Written questions by McMurdock.

Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of referrals made by local authorities to enforcement agents for the collection of council tax debt in (a) England, (b) Thurrock, (c) Basildon and (d) Essex in the last 12 months.

The government does not collect data on the number of households which have missed council tax payments or data on the actions councils take to recover these debts. The government expects councils to proportionate in the actions they take to recover debts and sympathetic to those in hardship.

What estimate he has made of the proportion of Mobility Scheme users who exceeded 10,000 miles per year in the most recent year for which data is available.

Responsibility for the terms and administration of the Scheme sits with Motability Foundation and its Board of Governors. The changes to the leasing package were announced on 26 March and include reducing the mileage allowance from 20,000 per year to 10,000 per year. Changes only apply to new leases and there are no changes to the mileage allowance of existing leases. Motability Foundation have advised that approximately 75% of customers on the Scheme already use less miles than the proposed new mileage allowance. They have acknowledged that there will be an impact on some customers and are considering if the impact can be mitigated in some limited circumstances.

Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on of the number of people currently in council tax debt in (a) England, (b) Thurrock, (c) Basildon and (d) Essex.

The government does not collect data on the number of households which have missed council tax payments or data on the actions councils take to recover these debts. The government expects councils to proportionate in the actions they take to recover debts and sympathetic to those in hardship.

What plans he has to introduce pathways for British nationals who obtained medical degrees overseas when applying for NHS roles.

The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 implements the Government’s commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training places, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors with significant National Health Service experience for specialty training places. Under the act, a UK medical graduate is defined as someone with a UK primary medical qualification who did not spend the majority of their time training for that qualification outside the British Islands.For specialty training places starting in 2026, we are using immigration statuses as a practical proxy to capture applicants who are most likely to have significant experience working in the health service in the UK. The effect of this is that British citizens will be prioritised. From 2027, immigration status will no longer automatically determine priority for specialty training. Instead, we will be able to make regulations to specify any additional groups who will be prioritised by reference to criteria indicating significant experience as a doctor in the health service, or by reference to immigration status.Overseas‑qualified doctors must meet General Medical Council (GMC) registration and licensing requirements before practising in the National Health Service. A range of information and guidance is available through the GMC website to support doctors through the registration process. The Government is currently consulting on reforms to the legislative framework governing the GMC, which will provide the GMC with greater flexibility to adapt its registration pathways to meet future workforce needs. The consultation closes on 23 June 2026.

What steps he is taking to increase residential and nursing care capacity to reduce the need for out-of-area placements.

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population. Under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care market and to commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. In performing that duty, a local authority must have regard to current and likely future demand for services, including residential and nursing care, and must consider how providers might meet that demand. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how local authorities in England are meeting the full range of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including those related to the commissioning described above. As part of their assessment process, the CQC collects a range of evidence and engages directly with local authorities to inform assessment outcomes. If the CQC identifies that a local authority has failed or is failing to discharge its duties under the Care Act to an acceptable standard, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has powers to intervene.All reports are made available on the CQC’s website. Essex County Council was rated ‘Good’ by the CQC. Their assessment was published on 27 June 2025 and can be found at the following link:https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/essex-0625

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Powering the farms of the future with £50 million tech investment, published on 14 April 2026, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that smaller farms are not excluded from accessing new technologies funded through the programme.

Defra is derisking decisions on new technologies through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, which can aid the affordability of agri-tech tools. Grants are available to a range of farms, including small and medium farms. The final round opened on 17 March with grants of up to £25,000 available for each of three themes: equipment to boost farm productivity, slurry management, and animal health and welfare. Going forward, the Government wishes to build on what has worked well across all its grant schemes with the aim of bringing the strongest elements together from 2027. As part of this work, the Government will look at the specific types of equipment and technology that could be included. The Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) fund is part of the Farming Innovation Programme with £50 million of funding announced to date. This fund is focussed on farmer-led, smaller-scale innovation grants and supports trialling new technology and methods for adoption on farms. Through the Farming Innovation Programme our investment in the research and development pipeline of innovative technology from concept to deployment aims to derisk adoption and enable wider take up, lowering costs for farmers and growers. As such, technologies developed within the Farming Innovation Programme will be available for use by small farmers.

What estimate he has made of the level of misuse of Motability Scheme vehicles in the last five years.

Responsibility for the terms and administration of the Scheme, including identifying and tackling misuse of the Scheme, sits with Motability Foundation and its Board of Governors.  Any misuse of scheme vehicles is taken seriously and Motability Operations has a dedicated unit that works to prevent, detect and handle such cases, and take action where appropriate. Motability investigates the information it receives about misuse of scheme vehicles and works with a range of partners.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Powering the farms of the future with £50 million tech investment, published on 14 April 2026, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that farmers in Essex are able to participate in the Farming Innovation Programme.

The Investor Partnerships initiative is part of the Farming Innovation Programme. An interim evaluation, published in 2025, shows that the programme is on the right track to deliver long term improvements to productivity and the environment, and Defra continues to monitor the effectiveness of the funding. The Farming Innovation Programme aims to benefit English farmers and growers. Therefore, farmers based in Essex are in scope. Funding opportunities are promoted through multiple channels, including Press Notices, The Farming Innovation Programme website and Defra’s Farming Blog. The Modern Industrial Strategy, published last year, committed to spend at least £200 million through the Farming Innovation Programme by 2030. As part of this, at the NFU conference in February the Government announced £70 million to support investment in agri-tech research and development from 2026, including £30 million for the Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies fund.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of council tax debt enforcement on the level of demand for local authority homelessness services in (a) England, (b) Thurrock, (c) Basildon and (d) Essex in the last 12 months.

The government expects councils to be proportionate in the actions they take to recover debts and sympathetic to those in hardship.The government has now published a response to its consultation on council tax administration setting out a package of reforms to the enforcement of council tax debts. These will deliver a fairer and more supportive system for taxpayers, reducing the number of households facing enforcement action. This consultation response can be found on gov.uk here.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Powering the farms of the future with £50 million tech investment, published on 14 April 2026, what her planned timeline is for the roll-out of new agri-tech tools to farms.

Defra is derisking decisions on new technologies through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, which can aid the affordability of agri-tech tools. Grants are available to a range of farms, including small and medium farms. The final round opened on 17 March with grants of up to £25,000 available for each of three themes: equipment to boost farm productivity, slurry management, and animal health and welfare. Going forward, the Government wishes to build on what has worked well across all its grant schemes with the aim of bringing the strongest elements together from 2027. As part of this work, the Government will look at the specific types of equipment and technology that could be included. The Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) fund is part of the Farming Innovation Programme with £50 million of funding announced to date. This fund is focussed on farmer-led, smaller-scale innovation grants and supports trialling new technology and methods for adoption on farms. Through the Farming Innovation Programme our investment in the research and development pipeline of innovative technology from concept to deployment aims to derisk adoption and enable wider take up, lowering costs for farmers and growers. As such, technologies developed within the Farming Innovation Programme will be available for use by small farmers.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of British nationals who obtained medical degrees overseas and subsequently applied for roles within the NHS in each of the last five years.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Powering the farms of the future with £50 million tech investment, published on 14 April 2026, what assessment she has made of the affordability of new agri-tech tools for small and medium-sized farms.

Defra is derisking decisions on new technologies through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, which can aid the affordability of agri-tech tools. Grants are available to a range of farms, including small and medium farms. The final round opened on 17 March with grants of up to £25,000 available for each of three themes: equipment to boost farm productivity, slurry management, and animal health and welfare. Going forward, the Government wishes to build on what has worked well across all its grant schemes with the aim of bringing the strongest elements together from 2027. As part of this work, the Government will look at the specific types of equipment and technology that could be included. The Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) fund is part of the Farming Innovation Programme with £50 million of funding announced to date. This fund is focussed on farmer-led, smaller-scale innovation grants and supports trialling new technology and methods for adoption on farms. Through the Farming Innovation Programme our investment in the research and development pipeline of innovative technology from concept to deployment aims to derisk adoption and enable wider take up, lowering costs for farmers and growers. As such, technologies developed within the Farming Innovation Programme will be available for use by small farmers.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Powering the farms of the future with £50 million tech investment, published on 14 April 2026, what metrics her Department will use to measure the impact of the programme on farm productivity and sustainability.

The Investor Partnerships initiative is part of the Farming Innovation Programme. An interim evaluation, published in 2025, shows that the programme is on the right track to deliver long term improvements to productivity and the environment, and Defra continues to monitor the effectiveness of the funding. The Farming Innovation Programme aims to benefit English farmers and growers. Therefore, farmers based in Essex are in scope. Funding opportunities are promoted through multiple channels, including Press Notices, The Farming Innovation Programme website and Defra’s Farming Blog. The Modern Industrial Strategy, published last year, committed to spend at least £200 million through the Farming Innovation Programme by 2030. As part of this, at the NFU conference in February the Government announced £70 million to support investment in agri-tech research and development from 2026, including £30 million for the Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies fund.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Powering the farms of the future with £50 million tech investment, published on 14 April 2026, what plans she has to continue or expand agri-tech investment beyond the current funding round.

The Investor Partnerships initiative is part of the Farming Innovation Programme. An interim evaluation, published in 2025, shows that the programme is on the right track to deliver long term improvements to productivity and the environment, and Defra continues to monitor the effectiveness of the funding. The Farming Innovation Programme aims to benefit English farmers and growers. Therefore, farmers based in Essex are in scope. Funding opportunities are promoted through multiple channels, including Press Notices, The Farming Innovation Programme website and Defra’s Farming Blog. The Modern Industrial Strategy, published last year, committed to spend at least £200 million through the Farming Innovation Programme by 2030. As part of this, at the NFU conference in February the Government announced £70 million to support investment in agri-tech research and development from 2026, including £30 million for the Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies fund.

What comparative assessment she has made of the depreciation rates of (a) electric and (b) petrol and diesel vehicles.

The Government is aware that, despite strong growth of the used Electric Vehicle (EV) market, the residual values of some EVs have depreciated more quickly than their internal combustion engine equivalents. The used EV market is still maturing, with developments in EV technology and increasingly affordable new models putting downward pressure on used EV prices.We are actively supporting industry-led working groups focused on the used EV market. We will continue to work with industry on this.

What plans she has to mandate disclosure of battery health at the point of sale for used electric vehicles.

Some organisations already provide their own battery health checks or guarantees to increase consumer confidence.We will continue to engage industry on this topic, including through the consultation on updating the minimum emission standards for new road vehicles to Euro 7, launched on 13 April 2026. This includes proposals to require manufacturers to fit new EVs with accurate, accessible and comparable battery health monitors.

Media and Sport, whether her Department has conducted a privacy impact assessment of proposed financial risk checks.

The Government remains committed to supporting the Gambling Commission in their implementation of key measures in the 2023 white paper, including the introduction of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), which have been piloted by the Gambling Commission. The white paper recognised the “chilling effect” that asking customers for bank documents can have. This is why it set out an alternative approach to assessing financial risk which would be considerably more frictionless. The vast majority of customers will not experience friction or be asked to provide documents, should FRAs be implemented as intended by the Gambling Commission.The Gambling Commission has recently published an updated blog on its pilot findings and plans to publish the pilot data results upon its decision on implementation, as is standard practice. The pilot adheres to General Data Protection Rules with approval from the Steering Committee on Reciprocity, a cross industry forum made up of credit industry representatives.The threat posed by illegal gambling does not mean we should avoid sensible controls on licensed operators. However as stated in the White Paper, the threat of movement to the illegal market does exist. This is why we have launched the Illegal Gambling Taskforce; are working to give the Gambling Commission increased powers to support disruption and enforcement activity; and are providing £26 million of funding to the Gambling Commission over 3 years to increase their disruption activity.

Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Government to unlock philanthropic investment into England’s most disadvantaged communities, published on 13 April 2026, what assessment she has made of the barriers preventing high net worth individuals from increasing their charitable giving.

The 'Our Place to Give' plan, published on 13 April 2026, sets out actions the Government will take to increase philanthropic investment across England. It specifically targets regional disparities, as data indicates London currently receives over a third of all funding from the largest philanthropic foundations and four times the value of Gift Aid donations compared to the UK average.Departmental assessments identified several barriers preventing high-net-worth individuals from increasing their charitable giving. These include:difficulty in identifying and developing relationships with local organisations, particularly in deprived areas;limited access to information regarding the specific impact of donations;lack of integration of philanthropy into wealth planning; andchallenges effectively partnering with the Government. The plan responds to these barriers. We will convene a network of regional philanthropic ambassadors to broker better links between donors and communities, establish a working group to improve philanthropic wealth advice and have developed a toolkit for Members of Parliament to help them convene local giving opportunities.Regarding Essex, the Essex Community Foundation remains a vital partner, having awarded over £3.8 million to local causes last year. While specific trends for Essex show a strong foundation of local giving, the Department is taking steps to ensure all high-deprivation areas in the county benefit from the new national framework. Our £1 million Community of Practice support programme will be open to organisations across Essex. This funding aims to help local organisations share expertise, attract new investment, and create sustainable growth.The Department plans to monitor the outcomes of 'Our Place to Give' as part of its wider work through the Office for the Impact Economy. We will provide initial updates on the progress of the plan and the allocation of the Community of Practice funding by Summer 2026.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the risk that increased regulatory checks will drive consumers to unregulated gambling markets.

The Government remains committed to supporting the Gambling Commission in their implementation of key measures in the 2023 white paper, including the introduction of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), which have been piloted by the Gambling Commission. The white paper recognised the “chilling effect” that asking customers for bank documents can have. This is why it set out an alternative approach to assessing financial risk which would be considerably more frictionless. The vast majority of customers will not experience friction or be asked to provide documents, should FRAs be implemented as intended by the Gambling Commission.The Gambling Commission has recently published an updated blog on its pilot findings and plans to publish the pilot data results upon its decision on implementation, as is standard practice. The pilot adheres to General Data Protection Rules with approval from the Steering Committee on Reciprocity, a cross industry forum made up of credit industry representatives.The threat posed by illegal gambling does not mean we should avoid sensible controls on licensed operators. However as stated in the White Paper, the threat of movement to the illegal market does exist. This is why we have launched the Illegal Gambling Taskforce; are working to give the Gambling Commission increased powers to support disruption and enforcement activity; and are providing £26 million of funding to the Gambling Commission over 3 years to increase their disruption activity.

What assessment she has made of the impact of High Income Child Benefit Charge on labour supply including decisions to (a) accept pay increases, (b) increase working hours and (c) return to work.

The High Income Child Benefit Charge is currently the best way to manage Child Benefit expenditure. By withdrawing Child Benefit from high-income families, it helps to ensure the sustainability of the public finances and protect our vital public services. As with all tax policy, the government will keep this under review.