Written questions by Naish.

What steps her Department is taking with Nottinghamshire County Council to improve its Education Otherwise Than At Schools provision; and whether she plans to make additional funding available for Education Otherwise Than At Schools provision in Nottinghamshire.

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.When a local authority decides to make an ‘education otherwise than at school’ arrangement for a child or young person with an education, health and care plan, it funds this through its high needs budget. Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Nottinghamshire County Council is being allocated over £130 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £10.8 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.A joint local area SEND inspection of Nottinghamshire was undertaken by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in January 2023 under the new Area SEND Inspection framework. Ofsted/CQC found 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 (LAP) must address urgently. The local area submitted a Priority Action Plan to Ofsted/CQC, to address two identified areas for priority action, which was approved 14 July 2023.Following the inspection outcome, the department has worked closely with its partners in NHS England to monitor, support and challenge the LAP in making the necessary improvements.The department has also commissioned the Research and Improvement for SEND Excellence partnership consortium, led by the Council for Disabled Children, to support the local area to develop their SEND strategy.Nottinghamshire LAP is also receiving additional support from a specialist SEND advisor, and the department will continue to work with the local area and relevant stakeholders to support them in improving SEND services and provision.

What recent discussions her Department has had with Nottinghamshire County Council on the allocation of funds for Education Otherwise Than At School provision in Nottinghamshire.

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.When a local authority decides to make an ‘education otherwise than at school’ arrangement for a child or young person with an education, health and care plan, it funds this through its high needs budget. Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Nottinghamshire County Council is being allocated over £130 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £10.8 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.A joint local area SEND inspection of Nottinghamshire was undertaken by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in January 2023 under the new Area SEND Inspection framework. Ofsted/CQC found 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 (LAP) must address urgently. The local area submitted a Priority Action Plan to Ofsted/CQC, to address two identified areas for priority action, which was approved 14 July 2023.Following the inspection outcome, the department has worked closely with its partners in NHS England to monitor, support and challenge the LAP in making the necessary improvements.The department has also commissioned the Research and Improvement for SEND Excellence partnership consortium, led by the Council for Disabled Children, to support the local area to develop their SEND strategy.Nottinghamshire LAP is also receiving additional support from a specialist SEND advisor, and the department will continue to work with the local area and relevant stakeholders to support them in improving SEND services and provision.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of ringfencing funding for local authorities from planning fees for (a) monitoring and (b) enforcing on-site biodiversity net gain.

The Government has provided over £35 million of new burdens funding to Local Planning Authorities (LPAs), county councils and combined authorities thus far to help them implement mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG). The uses to which the funding can be put are broad and there is no definitive list as requirements will differ across authorities. Some of this funding may be used for monitoring and enforcement responsibilities, including for ‘on-site’ BNG requirements. Decisions on any further funding are subject to the outcome of the spending review. All significant on-site BNG must be legally secured by a planning condition, planning obligation or conservation covenant for 30 years. If a developer does not meet BNG requirements they may be in breach of the planning condition or legal agreement, and the LPA has a range of planning enforcement powers and may take enforcement action. Where significant on-site gains are secured by a conservation covenant, the responsible body is responsible for enforcing the agreement.

What steps he plans to take to reduce waiting times for autism assessments.

Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service, published in September 2024, highlighted the severe delays for accessing autism assessments and that demand for assessments for autism has grown significantly in recent years.It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessments and diagnosis, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. In doing so, ICBs should take account of waiting lists, considering how local funding can be deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.The House of Lords has established an Autism Act 2009 Committee, which is holding an inquiry to look at the Autism Act, the autism strategy, and the statutory guidance, and which will make recommendations to the Government by 30 November 2025. The Government will consider any relevant findings from the House of Lords’ autism inquiry.

What steps he is taking to help ensure that pathfinder sites in the NHS Community Pharmacy Independent Prescribing Pathfinder Programme are able to provide services without interruption from December 2025 onwards.

The Pathfinder programme will conclude in December 2025. NHS England is working with system leaders and stakeholders, using learning from the Pathfinder to design independent prescribing in future community pharmacy clinical services.NHS England aims to publish a commissioning framework for systems to integrate independent prescribing into community pharmacy post-pathfinder. Any national funding for a prescribing service in community pharmacy will be considered as part of the Spending Review for 2026/27 to 2028/29.

What steps she plans to take to ensure that high-quality education provision is available for children who are unable to attend (a) mainstream education and (b) special unit add-ons.

This government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to thrive in their education and make a successful transition into adulthood, including those who are unable to attend inclusive mainstream schools and instead access specialist or alternative provision (AP). We therefore recognise the vital role of high-quality specialist provision, particularly for children with more complex needs.It is for local authorities, under section 19 of the Children's Act 1996, to arrange suitable and (normally) full-time education for children of compulsory school age who, because of exclusion, illness or other reasons, would not receive suitable education.Ofsted hold local authorities to account for the sufficiency and commissioning of AP as part of their area SEND inspections.The department issues guidance on the planning and commissioning of AP that focuses on the principles of delivering education that is appropriate, effective, safe and of good quality. The guidance was last updated in January 2025 and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-provision.

What steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for musculoskeletal services in Rushcliffe constituency; and if he will consider the use of chiropractors as regulated healthcare professionals to reduce those waiting times.

NHS England does not nationally commission chiropractic care as it is a complementary and alternative medicine. There are no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of integrating chiropractic care into centrally commissioned National Health Service care.Where there is demand, integrated care boards are able to make independent decisions on which health professionals they employ and may commission a limited amount of such treatment.Cutting waiting lists forms a key part of the Government’s mission to reform the NHS.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with his European counterparts to support state institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the context of alleged attempts to undermine the Dayton Peace Accords.

In response to unconstitutional activities by Republika Srpska entity President Dodik, the UK, with European counterparts, is working to ensure a strong and unified international response that encourages Bosnian state institutions to act to protect Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH's) sovereignty and stability. At the UN and other multilateral fora we have coordinated backing for BiH state institutions to resolve the current political crisis. We welcome the High Representative's clear statements setting out support for the state institutions. The Foreign Secretary, the Special Envoy and I continue to engage leaders in BiH and the region in support of BiH's territorial integrity. I reiterated these messages to BiH Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković and the High Representative of BiH when we met on 12 April, and recently convened Quint partners with my French counterpart to discuss our response to these destabilising and undermining actions.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of chiropractors in supporting people in Rushcliffe constituency to return to work.

Whilst no assessment has been made on the potential merits of chiropractors in supporting people in Rushcliffe constituency to return to work, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire & Rutland District offers a range of employment support interventions for individuals experiencing health issues. This includes support from Disability Employment Advisors who offer a Direct Support appointment service, looking into removing barriers, identifying any reasonable adjustments and delivering individually tailored support, including in-work support.

What steps she is taking to ensure that the availability of apprenticeships in the education sector meets demand in (a) Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire; and whether she is taking steps to (i) increase the range of apprenticeship opportunities in this area, (ii) improve access for young people and (iii) support schools in recruiting apprentices.

There are a number of apprenticeship standards available in the education and early years sector including level 3 Teaching assistant, level 5 Early years lead practitioner and level 6 Teacher.To support employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays £1,000 to employers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, and for apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care. Non-levy paying employers can also benefit from the government paying the full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care.The department continues to promote apprenticeships to young people, adults and employers through the ‘Skills for Life’ campaign.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his speech at the NFU conference on 25 February 2025, whether the requirement for government catering contracts to favour high-welfare products will be determined with reference to the highest welfare tiers set out in his Department's proposed animal welfare label in the Fairer Food Labelling consultation which closed in May 2024.

The National Procurement Policy Statement underscores the Government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards, supporting local suppliers and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts. This includes sourcing products from all farmed animals which have been raised to high UK welfare standards as defined in current animal welfare legislation.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has issued recent guidance to housing associations on the level of contribution they should make to estate service management fees.

The Department has not issued recent guidance around the level of contribution Housing Associations make to estate management fees.Housing Associations may be responsible for managing communal areas on estates that they own, and the extent to which they can pass on the costs of such maintenance to leaseholders and tenants will depend on the terms of the lease and tenancy agreements.The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable.The government is committed to acting quickly to implement the provisions of the Act. Further detail can be found in the written ministerial statement published on Thursday 21 November (HCWS244).

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to tackle (a) wildlife crime, (b) hare coursing and (c) badger baiting.

Wildlife crime is unacceptable. Defra is providing £424,000 for the National Wildlife Crime (NWCU) in 2025-2026. The NWCU helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats and assisting law enforcers with investigations. This government recognises the importance of tackling rural crimes such as hare coursing. A package of measures introduced in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 broadened the circumstances in which police can investigate and bring charges for hare coursing-related activity. This legislation, as well as improved police tactics, intelligence and information sharing and the use of community protection notices and criminal behaviour orders appears to be having an impact on reducing hare coursing offences. Badger persecution is one of the seven UK wildlife crime priorities. A police-led Badger Persecution Priority Delivery Group works to tackle horrific criminal offences like badger baiting. Anyone found guilty of these activities should be subject to the full force of the law. The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 provide protection against certain methods of killing, injuring, or taking of badgers, or interference with their setts.

If she will (a) increase the tax-free childcare allowance and (b) allow parents to use that allowance in place of funded hours.

The £2,000 Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) top-up, which can be claimed per year and per child up to age 11 (and £4,000 per disabled child, up to age 16), was set at this level because the Government believes it strikes the right balance between helping parents with their childcare costs and managing the public finances in a responsible way. From September 2025, childcare entitlements for eligible working parents of children aged from nine months will increase from 15 hours to 30 hours, helping hundreds of thousands of families with the cost of childcare and supporting parents to work. This year alone, we expect to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements – which is an additional £2 billion (over 30% increase) compared to 2024. Please note that parents can claim both TFC and DfE childcare entitlements so long as they are eligible. The government keeps all aspects of childcare policy under review.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of standardising the contribution that Housing Associations make to estate service management fees.

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the implications of standardising the contribution that Housing Associations make to estate management fees.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Animal Welfare Committee’s December 2024 report recommendation to ban any further deliberate breeding of domestic cats with any non-domestic felid species.

The Government welcomes the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. We are carefully considering the Committee’s recommendations.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to (a) limit and (b) prohibit the use of joint and several liability contracts in student housing.

The government does not intend to restrict or prohibit the use of joint and several liability contracts in the student housing market. This is a well-established practice in the sector, allowing groups of students to choose to live together with their friends.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending council tax legislation so new owners bringing previously empty properties back into use are not required to pay a council tax premium while renovating the property for a period of time.

The government recognises there may be circumstances where it would not be appropriate for a council tax premium to apply. That is why this government introduced a number of exceptions to council tax premiums which came into effect from 1 April 2025. This includes an exception for up to 12-months for empty dwellings undergoing major repairs. The government has published guidance setting out when premiums and exceptions may apply. This is available here - Guidance on the implementation of the council tax premiums on long-term empty homes and second homes - GOV.UK.

What assessment she has made of the merits of extending the home fee status for UK citizens living in (a) the EEA and (b) Switzerland beyond 1 January 2028.

British citizens and their family members living in the EEA or Switzerland at the end of the transition period (31 December 2020) who meet the relevant residency requirements, will generally be eligible for home fee status, tuition fee and maintenance support from Student Finance England for courses starting before 1 January 2028.In the absence of this additional seven year period, in order to be eligible for home fee status and student support, British citizens and their family members would need to be ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three years prior to the start of their course, in line with the general requirement for all British citizens. There are no plans to extend this seven year period further.

Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to limit phone line rental charges for analogue landlines; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of phone-only line rental charges following the transition to Voice over Internet Protocol landlines.

The Department does not have plans to limit phone line rental charges for analogue landlines as this is a matter for industry. However, under Ofcom’s telephony universal service conditions, BT and KCOM (in Hull) are required to offer a voice service to everyone, on request, at an affordable price. The telephony universal service obligation (USO) does not specify the technology that providers should use to meet this obligation, therefore the migration to digital landlines does not change the telephony USO.It is worth noting that many other telecoms providers offer fixed voice services, however unlike BT and KCOM (in Hull) they do not have an obligation to do so. Ofcom’s telephony universal service conditions can be found at this link: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/telecoms-infrastructure/universal-service-obligation