Written questions by Witherden.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) the Vrynwy Frankton pylon project and (b) other pylon projects on farm animals.

Developers of electricity network projects in England & Wales must assess the impacts of their proposals in line with the National Policy Statement for electricity network infrastructure (NPS EN-5). Alongside this, developers undertake Environmental Impact Assessments which can include considerations related to farm animals if there are impacts on agricultural land. The Government does not make assessments of specific projects until they come to the Secretary of State for a final planning decision.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Vrynwy Frankton pylon project on net zero.

Electricity networks are a critical enabler for net zero, linking new low-carbon generation to electricity demand. To accommodate both the generation needed for clean power as well as increasing demand as heating, transport and industry electrification will require an expansion of electricity networks at a scale and pace not seen for decades, at both transmission and distribution level. Though the department does not conduct analysis for individual projects, the Vrynwy Frankton pylon project is part of this transformation.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) the Vyrnwy–Frankton pylon project and (b) other pylon projects on local businesses that rely on tourism.

Developers of electricity network projects in England & Wales must assess the impacts of their proposals in line with the National Policy Statement for electricity network infrastructure (NPS EN-5). Government assesses specific projects only once they come to the Secretary of State for a final planning decision. Businesses with pylons sited on their land are entitled to compensation for the value of their land, as well as for any losses or expenses incurred. Acquiring authorities are also able to offer extra discretionary payments. Government published relevant guidance in March 2025 outlining how communities should benefit from new transmission infrastructure. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-transmission-network-infrastructure-community-funds/community-funds-for-transmission-infrastructure-accessible-webpage

Whether her Department is taking steps to protect places of worship from police raids.

The enforcement of the law is an operational matter for the police. It is for them to decide whether a particular action warrants police involvement, based on their operational expertise and the circumstances of the case.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of climate change on economic growth.

Illustrative analysis in the Office for Budget Responsibility's 2024 Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report suggests that UK GDP could be around 3% lower by 2074 under a below 2°C warming scenario and around 5% lower under a below 3°C warming scenario. The publicly available report contains further analysis of the fiscal impact of climate change as well as impacts affecting businesses and individuals such as labour productivity and health.This Government is committed to mitigating the negative impacts of climate change. The transition to net zero will support the creation of jobs across the UK, protect the economy from future price shocks and deliver a range of social and health benefits.

Media and Sport, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing a press regulator that is independent of (a) the media industry and (b) politicians.

This Government is committed to an independent and free media, one that is completely separate from the Government and politicians. An independent self-regulatory regime is important to ensure the press adheres to clear and high standards. We are also clear, however, that with this freedom comes responsibility, and newspapers must operate within the bounds of the law. This includes ensuring access to clear, timely and effective routes to redress. The Government currently has no plans to change the current system.

What assessment her Department has made of the cost to (a) the public purse (b) businesses and (c) individual people from climate change.

Illustrative analysis in the Office for Budget Responsibility's 2024 Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report suggests that UK GDP could be around 3% lower by 2074 under a below 2°C warming scenario and around 5% lower under a below 3°C warming scenario. The publicly available report contains further analysis of the fiscal impact of climate change as well as impacts affecting businesses and individuals such as labour productivity and health.This Government is committed to mitigating the negative impacts of climate change. The transition to net zero will support the creation of jobs across the UK, protect the economy from future price shocks and deliver a range of social and health benefits.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on their decision not to legislate to end no-fault evictions for private rented sector tenants in Wales; and what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of this decision.

The Department has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders during the development of our reforms to the private rented sector, and we have sought to learn from the experience of the devolved nations. However, housing within Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the respective devolved government. Respect for devolution and collaboration with the devolved governments is central to this government’s approach to rebuilding the country.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on the potential difference of security of tenure that will exist between England and Wales following the passage of the Renters Rights Bill.

The Department has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders during the development of our reforms to the private rented sector, and we have sought to learn from the experience of the devolved nations. However, housing within Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the respective devolved government. Respect for devolution and collaboration with the devolved governments is central to this government’s approach to rebuilding the country.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of recognising mono-HCV haemophiliacs as a separate cohort under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

In March, Parliament approved the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025, which established the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme in full and gave the Infected Blood Compensation Authority the powers it needs to begin making payments to all people eligible for compensation under the Scheme. In line with the recommendations from the Infected Blood Inquiry’s second interim report and Sir Robert’s compensation framework study, the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme takes a tariff based approach to compensation based on infection severity bands. The Government sought advice on the infection severity bandings and consequent tariffs from the Infected Blood Inquiry Response Expert Group. In regards to an additional award for haemophiliacs, the scope of the scheme’s supplementary route is in line with the recommendations Sir Robert Francis KC made to the Government in August 2024. The Government accepted Sir Robert’s recommendation that, with the exception of autonomy awards to victims of unethical research, supplementary route awards should only be available for care and financial loss.

What discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on the potential impact of the spare room subsidy on homelessness in Wales.

The Secretary of State has not had discussions with the Welsh Government specifically about the Removal Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) and homelessness in Wales. Housing is devolved to the Welsh Government and social security is reserved to the UK Government. The causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and often complex, they interact dynamically making it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors. The RSRS policy applies to claims for housing support where the household living in a social rented property with more bedrooms than their household’s bedroom entitlement. Easements are available allowing an additional bedroom to support disabled people and carers, the families of disabled children, foster carers, parents who adopt, parents of service personnel and people who have suffered a bereavement. The deduction does not apply to pensioners in receipt of Housing Benefit. Further, those unable to meet the shortfall in their rent can seek a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) from their local authority. DHPs can be paid to those in receipt of qualifying housing support who face a shortfall in meeting their rental housing costs.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of not uprating local housing allowance rates on homelessness in Wales.

The causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and often complex, they interact dynamically making it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors. Responsibility for housing and homelessness is devolved to the Welsh Government, while social security is reserved to the UK Government. At last year’s Autumn Budget, the Secretary of State’s decision to maintain Local Housing Allowance (LHA) at current levels for 2025/26 was taken after a range of factors were considered, including rental data, the impacts of LHA rates, the fact that rates were increased in April 2024, and the wider fiscal context. The April 2024 one-year LHA increase cost an additional £1.2bn in 2024/25, and approximately £7bn over 5 years. Any future decisions on LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing, and the fiscal context. For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. DHPs can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs

On what evidential basis the level of compensation for people with (a) Hepatitis C and (b) haemophiliacs infected with HIV under the Infected Blood Compensation scheme was determined.

As recommended by the Inquiry, the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme has been designed as a tariff-based framework. The proposed tariffs were developed on the advice of the Infected Blood Inquiry Response Expert Group, which included clinical and legal advisors assisted by social care specialists. You can find more information about the work of the Infected Blood Inquiry Response Expert Group on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infected-blood-inquiry-response-expert-group-summary-report

How many people will be eligible for compensation under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme in (a) Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr constituency, (b) Wales and (c) the UK.

Due to the nature of the Infected Blood scandal there is uncertainty over the number of people who might be eligible for compensation. The final number of eligible people will ultimately depend on the number of victims who come forward. While there is no way of knowing exactly how many people were infected as a result of this scandal, the findings of the Statistical Expert Group, established by the Infected Blood Inquiry, has provided valuable insight into the numbers of infections from blood and blood products in the UK between 1970 and 1991. The central estimates approximately total 30,000, which includes both living and deceased victims. This information is not available on a constituency basis.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme to distinguish between people subjected to deliberate, non-consensual trials and other people.

The Infected Blood Inquiry Report highlights many ethical failings that happened as part of the Infected Blood Scandal. The impact of these ethical failings on infected people has been recognised in the compensation scheme's core autonomy award. In his summer 2024 report Sir Robert Francis recommended that an additional autonomy award be made available specifically to infected people subjected to unethical research. The Government accepted this recommendation, which led to the development of the Unethical Research Practices award as part of the Compensation Scheme's supplementary route. The award focuses specifically on research that has failed to meet established ethical standards. Specifically, the eligibility for the award is determined by the presence of documented unethical research. This includes a lack of informed consent, inadequate oversight, and other breaches of ethical obligations in research settings. In December last year, the Government engaged with key representatives and organisations in the community on the particular eligibility criteria for the Unethical Research Practices Award. The Government was grateful for the submissions and feedback it received from key stakeholders and considered the evidence provided in each one carefully. The Regulations which became law on 31 March 2025, detailed, specifically the criteria and centres that will be covered as part of this award. The Government is able, through further secondary legislation, to add additional centres or studies to the list if new evidence is presented. The Government wants to ensure that those who were subject to unethical research are provided with the additional autonomy award.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to prevent (a) phone hacking and (b) press intrusion.

The press have a responsibility to behave ethically and they must also operate within the bounds of the law. Any illegal conduct such as phone hacking would be a matter for the police.The Government does not intervene in or oversee the work of the UK’s independent press regulators. If a member of the public objects to practices of the press they can complain directly to the publication, or the relevant independent regulator, including Impress or the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).These regulators enforce codes of conduct which provide guidelines on a range of areas, including discrimination, accuracy, privacy, and harassment. If they find that a newspaper has broken the code of conduct, they can order corrections. Both regulators also offer arbitration schemes for legal claims relating to defamation, privacy and harassment.

What discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on the potential merits of providing support for the delivery of social homes in Wales through (a) increased capital funding and (b) expanded borrowing powers.

We remain committed to working in partnership with the Welsh Government to ensure the Fiscal Framework, which sets out their borrowing arrangements, continues to deliver value for money while upholding our shared commitment to fiscal responsibility. Discussions regarding the Welsh Government’s request to amend the budget management tools outlined in the Framework are ongoing.     As set out in the Welsh Government Fiscal Framework agreed in 2016, a full review is triggered if the Welsh Government’s relative funding falls below 115% of equivalent UK Government spending per head in the rest of the UK.The Welsh Government is currently receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. That translates into over £8.5 billion more in 2025-26.It is for the Welsh Government to allocate its funding in devolved areas, including social housing, as it sees fit. It can therefore take its own decisions on managing and investing available resources, reflecting its own priorities and local circumstances, and it is accountable to the Senedd for these decisions.

Media and Sport, how many newspapers have been (a) investigated and (b) fined by the Independent Press Standards Organisation since 2014.

The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), which is independent of Government, publishes annual reports on their website that include details on the number of complaints and enquiries received and their outcomes: https://www.ipso.co.uk/what-we-do/transparency-accountability/.

What steps his Department is taking to hold Ofgem accountable for (a) achieving net zero and (b) supporting growth in renewables as part of its remit.

The industry regulator Ofgem is directly accountable to Parliament. However, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State and DESNZ Ministers have regular meetings with Ofgem on a range of issues. In December, the Government launched its first comprehensive review of Ofgem. The review will establish Ofgem as a strong consumer champion, driving up standards for household and business consumers both now, and as energy use evolves with smarter and greener technology. It will also consider Ofgem’s duties and mandate, including how it delivers on its existing set of duties such as net zero. The path to Net Zero and supporting growth in the renewable energy sector are both at the heart of this Government’s mission to deliver clean power by 2030.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the P441 modification to the Balancing and Settlement Code.

The Government recognises that local energy will play an important role in achieving our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030, and some suppliers are already working with community energy groups to support local supply. The Secretary of State recently commissioned Ofgem to explore some of the policy and regulatory barriers to local supply, including route to market challenges. An industry working group is currently considering proposals to make a code modification (P441) to Balancing and Settlement Code, which may be beneficial for certain community energy projects. A final decision on modification will be made by Ofgem.