Written questions by Griffiths.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the current frequency of bathing water testing at designated bathing sites in West Sussex.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to review how bathing water quality information and sewage discharge data are communicated to the public in real time.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with Southern Water on improving bathing water quality at coastal sites in West Sussex.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the current four-year rolling bathing water classification model.

Awaiting answer.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has considered introducing year-round bathing water quality monitoring at designated bathing waters.

Awaiting answer.

Whether local highway authorities may propose phased or deferred delivery timetables for proposed Structures Fund schemes where concurrent strategic infrastructure works would otherwise create significant cumulative disruption on the local road network.

There is no specified date for the commencement of schemes funded through the Structures Fund. However, the Department intends for all funded schemes to be completed and reopened to traffic by 31 March 2030.The Department will assess proposed schemes in alignment with the Green Book’s 5-case model. Local highway authorities are expected to engage with local and regional stakeholders and set out the level of support from them when putting schemes forward for investment. Letters of endorsement from neighbouring highway authorities and where relevant Network Rail, National Highways and the combined authority, are encouraged. The Department will take account of these views when making funding decisions, including when these relate to the cumulative impacts of infrastructure schemes in the same area.

Whether the assessment of Structures Fund bids includes consideration of cumulative traffic impacts, emergency diversion routes, and wider network resilience during concurrent infrastructure works.

There is no specified date for the commencement of schemes funded through the Structures Fund. However, the Department intends for all funded schemes to be completed and reopened to traffic by 31 March 2030.The Department will assess proposed schemes in alignment with the Green Book’s 5-case model. Local highway authorities are expected to engage with local and regional stakeholders and set out the level of support from them when putting schemes forward for investment. Letters of endorsement from neighbouring highway authorities and where relevant Network Rail, National Highways and the combined authority, are encouraged. The Department will take account of these views when making funding decisions, including when these relate to the cumulative impacts of infrastructure schemes in the same area.

Whether her Department permits local highway authorities to seek alternative funding or delivery mechanisms for critical bridge infrastructure projects where concurrent delivery through the Structures Fund would risk significant disruption to strategic transport routes.

Local highway authorities are not required to utilise the Structures Fund for bridge infrastructure schemes. The Fund is only for those structures where repair or replacement is unaffordable from the local highway authority’s existing budgets and which require repair or replacement now or are likely to before 31 March 2030.

Whether her Department will assess the interaction of proposed Structures Fund schemes with existing Major Road Network and National Highways programmes affecting the same transport corridor.

There is no specified date for the commencement of schemes funded through the Structures Fund. However, the Department intends for all funded schemes to be completed and reopened to traffic by 31 March 2030.The Department will assess proposed schemes in alignment with the Green Book’s 5-case model. Local highway authorities are expected to engage with local and regional stakeholders and set out the level of support from them when putting schemes forward for investment. Letters of endorsement from neighbouring highway authorities and where relevant Network Rail, National Highways and the combined authority, are encouraged. The Department will take account of these views when making funding decisions, including when these relate to the cumulative impacts of infrastructure schemes in the same area.

Whether schemes supported through the Structures Fund are required to commence by a fixed deadline.

There is no specified date for the commencement of schemes funded through the Structures Fund. However, the Department intends for all funded schemes to be completed and reopened to traffic by 31 March 2030.The Department will assess proposed schemes in alignment with the Green Book’s 5-case model. Local highway authorities are expected to engage with local and regional stakeholders and set out the level of support from them when putting schemes forward for investment. Letters of endorsement from neighbouring highway authorities and where relevant Network Rail, National Highways and the combined authority, are encouraged. The Department will take account of these views when making funding decisions, including when these relate to the cumulative impacts of infrastructure schemes in the same area.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2026 to Question 117219 on NHS, whether changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital had been notified to his Department under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006.

The Department has not received a notification under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 about changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital and has not undertaken an assessment of potential impacts.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been asked by the Hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton to intervene in this matter and will consider and respond to that request in due course.

Further to the Answer of 13 March 2026 to Question 117218 on NHS, whether his Department assessed the potential merits of exercising the call-in power under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 for proposed changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital.

The Department has not received a notification under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 about changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital and has not undertaken an assessment of potential impacts.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been asked by the Hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton to intervene in this matter and will consider and respond to that request in due course.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of a proposed reduction in community inpatient capacity at Zachary Merton Hospital on the level of (a) the use of virtual wards, (b) care at home, and (c) provision at other community hospital sites in West Sussex.

The Department has not received a notification under Schedule 10A of the National Health Service Act 2006 about changes to services at Zachary Merton Hospital and has not undertaken an assessment of potential impacts.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been asked by the Hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton to intervene in this matter and will consider and respond to that request in due course.

What proportion of heart valve disease cases were diagnosed at an advanced stage in (a) England and (b) West Sussex; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the role of primary care in achieving early detection.

The National Health Service is continuing to work to reduce waiting times for elective care as part of the Government's commitment to return to the NHS Constitution standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks. The information requested on waiting times is not held in the format requested. Between January and December 2025, 73.3% of completed cardiothoracic surgery, for instance coronary artery bypass grafts, valve replacements, both aortic and mitral, lung cancer surgery, such as lobectomies, and aortic aneurysm repairs, referral to treatment pathways with a known clock start were completed within 18 weeks. This excludes 134 completed pathways with an unknown clock start date. In 2024/25, NHS England provided funding for 13 pathway improvement projects to have a positive impact on reducing the time for referral to treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic left sided valvular disease.

What is the average waiting time for diagnostic tests, including echocardiograms, for suspected heart valve disease in (a) England and (b) NHS trusts serving West Sussex for which the latest data is available.

An echocardiogram is the primary diagnostic test for suspected heart valve disease. Waiting times for echocardiograms are published in the diagnostics waiting times dataset (DM01) at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/Data is not available in DM01 for other tests used in the diagnostic pathway, for example electrocardiograms, chest X-rays, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging/computed tomography scans, and/or stress tests.As of the end of February 2026, the latest available data, the DM01 data shows that the median time patients were waiting for an echocardiogram in England was 3.2 weeks. The median time for patients waiting for an echocardiogram at the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust was 2.2 weeks.

What was the average time between diagnosis and treatment for heart valve disease in (a) England and (b) West Sussex in the last five years; and whether he plans to set maximum recommended timeframes on this matter.

The National Health Service is continuing to work to reduce waiting times for elective care as part of the Government's commitment to return to the NHS Constitution standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks. The information requested on waiting times is not held in the format requested. Between January and December 2025, 73.3% of completed cardiothoracic surgery, for instance coronary artery bypass grafts, valve replacements, both aortic and mitral, lung cancer surgery, such as lobectomies, and aortic aneurysm repairs, referral to treatment pathways with a known clock start were completed within 18 weeks. This excludes 134 completed pathways with an unknown clock start date. In 2024/25, NHS England provided funding for 13 pathway improvement projects to have a positive impact on reducing the time for referral to treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic left sided valvular disease.

Whether he has made an assessment of the variation in diagnosis times and access to treatment for heart valve disease by (a) region and (b) demographic group in England and West Sussex.

The Department recognises that variation in the provision of heart valve disease (HVD) services exists across England is taking action to address this.NHS England is strengthening consistency in the diagnosis and treatment to reduce variation in HVD diagnosis, including in West Sussex. This included echocardiography workforce initiatives to increase diagnostic capacity for HVD referrals for 2024/25. In 2025, the Getting It Right First Time programme published new and revised cardiology pathways to reduce delays and guide clinicians through diagnostic steps and treatment planning, and enhanced recovery protocols for Aortic Stenosis (advanced HVD).In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the British Heart Foundation are partnering for the £50m Inequalities, which will fund a five-year consortium to generate research focused on tackling inequalities in ethnic minorities, deprived communities and unequal cardiovascular disease outcomes between women and men. More information is available at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-50m-funding-to-tackle-inequalities-cardiovascular-disease

What was the average time between first presentation with symptoms and confirmed diagnosis of heart valve disease in (a) England and (b) West Sussex in the last five years.

The National Health Service is continuing to work to reduce waiting times for elective care as part of the Government's commitment to return to the NHS Constitution standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks. The information requested on waiting times is not held in the format requested. Between January and December 2025, 73.3% of completed cardiothoracic surgery, for instance coronary artery bypass grafts, valve replacements, both aortic and mitral, lung cancer surgery, such as lobectomies, and aortic aneurysm repairs, referral to treatment pathways with a known clock start were completed within 18 weeks. This excludes 134 completed pathways with an unknown clock start date. In 2024/25, NHS England provided funding for 13 pathway improvement projects to have a positive impact on reducing the time for referral to treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic left sided valvular disease.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of the use of surveillance and enforcement practices by private parking operators to issue charges based on motorists’ movements beyond car parks.

The government has not made an assessment of trends in the use of surveillance to issue charges based on motorists’ movements beyond car parks.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of signage requirements for private parking operators, including where free parking is conditional on visiting specific premises.

Parking on private land is managed under contract law. The signage on a site sets out the terms and conditions of the contract, including any conditions attached to free parking, and these are often reflective of the landowner’s requirements. When a motorist parks on the land, they are held to have accepted the contract created through the signage. The Sector Single Code states signage must be designed, applied and maintained to be visible, legible and unambiguous to drivers.In response to motorist concerns and in accordance with the Private Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, the government intends to lay a Code setting out standards for signage in autumn 2026.