Written questions by Aquarone.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects the mandatory housing order for poultry in Norfolk to be lifted.

Mandatory Housing combined with stringent biosecurity measures provides greater risk reduction and together these measures have been key in mitigating the risk of spread of avian influenza and keeping the case rate down in the face of extensive wild bird infection during the recent higher risk winter periods. The need for Avian Influenza Prevention Zones (AIPZ) is kept under regular review as part of the government’s work to monitor and manage the risks of avian influenza. Any decisions on introduction or amendment of AIPZs, including on addition or removal of mandatory housing measures, are based on risk assessments that take full account of the latest scientific and ornithological evidence and veterinary advice.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increased tax receipts as a result of new registers of beneficial ownership in overseas territories and crown dependencies.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Home Office and Treasury officials coordinate regularly on work around advancing beneficial ownership transparency. We are clear on the benefits of accessible registers of beneficial ownership, which not only include tackling illicit finance and corruption, but also fighting tax and sanctions evasion.At the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in November 2024, the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena committed to join Montserrat and Gibraltar in implementing fully public registers by April 2025. The British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands agreed to implement registers of beneficial ownership, accessible to those with a legitimate interest, by June 2025. It remains our expectation that the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies will ultimately implement fully public registers.The Crown Dependencies have committed to increasing the transparency of their beneficial ownership registers and are working towards implementing access to those with legitimate interest, in line with the EU's 6th Anti-Money Laundering Directive.I have and will continue to raise this directly with elected leaders across the Overseas Territories, and Home Office Ministers and officials will continue to engage with the Crown Dependencies. I regularly engage with Ministerial colleagues on matters related to the Overseas Territories, including in HM Treasury.

What steps she is taking to support early years childcare providers with their funding arrangements.

The government has been clear in our commitment to the early years. It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving the life chances for every child and the work choices for every parent. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver the entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, this government has increased investment in the early years to drive forward progress towards our Plan for Change target of a record number of children starting school ready to learn. This government will continue to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. On top of this we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require.The department is also providing £25 million through the forthcoming National Insurance Contributions Grant for public sector employers in the early years.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress his Department has made on ensuring publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership in all overseas territories.

At the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in November 2024, all Overseas Territories committed to implementing registers with the maximum possible degree of access and transparency. The Falkland Islands and Saint Helena committed to join Montserrat and Gibraltar in implementing fully public registers by April 2025. The British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cayman, Bermuda, Anguilla and Turks & Caicos Islands agreed to implement registers of beneficial ownership, accessible to those with a legitimate interest, by June 2025.UK Officials are working proactively with Overseas Territories officials to ensure their proposals meet the agreements made at the JMC. I have and will continue to raise this directly with elected leaders, including in my meeting with Premier Wheatley of BVI, in his own capacity, and as President of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association (UKOTA) last week.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the use of lower layer super output areas to define eligible postcodes for the Warm Homes Local Grant; and whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of that criteria in supporting households in poverty.

Lower layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) have been used to identify Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Income Decile 1-2 eligible postcodes for the Warm Homes: Local Grant. The IMD Income Deprivation domain measures the proportion of the population experiencing deprivation relating to low income. Income Decile 1 represents the most economically deprived areas of the country and 10 the least. I am therefore confident that use of IMD Income Deciles 1-2 to establish income eligibility for Warm Homes: Local Grant maintains a focus on low-income households. It will also support area-based delivery by Local Authorities – who have welcomed this eligibility route.

Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing the recommendations from the Commission on Crime and Gambling Related Harms, published in April 2023 on the use of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Under the licensing objectives of the Gambling Act 2005, the Gambling Commission requires operators to prevent gambling being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime and disorder, or being used to support crime.The Home Office has introduced legislation in the Crime and Policing Bill to make improvements to the confiscation regime, including to ensure that a confiscation order more accurately reflects the benefit from crime. The draft bill contains no specific provisions for certain sectors, including the gambling sector. However, the Home Office will engage the gambling sector on how the legislative changes will be implemented in their sector in due course.The introduction of a statutory levy on gambling operators will, however, represent a generational change to funding arrangements and a renewed commitment to improving efforts to further understand, tackle and treat harmful gambling. As set out in our public consultation, the prevention stream could see investment directed for projects to build capacity and expertise in frontline settings to increase responsiveness to gambling harm, including criminal justice settings.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 8343 on Universal Credit, what progress his Department has made on reviewing Universal Credit in the context of rent charging years with 53 Mondays.

The Department will be considering the issue of rent charging years with 53 Mondays as part of its wider Universal Credit Review. The Department is committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to and meeting our objectives of making work pay and tackling poverty. We have already begun this work with the introduction of the new fair repayment rate announced in the Budget. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders as the review progresses to seek views on proposed areas of focus and untapped opportunities in UC. Parliament will be updated on progress and future changes accordingly.

What proportion of the total cost of running Personal Independence Payment is spent on the provision of face-to-face and over the phone assessments.

The information requested is not held by the Department. For both the legacy Personal Independence Payment contracts (that completed on 6 September 2024) and the new Functional Assessment Service contracts, providers do not/did not split their costs by service channel. Under the new Functional Assessment Service contracts, the costs provided by the Suppliers are not split between the individual service elements (ie Personal Independence payments, Work Capability Assessments and Specialist Benefits).

What steps he is taking to reduce cost inefficiencies in purchasing medical supplies.

NHS England’s new Operating Model, published on 30 January, sets out in Section 4 how it will support National Health Service bodies to deliver efficiencies by improving commercial arrangements. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/our-new-operating-model-supporting-you-to-deliver-high-quality-care-for-patients/These include supporting them to make full use of the products, goods, and services available through the NHS Supply Chain, when best value exists, to procure from frameworks operated by an accredited framework host, to use the NHS Spend Comparison Service to identify savings, the Health Commercial System, also known as Atamis, to undertake commercial activity, and the NHS procurement value and savings methodology to track and report on procurement savings and benefits.

What steps she is taking to ensure the timely release of funds by banks to executors of wills.

In recent years banks and building societies have sought to make the bereavement process easier by increasing the amount they will release without needing a grant of probate. As such the threshold varies between different firms. The nominal threshold in legislation is to require probate to be obtained for estates above £5000 in value (The Administration of Estates (Small Payments) Act 1965), although in practice many financial institutions operate a threshold of £20,000. Banks also differ on issues such as whether they are willing to release funds for funeral and other essential expenses ahead of probate being granted. These are commercial decisions. UK banks and building societies are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA does not have specific rules or guidance regarding probate in its rules. Nonetheless, banks are bound by the FCA’s Consumer Duty which requires firms to act to deliver good outcomes and avoid causing harm to customers. The FCA also provides guidance on firms providing fair treatment for vulnerable customers, which includes those going through a bereavement. If an executor is having a dispute with a bank, then they will be able to raise a formal complaint. The FCA’s rules require firms to properly investigate all complaints, and it continues to monitor firms’ complaint handling processes. The Government is also supportive of previous industry efforts to improve handling of these sensitive cases, including the Financial Services Death Notification Service developed by UK Finance.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will introduce a re-insurance scheme for properties at risk due to coastal erosion.

The £36 million coastal transition accelerator programme is supporting communities and businesses at risk of coastal erosion to transition and adapt to a changing coast. This includes working with the finance and property sectors to explore innovative finance or funding mechanisms to help move communities away from rapidly eroding areas, for instance schemes to incentivise the relocation of at-risk infrastructure for businesses and homeowners. The Environment Agency administers the Coastal Erosion Assistance Grant on behalf of Defra. The grant provides £6,000 per property to assist local authorities with the demolition and removal costs associated with homes at imminent risk from coastal erosion. There are currently no plans to extend the scope of the Flood Re scheme, however Defra regularly reviews all policies, including eligibility for Flood Re.

What recent estimate he has made of when he will meet his target of providing an extra 62,000 neurology appointments in England in each year.

Patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. Currently, the waiting list stands at 7.48 million patient pathways, with over 6 million people waiting, including 235,000 on neurology waiting lists.We will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029, increasing performance to 65% by March 2026, as set out in the Elective Reform Plan. We will deliver an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments across all specialties, including neurology appointments, during our first year in Government, as a First Step in our commitment to ensuring that patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.Alongside the breadth of reforms and productivity efforts in the plan, we will increase activity, deliver improvements in patient experience, and reduce waiting times for neurology patients across the country.

If he will publish a cross-Government strategy on the health and wellbeing of coastal communities.

We are taking action across Government to address the environmental and socio-economic determinants of health, and are aiming to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions. We know that targeted action to tackle health inequalities will facilitate economic opportunities, and support a National Health Service fit for the future.Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the 10-Year Health Plan, to ensure the NHS is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it. We have established 11 working groups to take forward policy development that will feed into the plan. This includes working groups focused on how care should be designed and delivered to improve healthcare equity, alongside ensuring that access to healthcare services is effective and responsive.

What steps he is taking to improve (a) data for and (b) research into coastal communities.

The National Institute for Heath and Care Research (NIHR) has funded a range of research specifically focusing on coastal populations, including investing in local authority and higher education partnerships, as well as studies that focussed on health care in these areas. Further information about this research is available at the following link:https://nihr.opendatasoft.com/pages/homepage/The NIHR has a Research Inclusion Strategy which, amongst other objectives, aims to widen research access and participation for greater diversity and inclusion, including for populations in coastal communities. Further information on the strategy is available at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/research-inclusion/strategy-2022-27The NIHR’s research funding guidance requires researchers to show how they will make sure their research is inclusive and addresses inequalities in health and care, with further information available at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/research-inclusion/funding-application-guidance

How many prescriptions for pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy were dispensed by Norfolk and Waveney (a) integrated care board and (b) clinical commissioning group in each year between 2019 and 2024.

The Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) provided by the NHS Business Services Authority gives the total number of prescription items of each medicine dispensed in the community in England. The following data relates to prescriptions for products that fall within the definition as set out in Paragraph 010904, related to pancreatin, in the British National Formulary.The following table shows the total number of National Health Service prescription items that were dispensed in the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, regardless of where prescribed, from January 2019 to November 2024YearNumber of prescription items201914,291202013,587202113,933202213,933202314,460202414,698Note: data for 2024 is from January to November.The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) relates to the prescribing organisation, so the following statistics are consistent with the English Prescribing datasets rather than the dispensing organisation shown in PCA.The following table shows the total number of NHS prescription items that were prescribed by cost centres linked to the Sub Integrated Care Board Location (SICBL), or prior to 2020 the CCG area of Norfolk and Waveney, from January 2019 to November 2024:YearNumber of prescription items201914,290202013,727202114,238202214,387202314,904202414,935Note: data for 2024 is from January to November.Historical data has been re-presented using the latest NHS organisation structure. These two tables are not directly comparable as the data available for integrated care boards relates to dispensing, whereas the data available at the SICBL or CCG level relates to items prescribed.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to open the consultation on the flooding funding formula; and how long the consultation will last.

We will launch a consultation in the coming months which will include a review of the existing flood funding formula to ensure that the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are adequately taken into account when delivering flood protection. Feedback will be sought on the advantages and disadvantages of potential reforms to the flood funding formula.

When she plans to respond to the correspondence of 26 November 2024 from the hon. Member for North Norfolk, reference SA01948.

This correspondence is receiving urgent attention and a response will be sent from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member for North Norfolk in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to make an assessment of the potential (a) cultural and (b) historic merits of protecting areas from flooding and coastal erosion in a future review of the flooding formula.

We will launch a consultation in the coming months which will include a review of the existing flood funding formula to ensure that the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are adequately taken into account when delivering flood protection. Feedback will be sought on the advantages and disadvantages of potential reforms to the flood funding formula.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 21526 on Methylphenidate: Norfolk, how many prescriptions for methylphenidate were dispensed by Norfolk and Waveney (a) integrated care board and (b) clinical commissioning group in each year between 2019 and 2024.

The Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) from the NHS Business Services Authority provides the total number of prescription items of each medicine dispensed in the community in England. The following table shows the total number of National Health Service prescription items for the chemical substance methylphenidate that were dispensed in the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) area from January 2019 to October 2024, latest data available, regardless of where prescribed:Total prescription items dispensed in Norfolk and Waveney ICB201933,733202030,723202131,320202231,267202332,138202428,249Note: data for 2024 is from January to October. In addition, the following table shows the total number of NHS prescription items for the chemical substance methylphenidate that were prescribed by cost centres linked to the Sub ICB Location (SICBL), or prior to 2020, the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area of Norfolk and Waveney, from January 2019 to October 2024:Total prescription items prescribed in Norfolk and Waveney SICBL201931,751202029,665202130,334202230,431202331,233202427,086Notes:data for 2024 is from January to October; andhistorical data has been re-presented using the latest NHS organisation structure.The CCG relates to the prescribing organisation, so the statistics are consistent with the English prescribing datasets rather than the dispensing organisation shown in PCA.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to announce which local authorities have been selected for the devolution priority programme.

We received proposals from a number of local authorities on 10 January expressing interest in joining the Devolution Priority Programme. We are reviewing these at pace, and we hope to announce places on the Programme in the coming weeks.