Written questions by Goldsborough.

What the average waiting times were for (a) ADHD and (b) autism assessments in each year since 2010.

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment or treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nationally. The National Institute for Health and Care Research has commissioned a research project to provide initial insights into local ADHD diagnosis waiting times data collection. We are also supporting a taskforce that NHS England is establishing to look at ADHD service provision, announced in March 2024. The taskforce will bring 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. NHS England is also working to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan.In regard to autism, waiting times are published quarterly by NHS England, and include information about the waiting time from referral to a first care contact, since 2019. Further information is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/autism-statisticsThe following table shows the number of people with an open referral, the number of people with an open referral and a care contact, and the median waiting time in days of patients with an open suspected autism referral, where their first care contact was within the year, for each of the last five years:YearPeople with an open referralPeople with an open referral and a care contactMedian waiting time between referral and first contact in days2019/2053,85712,6021282020/2187,65415,5402262021/22130,06022,6082142022/23199,97531,4632102023/24280,33839,371296Source: Mental Health Services Dataset. Notes:care contact is used as a proxy for an assessment, and data could only be provided from 2019/20 as this is the first full year in which the methodology was agreed, and the data quality of the fields used in the autism pathway was sufficient; andgiven autism data has only been published since 2019/20, it should be expected that data quality would improve over time, and as such, some of the change seen will be the result of data quality improvements.

What information her Department holds on the number of children and young people who were waiting for an Education, Health and Care Plan decision after (a) less than six months, (b) six months to a year, (c) one to two years, (d) two to three years, (e) three to four years, (f) four to five years and (g) more than five years in the latest period for which data is available, broken down by local authority.

The department publishes official statistics on Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans annually, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. This includes data at local authority level on the rate of EHC plans issued within the deadline of 20 weeks. The attached table contains details of assessments in 2023 by local authority and by the duration, in days, between the date of the request for assessment and the date of the assessment outcome. This includes those for whom a plan was issued and those with the decision not to issue a plan, but excludes cases where the assessment was withdrawn. The person-level data collection on EHC plans is in its second year. As a result, we expect the quality of data returns to improve over time, as the collection becomes established. In particular, the recording of the dates of the assessment request and the assessment outcome is subject to data quality issues, which become especially prominent when looking at a low level of granularity. For this reason, cases over two years have been aggregated, and where the date of request is missing or was recorded after the outcome date, this is marked in the table as ‘not available’. The department continues to work with local authorities in understanding and improving the data collection.

With reference to the press release entitled New Prison Education Service to cut crime, published on 29 September 2023, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of giving prison governors in five prisons increased freedom to organise education, skills and work programmes in their prisons.

Under the current Prison Education Framework, prison governors have the freedom to design and organise delivery of education, skills and work in their prisons. This is further enabled through the Dynamic Purchasing System, which allows for the commissioning of courses in accordance with local learner need. Governor freedoms over education, skills and work will continue under the new Prisoner Education Service. Heads of Education, Skills and Work have already been introduced in all prisons to ensure Governors have the specialist knowledge and skills to maximise impact of these freedoms.Work to increase governor freedoms in five jails was paused earlier this year to ensure successful delivery of the new Prisoner Education Service. Once this is fully mobilised in 2025, consideration of localised provision of education, skills and work will be explored further.

How many offenders (a) started and (b) completed Prison Education Service (i) catering and (ii) construction apprenticeships in 2023.

The ability of prisoners to undertake apprenticeships was introduced in October 2022.Apprenticeships for prisoners are primarily undertaken by prisoners eligible to be released on temporary licence, where they start their employment and training in the community and fully complete the apprenticeship after release.No prisoners started or completed a catering or construction apprenticeship in 2023. One apprentice started a Commis Chef Level 2 apprenticeship in November 2022 and completed their apprenticeship in April 2024 after release.Three prisoners have started apprenticeships in the catering industry this year including one in a closed prison, where we are trialling the potential of prisoners in the closed estate to also undertake apprenticeships.Apprenticeships are one part of the current employment and training offer. We are developing plans to support prisons to link with more employers and the voluntary sector to increase the number of ex-offenders in employment.

What steps his Department is taking to help increase horticulture exports.

The Department for Business and Trade provides a comprehensive package of support to increase exports, including the Export Support Service, UK Export Finance and a network of trade advisers across the UK and overseas. The department remains committed to breaking down market access barriers affecting the horticultural industry, and to opening up new markets for horticultural exports through trade agreements.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to introduce exemptions for protected horticultural growers within the biodiversity net gain regulations.

The Government recognises the importance of horticultural growers. Land used for horticulture can be enhanced or created to generate biodiversity units, which can support site expansion or be sold on the private market or used to support on site expansion. Equally, any impacts to horticultural land through development or land use change require compensation. Following consultation, exemptions to the BNG requirement set out within the regulations are narrow and focussed. This keeps the policy ambitious, whilst being proportionate and deliverable for developers and local authorities. The exemptions are not sector specific. Defra are ready to work with the horticulture industry to promote best practice for maximising on-site BNG opportunities.

What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Prison Education Service for (a) increasing literacy, (b) reducing reoffending and (c) increasing employment opportunities for ex-offenders.

There is good evidence relating to the positive impact of prison education and we continue to carry out evaluation and work to link data to better understand outcomes for prison learners. Literacy provision is a significant element of the current education offer, with all prisons offering functional skills qualifications in Literacy from Entry Level to Level 2. From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, the number of prison learners participating in a functional skills course (English and maths) increased by 71%, from 16,866 to 28,832. Prisoners achieving a full or partial grade increased by 80% from 10,755 to 19,329. There is good evidence that participation in any form of in-prison education reduces reoffending by up to 9 percentage points. Research from 2018 also showed that learners were significantly more likely to be in P45 employment one year from release, than non-learners (by 1.8 percentage points). We are continuing to evaluate education initiatives such as the recent Literacy Innovation Fund and Future Skills Projects to add to our knowledge of what works. To further build understanding, the Better Outcomes through Linked Data programme is developing the quantitative evidence base with the aim of understanding the role of different types of prison education in contributing to positive employment outcomes.

How many and what proportion of prisons have neurodiversity support managers.

All public prisons have successfully recruited a Neurodiversity Support Manager. All private prisons have also recruited Neurodiversity Support Managers, unless they already held equivalent neurodiversity specialisms and expertise. Due to natural role attrition, as of 29 July 2024, there are 116 Neurodiversity Support Managers in post across the 124 prisons in England and Wales.

How many offenders have taken part in the Future Skills programme; and in which sectors they were trained.

The Future Skills Programme is live in 23 prisons, with training being delivered across a range of sectors including construction, warehousing, hospitality, and third sector case work. The programme will run until March 2025 and is being monitored and evaluated. The requested information will be published as part of the evaluation which is anticipated to be available on GOV.UK by summer 2025.

How many and what proportion of prisoners found work within six months of their release in each year since 2010.

We know that finding employment in the year after release makes offenders less likely to reoffend, by up to nine percentage points. Getting ex-offenders into work is critical to the Government’s work to break the cycle of reoffending. That is why in our manifesto, this Government committed to improve access to purposeful activity, including learning, and to support prisons to link with employers and the voluntary sector to support ex-offenders into work. Information on the number and proportion of prison leavers employed at 6 months post release is available from April 2020. The most recent figures were published on 25 July 2024 in the Offender Employment Outcomes Update to March 2024 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-employment-outcomes-update-to-march-2024. The proportion of prison leavers in jobs within six months of their release more than doubled across the past three performance years, from 14% in 2020/21 to 31% in 2023/24.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the preparedness of local planning authorities to meet their obligations under the biodiversity net gain regulations.

Ministers and officials from Defra and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have regular discussions on a range of issues. Officials from both departments continue to work very closely together on biodiversity net gain (BNG) implementation to ensure local planning authorities have the guidance and tools in place to deliver BNG. Defra has committed £35 million since financial year 2021/2022 to enable Local Planning Authorities to prepare for and implement BNG. On top of this, Defra has funded the Planning Advisory Service to support Local Planning Authorities to prepare for and deliver BNG. Defra and MHCLG will continue to monitor the roll out of BNG.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential impact of biodiversity net gain regulations on local planning authorities.

Ministers and officials from Defra and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have regular discussions on a range of issues. Officials from both departments continue to work very closely together on biodiversity net gain (BNG) implementation to ensure local planning authorities have the guidance and tools in place to deliver BNG. Defra has committed £35 million since financial year 2021/2022 to enable Local Planning Authorities to prepare for and implement BNG. On top of this, Defra has funded the Planning Advisory Service to support Local Planning Authorities to prepare for and deliver BNG. Defra and MHCLG will continue to monitor the roll out of BNG.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has undertaken a review of the accessibility of the Fruit and Vegetable aid scheme.

The Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme is an EU legacy scheme and legislation is in place which will close it on the 31st of December 2025. The Government has committed to championing British farming, whilst protecting the environment, and is currently considering the best way to support our farming sectors in the future, including horticulture.

How much her Department has spent on training relating to the single justice procedure for (a) magistrates and (b) legal advisers in each of the last five years.

The Ministry of Justice is not responsible for judicial training, which is the responsibility of the Judicial College.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing single justice procedure hearings to be observable by accredited journalists.

Single Justice Procedure (SJP) cases are decided by a single magistrate, with support of a legal adviser, in private rather than in a hearing in open court. This means that cases can be dealt with by courts anywhere in the country and are therefore not scheduled in the same way as conventional cases in court proceedings. As a result of this, these cases can be decided quickly and are often used to fill gaps between in person hearings and so enable efficient use of magistrates’ court capacity and time. Magistrates have the ability to refer cases to open court if they feel it would be appropriate. Although journalists cannot observe magistrates deciding individual SJP cases, there is already more information published on SJP cases than cases heard in open court. This allows scrutiny from journalists, who can request additional information on cases under the Criminal Procedure Rules. Under a protocol agreed between HMCTS and media organisations, magistrates’ courts must provide lists of both pending cases and copies of the court register to local media. This includes SJP cases. The protocol also outlines what documents relating to SJP cases can be provided to the media – unlike any other case type, this includes a copy of the prosecution statement of facts or, if there is no statement of facts, the witness statement(s) and any defence representations in mitigation. We will keep the procedure under review.

How many single justice procedure notices issued by local authorities for truancy relating to a child (a) with and (b) without special educational needs have been prosecuted in each of the last five years.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of prosecutions for truancy offences, however, information held centrally does not include whether the prosecution was processed through the Single Justice Procedure, or if the offence related to a child with or without special educational needs. This information may be held on court records, but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost.

What estimate she has made of the number of active police officers in the South Norfolk constituency.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.This data is collected at Police Force Area (PFA) level only, and information at lower levels of geography, such as Parliamentary Constituencies is not collected.Table H1 of the data tables accompanying each 31 March release of the ‘Police Workforce’ publication shows the number of full-time equivalent police officers that are available for duty. The number of police officers available for duty excludes those on long term absence (career break, sick leave, study leave, maternity/paternity leave, suspension, special leave, compassionate leave and study leave).The Home Office does not centrally collect information on police stations and never has done.

How many police stations were operational in the South Norfolk constituency in (a) 2010 and (b) the most recent date for which data is available.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.This data is collected at Police Force Area (PFA) level only, and information at lower levels of geography, such as Parliamentary Constituencies is not collected.Table H1 of the data tables accompanying each 31 March release of the ‘Police Workforce’ publication shows the number of full-time equivalent police officers that are available for duty. The number of police officers available for duty excludes those on long term absence (career break, sick leave, study leave, maternity/paternity leave, suspension, special leave, compassionate leave and study leave).The Home Office does not centrally collect information on police stations and never has done.

Whether her Department plans to increase the number of people approved to sit on the Appeal Tribunal Chair list for police misconduct trials.

Police Appeal Tribunals (PATs) play a crucial role in ensuring that we have a fair and robust police discipline system.There was a recruitment exercise earlier this year to significantly increase numbers of PAT chairs, and decisions on appointments will be taken in due course.

What steps her Department is taking to support the use of buses in (a) South Norfolk constituency and (b) East Anglia.

Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities, and the government is committed to delivering better bus services and growing passenger numbers. Since the de-regulation of buses in England, passenger numbers have declined, and the government is determined to fix this.As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will pass the Better Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, to ensure networks can meet the needs to the communities who rely on them and encourage passengers back onto buses, including in South Norfolk, East Anglia and right across England. The Department will work closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on these ambitions.