Written questions by Raja.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2025 to Question 54068 on Housing: Contracts, what guidance her Department has issued to contractors on Bed Space Size in relation to accommodation contracts.

None.

What metrics are used by her Department to assess whether asylum accommodation contracts represent value for money.

The Home Office monitors the AASC suppliers’ performance against a range of Key Performance Indicators ensuring performance is driven to deliver maximum value for money for the taxpayer.

Whether her Department considers (a) occupancy levels and (b) property capacity when assessing the cost-effectiveness of asylum accommodation contracts.

The Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC contracts) were procured by the previous government through a competitive tender exercise that adhered to the Public Contracts Regulation 2015. The bid evaluation process identified the most economically advantageous tender, assessing the quality and cost of bid proposals, to ensure best value to the UK taxpayer.For any new requirements introduced to these contracts following contract award, suppliers are asked to provide priced proposals. These proposals are assessed, challenged and negotiated by Home Office representatives; ensuring that best pricing is achieved.Occupancy levels and property capacity are both key considerations when identifying accommodation to fulfil our statutory obligation.The contracts require the establishment and operation of governance structures and regular reporting enabling the Home Office to effectively manage the suppliers and hold them to account. These include a monthly contract management meeting, and quarterly strategic and executive boards where operational and commercial priorities are addressed and discussed, including occupancy and capacity.

Media and Sport, whether Ofcom approval was sought before the BBC announced the closure of Asian Network News; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of seeking retrospective approval.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) meets regularly with representatives of the BBC on a range of matters, including how it engages and reflects listeners in the UK. However, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the Government, and it is solely responsible for all editorial, budgetary and scheduling decisions.Ofcom as independent regulator, is required to set the regulatory conditions it considers appropriate for requiring the BBC to fulfil its Mission and promote the Public Purposes. It does this through setting an Operating Licence. The BBC is responsible for complying with its Operating Licence requirements, and Ofcom monitors and reports annually on the BBC’s performance and its compliance with its licence conditions.In October 2024, BBC News announced plans to make changes to some of its services, including closing the Asian Network’s bespoke news service. The BBC did not require Ofcom’s approval to close it because all budgetary and editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the BBC Board. However, in April 2025 the BBC submitted a request to change its news and current affairs quota on BBC Asian Network from 1,224 hours to 675 hours per financial year in the Operating Licence.On 29 May 2025 Ofcom consulted on this request, and in that consultation Ofcom set out its provisional view that it is minded to approve the change, recognising changing audience habits. Ofcom will announce its final decision in due course.The Government does not hold information about whether the BBC conducted a race equality impact assessment ahead of closing the Asian Network News Service.

Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on whether the BBC conducted a race equality impact assessment prior to the decision to close Asian Network News.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) meets regularly with representatives of the BBC on a range of matters, including how it engages and reflects listeners in the UK. However, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the Government, and it is solely responsible for all editorial, budgetary and scheduling decisions.Ofcom as independent regulator, is required to set the regulatory conditions it considers appropriate for requiring the BBC to fulfil its Mission and promote the Public Purposes. It does this through setting an Operating Licence. The BBC is responsible for complying with its Operating Licence requirements, and Ofcom monitors and reports annually on the BBC’s performance and its compliance with its licence conditions.In October 2024, BBC News announced plans to make changes to some of its services, including closing the Asian Network’s bespoke news service. The BBC did not require Ofcom’s approval to close it because all budgetary and editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the BBC Board. However, in April 2025 the BBC submitted a request to change its news and current affairs quota on BBC Asian Network from 1,224 hours to 675 hours per financial year in the Operating Licence.On 29 May 2025 Ofcom consulted on this request, and in that consultation Ofcom set out its provisional view that it is minded to approve the change, recognising changing audience habits. Ofcom will announce its final decision in due course.The Government does not hold information about whether the BBC conducted a race equality impact assessment ahead of closing the Asian Network News Service.

Media and Sport, whether she plans to discuss the closure of Asian Network News with the BBC Director-General.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) meets regularly with representatives of the BBC on a range of matters, including how it engages and reflects listeners in the UK. However, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the Government, and it is solely responsible for all editorial, budgetary and scheduling decisions.Ofcom as independent regulator, is required to set the regulatory conditions it considers appropriate for requiring the BBC to fulfil its Mission and promote the Public Purposes. It does this through setting an Operating Licence. The BBC is responsible for complying with its Operating Licence requirements, and Ofcom monitors and reports annually on the BBC’s performance and its compliance with its licence conditions.In October 2024, BBC News announced plans to make changes to some of its services, including closing the Asian Network’s bespoke news service. The BBC did not require Ofcom’s approval to close it because all budgetary and editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the BBC Board. However, in April 2025 the BBC submitted a request to change its news and current affairs quota on BBC Asian Network from 1,224 hours to 675 hours per financial year in the Operating Licence.On 29 May 2025 Ofcom consulted on this request, and in that consultation Ofcom set out its provisional view that it is minded to approve the change, recognising changing audience habits. Ofcom will announce its final decision in due course.The Government does not hold information about whether the BBC conducted a race equality impact assessment ahead of closing the Asian Network News Service.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the compliance of the BBC’s closure of Asian Network News with its (a) service agreement and (b) Charter duties to reflect diverse communities.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) meets regularly with representatives of the BBC on a range of matters, including how it engages and reflects listeners in the UK. However, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the Government, and it is solely responsible for all editorial, budgetary and scheduling decisions.Ofcom as independent regulator, is required to set the regulatory conditions it considers appropriate for requiring the BBC to fulfil its Mission and promote the Public Purposes. It does this through setting an Operating Licence. The BBC is responsible for complying with its Operating Licence requirements, and Ofcom monitors and reports annually on the BBC’s performance and its compliance with its licence conditions.In October 2024, BBC News announced plans to make changes to some of its services, including closing the Asian Network’s bespoke news service. The BBC did not require Ofcom’s approval to close it because all budgetary and editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the BBC Board. However, in April 2025 the BBC submitted a request to change its news and current affairs quota on BBC Asian Network from 1,224 hours to 675 hours per financial year in the Operating Licence.On 29 May 2025 Ofcom consulted on this request, and in that consultation Ofcom set out its provisional view that it is minded to approve the change, recognising changing audience habits. Ofcom will announce its final decision in due course.The Government does not hold information about whether the BBC conducted a race equality impact assessment ahead of closing the Asian Network News Service.

Whether her Department plans to create a statutory definition of honour-based abuse.

The Government is tackling ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) through its landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. Key to this is ensuring that HBA is well understood by frontline professionals, Government agencies, and impacted communities.Currently there is a definition of HBA used by the criminal justice system, but we recognise there is more that can be done to raise the level of consistency of understanding regarding HBA in Government and across statutory services.The Home Office is considering this alongside other measures to prevent HBA from happening, support victims and bring perpetrators to justice. More detail will be set out in our forthcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the financial impact of being required to apply Extended Producer Responsibility charges retrospectively in the absence of published official rates for relevant material streams on businesses.

The Regulations do not impose a retrospective charge and were subject to the required legal and parliamentary scrutiny before coming into force To prepare businesses for the implementation of the packaging pEPR scheme we have now published illustrative base fees, based on local authority waste management costs forming the basis for indicative local authority payments for 2025, and on packaging tonnages reported by large producers for the first 6-months of 2024. These illustrative base fees for the first time show point estimates as opposed to ranges, providing further certainty to businesses. Producers were required to submit their final 2024 data by 1 April 2025. Following this deadline, regulators are conducting regulatory checks. Once checks are conducted to an appropriate level we will use 2024 data and insight from regulator checks to publish packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) base fees in June 2025.

Whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that family carers are meaningfully involved in the (a) planning and (b) decision-making processes of local integrated care systems.

Under the National Health Service Act 2006, integrated care boards (ICBs) must make arrangements to ensure patients, and their carers and representatives are involved in the planning and commissioning of health and care, whether through consultation or the provision of information. While developing the Joint Forward Plans, ICBs and partner trusts must consult with individuals, patients, carers, and communities in the planning process to ensure the plan reflects the needs and preferences of the local population. The Health and Care Act 2022 introduced provisions for ICBs to promote the involvement of patients, and their carers and representatives, if any, in decisions relating to the care and treatment of the person they care for.

What steps his Department is taking to support (a) hidden and (b) unpaid carers from ethnic minority communities; and whether he has made an assessment of support needs in Leicester East constituency.

Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers. Local authorities are required to undertake Carer’s Assessments to support people caring for their family and friends who appear to have a need for support, and to meet their eligible needs upon request from them.The Department works with the sector and partners to deliver an annual programme of universal and targeted support to local authorities and their partners. This includes the Partners in Care and Health (PCH) contract.PCH’s work to support sector partners includes a workstream dedicated to supporting local authorities’ work with unpaid carers. This workstream includes work to identify and support unpaid carers, with a particular focus on identifying those from ethnic minority communities and those who are least likely to self-identify as a carer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle potential abuse of the Extended Producer Responsibility exemption threshold; and whether he has made an assessment of the impact of the £2 million turnover exemption on fair competition.

As the environmental regulator for England, the Environment Agency (EA) conducts compliance checks to ensure businesses accurately assess themselves against regulatory thresholds. These checks include, but are not limited to, open-source reviews of company accounts via the Companies House website and requests for evidence to verify reported turnover. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 provide for the assessment of turnover thresholds within corporate groups. Where such a group exists, the turnover of all companies performing a producer function must be aggregated to determine whether the £2 million threshold is met. This measure prevents businesses from establishing additional entities to remain below the threshold. All EA producer compliance monitoring audits include a review of company structures to ensure that all relevant organisations within a corporate group comply with the regulations. In October 2024, the Government published an updated impact assessment for the introduction of Extended Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR), this includes an analysis of the impact of pEPR on competition.

Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to publish the final pricing and billing rates for the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme.

Producers were required to submit their final 2024 data by 1 April 2025. Following this deadline, regulators are conducting regulatory checks. Once checks are conducted to an appropriate level, we will use 2024 data and insight from regulator checks to publish packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) base fees in June 2025.

How much (a) NHS England and (b) NHS Trusts spent on postage in the 2024–25 financial year; and what steps he is taking to help reduce these costs.

Data on National Health Service total spend on postage for the 2024/25 financial year in England is not held centrally, and will be held locally by individual trusts.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) identify and (b) support (i) hidden and (ii) unpaid family carers who (A) are and (B) are not engaged with formal care systems.

Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers. Local authorities are required to undertake Carer’s Assessments to support people caring for their family and friends who appear to have a need for support, and to meet their eligible needs upon request from them.The Department works with the sector and partners to deliver an annual programme of universal and targeted support to local authorities and their partners. This includes the Partners in Care and Health (PCH) contract.PCH’s work to support sector partners includes a workstream dedicated to supporting local authorities’ work with unpaid carers. This workstream includes work to identify and support unpaid carers, with a particular focus on identifying those from ethnic minority communities and those who are least likely to self-identify as a carer.

What steps his Department is taking to improve NHS (a) engagement with and (b) leadership responsiveness to small community-led carer networks.

We recognise the importance of listening to and partnering with people who use the National Health Service, their unpaid carers and the organisations and networks that represent them. The Health and Care Act 2022 introduced new duties for NHS England and integrated care boards to involve carers in public engagement.I chair a regular cross-government meeting made up of ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Business and Trade, and Department for Education, as well as senior officials from NHS England, to consider how we can provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.NHS England and the Department also regularly engages with both national charities, local carer organisations and unpaid carers directly.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2025 to Question 54068 on Housing: Contracts, what her definition her Department uses for the terms (a) Bed Space and (b) Bed Space Size in the context of the Accommodation Contracts.

There is no definition of those within current accommodation contracts.

Whether the terms (a) Bed Space Size and (b) Bed space in public sector accommodation contracts refer to the number of individuals a room or property is intended to accommodate.

Each department is responsible for specifying its own contract requirements, so the meaning of “Bed Space Size” and “Bed space" may vary based on the criteria established by each department.

Whether his Department plans to reverse the decision to raise the minimum age for eligibility for a COVID-19 booster as part of the spring vaccination programme.

The independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises the Department on the approach to vaccination and immunisation programmes. The aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme is to prevent serious disease, leading to hospitalisation and/or mortality, arising from COVID-19.The JCVI has advised that the available national data continues to demonstrate that older people and those who are immunosuppressed are at greatest risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19. The data available to the JCVI is national data, and they therefore made no assessment specific to Leicester.On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme for spring 2025, autumn 2025, and spring 2026. This advice can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026-jcvi-advice/jcvi-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026On 12 December 2024, the Government accepted the JCVI’s advice that a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered in spring 2025 to adults aged 75 years old and over, residents in a care home for older adults, and the immunosuppressed aged six months old and over. The Government’s response can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/advice-accepted-on-spring-2025-covid-19-vaccination-programmeEligibility for the spring 2025 campaign, including minimum age requirements, is the same as in previous spring campaigns, such as the 2024 campaign. The Government has no plans to change eligibility for spring 2025, and has accepted the JCVI’s advice for this campaign in full. The spring 2025 campaign began in England on 1 April, and will conclude on 17 June.The JCVI also advised on eligibility for the autumn 2025 and spring 2026 programmes. The Government is considering this advice carefully and will respond in due course.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of raising the minimum age for eligibility for the COVID-19 booster during the spring vaccination programme on healthcare services in (a) Leicester and (b) England.

The independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises the Department on the approach to vaccination and immunisation programmes. The aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme is to prevent serious disease, leading to hospitalisation and/or mortality, arising from COVID-19.The JCVI has advised that the available national data continues to demonstrate that older people and those who are immunosuppressed are at greatest risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19. The data available to the JCVI is national data, and they therefore made no assessment specific to Leicester.On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme for spring 2025, autumn 2025, and spring 2026. This advice can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026-jcvi-advice/jcvi-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026On 12 December 2024, the Government accepted the JCVI’s advice that a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered in spring 2025 to adults aged 75 years old and over, residents in a care home for older adults, and the immunosuppressed aged six months old and over. The Government’s response can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/advice-accepted-on-spring-2025-covid-19-vaccination-programmeEligibility for the spring 2025 campaign, including minimum age requirements, is the same as in previous spring campaigns, such as the 2024 campaign. The Government has no plans to change eligibility for spring 2025, and has accepted the JCVI’s advice for this campaign in full. The spring 2025 campaign began in England on 1 April, and will conclude on 17 June.The JCVI also advised on eligibility for the autumn 2025 and spring 2026 programmes. The Government is considering this advice carefully and will respond in due course.