Written questions by McIntyre.

What steps he is taking to increase (a) funding and (b) support for research into endometriosis.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Over the past 10 years, the NIHR has invested approximately £11.2 million into research with a focus on endometriosis and continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of women’s health, including endometriosis.To support further research into women’s health, in 2024 the NIHR launched two new funding calls for studies seeking to improve the health and wellbeing of women. Details of the successful funding awards will be published on the NIHR’s website later this year.

What funding her Department provides to children and young people’s domestic abuse services in Gloucester.

This Government has set out an ambition to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade and will treat it as the national emergency that it is. Supporting children and young people who are victims of domestic abuse within their families and in their own relationships must be a key part of that through the forthcoming VAWG strategy. The Home Office currently funds specialist support to children who have been impacted by domestic abuse through the Children Affected by Domestic Abuse (CADA) Fund, which supported eight organisations across England and Wales with £10.3 million between 2022 and 2025.The Government has increased funding to all local authorities to £160 million for 2025-26, an uplift of £30 million from the previous year, to provide further support in safe accommodation for domestic abuse survivors, including children. We will deliver a cross-government, transformative approach, underpinned by a new VAWG Strategy published later this year. This will take into account the needs of all victims, including children.

What steps her Department is taking to increase public confidence in policing in Gloucester.

As part of the Safer Street’s Mission, the Government has set out an ambition to halve violence against women and girls, halve knife crime and restore public confidence in policing, including through the delivery of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. Provision has been made for £1,527,344 of funding to Gloucestershire Constabulary to kickstart the increase of neighbourhood policing personnel in 2025/26.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to provide support to theatres in Gloucester.

The government primarily supports theatres predominantly through Arts Council England (ACE). Through their main funding programme, the 2023-2027 National Portfolio Investment Programme, ACE is providing over £100 million in grants per year to around 195 theatres across the country. Across all their funding programmes, including lottery schemes, for the financial year 2024-25, ACE awarded around £300 million to theatres/theatre based organisations.From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2025, ACE will have invested a combined total of £455,613 across two 'Theatre' awards in the constituency of Gloucester - to Complicite, an internationally renowned touring theatre company who have recently relocated to Gloucester, and Strike a Light, a theatre organisation homegrown in Gloucester.Theatres also benefit from the support that the government provides the sector through Theatre Tax Relief, and has also recently announced over £270 million investment for our arts venues, museums, libraries and our heritage sector.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) empty properties and (b) empty properties subject to Empty Dwelling Management Orders in Gloucester.

According to the latest published statistics, excluding second homes, there are 719,470 vacant dwellings in England. 265,061 of these dwellings are classed as Long-Term Empty Homes, meaning they have been empty for more than six months. A breakdown of vacant dwellings by local authority district can be found on gov.uk here. The Department does not collect data on the number of Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMOs) that have been issued. Local authorities have strong powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. They have the discretionary powers to charge additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The maximum premium that a council can apply increases, depending on the length of time that the property has been empty for, with a premium of up to 300% on homes left empty for over ten years. Local authorities can also use powers to take over the management of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use in the private rented sector. Local authorities can apply for an EDMO when a property has been empty for more than two years, subject to the production of evidence that the property has been causing a nuisance to the community and evidence of community support for their proposal. More information can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of empty homes in Gloucester.

According to the latest published statistics, excluding second homes, there are 719,470 vacant dwellings in England. 265,061 of these dwellings are classed as Long-Term Empty Homes, meaning they have been empty for more than six months. A breakdown of vacant dwellings by local authority district can be found on gov.uk here. The Department does not collect data on the number of Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMOs) that have been issued. Local authorities have strong powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. They have the discretionary powers to charge additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The maximum premium that a council can apply increases, depending on the length of time that the property has been empty for, with a premium of up to 300% on homes left empty for over ten years. Local authorities can also use powers to take over the management of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use in the private rented sector. Local authorities can apply for an EDMO when a property has been empty for more than two years, subject to the production of evidence that the property has been causing a nuisance to the community and evidence of community support for their proposal. More information can be found on gov.uk here.

What steps she is taking to support (a) parents and (b) single parents to access employment in Gloucester.

As part of the Get Britain Working White Paper, which was published in November 2024, we set out our aspirations, backed by a £55million investment for 2025/26, to transform Jobcentre Plus and create a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone, including parents and single parents in Gloucester to access support to find good, meaningful work, and to help people to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. The Get Britain Working White Paper also committed DWP to supporting and providing all areas in England with resource to produce a local Get Britain Working Plans. We are asking local areas to develop detailed plans that address the challenges related to labour force participation (employment, unemployment, and economic inactivity) and progression in work. Local Get Britain Working plans will enable all areas to take the lead in shaping a coherent offer of support for their local citizens, including the offer of support for parents, across work, health, and skills. Parents have existing support from Work Coaches, who provide individual, tailored help to all customers across the country, this includes supporting the development of skills needed to look for and obtain sustained employment, advice to parents on childcare support or help to address their skills gaps to aid career progression. We are also considering how we can improve our support to help parents into work as part of our Child Poverty Strategy which will be published later this year.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the number of social rented homes with (a) mould and (b) damp in Gloucester.

The Department does not hold data on the number of social rented homes with damp and mould in Gloucester. However, the English Housing Survey (EHS) provides findings on housing quality and condition in England, including damp and mould. The EHS found that, in 2022-23, 7% of local authority renters and 4% of housing association renters lived in homes affected by damp. The government is committed to working with social housing providers to ensure that homes are safe, decent, warm, and free from damp and mould. The Deputy Prime Minister made a Written Ministerial Statement on 6 February (HCWS423) confirming that the government will be bringing Awaab’s Law into force for damp and mould in October 2025. Awaab’s Law is vital legislation that will empower social tenants to hold their landlords to account using the full force of the law if they fail to investigate and fix hazards within their homes within set timescales. It will also allow tenants to access the Housing Ombudsman if their landlord does not adhere to strict timelines for action. The government is also committed to consulting on a new Decent Homes Standard and Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards this year.

What steps he is taking to help support veterans to transition into civilian life in Gloucester constituency.

I am working across Government and with civil society to help those who leave the Armed Forces, including those in Gloucester, transition back into civilian life. The vast majority of Service personnel successfully transition to civilian life with few challenges. The Defence Holistic Transition Policy sets out how the Ministry of Defence supports Service leavers to assist in a successful transition, including through the Career Transition Partnership, Veterans Welfare Service (VWS), and Defence Transition Services (DTS) and Integrated Personal Commissioning for Veterans (IPC4V). VWS, DTS and IPC4V work together to deliver holistic transition and welfare support on a casework basis to the Armed Forces community. All three Services provide information, guidance and support; they facilitate access to entitlements and services provided by Government Departments, local authorities and the charity sector via signposting or referrals, in line with client need and capacity. The teams cover Gloucester and are based throughout the UK, including Northern Ireland.Further support is available for Veterans after leaving service including an NHS Trust and Primary Care Network accreditation scheme across England to ensure they can best support veterans access health care; Government funded housing support for Veterans; Armed Forces Champions across the UK’s JobCentre Plus network to help support members of the armed forces community into work; and the veterans’ railcard offering discounts on most rail travel. There is also a range of skills and education support available to Veterans after their time in Service, whether via the newly refreshed Career Transition Partnership, which supports those in search of new job opportunities, or a sector-based employment programme, which provides Veterans and their families with career progression support and access to specialist pathways into roles in nationally significant sectors.

What recent steps she has taken to help reduce reoffending rates in Gloucester constituency.

The Prison and Probation Service in the South West published their Reducing Reoffending Plan for 2022–25 on 9 August 2021, outlining priorities to reduce reoffending, prevent victims, and keep communities, including Gloucester, safe. Both the Plan and the latest Update for 2023 update can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regional-reducing-reoffending-plans.Alongside taking forward the priorities in the regional Reducing Reoffending Plan, Gloucestershire Probation Delivery Unit is engaged with the Local Criminal Justice Board, the Reducing Reoffending Board and the Safer Gloucestershire Board, all of which bring together key statutory and voluntary organisations to work together to manage and reduce risk of harm and reoffending in the local area.

What steps her Department is taking to help with the work of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Tackling Homelessness and Rough Sleeping.

DWP continues to work closely with MHCLG as part of the Inter Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, supporting the development of a strategy to get back on track to ending homelessness. I represent the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to ensure accountability for our part in the strategy. DWP provides over £30bn of housing support each year, as well as £100m of Discretionary Housing Payments for those entitled to housing support who may face a shortfall in meeting their rental costs. In addition, work coaches provide personalised employment support for those with additional vulnerabilities such as homelessness.

What steps his Department is taking to help tackle medication shortages in Gloucester constituency.

The Department has a responsibility to work with medicine license holders in the United Kingdom to help ensure continuity of supply. We monitor and manage medicine supply issues at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand and therefore measures are not specific to Gloucester.We have inherited ongoing global supply problems that continue to impact medicine availability under the new government. We know how frustrating and distressing this can be for patients, and we are working closely with industry, the National Health Service, manufacturers and other partners in the supply chain to resolve issues as quickly as possible to make sure patients can access the medicines they need.Medicine supply chains are complex, global and highly regulated and there are several reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the UK and outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues and regulatory issues. There are approximately 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply.While we cannot always prevent supply issues from occurring, we have a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise and mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing NHS communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals including pharmacists, so they can advise and support their patients.The resilience of UK supply chains is a key priority, and we are committed to helping to build long term supply chain resilience for medicines. We are continually learning and seeking to improve the way we work to both manage and help prevent supply issues and avoid shortages. The Department, working closely with NHS England, is taking forward a range of actions to improve our ability to mitigate and manage shortages and strengthen our resilience.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle offences related to drink driving in Gloucester constituency.

The Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. We are currently considering policy options in this area. The Government’s THINK! road safety campaign, aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads. THINK! launched a major new drink driving campaign in November, highlighting the risks of drinking even a little before driving. The campaign targeted men aged 17-24, who are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on the road than drivers aged 25 and over, and who are over-represented in drink drive casualties. Paid advertising ran across social media, online video and gaming sites, radio and podcasts. The campaign also featured roadside advertising near to pubs and bars and posters and beermats in venues across England and Wales, including sites in Gloucester. The enforcement of road traffic law and how available resources are deployed in Gloucester constituency, and other rural areas, is the responsibility of individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.

What steps her Department is taking to help reduce the level of burglaries in Gloucester constituency.

We recognise the profound impact burglary can have on individuals and the wider community. For too long a culture has been allowed to develop whereby victims of burglary believe if they report what has happened, no one will come and nothing will be done.This is why we have been clear that when someone calls the police, they should come; and when a person reports a crime it should be properly investigated no matter who they are, or where they live.As part of reforms being delivered through the Safer Streets Mission, this government is determined to crack down on burglary and other crimes that make people feel unsafe in our communities. We are also committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing and through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, there will be thousands of additional police officers, police community support officers and Special Constables.We welcome the police's commitment across England and Wales to attending the scene of every home burglary, and the specific College of Policing good practice guidance on conducting residential burglary investigations; setting the standard for the entire investigation, not just initial attendance, including victim care. More information is available at: https://www.college.police.uk/guidance/residential-burglary.

What steps she is taking with local authorities to help (a) recruit and (b) retain foster carers in Gloucester constituency.

The government is committed to working in partnership with local authorities to recruit and retain foster carers. This currently includes delivering 10 regional fostering recruitment and retention hubs, covering 64% of local authorities in England, including Gloucester. The hubs will transform the way people who are interested in fostering are supported, and will rollout a retention programme, Mockingbird, which offers peer-support to foster carers and the children in their care. An additional £15 million was announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 to move towards national roll out in the 2025/26 financial year. In Gloucester, this is being delivered as part of the ‘Fostering South West’ Recruitment Hub, which launched in 2024 and comprises of 15 neighbouring local authorities including Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council, Bristol City Council, Cornwall Council, Devon County Council, Dorset Council, Gloucestershire County Council, Council of the Isles of Scilly, North Somerset Council, Plymouth City Council, Somerset Council, South Gloucestershire Council, Swindon Borough Council, Torbay Council and Wiltshire Council. The government is also committed to ensuring that every child in care grows up with the love, care and support they need to achieve and thrive. All foster carers receive the National Minimum Allowance to cover the costs of looking after the children in their care. In the 2025/26 financial year, this is being uplifted by 3.55%.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help support leisure centres in Gloucester constituency.

The Government recognises that leisure facilities are important to communities up and down the country. High-quality, inclusive facilities help people get active. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to high quality facilities and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.The ongoing responsibility for public leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level. Local Authorities work in partnership with operators who manage leisure services. The Government and Sport England continue to work closely with Local Authorities to monitor pressures in the sector and provide advice and guidance.

What steps her Department is taking with local authorities to identify children who are educated outside of school in Gloucester constituency.

The Children Not in School measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will place a duty on local authorities, including Gloucester, to maintain compulsory registers of all children not in school in their areas, and accompanying duties on parents and out-of-school education providers to provide information for these registers. This will support local authorities to identify all children not in school in their areas, including children who are home educated, and to take action if they are not receiving a safe or suitable education. The department is also continuing to work with local authorities to collect information from existing voluntary registers of children not in school. The department’s termly elective home education data collection is now mandatory for local authorities to submit a return, ensuring a more accurate national picture of home educated children. The department’s ‘Elective home education’ guidance for local authorities and parents includes advice for how local authorities should identify children not in school in their areas.

What steps she is taking to help support kinship carers in Gloucester constituency.

The government recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children. Kinship carers often take on this role at a time when they were least expecting to raise a family, and the department recognises the challenges they face.The government is extending the delivery of over 140 peer support groups across England, available for all kinship carers to access, where they can come together to share stories, exchange advice and support each other.Following on from the progress and positive impact from the peer-to-peer support groups have made, the department is also delivering a package of training and support that all kinship carers across England can access if they wish to.In October 2024, the department published new Kinship Care statutory guidance for local authorities, which sets out the support and services local authorities should provide to kinship families, including reaffirming the requirement to publish their local offer of support in a clear, accessible way.Through the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced £40 million to trial a new Kinship Allowance in some local authorities in England. We will test whether paying an allowance to cover the additional costs of caring for a child can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. ​​We will share further details and the process for selecting local authorities in due course.​The department understands the unique challenges kinship carers face and is committed to providing the necessary support.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle anti-social behaviour on Gloucester constituency.

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.The Government’s Plan for Change, announced by the Prime Minister on 5 December, included our plan to reduce ASB. This will include a dedicated lead officer in every police force working with communities to develop a local ASB action plan. We will also put 13,000 neighbourhood police, community support officers and special constables into local communities so residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.We will crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets by introducing tougher powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to tackle repeat offending, including the new Respect Order to tackle the most persistent ASB offenders.

What recent steps he has taken to help improve ambulance waiting times in Gloucester.

We are committed to improving urgent and emergency care performance and getting ambulance response times, including in Gloucester, back to the NHS Constitution’s standards. We are clear, however, that there are no quick fixes and to turn things around will take investment and reform.Recent action includes the Autumn Budget, which announced £25.6 billion of additional healthcare funding over the next two years; and the publication of the ‘Road to recovery: the government's 2025 mandate to NHS England’ on the 30th January, which set prioritised delivery instructions for the NHS including for urgent and emergency care. This is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/road-to-recovery-the-governments-2025-mandate-to-nhs-england/road-to-recovery-the-governments-2025-mandate-to-nhs-england In Spring, we will publish a 10-Year Health Plan which will set out the reforms needed to build a health service that is fit for the future.