Written questions by Arthur.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the replacement of the Shared Prosperity Fund with the Local Growth Fund on child poverty.

With the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) ending in 2026, the Government is changing how local growth is funded, as part of a wider approach comprising targeted interventions to drive growth and strengthen communities. Across these new interventions, Scotland will receive the same annual funding in cash terms over the next three years as it would have received under the UKSPF this year to support economic growth, community cohesion, regeneration and public realm improvements - around £76 million a year and £228 million over the Spending Review period. As part of this approach MHCLG and the Scotland Office are working together to design and deliver a new Local Growth Fund for Scotland. The programme will fund regional projects which will drive economic growth. That might mean projects like infrastructure investment, business support, or skills development - projects which will make a real difference in terms of skilled jobs and people’s prosperity. We will share the full investment and interventions framework in due course. Further, the Pride in Place Programme is providing support to Scottish communities, helping build strong, resilient and integrated communities in areas that experience the most entrenched social and economic challenges. By investing in local areas, reducing child poverty, and bringing down inflation, the Government is focused on delivering material change to people across the country – boosting living standards and improving public services. This sits alongside substantial increases to devolved budgets through the Barnett formula as a result of greater funding for English local authorities, giving devolved governments additional flexibility to target resource spending to their priorities, including tackling child poverty.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of unlawful number plates on (a) the ability of the police to trace hit-and-run drivers and (b) efforts to reduce the proportion of untraced driver claims handled by the Motor Insurers' Bureau.

While those specific assessments have not been made, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime. On-road enforcement of number plate and insurance offences is a matter for the police. The Government published its Road Safety Strategy on 7 January, setting out its vision for a safer future on our roads for all. As part of this, the Department for Transport is reviewing motoring offences and has published a consultation which seeks views on the introduction of penalty points and vehicle seizure for the offence of being in charge of a motor vehicle with an incorrect/altered/false number plate. The consultation can be found online at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-penalties-for-motoring-offences.

What her planned timetable is for taking legislative steps to develop a regulatory framework for low and zero emission vehicles, following the commitment in the Road Safety Strategy.

As stated in the Road Safety Strategy, the Government has made a commitment to pursue legislative reform for micromobility vehicles when parliamentary time allows.

If she will make an estimate of the potential impact of compensating victims of collisions involving illegal e-scooters and e-bikes on (a) the cost of motor insurance premiums for other motorists and (b) costs to the Motor Insurers' Bureau in the last 12 months.

We regularly engage with the Motor Insurer’s Bureau and are working with them to understand the impact of private e-scooters and illegal e-bikes on car drivers’ insurance premiums. It is clear the law on e-scooters needs to change, which is why the Government has committed to pursuing legislative reform for micromobility vehicles when parliamentary time allows. Any future regulations, including potential insurance requirements, will be publicly consulted on before they come into force.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the data opportunities of connected and autonomous vehicles to reduce uninsured driving.

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 sets out the regulations for insurance requirements of automated vehicles. The operator or owner of an automated vehicle must hold a policy of insurance that satisfies the conditions in section 145 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. The recent call for evidence, launched in December 2025, seeks views on various aspects of the automated vehicles regulatory framework, including insurance. Responses received will support future consultation on the proposed regulations, with full implementation of the Act anticipated by the second half of 2027.

What consideration he has made of the need for a national bladder cancer audit.

In regards to a National Bladder Cancer Audit consideration, I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell on 10 December 2025 to Question 96365.

What steps his Department is taking to improve pre-release planning to ensure that prison leavers do not become homeless or sleep rough following release.

We are committed to ensuring that robust pre-release plans are created for those leaving custody, so that accommodation needs are identified early and the right support is put in place. Dedicated Pre-Release Teams in prisons work closely with individuals to identify immediate needs, coordinate referrals to relevant services, and support continuity between custody and the community.In the National Plan to End Homelessness, the Government has committed to reduce the proportion of people released from prison homeless by 50% by the end of this parliament. 50 prison-based Strategic Housing Specialists (SHS) across England and Wales work with probation teams and Local Authorities to enable a multi-agency approach to securing housing before release, including by establishing pre-release accommodation panels with appropriate Local Authorities. We are also investing in integrating digital community accommodation services to make it easier to identify and match individuals to the right housing-related support at the right time.

Communities and Local Government, how many people granted refugee status have presented to local authorities as homeless or have slept rough within three months of the termination of asylum support in the last 12 months.

The government publishes homelessness and rough sleeping data for England on gov.uk here. This includes data on the number of people owed a homelessness duty due to leaving asylum accommodation and the number of people seen sleeping rough who had left asylum accommodation within the last 85 days.

What interactions the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has had with food delivery companies in reference to vehicles used by delivery drivers.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises that last-mile delivery, including food delivery services, presents specific safety and compliance challenges. To address these challenges, DVSA has engaged with representatives from the sector and continues to collaborate on the development of guidance and best practice, including hosting a last mile delivery summit. Operational enforcement activity is also undertaken where appropriate, particularly in relation to light commercial vehicles used within this segment. In addition, DVSA does support police investigations – for example, by conducting technical assessments of modified “last-mile” fast-food delivery bicycle fitted with electric motors.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2025 to Question 98632, how many visits the DVSA has made to retailers selling e-scooters; and how many incidences the DVSA have recorded of e-scooters being sold illegally or without proper guidance of legal restrictions.

The table below shows the number of retailers the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has checked from March 2022 to April 2025. 2022-2023932023-2024582024-202547 The table below shows many incidents DVSA has recorded of e-scooters being sold illegally or without proper guidance of legal restrictions, for the same time period. 2022-2023792023-2024412024-202542 Please note, high level of non-compliance found in 24-25 FY is due to poor levels of compliance being found in the on-line marketplace. In that year DVSA’s market surveillance unit (MSU) looked into higher proportions sold in on-line markets due to apparent shifts in the way such items are sold.

What steps she is taking to ensure that newly recognised refugees who are survivors of trafficking, domestic abuse or torture are not left destitute or homeless when asylum support ends.

The Home Office is committed to supporting individuals granted leave to remain to successfully transition from asylum accommodation to mitigate the risk of homelessness.The government is aware of the need for a smooth transition between asylum accommodation and other accommodation for those asylum seekers who are granted leave to remain. The Home Office is working to identify and implement efficiencies to support this process and mitigate the risk of homelessness.Additionally, the Home Office has also placed Asylum Move On Liaison Officers (AMLOs) in over 50 Local Authorities across the UK, working alongside the Migrant Help and NGOs to support individuals who will be leaving asylum accommodation, and ensure a successful transition.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an equivalent of the EU Safe Hearts Plan in the UK.

We note the recently published European Union’s Safe Hearts Plan and support the EU’s ambition to tackle cardiovascular diseases. Too many lives are lost prematurely to heart disease and stroke, and the Government is committed to reducing premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next 10 years. To accelerate progress on this ambition and tackle unwarranted variation across the country, we will publish a cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework in 2026, which will identify the best evidenced interventions and drive innovation in prevention, treatment, and care.

How many registered a) petrol vehicles, b) diesel vehicles, c) electric vehicles, d) hybrid vehicles and e) classic vehicles were there in Edinburgh South West constituency in the last 5 years and the last 10 years.

We do not readily hold new vehicle registration figures at the requested geographic level. Information on licensed vehicles broken down by Upper and lower tier local authorities and lower super output areas (LSOA) are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/vehicle-licensing-statistics-data-tables

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the APPG for Cycling and Walking's report entitled Unregulated and Unsafe: The Threat of Illegal E-Bikes.

The Government recognises the concerns raised in the APPG report about the safety of e-bikes which do not comply with regulations and the risks associated with battery fires. The Product Regulation and Metrology Act which received Royal Assent in July, created the powers to allow Government to change regulations to respond to emerging technologies, including e-bikes, batteries and conversion kits.The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Road Safety Strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies.

Whether his Department has assessed whether NICE has approved a greater or fewer number of new medicines since the introduction of the severity modifier in 2020, compared with comparable international health systems.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its recommendations. The severity modifier was introduced in January 2022 as part of a number of changes intended to make NICE’s methods fairer, faster and more consistent.NICE carried out a review of the implementation of the severity modifier in September 2024 and found that it is operating as intended with a greater proportion of medicines recommended than under NICE’s previous methods. Since then, NICE has continued to monitor how the severity modifier is being applied. The latest figures include data from technology appraisals published up until the end of September 2025 and show that the proportion of positive decisions has increased since the severity modifier was implemented and since data was published in September 2024. 87.0% of decisions taken since the severity modifier was implemented, compared with 82.5% when the end-of-life modifier was being used. NICE is also recommending a greater proportion of new cancer treatments overall, 86.3% compared to 75.0%, and advanced cancer treatments specifically, 84.8% compared to 69.1%.NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future methods reviews.

Whether his department has considered the impact of NICE’s severity modifier, introduced in 2020, on NHS England’s access to innovative cancer medicines which were previously eligible under the end-of-life weighting.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its recommendations. The severity modifier was introduced in January 2022 as part of a number of changes intended to make NICE’s methods fairer, faster and more consistent.NICE carried out a review of the implementation of the severity modifier in September 2024 and found that it is operating as intended with a greater proportion of medicines recommended than under NICE’s previous methods. Since then, NICE has continued to monitor how the severity modifier is being applied. The latest figures include data from technology appraisals published up until the end of September 2025 and show that the proportion of positive decisions has increased since the severity modifier was implemented and since data was published in September 2024. 87.0% of decisions taken since the severity modifier was implemented, compared with 82.5% when the end-of-life modifier was being used. NICE is also recommending a greater proportion of new cancer treatments overall, 86.3% compared to 75.0%, and advanced cancer treatments specifically, 84.8% compared to 69.1%.NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future methods reviews.

Whether his Department made an impact assessment of the effect of NICE’s severity modifier, introduced in 2020, on the ability of cancer medicines to meet the new ‘high severity’ threshold for approval.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its recommendations. The severity modifier was introduced in January 2022 as part of a number of changes intended to make NICE’s methods fairer, faster and more consistent.NICE carried out a review of the implementation of the severity modifier in September 2024 and found that it is operating as intended with a greater proportion of medicines recommended than under NICE’s previous methods. Since then, NICE has continued to monitor how the severity modifier is being applied. The latest figures include data from technology appraisals published up until the end of September 2025 and show that the proportion of positive decisions has increased since the severity modifier was implemented and since data was published in September 2024. 87.0% of decisions taken since the severity modifier was implemented, compared with 82.5% when the end-of-life modifier was being used. NICE is also recommending a greater proportion of new cancer treatments overall, 86.3% compared to 75.0%, and advanced cancer treatments specifically, 84.8% compared to 69.1%.NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future methods reviews.

Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with FIFA on the pricing of participating member association's tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The Government understands the strong interest in ticket pricing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the impact it has on fans.FIFA is an independent international body with its own governance structures. Ticket pricing is a commercial decision determined solely by the World Cup organisers, which are FIFA and the Host Nations (Canada, Mexico, and the United States).Representations regarding the interests of fans fall to the respective football associations. The Football Association (FA), Scottish Football Association (SFA), Football Association of Wales (FAW), and Irish Football Association (IFA) are the recognised home nation representatives within the international football structure, and are the appropriate bodies to raise such matters with FIFA.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of information provided by English universities on entry requirements for Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers on their websites.

Universities are autonomous bodies, independent from government and are responsible for their own admissions decisions.Universities are free to decide their entry criteria, and admissions teams consider a broad range of information about a student in addition to their predicted grades.The department continues to work with key sector stakeholders such as higher education providers, UCAS and Universities UK to ensure that students have access to a comprehensive wealth of information, advice and guidance, allowing them to make fully informed and appropriate decisions on course and provider choice.

What assessment she has made of whether a disproportionate burden is placed on local authorities and National Highways to identify and reunite cats injured or killed on the road, in the absence of a statutory duty for drivers to report such collisions.

There are no plans to amend section 170 of the Road Traffic Act to make it mandatory for drivers to report road collisions involving cats. Although there is no obligation to report all animal deaths on roads, drivers should, if possible, make enquiries to ascertain the owner of domestic animals, such as cats, and advise them of the situation. Since June 2024, all cats in England over 20 weeks of age must be microchipped and registered on a compliant database, unless exempt or free-living. This will make it easier for National Highways and local authorities to reunite cats with their keeper.