Written questions by Stephenson.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36228 on Housing: Construction, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing (a) a housing supply forecast and (b) projected profiles of housing delivery every (i) month, (ii) quarter) and (iii) year.

The government publishes quarterly data on planning applications and housing starts and completions. The latest data on planning application statistics can be found on gov.uk here. Data on housing starts and completions can be found on gov.uk here. The main measure of housing supply is net additional dwellings, the latest data on which can be found on gov.uk here.

What steps the Government has taken to achieve the target of 350 banking hubs since 5 July 2024.

The Government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups or face challenges using alternative payment methods. The Government is committed to maintaining the viability of cash as a payment method for those who choose to use it. The Government also understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets across the UK, including those in rural communities, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. In September 2024, The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced regulatory rules for access to cash. Its rules require the reasonable provision of free cash withdrawal and deposit facilities for personal current accounts. Where a branch closure is announced or a community has submitted a cash access assessment request, LINK, the independent industry coordinating body responsible for making access to cash assessments, assesses a community’s access to cash needs, and will recommend appropriate solutions where it considers that a community requires additional cash services. Any decisions on changes to LINK’s independent assessment criteria are a matter for LINK, the financial services sector, and for the FCA, which oversees the access to cash regime. Under the framework provided by this regime, the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK which will provide individuals up and down the country with critical cash and banking services. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 220 hubs have been announced so far, and over 135 are already open.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with (a) insurance companies and (b) the Association of British Insurers on the sharing of data on surface water flood claims with the Environment Agency.

The Floods Resilience Taskforce was formed by this Government to provide oversight of national and local flood resilience and preparedness and improve policy delivery and implementation. Bringing together key stakeholders in order to ensure that we are comprehensive and inclusive in our approach. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) represent the insurance industry at this forum; my officials also routinely engage with the ABI at working level to enhance everyone’s understanding of prevailing issues. As part of these conversations, we routinely seek various industry data through the ABI to inform policy development. The Taskforce will also play a key role in speeding up and coordinating national and local flood preparation ahead of the winter flood season. To drive work forward, Action Groups have been created to help focus on specific areas, one group will be leading on insurance, which the ABI is party too. The Action Groups will feed into the main group.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 35438 on Tree Preservation Orders: Bedfordshire, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that locally held records like Tree Protection Orders are not lost during Local Government reorganisation.

The implementation of local government reorganisation will be a matter for local authorities to consider as they develop their proposals for reorganisation and establish new unitary authorities. It is essential that councils continue to deliver their business-as-usual services and duties, which remain unchanged up until such time as the reorganisation process is complete.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36227 on New Towns, whether any sites submitted as part of the call for evidence are in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

The New Towns Taskforce will submit its final report this summer. As there may be political or commercial sensitivities to information submitted regarding prospective developments, the New Towns Taskforce will not be sharing information about the evidence base of locations prior to publication of the final report.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36225 on New Towns: Mid Bedfordshire, if she will make it her policy to inform Rt hon. and hon. Members of a new town proposal in their constituency before publicly disclosing such information.

The New Towns Taskforce will submit its final report this summer. As there may be political or commercial sensitivities to information submitted regarding prospective developments, the New Towns Taskforce will not be sharing information about the evidence base of locations prior to publication of the final report.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Water investment to unlock growth in East of England, published on 13 March 2025, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of a Bedford to Milton Keynes waterway on (a) local and (b) national economic growth.

The Government recognises the wide range of benefits brought by our inland waterways and is supportive in general of projects to restore and develop them, including where they form part of wider growth plans.

If she will make an estimate of the expected contribution of the National Wealth Fund to economic growth in Bedfordshire between 4 July 2024 and 4 July 2029.

Growth is the government’s number one mission, and the National Wealth Fund is a key lever for helping to deliver the investment underpinning this. The National Wealth Fund is committed to supporting the Government's growth and clean energy missions. Importantly, the impact and long-term benefits of many of its investments will be felt UK-wide, not just in the location where the individual deal is situated. Since July 2024, the NWF has committed £1.8 billion, supporting almost 10,000 jobs across the UK. The National Wealth Fund has not estimated its expected impact in Bedfordshire specifically, but further detail on the National Wealth Fund’s impact can be found in its Annual Report & Accounts.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for local record centres.

Biodiversity data is essential for informed planning decisions, with Local Environmental Records Centres (LERCs) and national platforms like the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) providing key species data. However, access to, and use of, Biodiversity data is inconsistent across planning applications. LERCs vary greatly by region in terms of resources, systems, and data sharing models. In 2015, Natural England ended its Service Level Agreement with LERCs and moved to a case-by-case payment model, which has a renewed focus making sure LERC data supports HMG priorities. LERCS are one of many sources that can provide Biodiversity data for informed planning decisions. Through the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme, Natural England is collaborating with UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Biological Records Centre, NBN, as well the overarching Association of LERCs, to improve data flow, simplify submissions, and enhance national access. Recent system updates return more control to data providers, strengthening transparency and stewardship. This work supports the Geospatial Commission’s Review on Mapping the Species Data Pathway (link), which calls for modernising data systems, enabling open data use, and securing long-term sustainability Mapping the Species Data Pathway - NE commissioned

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Impact Note on removal of eligibility of private schools for business rates charitable relief, published on 30 October 2024, for what reasons the Government did not model the impact on economic growth.

Policies and legislation concerning tax and tax administration fall outside the meaning of regulatory provisions and, therefore, are not required to be accompanied by an Impact Assessment. Nevertheless, the government has conducted detailed analysis of the effects of business rates changes using the available Department for Education and Valuation Office Agency data. The impact note published on 13 November 2024, alongside the introduction of the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill, provides detailed analysis of the average business rates change per pupil for private schools; distributional analysis by region, religious ethos, and pupil population; as well as anticipated pupil movements, associated costs, and equalities impacts. The methodology for calculating the cost of this change has been certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility. The estimation of impacts, such as pupil movements, follows from that methodology. The OBR's economic forecast in October modelled the macroeconomic impacts of the Budget package, including the measures relating to private schools.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2025 to Question 35021 on Motor Vehicles: Dangerous Driving and Noise, if she will make an assessment of the potential connection between excessively noisy vehicles and dangerous driving.

The Department does not have plans to carry out an assessment of the potential connection between excessively noisy vehicles and dangerous driving.The Department takes the impact of excessive noise on health, wellbeing and the natural environment seriously and conducted roadside trials of noise camera technology between October 2022-February 2023. Reports of these trials, including detailed assessment of the technology’s performance and potential merits, were published on 17 March 2024. Overall, the trials demonstrated that noise cameras currently have the potential to be used for enforcement, but only when accompanied by human review of the recorded evidence, which is likely to lower the cost effectiveness of deploying the technology in many circumstances.

If she will make an assessment of the equity of per pupil school funding in Bedfordshire.

Every year the department uses the schools national funding formula (NFF) to distribute core funding for 5- to 16-year-old pupils in mainstream state-funded schools in England. In the current NFF, the vast majority of funding is distributed on the basis of pupil numbers and characteristics.The purpose of the NFF is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding. It is right that pupils with additional needs attract additional funding to help schools respond and meet their needs. In addition, schools in more expensive areas, like London, attract higher funding per pupil than other parts of the country to reflect the higher costs they face.Through the dedicated schools grant, Bedford local authority is receiving over £179 million for mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year, which equates to £6,306 per pupil on average, excluding growth and falling rolls funding. Central Bedfordshire local authority is receiving almost £260 million, or £5,980 per pupil on average, for mainstream schools in the financial year 2025/26. Schools' final funding allocations are determined by local authority funding formulae and based on updated pupil numbers, so the final per pupil funding amounts for individual schools may differ.

With reference to HMRC's policy paper entitled Private school fees — VAT measure, last updated on 15 November 2024, for what reasons the Government didn't model the potential impact of the policy on economic growth.

At the Budget the Government published the costing methodology for the measure. This included thorough analysis of the static costing and behavioural effects of the measure. In addition, the economic impact of the measure is included in the Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN), also published at the Budget. The OBR's economic forecast in October modelled the macroeconomic impacts of the Budget package, including the private schools measure.

Whether children who attend school in a different local authority area to the one in which they reside are funded at the level of (a) the local authority their school is in or (b) the local authority where they reside.

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates funding for mainstream schools. The funding levels vary between local authority areas, and the funding that mainstream schools receive is determined by the local authority that they are in, rather than where their pupils live. In any given year, mainstream schools are allocated funding based on pupil numbers and characteristics at the time of the previous October census. This means that for the 2025/26 financial year, schools are allocated funding based on the pupils they had at the time of the October 2024 census.Children with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are mainly funded by the local authority in whose area they reside. Local authorities are allocated high needs funding for this purpose and their allocations are calculated through a high needs NFF which uses data relating to the children resident in their area. The local authority allocates the majority of this high needs funding to mainstream and special schools, both those located in the authority’s area and those elsewhere, in respect of the children with SEND resident in their area for whom they have statutory responsibilities.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing children to attend specialist education settings in a different local authority to the one in which they reside.

Children and young people can attend specialist provision in any local authority, not just the one in which they reside.Children and young people will be placed in special schools through the statutory process which the Children and Families Act 2014 prescribes for an education, health and care plan. Where pupils require alternative provision because they do not have a school place, the local authority is responsible for arranging a placement.As of January 2024, 8.9% of special school pupils were educated outside the local authority where they live. More information on school and pupil characteristics can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of equalising dedicated school grants for schools.

Every year the department uses the schools national funding formula (NFF) to distribute core funding for 5- to 16-year-old pupils in mainstream state-funded schools in England. In the current NFF, the vast majority of funding is distributed on the basis of pupil numbers and characteristics.The purpose of the NFF is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding. It is right that pupils with additional needs attract additional funding to help schools respond and meet their needs. In addition, schools in more expensive areas, like London, attract higher funding per pupil than other parts of the country to reflect the higher costs they face.Through the dedicated schools grant, Bedford local authority is receiving over £179 million for mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year, which equates to £6,306 per pupil on average, excluding growth and falling rolls funding. Central Bedfordshire local authority is receiving almost £260 million, or £5,980 per pupil on average, for mainstream schools in the financial year 2025/26. Schools' final funding allocations are determined by local authority funding formulae and based on updated pupil numbers, so the final per pupil funding amounts for individual schools may differ.

If she will make an estimate of the number of passengers expected to interchange onto East-West Rail services at Cambridge South whose journeys began at London Stansted Airport in the next 12 months.

No estimate has been made of the number of passengers using Cambridge South station as an interchange to change from East-West Rail services to connecting services to Stansted Airport.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department plans to take to help deliver gigabit broadband in rural villages of fewer than 200 houses.

We do not have a specific category of villages with fewer than 200 houses, but as part of Project Gigabit, over £2 billion of contracts have been signed to connect over a million premises with gigabit-capable broadband. These contracts are targeted at reaching premises that would otherwise not be covered by suppliers’ commercial rollout, and fall predominantly in rural areas. Eligibility is determined at a premises-level, rather than according to the size of the village.The latest published data shows that between April 2023 and March 2024, 92% of premises benefiting from publicly-subsidised broadband rollout, including Project Gigabit, were in rural areas, including villages.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of proposed reductions in the funding for the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme on children in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

I refer the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire to the answer of 28 April to Question 40352.

With reference to the press notice entitled New deal for GPs will fix the front door of the NHS, published on 28 February 2025, whether the funding announced in that notice is in addition to funding allocated to his Department at the Autumn Budget 2024.

We have made necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. Resource spending for the Department will be £22.6 billion more in 2025/26 than in 2023/24, as part of the Spending Review settlement.As a part of this allocation, we are investing £889 million in core general practice (GP) funding, and up to £80 million for the use of Advice and Guidance between GPs and consultants. This brings the total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26, the biggest increase in over a decade. We are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes.