Written questions by Slade.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend provisions on the (a) commission charge on sale of homes and (b) fit and proper person test for site owners within the Mobile Homes Act 2013.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 58910 on 16 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to provide an alternative funding mechanism to help support the development of local neighbourhood plans.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 59114 on the 19 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of ending the commissioning of new neighbourhood planning support services on the ability of areas that do not have (a) town and (b) parish councils and cannot raise a precept to develop neighbourhood plans.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 59114 on the 19 June 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2025 to Question 67436 on Immigration, when her Department plans to consult on the earned settlement scheme; and whether that consultation will include an assessment of the potential impact of that scheme on British National (Overseas) visa holders seeking indefinite leave to remain.

The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future.I welcomed the opportunity to listen to the views of Members around these subjects in the recent 8th September Westminster Hall Debate on Indefinite Leave to Remain.We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year. All will be welcome to participate. We will provide details of how the scheme will work after that consultation.We regularly engage with representatives of the Hong Kong diaspora in the UK on issues related to the BN(O) visa and will continue to do so.

Whether he plans to change the age at which people become eligible for free (a) prescriptions and (b) optical care.

Free National Health Service prescriptions and NHS-funded sight tests are available for many. This includes children under the age of 16 years old and those under the age of 19 years old in full time education, people on a low income, and adults aged 60 years old and over. NHS optical vouchers to help with the cost of glasses are also available for children.There are no plans to change the eligibility for free NHS prescriptions, NHS-funded sight tests or optical vouchers, including eligibility based on age.Further information about help with optical costs is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/Further information about help with prescription costs is available at the following link:https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-prescription-costs/free-nhs-prescriptions

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of prioritising manufacturers based in the UK for (a) defence and (b) aerospace procurements.

The Ministry of Defence is actively prioritising UK businesses and manufacturing through its Defence Industrial Strategy, aiming to boost economic growth and national security. This strategy focuses on supporting domestic businesses, fostering innovation, and enhancing the UK's sovereign defence capabilities, including in the aerospace sector (eg GCAP, Typhoon upgrades).

What steps he is taking to ensure that SME defence manufacturers are able to access banking services.

The Strategic Defence Review has recommended the development of a Defence Finance and Investment Strategy, to be published in 2026, which will focus on improving Defence’s relationship with the financial services sector. This strategy aims to support SMEs in accessing tailored financial products and services, ensuring they are better positioned to contribute to the growth and resilience of the defence sector. These measures reflect the Government’s determination to support SMEs and strengthen the UK’s world-leading defence industry.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's policy that time spent under the Ukraine visa schemes does not count towards the continuous residence period for settled status on the ability of Ukrainians to seek (a) rental agreements, (b) changes of employment and (c) enrolment on an education course.

The Government have always been clear that 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.The Government continues to keep both the Ukraine Schemes and the evolving situation in Ukraine under close and active review.On 1 September, the Home Secretary announced in parliament that the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) would be extended for an additional 24 months to enable those eligible to obtain a further period of permission following their initial permission under UPE. More detail will follow in due course.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting indefinite leave to remain to all Ukrainians who have lived in the UK for more than five years.

I refer the Honourable Member to my answer given on 1 May to PQ UIN 47468.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of hormone treatments on the mental health of patients with prostate cancer.

The forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England will seek to improve both the physical and mental health aspects of cancer care. The plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and earlier diagnosis to accessing treatment and ongoing care, and will apply to all cancer types, including prostate cancer.For this reason, the Department has not made a formal assessment specifically on the potential impact of hormone treatments on the mental health of patients with prostate cancer.

What discussions she has had with police forces on the effectiveness of their complaints system for police officers who believe that a miscarriage of justice has taken place against them.

There are separate routes of appeal depending on whether a police officer is appealing against the conviction of a criminal offence or the finding or outcome at disciplinary proceedings.Where an officer believes they have been wrongly convicted of a criminal offence, they can appeal a criminal conviction in the normal way through the standard appeals process. Separately, police officers who wish to challenge a disciplinary finding or outcome may do so to the Police Appeals Tribunal (PAT). Following the decision of the PAT, officers have a further appeal route through the judicial review process.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to consider the housing needs of older people in the development of her long-term housing strategy.

The government is committed to enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market and we will continue to consider this issue as we develop our long-term housing strategy.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of automatically extending the period in which all Ukrainians living in the UK under the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme can stay in the UK.

The Government are fully committed to supporting Ukraine in its fight against Putin’s illegal war, while also providing a safe and secure haven for those fleeing the conflict. We have offered our extended sanctuary to over 300,000 Ukrainians and their families.On 1 September, the Home Secretary announced in parliament that the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) would be extended for an additional 24 months to enable those eligible to obtain a further period of permission following their initial permission under UPE. More detail will follow in due course.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's policy that claimants’ (a) appointees and (b) Lasting Power of Attorney appointees cannot submit online claims on those claimants.

In law both appointees and attorneys can make online claims. They act for the claimant and can perform any function ordinarily required of the claimant. The department is continuing to modernise its services to provide customers and appointees/attorneys with a greater choice over the channels they use to interact with the department. For example, the Health Transformation Programme is transforming the entire Personal Independence Payment service to improve the experience of applying and this includes introducing an optional online service.

What estimate he has made of the number of (a) salaried and (b) partner GPs in each of the last ten years.

The following table shows the number of general practice (GP) partners nationally, both full time equivalent (FTE) and as a headcount, as of March in each of the last 10 years:GP partnersYearFTEHeadcountMarch 201621,52324,060March 201720,59523,088March 201819,81022,402March 201919,03021,640March 202018,13020,814March 202117,32720,096March 202216,95719,766March 202316,59919,358March 202416,14318,889March 202515,59918,309 In addition, the following table shows the number of salaried GPs nationally, both FTE and as a headcount, as of March in each of the last 10 years:Salaried GPsYearFTEHeadcountMarch 20167,08010,558March 20177,46911,166March 20187,90211,952March 20198,31012,719March 20208,68413,446March 20219,56715,014March 20229,82815,349March 20239,80815,444March 202410,51116,763March 202511,80118,866 Notes:the data does not include estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid staff records;FTE refers to the proportion of full time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. One would indicate they work a full set of hours, 37.5 hours, 0.5 that they worked half this time. For GPs in training grade contracts, one FTE equals 40 hours, and in these tables, these FTEs have been converted to the standard Workforce Minimum Data Set measure of one FTE being equal to 37.5 hours for consistency; andto compile a complete time series covering 10 years, we’ve used data starting from March 2016, as the most recent numbers wouldn’t allow for the full range. Also, data for March 2015 is unavailable.

Whether he plans to reopen the New to Partnership Payment Scheme to support healthcare professionals to become GP partners.

The Department has no current plans to reopen the New to Partnership Payment Scheme, which was launched by NHS England and ran from July 2020 to June 2023.We recognise that fewer general practitioners (GPs) are interested in going into partnership, and that the partnership model is not the only model currently delivering general practice. General practices can and do choose to organise themselves in different ways, many of which cite evidence of good outcomes in terms of staff engagement and patient experience.Reasons for GPs not wanting to take on a contractor role or moving back to a salaried role from a contractor role can vary and include concerns about workload and work/life balance, the personal financial risk involved or a lack of interest in aspects of the work, such as managing income and expenditure.Where the traditional GP partnership model is working well, it should continue, but through the delivery of the 10-Year Health Plan we want to create an alternative that supports the neighbourhood health model, provides resilience and allows economies of scale, securing the sustainability of general practice into the future.We have committed to substantive GP contract reform within this Parliament following acceptance of the 2025/26 contract by the England general practitioners committee of the British Medical Association. As part of this, we expect to consider a breadth of topics, which may include updates to the partnership model.

Innovation and Technology, if he will hold discussions with the Advanced Research and Innovation Agency on holding a public consultation before external trials of sun dimming take place.

The Advanced Research and Invention Agency’s (ARIA) ‘Exploring Climate Cooling’ programme, backed by £56.8 million, has been designed to build an evidence base which will enable scientists to better understand and properly assess whether or not Earth cooling approaches could help to mitigate climate change safely.ARIA is an independent research body, and they are conducting cautious, controlled research aimed at improving understanding of the risks and impacts of Solar Radiation Modification. This will produce important information for decisions around the world.Whilst ARIA is not intending to hold a public consultation on the Exploring Climate Cooling programme, ARIA has put in place an independent oversight committee, made up of international experts, to support governance of outdoor experiments and communication of their findings. Projects with field trial components will be subjected to risk and impact assessment by an independent team of experts and subjected to a degree of co-design with local communities; the results of both exercises will be publicly available prior to any outdoor experiment taking place. An independent assessment will also take place on completion of any outdoor experiment, also to be made publicly available.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of partner GPs in each of the next 10 years.

As self-employed contractors, general practitioners (GPs) act as providers making their own decisions based on local workforce needs. This includes decisions about the number of partners and salaried GPs at the practice.GPs will be the cornerstone of the Neighbourhood Health Service. The excellent GP leaders we currently have across the system, and those we will nurture and develop for future generations, will be integral in shaping and delivering it.Following the publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a workforce ready to deliver a transformed service. They will be more empowered, more flexible, and more fulfilled. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the best care for patients, when they need it. From now on, we will ensure that staff will be better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future, so they can achieve more.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the number of local authorities receiving Exceptional Financial Support in the 2025-26 financial year.

The Government recognises the significant pressures that councils are facing. The Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in an average overall real terms increase in local authority core spending power of 2.6% per year over the next multi-year settlement (2026-27 to 2028-29). The government is committed to fixing the foundations of local government through ambitious reform. To support local authorities as we do so, we are inviting views through the Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation on a package of transitional arrangements available over the multi-year Spending Review period. Any council that has concerns about its ability to set or maintain a balanced budget should approach the department in the first instance. Details of any councils where additional support has been agreed will be published to GOV.UK in the usual manner.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to (a) require broadband providers to share infrastructure and (b) ensure that (i) lamp posts and (ii) other publicly-owned infrastructure are accessible for usage in (A) 5G, (B) broadband and (C) mobile development.

Duties and obligations relating to telecommunications installations are included in the Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003, which include requirements to share apparatus where practicable. This is supported by the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice 2016 and the recently published Telecommunications Poles Working Group Best Practice Recommendations, published by the Internet Services Providers’ Association.The Communications (Access to Infrastructure) Regulations 2016 give operators the right to request access to another operator’s infrastructure. Furthermore, the government supports Ofcom’s Physical Infrastructure Access framework, which facilitates the sharing of Openreach’s infrastructure, such as ducts and poles.We have encouraged the use of public sector assets for digital infrastructure, including via the £7 million Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Accelerator programme, which helped councils and industry identify publicly owned assets suitable for telecoms deployment. Our £1.3m Smart Infrastructure Pilots Programme funded six local authorities to install "smart" multi-purpose columns or lamp posts that provide wireless connectivity services and other uses, such as EV charging and WiFi.