Written questions by Cooper.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the contribution by the hon. Member for St Albans on 9 July 2025, Official Report, column 325WH, whether she plans to make alternative funding available to London Colney Parish Council for the completion of their neighbourhood plan.

Following the Spending Review, my Department announced that it is unable to commission new neighbourhood planning support services for 2025 onwards.Technical support which has already been awarded will continue to be provided but must be completed before the end of March 2026.London Colney Parish is not in receipt of such support.The government remains of the view that neighbourhood plans can play an important role in the planning system. Communities can continue to prepare neighbourhood plans where they consider that doing so is in their best interests.Parish and Town Councils have access to their own resources which they can choose to use for neighbourhood planning if they wish.

Whether her Department has had recent discussions with Network Rail on the potential merits of (a) reducing and (b) eliminating the use of glyphosate herbicides on railway property.

Network Rail uses glyphosate to control the growth of vegetation in places where it may cause problems for trains or colleagues working alongside the track. This helps to maintain the safe operation of the railway and avoid key parts of the railway being covered by vegetation. Network Rail has been reducing the amount of chemicals it uses on the network over the last couple of decades. Applications are targeted at the plants to ensure that the volume used is as low as possible. There is not currently a chemical alternative to glyphosate that gives Network Rail the same control of vegetation. Non-chemical approaches are available and used by Network Rail in other locations, but they are not viable for use on the operational railway.

Whether he has held discussions with Royal Mail on the adequacy of their response times to hon. Members raising casework matters about local postal services.

Ministers and officials have discussions with Royal Mail on a regular basis in its capacity as the universal service provider. Royal Mail endeavours to respond to all queries about postal services in a timely manner. Specific operational arrangements continue to be an internal matter for Royal Mail as an independent business.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an independent watchdog to monitor the effectiveness of HMRC Customer Compliance Group.

HMRC and its Customer Compliance Group (CCG), is subject to a wide range of independent oversight and actively engages with a range of independent assurance, both internal and external.Internally, HMRC maintains robust governance structures, including oversight by its Executive Committee and HMRC Board, alongside newly established subcommittees of the Board such as the Closing the Tax Gap Committee chaired by non-executive director Bill Dodwell – with a significant focus on the work of Customer Compliance Group. Externally, HMRC is held to account by Parliamentary authorities, including the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC), the Treasury Select Committee (TSC), and the National Audit Office (NAO) who regularly undertake both financial and value for money scrutiny of HMRC and its Customer Compliance Group. Recent reports include those into tax evasion in the retail sector, managing compliance work since the pandemic and collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals – all of which primarily focused upon the work of HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group. HMRC Customer Compliance Group welcomes Parliamentary scrutiny and has accepted 93.5% of recommendations of these bodies in the last 24 months aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of the Department. HMRC is working to implement the recommendations by the deadlines agreed with the respective bodies. Customers can also ask the independent Adjudicator’s Office to review complaints after they have been investigated, if they are dissatisfied with how they have been handled by the Department.

Whether HMRC has issued guidance that the (a) Customer Compliance Group and (b) Risk and Intelligence Service (Compliance, Operational Insight and Risking) Group should only investigate cases of alleged tax evasion where the estimated loss to the public purse has been more than £35,000 for five years or more.

HMRC Customer Compliance Group’s guidance specifically states that there is no de-minimis limit for suspected fraud referrals and does not contain any instructions that would limit investigation in relation to timespan of the tax at risk.HMRC’s Risk and Intelligence Service deliver a wide range of cases, including where there is suspected evasion behaviour. CCG use a variety of indicators to identify the highest risk cases to address different compliance risks, but do not use an estimated loss of £35,000 for five years or more as a standard selection criteria.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to grant local authorities stronger powers to reject license applications for slot machines.

The Government wants local authorities to feel empowered to make decisions that are in their communities’ best interests. Local authorities have a range of powers to manage gambling in their areas, both under the planning system and as licensing authorities under the Gambling Act 2005.As set out in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s English Devolution White Paper, the Government will look to complement local authorities’ existing powers in relation to gambling outlets to refuse or place conditions on premises licences, in line with measures outlined in the 2023 Gambling White Paper, when parliamentary time allows.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing additional resource to the priority service for processing Indefinite Leave to Remain applications on the BNO route for Hong Kongers.

The Priority Visa Service for BNO (British National Overseas) Indefinite Leave to Remain applications was introduced on 8 September 2023. Straightforward applications are processed within 5 days of biometric enrolment. Sufficient resource is allocated to ensure this target is met.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle the resale of stolen mobile phones.

On 6 February the Home Secretary brought together police, the National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, local government representatives, leading technology companies and others to drive greater collaboration in breaking the business model of mobile phone thieves. The Summit resulted in clear commitments from attendees to work in partnership, including to significantly boost the sharing of data and intelligence on mobile phone theft to build a comprehensive picture of the problem, better understand the role of organised crime networks and identify the most effective means of tackling these crimes. This includes work to disrupt the resale of stolen phones, including exploring technological solutions to make devices harder to re-register or resell, and working with the police to better understand the routes used to sell stolen phones.The Home Office continues to regularly engage with the police and other stakeholders to progress work to tackle this criminality and the Home Secretary will reconvene this group shortly to agree further actions.In addition, the Crime and Policing Bill includes a measure to give police the power to enter and search premises for stolen property that has been electronically geo-location tracked to those premises, where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant without seriously prejudicing the entry and search purpose. This power will support efforts to recover stolen phones before they can be resold.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish the eligibility criteria for repatriation flights from Israel.

The eligibility criteria for repatriation flights from Israel is published on the UK Government Travel Advice page for Israel (https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/israel).

Whether he has considered the potential merits of conducting a review into the Transport for London zoning of (a) Watford Junction, (b) Watford High Street, (c) Bushey railway station and (d) Watford Underground station.

Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London and Transport for London, and it is for them to make decisions regarding the zoning of their services.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 56880 on Health Professions: Regulation, whether the consultation expected by the end of this year will be open to submissions from Members of Parliament and the public.

We are aiming to commence consultation on a draft legislative framework for the General Medical Council by the end of this year. This will be a statutory three-month public consultation which anyone will be able to respond to, including Members of Parliament and the public.

With reference to the letter of 9 June 2026 from the Minister of State for Health to the Hon Member of St Albans (ref PO-1608258), when the remediable service statement will be issued.

The production of remediable services statements is a challenging and complex work programme that the NHS Business Service Authority is working hard to deliver.I will respond directly to the Hon. Member in a letter to update on the personal delivery status for her constituent.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of facilitating repatriation flights for UK nationals in (a) Israel and (b) the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in the context of similar arrangements being make by (i) Czech Republic and (ii) Slovakia.

The Government has been working around the clock to provide charter flights for those who wished to leave, as soon as it was safe to do so and once airspace reopened. Two charter flights for UK nationals wishing to leave Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories have departed from Tel Aviv and landed safely in the UK. Further flights are being considered, taking into account the demand from British nationals. We urge British nationals in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to register their presence, follow our travel advice for the latest updates, and follow local authorities' advice.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to Planning Inspectorate case number APP/M1900/W/24/3346607, what her planned timetable is for determining the appeal by Brett Aggregates Limited to develop a quarry at the site of the former Hatfield Aerodrome.

No timetable has yet been set for the determination of this case.

On what date he expects the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to begin inviting relatives of the deceased to submit their claims for compensation.

The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) as an operationally independent arm's-length body. Going forward, IBCA is aiming to contact an average of 100 people to begin their claim every week. At that rate, they expect to have brought in to claim all those infected people who are registered with a support scheme this calendar year. The Government expects IBCA to begin payments to people who are affected by the end of this year. As of 17 June, IBCA has contacted 1,707 people to start their compensation claim, and 1,346 have started the claim process. 462 offers of compensation have been made, totalling over £395 million, and so far 310 people have accepted their offers with more than £231 million paid in compensation. In February, IBCA set out their plans to open the compensation service in stages to make sure it is effective and secure for all those claiming. IBCA have provided details of their plans on their website here: https://ibca.org.uk/news/payments-to-be-scaled-up-in-2025 A relative of a deceased infected person may be eligible for compensation on behalf of the estate of the deceased infected person; as an affected person in their own right; or as both.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2025 to Question 51941 on Paraneoplastic Encephalomyelitis: Diagnosis, how many laboratories in England provide testing for KLHL11 antibodies.

The Department does not collect data on KLHL11 antibody testing in England.

What the (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average time taken was from the date an Access to Work application was submitted to the date a decision was made in the 2024-25 financial year.

The longest wait time during April 2024 – March 2025, from the date submitted to the date the decision was made was 393 daysThe shortest wait time during April 2024 – March 2025, from the date submitted to the date the decision was made was 1 dayThe average wait time during April 2024 – March 2025, from the date submitted to the date the decision was made was 56.9 days Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution. We are committed to reducing waiting times for Access to Work and are considering the best way to deliver that for customers. We have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims and applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing are prioritised. The Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to get Britain Working’ Green Paper was published on 18 March. Alongside the Access to Work reform proposals introduced in the Green Paper, we are considering further options to reduce the waiting time for customers.

How many Access to Work applications were (a) submitted and (b) rejected in (i) part and (ii) full in the 2024-25 financial year; and how many and what proportion of applications that were rejected were taken to reconsideration.

(a) 157,023 applications were submitted during 2024-25(b) 88,607 applications were approved during 2024-25 with a further (i)4,227 applications where advice was provided to the claimant. (ii)34,959 applications were not approved with the following reasons:No contactNo EvidenceNot eligibleApplication not pursuedClosed other 1,378 reconsideration requests were received during 2024-25, this equates to 1.1% of decisions made had a reconsideration request Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 February 2025 to Question 29926 on Health Professions: Regulation, what recent progress he has made on setting a timetable for announcing his priorities in relation to the applicability of the five year rule by professional regulators on fitness to practise in cases which involve allegations of historic sexual abuse.

The Government has set out its intention to reform the legislative frameworks of all healthcare professional regulators, starting with the General Medical Council (GMC).As part of this work, any legislative restrictions on regulators from being able to consider fitness to practise concerns that are more than five years old will be removed from legislation. Regulators such as the GMC will have the discretion to determine whether a concern should be investigated based on the specific details of a fitness to practise case, which may include reflections on the length of time that has elapsed since the concern was raised or occurred.The Government is aiming to consult on a draft legislative framework for the GMC by the end of this year, and lay the legislation during this Parliament.

What steps he is taking to ensure that Continuing Health Care services remain uninterrupted for patients when the services are being transitioned from Integrated Care Boards.

The Department is responsible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) policy and legislation. We have provided statutory guidance, setting out clear processes for CHC, which all integrated care boards (ICBs) must follow. CHC is funded by ICBs, and it is for individual ICBs to make assessments and decisions in a consistent manner, in line with their statutory duties and guidance. This guidance has not changed and ICBs are expected to maintain CHC delivery in line with their statutory duties. While the Model ICB Blueprint highlighted CHC as one of the functions that are subject to “review for transfer” to “test and explore options to streamline and transfer some activities out of ICBs”, a decision has not been made on this function being transferred out of ICBs. If the function were transferred out, it would require legislative change. The sender and receiver organisations would be responsible for safe transfer, enabling continuity of services and managing risk during any transition.