Written questions by Gibson.

If she will make it her policy to make Relationship and Sex Education mandatory in post-16 education settings.

The department recognises the importance of promoting healthy relationships to young people. This is why relationships and sex education (RSE) is a standard element of the personal development tutorial system in further education.These regular tutorials allow students to hear about and discuss subjects important to their lives as responsible, active citizens, such as British values, resilience and how to navigate the world of work.Education in healthy relationships is at the core of each college’s programme. Students participate in debates about respect, consent, misogyny, gender stereotyping, coercive control, sexual violence and sexual health, and consider the impact of negative behaviours.Ofsted’s personal development judgement evaluates a college’s intent to provide for the personal development of learners, and the quality of the way in which it does this. Education in healthy relationships is one of the areas of focus.The department has engaged an expert college leader, Polly Harrow, to develop a toolkit for colleges to drive the quality and consistency of RSE. The toolkit, to be launched in November, will provide tutorial materials and delivery advice, giving all colleges the skills and confidence to deliver on personal development effectively, and to tackle misogyny head on.

Whether she plans to increase (a) school and (b) college funding per pupil above the rate of inflation in each financial year until 2029.

Across the spending review, core schools funding, including special educational needs and disabilities investment, will increase from £65.3 billion in the 2025/26 financial year (including the additional funding announced in May 2025) to £69.5 billion by the 2028/29 financial year. Taken together, this grows per-pupil spending over this spending review period by 2.7% in real terms.This government is making a substantial investment in skills, with over £1 billion of additional funding by the 2028/29 financial year, on top of the phase 1 settlement for the 2025/26 financial year. This funding protects opportunity, delivers the workforce needed for the Plan for Change, and fuels future growth. It includes funding to support 1.3 million 16 to 19-year-olds, including 65,000 additional learners by financial year 2028/29.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of extreme heat and drought on harvest forecasts for summer 2025.

Defra does not forecast harvest yields. However, the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group monitors, alongside other issues, the impact of heat and drought on agricultural markets across the UK, while continuing to develop our understanding and analysis of the longer term impacts of extreme weather and climate change on farming.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department holds data on how many local authorities have complete and accessible records of historic stillbirth burials.

The government understands that tracing a baby’s grave or a record of cremation can be a very difficult time for people both mentally and emotionally. It is important, therefore, that parents searching for the final resting place of their child’s remains are given as much help as possible.We know some councils are actively engaged with providing markers and memorials in cemeteries where stillborn babies were laid to rest in communal graves, and I would encourage members to contact their local authority directly. We anticipate councils will be open to suggestions from MPs on how best to support families affected in the way she describes.The government expects all hospitals and burial and cremation authorities to assist by providing all information and records available to them, to any parents that enquire about what happened to their stillborn babies and their final resting place, in a timely manner.

Communities and Local Government, what support his Department is providing to local authorities and families wishing to install memorials or markers on sites of historic communal graves of stillborn babies.

The government understands that tracing a baby’s grave or a record of cremation can be a very difficult time for people both mentally and emotionally. It is important, therefore, that parents searching for the final resting place of their child’s remains are given as much help as possible.We know some councils are actively engaged with providing markers and memorials in cemeteries where stillborn babies were laid to rest in communal graves, and I would encourage members to contact their local authority directly. We anticipate councils will be open to suggestions from MPs on how best to support families affected in the way she describes.The government expects all hospitals and burial and cremation authorities to assist by providing all information and records available to them, to any parents that enquire about what happened to their stillborn babies and their final resting place, in a timely manner.

What the total funding allocated to councils and businesses for electric vehicle charging infrastructure was in the 2025 Spending Review; and what this allocation was in the previous five years.

In the 2025 Spending Review £400 million of capital funding was allocated to support the rollout of charging infrastructure in the four financial years from 2026/27 to 2029/30. This includes along the strategic road network in England, charging infrastructure to facilitate the deployment of zero emission vans and HGVs, and existing grants. This builds on £200 million allocated to support charging infrastructure in 2025/26.In the previous five financial years, from 2019/20 to 2024/25, £456.2 million capital funding was provided for charging infrastructure, including through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund and the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential economic merits of implementing circular economy models in the UK.

This Government has committed to transitioning to a circular economy to improve lives up and down the country, grow our economy, and protect our environment for generations to come. Recent economic modelling of illustrative measures suggests we could grow GDP in England by 0.8% over 15 years, deliver green jobs, promote efficient and productive use of resources, minimise negative environmental impacts and accelerate to Net Zero.

Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of flooding incidents reported in Wiltshire (a) since 2020 and (b) each of the previous five-year periods.

Since 2010, the Wiltshire Council area has experienced multiple flood incidents that have required the response of the Environment Agency and other Flood Risk Authorities. This included widespread flooding during 2023/24, resulting in two-thirds of towns and parishes in the county being flooded and over 450 properties flooded. Flooding was also particularly acute during 2012-2014, with heavy rain and ten storms experienced between October 2013 and February 2014. Projects such as Salisbury River Park, that helps to better protect 350 properties from flooding, and property flood resilience measures that were installed in areas such as Dauntsey in 2015, help to create more flood resilient communities.

What data her Department holds on the number of UK-based firms registered with the Financial Conduct Authority to provide cryptoasset services.

Since January 2020, certain cryptoasset firms have been required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the UK’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations (MLRs). To date, 51 cryptoasset firms have been registered with the FCA under the MLRs and there are 49 firms with current registration. On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets that will protect consumers while supporting growth by giving industry the certainty it needs to invest in the UK. The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year. The FCA is operationally independent from Government and is a self-financing organisation funded via a levy on financial services firms. Any costs incurred under the forthcoming cryptoasset regulatory regime will therefore be recovered by the FCA through authorisation fees and the annual levy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the commercialisation of circular economy innovations in UK supply chains.

Defra recognises that commercialising circular economy innovations in UK supply chains is critical to driving genuine circular change and economic growth. In taking a whole-economy approach, the Circular Economy Taskforce will consider how the Government can support innovation, particularly at scale, as it develops the Circular Economy Strategy for England.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to promote the transition to a circular economy.

This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy and has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, for which we plan to publish for consultation in the coming autumn.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the £2.65 billion allocated under the Government’s flood defence investment programme is being directed to flood mitigation schemes in Wiltshire.

We’re investing a record £2.65 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences. The full list of over 700 schemes to benefit from fresh funding this year was announced on 31 March and can be found here.

What steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of cholangiocarcinoma (a) symptoms and (b) risk factors.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 23 January 2025 to Question 24851.

What research funding has been allocated to cholangiocarcinoma through (a) UK Research and Innovation and (b) the National Institute for Health and Care Research in the last five years.

The Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). 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 research into cholangiocarcinoma and cancers of the bile duct.In the period 2020/21 to 2024/25, the NIHR invested approximately £2 million across five chloangiocarcinoma research projects. NIHR’s wider investments in research infrastructure and workforce enabled another 90 non-NIHR funded cholangiocarcinoma research studies to take place in the same period. In addition, between 2020 and 2024, UK Research and Innovation committed a further £1.4 million to cholangiocarinoma research.NIHR investments have included studies looking at the clinical and cost effectiveness of drugs for treating cholangiocarcinoma, including futibatinib, and druvalumab in conjunction with gemcitabine and cisplatin.NIHR continues to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including cholangiocarcinoma and cancers of the bile duct.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of residents paying above 5% of household income on (a) broadband and (b) mobile services in Wiltshire; and what steps he is taking to monitor the affordability of connectivity in rural areas.

The Government has not estimated the number of residents spending over 5% of household income on broadband and mobile services in Wiltshire.We regularly engage with Ofcom, the independent regulator of telecommunications, who publish research on affordability of telecoms services, including the number of households who struggle to pay for their bills, but they do not report on the number of households paying above 5% of their income.To support low-income households, over 25 providers offer low-cost mobile and broadband packages for those on Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) funding and (b) resourcing for the Financial Conduct Authority for effective regulation of the cryptoasset sector.

Since January 2020, certain cryptoasset firms have been required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the UK’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations (MLRs). To date, 51 cryptoasset firms have been registered with the FCA under the MLRs and there are 49 firms with current registration. On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets that will protect consumers while supporting growth by giving industry the certainty it needs to invest in the UK. The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year. The FCA is operationally independent from Government and is a self-financing organisation funded via a levy on financial services firms. Any costs incurred under the forthcoming cryptoasset regulatory regime will therefore be recovered by the FCA through authorisation fees and the annual levy.

How many cryptocurrency-related suspicious activity reports were filed with the National Crime Agency in each of the last three years.

The number of cryptocurrency-related suspicious activity reports filed in each of the last three years were: FY 2021/22 – 73,652FY 2022/23 – 78,132FY 2023/24 – 70,222 Figures for FY 2024/25 are not yet available.

Communities and Local Government, what funding her Department provides to support SMEs in the construction sector to adopt circular design and reuse practices.

Small and medium sized housebuilders are essential to meeting the government’s housing ambitions and supporting local economies.The government is acting to support SME housebuilders by increasing their access to land, providing further financial assistance and easing the burden of regulation. Further details can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 2 June 2025 (HCWS673).My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, which the government expects to consult on in the Autumn.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes in incentivising circular product design.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes are internationally recognised as effective tools for promoting more sustainable product design. As part of the development of packaging EPR (pEPR) scheme, we have engaged with industry stakeholders to better understand how it can incentivise circular design principles. The introduction of modulation from year two of pEPR will benefit the most recyclable materials by providing a fee discount. In contrast, less recyclable alternatives will incur an increased fee. Producers can respond to these fee-based incentives and make their packaging easier to reuse or recycle, further, they can adapt design so that less packaging is used. A full assessment, beyond the impact assessment, has not yet been made.

What recent steps her Department has taken to strengthen consumer protection in relation to investments in unbacked cryptocurrencies.

Since January 2020, certain cryptoasset firms have been required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the UK’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations (MLRs). To date, 51 cryptoasset firms have been registered with the FCA under the MLRs and there are 49 firms with current registration. On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets that will protect consumers while supporting growth by giving industry the certainty it needs to invest in the UK. The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year. The FCA is operationally independent from Government and is a self-financing organisation funded via a levy on financial services firms. Any costs incurred under the forthcoming cryptoasset regulatory regime will therefore be recovered by the FCA through authorisation fees and the annual levy.