Written questions by Jermy.

What steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas. Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed. Rural proofing is important because rural communities are an important part of the economy. Rural areas are home to around one-fifth of England’s population and half a million registered businesses. Policy outcomes in rural areas can be affected by economies of scale, distance, sparsity and demography. That is why it is important that government policies consider how they can be delivered in rural areas. Rural proofing ensures that these areas receive fair and equitable policy outcomes. Our department takes its obligation to rural proofing seriously and will consider the impact of relevant spending, regulation, tax or financial services policy decisions on the rural economy.

How many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

There were 206 active employees with declared disabilities (9.4% of the department) employed at HM Treasury on 2 September 2025.

With reference to the report entitled The Price of Safety by women's aid, published in September 2024, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Spring Statement 2025 on (a) survivors of domestic abuse and (b) the ability of survivors of domestic abuse to flee their homes.

The Home Office funds a range of organisations providing vital frontline support to victims of violence against women and girls (VAWG), including domestic abuse. The Home Office is providing a small increase in funding for VAWG victims’ services in this financial year (25/26). In 2024/25, the Home Office in 2024/25 provided £2.69m to support victims fleeing domestic abuse via the Flexible Fund. The fund, delivered by Women’s Aid Federation England and a consortium of over 470 services, was accessible to all adult victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales, including victims with no recourse to public funds. The Home Office also provided £3.6m in 2024/25 to fund a range of specialist national VAWG helplines which provide guidance and support to all victims.

Whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the use of the Transformation Fund to reform (a) palliative and (b) end of life care services.

The Spending Review is underway, and details will be announced on 11 June. As part of the Spring Statement, Government announced a £3.25bn Transformation Fund to drive efficiencies across government and save money later in the Parliament, and set out how this would be allocated over the Spending Review process. Government is determined to make sure that everyone has access to high-quality end of life care. In December 2024 we announced a £100 million boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care, and £26 million revenue to support children and young people’s hospices.

What assessment she made of the potential implications for her policies of the report by the Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner on the Financial Conduct Authority's handling of Safe Hands Plans Limited, published on 11 March 2025.

I am sympathetic to all the Safe Hands customers who have lost money, following the collapse of the firm in 2022. Once concerns were raised about the funeral plan market, in 2021 the Government legislated to bring all pre-paid funeral plan providers and intermediaries within the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This made it illegal to sell pre-paid funeral plans without authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority, protecting 1.6 million customers and their families. The FCA has published its response to the Financial Regulator Complaints Commissioner. The FCA has been clear that it is not possible to immediately act on every piece of anonymous intelligence they receive and Safe Hands failed to meet the threshold for authorisation due to underlying issues with their business model. We support the FCA's handling of Safe Hands, and it is clear that they acted reasonably in this case, as they had a clear plan to properly scrutinise Safe Hands’ business during the authorisations process. As the Commissioner acknowledges, there is also no evidence that alternative action from the FCA would have led to different outcomes for Safe Hands customers.