Written questions by Davies.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress his Department has made with the River Severn Partnership on (a) reducing flooding and (b) protecting (i) homes and (ii) businesses from flood risk.

The Environment Agency is working with partners in the River Severn Partnership (RSP) including local authorities, water companies, Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Natural England and environmental organisations on a long-term, whole-catchment scale view of planning for the future in response to climate change: Severn 2100+. Under Severn2100+ work, the partnership is developing a Climate Resilience Strategy including an options appraisal of the flood risk adaptation actions needed in the River Severn catchment. The work includes an ‘Adaptation Pathways Plan’ to help the Environment Agency understand how to sequence those actions, who can help and when. As a pathfinder, the Environment Agency is working with partners on the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme to examine how a suite of flood risk interventions in the upper catchment of the River Severn can reduce flood risk. These long-term plans will help the RSP play a key role in bringing forward initiatives to reduce flood risk and improve the water environment whilst supporting economic growth in the area. A demonstrator programme is underway delivering a series of 8 projects to test concepts and ideas that will support the future roll-out of the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme. The partnership will be engaging with honourable members in the partnership area to update them soon. The Defra sponsored capital programme endorsed by the English Severn and Wye RFCC continues to reduce flood risk to properties throughout the Severn Catchment in England.

How many offenders released on licence at the 40% point of their sentence were convicted of (a) one and (b) more than one breach of restraining orders.

The Government inherited a crisis in our criminal justice system, with prisons on the point of collapse. As a result, we were forced to take the difficult but necessary step to move certain release points for prisoners serving eligible standard determinate sentences (SDSs) from 50% to 40%. Public protection is our priority, so we have important exclusions from this change, notably certain serious violent, sexual, national security and domestic abuse connected offences. These exclusions included the Breach of Restraining Order (BoRO) offence under Section 363 of the Sentencing Act 2020 passed by the previous Government. It became clear that a repealed piece of legislation was being incorrectly used in a small number of cases. This created an anomaly, which meant 37 offenders were released under a repealed offence. These 37 offenders have now been returned to custody.Data on SDS40 releases forms a subset of data intended for future publication.

What the (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average time taken was between the Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing and the first trial date at Shrewsbury Crown Court for people who had pleaded not guilty to charges of (i) sexual offences, (ii) violent domestic abuse, (iii) other types of domestic abuse and (iv) other violent offences at Shrewsbury Crown Court in each of the last five years for which data is available.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

What discussions he has had with energy companies on expanding the social tariff to include all pensioners.

The Government has no plans to introduce an energy social tariff this winter. However, we are committed to ensuring vulnerable households are supported with their energy bills and we are looking at all options on how to support these households. The Government is continuing to deliver the Warm Home Discount which provides a £150 rebate off energy bills to over 3 million eligible low-income households. We are also working with energy suppliers to ensure they are providing additional support to vulnerable customers. The Government has also extended the Household Support Fund for an additional 6 months until 31 March 2025 with an extra £500 million in funding, and I encourage any individual who is struggling to pay their bills contacts their local authority to see if they are eligible for this support.

What estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse for moving magistrates court remand hearings from Shropshire Magistrates Court in Telford; and if she will hold discussions with His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service on reinstating remand hearings at that court.

The decision to centralise remand hearings in the West Mercia area was a judicial decision taken by the local Judicial Business Group in 2017 following full public consultation. The decision was based on remand court volumes prevailing at the time, and enabled other courts in the area to improve efficiency and trial timeliness to the benefit of victims and witnesses. The position has recently been reviewed and based on current workload volumes, the Judicial Business Group has agreed to return Shropshire remand cases back to Telford Magistrates Court. Implementation of this decision is underway.

What steps he is taking to improve the Birmingham to Shrewsbury (via Telford) railway line.

Midlands Connect, the sub-national transport body which researches, develops and progresses transport projects in the Midlands, are refreshing the Business Case for line speed improvements to this route. My officials are in regular contact with Midlands Connect to support them in this work, and I expect to receive a Business Case later this year.

How many passengers used Telford Central train station in each year since 1994.

The station usage data is compiled by ORR and historic results going back to 1997 are publicly available through the following link: Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal, specifically under Table 1410 - Passenger entries and exits and interchanges by station (ods).

Whether he plans to issue any licences for fox trail hunting on Ministry of Defence land.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation, including the banning of trail hunting. Licenses to trail hunt on Ministry of Defence (MOD) land are currently under Ministerial review. To date, no licenses to trail hunt on MOD land have been granted for the 2024-25 hunting season, pending Ministerial review. The MOD is in discussion with other Government Departments on this policy and we hope to provide an update on progress shortly.

How many pensioner households claimed (a) pension credit and (b) housing benefit in Telford in each year since 2010.

Quarterly statistics on pensioners who receive a) pension credit and b) housing benefit from quarter ending February 2010 to quarter ending February 2024 are published on Stat-Xplore. Housing benefit can be broken down by age group prior to April 2018 and from April 2018 onwards, it can be broken down by working age or pension age. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

What entitlements male staff in his Department and have for paternity (a) pay and (b) leave; and what information his Department holds on the same entitlements for male staff employed by NHS England in each (i) hospital trust and (ii) integrated care board.

The information requested is contained in the attached document, due to the length of the information.