Written questions by Opher.

What steps his Department is taking to support (a) small and (b) start-up businesses.

The Government is committed to supporting small and start-up businesses through the Small Business Plan - the most comprehensive package of support for small and medium size businesses in a generation.Start-ups play a crucial role in fostering competition and innovation, and we are improving access to finance for start-ups through Start Up Loans provided by the British Business Bank.Last year, we launched a new Business Growth Service to make it easier for small businesses to access the right advice and support and we are boosting SME growth through new digital and AI Adoption initiatives.

When her Department will resume approvals for applications made by schools to attain purchasing power agreements for the installation of solar panels.

A temporary pause in Summer 2025 was quickly lifted and the programme is continuing as normal. Schools wishing to take forward solar projects via a Power Purchase Agreement should apply in the usual way following available guidance.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support international non-governmental organisations that have been deregistered in Gaza and the West Bank by the Israeli government.

I refer the Hon Member to the statement I made on 5 January.

With reference to the Association of Colleges' report entitled From treatment to prevention: how colleges can build a healthier society, published in December 2025, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of access to further education colleges' adult community learning programmes on supporting public health outcomes for local people, including on the level of demand for primary care services.

The primary purpose of Tailored Learning, which includes what used to be called Community Learning, is to support learners into employment and to progress to further learning, in line with the overall purpose of the Adult Skills Fund.It plays a vital role within adult learning provision of supporting those furthest from the workplace and in improving wider outcomes, such as the health and well-being of learners and equipping parents/carers to support their child’s learning.It is an important stepping stone for learners, including disadvantaged learners, who are not ready for formal accredited learning or who would benefit from learning in a more informal way.In the 2024/25 academic year, 62,390 learners participated in learning to improve their health and well-being.

How many Integrated Care Boards include further education colleges as partner institutions in their place-based partnerships, clinical strategic plans and Neighbourhood Health Plans; and if he will publish that list.

The information requested is not held centrally.

With reference to the Association of Colleges' report entitled From treatment to prevention: how colleges can build a healthier society, published in December 2025, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on supporting further education colleges to deliver programmes for young people not in education, employment or training due to health reasons.

The department consults with Cabinet colleagues on a range of policies, and we are determined to break down barriers to opportunity for all young people, including those with specific needs. We have introduced the Youth Guarantee to tackle the number of those who are not in education, employment or training and improve access to opportunities. Colleges are responsible for ensuring that their provision is designed, delivered, and continuously improved to meet the needs of all students and are subject to statutory duties and responsibilities in the area of special educational needs and disabilities. This underpins our commitment to providing all young people with learning difficulties and disabilities with the opportunities they need. The department also continues to work closely with the further education (FE) sector to promote and support providers to develop mental health and wellbeing approaches. This is supported by the FE student support champion, Polly Harrow, who is improving colleges' ability to give learners the full opportunity to succeed and progress.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to build more social and affordable homes in Stroud.

Since coming into office the government has listened carefully to social and affordable housing providers, and we have responded positively to their calls for increased grant funding, for measures to improve their financial capacity, and for regulatory certainty and stability.We now expect the sector to step up and prove they can deliver at scale and at pace so that we can put social and affordable housing delivery in Stroud and beyond back on track after years of neglect.

Pursuant to the Answer to UIN 94508, how many of these unique applications were made by people currently outside the UK, compared to those already based in the UK.

The Department has not undertaken an analysis of the information collected as part of the 2025 medical specialty training programme to assess the location of applicants at the point of application.

Whether the modelled projections in the 10 Year Workforce Plan will include projections for medical specialties.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. It will include modelling of the potential size and shape of the future workforce and implications for major professions. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.

What steps he is taking to reduce the backlog for core anaesthetic training.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan published in July this year, over the three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.On 8 December, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which was rejected. The offer included the creation of 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year and emergency legislation which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would have applied for current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that. We have also made changes for the 2025 specialty training application round to help tackle bottlenecks. Full registration with the General Medical Council is now required at the point of application to specialty training rather than when a successful applicant would take up post, and the number of applications that an applicant can make is restricted to five, whereas previously it has been unlimited.

How extra training places as set out in the 10 year plan will be divided between specialities.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan published in July this year, over the three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.On 8 December, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which was rejected. The offer included the creation of 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year and emergency legislation which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would have applied for current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that. We have also made changes for the 2025 specialty training application round to help tackle bottlenecks. Full registration with the General Medical Council is now required at the point of application to specialty training rather than when a successful applicant would take up post, and the number of applications that an applicant can make is restricted to five, whereas previously it has been unlimited.

What steps she is taking to support schools seeking to attain purchasing power agreements for solar panels.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Budget 2025 indicated that departments could consider private sources of finance, including Public Private Partnerships, to decarbonise the public sector estate. The department is exploring how this could be applied to schools, including the potential use of Power Purchase Agreements for solar installations. Based on research to date there is an estimated capacity on the school estate in its current roof condition to generate up to 1.9 gigawatts of electricity.The Great British Energy Solar Partnership for Schools is already investing £100 million to install solar and other energy efficiency interventions on 250 schools and colleges. The department ‘s sustainability website also provides support for all schools on reducing their emissions, including some low-cost approaches.

Whether she plans to publish data on school swimming attainment.

The department is processing the information gathered on school swimming attainment, which was received through the physical education and sport premium digital expenditure reporting return. We will publish a summary of quality assured data in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to regulate property management companies.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 77534 on 17 October 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether he holds data on the number of private new-build freehold estates managed via resident-run companies.

My Department does not hold specific data on the number of private new-build freehold estates managed via resident-run companies.

How many individual applicants applied for specialty training places across all 65 medical specialties; and how many training places were available in 2025.

The Department holds data based on the application process for medical specialty training which allows the identification of unique applicants. This data is part of management information systems summarising information supplied in medical specialty training cycles. Applicants may have chosen to only apply to one specialty programme or may have made multiple applications within the year.The following table shows the number of unique applicants in rounds one and two of medical specialty training for 2025 and the associated training places available across the United Kingdom:Round oneRound twoUnique applicants33,8708,481Training posts9,4793,354Source: NHS England Medical Specialty Programme Applications Data.Round one of the medical specialty application process includes applications to first year specialty training and core training programmes, often referred to as ST1 and CT1 respectively, and some ‘higher’ medical specialty training programmes, usually at year three, often referred to as ST3. Round two is for entry to most ‘higher’ medical specialty training programmes, ST3 or ST4. There will be a limited number of doctors who apply in a year to both rounds one and two.Information on the number of applications and posts available for individual medical specialty training programmes is published annually by NHS England and can be found at the following link:https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/competition-ratiosThe 10-Year Health Plan set out that 1,000 more specialty training places would be created over the next three years.On 8 December, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which would have put in place emergency legislation in the new year which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would have applied for current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that.The British Medical Association has rejected the Government's offer and the Government will consider its next steps.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to protect election candidates from anonymous abuse on social media through the forthcoming Elections Bill.

The Government is clear that all forms of harassment, intimidation and abuse, including online and anonymous abuse, are unacceptable and have no place in our democracy. As set out in the Restoring Trust in our Democracy strategy, we are taking forward several measures through the Elections Bill to strengthen protections for those taking part in elections. This includes the introduction of an aggravating factor to empower courts to give tougher sentences to those who are convicted of intimidatory offences targeted at candidates, campaigners, elected representatives and electoral staff. My department is also working with the Speaker’s Conference and the Electoral Commission to develop a code of conduct for campaigning, which will promote respectful political debate and set clear expectations for behaviour. This is a complex issue which requires a comprehensive response from all parts of government. We continue to work closely with departments across government and through the Defending Democracy Taskforce to tackle unacceptable abuse and better protect candidates.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Ofcom's Online Safety Act Illegal Content Codes of Practice on levels of online violence against women and girls.

Reducing online violence against women and girls and fraud are priorities for this government. Ofcom’s Illegal Harms Codes require platforms to proactively address serious illegal content, much of which disproportionately impacts women and girls. The codes also require platforms to implement strong measures to protect users against fraud.The Government and Ofcom are actively monitoring changes to platforms' behaviour and the levels of harm experienced online following Ofcom’s codes coming into effect. This work will track the effect of the online safety regime and feed into a statutory Post Implementation Review.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions her Department has had with Ofcom on ensuring that the steps it is taking to implement the Online Safety Act (2023) contribute to the delivery of its target to halve the level of violence against women and girls.

Reducing online violence against women and girls and fraud are priorities for this government. Ofcom’s Illegal Harms Codes require platforms to proactively address serious illegal content, much of which disproportionately impacts women and girls. The codes also require platforms to implement strong measures to protect users against fraud.The Government and Ofcom are actively monitoring changes to platforms' behaviour and the levels of harm experienced online following Ofcom’s codes coming into effect. This work will track the effect of the online safety regime and feed into a statutory Post Implementation Review.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Ofcom's Online Safety Act Illegal Content Codes of Practice on levels of fraud against UK consumers.

Reducing online violence against women and girls and fraud are priorities for this government. Ofcom’s Illegal Harms Codes require platforms to proactively address serious illegal content, much of which disproportionately impacts women and girls. The codes also require platforms to implement strong measures to protect users against fraud.The Government and Ofcom are actively monitoring changes to platforms' behaviour and the levels of harm experienced online following Ofcom’s codes coming into effect. This work will track the effect of the online safety regime and feed into a statutory Post Implementation Review.