Written questions by Savage.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Ofwat on funding within the 2024 Price Review (AMP8) period for (a) potable-mains renewal, (b) additional isolation valves and (c) pressure management in the (i) North Wiltshire and (ii) South Cotswolds supply areas; and whether those programmes are aligned to local plan housing trajectories.

Defra Ministers and officials have had numerous conversations with Ofwat about a range of issues, including in relation to the Price Review 2024.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the provision of mental health support to veterans.

Throughout the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Defence Veterans’ Welfare Service (VWS) provides advice and support to veterans, anyone supporting a veteran, their families and dependants. The VWS works with the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, local authorities, voluntary organisations and service charities and will routinely assign a case manager and assist with engagement with other services where needed. In England, Op COURAGE and Op RESTORE provide a broad range of specialist mental health, physical and wellbeing care services to veterans, with similar services available in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Earlier this year, we announced VALOUR, a new commitment to establish the first-ever UK-wide approach to veteran support, which will ensure easier access to essential care and support for veterans across the country.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of water company compliance with priority services register commitments during unplanned outages.

New customer service standards came into force on 1 October, which include a standard on the priority services register. These set out the minimum standards of service companies must provide to customers registered for any of the three core priority services, one of which is delivery of an alternative water supply during any supply interruption. If, during a supply interruption, a company does not provide or is late in providing this service to the registered customer, they must automatically make a minimum £100 payment to the customer.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of annual re-validation requirements for priority services register customers on retention of vulnerable households; and if she will consider introducing an (a) opt-out and (b) auto-renewal model for customers (i) aged 75+, (ii) on disability benefits and (iii) with clinically significant needs.

Defra does not regulate the priority services register. Ofwat, as the economic regulator, has made clear in their priority services register guidance that companies should achieve actual contact with 35% of households on their priority services register every two years, and attempt contact with 90% of households on the register every two years.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps with (a) Ofwat, (b) the Department for Health and Social Care and (c) local authorities to enable proportionate data-sharing so that (i) water companies and (ii) councils can identify vulnerable households for priority services register support.

Water companies manage their own lists of customers who are on the Priority Services Register. Ofwat, the economic regulator, has set out in their vulnerability guidance that companies should consider how their records of customers’ needs can be designed in a way that can help deliver wider benefits to their customers; for example, reducing communication burdens for customers through data sharing.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of households registered on water companies’ priority services registers in each region of England.

Approximately 3,112,400 customers were on the Priority Services Register in 2023/24. More precise information is not held by the department.

Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the number of households on water company priority services registers that have experienced supply interruptions of (a) six, (b) 12 and (c) 24 hours or more in each of the last five years.

Approximately 3,112,400 customers were on the Priority Services Register in 2023/24.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the performance of Thames Water’s priority services register during the water supply interruption in (a) Lyneham, (b) Royal Wootton Bassett, (c) Lydiard, (d) Purton, (e) Cricklade and (f) Cirencester on 21 September 2025.

Under the Security and Emergency Measures Direction 2022 (SEMD), water companies are required to identify and prioritise vulnerable customers when responding to water supply interruption incidents. Defra expects companies to follow Ofwat guidance on priority services registers to meet this requirement. The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) regulate water company performance against SEMD requirements.

What steps his Department is taking to help high street retailers compete with online businesses.

We intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, from 2026-27.The Plan for Small Businesses sets out how government will work across departments to tackle high street decline, address retail crime and anti-social behaviour, provide targeted funding to places, update our licensing regime and promote greater partnership working on the high street. SMEs on the high street will also benefit from the new tools to unlock access to finance, action to address late payments and regulatory costs, improve digital adoption and create easier pathways to business support through the Business Growth Service.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the (a) Environment Agency and (b) Drinking Water Inspectorate assesses the potential impact of repeated potable-water leaks on (i) soil structure damage, (ii) runoff pathways and (iii) other (A) environmental and (B) soil issues; and if she will issue guidance to farmers on (1) reporting and (2) remediation.

The Environment Agency has ensured that water companies have robust plans in place to halve leakage by 2050. The pathway to achieving this involves a reduction of approximately 30% by 2030 from 2019/20 levels. This equates to a nearly 700 Million litres per day reduction in leakage from the baseline. Water companies are now funded to deliver this through their business plans, and regulators will be assessing company performance in meeting this commitment.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of decreases in levels of high street retail on levels of local employment.

The department recognises the challenges facing high streets and their impact on local employment. Our Plan for Small Businesses sets out how government will work across departments to tackle high street decline, address retail crime and anti-social behaviour, provide targeted funding to places, update our licensing regime and promote greater partnership working on the high street. SMEs on the high street will also benefit from the new tools to unlock access to finance, action to address late payments and regulatory costs, improve digital adoption and create easier pathways to business support through the Business Growth Service. More broadly, the government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, more than half of employers see no change or gain overall from this package and employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help increase the number of (a) older, (b) disabled and (c) medically vulnerable customers who have signed up to priority services registers.

All water companies have priority service registers (PSR), which customers can voluntarily sign up to. Significant progress has already been made by companies in the 2020-25 period with PSRs growing from less than 2% of households in England and Wales in 2020, to over 10% in 2023/24. Ofwat, as the economic regulator, has made clear in their priority services register guidance that companies should make all reasonable endeavours towards having a comprehensive picture of PSR service requirements of individual customers in their area, and that this will require companies to grow their PSRs beyond 2025 levels. They also make clear that as companies take steps to grow their PSRs, they should prioritise those customers at greatest risk of harm.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of levels of changes in real-terms funding since 2010 on schools.

School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning that core school budgets will total £65.3 billion, compared with £61.6 billion in 2024/25. This is set to rise by a further £4.2 billion by the 2028/29 financial year. This settlement more than protects per-pupil funding in real terms and supports our mission to help all children and young people achieve and thrive.The department’s schools funding statistics show what changes in school funding since 2010 have meant for per-pupil funding in real terms. The statistics can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-funding-statistics/2024-25. Based on the GDP deflator, real-terms funding per pupil fell in the mid-2010s but has since risen and is now above the 2010/11 financial year levels. School funding per pupil in the 2025/26 financial year is 8.7% higher than 2010/11 in real terms.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that school staff receive training on how to support pupils with epilepsy.

Governing bodies must ensure that the arrangements they put in place are sufficient to meet their statutory responsibilities and that policies, plans, procedures and systems are properly and effectively implemented. This includes the duty under Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions and the duties under the Equality Act 2010. The effectiveness of a school is assessed through inspection by Ofsted.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of levels of funding for supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

The department has allocated high needs funding of over £12 billion specifically for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the current 2025/26 financial year. The funding announced at the 2025 Spending Review, which provided an increase of £4.2 billion for schools over the next three years, will enable a significant investment in the support available for pupils with SEND within mainstream schools, facilitating reform of the SEND system to make those schools more inclusive. We are continuing to engage closely with children, parents and experts as we develop plans to ensure all children get the outcomes and life chances they deserve.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Flood Recovery Framework in providing timely support to affected households and businesses; and what steps she is taking to (a) reduce the time taken for applicants to receive payments and (b) improve the application process for applicants in (i) South Cotswolds constituency and (ii) the UK.

My thoughts are with all householders and business owners impacted by flooding, which is a devastating experience for those affected.Following activation of the Framework for Storms Babet and Henk in 2023/24, a joint review was undertaken to improve the delivery of flood recovery grants. While the core principles of the Framework remain unchanged, in response to feedback several administrative enhancements have been introduced to streamline processes, clarify responsibilities, extend data returns/claims deadlines and the sharing of best practices. These changes will improve the system for any part of England affected.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that householders in conservation areas whose permitted development rights were removed by local authorities are not required to submit a full householder planning application in order to install air source heat pumps, in the context of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2025, Section G, protections safeguarding the amenities of conservation areas.

National permitted development rights enable the installation of air and ground source heat pumps without the need for a planning application. Local authorities are able to remove permitted development rights by making an Article 4 direction if this is justified. In such cases an application for planning permission will be required in order to carry out the development previously allowed by the permitted development right.We continue to keep permitted development rights under review.

What steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of schools awaiting essential building repairs.

Ensuring schools and colleges have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of the department’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every young person the best start in life.This government has given a long-term commitment through to the 2034/35 financial year to improve the condition of our schools and colleges across England. The department is investing almost £3 billion per year by the 2034/35 financial year in capital maintenance and renewal to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.The department is also investing almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme through to the 2034/35 financial year, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme and expanding rebuilding, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she will take steps to require the Environment Agency to resume responsibility for the (a) inspection, (b) cost and (c) maintenance of (i) main rivers, (ii) the Avon, (iii) Brinkworth Brook, (iv) Olivemead Drain, (v) Dauntsey Brook and (vi) the Bourne; and if she will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Environment Act 1995 to ensure that main rivers are maintained as critical infrastructure funded through public spending.

I fully recognise the importance of flood risk maintenance. The Government has committed to redirecting £108 million in 2024/25 and 2025/26 into urgent flood and coastal defence maintenance to halt the decline of flood asset condition following years of under investment. Watercourse management responsibilities fall to different bodies. Riparian landowners are required to maintain watercourses, under common law, while the Environment Agency (EA) uses its permissive powers to undertake maintenance on main rivers to manage flood risk. The EA prioritises maintenance funding rigorously and focusses on those areas and activities which deliver the greatest overall benefits for people and property, including reducing flood risk and securing value for money. The Government has no plans to bring forward legislative changes to amend the Environment Act 1995.

What steps her Department is taking to help ensure that Palestinian students in Gaza who are eligible to apply for visas and scholarships for UK courses beginning before December 2025 are able to access university places, in the context of many UK institutions having already closed their applications for the 2025 academic year.

The government outlined plans for how it is supporting students travelling to the United Kingdom from Gaza in a policy statement published on 15 September 2025 available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-for-students-travelling-to-the-uk-from-gaza/scholarships-for-students-from-gaza.To be eligible to come to the UK under this approach, students must submit a student visa application, which will need to be sponsored by their university, and pay associated fees.Students must:Be aged 18 or over.Meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules.Have an offer for a course starting no later than 31 December 2025.Be supported by a fully funded and verified scholarship that covers both course fees and living costs.The government remains committed to doing everything we can to assist eligible students to leave Gaza, specifically those who hold full scholarships to UK universities with course start dates no later than 31 December 2025.The government is making every effort to support this process. However, a student’s journey from Gaza to the UK cannot be guaranteed, and timelines remain subject to external factors, outside the government’s control.The government is working with the devolved governments and universities to identify eligible students, and to ensure students receive the support they need for the duration of their studies.