Written questions by Jameson.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring that a permanent access agreement is reached for Brineura as a treatment for patients with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2).

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing guidance for the National Health Service on whether cerliponase alfa, also known as Brineura, can be recommended for routine NHS funding, considering real-world evidence collected during a period of managed access. NICE and NHS England are actively engaging with the company, BioMarin, as well as other stakeholders in the development of the guidance to secure continued access for NHS to Brineura at a cost-effective price. These discussions are complex and given the nature of this evaluation and the potential impact on patients and their families, it is essential that they take the necessary care to reach the best possible outcome. All parties are also committed to providing updates to stakeholders, notwithstanding the necessity that discussions are undertaken in a confidential setting.

If he will hold discussions with relevant stakeholders on providing access to Brineura for patients with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2).

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing guidance for the National Health Service on whether cerliponase alfa, also known as Brineura, can be recommended for routine NHS funding, considering real-world evidence collected during a period of managed access. NICE and NHS England are actively engaging with the company, BioMarin, as well as other stakeholders in the development of the guidance to secure continued access for NHS to Brineura at a cost-effective price. These discussions are complex and given the nature of this evaluation and the potential impact on patients and their families, it is essential that they take the necessary care to reach the best possible outcome. All parties are also committed to providing updates to stakeholders, notwithstanding the necessity that discussions are undertaken in a confidential setting.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring social workers have more time for relationship-based work.

It is the responsibility of employers to ensure that social workers in their organisation have time for relationship-based work. The Department recognises and values the importance of relationship-based work for social workers in adult social care, and for the people they are providing care and support to. The Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (AYSE) is a 12-month, employer led and employment-based programme of support and assessment for newly qualified social workers. The ASYE Knowledge and Skills Statement for Social Workers in Adult Services standards state that social workers need to apply a wide range of knowledge and skills to understand and build relationships, and work directly with individuals, their families and carers to enable and empower them to achieve best outcomes. The Knowledge and Skills Statement sets out what a social worker working with adults should know and be able to do by the end of the ASYE, and this includes relationship-based work.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of English Devolution on investment in creative health as a solution to local health inequalities.

As set out in the English Devolution White Paper, the government is introducing a new bespoke duty in relation to health improvement and health inequalities. This is intended to support Strategic Authorities to be active leaders and drive a “health in all policies” approach in line with our Mission government approach.The duty will ensure Strategic Authorities have regard to the need to improve health, and the need to reduce health inequalities, in the exercise of their functions, and give them a clear stake in improving local health outcomes. This will complement the existing health improvement duty held by upper-tier Local Authorities. The government will engage Strategic Authorities, Local Authorities and the NHS as we take this forward.

If he will implement a national workforce strategy for social work developed in partnership with the sector.

We know the challenges facing adult social care, from inconsistent standards of care to an undervalued and overstretched workforce, and that is why we are launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce the administrative burden on social workers.

We recognise and value the vital contribution of social workers, who are predominantly employed by local authorities. To support the administrative burden on social workers, the Department for Education has launched the Support for Social Workers virtual hub, providing tools and resources to help local authorities to retain child and family social workers and implement the Agency Rules Statutory Guidance. Much of the content in this is also relevant to social workers working with adults. The Department for Education is also carefully considering the report from the National Workload Action Group, who are providing insights and solutions for reducing unnecessary workloads for social workers in child social care.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the recruitment and retention of social workers; and what plans he has for a national social work recruitment campaign.

We support the supply of social workers with the right skills, knowledge, and values to support vulnerable adults, children and families. We currently fund the Social Work Bursary, Education Support Grant and the mental health graduate programme Think Ahead to support the recruitment of social workers and the Assessed Year in Employment to support retention of newly qualified social workers. There are presently no plans for a national social worker specific recruitment campaign. However, the Local Government Association, SOLACE, regional employers organisations, and councils across the country launched the ‘Make a Difference, Work for your Local Council’ campaign and Social Work England runs the ‘Change the Script’ campaign, which support recruitment and retention of social workers.

If he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Creative Health Review's report, published in December 2023.

The Department recognises the value that the creative arts can play in supporting peoples’ health and wellbeing. As part of the work on our missions, we will be reviewing the evidence and recommendations set out by stakeholders, including those in the Creative Health Review.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dental services.

We are determined to rebuild dentistry for the long term.We will deliver an additional 700,000 urgent dental appointments; reform the dental contract; and introduce supervised toothbrushing for three- to five-year-olds in the most deprived communities.We are working with the dental sector, including the British Dental Association, to deliver these shared ambitions.

What steps he is taking to support the growth of community energy projects.

Community energy will play a pivotal role in our 2030 Clean Power Mission. Through Great British Energy’s Local Power Plan, we will partner with and provide funding to, community groups, local authorities, and others, to develop renewable energy projects across the country, delivering up to 8 GW of cleaner power.

How much was spent from the public purse on private sector provision of children’s social care in each year since 2010.

The department publishes data on local authority spend on looked after children. The latest data is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure#explore-data-and-files.The attached table sets out the amount spent by local authorities on private sector provision for looked after children between 2012 and 2023. Prior to 2012, the methodology for this data set was different and comparisons should not be made. As such, data from previous years has not been provided as part of the answer.

What steps her Department is taking with (a) disabled people and (b) disabled people's organisations to help improve the experience of disabled people within the benefits system.

This Government is committed to championing the rights of disabled people and to the principle of working with them, so that their views and voices will be at the heart of all that we do. The Health Transformation Programme (HTP) is modernising health and disability benefit services to improve user experience and increase trust in these services. HTP service design has been informed by user research conducted with customers, operational staff and health care professionals, including one-to-one sessions with customers at each stage of their claim. The Department has also engaged with a significant number of stakeholder organisations, establishing positive relationships with representative groups by seeking their expertise before beginning to develop and test new processes. This collaborative approach will help the department to tailor services to customer needs.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the forthcoming Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on the (a) glass, (b) aluminium and (c) plastic packaging sectors.

Under the previous Government, the 2022 Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) impact assessment made an assessment of the impact of introducing the scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment covered glass, aluminium, plastic and other materials, but did not split the assessment by sector. The new Government has now published two sets of pEPR illustrative base fees and is undertaking engagement with all relevant industries to ensure that they are based on the best evidence to date. As part of this engagement, the potential impact on specific packaging sectors is being discussed. The pEPR scheme administrator will continue to monitor the impact of implementing the pEPR scheme on the packaging market.

What recent assessment she has made of the impact of Air Passenger Duty on the growth of regional airports.

Air Passenger Duty (APD) exists to ensure that aviation makes a fair contribution to the public finances. The Government understands that regional airports tend to have a greater proportion of domestic and short-haul international passengers compared to larger airports. Reforms to APD took effect in April 2023. These included the introduction of the new domestic band for domestic flights, initially set at half the rate for short-haul international flights (except for larger private jets). The domestic band applies to all flights between airports in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and for 2024/25 is set at £7 for economy passengers. In 2023/24, 13m passengers on domestic flights benefited from the creation of the domestic band. The Government keeps all tax policy under review. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of public finances and any changes will be announced at the Budget.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for audiology appointments in Doncaster Central constituency.

NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board has advised that Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals is temporarily adjusting its Adult and Children Audiology services to enable the trust to make key improvements to its information technology systems and clinical spaces. During this time, the trust has advised that urgent cases will be prioritised, with collaboration from neighbouring providers in South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire and essential services like hearing aid repairs, tinnitus clinics, and certain diagnostic tests such as Auditory Brainstem Response will still be provided. The trust has advised that full services are expected to resume early in the new year.