Written questions by Pinkerton.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to improve the (a) availability and (b) accessibility of SEND sports camps in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone. The holiday activities and food programme provides healthy meals, enriching activities, and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. The holiday activities and food programme funding is primarily for school aged children from reception to year 11 (inclusive) who receive benefits-related free school meals. Local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children, who are not in receipt of benefits-related free school meals, but who the local authority believe could benefit from holiday activities and food programme provision.The Department for Education encourages local authorities to engage with local and national organisations, including special schools with expertise in working with children with SEND or additional needs. Local authorities are obligated to include the numbers of children with SEND or additional needs who have participated in their programme in their post provision reporting to the department.

What steps he is taking to help ensure that healthcare services can (a) recruit and (b) retain doctors in Surrey Heath constituency.

Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service employers. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.NHS England’s Enhancing Resident Doctors Working Lives programme continues to implement several measures aimed at supporting resident doctors, supporting them to stay in training and the NHS, and reducing overall attrition. In addition, the NHS National Retention Programme is actively improving working conditions for doctors by enhancing workplace culture, promoting flexible training, and reducing burnout and attrition.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to promote (a) youth arts and (b) cultural festivals in Surrey Heath Constituency.

The government promotes and supports the arts predominantly through Arts Council England (ACE).ACE’s open funding programme, National Lottery Project Grants, is currently accessible to organisations and individuals across the country, including those in Surrey Heath. This programme provides over £100 million of support annually to individuals and organisations. Since 2019, ACE has allocated over £280,000 of funding to individuals and arts organisations based in the Surrey Heath constituency. Last November, Surrey Youth Arts and Culture Festival received £13,311 of funding. The festival, based at Camberley Library and Camberley Theatre was a Surrey County Council partnership led project which aimed to raise aspirations and break down barriers to engagement for young people accessing creative skills development pathways in Surrey.In addition, Local Authorities remain one of the largest supporters of arts and culture in England, and DCMS will continue to advocate and help local decision-makers understand and recognise the benefits that the arts can bring for young people.

What steps he is taking to tackle the sale of illegal vapes in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will strengthen the enforcement of vape sales regulations by giving Ministers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland the ability to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes and nicotine products. The licensing scheme will support Trading Standards to crack down on rogue vape retailers. The Bill also enables the introduction of a new registration scheme for tobacco, vape and nicotine products sold on the United Kingdom market. This will help ensure products are compliant with product safety and standards requirements and will enable Trading Standards to remove non-compliant products from the market quickly and efficiently.In 2025/26, we will invest £10 million of new funding in Trading Standards to enhance their work to tackle the illicit and underage sale of tobacco and vapes, and support the implementation of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.The introduction of a new Vaping Products Duty in October 2026 will provide civil and criminal powers for HM Revenue and Customs to assess for duty and seize products and equipment used to produce or transport illicit vape products.

What steps she is taking to help reduce youth unemployment rates in Surrey Heath constituency.

As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we will also be launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work.DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.One such provision is our DWP Youth Hubs. The Surrey Heath Youth Hub provides employability support, mental health support and confidence building sessions, and also works alongside partners such as Surrey Young People’s Fund and Surrey Choices. Surrey Young People’s Fund provides funding for disadvantaged young people aged 16-25, who are resident in Surrey, to assist them in moving towards an identified goal in education, training, apprenticeship, or employment. Surrey Choices offer specialised programmes for young people aged 16-24 with a range of support needs – the aim of these programmes is to prepare disabled, neurodivergent and autistic people for work.

What steps her Department is taking to mitigate travel disruptions caused by flooding in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government recognises that flooding can have a devastating impact on people, businesses and communities, as well as causing disruption to all road users. The Government is working at pace to accelerate the building of flood defences through a new Floods Resilience Taskforce and is investing £2.4 billion to better protect people and communities across the country. Surrey County Council is the local highway authority for Surrey Heath. For the 2025/26 financial year, the Government is providing Surrey County Council with £32.4 million for local highway maintenance, which is an extra £8.5 million compared to 2024/25. Funding allocations can be found on gov.uk. In addition, the Department is working with the UK Roads Leadership Group’s (UKRLG) Adaptation, Biodiversity & Climate Board to provide guidance to local highway authorities on how to reduce the mitigate the impacts of flooding on local roads. A recently published UKRLG-commissioned report, Emergency Preparedness, Response & Recovery, considers the lessons learned from extreme weather events, such as flooding, and makes recommendations for Government and local highway authorities on improving resilience.

What steps her Department is taking to prevent sinkhole formation in Surrey Heath constituency.

Tackling problems such as sinkholes on local roads is a matter for local highway authorities. Surrey County Council is the local highway authority for Surrey Heath constituency. For the 2025/26 financial year, the Government is providing Surrey County Council with £32.4 million for local highway maintenance, which is an extra £8.5 million compared to 2024/25. It is up to local highway authorities to determine how best to spend this funding to maintain all parts of their networks, including tackling issues of this sort.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to (a) support recycling efforts and (b) develop recycling infrastructure in Surrey Heath constituency.

We are improving recycling services across England through our upcoming Simpler Recycling reforms, which will ensure that across England, people will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school. Every household and workplace (businesses and relevant non-domestic premises like schools and hospitals) across England will be able to recycle the same materials in the following core waste streams: metal, glass, plastic, paper and card, food waste, and garden waste (for households only). Regarding recycling infrastructure, the Collection and Packaging Reforms – Simpler Recycling, Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) – should guarantee a consistent supply of recyclable materials and increased income streams from pEPR. This should provide certainty, increasing investor confidence and unlocking investment in waste infrastructure. Defra is currently strengthening the evidence base regarding waste and recycling infrastructure needs and we will continue to work closely with key stakeholders including local authorities and waste management companies on this.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding youth schemes to reduce anti-social behaviour in Surrey Heath constituency.

Too many children and young people do not have access to the same enrichment opportunities as their peers, suffer from poor mental health and, in some cases, end up being drawn into crime rather than going on to achieve and thrive.The government has committed to the creation of the new Young Futures programme, which will establish a network of Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships, to intervene earlier to ensure this cohort is identified and offered support in a more systematic way.Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for children and young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive. Prevention Partnerships will identify children and young people who are vulnerable to being drawn into crime, including anti-social behaviour, and divert them by offering them suitable support in a more systematic way.The Young Futures programme is one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape. They will be designed to complement core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing.Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this government and is a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. Anti-social behaviour causes great harm and misery to communities and, if left unchecked, can lead to more serious offending. Effective youth anti-social behaviour intervention is crucial in disrupting this pipeline. In many cases, informal and early intervention can be successful in changing behaviour and protecting communities.As part of the wider youth landscape, this government has launched the co-production of an ambitious National Youth Strategy to set out a new vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has considered conducting an assessment of the potential impact of proposed Official Development Assistance cuts on children.

The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of consulting a broad range of stakeholders when revising the PAS 9980 standard.

MHCLG and Home Office have jointly sponsored the British Standards Institution (BSI), who developed and are responsible for the PAS 9980 guidance, to review it to ensure it captures best practice, meets the needs of the market and identify whether any revisions are required. BSI has commenced work on the review and anticipate the review, including a 6-weeks public consultation, will be complete with updated guidance published in early 2026.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing a draft of the revised PAS 9980 code of practice for fire risk appraisals of external walls and cladding.

MHCLG and Home Office have jointly sponsored the British Standards Institution (BSI), who developed and are responsible for the PAS 9980 guidance, to review it to ensure it captures best practice, meets the needs of the market and identify whether any revisions are required. BSI has commenced work on the review and anticipate the review, including a 6-weeks public consultation, will be complete with updated guidance published in early 2026.

What assessment her Department has made of the impact of London-licensed Uber drivers operating in non-metropolitan areas on the viability of independent taxi businesses.

Taxis and private hire vehicles have always been permitted to carry pre-booked fares outside the area in which they are licensed. This allows the sector to work more flexibly to meet the needs of their passengers. The Government however recognises concerns around out-of-area working and is considering options to strengthen the regulation of the sector.

What steps her Department has taken to (a) promote and (b) develop green transport infrastructure such as (i) cycle paths, (ii) electric vehicle charging points and (iii) electric bus routes.

The Department has recently announced nearly £300 million of funding to help local authorities and Sustrans to introduce and improve walking and cycling paths, and to fund promote walking, wheeling and cycling. As of 1 February 2025, the Government and industry have supported the installation of 74,234 publicly available charging devices (including 14,687 rapid charging devices). Since 2021, the Department has awarded over £460m of dedicated funding for zero emission buses and infrastructure in England (outside London). Future funding to support the continued decarbonisation of the bus sector, as well as to support local authorities to deliver important air quality improvements, will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

What assessment she has made of the efficiency of response times of Fire and Rescue Services in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Government is committed to ensuring fire services have the resources they need to do their important work and to keep the public safe. In 2024/25, fire and rescue authorities received around £2.87 billion. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRA) saw an increase in core spending power of £95.4m during 2024/25.Decisions on how FRA resources, including staff, are best deployed to meet their core functions including crewing and meeting response times, is a matter for each fire and rescue authority, based on risks identified within local Community Risk Management Plans.

What steps he has taken to reduce waiting times for ADHD assessments in Surrey Heath constituency.

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with the relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.The Department is supporting a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop a data improvement plan, understand the provider and commissioning landscapes, and capture examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Farnborough Airport’s expansion on (a) noise pollution and (b) air pollution in the South-East.

Assessment of the potential impact of Farnborough Airport’s expansion is a matter for Rushmoor Borough Council as local planning authority responsible for considering the airport’s planning application.

Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to support the (a) upkeep and (b) preservation of culturally significant buildings in the Surrey Heath constituency.

The government believes that a fit-for-purpose cultural infrastructure, which increases access for all, is part of this sector's success.At the Autumn Spending Review government prioritised support for our cultural institutions so that they can continue to be world-leading. This settlement includes investment of over £270 million through the Arts Everywhere Fund for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector to boost growth and cement Britain’s place as a cultural powerhouse. £85 million will be available through the Creative Foundations Fund, which will support urgent capital works to keep cultural venues across the country up and running.In addition, DCMS and the Department’s Arm’s-Length Bodies provide a range of financial support for culturally significant buildings. These include the Theatres Trust, who provide small grants to theatres for building work; the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme; the National Lottery Heritage Fund, who have committed to investing around £100m between 2023 and 2026 to support places of worship; the Churches Conservation Trust, which funds repairs and maintenance of over 350 churches in the CCT portfolio; and Historic England's Heritage At Risk grants, funding £9 million worth of repairs to buildings on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register between April 2024 and March 2025.All that being said, there has been no MEND or ACE Capital funding in Surrey Heath constituency in the last five years.

What steps her Department has taken to (a) prevent and (b) tackle wildlife crime in Surrey Heath constituency.

Wildlife crime can have devastating consequences for our natural environments and countryside communities. This Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and anyone exploiting or deliberately harming British wildlife should face the full force of the law.That is why, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office directly funds the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), a specialist police unit, which plays a vital role in providing intelligence, analysis and investigative assistance to the police and other law enforcement agencies across the UK.The NWCU operates nationally; however, its activities include offering specialist support on tackling rural and wildlife crime to local forces, as well as training for frontline police officers.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of his Department's (a) support for and (b) treatment of ADHD in Surrey Heath constituency.

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with the relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.The Department is supporting a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop a data improvement plan, understand the provider and commissioning landscapes, and capture examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services.