Written questions by Hall.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to amend waste regulations to impose stricter controls on the (a) destinations and (b) environmental standards of aluminium scrap exports.

The Government takes the control of waste exports and our international obligations very seriously. The export of aluminium scrap is subject to strict controls and exporters are required to ensure that the waste they ship is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout shipment and recycling. The Government has not issued any specific proposals to amend existing waste regulations relating to aluminium scrap.

Whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of advertising standards for fertility clinics recruiting egg donors.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the United Kingdom’s fertility sector regulator, sets out strict requirements in its Licence Conditions and Code of Practice in relation to the recruitment of donors and the information that must be given to egg donors in advance of donating at United Kingdom licensed fertility clinics. This includes information about the potential immediate or longer-term health risks and the psychological consequences of being a donor, as well as offering counselling to everyone involved.The HFEA’s Code of Practice states that advertising should be designed with regard to the sensitive issues involved in recruiting donors and should follow the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) codes. This includes that advertising or publicity aimed at recruiting gamete or embryo donors, or encouraging donation, should not refer to the possibility of financial gain or similar advantage, although it may refer to compensation permitted under relevant HFEA Directions.The ASA and HFEA issued a joint enforcement notice in 2021 to ensure fertility clinics and others are aware of the advertising rules, which remains in place.

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of prison education contracts in reducing reoffending rates.

The Ministry of Justice recognises the vital role prison education plays in reducing reoffending. Evidence shows that prisoners who engage in any form of education while in custody are up to nine percentage points less likely to reoffend. To strengthen outcomes, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service will soon launch new Prisoner Education Service contracts which will have clearer specification of high-quality delivery, screening and assessment and providing support for additional learning needs. An evaluation and monitoring strategy is being developed to assess the effectiveness of these contracts, including their impact on reoffending. This will help build a robust evidence base to inform future improvements and ensure the service delivers on its rehabilitative aims.

What steps his Department is taking to help improve access to NHS dental care.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of local populations has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For Warrington South constituency, this is NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and ICBs have been making extra appointments available from 1 April 2025. NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB is expected to deliver 46,617 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.ICBs are recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of property condition on the (a) capacity and (b) safety of the (i) prison and (ii) courts estate.

The Ministry of Justice prioritises maintenance funding for both the HMCTS and HMPPS estates to make sure buildings are safe, secure, meet statutory requirements and protect continuity of service.The condition of HMCTS and HMPPS properties is routinely monitored and any faults or safety concerns are resolved as soon as practicable.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) uphold and (b) improve welfare standards for racing greyhounds; and in what way his Department engages with organisations involved in their (i) care and (ii) oversight.

The welfare of racing greyhounds in England is covered by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 (the 2010 Regulations). The 2010 Regulations include a number of welfare requirements, such as requiring all greyhound tracks to have a veterinary surgeon in attendance to ensure that every greyhound is fit to run. In addition to these statutory protections, the sport’s main regulatory body – the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) has also undertaken a number of welfare reforms to improve welfare standards for racing greyhounds, including publishing a long term, national welfare strategy – ‘A Good Life for Every Greyhound’. The Greyhound Forum, of which Defra officials and GBGB are members, also regularly discusses possible improvements that would ensure or improve welfare standards for racing greyhounds. The Government is monitoring GBGB’s progress in delivering ‘A Good Life for Every Greyhound’ strategy and should further measures be required the Government will consider options which are targeted, effective, and proportionate.

What steps she is taking to ensure that renters can include regular rent payments in credit reports to support access to credit and financial products.

Ensuring individuals have access to the appropriate financial products and services they need is a key priority for the Government. This is why I have committed to publish a Financial Inclusion Strategy later this year which will seek to tackle a range of barriers individuals face, including how to increase access to affordable credit for underserved consumers. Credit reference agencies (CRAs) have traditionally only collected data on consumers’ credit agreements, so rental payments made under tenancy agreements are not typically recorded on credit reports. However, since the Government’s Rent Recognition Challenge in 2017, various third-party services have emerged to make it possible for rental payments to be reported to CRAs and subsequently appear on individuals’ credit reports.

What steps her Department has taken to ensure that the UK’s Carbon Border Adjustment reduces carbon leakage in relevant sectors.

The UK government is introducing a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) to address the risk of carbon leakage, which occurs when production and associated emissions shift from one country to another due to different levels of decarbonisation effort (for example through carbon pricing and climate regulation). The UK CBAM will place a charge on the carbon emissions embodied in certain highly traded, carbon intensive goods imported to the UK from the aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen and iron & steel sectors. By placing a carbon price on imported goods, the UK aims to ensure that these goods face a carbon price that is comparable to that which the goods would have faced, if they had been produced in the UK. Therefore, the UK CBAM will ensure highly traded, carbon intensive products from overseas face a comparable carbon price to those produced here so that UK decarbonisation efforts lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas.

What steps his Department is taking to help improve (a) awareness and (b) recognition of postural tachycardia syndrome among NHS clinicians.

To improve awareness of postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) among healthcare professionals, and specifically general practitioners, the Royal College of General Practitioners provides training on PoTS as part of its Syncope toolkit, which is available at the following link:https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/view.php?id=500 It is the responsibility of local integrated care boards to work with clinicians, service users and patient groups to develop services and care pathways that are convenient and meet the needs of patients with PoTS.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a clinical knowledge summary on the clinical management of blackouts and syncope, providing advice for clinicians in the United Kingdom on best practice in the assessment and diagnosis of PoTS. This was last updated in November 2023 and is available at the following link:https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/blackouts-syncope/diagnosis/assessment/

What steps her Department is taking to expand (a) literacy and (b) numeracy support for prisoners who enter custody with low basic skills.

Too many prisoners enter into custody with significant gaps in their education and low levels of literacy and numeracy. Improving prisoners' functional skills is a key priority for both HMPPS and the Ministry of Justice as strong foundational skills are vital for rehabilitation.HMPPS has introduced whole-prison strategies to strengthen literacy and numeracy, and this is supported by Heads of Education, Skills and Work who bring expertise of education into prisons. Participation in English and maths functional skills has increased across public prisons and the number of prisoners achieving a full or partial grade in functional skills courses increased by 21% in the year to 31 March 2024.

What steps her Department is taking to improve the early (a) identification and (b) support of children with special educational needs (i) in areas with lower special educational needs resources, (ii) for children without formal diagnosis and (iii) in all areas.

The department is determined to ensure that all settings have the tools to identify special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) early, support children and young people, and prevent the escalation of needs later on. Details of the government's intended approach to SEND reform will be set out in a Schools White Paper in the autumn.We recognise that the early years presents a crucial opportunity to invest in children’s development. We are investing in additional support and improving how funding is distributed to providers, supporting them to strengthen inclusion and early intervention.Best Start Family Hubs will also provide high quality support in every local authority. Each hub will include access to a professional trained to support parents of children with additional needs, helping to identify SEND early and connect families with local services.The department is also investing in evidence-based programmes, including the Nuffield Early Language Intervention and the Early Language and Speech for Every Child programme, to support children with their speech and language development. We have published free resources for providers, including an online training module and SEND assessment guidance, and we are funding the level 3 Early Years qualification for an additional 1,000 early years Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund fair access limit on the mental health of adopted children and children living with a special guardianship.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Warrington South to the answer of 2 May 2025 to Question 47954.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to set a timetable for the phasing out of farrowing crates.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 2 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield, PQ UIN 41698.

Whether her Department is considering measures to bring rolling stock (a) procurement and (b) ownership into public ownership as contracts with leasing companies expire.

Rolling stock companies own and lease trains and carriages worth billions of pounds. It would not be responsible for the Government to take on the cost of renationalising all the rolling stock at the present time, as there are other urgent pressures on the public purse and we need to focus on wider rail reform. The Government will develop a long-term strategy for rolling stock and associated infrastructure, which will have passengers at its heart and which will also support the supply chain by providing a predictable pipeline of work. Once established, Great British Railways will take a whole-system and long-term approach to using rolling stock across the network, providing certainty to manufacturers and rolling stock companies across the country and globally. Taking this approach to rolling stock will enable greater certainty and lower risk for the supply chain and will be a better way to secure value for money than the failed franchising model.

With reference to the publication entitled Animals in Science Regulation Unit annual report 2023, published on 17 December 2024, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of animals impacted by non-compliance incidents in British laboratories; and what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce the number of non-compliance cases, (b) improve animal welfare standards in scientific research and (c) support the transition to non-animal research methods.

The Home Office Regulator takes non-compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 very seriously. The numbers of non-compliance cases vary in any given year. The total number of non-compliance cases reduced from 175 to 169 cases from 2022-23. Between these same years there was also a 48% reduction in adverse welfare cases.All establishments licensed to breed or supply animals, or to carry out regulated procedures on animals in the United Kingdom are subject to the full requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).The Regulator conducts audits to assure establishments' compliance with the terms of their licences, the Code of Practice and with ASPA. Each establishment will receive an audit at least every three years if it does not hold special species and at least every year if it holds specially protected species.The Regulator is undertaking a structured programme of reforms to most effectively deliver its purpose of protecting animals in science through maintaining compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The effect of the changes will be strengthened protections for animals; increased adherence to the principles of replacement, reduction, and refinement; an enhanced quality of service for the science sector; and increased assurance to the public of the protections the UK continues to deliver for animals in science. The programme will increase the total number of Inspectors from 17 at the end of 2023, to 22 by end of 2025.The Government is committed to supporting non-animal alternatives and will publish a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption later this year.

Whether her Department plans to provide longer-term capital funding settlements for Government departments to support the (a) maintenance and (b) renewal of public service facilities.

The government has, for the first time, announced long-term maintenance budgets for the health, education, and justice estates as part of the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy. This protects departments’ maintenance budgets in real terms, delivering at least £10 billion per year by 2034-35 to maintain and repair health, education and justice infrastructure. This is in addition to significant investment in rebuilding assets and delivering additional capacity where it is needed – such as almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme and up to £24 billion in the New Hospital Programme over the next 10 years.

What steps her Department is taking to improve the availability of driving tests.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce driving test waiting times across the country.Further information on these actions and progress on the plan can be found on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/news/transport-secretary-acts-to-make-thousands-of-extra-driving-tests-available-each-month.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that all new Education, Health and Care Plans are issued within the statutory 20-week timeframe.

The department wants to ensure that education, health and care (EHC) assessments are progressed promptly and, if needed, high-quality plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they need.The department continues to monitor, challenge and work closely with local authorities that have issues with EHC plan timeliness. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, we ensure that the cause of these problems is identified with the local authority and that an effective recovery plan is implemented. Where needed, the department deploys specialist special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) advisors to help identify the barriers to carrying out the EHC plan process in a timely way and to address these through practical plans for recovery, alongside addressing other areas of weakness in provision.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of financial education provision in the national curriculum for preparing young people to manage personal finances.

I refer the hon. Member for Solihull West and Shirley to the answer of 9 April to Question 43513.

Whether she plans to take steps to improve the delivery of financial literacy skills in secondary schools.

I refer the hon. Member for Solihull West and Shirley to the answer of 9 April to Question 43513.