Written questions by Chadwick.

What assessment he has made of the potential economic impact of seeking unlicensed products as an alternative to Creon to mitigate ongoing pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy shortages on pharmacies.

There has been no assessment on the potential economic impact of seeking unlicensed products as an alternative to Creon.The Department is continuing to engage with suppliers of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) and special importers of unlicensed medicines to increase the availability of PERT to mitigate the supply issue. The supplier of Creon expects to receive increased quantities for 2025. In December, the Department issued further management advice to healthcare professionals. This directs clinicians to unlicensed imports when licensed stock is unavailable, and includes actions for integrated care boards to ensure local mitigation plans are implemented. The Department, in collaboration with NHS England, has created a public-facing page which includes the latest updates on PERT availability and easily accessible prescribing advice, including advice on preserving available stock of alternative PERT for certain patient cohorts.

What progress National Grid Electricity Transmission have made on (a) proposals to connect the transmission grid in north Wales to the south and (b) agreements with generators on connection contracts.

As a private transmission owner National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) develops project proposals in England and Wales where a transmission need is identified by the National Energy System Operator (NESO). In all proposals evidence demonstrating due consideration of alternative options is required. In this case proposals remain in early development. NESO submitted proposals to Ofgem to reorder the connection queue, which would impact on generator connection agreements. Ofgem is expected to announce its decision in March.

Whether she plans to provide additional support to police forces impacted by increased volumes of disclosure applications.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is operationally independent from the Home Office and works directly with police forces to process disclosure applications.Overall, police performance remains strong: the DBS sends approximately 3 million checks each year to the 52 police forces and law enforcement agencies commissioned to carry out checks on DBS's behalf. The DBS regularly published updates on performance for their enhanced checks. Thelatest data set can be found here: DBS dataset 1: DBS checks, the DBS Update Service, and disputes - GOV.UKA small number of forces are currently experiencing delays in completing checks. The DBS supports police forces by funding additional staff to handle increases in volumes of checks where necessary, and funding overtime. Police forces with capacity are also helping other forces with outstanding cases, where shared IT platforms allow.

Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with (a) Arts Council England and (b) Arts Council of Wales on a sustainable funding solution for the Welsh National Opera.

I have already held a series of productive meetings with the Wales Office, Welsh Government, Arts Council England, and Welsh National Opera to understand the issue in more detail and to see how, within the parameters of the arm’s length principle, DCMS can best help ensure a strong and secure future for the WNO.The core point of agreement across all these meetings and across all partners was a recognition of the value of the Welsh National Opera and its work - both for the people of Wales, but also for people elsewhere in the UK. It was clear that all partners are keen to achieve a positive long-term future for the organisation, and are working towards that goal.I am pleased to see additional funding of £755,000 has been allocated by the Arts Council to WNO.I was also pleased that this series of meetings was able to reassure everyone that all partners wanted to see a positive future for Welsh National Opera, that the funding bodies across the border will work more collaboratively in future and that the new leadership at the WNO have a clear idea of how to progress. Everyone wants to sustain the WNO so that as many people as possible in Wales and England have a chance to enjoy world class opera close to home. Funding decisions are for the Welsh Arts Council and Arts Council England, but I am confident that the WNO is in a strong place to succeed.

Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on implementing the River Wye Action Plan.

This Government is actively progressing the next steps for the River Wye. This includes building stronger ties and working collaboratively with the Welsh Government, Environment Agency and Natural England, as well as local MPs, farmers, local community groups and eNGOs who have already been doing great work to tackle pollution. This includes the Wye Nutrient Management Board and the Wye Catchment Partnership, which is made up of cross-border stakeholders in farming and environment. Along with regulators in the area, they are coordinating comprehensive research and are well placed to drive local action in the Wye. This Government will not be implementing all of the previous Governments ‘River Wye Action Plan’, including a pilot scheme to incinerate poultry manure in the catchment. We understand poultry incineration already takes place in the catchment, so funding a trial does not represent value for money. We will also not be reappointing a rivers champion. We believe there are excellent local experts who can continue to lead efforts on tackling river pollution and we will be supporting them to drive action forward.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities to provide public conveniences.

Adequate provision of public conveniences is an important issue which local authorities are best suited to manage, given their firm understanding of the needs of their communities.Our English Devolution White Paper, published before Christmas, sets out how we will unleash power from Whitehall back into communities, with local government having a much greater ability to make decisions based on local priorities. Similarly, the Local Government Finance Settlement 2025 to 2026 published in November 2024 outlines how councils will have more financial certainty and flexibility when making decisions for their areas.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a statutory duty to provide public conveniences.

Adequate provision of public conveniences is an important issue which local authorities are best suited to manage, given their firm understanding of the needs of their communities.Our English Devolution White Paper, published before Christmas, sets out how we will unleash power from Whitehall back into communities, with local government having a much greater ability to make decisions based on local priorities. Similarly, the Local Government Finance Settlement 2025 to 2026 published in November 2024 outlines how councils will have more financial certainty and flexibility when making decisions for their areas.

How many people are receiving PIP as a result of having a lung condition; and whether breathlessness is taken into account when conducting a PIP assessment.

In October 2024, there were 107,697 claimants with a respiratory diseased who received Personal Independence Payment (PIP). These figures are for England and Wales only and exclude claimants with Special Rules for End of Life. This figure can be found in Stat Xplore in the “PIP cases with Entitlement from 2019” table found here: Stat-Xplore - Home. Entitlement to PIP is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a health condition or disability, rather than the health condition or disability itself. Individuals can be affected in different ways by the same condition and so the outcome of a PIP claim depends very much on individual circumstances. PIP legislation requires decision makers to consider whether individuals can complete each assessment activity “safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period”. These four components are known as the reliability criteria. When determining whether an activity can be reliably carried out, symptoms such as breathlessness should be considered, as they may indicate that the activity cannot be done to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, or within a reasonable time period. The impact of completing one activity on the ability to complete others must also be considered.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of varying fuel prices at nation-wide service station providers; and what steps she is taking to ensure equity for customers.

The local pricing of fuel at forecourts is a commercial matter for retailers. The Competition and Markets Authority has powers to monitor competition in the road fuel retail market. The government has committed to introduce legislation to implement Fuel Finder which will increase price transparency and enable drivers to compare prices. Additionally, recognising that pump prices are significantly higher in some rural locations, the Rural Fuel Duty Relief scheme supports motorists by providing a 5 pence per litre reduction to the standard rate of fuel duty in designated areas. Policies introduced by the Department for Transport impacting road fuel prices tend to apply UK wide, for example the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). The RTFO does not give rise to price pressures which would necessitate regional or geographical variations in pricing at forecourts.

How many properties are not connected to the national (a) gas and (b) electricity grid in Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe constituency.

The Department publishes estimates of the number of domestic properties not connected to the gas network in Great Britain by constituency. In 2023, an estimated 19,000 domestic properties (41%) in Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe constituency were not connected to the gas network. Equivalent figures for the electricity network are not published.

Innovation and Technology, how much and what proportion of (a) Project Gigabit funding has been (i) spent on and (ii) allocated for and (b) additional funding announced in the press notice entitled Hundreds of thousands of Brits in rural villages and towns to benefit from UK government broadband boost, published on 7 January 2025, has been allocated for projects in Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe constituency.

Project Gigabit funding is not allocated at a constituency or regional level. Instead, it is targeted at premises across the UK that need it most, specifically those outside of suppliers' commercial plans.The latest Project Gigabit contracts announced on 7 January 2025 do not cover Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe as eligible premises in the constituency have already been included in an earlier Project Gigabit contract with Openreach. This contract is currently expected to deliver gigabit-capable connections to approximately 3,600 premises in the constituency.To date, over £1 million in public subsidy has been spent in the Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe constituency through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and its previous iterations, passing nearly 800 premises with gigabit-capable broadband. This includes top-up funding from Welsh Government. Additionally, almost 6,700 premises across the constituency have received a gigabit-capable connection through the government’s Superfast and GigaHubs programmes. We do not hold constituency-level data of spend for these schemes.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Government Digital Service's report entitled Accessibility monitoring of public sector websites and mobile apps from 2022 to 2024, published on 17 December 2024, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) the digital accessibility of websites is reviewed regularly, (b) websites are checked for accessibility for the visually impaired using a keyboard and (c) automated tools are not singularly used to check digital accessibility.

The Government Digital Service (GDS) monitors the accessibility of public sector websites and mobile applications under The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Between January 2022 and September 2024, GDS monitored 1,203 websites and 21 mobile applications.Accessibility monitoring of public sector websites and mobile applications is ongoing.The monitoring process for each website consists of both automated and manual accessibility checks, including keyboard testing.More information on the monitoring methodology can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/accessibility-monitoring-how-we-test .

If she will take steps to ensure the accessibility of touch screens for (a) card payment machines and (b) other services for people with visual impairments.

The government is committed to ensuring high standards of financial inclusion across the financial services sector. The Treasury continues to engage with UK Finance, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Royal National Institute of Blind People, and other Government departments on the issue of accessibility of card payment terminals. UK Finance, the leading trade association for the banking sector, maintains voluntary standards to help ensure point-of-sale technology remains accessible for those who are visually impaired. UK Finance will soon be assessing potential initiatives to drive improvements and adoption. The Government continues to closely monitor progress in this important area.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the findings on trends in the level of rat poison found in birds of prey in the report by Wild Justice entitled The Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme, published on 10 No

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) rather than Defra has responsibility for regulating rodenticides/rat poisons. Given the potential risks posed to the environment by rodenticides, they are subject to strict regulation. Where wild birds of prey or any ...

How many agricultural workers claim Universal Credit.

The requested information is not held. We do not systematically collect data on the employment sector background of Universal Credit (UC) claimants because this does not affect entitlement to UC.

If he will make an assessment of the effect of access to nutritious, appetising hospital food on patient's health, recovery and time spent in hospital; and what plans he has to introduce policies t

The Independent Review of Hospital Food, applicable to hospitals in England only, and published in October 2020, made a suite of recommendations for improving hospital food. The review made clear the positive effect on patient recovery and wellbeing of ac...

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for (a) her policies on reducing Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticide exposure in wildlife and (b) the Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme

I refer the hon. Member to the previous reply PQ 15550.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle trends in the (a) number of abandoned pets and (b) pressure on animal rescue centres.

Defra regularly meets animal welfare stakeholders to understand issues and trends affecting the sector. Defra welcomes the support that the animal sector has provided through pet food banks and financial support with veterinary treatment; and the financia...

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2024 to Question 210 on Development Aid, what fiscal circumstances are required for the restoration of the Official Development Assistance budget to 0.7% of gross national income.

The Government remains committed to international development and restoring Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending to the level of 0.7 percent of GNI as soon as the fiscal circumstances allow. The ODA fiscal tests determine that a return to 0.7 pe...

How much funding her Department plans to provide for rail infrastructure in Wales in each of the next three financial years; and whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of increasing th

Investment in rail infrastructure in Wales in future years will be considered as part of the current Spending Review, which is expected to conclude in spring 2025. In considering this we will have regard to the investment priorities identified by the Wale...