Written questions by Collins.

What steps his Department is taking to help reduce barriers to social care for (a) deafblind people and (b) other disabled people with complex needs in (i) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (ii) the rest of England.

Under the Care Act 2014 and Care and Support (Assessment) Regulations 2014, local authorities are responsible for ensuring people with complex disabilities, including deafblind people, access the right care and support. Under the Equality Act (2010), local authorities must also make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are performing against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to the access and provision of care and support for people with complex disabilities. Support for people with complex disabilities will form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care. In that context, the CQC will, for example, report on how the local authorities work with deafblind people when there is something important to highlight, such as something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement. The CQC is assessing all 153 local authorities in England. So far, the CQC has published over twenty assessments, including an assessment for Hertfordshire County Council, which is available at the following link:https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/Hertfordshire1By identifying local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, CQC assessments facilitate the sharing of good practice and help us to target support where it is most needed. These steps will help to ensure that people with complex disabilities, including deafblind people, do not face barriers to accessing appropriate care.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing additional funding for social rent homes in the forthcoming spending review.

The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549).The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes.We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent.

What steps her Department is taking to increase access to assessments for Special Educational Needs in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) England.

The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to achieve and thrive in mainstream settings through early identification, effective support, high quality teaching and effective allocation of resources.Through a graduated approach, teachers are responsible for monitoring the progress of all pupils and putting support in place where needed. Where a child who has SEND needs more support than their school can usually provide, schools, parents or carers can ask the local authority to carry out an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment.The department recognises the critical role of educational psychologists within the SEND system, including their statutory contribution to EHC assessments. The department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024, building on the £10 million currently being invested in a cohort of over 200 trainees who began their training in 2023. Trainees will join the workforce to support the capacity of local authority educational psychology services, including in delivering assessments.The department provides support and challenge to the Hertfordshire local area partnership by monitoring progress against its priority action plan and improvement plan and by providing advice and guidance via a SEND expert advisor. The partnership has also established a SEND Improvement Board, independently chaired by Dame Christine Lenehan, to oversee progress and provide appropriate challenge.The department expects all local authorities to meet their statutory duties and we will continue to monitor and challenge Hertfordshire County Council’s EHC plan 20 week timeliness.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to emergency dentistry in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency this is the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB. ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB are expected to deliver 5,712 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.

What steps his Department is taking to improve support for family carers in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support they need. Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires them to provide a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers.On the 7 of April 2025, the Government increased the Carer’s Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This represents the largest increase in the earnings limit since the Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976.Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service highlighted the need for a fresh approach to supporting and involving unpaid carers, to improve outcomes across the board, for carers, for those they care for, and the NHS itself.These findings will be carefully considered as part of our 10-year plan to reform and modernise the NHS, and as we continue to shape our plans to reform adult social care, including through the National Care Service.We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.The commission will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the terms of reference for the Advisory Committee on Online Information.

Ofcom and its advisory committees are independent of government. The design of the advisory committee’s Terms of Reference are therefore a matter for Ofcom.The Online Safety Act includes clear requirements for the Committee’s responsibilities: advising Ofcom on how providers should address mis- and disinformation, how the regulator should exercise their transparency powers and fulfil their statutory duty to promote media literacy in relation to mis- and disinformation. These obligations are unchanged and are duly reflected in the terms of reference for the Online Information Advisory Committee.

Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will extend agroforestry funding to (a) include multiple species and (b) increase tree planting density to help provide an appropriate habitat for (i) pigs and (ii) chickens.

Our in-field agroforestry offers under the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes allow flexibility for land managers to decide on tree species and densities that suit their objectives, to realise the multiple benefits that trees provide in the farming landscape. Land managers are able to establish and maintain a wide range of eligible woodland and fruit tree species, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eligible-tree-species-elm-agroforestry-action. Land managers can also be paid a species diversity bonus for planting 5 or more species of tree, to help improve the resilience of agroforestry systems. Our ELM in-field agroforestry offers allow for a range of planting densities. Under the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, land managers can establish and maintain in-field agroforestry systems with an average of 30-130 trees per hectare on low sensitivity land. Our Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier offers will pay land managers to maintain in-field agroforestry systems up to an average of 400 trees her hectare.

Communities and Local Government, if she will provide funding for social rent homes in the Spending Review.

The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549).The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes.We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent.

Whether her Department plans to increase taxes on global tech companies.

The UK remains committed to reaching a global solution on the taxation of the digital economy through Pillar 1 of the G20-OECD Inclusive Framework project. The UK has fully implemented Pillar 2 of the project which ensures all multinationals are subject to a minimum rate. The Digital Services Tax (DST) is an interim tax measure to ensure that digital services providers pay UK tax on digital services that reflects the value they derive from UK users. It is UK’s intention to repeal our Digital Services Tax (DST) when Pillar 1 of the OECD project is in place.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the rate of discharge from hospitals into social care in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) England.

It is a priority for the Government to support hospital discharge and ensure that people receive the care that they need.On 30 January 2025, the Government published the policy framework for the Better Care Fund (BCF) in 2025/26, which took effect on 1 April 2025. The new BCF Policy Framework supports local areas to use pooled funding in a way that reduces delayed discharges and delivers greater impact for those receiving integrated care.£9 billion of funding is available through the BCF for 2025/26, including £149 million provided to Hertfordshire. This consists of £110 million to the Hertfordshire and West Essex and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Boards, and £39 million to Hertfordshire County Council.

What steps her Department is taking to help reduce regional differences in social care provision for disabled children.

On Thursday 20 March I announced the launch of the national Families First Partnership programme, backed by over £500 million in grant funding to support rollout. This includes the publication of the Families First Programme guide, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/families-first-partnership-programme.The department’s goal for this programme is to improve access to support for families, including families with disabled children, right across the country. The aim is to rebalance the system of support away from crisis intervention and towards earlier help, delivering on the government’s mission to provide children with the best start in life, keep children safe and break down barriers to opportunity.The department recognises there is geographical variation for a range of reasons. Through the rollout of this programme, local areas will co-design services with partners and families to better understand local need and services, to inform future delivery. We will work to support local authorities throughout the transformation period.

Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to adapt farming subsidy schemes to incentivise the (a) housing of all farmed animals in woodland and (b) planting of woodland in permanent pasture; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on (i) animal welfare, (ii) climate and (iii) biodiversity.

Businesses must notify the competent authorities in advance of a consignment arriving in GB when it contains High risk or Medium A risk plants and plant products as they are subject to phytosanitary controls. Upon completion of the notification an initial risk assessment is provided detailing whether an inspection is required. Drivers and notifiers are informed in one of two ways. If the transporter uses the Goods Movement Vehicle Service (GVMS), drivers should use the ‘check if you need to report an inspection’ service, to find out what they need to do. Drivers should check this service again before they reach the point of entry.If the transporter does not use GMVS, Imports of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) will provide an initial risk assessment telling the importer/agent if their consignment needs SPS checks when they submit their import notification. If the consignment does need checks, the importer/agent will also receive a text and email message 2 hours before the transporter’s estimated time of arrival in GB. The message will confirm what the transporter needs to do. They can also check their IPAFFS dashboard.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a cap on the fees charged by veterinary practices for issuing Animal Health Certificates.

All fees set by veterinary surgeons or veterinary practices are a private matter between individual practices and their clients. Neither the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the UK regulator of the veterinary profession, nor Defra intervene in the level of fees that are charged.

If her Department will take steps to improve training for disabled children’s social care professionals in local authorities.

Every day, children’s social care professionals provide a vital service to children in need of support, including disabled children. Whilst it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that their social care workforces are well-equipped for the roles they perform, the department is focused on supporting continued improvements in practice. All qualified children’s social workers must register with the professional regulator Social Work England and meet the professional standards. These include practising in line with the requirements of the Equality Act, which includes disability as a protected characteristic.The department sets the professional standards that new children’s social workers should attain through the post-qualifying standards. The department is currently consulting on a new set of standards which include a greater focus on disability. Subject to the spending review, the department plans to introduce a new two-year social worker induction programme based on the new standards, to strengthen support for new children’s social workers.In addition, the Law Commission are currently undertaking an independent review of social care legislation relating to disabled children. They are due to report their final recommendations to government in summer 2025, at which point the department will consider proposals for reforms to the disabled children’s social care system.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) removing sanctions on Universal Credit and (b) ensuring sanctions are used only in exceptional circumstances.

As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we are reforming Jobcentre Plus and moving away from the current one-size-fits-all approach. We are creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. The core objective of Universal Credit is to support customers to prepare for work, to enter work, or to earn more, and it is right that there are obligations in place in return for financial support through the benefit system. Legislation sets out the types of requirements that can be applied to a customer dependant on the conditionality group they are in. To ensure these requirements are realistic and achievable, they are set in discussion with the customer and tailored to their capabilities and circumstances. A sanction – which is a reduction in the amount of Universal Credit paid – is only applicable where a customer does not carry out their agreed requirements without good reason.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2025 to Question 27613 on Offshore Industry: North Sea, what further steps his Department is taking to avoid prejudicing future regulatory decision-making on this matter.

Neither the Secretary of State nor I will be commenting on the specifics of individual in order to avoid potentially prejudicing any future regulatory decisions the Secretary of State is required to make in relation to these projects. We remain committed to having the supplementary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) guidance in place as soon as possible. Once it is published, assessments of environmental statements can resume.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that homes sold under Right to Buy are not used as private rental properties.

Former council tenants who have purchased their home under the Right to Buy scheme but wish to resell or dispose of it within a 10-year period, must first offer the property for sale at the full market value to either the former landlord or to another social landlord in the area. This is known as the right of first refusal and helps to safeguard social housing and keep it within the public sector.As announced at Autumn Budget, the government is allowing councils to keep 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales, which coupled with the increased flexibilities in how councils can use the receipts, will help to accelerate and increase the delivery of replacement homes. The majority of the receipts must be spent on replacement social housing within 5 years.The government’s manifesto committed to better protecting newly built social housing from the Right to Buy since we recognise that the risk of a home being sold soon after completion can disincentivise councils from investing in new housing. To give councils greater confidence to scale-up delivery of social homes for those who need them most, the government increased the “cost floor” period during which Right to Buy discounts can be reduced to account for money spent building or maintaining the property, from 15 years to 30 years.The government is aware, however, that the cost floor may not always be sufficient to protect new builds, because new homes can still be sold under the scheme, and it may not cover all forms of investment in existing housing stock. We therefore sought views in the recent consultation on reforming the Right to Buy scheme, which can be found on gov.uk here, on an exemption for new builds from the scheme. The consultation has closed and the government is carefully considering all responses received and will announce next steps in due course.

Whether her Department plans to expand the scope of the Loan Change review to include (a) promoters, (b) umbrella companies, (c) recruitment agencies, (d) accountants and (e) tax advisers.

The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers. The Government does not think it is right for people affected by the Loan Charge to have to wait years for any progress on bringing this matter to a close for them and has therefore ensured that the review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025. Alongside the review, the Government is consulting in 2025 on measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance and has already announced measures to tackle the significant tax avoidance and fraud in the umbrella company market.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the energy efficiency of homes in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

The Warm Homes Plan will help people find ways to save money on energy bills and transform our ageing building stock into comfortable, low-carbon homes that are fit for the future, including those in the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency. We will upgrade up to 5 million homes across the country by accelerating the installation of efficient new technologies like heat pumps, solar, batteries and insulation. The Government has announced Wave 3 of the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund in England, to support social housing providers and tenants, as well as the new Warm Homes: Local Grant to support low-income homeowners and private tenants. The Government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency. We will publish further details on the Warm Homes Plan in due course.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 29226 on Media, what the two media literacy programmes funded in 2024 were called; and where he plans to publish further information about each.

In 2024 the Government provided £0.5 million to expand the National Literacy Trust’s ‘Empower’ and Parent Zone’s ‘Everyday Digital’ programmes.‘Empower’ provided media literacy education to nearly 4,000 vulnerable students aged 11-16, who were excluded or at risk of exclusion, increasing critical thinking and awareness of online harms. It also trained schoolteachers to lead media literacy within their schools.‘Everyday Digital’ reached over 60,000 parents, helping improve their understanding of media literacy, set digital boundaries and critically evaluate online content. The evaluation showed a 45% improvement in media literacy understanding.Both organisations evaluated their programmes’ impact and will publish reports.