Written questions by Ballinger.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking in the context of the University of Sheffield’s findings that gambling advertisements during the 2022 FIFA World Cup significantly influenced betting behaviour; and what measures she plans to put in place to ensure adequate protections before the 2026 tournament.

We consider a wide range of evidence when making policy and regulatory decisions. This includes consideration of Sheffield University’s recent report on World Cup advertising and its impact on gambling behaviour. All operators advertising in the UK must comply with robust advertising codes. These codes are regularly reviewed and updated. In this context, those include a ban on gambling advertisements during pre-watershed live sports broadcasts lasting from 5 minutes before to 5 minutes after the event itself. The Government recognises that exposure to gambling advertising is an important issue. We continue to consider a wide range of evidence in this space and will work closely with relevant stakeholders to further strengthen protections. This includes our recent announcement of an intention to consult on banning sports sponsorship by unlicensed gambling operators.

What assessment his Department made of the potential impact of the level of conflict prevention on UK national security when determining the of the multi-year level of funding for the UK Integrated Security Fund; and for what reason was the level of prioritisation for conflict prevention so determined.

The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) will narrow its focus towards the UK’s top national security priorities, as set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 10 February 2026. This includes tackling five key threat areas (Russia; Iran & its proxies; threats emanating from the Asia Pacific region; Serious & Organised Crime; and Terrorism) and building UK sovereign capabilities in four other areas (Cyber & Tech, Biosecurity, Counter State & Hybrid Threats and Economic Security). ISF allocations to each of these areas were driven by an assessment of the UK’s most acute national security threats and programmes’ alignment with the ISF’s principles (agility, integration, high risk appetite and catalytic effect). The ISF will also continue to deliver conflict and instability programming, where there is a direct link to UK national security. ISF teams are also expected to continue to mainstream gender throughout their work across the ISF’s priorities, including through projects which focus specifically on gender and social inclusion.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of bringing train leasing companies into public ownership, including to achieve a fair price for leasing rolling stock.

Rolling stock companies own and lease trains and carriages worth billions of pounds. It would not be responsible for the Government to take on the cost of renationalising all the rolling stock at the present time, as there are other urgent pressures on the public purse and we need to focus on wider rail reform. We recognise the value that the private sector can bring, including funding improved trains and infrastructure. But we must secure much better value from the rolling stock market in future – which is why for the first time in over 30 years, the Government is developing a long-term rolling stock and infrastructure strategy. We expect to publish this strategy later in 2026.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the projected level of loss of UK soft power in the Western Balkans in the next five years.

Last year, the Government invested over £31 million in programmes in the Western Balkans, supporting women and girls, protecting democratic values, and enhancing resilience to hostile state influences, including funding for counter-disinformation and cyber defence support. We will set out details of future funding allocations in the coming months, we continue to be committed to pursuing a wide range of objectives in partnerships across the region focussed on stability, security, and prosperity among other issues.

Whether the UK Integrated Security Fund will deliver programmes through contracting and pre-qualified partners during 2026 to 2029; and whether he plans to amend the UK Integrated Security Fund's procurement and partnership models.

From 2026 to 2029, the Integrated Security Fund (ISF) will continue to deliver programmes through a range of delivery mechanisms, including contracting and prequalified partners where this provides the most effective and agile route to achieving national security outcomes. This includes via the ISF Commercial Framework Agreement, a commercial arrangement with organisations who have been pre-assessed on their capability, thematic expertise, resources and gender and conflict sensitivity. The existing Commercial Framework is due for renewal in 2027 and arrangements for refreshing the framework will be considered in due course.

Communities and Local Government, under what legislation developers are responsible for mitigating the risk of landslides in their property developments.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 46774 on 29 April 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what (a) financial and (b) any other support (i) is and (ii) will be available to Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, in the context of improvement notice and auditor evaluations.

My department continues to work closely with Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council to ensure strong oversight of progress against the requirements of the best value notice issued in July 2025. The council is leading its own improvement journey and has secured independent challenge and support through its Improvement and Assurance Board, the Local Government Association and other sector bodies. Through the multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement, Dudley will see an increase in Core Spending Power of 12% by 2028-29 compared to 2025-26, worth £44 million. We will also be maintaining their £5 million Recovery Grant allocation across the multi-year Settlement and they will benefit from the Recovery Grant Guarantee next year.

Communities and Local Government, how he plans to support Councils with low council tax bases and entrenched deprivation.

Following extensive consultation and engagement, we are realigning funding distributed through the Local Government Finance Settlement with need and deprivation. We will target a greater proportion of grant funding towards the most deprived places which need it most, ensuring the best value for money for government and taxpayers. These updates will account for local circumstances, including for different ability to raise income locally from council tax, and the variation in the cost of delivering services, including between rural and urban areas. By using the most up to date data available, the government will be able to assess local authorities' relative demand for services more effectively. This includes using the most up-to-date 2025 Indices of Multiple Deprivation in our assessment of need. We introduced the £600 million Recovery Grant in 2025-26 to support the most deprived local authorities which are least able to fund their own services through income raised locally. After years of funding cuts to local government, in which the most deprived places suffered the most, the recovery is not over. Following a large number of representations on the importance of Recovery Grant funding, the government has consulted on its plans to maintain the Recovery Grant across the multi-year Settlement, to enable these places to continue their recovery. The government is considering the responses received following the consultation of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026 to 2027 and will set out a position when the final Settlement is published in early February.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of nationalising the M6 Toll road.

There are currently no discussions underway about nationalising the M6 Toll. The M6 Toll sits outside of the Strategic Road Network managed by National Highways and is owned and operated by private entity Midland Expressway Ltd (MEL).

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of financial penalties for social responsibility failings in acting as a deterrent.

Financial penalties are one element of the Gambling Commission’s regulatory toolkit. Action taken by the Gambling Commission is based on the need to gain compliance from gambling operators with the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice at the earliest opportunity. If breaches occur, financial penalties may be imposed. Since 2016/17, the Commission’s enforcement action has resulted in over £215 million in fines and regulatory settlements. As a result of the Commission’s compliance and enforcement work, in the last three years there have been fewer instances of extreme failings at gambling operators. However, the Commission continues to address any non-compliance through use of its enforcement powers and will continue to do so wherever necessary.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of gambling advertisements on children and young people; and whether she plans to introduce legislative measures to restrict or ban gambling marketing and sponsorship.

All operators advertising in the UK must comply with robust advertising codes, which are enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) independently of Government. These codes are regularly reviewed and updated and include a wide range of provisions designed to protect children and vulnerable adults from harm. The Government does not currently have plans to ban gambling advertising. However, we recognise that children and young people’s exposure to gambling advertising is an important issue and we continue to work closely with the gambling industry to further strengthen protections. We have welcomed the Premier League’s voluntary front of shirt ban on gambling advertisements from next season, which will reduce gambling exposure for children and young people. Additionally, we will redouble our efforts to work cross-government and with tech platforms to address illegal gambling advertising, which poses the most risk for children and young people.

How many investigations are being carried out by the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery; and how many of those investigations relate to the deaths of (a) members of the Armed Forces and (b) police officers.

We understand that there are currently 113 live investigations under the remit of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery. Within those 113 investigations, there were 35 victims who were military personnel and 16 police officers. This accounts for 44 of the 113 cases as some of these relate to multi-fatality incidents.

Whether she is taking steps to improve grace periods for parking fines and transparency for the appeal and enforcement process.

A 10-minute grace period became mandatory for all councils in England on 6 April 2015. It applies at local authority owned or operated car parks and at the end of paid-for and free on-street parking in England. The grace period only applies at the end of permitted paid-for or free parking to allow for accidental overstays beyond a driver's control. It does not apply at the start of a period of parking, nor in circumstances where the driver was not permitted to park (i.e. outside the hours of permitted operation of on-street parking). A requirement for transparency on matters relating to civil parking enforcement is enshrined in the Secretary of State's statutory guidance for local authorities in England on civil enforcement of parking contraventions.

Whether he plans to expand protected research time for NHS clinicians contributing to research.

The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future highlights the opportunities for improved care and innovation that comes from research and life sciences in the National Health Service. The upcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan is considering all aspects of the NHS workforce, including the research workforce. The 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future The Department, through the National Institute of Health and Care Research, funds protected time for research and research training as part of career development awards, allowing award holders to develop and utilise research skills alongside clinical practice. This includes Academic Clinical Fellowships and Clinical Lectureships, which are clinical academic training posts, primarily for doctors and dentists, that are undertaken alongside specialty training. The Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award provides funding for professionals to have protected time for research within their current practice roles. It is available to all professions, with priority given to those typically underrepresented in research. The Department is working with key stakeholders and the devolved administrations to develop a UK Research Workforce Strategy, to be published in the coming months. The strategy sets out a 10-year vision to embed research and innovation into core practice within the NHS, social care, and public health system, aligned with the 10-Year Health Plan, Life Sciences Sector Plan, and Office for the Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research reports. The ambition is to address barriers and build research capacity across all professions, settings, and geographies to lead and deliver high-quality research, as well as to routinely implement research findings to drive improved patient outcomes along with enhanced efficiency and productivity across the health, social care, and public health system.

What steps he is taking to ensure support is available for vulnerable people in poverty to have improved access to food banks.

Foodbanks are independent organisations and remain in control of who they provide support to and how people can access that support. However, our Work Coaches are adept at providing holistic support to customers, and use their knowledge of local provision to signpost vulnerable customers to the support they need, including Food Banks where appropriate. From 1 April 2026, we are introducing a new Crisis and Resilience Fund. This is the first ever multi-year settlement for locally delivered crisis support. This longer-term funding approach aims to enable local authorities to provide preventative support to communities – working with the voluntary and community sector – as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis, to support our ambition to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of gambling harms among serving members of the Armed Forces.

Defence recognises that gambling-related harms can have significant impacts on the health and wellbeing of Service personnel. In addition to the limits placed on gambling by Kings Regulations, active efforts are made to highlight both the harms of problem gambling and the available support, in awareness campaigns. Defence has worked with Swansea University to help understand gambling harms. This research and other academic work inform our current assessment of the levels of gambling harms specifically within the Serving population. Further initiatives to build understanding include the new Defence Primary Healthcare Gambling pathway, which has been developed by the Defence Medical Services to ensure there is robust clinical pathway for those at risk, but will also present an opportunity to collect information to inform targeted interventions. The Defence Public Health Unit engages proactively with Department of Health counterparts and will continue to work cross-Government to secure the best possible evidence and insight into how to support Service personnel with gambling issues. Alongside the Single Services, the Public Health Unit continues to work with external agencies and charities that offer support to Service personnel.

What discussions he has had with the NHS on improving prevention and treatment of gambling harms among Armed Forces personnel and veterans.

The Ministry of Defence takes problem-gambling very seriously and works closely with Armed Forces personnel and Veterans who require support. The comprehensive Defence Primary Health Care Gambling pathway within the Defence Medical Services, assesses and supports Service personnel who come forward with a gambling issue and, when required, refers them to specialist NHS gambling services and clinics. Service personnel can also self-refer into these services. This pathway includes an assessment of gambling addiction using recognised validated assessment tools such as the Problem Gambling Severity Index. Data collected from these assessments can be used to help Defence monitor and understand the scale of gambling harms within Service personnel. Defence engages routinely with NHS colleagues delivering specialist gambling prevention and treatment services. The Public Health Unit within Defence engages proactively with Department of Health counterparts and will continue to work cross-Government to secure the best possible evidence and insight into how to support Service personnel with gambling issues. Veterans are eligible for gambling addiction treatment through the NHS. The Office for Veterans' Affairs in the Ministry of Defence regularly works with the third sector and academia to ensure veteran-specific needs are understood.

What steps she is taking to support access to finance for SMEs in the West Midlands.

The Government is committed to ensuring that businesses across the UK, including in the West Midlands, can access the capital they need to grow. Through the British Business Bank (BBB), we are delivering a range of targeted interventions, including loan guarantee programmes and equity investment, designed to address regional funding gaps and unlock investment opportunities. Businesses in the West Midlands already benefit from the £400 million Midlands Engine Investment Fund II (MEIF). This fund is increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses across the Midlands and enabling businesses that might otherwise not receive investment to access capital. The BBB’s 2025 Impact Report estimates that their investments supported 2,200 West Midlands SMEs in 2024/25, and created 2,000 jobs. This follows the 10 June milestone of more than £100 million having been provided to West Midlands businesses as part of the Start Up Loans programme. The Bank also hosted a ‘Meet the Investor’ event in partnership with Tech UK in Birmingham in March to help connect SMEs with potential investors. West Midlands businesses will also benefit from the recent Spending Review uplift, which increased the Bank’s total capacity to £25.6 billion. This uplift will enable the Bank to make annual investments of around £2.5 billion, supporting more high-growth and innovative UK businesses access finance across the UK.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of long-term, stable funding models for cancer research projects.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s Medical Research Council (MRC) delivers a substantial portfolio of researcher-led projects, building on long-standing partnerships, including with Wellcome and CRUK, to fund investments such as the Francis Crick Institute, where over 40 groups work on research directly relevant to cancer.UKRI takes a strategic, long-term approach to investing in infrastructure that will underpin future discovery research, including a £29 million award to the University of Nottingham in 2022 to establish the UK’s most powerful MRI scanner, facilitating patient cancer studies. It also includes UK Biobank, which is enabling researchers to investigate the impact of lifestyle on cancer.The MRC Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE), provides long term funding to tackle transformational research questions, and will enhance approaches to the prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, including cancer.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to support research teams undertaking long-term cancer prevention and early-detection research.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology invests approximately £200 million annually in cancer research via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spent £141.6 million in 2024/25 via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The Office for Life Science’s Cancer Healthcare Goal Programme has invested over £16 million to support development of early detection innovations, such as multi cancer detection tests. DHSC will be publishing a National Cancer Plan for England in the new year. This will set out the Government’s long-term strategy to improve outcomes for cancer patients, including prevention and early-detection R&D.