Written questions by Morton.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2025 to Questions 87306 and 87307, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of new planning powers in the (a) Planning and Infrastructure and (b) English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill on the role of (i) local councils and (ii) elected councillors in decision-making on individual planning applications.

Impact Assessments have been published for the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Department is taking in its capacity as penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council to secure a ceasefire and to strengthen international action in response to recent atrocities in Darfur.

I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by the Foreign Secretary to the House on 18 November 2025.As the Foreign Secretary said: "The UK has committed over £125 million this year alone, delivering lifesaving support to over 650,000 people - treating children with severe malnutrition, providing water and medicine, and supporting survivors of rape. [...] We are urgently pressing for a three-month humanitarian truce to open routes for lifesaving supplies...we desperately need a lasting ceasefire underpinned by a serious political process."

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Sudan including in El Fasher have access to emergency assistance and long-term psychosocial and medical support.

I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by the Foreign Secretary to the House on 18 November 2025.As the Foreign Secretary said: "The UK has committed over £125 million this year alone, delivering lifesaving support to over 650,000 people - treating children with severe malnutrition, providing water and medicine, and supporting survivors of rape. [...] We are urgently pressing for a three-month humanitarian truce to open routes for lifesaving supplies...we desperately need a lasting ceasefire underpinned by a serious political process."

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of prolonged industrial disputes in local waste services on recycling rates and environmental health in affected communities.

Defra has not made an assessment of the potential impact of prolonged industrial disputes in local waste services on recycling rates and environmental health in affected.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to increase humanitarian aid access and delivery into Gaza including through coordination with Israel, Egypt and the United Nations.

I refer the Hon Member to the statement made by the Foreign Secretary to the House on 18 November 2025 regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In October, the Foreign Secretary spoke with UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar about the importance of opening more crossings to enable the flow of humanitarian supplies into Gaza at the pace and volume required to meet the scale of the crisis.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent of Iranian state and proxy support for (a) Hamas and (b) other armed groups operating in Gaza and across the region; and what diplomatic or sanctions measures the UK is considering in response.

Iran continues to destabilise the region through political, financial and military support for its proxies and partners - in direct contravention of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions. We will continue to work alongside international partners to hold Iran to account for this escalatory behaviour and call on Iran to cease this activity. The UK has to date sanctioned over 450 Iran-linked individuals and entities. We do not comment on prospective sanctions as to do so would risk reducing their impact.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to strengthen the UK’s bilateral relationship with Israel following recent events in Gaza and in the context of the UK’s wider Middle East security priorities.

The UK has a longstanding and important relationship with Israel, built on cooperation in areas including security, trade, science, and technology. We remain firmly committed to Israel's security and continue to work together on shared regional challenges.The UK's immediate priority, working alongside our international partners, is to ensure continued progress on the 20-point peace plan endorsed by the UN Security Council on 17 November, including maintaining the current ceasefire, increasing the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and advancing the political process necessary for a just and lasting peace.We discuss those matters regularly, and we remain committed to the pursuit of a two-state solution, with a secure Israel living side by side in peace and security alongside a viable, sovereign Palestinian state.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of unemployment in the West Midlands.

The ONS publish headline indicators for the West Midlands here: HI05 Regional labour market: headline indicators for the West Midlands - Office for National Statistics

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit.

The Department publishes Universal Credit (UC) immigration status and nationality statistics as part of the Universal Credit statistics publication. These statistics can be found on https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-statistics-29-april-2013-to-9-october-2025.

What progress he has made on the review of the Personal Independence Payment assessment.

The Timms Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, to ensure that expertise from a wide range of perspectives is drawn upon.On 30 October, I announced that I will co-chair the Review alongside Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE. We will oversee a steering group responsible for leading the co-production process, setting the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan. The group will be made up of a majority of disabled people or representatives of disabled people’s organisations and will be recruited through an open and transparent Expression of Interest (EOI) process. The EOI is now live and will run until 30 November.The Review will report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for final decisions in autumn 2026, with an interim update expected ahead of that.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Industrial Strategy on the fiscal position of the UK.

Since publication, over £250 billion of investment commitments have been made into the IS-8, boosting our frontier industries. These commitments will enhance their rate of growth and in turn bring in higher tax revenues.Fiscal policy is a matter for the Treasury, and the Chancellor has commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility to produce an economic and fiscal forecast to be published alongside the Budget on 26 November.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Industrial Strategy on trends in the level of private sector investment.

The Government published its first Industrial Strategy Quarterly Update on 7th October 2025 on GOV.UK, which contains information on the £250bn worth of investment commitments since the Industrial Strategy launched, and trends for business investment, gross value added, employment and productivity.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill on multi-academy trusts.

I refer the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills to the answer of 22 April 2025 to Question 903828.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Industrial Strategy on trends in the level of private sector investment in the West Midlands.

The Government will use the Office for National Statistics dataset (Gross Fixed Capital Formation, Volume Index Capital Service) to analyse investment trends. This dataset releases regional level data annually; Government will analyse sector-level trends once the data is released. Information on specific investment commitments in regions can be found in the Industrial Strategy Quarterly Report excel tables on GOV.UK (published on 7th October 2025), such as the Boeing contract from US Air Force that will create 150 high-skilled jobs in Birmingham.

What steps his Department is taking to help mitigate the potential impact of regulatory changes on compliance costs for SMEs.

The Government is committed to reducing regulatory compliance costs for SMEs and announced in March a commitment to reduce the administrative burden of regulation for all businesses by £5.6 billion by the end of this Parliament. We have already announced a number of specific measures to ease the regulatory burden on SMEs, including our efforts to modernise corporate reporting requirements. This will include exempting tens of thousands of companies from producing Strategic and Directors' Reports, helping to deliver annual savings of around £230 million.

What steps he is taking to increase access to care in the community in the West Midlands.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service. The Neighbourhood Health Service will embody our new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can, digitally by default, in a person’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, and only in a hospital if necessary.The Neighbourhood Health Service will mean people are treated and cared for closer to their home by new teams of health professionals. It will rebalance our health system so that it fits around peoples’ lives, not the other way round. We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. To support this agenda, we have launched wave 1 of the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) across 43 places in England, including parts of the West Midlands such as: Walsall; Coventry; Shropshire; East Birmingham; Solihull; and Herefordshire.The NNHIP will support systems across the country by driving innovation and integration at a local level, to accelerate improvements in outcomes, satisfaction, and experiences for people by ensuring that care is more joined-up, accessible, and responsive to community needs.

What estimate he has made of the level of spending on health and disability benefits in 2030.

Forecast spending on disability and incapacity benefits in 2029-30 can be found in Table 4 of DWP’s Spring Statement 2025 Benefit Expenditure and Caseload publication. Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK

With reference to her Written Ministerial Statement of 5 November 2025 on Financial Inclusion Strategy, HCWS1019, what steps she is taking to ensure the effective delivery of the commitments in the Strategy; what mechanisms she will put in place to (a) monitor and (b) publish progress against its objectives; and what funding has been allocated to support implementation partners over the next two years.

Earlier this month, I published the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy setting out an ambitious programme of measures to improve financial inclusion and resilience for underserved groups across the UK. This includes interventions for both Government and industry to address a range of barriers individuals and households face in accessing financial products, including making it easier to open a bank account without standard ID, build a savings habit and access affordable credit. The Government recognises that action to improve financial inclusion requires a joined-up approach and will be working closely with industry and the regulator going forward to deliver on these interventions and make the strategy a reality. As part of developing the strategy, the Government has engaged with Financial Inclusion Committee members and other organisations on how to measure its impact. The Strategy’s implementation will be reviewed in two years’ time to provide an update on interventions and relevant outcomes-based metrics, which will reflect on the progress made across the sector. The Government has committed funding to support delivery of the strategy. This includes committing a further £132.5 million of dormant assets funding to Fair4All Finance for work that improves access to financial products and develops individuals’ ability to manage their finances in England, and over £100 million per year to the Money and Pensions Service to fund debt advice.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of Government support for the (a) supply chain and (b) SMEs, in the context of the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover.

We recognise that many automotive suppliers, particularly SMEs, are under pressure following the recent cyber incident at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). The phased restart of production at JLR is now underway and is positive news, however the picture is still developing.The Department for Business and Trade is continuing to monitor the situation and is working closely with JLR and industry bodies such as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to assess how the recent measures being taken and support being provided is helping suppliers, including SMEs.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of UK energy policy on the competitiveness of the UK manufacturing sector.

This government recognises the importance of reducing energy costs to boost UK manufacturing competitiveness. Under the Modern Industrial Strategy, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity costs by up to £40/MWh for over 7000 manufacturing businesses. We will also increase support for our most energy-intensive industries under the British Industry Supercharger, uplifting the Network Charging Compensation scheme from 60% to 90%.These measures are supported by the Connections Accelerator Service (to reduce grid connection waiting times for strategically important projects), continued support for the Energy-Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme and support to develop the UK Corporate Power Purchase Agreement market.