Written questions by Morrison.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure that all new housing developments have adequate access to infrastructure.

I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 26106 on 5 February 2025.

How many mandatory reconsiderations of an initial child maintenance calculation have resulted in no change to the assessment in each of the last five years; and what the average time taken was for those child maintenance payments to be put in place.

A Mandatory Reconsideration is where a parent has asked the Child Maintenance Service to reconsider a decision. It is a process that must be completed before the right to appeal to an independent tribunal with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. A Mandatory Reconsideration can be requested during the lifetime of a case or when a new application is made, for Child Maintenance and the application is unsuccessful. Where the Child Maintenance Service finds the original decision to be incorrect or if the parent has supplied more information the decision can change. The full information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are currently available to December 2024. Table 9 of the latest National tables provides the total number of mandatory reconsideration requests received by the CMS and the outcomes occurring each quarter, from April 2015 to December 2024. Data from Table 9 for January 2020 to December 2024 is shown in the following table: Mandatory Reconsiderations: the number of requests received by the Child Maintenance Service to reconsider a decision, and the outcomes occurring each quarter, Great Britain, January 2020 to December 2024 QuarterReceived [1]Cleared: Decision Revised [2] [3]Cleared: Decision Not Revised [2]Cleared: Total Cleared [2] [4]Number Cleared Within 28 Days of Receipt [5]Percentage Cleared Within 28 Days of Receipt (%) [6]Jan to Mar 202012,0003,2004,4009,4007,80083%Apr to Jun 20206,2003,0003,2007,5003,00040%Jul to Sep 20209,9002,5003,3007,5005,60074%Oct to Dec 202011,7002,7004,1009,3005,20056%Jan to Mar 202115,7004,2005,50012,9006,80053%Apr to Jun 202116,2005,0006,40014,5009,00062%Jul to Sep 202117,1005,5008,10017,70011,90068%Oct to Dec 202117,6005,7007,30016,70013,00078%Jan to Mar 202219,3005,4007,30016,60012,60076%Apr to Jun 202214,7004,3007,30014,2009,60068%Jul to Sep 202214,6003,7007,50013,8009,90071%Oct to Dec 202214,5004,7007,90015,50011,30073%Jan to Mar 202316,3004,3007,20014,30011,80082%Apr to Jun 202321,9004,0007,20014,40011,10077%Jul to Sep 202313,9004,0007,30014,50011,20078%Oct to Dec 202313,8003,7006,00012,40010,00080%Jan to Mar 202417,2004,0007,10014,10011,10078%Apr to Jun 202417,8004,3008,50016,00011,90074%Jul to Sep 202421,8005,70011,40020,70016,40079%Oct to Dec 202421,8006,20011,90021,80018,10083% Source: Child Maintenance Service Management Information NotesA Mandatory Reconsideration is where a parent has asked the Child Maintenance Service to reconsider a decision. Mandatory Reconsiderations can include multiple requests per parent or arrangement. All requests are counted.Cleared excludes mandatory reconsiderations that have been cancelled or raised in error.Where the Child Maintenance Service finds the original decision to be incorrect or if the parent has supplied more information which changes the decision.Some clearances cannot be categorised as 'revised' or 'not revised'. So the total cleared number will be higher than the sum of the other two categories.The calculation is based on 28 calendar days. This is usually equivalent to 20 working days.The measure of timeliness, calculates the number of Mandatory Reconsiderations cleared within 28 days of receipt (column F) over the total cleared within the quarter (column E).During the quarter ending June 2020, the Child Maintenance Service was affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and the resultant changes to the Department’s operational priorities and staffing resources.Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 or 1%.These statistics are published in Table 9 of the latest CMS National tables.

How many requests by parents to move their cases to collect and pay following the failure of the other parent to make a child maintenance payment in each of the last 5 years.

A principle of The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is to increase levels of cooperation between separated parents and encourage parents to meet their responsibilities to provide their children with financial support.The CMS has two service types: Direct Pay, where it calculates a liability and allows parents to make their own arrangements to pay; and Collect and Pay, where it calculates the liability and administers the transaction. Legislation requires that both parents are given the opportunity to try Direct Pay unless the paying parent demonstrates an unwillingness to pay their maintenance liability. When this happens, a parent can request a move to Collect and Pay service.The full information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are currently available to December 2024. Table 3 of the latest National tables provides the number of arrangements moving from one service type to another within the CMS each quarter, from October 2015 to December 2024.

How many parents who made a request to move from a deduction from earnings order to direct debit subsequently defaulted on their child maintenance payments in each of the last 5 years.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything it can to address the nonpayment of child maintenance. Where payments have defaulted, we use our enforcement powers fairly and quickly to get cases back into payment. The Department publishes quarterly Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics, with the latest statistics available to the end of December 2024 here. Table 4 contains information on the amount of child maintenance that Paying parents have paid, and are expected to pay, each quarter. Information on the method of payments used by Paying Parents and Collect and Pay compliance can be found on Stat Xplore The full information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

On how many occasions the Child Maintenance Service has (a) taken criminal action against and (b) successfully prosecuted a parent who has knowingly provided false information to reduce their financial assessment in each of the last five years.

The primary goal of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is to ensure that children receive the financial support they are entitled to. To achieve this, the CMS collaborates with HMRC and Benefit systems to accurately calculate maintenance payments. This collaboration helps prevent paying parents from misrepresenting their income. The Financial Investigations Unit (FIU), investigate complex income cases. This is a specialist team with extensive investigative powers to ensure that families receive child maintenance appropriately and in accordance with the paying parent’s whole income. They can request information from financial institutions such as banks, investment companies and mortgage companies to check the accuracy of information the CMS is given by either parent.If necessary, criminal charges relating to information offences linked to the calculation, will be brought against those who persistently and deliberately evade their responsibility to provide financially for their children.The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are currently available to December 2024. Table 7 of the latest National tables provides information where the CMS applied to courts to sanction Paying Parents, from July 2019 to December 2024. The specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of halting arms licences for export to foreign governments for which there is a demonstrable risk of complicity in international law violations.

All export licence applications are reviewed against the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (SELC). These state that the Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).We also keep all our extant licences (which typically last for two years) under continual review on this basis.This government will take whatever action is appropriate in the specific circumstances, including amending, suspending or revoking export licences.

How many times the Child Maintenance Service allowed a parent paying child maintenance with a (a) payment history of less than six months and (b) record of missed payments or arrears to move from a Collect and Pay DEO to Direct Debit in each of the last five years.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything it can to address the nonpayment of child maintenance. Where payments have defaulted, we use our enforcement powers fairly and quickly to get cases back into payment. The Department publishes quarterly Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics, with the latest statistics available to the end of December 2024 here. Table 4 contains information on the amount of child maintenance that Paying parents have paid, and are expected to pay, each quarter. Information on the method of payments used by Paying Parents and Collect and Pay compliance can be found on Stat Xplore The full information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

What information his Department holds on how exports made by UAV Tactical Systems Ltd to Israel since October 2023 have been used.

Two export licences have been issued to this company since October 2023, but each licence has been assessed to ensure that the items were not for use by the Israeli military in military operations in Gaza.This is pursuant to the decision on 2 September 2024 when we suspended export licences for the Israeli Defence Forces covering equipment that might be used in military operations in Gaza, based on our assessment that these could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law.Licences for military equipment which is not for use in operations in Gaza or which relate to components for products which are ultimately for re-export to other countries were not included in the scope of the suspension.

Whether (a) integrated care boards and (b) local GP federations will be able to reprioritise bids for funding under the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund.

We recently announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (PCUMF) to deliver upgrades this financial year to more than a thousand general practice (GP) surgeries across England.These schemes will create additional clinical space within existing building footprints to enable practices to see more patients, boost productivity, and improve patient care. By working within existing footprints there will be no additional revenue costs associated to the work funded by the PCUMFThis will directly address the issue of staff who cannot work at full capacity due to space limitations and will enable practices to offer more appointments with their existing workforce through better use of space. The Government has already hired more than 1,500 extra GPs and announced an £889 million funding boost, the biggest for the sector in years.To ensure good management of public money, the schemes that have been selected will of course be subject to final business case approvals and due diligence. Integrated care boards and GP federations will not be able to unilaterally realign the schemes which have already been agreed, however if an individual surgery is not able to proceed, then local leaders will select another priority scheme to utilise the funding.

How much and what proportion of the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund has been allocated to practices in Greater Manchester.

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future and recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects. We recently announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (PCUMF) to deliver upgrades this financial year to more than a thousand general practice surgeries across England.We have made sure that every single region across the country receives part of the funding, so benefits are felt nationwide. Decisions were made based on the highest priority of need and where the investment would quickly create additional clinical space, specifically to deliver more appointments.NHS England worked with all the integrated care boards (ICBs), including in Greater Manchester, to prioritise the schemes that local health leaders identified as meeting their communities’ most urgent needs.The Greater Manchester ICB has been allocated £5.6 million from the PCUMF to be spent on physical improvements resulting in additional clinical space and increased access to appointments. Digital transformation projects were not considered to be in scope for the £102 million of funding.

Whether NHS England held discussions with (a) NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board and (b) Place Leads in Stockport before finalising the list of GP practices funded through the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund.

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future and recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects. We recently announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (PCUMF) to deliver upgrades this financial year to more than a thousand general practice surgeries across England.We have made sure that every single region across the country receives part of the funding, so benefits are felt nationwide. Decisions were made based on the highest priority of need and where the investment would quickly create additional clinical space, specifically to deliver more appointments.NHS England worked with all the integrated care boards (ICBs), including in Greater Manchester, to prioritise the schemes that local health leaders identified as meeting their communities’ most urgent needs.The Greater Manchester ICB has been allocated £5.6 million from the PCUMF to be spent on physical improvements resulting in additional clinical space and increased access to appointments. Digital transformation projects were not considered to be in scope for the £102 million of funding.

If he will take steps to ensure that GP practices with (a) poor building quality, (b) insufficient capacity and (c) other significant estate issues are allocated funding through future rounds of the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund.

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects, such as new facilities, significant upgrades, or other targeted capital investments, to ensure we have world class infrastructure across the entire NHS estate.We recently announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund, supporting improved use of existing buildings and space, boosting productivity, and enabling delivery of more appointments. Further support for NHS organisations delivering local and national priorities beyond this financial year is being considered as part of the Government’s Spending Review.However, general practices are not reimbursed for service charges nor additionally funded to undertake maintenance and improvements, and are independent contractors who should fund investment in maintaining their estate by utilising their own funds, borrowing, or through partnerships with third party developers.

How much of the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund is being used for (a) digitisation projects and (b) physical improvements to GP premises.

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future and recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects. We recently announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (PCUMF) to deliver upgrades this financial year to more than a thousand general practice surgeries across England.We have made sure that every single region across the country receives part of the funding, so benefits are felt nationwide. Decisions were made based on the highest priority of need and where the investment would quickly create additional clinical space, specifically to deliver more appointments.NHS England worked with all the integrated care boards (ICBs), including in Greater Manchester, to prioritise the schemes that local health leaders identified as meeting their communities’ most urgent needs.The Greater Manchester ICB has been allocated £5.6 million from the PCUMF to be spent on physical improvements resulting in additional clinical space and increased access to appointments. Digital transformation projects were not considered to be in scope for the £102 million of funding.

What steps he is taking to ensure that Integrated Care Boards are able to support the revenue consequences of primary care estate expansions enabled by capital investment.

We recently announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (PCUMF) to deliver upgrades this financial year to more than a thousand general practice (GP) surgeries across England.These schemes will create additional clinical space within existing building footprints to enable practices to see more patients, boost productivity, and improve patient care. By working within existing footprints there will be no additional revenue costs associated to the work funded by the PCUMFThis will directly address the issue of staff who cannot work at full capacity due to space limitations and will enable practices to offer more appointments with their existing workforce through better use of space. The Government has already hired more than 1,500 extra GPs and announced an £889 million funding boost, the biggest for the sector in years.To ensure good management of public money, the schemes that have been selected will of course be subject to final business case approvals and due diligence. Integrated care boards and GP federations will not be able to unilaterally realign the schemes which have already been agreed, however if an individual surgery is not able to proceed, then local leaders will select another priority scheme to utilise the funding.

What criteria were used to determine which GP surgeries received funding under the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund in the 2025-26 financial year; and what role integrated care boards had in the decision-making process.

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future and recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects. We recently announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (PCUMF) to deliver upgrades this financial year to more than a thousand general practice surgeries across England.We have made sure that every single region across the country receives part of the funding, so benefits are felt nationwide. Decisions were made based on the highest priority of need and where the investment would quickly create additional clinical space, specifically to deliver more appointments.NHS England worked with all the integrated care boards (ICBs), including in Greater Manchester, to prioritise the schemes that local health leaders identified as meeting their communities’ most urgent needs.The Greater Manchester ICB has been allocated £5.6 million from the PCUMF to be spent on physical improvements resulting in additional clinical space and increased access to appointments. Digital transformation projects were not considered to be in scope for the £102 million of funding.

Whether she plans to maintain the current residence nil rate inheritance tax band of £175,000.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 44920.

What steps the is taking to help increase the number of midwifery staff in hospitals in Greater Manchester.

Decisions about the recruitment of midwifery staff are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level to ensure they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

What steps he is taking to increase the number of midwives in Stepping Hill hospital.

Decisions about the recruitment of midwifery staff are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level to ensure they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

What discussions she has had with recruitment agencies on compliance with their new responsibilities in relation to umbrella company legislation by April 2026.

The government is introducing legislation to close the tax gap and make the tax system fairer by making recruitment agencies using umbrella companies legally responsible for accounting for PAYE on workers’ pay. As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, this is expected to protect around £2.8 billion from being lost to umbrella company non-compliance across the scorecard period to 2029-30. Officials have engaged extensively with representatives of the recruitment industry in relation to this measure and will continue to do so. The government will set out full details of how this measure will operate, alongside draft legislation, later this year. The government will engage with stakeholders to ensure that they have the opportunity to provide feedback before legislation is introduced into Parliament. The government is committed to supporting businesses to prepare for the implementation of this measure and, to this end, will publish technical guidance for businesses that will be affected by it.

What steps he plans to take through the NHS 10 year plan to increase the number of NHS midwives.

A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and those who support our workforce, and how we ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.Getting the NHS back to working for patients means ending the workforce crisis across the health service. We intend to take a fresh look at the Long Term Workforce Plan, to ensure it fully aligns with the level of ambition and reforms required following the 10-Year Health Plan. Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual NHS trusts.