Written questions by Hinchliff.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to publish a horticulture strategy.

The Government’s commitment to the horticulture sector and its vital role in strengthening food security by ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of home-grown fresh produce remains steadfast. We are taking a strategic approach to support for horticulture recognising the specific needs of the sector. This includes developing a Farming Roadmap, which will set out a 25-year vision and blueprint to make our farming and food production more sustainable and profitable. Alongside this our Food Strategy will deliver clear long-term outcomes that create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system - boosting our food security, improving our health, ensuring economic growth, and delivering environmental sustainability.

How many children were admitted into NHS care for more than seven days in the latest period for which data is available.

NHS England collects data on patient discharge episodes, including for children. Discharge data does not represent the number of individual children with a hospital stay, as a child may have more than one discharge from hospital within the reporting period.Between April 2023 and March 2024, 67,421 discharge episodes were recorded where the patient was in hospital for more than seven days and was aged between zero and 17 years old when admitted into National Health Service care.The following table shows a count of finished discharge episodes where the patient was aged between zero and 17 years old, including both total discharges and episodes where the patient was in hospital for more than seven days, each discharge month for 2023/24, for activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector:Discharge yearDischarge monthTotal dischargesDischarges over seven days2023April150,9255,2032023May167,8865,7312023June164,2065,4892023July160,9815,3932023August153,1185,1632023September162,5775,2032023October178,5835,6862023November186,6826,1442023December169,8075,9972024January174,4925,6982024February170,2585,6672024March180,7896,047Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS England.Notes:a discharge episode is the last episode during a hospital stay, or spell, where the patient is discharged from the hospital or transferred to another hospital. Discharges do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one discharge from hospital within the period;the patient age is recorded at the point of admission, and this is used to determine the most appropriate setting for the patient. For the purposes of this data, we have only included discharges where the patient was aged zero to 17 years old at the point of admission;total discharges are a count of the total number of finished discharge episodes;discharge month episodes have been counted against the month in which the discharge occurred. It is possible that a patient may have been admitted in a month prior to their discharge; andfor the financial year 2023/24, the data in the HES is held by the financial year in which the episode ends. This is to ensure that all clinical and administrative data relevant to the episode is available at the time of collection.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of outsourcing on collection and delivery of blood products to hospitals.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood services in England. NHSBT’s Logistics Department plays a key role in planning for, collecting, and delivering life saving and life changing donated blood products to hospitals across England. It does not deliver to hospices directly.Last year over 150,000 deliveries were made to hospitals around England, with over 2,000 of those being emergencies. Of the total blood units supplied, NHSBT’s Logistics Transport delivered approximately 64%, and third parties delivered approximately 27%. Hospitals can collect their own blood unit order, making use of their own internal transport, couriers, or blood bike charity groups, and this equates to approximately 9% of total blood units supplied. Utilising couriers for ad hoc delivery is financially and environmentally advantageous, as NHSBT only pays for the delivery costs rather than the empty return journey of the vehicle, which may then be used for other purposes by the courier.The current performance of courier delivery is audited through NHSBT’s Governance and compliance, and a key factor for measuring the effective running of the contract is that the courier partner collects blood products for delivery on time. The performance level that NHSBT sets is 98.5% on time collection, and this performance is currently exceeded. There are currently no plans to extend the use of third-party couriers for the delivery of blood products or to publish further information in this area.

If he will publish a report on the potential impact of outsourcing on collection and delivery of blood products on the NHS and hospices.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood services in England. NHSBT’s Logistics Department plays a key role in planning for, collecting, and delivering life saving and life changing donated blood products to hospitals across England. It does not deliver to hospices directly.Last year over 150,000 deliveries were made to hospitals around England, with over 2,000 of those being emergencies. Of the total blood units supplied, NHSBT’s Logistics Transport delivered approximately 64%, and third parties delivered approximately 27%. Hospitals can collect their own blood unit order, making use of their own internal transport, couriers, or blood bike charity groups, and this equates to approximately 9% of total blood units supplied. Utilising couriers for ad hoc delivery is financially and environmentally advantageous, as NHSBT only pays for the delivery costs rather than the empty return journey of the vehicle, which may then be used for other purposes by the courier.The current performance of courier delivery is audited through NHSBT’s Governance and compliance, and a key factor for measuring the effective running of the contract is that the courier partner collects blood products for delivery on time. The performance level that NHSBT sets is 98.5% on time collection, and this performance is currently exceeded. There are currently no plans to extend the use of third-party couriers for the delivery of blood products or to publish further information in this area.

If she will publish a response to the report by the National Farmers Union entitled An impact analysis of APR reforms on commercial family farms, published on 25 November 2024.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, in 2026-27 paying more inheritance tax. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data. The Government has also set out that around 1,500 estates across the UK only claiming business property relief are expected to be affected in 2026-27, with around 1,000 of these expected to only hold shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as the Alternative Investment Market. The remaining 500 estates will include business assets from sectors across the economy that are eligible for business property relief. These reforms mean that around three-quarters of estates claiming business property relief in 2026-27 (excluding those only relating to holding shares designated as “not listed”) will not pay any more inheritance tax in 2026-27. The tax base consists of all estates subject to inheritance tax that are projected to claim agricultural property relief or business property relief across the scorecard period. The tax base is estimated using HMRC administrative data, and is grown over the forecast in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast for inheritance tax receipts. More detail on the Government’s estimates, including why these projections should be viewed as a maximum, are also available in a letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee in November 2024, which is available at committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent OBR certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024 and this is available at https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-october-2024/. The OBR recently published more detail in January 2025 on the costings at https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/IHT-APR-and-BPR-supplementary-release-Jan-2025.pdf. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the report by the National Farmers Union entitled APR and BPR reform alternative, published on 19 February 2025, on changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 32918.

If her Department will publish the modelling used to set changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief and (b) Business Property Relief.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, in 2026-27 paying more inheritance tax. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data. The Government has also set out that around 1,500 estates across the UK only claiming business property relief are expected to be affected in 2026-27, with around 1,000 of these expected to only hold shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as the Alternative Investment Market. The remaining 500 estates will include business assets from sectors across the economy that are eligible for business property relief. These reforms mean that around three-quarters of estates claiming business property relief in 2026-27 (excluding those only relating to holding shares designated as “not listed”) will not pay any more inheritance tax in 2026-27. The tax base consists of all estates subject to inheritance tax that are projected to claim agricultural property relief or business property relief across the scorecard period. The tax base is estimated using HMRC administrative data, and is grown over the forecast in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast for inheritance tax receipts. More detail on the Government’s estimates, including why these projections should be viewed as a maximum, are also available in a letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee in November 2024, which is available at committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent OBR certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024 and this is available at https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-october-2024/. The OBR recently published more detail in January 2025 on the costings at https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/IHT-APR-and-BPR-supplementary-release-Jan-2025.pdf. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

If she will publish her Department's impact assessments of changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief and (b) Business Property Relief.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, in 2026-27 paying more inheritance tax. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data. The Government has also set out that around 1,500 estates across the UK only claiming business property relief are expected to be affected in 2026-27, with around 1,000 of these expected to only hold shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as the Alternative Investment Market. The remaining 500 estates will include business assets from sectors across the economy that are eligible for business property relief. These reforms mean that around three-quarters of estates claiming business property relief in 2026-27 (excluding those only relating to holding shares designated as “not listed”) will not pay any more inheritance tax in 2026-27. The tax base consists of all estates subject to inheritance tax that are projected to claim agricultural property relief or business property relief across the scorecard period. The tax base is estimated using HMRC administrative data, and is grown over the forecast in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast for inheritance tax receipts. More detail on the Government’s estimates, including why these projections should be viewed as a maximum, are also available in a letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee in November 2024, which is available at committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent OBR certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024 and this is available at https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-october-2024/. The OBR recently published more detail in January 2025 on the costings at https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/IHT-APR-and-BPR-supplementary-release-Jan-2025.pdf. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to part three of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, whether environmental delivery plans will be applied in a modular way, with species considered on a case-by-case basis.

Environmental Delivery Plans will only be put in place where Natural England and the Secretary of State are confident that conservation measures will be sufficient to outweigh the negative impact of development. Where this is not the case, existing environmental obligations, including those arising under the Habitats Regulations, will remain in place. We are working with Natural England to explore which species might benefit from strategic approaches.

Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number and proportion of overseas voters who did not receive a ballot in time to vote at the general election in 2024; and whether her Department plans to take steps to increase the proportion of overseas voters who receive a ballot in time.

The Department does not hold information on the number of overseas voters that did not receive a ballot in time to vote at the general election in 2024.As set out in our response to the Electoral Commission’s evaluation of the 2024 general election, published last month (Electoral Commission’s reports on the 2024 elections: government response - GOV.UK), the Government recognises the Commission’s findings with regards to the difficulties faced by British citizens living overseas when trying to participate in UK elections.As part of our review of electoral registration and conduct, the government, in partnership with electoral practitioners and the Electoral Commission, is examining several aspects of the system for overseas electors, with a view to identifying practical solutions to some of the challenges faced.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending regulations on blue badges to include a provision for people who run (a) taxis and (b) other transport vehicles that are designed to provide facilities for people with disabilities.

The Blue Badge scheme provides a range of parking concessions for people with a long-term disability, who travel either as passengers or drivers, that affects their capacity to access the goods and services they need to use. The regulations governing the Blue Badge scheme define a disabled person's badge as: “a badge issued by a local authority for display on any motor vehicle driven by a disabled person or used for the carriage of a disabled person or of several disabled persons.” The concessions can be used by taxis and any other vehicles with the badge on display, to drop off and collect a Blue Badge holder. The Department has no plans to amend the current eligibility criteria.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Environmental Development Plans proposed in Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be required to follow the mitigation hierarchy.

Environmental Development Plans will provide the flexibility to diverge from project-by-project mitigation and a restrictive application of the mitigation hierarchy. However, this will only be where Natural England consider that this would deliver better outcomes for nature over the course of the delivery plan. An Environmental Development Plan can only be put in place where Natural England and the Secretary of State are satisfied that the delivery of conservation measures will outweigh the negative effects of development.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Environmental Development Plans proposed in Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be informed by site level assessments where required.

Environmental Delivery Plans will only be put in place where Natural England and the Secretary of State are confident that conservation measures will be sufficient to outweigh the impact of development. The plans will be evidence based and subject to consultation before coming to the Secretary of State for consideration. Where an Environmental Delivery Plan is in place and a developer utilises it, the developer would no longer be required to undertake their own assessments, or deliver project-specific interventions, for issues addressed by the Environmental Delivery Plan.

What progress he has made on creating a National Care Service.

The Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.Chaired by Baroness Casey of Blackstock, the Commission will start a national conversation about what people expect from adult social care, setting us on the road to fundamental reform that will build a social care system fit for the future.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the timing of the start of the school budget year in April and the academic year in September on schools' ability to budget effectively for staffing needs when pupil numbers increase in September.

Schools are generally funded on the basis of their pupil numbers in the previous October census, therefore meaning the funding that schools receive for the 2025/26 funding year will be based on pupil numbers as of October 2024. This practice means that the department can publish allocations with enough time to give schools certainty over funding levels and to aid in their planning. It also gives schools time to adjust to any declines in pupil numbers, before these have an impact on their funding.However, the department understands that this can cause problems where schools are experiencing significant growth in pupil numbers. The department also allocates ‘growth funding’ to local authorities. This can be used by local authorities to support both maintained schools and academies in managing a significant growth in pupil numbers, in advance of this increase being reflected in schools’ core funding allocations.

Whether the permanent cost of pay rises for primary school teachers implemented in September 2024 has been factored into school budgets beyond April 2025.

The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning the core schools budget will total over £64.8 billion compared to almost £61.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This includes the £2.3 billion announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 and over £930 million being provided to support schools and high needs settings with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions from April 2025.The funding announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 includes funding to cover the remaining costs of the 2024 teachers’ pay award in the 2025/26 financial year.For mainstream schools, all of this funding has been rolled into the schools national funding formula in 2025/26, ensuring that it forms an ongoing part of schools’ core budgets.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of renewable energy projects on local communities.

This government has a very simple principle: if you live near new clean energy infrastructure, you should benefit from it. That's why the Planning and Infrastructure Bill proposes much-needed reforms, including direct bill discounts for communities, easier access to community funds, and a streamlined, less burdensome planning process. We know that to deliver on our mission we must bring communities with us.

Whether he has had recent discussions with Stellantis on the closure of their Luton plant.

Ministers have engaged closely with Stellantis on the future of its operations in the UK, with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade most recently meeting the Chair of the Stellantis board on 1 February to discuss how the Luton plant could be kept open as well as ensuring appropriate support for affected workers should a closure proceed.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of special educational provision in North East Hertfordshire constituency.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with SEND through early identification, effective support, high-quality teaching and effective allocation of resources. The department is also working closely with experts on reforms who will play a key role in convening and engaging with the sector, including leaders, practitioners, children and families as we consider the next steps for the future of SEND reform.The department is providing support and challenge to the Hertfordshire local area partnership. In July 2023, Ofsted’s inspection of local arrangements in Hertfordshire for children with SEND concluded that there were widespread and/or systemic failings, leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND, which the local area partnership must address urgently.Since then, the department has been using a SEND expert adviser to monitor progress against Hertfordshire’s priority action plan and improvement plan. In January 2025, the department sent the local area partnership a letter following a stocktake into their progress. This letter outlines that improvements are being made at pace, including on governance arrangements and quality assurance. However, there are still areas for the local area to address, for example on the impact and sustainability of improvements. The letter can be accessed here: https://sendnews.hertfordshire.gov.uk/31-january-2025#stocktake.The partnership has also established a SEND Improvement Board, which is independently chaired by Dame Christine Lenehan, to oversee progress and provide appropriate challenge.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Better Care Fund policy framework 2025 to 2026, published on 30 January 2025, what plans he has to consult on changes to the maximum Disabled Facilities Grant limit.

In England, we continue to fund the locally administered Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), which helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes. We are providing an immediate in-year uplift of £86 million in 2024/25. This is on top of the £625 million paid to local authorities in May 2024. The Government also announced an £86 million additional investment in the DFG for the 2025/26 financial year at the Budget, bringing the total funding for 2025/26 to £711 million.To ensure the DFG is as effective as possible, we will continue to keep different aspects of the grant under consideration. As part of this, we are reviewing the suitability of the current upper limit and will set out further detail in due course.