Written questions by Morton.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 40496 on Business confidence in rural communities, what criteria her Department uses to classify a constituency as rural; and whether Aldridge-Brownhills constituency meets the criteria for such a classification.

Aldridge-Brownhills is not considered a rural constituency based on ONS 2021 rural-urban census data.The Government does not collect specific constituency level data on business confidence. Recent economy wide surveys from EY, PwC and Lloyds Bank show overall business and investor confidence is rising. This Government is going further and faster to deliver economic growth and support businesses by increasing capital spending, overhauling our regulatory system, and getting Britain building through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

What assessment she has made of (a) the potential merits of the West Midlands Rail Hub and (b) the potential impact of the West Midlands Rail Hub on (i) economic growth and (ii) connectivity.

Midlands Rail Hub would unlock thousands of homes and drive economic growth, with better connections regionally and nationally, and more reliable trains. It will provide up to 300 extra trains a day into Birmingham while improving the performance of services. In December, the Chancellor launched the second stage of the Spending Review. This is a ‘zero-based’ review, to ensure every line of spending – including the transport infrastructure portfolio – delivers the Plan for Change and provides good value for taxpayers.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has provided additional (a) funding and (b) resources to Birmingham City Council to help tackle waste management issues resulting from the recent bin strikes.

The government has been working intensively with Birmingham City Council in relation to the ongoing disruption in its waste service. While the response is being locally led by the Council as is appropriate, at their request, we have deployed operational and logistical expertise to help address the backlog of waste on Birmingham’s streets. This backlog presented real risks to public health, particularly for the most vulnerable. As a result of concerted and ongoing effort by Birmingham City Council, and with the support of other local authorities, we are pleased that the large accumulations of street waste in badly affected areas have been removed and that levels are approaching normal, and this is under daily review. The residents of Birmingham need to see a fair and sustainable resolution to this dispute, and we continue to encourage both parties to come to a negotiated settlement that ensures a fit-for-purpose waste service and does not risk the important progress made on equal pay at BCC.

What assessment she has made of potential impact of the Spring Statement 2025 on levels of employment in Aldridge-Brownhills.

At Spring Statement 2025, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the government’s independent official forecaster, published its bi-annual economic and fiscal forecasts.In line with its mandate as set out in law, the OBR does not produce forecasts at a sub-national level.The OBR stated that it will make a full assessment of the economic impacts of the welfare policies announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper ahead of its next forecast in the Autumn.

What estimate she has made of the percentage of funding that will be released to the Ministry of Defence of a result of the change in Gross National Income spent on Official Development Assistance in 2025-2026.

As set out in Table 2.1 in the Spring Statement 2025 document, all savings generated from the Official Development Assistance (ODA) reduction in 2025-26 will be spent on defence. The difficult choice to reduce ODA reflects the evolving nature of the threat and the strategic shift required to meet it, whilst maintaining economic stability, a core foundation of the Plan for Change.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 35682 on Disease Control: International Assistance, how much of the £10 million transferred to the Pandemic Fund has been spent during the current financial year.

The UK transferred £10 million to the Pandemic Fund in FY 2022/23. Since it was established in September 2022 (and over the period 2022/23 to 2025/26), the Pandemic Fund has announced allocations of $885 million, supporting 47 projects in 75 countries.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the resilience of Ukraine's export infrastructure to export grain.

The resilience of Ukraine's grain export infrastructure is demonstrated by the fact that it exported all its surplus harvest from 2023 and is on course to do so again for its 2024 harvest. Ukraine is now exporting over 80 per cent of its grain through its maritime corridor in the Black Sea. It is also exporting grain through its Danube ports and by rail and truck through neighbouring EU member states.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the quantity of Ukrainian grain being transported through the Black Sea.

Over 80 per cent of Ukraine's grain exports are now transported through the Black Sea corridor. In 2024, over 48 million tonnes of grains and oilseeds were exported, and monthly volumes were consistently at the highest levels since the war began. Through all routes, Ukraine exported all its surplus harvest from 2023 and is on course to do so for its 2024 harvest.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many FCDO staff attended the Nutrition for Growth Summit in Paris in March 2025; and what was the total budget versus the actual cost of attending.

At the 2025 Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit in Paris, the UK delegation was led by Baroness Chapman, the Minister for International Development, Latin America, and the Caribbean. In total, five Foreign, Commonwealth, Development Office (FCDO) staff members travelled to Paris to support the Minister's agenda and the coordination of the two side-events we co-hosted, including the Minister's private secretary.While the final figure is being confirmed, FCDO estimates the total cost of attending came to under £6,000. Staff attendance was staggered throughout the week, with two UK based staff members already in Paris for other partner meetings, also providing support to the Minister's visit and the organisation of the side-events. FCDO has also sought to achieve good value for money through its other N4G activities in Paris, including the arrangement of venues for events.The UK's development expertise is critical to agendas like nutrition. We will continue to play a leadership role in the future with less money to spend.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Independent Development Review in the context of recent changes to Official Development Assistance.

The review recommendations are now being considered as part of the Foreign Secretary's wider work to reform the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), including how the FCDO approaches the reduction in the Official Development Assistance budget.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2025 to Question 38604 on Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of farmers whose applications were ready for submission but missed out due to the short notice about the scheme's closure.

This Government inherited an uncapped scheme aimed at mass participation of farm businesses, despite a finite farming budget. In order to ensure we acted in a financially responsible way we took the decision to stop accepting new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) applications. We needed to ensure fair access to the scheme and avoid creating a sudden increase in the level of demand. This Government’s commitment to farmers and the vital role they play to feed our nation remains steadfast.  Since we launched the SFI in 2022 Defra have worked closely with the farming sector to develop the SFI and we will continue to do so for the reformed the SFI offer, which we expect to publish more information about in summer 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2025 to Question 38594 on Neighbourhood Policing: Finance, what estimate she has made of funding available to frontline policing in 2025-26.

The 2025-26 final police funding settlement provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1.2 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement. Total funding to police forces will be up to £17.6 billion, an increase of up to £1.2 billion compared to the 2024-25 police funding settlement – a significant increase, and more than the increase last year. This equates to a 7.1% cash increase, and 4.6% real terms increase in funding.Decisions about the allocation of police resources locally are a matter for Chief Constables and directly elected local policing bodies (including Police and Crime Commissioners, Mayors with PCC functions and the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime).

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March to Question 38609 on Local Government Pension Scheme, what her planned timeline is for the announcement of reforms as part of the Chancellor’s Pensions Review.

The Government consulted on a proposed set of reforms in our “Fit For the Future" Consultation, which closed on 16 January 2025. We are currently analysing responses and will publish a Government response to the consultation in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support local government to help tackle flytipping and littering.

Local councils have wide ranging enforcement powers to help them tackle littering and fly-tipping. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 to fly-tippers and £500 to those who litter, prosecution action and, in the case of fly-tipping, vehicle seizure. We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are currently seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to issue statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance. We have committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course. Defra also chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities and the Environment Agency, to promote and disseminate good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping. Various practical tools are available from their webpage which is available here.

Whether she plans to review the eligibility criteria for Pension Credit.

The Government has no current plans to review the eligibility criteria for Pension Credit.

If he will make an estimate of the number of pensioners in receipt of means-tested benefits who are experiencing fuel poverty.

The latest official Fuel Poverty Statistics for England were published in March 2025 on gov.uk here: Fuel poverty statistics - GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is he taking to support participation in the Great British Spring Clean initiative.

I was proud to speak at the launch event of the Great British Spring Clean in parliament in February. It is encouraging to see that there are a growing number of public-spirited individuals and community groups tackling litter all over the country. I also joined a litter pick with Defra officials and Keep Britain Tidy on 1 April where we cleaned part of the Regent’s Canal in partnership with the Canal and River trust. We will continue to use our influence to encourage as many people and business as possible to take part in such events.

How many single pensioners there are who earn less than £20,000 a year and more than the threshold required for pension credit.

The income threshold for eligibility for Pension Credit is dependent on personal circumstances, and not all forms of income are taken into account when determining eligibility. Therefore it is not possible to produce a robust estimate of how many single pensioners exceed this threshold due to earned income.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the uptake of Pension Credit among (a) disabled and (b) non-disabled pensioners.

The latest estimates of Pension Credit take-up cover the financial year 2022/23: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK. The take-up does not provide a break down of rates of take-up amongst disabled and non-disabled pensioners.

Media and Sport, for what reason it is her policy to place a mandatory gambling levy on society lotteries while not requiring the National Lottery to make a mandatory problem gambling contribution.

Under the terms of the fourth licence, the National Lottery operator, Allwyn, is required to make a £1.6million annual contribution to socially responsible purposes such as research and treatment.Society lotteries will be charged the levy at the lowest rate of 0.1%, in recognition of the comparatively low rates of harm associated with participation in society lotteries and the important benefits they bring to good cause fundraising.