Written questions by Owen.

What monitoring her Department is doing on rates of sexual harassment and assault in (a) bus companies and (b) bus services.

The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure safety of all staff in bus companies, including engineers.

The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the use of multi-material, non-recyclable flexible packaging and plastic sachets.

The Government has introduced the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) scheme which charges fees to businesses that produce and/or supply household packaging. This incentivises packaging producers to reduce their material footprint and use easier to recycle packaging. From 2026 onwards, pEPR fees will be higher for packaging that is not recyclable or is hard to recycle, including multi-material, non-recyclable flexible packaging and plastic sachets. Fees will be lower for packaging that can be easily recycled. Illustrative fees for 2026/27, published in December 2025, estimate that 45% of plastic packaging eligible for pEPR disposal fees will attract a ‘red’ rating and will therefore incur higher fees.

What work is being done with the Secretary of State for Education to address the additional workload of teaching assistants that are providing medical attention for disabled and severely ill children in SEND schools.

The Schools White Paper, Every child achieving and thriving, and the consultation on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms have now been published, as of 23 February. The White Paper and the consultation are available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thrivinghttps://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first-html-versionThese documents set out our ambitions to transform outcomes for children, young people, and their families who have been let down for far too long. The Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England have worked closely with the Department for Education on the reforms, and continued close partnership between health, social care, and education will be needed to realise the opportunity created by these crucial reforms.The Government is currently consulting on proposed updates to the statutory guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions at school, with further information available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposal-on-support-for-pupils-with-medical-conditions-at-schoolThe Government will publish non-statutory guidance to clarify the roles and responsibilities of health and education in supporting pupils with medical conditions in education settings. Schools are responsible for managing their resources and budgets. They must comply with their statutory duties, including those under the Equality Act and the duty under section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions.Integrated care boards (ICBs) have various statutory duties under the Children and Families Act 2014 to work with local authorities, including on: identifying and notifying where a child or young person has potential SEND; joint commissioning; participating in education, health and care assessments and plans; and securing health provision. Reform proposals include the creation of New Specialist Provision Packages for children and young people with complex needs, which set out exactly what support and resources are required for specific needs. These will be developed and reviewed by an Independent Expert Panel with education and health co-chairs, and shaped through testing with parents. For children under five years old with complex needs, we will introduce a fast track for a Specialist Provision Package and Education, Health and Care Plan.The NHS Medium Term Planning Framework for 2026/27 to 2028/29, published October 2025, included, for the first time, a clear requirement for ICBs and providers to meet their statutory SEND duties and support the Government’s SEND reform plans. The framework is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/medium-term-planning-framework-delivering-change-together-2026-27-to-2028-29.pdfEach ICB is also required to have an executive lead for children and young people with SEND. ICBs will need to work alongside local authorities to develop Local SEND Reform Plans, which will set out each local area’s approach to implementing SEND reforms, tailored to local context and need. These plans will lay the foundation for long-term reform, set how partners will work together, and enable ongoing monitoring of progress, including introduction of the new Experts at Hand service.

What assessment he has made of the level of his Department's role in SEND provision, especially for children with a) disabilities and life limiting-illnesses and b) children who need regular medication throughout the school day.

The Schools White Paper, Every child achieving and thriving, and the consultation on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms have now been published, as of 23 February. The White Paper and the consultation are available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thrivinghttps://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first-html-versionThese documents set out our ambitions to transform outcomes for children, young people, and their families who have been let down for far too long. The Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England have worked closely with the Department for Education on the reforms, and continued close partnership between health, social care, and education will be needed to realise the opportunity created by these crucial reforms.The Government is currently consulting on proposed updates to the statutory guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions at school, with further information available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposal-on-support-for-pupils-with-medical-conditions-at-schoolThe Government will publish non-statutory guidance to clarify the roles and responsibilities of health and education in supporting pupils with medical conditions in education settings. Schools are responsible for managing their resources and budgets. They must comply with their statutory duties, including those under the Equality Act and the duty under section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions.Integrated care boards (ICBs) have various statutory duties under the Children and Families Act 2014 to work with local authorities, including on: identifying and notifying where a child or young person has potential SEND; joint commissioning; participating in education, health and care assessments and plans; and securing health provision. Reform proposals include the creation of New Specialist Provision Packages for children and young people with complex needs, which set out exactly what support and resources are required for specific needs. These will be developed and reviewed by an Independent Expert Panel with education and health co-chairs, and shaped through testing with parents. For children under five years old with complex needs, we will introduce a fast track for a Specialist Provision Package and Education, Health and Care Plan.The NHS Medium Term Planning Framework for 2026/27 to 2028/29, published October 2025, included, for the first time, a clear requirement for ICBs and providers to meet their statutory SEND duties and support the Government’s SEND reform plans. The framework is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/medium-term-planning-framework-delivering-change-together-2026-27-to-2028-29.pdfEach ICB is also required to have an executive lead for children and young people with SEND. ICBs will need to work alongside local authorities to develop Local SEND Reform Plans, which will set out each local area’s approach to implementing SEND reforms, tailored to local context and need. These plans will lay the foundation for long-term reform, set how partners will work together, and enable ongoing monitoring of progress, including introduction of the new Experts at Hand service.

Communities and Local Government, what process will be followed in determining the location of the headquarters for a new Strategic Mayoral Combined Authority that would include Luton.

Any decision regarding the headquarters of a strategic authority would be the responsibility of that strategic authority, and not central Government.

With reference to the Government response to the Women and Equalities Committee report on Tackling HIV transmission, HC 1663, what the basis is for the estimate that Cabotegravir injectable PrEP will impact 2,000 people; whether that figure is a cap on availability; and what steps his Department will take to ensure equitable access to injectable PrEP.

Cabotegravir pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a clinically and cost-effective use for people who cannot have oral PrEP on 5 November 2025.NICE estimated that up to 1,000 people would be eligible to receive cabotegravir injectable as PrEP but there is no cap on the number of people who may be eligible and therefore require and receive cabotegravir PrEP.The new HIV Action Plan, published on 1 December 2025, sets out how the Government will enable every level of the healthcare system to work together to engage everyone in prevention, testing and treatment, tackling stigma, and reaching our ambition to end new HIV transmissions by 2030.The Government will work with local authorities to expand alternative and digital delivery routes for injectable PrEP and audit current HIV technologies to identify gaps in provision. The UK Health Security Agency will publish local PrEP indicators to support action to reduce inequalities.

Whether she will integrate Special Grant funding into the core settlement provided to Bedfordshire Police.

The 2026-27 Final Police Funding Settlement confirmed £49.6m for Special Grant in the coming financial year. Funding for Bedfordshire Police will be up to £175.8m, an increase of up to £7.5m from 2025-26. Special Grant awards will be confirmed in due course.The government has set out an ambitious programme of police reform in the Police Reform White Paper, and has committed to reform of the police funding model.

What steps she is taking to ensure that Bedfordshire Police have sufficient resource to hit officer number targets.

The Government’s Safer Streets Mission sets a clear expectation for policing to deliver safer communities and improved public confidence. An effective, well-supported police service is central to achieving this.For 2025/26, £376.8 million has been made available to forces to support achievement of officer number targets. This funding was distributed as follows:£270.1 million in ringfenced funding has been made available, which PCCs have been able to access, as in previous years, by demonstrating that they have met their officer headcount targets.£106.7 million has been paid to forces who received additional recruitment allocations in 2023/24 and 2024/25. This funding has been provided as an additional recruitment top up grant. It is unconditional, and the funding has been distributed according to how much additional recruitment forces were allocated.For 2025/26, Bedfordshire Police have been allocated a total of up to £3,155,659 through the officer maintenance ringfenced grant, and £1,580,578 through the top-up grant, to maintain a total headcount of 1,466 officers.Published statistics show the force achieved this target at the mid-year point. As at 30 September 2025, Bedfordshire Police had a total of 1,467 police officers (headcount).For 2025/26, a total of up to £1,803,234 was also made available to Bedfordshire Police through the neighbourhood policing grant to grow by 38 FTE Neighbourhood Policing officers (30 FTE police officers and 8 FTE PCSOs).As at 30 September, Bedfordshire Police had grown their neighbourhood policing function by 13 FTE.

Whether she will provide an update on the status of Special Grant funding to Bedfordshire Police.

The 2026-27 Final Police Funding Settlement confirmed £49.6m for Special Grant in the coming financial year. Funding for Bedfordshire Police will be up to £175.8m, an increase of up to £7.5m from 2025-26. Special Grant awards will be confirmed in due course.The government has set out an ambitious programme of police reform in the Police Reform White Paper, and has committed to reform of the police funding model.

Whether stations with more than one million yearly journeys will be prioritised in future rounds of Access for All funding.

This government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities. Funding for a future round of Access for All may be made available as part of the next Spending Review, which would present an opportunity to deliver full or partial accessibility upgrades at additional stations across Britain. As part of the establishment of Great British Railways, we will further reform the programme, shaped through engagement with disabled people and local transport bodies, to ensure future investment is targeted where it delivers the greatest benefit.

What recent progress she has made on improving rail accessibility in Luton North constituency.

This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the significant social and economic benefits that enhanced accessibility brings to communities.On 15 January, we confirmed that accessibility upgrades will not progress at Leagrave station in the Hon. Member’s constituency at this time. The absence of third-party funding contributions to the project was the crucial factor in this decision. In contrast, all 30 of the 50 shortlisted projects which included a third-party funding contribution will now be progressing.Nearby Luton Airport Parkway station already has step-free access to all platforms. Delivery is beginning on step-free upgrades at Luton station.In the meantime, where step-free access is not available, train operators are required to provide alternative accessible transport at no additional cost to the passenger.In addition to the Access for All programme, whenever the rail industry installs, replaces or renews station infrastructure, this work must comply with current accessibility standards, with enforcement action taken by the Office of Rail and Road where those standards are not met.Should sources of funding be identified locally, for example through section 106 contributions, this would provide an opportunity to bring forward accessibility improvements at Leagrave station.The Rail Minister would be pleased to meet with the Hon. Member, at her earliest convenience, to discuss accessibility at Leagrave station further.

What steps he is taking to ensure that the maintenance of Local Housing Allowance at current levels is not having a disproportionately negative impact on people from black, asian or minority ethnic groups.

The Secretary of State reviewed Local Housing Allowance rates for 2026/27 at Autumn Budget and a decision was made to maintain LHA rates at their current 2024/25 levels for 2026/27. A range of factors were considered, including rent levels across Great Britain, the wider fiscal context and welfare priorities. Ministers also considered the equality impacts, including by ethnicity, in line with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty when taking decisions about policy.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 January to Question 100439, on Luton Airport: Railways, what discussions she has had with Network Rail on the provision of step free access for passengers at Leagrave station travelling to and from London Luton Airport.

In May 2024, the previous government selected 50 stations for initial feasibility work for potential upgrades as part of the Access for All programme, before delivery funding was secured. We will make an announcement on which stations will progress in due course.

When he plans to provide an update on whether Leagrave station will progress to the development phase under the Access for All programme.

This government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.In May 2024, the previous government selected 50 stations for initial feasibility work for potential upgrades as part of our Access for All programme, before delivery funding was secured. This included Leagrave railway station and an update on those projects progressing to the next stage will be provided shortly. Given the acute funding pressures on capital investments, any sources of funding that can be identified locally, for example from s106 monies, would also be a way of bringing accessibility at this station further forward.

With reference to the Planning Inspectorate's press release entitled London Luton Airport Expansion development consent decision announced, published on 3 April 2025, what discussions she has had with Network Rail on the provision of step free access for passengers from the north of Luton travelling to and from London Luton Airport.

Luton Airport Parkway already has step free access and lifts are already due to be installed at Luton station under the Access for All programme. The Department will also expect any new transport infrastructure to meet current accessibility standards.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what humanitarian support her Department is helping to provide for displaced families in Gaza affected by severe weather.

The Hon Member is right to raise concerns about the impact of worsening weather conditions on the already appalling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the UK Government is doing all that we can alongside our international and civil society partners to alleviate that crisis.Earlier this month, the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched a new appeal to help support vulnerable families over the winter months, and warned of a dire shortage of shelter and essential items that means children are facing cold nighttime temperatures without warm clothes or blankets, a situation exacerbated by severe flooding in many areas of Gaza, and the increased risk of waterborne diseases due to severely damaged water and sewage infrastructure.The UK Government has agreed to match donations to the DEC appeal up to £3 million, with the Foreign Secretary stating in her announcement that: "The situation in Gaza remains critical, with winter weather taking conditions from bad to worse. Innocent families are facing icy winds and biting rain, forced to live in exposed conditions. We must act now to get vital winter aid to those that need it."Earlier this month UK-funded tents entered Gaza after months stuck at the border, to provide urgent shelter for families which are desperately needed now that winter has arrived. We are continuing to urge the Israeli authorities to open all crossings and routes, and lift all restrictions so that the UN and other humanitarian relief agencies can get supplies of shelter kits, medicine, food, and other essentials into Gaza at the volume and pace required to meet the scale and urgency of this crisis.

If he will publish a list of the research programmes that are underway on the safety of breast implants.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently funding any specific research into the safety of breast implants but welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.The Department does not hold information related to breast implant safety research funded by other sources.

How many reports of BIA-ALCL there have been in the UK; and which manufacturers of breast implants those reports have been associated with.

As has been previously shared in evidence submitted to the Women and Equalities Select Committee in July 2025, with further information in the document attached, the Medicines and Healthcare product Regulatory Agency (MHRA) closely monitors Breast Implant Associated- Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), a cancer of the immune system, not a breast cancer, and publishes the output from this monitoring on the GOV.UK webpage, at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/breast-implants-and-anaplastic-large-cell-lymphoma-alclThe MHRA has developed, with advice from independent expert advisory group, a follow up strategy to collect further data on adverse incidents reporting BIA-ALCL. This has informed the information that is published on the MHRA webpage relating to BIA-ALCL which includes the most up to date number of confirmed reports of BIA-ALCL made to the MHRA, and the breakdown of the number of confirmed reports of primary BIA-ALCL cases by manufacturer of breast implant.Please note that the data on the GOV.UK webpage should be interpreted in the context of the ‘Notes and limitations to the data’ section also provided on the webpage.

How many women in the UK have received Allergan breast implants.

The Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry (BCIR), set up in 2016, collects all implant data, and explant data where possible.Practically, it is always difficult and often impossible to identify a model and product code on an explant. If explanted devices, or patients undergoing explant, cannot be linked to data collected at time of implant, then this often reduces explant data to 'patient, surgeon, location, date'. This in turn makes it impossible to monitor trends in explant/failure.NHS England is in the process of clarifying and mandating the detail required in the BCIR and other device-related collections.This will place a greater responsibility on trusts to either identify a device at the point of explant, or to identify the device from internal trust records created during the same patient's implant procedure. This will only be possible if the implant and explant are performed at the same trust. It is then the intention of NHS England to provide the same matching service for implant/explant where the trusts differ.This solution will, when implemented, give a full, proactive picture of device longevity/risk, for the purposes of research and surveillance, alongside the existing ability to identify patients affected by a device recall notice.