Written questions by Asato.

What steps he is taking with the Northern Ireland Executive to help tackle violence against women and girls.

Last year seven women were killed in Northern Ireland, and rates of violence are higher in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the UKLast month, I was pleased to welcome the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls to Northern Ireland to meet Executive Ministers, and the Police Service, and to visit the excellent Foyle Family Justice Centre. We discussed ways we can work together and share best practice to tackle violence against women and girls.

How much and what proportion of additional NHS spending announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 will be directed towards NHS dental services.

The National Health Service in England invests £3 billion into dentistry every year. NHS England is responsible for issuing guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) on dental budgets, including ringfences. NHS England Planning Guidance for 2025/26 has now been published, and sets out the funding available to ICBs.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of an application for Universal Credit automatically triggering a claim for Council Tax Support.

Council Tax Support is administered by the Local Authority and is not a DWP benefit, therefore before we have determined entitlement to Universal credit, it is not appropriate for the department to trigger a claim for Council Tax Support automatically. A significant number of UC claims do not have an entitlement so notifying Councils before entitlement is established would present a number of risks to Councils.

If she will take steps to ensure that (a) banks and (b) financial services providers increase access to (i) products and (ii) services through the Financial Inclusion Strategy.

On 5 December, I convened a Financial Inclusion Committee which has been established to tackle the problems of financial exclusion. Through this committee, I will work with consumer groups and industry on the development of a Financial Inclusion Strategy....

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, published on 26 November 2024; and what steps she is taking to include

This government is committed to keeping children safe and to breaking the link between young people’s backgrounds and their success. Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in lif...

If she will make an assessment of the impact of financial exclusion on (a) care experienced and (b) older people.

Ensuring people have access to appropriate financial products and services is a key priority for the Government and is vital to supporting people’s financial resilience and wellbeing. It is also an essential part of achieving inclusive growth and ensuring...

Whether he plans to provide funding for alternative low carbon technologies in places where it is (a) difficult and (b) expensive to install a heat pump.

Heat pumps will have a major role to play in all net zero pathways and the Government expects most properties will ultimately switch to heat pumps as these are a proven technology and have been installed in high numbers in other countries.We recognise tha...

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory minimum fee framework for foster carers.

I pay tribute to the vital efforts of foster carers, who carry out a challenging role that requires skill, dedication and love. Our policy statement, ‘Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive’ sets out our plans to recruit and retain more foster car...

Whether he plans to provide funding for thermal storage in homes where it is difficult to install a traditional hot water cylinder.

The Government recognises that thermal storage can be advantageous, because of its smaller physical size, for properties that may struggle to install a traditional hot water cylinder. If installed at the same time as a heat pump, the installation of therm...

How many care leavers in England claimed Universal Credit between 1 April 2023 and 1 April 2024.

The information requested is not available. DWP stated routinely collecting data on care leavers claiming UC in February 2022. All new claimants are now given the option of reporting their care leaver status, and work coaches can record existing claimants...

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to prevent the proliferation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the marine environment.

Action has already been taken to ban or highly restrict specific per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) both domestically and internationally, including PFOS (perfluoro-octane sulfonate), PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFHxS (perfluorohexanesulphon...

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances where alternatives are available.

The Government has launched a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan to deliver on our legally binding targets to save nature. This includes how best to manage chemicals, including the risks posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)....

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the harmful effects of pornography in Lowestoft constituency.

Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content including extreme pornography, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls. The Act requires services in scope to understand risks from illegal co...

What steps her Department is taking to prevent organised crime groups advertising victims of trafficking and other sexual exploitation offences on websites advertising prostitution in Lowestoft consti

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out an ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all the levers available to us to deliver this. The Govern...

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the scale of commercial sexual exploitation in Lowestoft constituency.

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out an ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all the levers available to us to deliver this. The Govern...

What steps her Department is taking to reduce demand for trafficking for sexual exploitation in Lowestoft constituency.

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out an ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all the levers available to us to deliver this. The Govern...

What support her Department provides to help victims of sexual exploitation in Lowestoft constituency exit prostitution.

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out an ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all the levers available to us to deliver this. The Govern...

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent children in Lowestoft constituency being exposed to pornography.

Under the Online Safety Act platforms must proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content including extreme pornography, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls. The Act requires services in scope to understand risks from illegal con...

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of recognising (a) non-formal and (b) experiential learning alongside academic achievements in the curriculum review.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR) is being independently conducted by a group of education leaders (the review group) and chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Terms of Reference were published in July 2024.The review has been asked to cons...

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the sixteenth report of session 2017-19 of the Environmental Audit Committee entitled Fixing fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability, HC 1952, published on 1

No recent assessment has been made of the Environmental Audit Committee’s recommendation for a charge on garments to fund collection and sorting services. However, the Secretary of State has asked his department to convene a taskforce of experts from acro...