Written questions by Jermy.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing (a) digitalisation and (b) automation in the provision of welfare services.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has already implemented many automation initiatives and remains dedicated to identifying future opportunities for further enhancements. To date, 58 automations have been deployed across the DWP, with 38 of them currently active. These automation processes have handled a total of 44.46 million claims and saved 3.4 million staff hours. We will continue to explore additional automation and digitisation prospects which will help reduce operating costs, enabling agents to dedicate more time to citizens, and expedite claims processing where possible.

What he has made of the potential merits of using pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy for people with cystic fibrosis.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on best practice, based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NICE’s guideline on the diagnosis and management of cystic fibrosis recommends pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy as a treatment option for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in patients with cystic fibrosis. The guideline is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng78

Whether her Department plans to increase support for (a) Citizens Advice and (b) other charitable organisations in (i) Norfolk and (ii) England.

DWPs funding will be confirmed once the outcome of the Spending Review is known.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to increase funding to (a) Shelter and (b) other charities to support their work in (i) South West Norfolk constituency, (ii) Norfolk and (iii) England.

Funding for homelessness and rough sleeping in England will increase by £233 million in 2025/26. Allocations of funding in 2025/26 can be found here and future funding will be subject to the Spending Review. Through our grant programmes, we will continue to support charities, such as Shelter, who provide vital workforce skills and capacity support to frontline homeless organisations. Allocations to shelter can be found here.

What steps she is taking to help ensure that women on maternity leave are not subject to discrepancies in their pension employer contributions.

The Government is committed to raising labour standards and protecting workers' rights. Employer compliance with Automatic Enrolment is high with over 2.4 million employers complying with their duties to date. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has a statutory objective to maximise and enforce employer compliance with Automatic Enrolment. Some employers can make common errors in relation to Automatic Enrolment by missing important steps in respect of calculating pensions contributions and communications to staff. These errors can include miscalculating contributions for staff receiving maternity pay. DWP does not hold data on how many women have been affected by any specific error. TPR provides guidance and engages with employers, pension schemes and advisory bodies to raise awareness of common errors and maximise employer compliance. Where the Regulator is made aware of an error or discovers one in its regular on-site visits and data monitoring, it will work with the employer where possible to notify them of their error and how to correct it. Pension scheme managers and trustees also have a responsibility to ensure the correct management of schemes including monitoring the payment of accurate and timely contributions. Where employees themselves identify errors, they can raise these with their employer in the first instance and should they need to, they can report issues and seek resolution by contacting The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) or The Pensions Regulator. Individuals can find guidance on pension entitlements during maternity and paternity leave via the Money Helper website Maternity and paternity leave and your pension | MoneyHelper We would encourage any women who find discrepancies in their employer pensions contributions to alert their employer, and TPR or TPO if necessary, so that they can receive the pension contributions they are entitled to. MoneyHelper also provides further information as to what to do if you think your employer is failing to pay into your pension correctly: Help if your employer fails to pay into your pension | MoneyHelper

How many women have been affected by pension employer contribution discrepancies while on maternity since auto-enrolment began in 2012.

The Government is committed to raising labour standards and protecting workers' rights. Employer compliance with Automatic Enrolment is high with over 2.4 million employers complying with their duties to date. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has a statutory objective to maximise and enforce employer compliance with Automatic Enrolment. Some employers can make common errors in relation to Automatic Enrolment by missing important steps in respect of calculating pensions contributions and communications to staff. These errors can include miscalculating contributions for staff receiving maternity pay. DWP does not hold data on how many women have been affected by any specific error. TPR provides guidance and engages with employers, pension schemes and advisory bodies to raise awareness of common errors and maximise employer compliance. Where the Regulator is made aware of an error or discovers one in its regular on-site visits and data monitoring, it will work with the employer where possible to notify them of their error and how to correct it. Pension scheme managers and trustees also have a responsibility to ensure the correct management of schemes including monitoring the payment of accurate and timely contributions. Where employees themselves identify errors, they can raise these with their employer in the first instance and should they need to, they can report issues and seek resolution by contacting The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) or The Pensions Regulator. Individuals can find guidance on pension entitlements during maternity and paternity leave via the Money Helper website Maternity and paternity leave and your pension | MoneyHelper We would encourage any women who find discrepancies in their employer pensions contributions to alert their employer, and TPR or TPO if necessary, so that they can receive the pension contributions they are entitled to. MoneyHelper also provides further information as to what to do if you think your employer is failing to pay into your pension correctly: Help if your employer fails to pay into your pension | MoneyHelper

Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on phasing out lead ammunition for gamebird shooting.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has now published a final Opinion on their restriction proposal for lead in ammunition, informed by information from public consultations, as well as independent scientific advice. Now Defra has received HSE’s final Opinion on their proposed restriction, we are assessing their proposals, and a decision will follow. This decision will be taken with consent from the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help protect the use of children’s personal data on social media.

We are taking steps in the Data (Use and Access Bill) to require the ICO to have regard to the fact that children merit specific protection because they may be less aware of the risks in relation to the processing of their personal data. The ICO will need to take account of the new duty when carrying out its regulatory functions – for example, when providing guidance for organisations and enforcing the legislation.We have also placed a similar duty on Information Society Service providers likely to be accessed by children. These providers will now have clear legal duties to consider how best to protect and support children when designing their data processing activities. Providers will be assisted to comply with the new duty by the ICO’s Age Appropriate Design Code, which provides practical guidance for relevant providers on complying with their obligations under the data protection legislation in relation to children who are likely to access those services.

How many road traffic accidents involving horses took place between 2019 and 2024 in (a) England, (b) East Anglia and (c) South West Norfolk constituency.

The department publishes statistics on road injury collisions which occur on the public highway and are reported by police via the STATS19 system.The number of such collisions involving ridden horses are shown in the table below for 2019 to 2023, which is the latest year for which data is available. YearEnglandEast of EnglandSouth West Norfolk constituency2019515020207330202176712022687220234970

What steps his Department is taking to protect UK (a) military personnel and (b) armed forces bases from potential drone attacks from Russia.

The UK employs a broad approach to deterring and defeating air and missile threats, including those from Uncrewed Air Systems (UAS or drones). The Ministry of Defence (MOD) collaborates closely with the Home Office on Homeland C-UAS issues, providing expertise on threat identification and capability requirements to ensure a whole of Government approach to defending against these threats. We pursue counter-proliferation and military activities to counter threats before an attack is ever launched. However, if those approaches fail, we can employ a range of active and passive defence measures to intercept the threat and increase our resilience. Given the significant threat posed by UAS to our personnel and bases, counter-UAS (C-UAS) remains a crucial component of our Defence approach. UK Defence has developed and procured a broad range of cutting-edge C-UAS capabilities, including from UK industries, much of which is now operationally proven. Alongside this we are perusing a variety of further C-UAS projects, for example the Navy’s Dragonfire programme. We are committed to enhancing our capabilities and modernising our Air Defence approach to ensure our Armed Forces have the capabilities they need to meet current and future threats. As part of this commitment, a Strategic Defence Review is being conducted with C-UAS capabilities forming a vital part of our inputs to this review.

How many parents or young people have taken Norfolk City Council to appeal at a tribunal against an Education, Care and Health Plan decision in each of the last five years; and what (a) number and (b) proportion of those appeals were (i) determined in favour of the appellants, (ii) determined in favour of the local authority, (iii) withdrawn, (iv) conceded before the hearing and (v) still awaiting a hearing.

Information about appeal outcomes to SEND is published at: Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 - GOV.UK.Appeal outcomes are not broken down by Local Authority in the routinely published data as requested in this PQ. These data are provided for academic years September to August as follows:Norfolk City(1) Council2019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24(i) Number and proportion of those appeals determined in favour of the appellants68 76%161 67%165 67%219 70%281 56%(ii) Number and proportion of those appeals determined in favour of the local authority(2)1 1%3 1%4 2%8 3%5 1%(iii) Number and proportion of withdrawn appeals12 13%50 21%52 21%35 11%54 11%(iv) Number and proportion of appeals conceded before the hearing6 7%22 9%22 9%49 16%48 10%(v) Number and proportion of appeals still awaiting a hearing0 0%0 0%0 0%0 0%2 1%Total number of appeals to the tribunal(3)89241246315502 1. Data for Norfolk is held locally as Norfolk County Council.2. (ii) is the total of cases where the appellant wins the majority of the appeal (i.e. the appellant may be successful in 2 out of the 3 sections they appeal against).3. In addition to the categories requested appeals can be struck out. This is included in the total number of appeals.The information provided has been extracted from local management information.

What steps he is taking to increase funding for services for children with eating disorders.

Too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will recruit an extra 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services to cut waiting times and ensure that people can access treatment and support earlier.We will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school in England, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. We are also rolling out Young Futures Hubs in every community to provide open access mental health support for children and young people. These commitments will provide appropriate support for children and young people with a range of mental health needs, including eating disorders.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure copyright protections remain (a) robust and (b) fit for purpose from artificial intelligence.

Copying protected material in the UK will infringe copyright unless it is licensed, or an exception to copyright applies.The Government recently consulted on several topics relating to the interaction between copyright and artificial intelligence (AI), including seeking views on a range of approaches to clarify copyright law for both the creative industries and AI innovators.This consultation closed on 25th February.The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, to help inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively on this issue and its proposals will be set out in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the use of AI in farming.

The Government recognised AI as an opportunity of a generation in its response to the AI Opportunities Action Plan. The application of AI in agriculture will help to inform farmers’ decision making, automate operations and reduce costs for a more productive, profitable and resilient farming sector. Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme will support this through the development of agri-tech innovation, including AI, machine learning and data management applications.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has commissioned recent research on the potential impact of the use of lead shot on the environment.

In Spring 2021, Defra asked the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency (EA) to prepare a UK REACH restriction dossier for lead ammunition, including lead shot, in all habitats. The HSE and the EA have considered the evidence of risk posed by lead in ammunition on human health and the environment, as well as the socioeconomic impact that would result from introducing further restrictions on lead in ammunition. They also considered the effectiveness, practicality, monitorability and enforceability of the potential restriction. The HSE has now formed a final Opinion on their restriction proposal for lead in ammunition, informed by information from public consultations, as well as independent scientific advice. Now Defra has received HSE’s final Opinion on the proposed restriction, we are assessing the proposals, and a decision will follow. This decision will be taken with consent from the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the most effective steps to protect copyright and the creative industries against the increase of artificial intelligence usage.

The government recognises the importance of the UKs copyright regime to the economic success of the cultural and creative industries, one of eight growth-driving sectors as identified in our Industrial Strategy. We also recognise the basic principle that rights holders should have control over and seek payment for their work, including when thinking about the role of AI. The current UK Copyright Framework enables creative right holders to prevent the use of protected works, but we are aware that this can be very difficult to implement in the context of AI, especially for individual firms and creators.Responses to our consultation on the impact of AI on the copyright regime, which was published on 17 December and closed on 25 February, will inform our approach to the design and delivery of a solution to these issues. Our aim is to clarify the copyright framework for AI – delivering certainty through a copyright regime that provides creators with real control and transparency, and helps them licence their content, while supporting AI developers' access to high-quality material. We will now consider the full range of responses we have received through our consultation.

When he plans to publish the outcomes from the 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme consultation, which closed on 28 February 2025.

The outcome of the consultation will be published shortly, once all responses received have been fully considered and any decisions made about the final payment scheme.

What steps she is taking to tackle the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) backlog in (a) England and (b) South West Norfolk constituency.

Although the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) has responded well to the significant increase in appeals it has experienced in recent years, we acknowledge that more needs to be done to reduce the time parents and young people have to wait to have their appeals determined. An additional 70 judges have been recruited for this chamber and began sitting from September 2024, with further recruitment scheduled.The pressures facing the Tribunal are indicative of wider pressures in the SEND system. We are working with the Department for Education in the longer term to reduce the demands on the tribunal so that the outstanding caseload, and the time within which the tribunal can determine appeals, reduces in accordance with our key performance indicators.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Housing Ombudsman suggesting in January 2025 that there should be a pilot study to test and sample properties for levels of lead.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the Question UIN 27855 on 6 February.

Innovation and Technology, when he plans to publish the Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Governance consultation.

The Government published its consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence (AI) on 17 December 2024. This closed on 25 February 2025.The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, to help inform its approach to copyright and AI. The Government will continue to engage extensively as it considers next steps, and its proposals will be set out in due course.