Written questions by Collins.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of proposed reductions in spending on official development assistance on levels of debt-cancellation to heavily indebted poor countries.

Supporting developing countries to tackle unsustainable debt is a priority of this government. Where the UK Government is a creditor, we will fully engage in multilateral negotiations with debtor countries via the Paris Club and G20 Common Framework mechanisms to put their debt back on a sustainable trajectory.Detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review process.

What steps his Department is taking to support job creation in the renewable energy sector in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) Hertfordshire.

The Government’s initial assessment of the challenges of building the skilled workforce to deliver the Clean Energy Superpower Mission has been outlined in the Clean Power Action Plan. The Plan includes an Evidence Annex which provides a basis for Government to better understand the 2030 workforce requirements and support targeted skills planning. By 2030, the clean energy transition could create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, benefiting communities across the UK representing the economic opportunity of the century.

What plans he has to include people impacted by low-grade brain tumours which follow the cancer pathways, care and treatment, but are not technically cancer in the National Cancer Plan.

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for all cancer patients, including those with brain tumours.Although low-grade brain tumours are generally non-cancerous, they can have similar, serious symptoms and require surgery or radiotherapy to treat. The Government has invested in new lifesaving and life-improving research, supporting those diagnosed and living with brain tumours.The plan will include further details on how we will speed up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately bringing this country’s cancer survival rates back up to the standards of the best in the world.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has considered allowing local authorities to (a) retain and (b) reinvest all proceeds from Right to Buy sales into building new council homes.

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 has made an assessment of the potential merits of granting Ukrainians settled in the UK through sponsorship schemes the right to remain (a) indefinitely and (b) until it is safe to return.

We are committed to standing with Ukraine and providing stability for those we have welcomed to the UK and those who still need our sanctuary.The Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme, which opened to applications on 4 February 2025, provides up to an additional 18 months’ permission to stay in the UK for those with existing Ukraine Scheme permission.We keep the Ukraine schemes under continuous review in line with the ongoing conflict and the Ukrainian government’s desire for the future return of its citizens to Ukraine. This is why the Ukraine Schemes are temporary and do not lead to settlement in the UK. Similarly, time spent in the UK with permission granted under the Ukraine Schemes cannot be relied upon towards the continuous qualifying period for the purposes of a Long Residence application.There are other routes available for those who wish to settle in the UK permanently, if they meet the requirements, such as work routes and family routes. These routes are published on GOV.UK at: Work in the UK - GOV.UK and Family in the UK - GOV.UK.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 42060 on Pathways to Work: Impact Assessments, whether her Department’s further programme of analysis will include a disaggregation of data by category of (a) disability and (b) health condition.

A breakdown of the impact of the reforms on disability overall has been published as part of an Equality Analysis of the Spring Statement package of measures (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pathways-to-work-reforming-benefits-and-support-to-get-britain-working-green-paper/spring-statement-2025-health-and-disability-benefit-reforms-equality-analysis). Data on the health conditions of UC claimants being placed in the LCWRA has been published (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-work-capability-assessment-statistics) and will continue to be taken into account in the future programme of analysis. Analysis of those who do not score 4 points in at least one daily living activity for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has now been undertaken and is provided in the table below. This shows the volume of claimants with the 18 most common disabling conditions in receipt of the PIP daily living component in January 2025, as well as the volume and proportion of these claimants who were awarded less than 4 points in all ten daily living activities. Health condition categoryVolume of PIP Claimants in receipt of Daily Living componentClaimants awarded less than 4 points in all daily living activitiesVolume in each condition groupProportion in each condition groupCancer70,00023,00033%Anxiety and Depression587,000282,00048%Autistic Spectrum Disorders206,00013,0006%Learning Disabilities188,0007,0003%ADHD / ADD75,00014,00019%Psychotic Disorders112,00026,00023%Other Psychiatric Disorders90,00025,00028%Arthritis279,000214,00077%Chronic Pain Syndromes173,000118,00068%Back Pain194,000154,00079%Other Regional Musculoskeletal Diseases136,00097,00071%Cerebrovascular Diseases56,00019,00034%Epilepsy36,00011,00030%Multiple Sclerosis and Neuropathic Diseases80,00038,00048%Cerebral Palsy and Neurological Muscular Diseases47,00011,00024%Other Neurological Diseases97,00035,00036%Respiratory Diseases83,00045,00055%Cardiovascular Diseases61,00038,00062%All Other Conditions272,000126,00046% Source: PIP Administrative DataNotes:Figures are based on the PIP caseload at end January 2025.Data only includes claimants awarded Daily Living component.Data only includes claimants living in regions under DWP policy ownership (England, Wales and Abroad).Data only includes working age claimantsData includes normal rules claimants only and excludes special rules for end of life (SREL) claimants as they typically receive maximum or very high scores.Data may show minor differences to published award level information due to missing or poor quality score data for a small amount of claims.Health condition category is based on primary health condition as recorded on the PIP Computer System at time of latest assessment. Many claimants have multiple health conditions but only primary condition is available for analysis.Only the 18 disabling condition groups which make up the highest proportions of the PIP caseload are displayed in this table.Other disabling condition groups which cover smaller proportions of the PIP caseload are covered in the "Other Conditions" category. This includes:- Visual Diseases- Other General Musculoskeletal Diseases- Endocrine Diseases- Hearing Disorders- Gastrointestinal Diseases- Genitourinary Diseases- Skin Diseases- Autoimmune Diseases (Connective Tissue Disorders)- Infectious Diseases- Diseases of the Liver, Gallbladder or Biliary Tract- Haematological Diseases- Metabolic Diseases- Multisystem and Extremes of Age- Diseases of the Immune SystemAnxiety and Depression includes the following conditions recorded in the PIP Stat Xplore data:- Anxiety disorders - Other / type not known- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)- Stress reaction disorders - Other / type not known- Generalised anxiety disorder- Phobia - Specific- Phobia - Social- Agoraphobia- Panic disorder- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)- Anxiety and depressive disorders - mixed- Conversion disorder (hysteria)- Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)- Dissociative disorders - Other / type not known- Somatoform disorders - Other / type not known- Depressive disorder- Bipolar affective disorder (Hypomania / Mania)- Mood disorders - Other / type not knownFigures may not sum due to rounding.Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000 for volumes and the nearest percentage point for proportions.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Right to Buy scheme on local councils’ ability to invest in new social housing.

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.

What steps her Department is taking to improve access to social care provision for disabled children in all areas.

I refer the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted to the answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 45293.

If she will make it her policy that claimants of (a) Personal Independence Payment and (b) Universal Credit with sight loss conditions that have no prospect of improvement will be exempt from reassessment under proposed changes to the benefits system.

Our wide-ranging package of reforms to health and disability benefits, set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, will improve experiences of the system for those who need it. The functional impact and severity of a condition can significantly vary across individuals, so we are not planning to exempt specific conditions, but we are planning to reduce reassessments for those with the most severe conditions. We aim to guarantee that for both new and existing Universal Credit claims, those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work, will not need to be reassessed in the future. Our plans to improve experiences of Personal Independence Payment also include reducing assessments for this group. We are exploring ways we could use evidence from eligibility for other services to reduce need for some people with very severe health conditions and disabilities to undergo a full PIP functional assessment.

Whether he plans to increase the role of hospices in providing care in communities.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services, including hospices, will have a big role to play in that shift.Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of uprating the income threshold for the free childcare entitlement in line with inflation.

It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.This working parent entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours if they wish. To be eligible, parents must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage (£195 per week/£10,158 per year in 2025/26), and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year.The government needs to use public funds in a way that provides value for money and considers it reasonable to target this funding at those individuals earning under £100,000 adjusted net income. Only a small proportion of parents (estimated to be 3.8% of parents of 3 and 4-year-olds in 2023/24) earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. Further information can be found at the following address: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5/2024.Parents who earn over maximum income threshold can still claim the universal 15 hours for 3 and 4-year-olds in England.The department has taken action to improve transparency and protect parents from additional charges on top of their entitlement, ensuring the funded hours remain accessible for parents. We updated our statutory guidance on 21 February 2025, reconfirming that there must be no mandatory additional charges associated with entitlement hours. The guidance also sets out the expectation that local authorities ensure providers have set out additional charges clearly and upfront on websites and invoices by January 2026.

What steps her Department is taking to increase the take-up of means-tested benefits in households with children in poverty.

The Department provides extensive information on Universal Credit including on GOV.UK that supports customers to identify what support may be available. Additionally, we signpost potential customers to external benefit calculators where they can identify what they are likely to be eligible for. We also work closely with Citizens Advice who provide Help to Claim support by phone and on-line for customers to apply for Universal Credit. Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government. The Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy looking at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

Whether her Department is taking steps to enable railcard holders to use their discounts with contactless payments on (a) London Northwestern Railway and (b) Govia Thameslink Railway services.

Whilst currently you are not able to link railcards to contactless bankcards, we are working with Transport for London on the functionality to use Railcard discounts with Pay As You Go (PAYG) with contactless, and this will follow in due course.  Passengers will continue to be able to use Railcard discounts on the equivalent barcode, smartcard, and magstripe fares which are price equivalent in many cases to the PAYG price.

Whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on taking legislative steps to create a domestic abuse aggravated offence.

This Government was elected on a landmark pledge to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade, and tackling domestic abuse is a core part of this mission. We will use every lever within our power and work with key partners across Government to deliver against this ambition.As discussed during the Adjournment Debate on Domestic Abuse Offences on 17 March 2025, the Government is actively considering how we can better identify domestic abuse offenders. I have been working closely with my counterparts across Government on this.We recognise the importance of ensuring that the harm caused by offences typically committed against women and girls is appropriately and proportionally reflected in the sentencing framework. The Sentencing Review, chaired by former Lord Chancellor David Gauke, is currently examining the sentencing of offences primarily committed against women and girls. We are committed to engaging with the review to ensure the best outcomes for survivors of domestic abuse.

Whether her Department plans to take steps to improve transparency in (a) fee structures and (b) pricing practices in private nurseries.

It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.This working parent entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours if they wish. To be eligible, parents must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage (£195 per week/£10,158 per year in 2025/26), and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year.The government needs to use public funds in a way that provides value for money and considers it reasonable to target this funding at those individuals earning under £100,000 adjusted net income. Only a small proportion of parents (estimated to be 3.8% of parents of 3 and 4-year-olds in 2023/24) earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. Further information can be found at the following address: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5/2024.Parents who earn over maximum income threshold can still claim the universal 15 hours for 3 and 4-year-olds in England.The department has taken action to improve transparency and protect parents from additional charges on top of their entitlement, ensuring the funded hours remain accessible for parents. We updated our statutory guidance on 21 February 2025, reconfirming that there must be no mandatory additional charges associated with entitlement hours. The guidance also sets out the expectation that local authorities ensure providers have set out additional charges clearly and upfront on websites and invoices by January 2026.

What recent assessment her Department has made of trends in levels of (a) suspensions and (b) exclusions among pupils with SEND.

The department publishes data from the school census on suspensions and permanent exclusions from state-funded schools in England. The most recent full release, for the 2022/23 academic year, is available at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/suspensions-and-permanent-exclusions-in-england/2022-23. Published data include numbers and rates of suspensions and permanent exclusions by school phase and characteristics, including special educational needs provision, available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/bc94278b-70fa-4ebb-7d62-08dd7ece5be0. Schools can use sanctions as a measure to improve behaviour and, in the most serious cases, exclusion may be necessary to protect other pupils from disruption and restore a safe environment. The ‘Suspension and permanent exclusion’ statutory guidance is clear that, in all cases, school leaders should consider early intervention strategies to address the underlying causes or contributing factors of a pupil’s disruptive behaviour, including unmet needs and special educational needs and disabilities before issuing an exclusion.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure wastewater capacity assessments by (a) Thames water and (b) other water companies account for local environmental pressures.

As set out in Paragraph 7 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of homes, commercial development and supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner. The Government is clear that housing must come with appropriate infrastructure, including appropriate water infrastructure. Water and wastewater capacity issues are best dealt with at a strategic level through the plan-making process, rather than through individual planning applications. Taking a strategic approach to drainage and wastewater management, will help to identify and mitigate issues related to insufficient network capacity or damaged infrastructure. A key planning function is to guide development to the most suitable and sustainable locations and to ensure that the associated infrastructure requirements are addressed. Effective co-operation early in the plan-making process is essential. The NPPF makes it clear that local planning authorities should collaborate with each other and with other public bodies, including infrastructure providers, to identify relevant strategic matters to be addressed, including providing for sustainable water supplies. The Government recognises the importance of having a robust drainage and wastewater system both now and for future demand. Water companies in England are under a statutory duty to provide new water and sewerage connections to residential properties, as well as planning to meet the needs of growth as part of water resource management plans (WRMPs), and drainage and wastewater management plans (DWMPs). DWMPs set out how a water company intends to improve their drainage and wastewater systems over the next 25 years, accounting for factors including growing population and changing environmental circumstances. These plans will help sewerage companies to fully assess the capacity of the drainage and wastewater network and develop collaborative solutions to current problems and future issues. The plans will bring together various stakeholders including local authorities and industry regulators.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers affected by flooding.

Defra’s Farming Recovery Fund (FRF) scheme has paid out over £59.1 million to over 12,500 farm businesses affected by flooding and extreme wet weather during the period October 2023 to March 2024. On 31st March 2025 the government announced an additional £16 million boost to the internal drainage board (IDB) Fund to support greater flood resilience for farmers and rural communities. The Fund has increased from £75 million to £91 million to provide opportunities to modernise and upgrade IDB assets. More than 400,000 hectares of agricultural land and around 91,000 homes and businesses across England are expected to benefit.

Whether the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be offered by the NHS in the Spring booster programme.

The spring 2025 campaign will continue to use mRNA vaccine supply secured under existing pandemic contracts with Pfizer and Moderna. Those eligible will be offered either Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines during the spring 2025 campaign.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) Thames Water and (b) other water companies provide (i) accurate and (ii) locally verified assessments of (A) wastewater and (B) drainage capacity for major planning applications.

As set out in Paragraph 7 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of homes, commercial development and supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner. The Government is clear that housing must come with appropriate infrastructure, including appropriate water infrastructure. Water and wastewater capacity issues are best dealt with at a strategic level through the plan-making process, rather than through individual planning applications. Taking a strategic approach to drainage and wastewater management, will help to identify and mitigate issues related to insufficient network capacity or damaged infrastructure. A key planning function is to guide development to the most suitable and sustainable locations and to ensure that the associated infrastructure requirements are addressed. Effective co-operation early in the plan-making process is essential. The NPPF makes it clear that local planning authorities should collaborate with each other and with other public bodies, including infrastructure providers, to identify relevant strategic matters to be addressed, including providing for sustainable water supplies. The Government recognises the importance of having a robust drainage and wastewater system both now and for future demand. Water companies in England are under a statutory duty to provide new water and sewerage connections to residential properties, as well as planning to meet the needs of growth as part of water resource management plans (WRMPs), and drainage and wastewater management plans (DWMPs). DWMPs set out how a water company intends to improve their drainage and wastewater systems over the next 25 years, accounting for factors including growing population and changing environmental circumstances. These plans will help sewerage companies to fully assess the capacity of the drainage and wastewater network and develop collaborative solutions to current problems and future issues. The plans will bring together various stakeholders including local authorities and industry regulators.