Written questions by Wild.

What approvals process (a) NHS England and (b) his Department has for business cases under the New Hospitals Programme.

Each National Health Service trust seeking approval for their New Hospital Programme (NHP) scheme will need to follow the business case process as set out in HM Treasury’s Green Book. Trusts will need to develop and gain approval for a Strategic Outline Case, followed by an Outline Business Case, and finally a Full Business Case. Following the approval of their Full Business Case, funding is released at agreed milestones. Following submission by the trust, the approvals process is as follows:- once reviewed and approved by the NHP Investment Committee, NHS England’s regional teams undertake a fundamental criteria review of the business case, which is then submitted to the joint Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England National Capital Assurance Team, where an independent assurance review is undertaken by a number of subject matter experts to ensure it meets the criteria as outlined in HM Treasury’s Green Book, and a report is prepared and presented to the Department of Health and Social Care’s Joint Investment Committee for consideration; and- once agreed by the Department of Health and Social Care’s Joint Investment Committee, the business case is submitted for onward approval by ministers and HM Treasury, if necessary. The level of approval required for business cases will depend on the amount requested. Some requests for fees and enabling works, for example, are requested in parallel via a separate, shorter process to the main scheme’s approval process.

With reference to his Department's policy paper entitled New Hospitals Programme: plan for implementation, published on 20 January 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the delay in opening the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to 2032-33 on (a) patients and (b) staff.

An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review which included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January 2025, and is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

With reference to the commissioning of an updated site-by-site report of the RAAC hospitals as set out in the policy paper entitled New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation, published on 20 January 2025, who is conducting the report of the Queen Elizabeth hospital in King's Lynn; and if he will publish the terms of reference of that review.

The Department is in final stages of contract award with third party contractors to provide an updated report on the condition of the seven critical reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete hospitals, including Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn. Once the contract is finalised it will be available publicly, including the information on who is conducting the work, at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

With reference to the report by Mott MacDonald on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete of April 2022, what recent assessment he has made of whether the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn will be able to operate safely beyond 2030.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care set out a credible and deliverable plan for the new hospital schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP) on 20 January 2025, following the conclusion of the review of the NHP. The Plan for Implementation was laid in the House Library and published on GOV.UK website, and is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcomeWe will expedite the delivery of the schemes to replace hospitals built wholly or primarily from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) by focussing on the most affected buildings and services first. As confirmed in this publication, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned a comprehensive report of the seven hospitals built wholly or primarily from RAAC that are being replaced through the New Hospital Programme, including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, as the last report was undertaken in Autumn 2022 and covered five of the seven RAAC hospitals. The site-by-site report on all seven RAAC hospitals will help inform individual development plans, which include continued mitigation works and addressing the highest risk elements as early as possible through the phasing of works. The report will be based on an up-to-date assessment of the safety of the hospital site now, and in future.The Department is in the final stages of the contract award with third party contractors to provide an updated report on the condition of the seven critical RAAC hospitals, including Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn. Once the contract is finalised it will be available publicly, including the information on who is conducting the work, on contract finder, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finderWe remain committed to removing RAAC fully from the NHS estate whilst working to keep facilities open, with patient and staff safety at the forefront of our decision making.

With reference to her oral contribution of 5 November 2024, Official Report column 164, and to the oral contribution of 14 January 2025 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Official Report column 170, what steps the (a) Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending and (b) Governor of HMP Garth have taken to tackle drone issues at that prison.

We are working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the illegal use of drones to deliver contraband into prisons. HM Prison & Probation Service uses targeted countermeasures such as improvements to windows, netting and grills to stop drones delivering contraband such as drugs, mobile telephones and weapons.A vulnerability assessment has been conducted to assess the risk of drone incursions at HMP Garth, and an action plan has been developed and implemented to manage and mitigate this threat. Owing to the operational sensitivity, it would not be appropriate to disclose the exact countermeasures that have been put in place.

Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with (a) UEFA, (b) FIFA and (c) the International Olympic Committee on the publication of correspondence on the proposal to introduce a football regulator.

This Government, and the previous one, has engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders as the policy set out in the Football Governance Bill has developed over the last 3 years. This includes engagement with UEFA and FIFA. These discussions have been constructive, and we continue to speak to the relevant football authorities on a regular basis.The Government does not share private correspondence provided to us by stakeholders including international organisations.

How many (a) strategic (b) outline and (c) final business cases were submitted to his department in each of the last three years.

From 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2024, a period of three years, the Department had 13 strategic outline cases, 100 outline business cases, and 116 full business cases submitted for review. For 2022, this was five strategic outline cases, 46 outline business cases, and 37 full business cases submitted for review. For 2023, this was four strategic outline cases, 31 outline business cases, and 40 full business cases submitted for review. Finally, for 2024, this was four strategic outline cases, 23 outline business cases, and 39 full business cases submitted for review.

How many Bloomberg subscriptions her Department has.

HM Treasury has 3 subscriptions to Bloomberg News.

How many (a) strategic (b) outline and (c) final business cases were submitted to her Department in each of the last three years.

The Treasury Approvals Process requires departments and their arm's length bodies to submit business cases to HM Treasury for scrutiny when spending meets specific criteria. These criteria are detailed in Treasury Approvals Process guidance. The Treasury typically receives hundreds of different business cases for approval each year.

With reference to her Oral Statement of 4 November 2024 on Higher Education Reform, Official Report, column 46, what progress she has made on the leak inquiry; and if she will make a statement.

The investigation remains ongoing and all reasonable lines of inquiry will be pursued.

What progress his Department has made in reducing waiting times for (a) speech and language therapy services and (b) neurodevelopmental services.

The Department and NHS England are committed to reducing long waits and improving timely access to community health services. This includes improving access to Speech and Language Therapy through the Early Language and Support for Every Child (ELSEC) pathfinder project within the Department for Education’s existing £70 million Change Programme in partnership with NHS England. The ELSEC programme provides training and support to education settings to increase their ability to support speech, language, and communication development.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 and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.In respect of ADHD, we are supporting a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has launched into challenges in ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.

What estimate he has made of the number of patients waiting over 52 weeks for elective care in (a) England, (b) Norfolk and Waveney ICB area and (c) Queen Elizabeth King's Lynn Hospital Trust; and what his target is for eliminating waits of over a year.

Across England, at the end of November 2024, over 221,000 patient pathways involved waits of more than 52 weeks for elective treatment, which is down by over 80,000 since June 2024. At the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, at the end of November 2024, over 6,800 patient pathways involved waits of more than 52 weeks for elective treatment, down by over 3,600 since June 2024. At the Queen Elizabeth King's Lynn Hospital Trust, at the end of November 2024, 585 patient pathways involved waits of more than 52 weeks for elective treatment, down from 609 in June 2024. We have committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment (RTT) by March 2029. The Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025, sets out how we will achieve this and the interim targets we will meet in doing so. Whilst our focus is on achieving the RTT constitutional standard, it is unacceptable that patients are waiting over a year for care. Tackling the longest waits will be a key part of achieving our commitment and we will continue to review and treat the patients who have waited the longest, as well as monitoring progress on the 18-week standard.

With reference to National Audit Office's report entitled, public service pensions, published on 19 March 2021, whether her Department plans to publish updated statistics on the balancing payments made to pensions schemes.

Figures showing the net Exchequer balancing payments for unfunded Public Service Pension Schemes (PSPS), along with details on contribution income and scheme expenditure, are regularly published as part of the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO). The latest publication is part of the October 2024 EFO, in the table labelled “October 2024 Economic and fiscal outlook – detailed forecast tables: expenditure”: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-october-2024/

Whether members of the National Wealth Fund Taskforce are remunerated.

The NWF Taskforce was established by the Chancellor before the 2024 general election to fulfil an independent advisory role on the design of the National Wealth Fund. Members have not been remunerated for their roles on the NWF Taskforce.

With reference to the press notice entitled New Great British Energy partnership launched to turbocharge energy independence, published on 25 July 2024, if her Department will publish the partnership agreement betwe

The partnership between The Crown Estate and Great British Energy is subject to the passing of The Great British Energy Bill. Once that Bill passes through its legislative stages, partnership will be subject to an agreement with Great British Energy. Alth...

How much tax revenue the Digital Services Tax has raised since 2020.

The requested information is available in the statistics table published at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-ukThe information can be found in column S of Table 2. For ease, the relevant data h...

What steps she is taking to help improve (a) public and (b) private sector productivity.

The government’s growth mission is dedicated to boosting productivity growth nationwide. After fourteen years of weak productivity growth, we are reforming the economy to increase productivity in both the public and private sectors. Public sector producti...

What steps he is taking to increase private investment as a proportion of GDP.

Investment is at the heart of the government’s growth mission, increasing the number of good, well-skilled jobs and improving productivity across the country. The Department for Business and Trade works with all investor-facing business units to deliver s...

How many businesses have been supported by the British Business Bank since 2014.

The British Business Bank’s recently published Impact Report shows that in 2023 alone the Bank funded 23,100 businesses. Data on the number of businesses supported by the Bank since its inception in 2014 is intended to be published in 2025.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increases in (a) vehicle excise duty and (b) the HGV road user levy on the logistics industry.

As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, from 1 April 2025, Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates for Heavy Goods Vehicles and the Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) levy will be uprated by Retail Price Index for 2025-26. This means rates will remain unchanged in real terms ...