Written questions by McMahon.

What progress he has made on rolling out gas and electric smart meters to properties in England.

The latest statistics on smart meters in operation across GB are available here: Smart meters in Great Britain, Smart meters in Great Britain, quarterly update September 2025 - GOV.UK. Government recognises the vital role that smart metering plays in the operation of a flexible and decarbonised power system, whilst helping households to manage their energy use and reduce bills. The Department continues to drive the rollout and work closely with industry to ensure all households and small businesses can access a smart meter.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to implement remote electronic voting for (a) UK and (b) local elections.

There are no plans to introduce remote electronic voting for UK or local elections.

How many children were referred to Prevent in each year from 2015 to date by age.

Prevent aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It works to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are offered appropriate interventions and support, and that communities are protected against radicalising influences.The number of referrals to the Prevent programme that concern children, grouped by age for the financial year 2024/25 has been published in the latest annual Prevent statistics publication: Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK. Data can be found on Table 4 within the annual data tables accompanying the publication.The number of referrals to the Prevent programme that concern children, grouped by age and financial year since 2016/17 has been published in the annual 2023/24 Prevent statistics publication: Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme, April 2023 to March 2024 - GOV.UK. Data can be found on Table 4 within the annual data tables accompanying the publication.For the year 2015/16, the official statistics publication reports that there were 4274 referrals for individuals under 20 years old (56% of all referrals). A break down specifically of referrals for children is not available for this year. The statistics can be found here: Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme, April 2015 to March 2016.The number of referrals reported includes individuals who had been referred more than once during the year. The number of individuals referred is not routinely reported in the official statistics.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of fuel poverty amongst home owning pensioners in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham.

The latest national and regional fuel poverty statistics for England were published in March 2025 and include data for 2024. These provide breakdowns of fuel poverty separately by tenure, age and employment status, but do not include specific figures for home owning pensioners. The latest sub-regional fuel poverty statistics were published in April 2025 and include data for 2023. These provide estimates of fuel poverty levels in Greater Manchester and Oldham. However, since these are modelled estimates based on a national survey, they are not available by household characteristics at the local level.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of train services between Manchester and London in 2025; and how much has been spent on delay repay compensation to customers on those services in 2025.

Avanti West Coast is beginning to see consistent and steady performance improvements on the network. However, there is still more to do with punctuality behind the industry average and poor Network Rail infrastructure reliability continuing to be a leading cause of disruption, including on the Manchester route. In 2025, service levels to Manchester increased with two additional weekday services added to the timetable from September. The Government produces annual figures relating to the amount of compensation that is paid out by train operating companies. The data for 2024/25 has been collected and will be published shortly. The data for 2025/26 will be collected at the end of the financial year and subsequently published.

What assessment she has made of trends in the level of profit per placement for private children’s homes in England.

The Competition and Markets Authority’s 2022 report on the children’s social care market found that the 15 largest providers of placements for looked-after children were making an average profit of 22.6% on children’s homes. In addition, reports from Revolution Consulting found that aggregate profits among the top 20 children’s homes providers, measured using the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) method, increased from 18.8% to 19.8% between 2021 and 2022. In 2023, the average EBITDA margin was 19%, although this figure excludes Caretech, the largest provider. The department’s work to improve the data that both we and local authorities have access to on the children’s social care placement market, and the financial oversight scheme we are legislating for through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, will enable greater central government oversight. This work will help us to keep the market under close review.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local government on improving community cohesion and building stronger local relationships between people from different backgrounds.

Ministers regularly meet with external stakeholders. As is precedent, details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly on gov.uk here. The department also continues to work in partnership with local government, communities and stakeholders on improving community cohesion.

Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to bring forward proposals to require VPN providers to undertake age verification checks on UK users.

The government continues to monitor the impact of circumvention techniques such as VPNs on the Act and will ensure that any future interventions are proportionate and evidence based.There is limited evidence on how many children use VPNs and why they use them. The government is addressing this gap.The Online Safety Act requires Ofcom to publish a report by July 2026 assessing how effective the use of age assurance has been and whether there are factors, including circumvention techniques, that have prevented or hindered its use.

What estimate she has made of the number of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools without libraries in England.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton to the answer of 22 October 2025 to question ​​81502​.

What estimate he has made of the number of vulnerable users of telecare alarms who have (a) successfully transferred and (b) not yet transferred from analogue to digital systems.

There is limited data available on the number of telecare users in England and/or the United Kingdom. Our best available estimate comes from the TEC Services Association, who estimate that there are upwards of two million telecare users in the UK.To improve our evidence base, the Department has commissioned an independent technical advisor, FarrPoint, to carry out surveys of telecare services providers and call handling services. This research is currently live and aims to identify the number of analogue and digital telecare devices in use.The Department also works closely with the Telecare Action Board and Partners in Care and Health to monitor the progress of the digital phone switchover.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the adherence of private children’s homes to notifying the receiving local authority of vulnerable young people being placed in their area.

The department does not collect data on this activity. Ofsted conduct checks on compliance with notification processes as part of a home’s inspection, and if issues are found, this may impact their inspection rating.The decision to place a child away from their local community should not be taken lightly, which is why it can only be made by those at director of children’s services level. The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review regulations and corresponding statutory guidance makes clear that both the local authority placing a child out of their area and those caring for looked-after children (including children’s homes) must inform the receiving local authority and all relevant safeguarding partners when a child has been placed within and/or leaves their boundaries.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of invasive weed removal from publicly owned land in England.

Various public bodies and local authorities undertake removal activities for invasive non-native weed species as part of their land management responsibilities. Natural England investigates complaints about the threat of injurious weeds spreading to agricultural land. An assessment of the effectiveness of these interventions on publicly owned land has not been made.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Ofwat on its effectiveness at regulating (a) bonuses (b) dividends (c) inter company management charges (d) company debt (e) consumer bills for water customers in England.

The Secretary of State regularly meets with stakeholders including Ofwat to discuss a range of issue, all of which is published on gov.uk.

What assessment has been made of the (a) adequacy of support services for families of patients detained or likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act, and (b) benefits of developing a single point of contact service to remove the occasions where multiple calls to numerous agencies are required to secure the required support.

While no specific assessment has been made of support services for families, we know that families play a vital role in supporting people with mental health needs through their treatment and recovery.The Mental Health Bill includes measures that aim to ensure that people who care for the patient’s welfare, such as family or carers, are consulted by clinicians and kept informed throughout the patient’s care, treatment, and discharge.Guidance on what information and support should be provided to families throughout the discharge process is set out in the Discharge from mental health inpatient settings statutory guidance and the Mental Health Act Code of Practice. Engagement with families, carers, and close friends should also be standard practice in community mental health services.Integrated care boards and local authorities are also expected to work in partnership to support carers, in line with statutory guidance and local priorities. Many areas also have dedicated carers' support organisations that help connect families with resources and advocacy services, and signposting at the point of discharge from inpatient care.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the progress in rolling out additional neighbourhood police in (a) England (b) Greater Manchester.

We have made £200 million available in 2025/26 to support the first steps towards delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of this parliament, including up to 3000 additional neighbourhood officers by the end of March 2026.The Government has committed to publishing neighbourhood policing numbers every six months, alongside the official police workforce statistics, with the next update due at the end of January 2026 setting out the numbers in neighbourhood policing roles as at the end of September 2025.Based on their £11,556,938 allocation from the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, Greater Manchester are projected to grow by 176 FTE neighbourhood police officers in 2025/26.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what value and tonnage of UK government aid to Gaza is assessed as (a) delivered, (b) awaiting delivery and (c) not delivered for each month from October 2023 to date.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 29 October to Question 84625.

What discussions have taken place with highway authorities in England on the potential impact of yellow box enforcement on congestion and pollution on the road network.

No such discussions have been held with highway authorities. Primary legislation requires local authorities with designated powers to have regard to the Secretary of State's statutory guidance on moving traffic enforcement, which includes box junction markings. This guidance includes measures to reduce congestion, enabling walking and cycling, reduce rat-running, create more pleasant places to live and work in and improve road safety.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the UK’s independent forecaster and the Government is fully committed to the OBR’s independence and its vital role as a core part of our fiscal framework. That is why one of the first Acts of this Parliament introduced the fiscal lock so that the OBR could never be sidelined.On 26 November 2025, the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook was accessed prematurely ahead of the Budget. The OBR’s investigation into this incident was published on 1 December. HM Treasury will work closely with the OBR to ensure robust security arrangements are in place for all future forecasts.

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the number of complaints made to Ofgem about solar installation and network feed in as previously experienced with companies such as A Shade Greener since 2015.

We inherited a fragmented assurance framework for the installation of measures that improve the energy efficiency of homes. We are currently reviewing the broader consumer protection landscape and will bring forward wider system reforms to ensure consumers can have confidence in the quality of installations and protections when upgrading their homes.

What assessment has been made of the adequacy of advocacy voice and weight given to representations made by family members of patients over 18 years old who are detained or likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act.

While no such specific assessment has been made, we recognise the value of representations made by family members of adult patients who are detained or likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act. That is why the Mental Health Bill, which is in its final stages, will give patients the right to appoint a nominated person to represent their interests and greater access to advocacy when they are detained.The reforms in the bill also recognise the critical role that families and carers can play in keeping patients safe, providing insight and knowledge of their loved one’s wishes and preferences and an understanding of what keeps them safe. The bill will strengthen the rights of families and carers through changes to the nominated person role, and will require clinicians to consult with others close to the patient as they make decisions around their care where appropriate or where the patient wishes.