Written questions by Hobhouse.

When he plans to respond to the consultation entitled Regulating Third-Party Intermediaries (TPIs) in the retail energy market, published on 20 September 2024.

Third-party intermediaries (TPIs) like price comparison websites, energy brokers, and auto-switching services are vital in helping consumers navigate the retail energy market, acting as intermediaries between energy suppliers and customers. However, not all TPIs offer optimal services. While most operate ethically and responsibly, there are exceptions. Several consumer harms have been reported, such as TPIs prioritising their own commercial interests over consumers', opaque contracting practices (including verbal contracts in the non-domestic market), instances of mis-selling, inadequate dispute resolution, and poor customer service. The Government consultation on regulating TPIs in the retail energy market closed on 15 November. A government response will follow in due course once we have reviewed the feedback received.

With reference to NHS England's news entitled Early cancer diagnosis in England reaches highest ever level, published on 2 January 2025, if he will publish data on the number of cancers diagnosed at (a) Stage 1 and (b) Stage 2 by cancer type for each of the last five years for which data is available.

Data on the number of all stageable cancers diagnosed at both stage 1 and stage 2 are collected by cancer type. This data is compiled by the National Disease Registration Service and published by NHS England, with more information available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/cancer-registration-statistics

With reference to NHS England's news entitled Early cancer diagnosis in England reaches highest ever level, published on 2 January 2025, whether data on the number of cancers diagnosed at (a) Stage 1 and (b) Stage 2 is collected by cancer type.

Data on the number of all stageable cancers diagnosed at both stage 1 and stage 2 are collected by cancer type. This data is compiled by the National Disease Registration Service and published by NHS England, with more information available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/cancer-registration-statistics

What estimate his Department has made of the potential costs savings to the NHS of providing universal access to Fracture Liaison Services in each year.

The Government and NHS England support the clinical case for services which help to prevent fragility fractures and support the patients who sustain them. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is committed to rolling out Fracture Liaison Services across every part of the country by 2030.Costs savings to the National Health Service will be assessed taking into consideration the evidence gathered from the 60 services already in operation in England.

What estimate his Department has made of the potential cost savings to social care budgets of providing universal access to Fracture Liaison Services each year.

The Government and NHS England support the clinical case for services which help to prevent fragility fractures and support the patients who sustain them. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is committed to rolling out Fracture Liaison Services across every part of the country by 2030.Impacts will be assessed, including adult social care budgets, taking into consideration the evidence gathered from the 60 services already in operation in England.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to funding for Level 7 apprenticeships from the Growth and Skills Levy on the availability of Clinical Associates in Psychology in the NHS.

The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth with the support of a strong skills system.This government has made tough choices to fix the foundations of our economy in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers. The department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund Level 7 apprenticeships, outside of the levy-funded growth and skills offer.The department will take advice from Skills England, who have been engaging with employers on this, and expects to make a final decision on affected apprenticeships soon.Learners who have started these apprenticeships will be funded through to completion.

If he will take steps ensure that the intellectual property chapter in a free trade agreement with India includes commitments to the (a) UN Sustainable Development Goals, (b) International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and (c) UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas.

Following a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister on 18 November, the Prime Minister announced that UK-India trade talks will relaunch in the new year. While we do not comment on the details of negotiations, work is underway across government to prepare for negotiations with India and to seek a deal that delivers for the UK and supports economic growth. Our trade programme, including talks with India, is driven by stakeholder engagement and seeks to support the high existing standards within our own domestic Intellectual Property Regime and as agreed in international fora.

If his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of adding carbon capture, utilisation and storage costs onto household bills.

We have created several business models to fund CCUS projects, designed to ensure value for money whilst providing long term sight of revenue streams for investors. CCUS will be funded by a mixture of exchequer and levy sources, the exact split to be determined in due course. Negotiations with projects are ongoing and therefore commercially confidential. Final awards will be published on the UK subsidy database. We will continue to learn from the first clusters as they approach Final Investment Decisions and apply these lessons to further development of CCUS to ensure that it delivers value for money.

What plans he has for increased (a) funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and (b) support for additional low-carbon heating technologies.

On 21 November the Government announced £30 million of additional budget for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme for this financial year in response to increased uptake to the scheme. It was also confirmed that the scheme budget for the next financial year will be almost doubled to £295 million. Budgets for subsequent years will be confirmed in the second phase of the Spending Review. The Government has also announced support for social housing and lower income households through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Warm Homes: Local Grant which includes support for low carbon heating.

Whether his Department plans to allow large-scale development consent order solar projects to bid for future Contracts for Difference auctions.

Solar projects over 5MW were eligible to apply for Allocation Round 6. The Government is committed to accelerating solar deployment to meet clean power 2030 and reviews the Contracts for Difference scheme before every round to ensure it continues to deliver this and other objectives. We will confirm details for Allocation Round 7, including eligibility, in due course.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) restoring a three-year window for solar photovoltaics and (b) allowing solar Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects to bid in future Contracts for Difference auctions.

Solar projects over 5MW were eligible to apply for Allocation Round 6. The Government is committed to accelerating solar deployment to meet clean power 2030 and reviews the Contracts for Difference scheme before every round to ensure it continues to deliver this and other objectives. We will confirm details for Allocation Round 7, including eligibility, in due course.

How many civil servants in his Department are working on (a) demand flexibility, (b) Great British Energy, (c) hydrogen, (d) carbon capture and storage, (e) nuclear energy, (f) the review of electricity market arrangements, (g) heat electrification and (h) biomass.

The Department has around 4500 full time equivalents (FTE) working across multiple policy areas and programmes. These include demand flexibility, Great British Energy, Carbon capture, utilisation and storage, hydrogen, nuclear, the review of electricity market arrangements, heat electrification and biomass, amongst others. The Department’s resourcing is recorded and aligned to its organisation structure, rather than to portfolios. This means we are unable to provide a detailed breakdown for each of the areas mentioned.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes made to National Insurance contributions at the Autumn Budget 2024 on not-for-profit social care providers.

The Budget will provide support for government departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer NICs costs. Private sector firms or charities, including social care providers, that are contracted by central or local government will not be exempt from these changes. This is consistent with the approach to previous Employer NICs changes, as was the case with the previous government’s Health and Social Care Levy. The government considered the cost pressures facing adult social care and wider local government spending as part of the Spending Review process. The government is providing a real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of around 3.2% which includes £1.3bn of new grant funding for 2025-26 – at least £600 million of which is new grant funding to support social care. The government also provides support for charities, including hospices, via our tax regime, which is among the most generous of anywhere in the world, with tax reliefs for charities and their donors, worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.

What proportion of funding from the public purse for Sizewell C has been (a) spent on and (b) committed to companies with headquarters in (i) the UK and (ii) what foreign countries.

The details of contracts agreed by Sizewell C with its suppliers are commercially sensitive. The project has made a commitment to spend 70 per cent of the construction value in the UK.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to National Insurance contributions in the Autumn Budget 2024 on (a) social care and (b) NHS services.

We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget. This enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The employer National Insurance rise will be implemented April 2025. The Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course, including through NHS Planning Guidance and the usual consultations.The Government considered the cost pressures facing adult social care as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the Spending Review process. This assessment took into account a wide range of factors, including changes to employer National Insurance contributions, and the National Living Wage increases.In response to the range of pressures facing local authorities, the Government is providing a real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of approximately 3.2%, which includes £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26.

What his Department's timetable is for making a decision on how much funding the Government will make available for bioenergy carbon capture and storage technology.

Following the announcement in October 2024 of funding for the initial Track 1 cluster configurations, further funding decisions for continued CCUS deployment will be taken as part of the Spending Review concluding in late Spring 2025.

Whether respiratory health conditions will be prioritised in the new NHS 10-year plan.

Respiratory health conditions make up some of the biggest killers in our country and are a clinical priority, and I look forward to meeting with the Respiratory Health APPG soon. This government is committed to fixing our broken NHS in order to deliver better access to diagnosis and care. I thank the Honourable Lady for raising the 10 year plan for health and would encourage her to follow thousands of others in having her say through change.nhs.uk.

If he will make an assessment of the (a) potential implications for his policies and (b) the Government's net zero strategy of discussions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on determining its methodology for calculating bioenergy with carbon capture and storage emissions including imported biomass.

An assessment is made on the potential implications of any policy by the civil service and is provided to ministers to allow an informed decision to be made. The 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories provide a methodology for the reporting of emissions from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage that the UK is intending to follow once the technology is operating at sufficient scale.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure the enforcement of the single-use plastics ban.

The Government recognises farmers’ concerns about imports produced using methods not permitted in the UK. We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to promote the highest food production standards.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2024 to Question 5089 on Great British Nuclear: Recruitment, for what reason his Department is unable to provide a list of (a) the 16 organisations from which personnel have been seconded to Great British Nuclear and (b) the number of personnel supplied by each organisation.

The Department is unable to share information potentially sensitive to individuals working within GBN. GBN has grown rapidly as an organisation with permanent recruitment underway.