recycling of household waste.

Waste is a devolved policy area. The upcoming Simpler Recycling reforms in England will ensure that people will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school - to make recycling easier and improve recycling rates. Defra has previously consulted local authorities and other key stakeholders on these reforms, and we continue to engage through regular forums and newsletters. Defra has established a joint sounding board with the Local Government Association to support policy development and implementation for local authorities. Furthermore, the Minister for Nature recently held a roundtable with local authorities to discuss our work on the Circular Economy including Simpler Recycling.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the resources of the Planning Inspectorate in dealing with (a) local and (b) national planning appeals within target timeframes.

The Inspectorate is performing well across a number of key areas such as local plan examinations, nationally significant infrastructure project applications, s62a applications, and planning appeals proceeding by hearings and inquiries. It is, for example:meeting all statutory timeframes for national infrastructure applications;increasingly deciding planning appeals by hearing and inquiry in around 26 weeks (the Ministerial measure), having already cleared a backlog of casework; andbeginning to decide enforcement appeals by hearing and inquiry in around 26 weeks (the ministerial measure) for the first time in many years, as it clears a long-standing backlog of casework.The Inspectorate is implementing actions to maintain performance in these areas and to improve end-to-end times for other casework including by:Focusing available capacity of both salaried and contract (non-salaried inspectors) on reducing the amount of open appeals. The number of open planning appeals by written representations has reduced significantly during 2024 and continues to reduce.Using contract (non-salaried) inspectors to the full extent of their availability and expanding the range of casework they determine.Moving more inspectors onto enforcement written representations casework in Spring 2025 once the work on improving hearings performance has progressed further.In addition, the Inspectorate has designed and developed a new digital Appeals Service currently in Beta phase. This new service improves the process for submitting appeals, including reducing the number of invalid appeals submitted. In turn, this reduces the number of validation checks required and is speeding up the time taken to validate appeals. The new service has been expanded to cover all local planning authority areas.In five pilot local authority areas the digital Appeals Service is now being used to progress the appeal from receipt through to decision. This provides an interface for Local Planning Authorities and appellants to manage appeals and automate notifications which are expected to save time for participants, improve their experience of the appeals service and be a foundation for further improvements.The Planning Inspectorate is an Arm's Length Government Body with responsibility for allocation of resources, prioritisation and overall operational performance. The Inspectorate publishes updates on its performance on its website regularly.

Whether she plans to increase the active travel budget.

The Government has already increased the active travel budget by £100 million for 2025/26 compared to 2024/25. On 12 February, the Government announced the details of almost £300 million of funding for active travel in 2024/5 and 2025/6. This will help local authorities to provide high-quality and easily accessible active travel schemes across England and will enable more children to walk and cycle to school. Decisions on funding for active travel from 2026/27 onwards, as well as on other areas of transport expenditure, will be taken as part of the Government’s Spending Review.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the level of leukaemia cases diagnosed in an emergency setting on (a) patient outcomes and (b) NHS resources.

We recognise the importance of earlier diagnosis of cancer to survival, and we know that patients with cancer who are diagnosed via an emergency route are most likely to have poor survival. Whilst a specific assessment on leukaemia has not been made, we are determined to take all the necessary steps to improve early diagnosis for all cancers, including blood cancers such as leukaemia. To accomplish this, the National Health Service is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

What steps he is taking to help improve the level of participation in clinical trials for (a) leukaemia patients diagnosed with acute subtypes and (b) all leukaemia patients.

The Department is committed to maximising our potential to lead the world in clinical trials and ensuring that clinical trials are more accessible.The Department funded National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research, including clinical research on leukaemia. NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. These investments are pivotal to informing efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes, including leukaemia research.The NIHR provides an online service called Be Part of Research which promotes participation in health and social care research, including research into leukaemia and the acute subtypes of leukaemia, by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest. This makes it easier for people to find and take part in health and care research that is relevant to them.

What steps his Department is taking to help improve equity of access to CAR-T therapy; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making it available as a first-line treatment for eligible leukaemia patients.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the body responsible for developing independent, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS, based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. The NICE only makes recommendations on medicines within their licensed indications through its technology appraisals programme. There are currently no CAR-T therapies licensed as first-line treatments for leukaemia, and the NICE has therefore not made recommendations on their use at that stage in the treatment pathway.The NICE has evaluated and recommended several CAR-T therapies for blood cancers, including leukaemia, within their licensed indications. CAR-T therapy is available in line with the NICE’s recommendations.

If she will formally apologise to Ali Kololo about the Metropolitan Police’s involvement in his overturned conviction.

The Metropolitan Police are operationally independent.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provision of specialist training opportunities for young doctors; and whether he has plans to increase the availability of these opportunities.

We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.  We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest. We have launched the 10-Year Health Plan which will set out a bold agenda to reform and repair the NHS. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. In summer 2025, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to build the transformed health service we will deliver over the next decade.

Innovation and Technology, if he will meet with Silver Voices to discuss their safety concerns in relation to the digital switchover.

This is an issue that the new Government takes especially seriously, which is why my officials have been in regular contact with Silver Voices and met them on two occasions.I will write separately with further detail on the Public Switched Telephone Network to Voice over Internet Protocol migration and the actions we have taken to ensure people transition safely.

What discussions she has had with (a) the Country Land and Business Association and (b) other industry bodies to support working farms, in the context of her proposed changes to (i) agricultural property relief and (b) business property relief.

As the Minister responsible for the UK tax system, I have participated in several meetings with agricultural organisations since Autumn Budget 2024 to listen to views. Similarly, ministers from other Departments, such as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, have also held meetings with these organisations to listen to their views. Most recently, on 18 February 2025, the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs and I met with representatives from various agricultural organisations, including the President of the Country Land and Business Association.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing a clawback mechanism into the proposed changes to APR and BPR.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. A “clawback” would mean inheritance tax would only be due if the relevant assets are sold within a specified time period after a death. Introducing this mechanism, as some have suggested, could mean some of the wealthiest estates pay less inheritance tax compared to the proposed reforms. The Government disagrees with suggestions that a clawback would raise the same revenue as the reforms being introduced from 6 April 2026; it would raise much less, which would mean raising taxes elsewhere or lowering public spending. It would also add complexity to the tax system and continue to attract the very wealthiest to tax plan since beneficiaries could hold onto the assets over the specified clawback period just to escape the tax.