Written questions by Bhatti.

Whether the £50 million in settlement funding for bus travel is in addition to funding announced as part of the Network North package.

At the Budget on 30 October, we confirmed over £1 billion in funding in 25/26 to improve services, protect vital routes and keep fares down. On 17 November, we confirmed how we are distributing £955 million of that funding, with £712 million for local councils to deliver bus service improvement plans (BSIPs) and better meet local needs, and a further £243 million for bus operators, including funding a long-standing grant to drive down fares and drive up services. West Midlands Combined Authority will receive just under £50 million of this funding. We are continuing the level of additional funding that was provided in the current financial year as part of Network North but have changed how this funding is allocated between councils to ensure we are treating the whole country fairly. Prior to the Budget, there was no funding committed for bus services beyond the end of the current financial year. None of the funding we confirmed at the Budget had been given to councils or was in the Department for Transport’s budget before then. Future spending decisions will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of the bus fare cap on bus usage in Meriden and Solihull East constituency.

In the Budget on 30 October, the government confirmed it will invest over £150 million to introduce a new £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London from 1 January until 31 December 2025. Under the plans of the previous administration, the current £2 cap on bus fares had been due to expire on 31 December 2024, and prior to the Budget, there was no further funding available to maintain the cap beyond this point. The published interim evaluation of the £2 fare cap showed that patronage continued to recover following the COVID 19 pandemic and early evidence from the first two months of the scheme suggested the £2 fare cap may be playing a role in this recovery. The final evaluation of the £2 fare cap, including a further assessment of its impact on patronage will be published in due course. Considering all its impacts, the fare cap is not financially sustainable for taxpayers and bus operators at £2. Capping fares at £3 will keep bus travel affordable while ensuring the cap is fair to taxpayers, helping millions of people access better opportunities, travel for less and protect vital bus routes, in Meriden and Solihull East, North Solihull and right across England.

Whether she plans to continue the previous Government's commitment to provide a £230 million funding package for bus services in the Midlands.

At the Budget on 30 October, we confirmed over £1 billion in funding in 25/26 to improve services, protect vital routes and keep fares down. On 17 November, we confirmed how we are distributing £955 million of that funding, with £712 million for local councils to deliver bus service improvement plans (BSIPs) and better meet local needs, and a further £243 million for bus operators, including funding a long-standing grant to drive down fares and drive up services. West Midlands Combined Authority will receive just under £50 million of this funding. We are continuing the level of additional funding that was provided in the current financial year as part of Network North but have changed how this funding is allocated between councils to ensure we are treating the whole country fairly. Prior to the Budget, there was no funding committed for bus services beyond the end of the current financial year. None of the funding we confirmed at the Budget had been given to councils or was in the Department for Transport’s budget before then. Future spending decisions will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the level of the bus fare cap on bus usage.

In the Budget on 30 October, the government confirmed it will invest over £150 million to introduce a new £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London from 1 January until 31 December 2025. Under the plans of the previous administration, the current £2 cap on bus fares had been due to expire on 31 December 2024, and prior to the Budget, there was no further funding available to maintain the cap beyond this point. The published interim evaluation of the £2 fare cap showed that patronage continued to recover following the COVID 19 pandemic and early evidence from the first two months of the scheme suggested the £2 fare cap may be playing a role in this recovery. The final evaluation of the £2 fare cap, including a further assessment of its impact on patronage will be published in due course. Considering all its impacts, the fare cap is not financially sustainable for taxpayers and bus operators at £2. Capping fares at £3 will keep bus travel affordable while ensuring the cap is fair to taxpayers, helping millions of people access better opportunities, travel for less and protect vital bus routes, in Meriden and Solihull East, North Solihull and right across England.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the change in the bus fare cap on bus usage in North Solihull.

In the Budget on 30 October, the government confirmed it will invest over £150 million to introduce a new £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London from 1 January until 31 December 2025. Under the plans of the previous administration, the current £2 cap on bus fares had been due to expire on 31 December 2024, and prior to the Budget, there was no further funding available to maintain the cap beyond this point. The published interim evaluation of the £2 fare cap showed that patronage continued to recover following the COVID 19 pandemic and early evidence from the first two months of the scheme suggested the £2 fare cap may be playing a role in this recovery. The final evaluation of the £2 fare cap, including a further assessment of its impact on patronage will be published in due course. Considering all its impacts, the fare cap is not financially sustainable for taxpayers and bus operators at £2. Capping fares at £3 will keep bus travel affordable while ensuring the cap is fair to taxpayers, helping millions of people access better opportunities, travel for less and protect vital bus routes, in Meriden and Solihull East, North Solihull and right across England.

With reference to her oral statement on Bus Funding of 18 November 2024, Official Report, column 50, whether the £50 million funding settlement for the West Midlands is in addition to previously announced funding.

At the Budget on 30 October, we confirmed over £1 billion in funding in 25/26 to improve services, protect vital routes and keep fares down. On 17 November, we confirmed how we are distributing £955 million of that funding, with £712 million for local councils to deliver bus service improvement plans (BSIPs) and better meet local needs, and a further £243 million for bus operators, including funding a long-standing grant to drive down fares and drive up services. West Midlands Combined Authority will receive just under £50 million of this funding. We are continuing the level of additional funding that was provided in the current financial year as part of Network North but have changed how this funding is allocated between councils to ensure we are treating the whole country fairly. Prior to the Budget, there was no funding committed for bus services beyond the end of the current financial year. None of the funding we confirmed at the Budget had been given to councils or was in the Department for Transport’s budget before then. Future spending decisions will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

If he will take steps to ensure that Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board is in alignment with NICE guideline 28, updated in 2022, related to the fair and equitable adoption of continuous glucose monitoring for eligible people with type 2 diabetes.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended that all people living with type 1 diabetes and people living with type 2 diabetes who required insulin therapy should be eligible for real time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The guidance recommends that all adults and children with type 1 diabetes are eligible for CGM, and that only certain adult and child populations with type 2 diabetes are eligible for CGM.NHS England is developing new reporting systems which are designed to support ICBs to monitor the delivery of CGM. Data on CGM for diabetics is now collected as part of the National Diabetes Audit (NDA). NHS England plans to routinely publish this data in the NDA Core Quarterly dashboard in 2025/26, which will provide the data insights ICBs require, including data on CGM uptake, variation, and health inequalities.This information will help in providing ICBs with data about inequalities and diabetes, and will allow them and NHS England to target strategies to ensure uptake of those patients who are clinically eligible for CGM, but where there are wider factors limiting access to support.

What steps he is taking to ensure alignment of Integrated Care Boards with NICE guideline 28, updated in 2022, related to the fair and equitable adoption of continuous glucose monitoring for eligible people with type 2 diabetes.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended that all people living with type 1 diabetes and people living with type 2 diabetes who required insulin therapy should be eligible for real time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The guidance recommends that all adults and children with type 1 diabetes are eligible for CGM, and that only certain adult and child populations with type 2 diabetes are eligible for CGM.NHS England is developing new reporting systems which are designed to support ICBs to monitor the delivery of CGM. Data on CGM for diabetics is now collected as part of the National Diabetes Audit (NDA). NHS England plans to routinely publish this data in the NDA Core Quarterly dashboard in 2025/26, which will provide the data insights ICBs require, including data on CGM uptake, variation, and health inequalities.This information will help in providing ICBs with data about inequalities and diabetes, and will allow them and NHS England to target strategies to ensure uptake of those patients who are clinically eligible for CGM, but where there are wider factors limiting access to support.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2024 to Question 10785 on Department of Health and Social Care: Institute for Public Policy Research, whether NHS England has awarded any contracts to the IPPR since the general election.

NHS England has not awarded any contracts to the Institute for Public Policy Research since 4 July 2024.

What contracts his Department have awarded to the Institute for Public Policy Research since 4 July 2024.

The Department has not awarded any contracts to the Institute for Public Policy Research since 4 July 2024.

Whether his Department is using (a) artificial intelligence and (b) a third-party organisation to assess responses to the consultation entitled Change NHS: A health service fit for the future, published on 21 October 2024.

The Department has commissioned an external supplier, Thinks Insight and Strategy, to help run the engagement for the 10-Year Health Plan for England. The portal is hosted via the online platform Go Vocal, who are a contracted supplier of Thinks Insight and Strategy. Go Vocal use a natural language processing tool to moderate content on the platform, in addition to Thinks Insight and Strategy running manual checks.Yonder Data Solutions will be responsible for thematically analysing and coding anonymised responses to the online portal. Yonder Data Solutions are a contracted supplier of Thinks Insight and Strategy. Anonymised data will be analysed using a mixture of human and artificial intelligence coding, with manual quality checks carried out.

What the total budget is for the Change NHS: A health service fit for the future public engagement campaign; and what time period this funding will cover.

The awarded value of this contract was up to £2,961,595.50. The publication of the details of this award and the redacted contract can be found on contracts finder, with contract number C306779. The current contract start date is 13 September 2024, with an end date of 31 March 2025, and an option to extend by three months.

What the procurement process was to award contracts for the Change NHS online portal.

A procurement mini competition was launched via the RM6126 CCS Research and Insights framework on 2 August 2024, with bids returned by 19 August 2024.

What role (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) Departmental officials had in the awarding of contracts to the organisations running the Change NHS: A health service fit for the future public engagement campaign.

The evaluation panel for the tender consisted of four people. Three from within the Department’s policy teams, and one from NHS England. No ministers or special advisers were part of the final award decision.

With reference to the Change NHS online portal, what the total cost to the public purse is of contracts issued to (a) Thinks Insight & Strategy, (b) Kaleidoscope Health and Care and (c) The Institute for Public Policy Research to run the public engagement programme; and if he will publish all (i) contracts, (ii) work programmes and (iii) terms of reference connected to the procurement process.

The awarded value of this contract was up to £2,961,595.50. The publication of the details of this award and the redacted contract can be found on contracts finder, with the contract number C306779.

Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to require businesses to carry out data protection impact assessments.

Article 35 of the UK GDPR already requires organisations to carry out a data protection impact assessment if the type of processing they are doing is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on supporting digital inclusion in schools.

I met with the Minister of State for School Standards last week to discuss digital inclusion in schools as a shared priority across our Departments.

Innovation and Technology, what progress he has made on removing Huawei from 5G networks by the end of 2027.

As he will know, the Designated Vendor Direction issued in October 2022 set out twelve requirements on the removal of Huawei equipment and services that telecoms providers have a legal obligation to meet. We are working closely with providers who received a direction to monitor and ensure compliance. There are two remaining deadlines for the end of 2025 and 2027 which providers must meet.

Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill to extend the list of cookie exemptions to include (a) advertising performance and (b) audience measurement cookies.

There is a balance to strike between driving growth and innovation whilst ensuring people retain appropriate choice and control about how their personal data captured by cookies is used. While we have not added this exemption to the face of the Data (Use and Access) Bill, we have taken power in new regulation 6A to extend or modify the list of exemptions.We have already begun talking to industry and others about the possible use of this power and will continue to do so. This change would require careful consideration and consultation.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with the European Union on the future of EU Adequacy on data protection.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 October 2024 to Question 8500.