Written questions by Robertson.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on the time taken for flooding investigations to be completed.

On becoming aware of a flood in its area, a lead local flood authority (LLFA) must investigate to the extent it considers it necessary or appropriate. This duty comes under section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. When a LLFA undertakes an investigation, it must publish the results. The Environment Agency supported Defra to produce their new national guidance for LLFAs on investigating a flood, published in April 2025. This includes guidance on:· typical criteria for deciding whether to instigate an investigation· engaging with communities and partner organisations· understanding the event· developing suitable recommendations· timescales for publication The Environment Agency may be asked to contribute evidence and information to support the investigation, but they are not responsible for instigating it or for its completion. The Environment Agency is also investigating a flooding event at Ryde that occurred in October 2023, but this is not a Section 19 investigation. This report was sent to stakeholders, including the hon. member for Isle of Wight East, on Tuesday 08 July 2025. A summary of significant flood events is published in the Environment Agency’s Flood and coastal erosion risk management annual report.

If she will publish a distributional impact assessment of changes to national insurance contributions on (a) low and (b) middle income workers in the hospitality industry.

The Government has set out the impacts of the policy changes from Autumn Budget 2024 in the usual way. A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.With all policies considered, this forecasts the employment level to increase from 33.6 million in 2024 to 34.8 million in 2029. The Office for Budget Responsibility published its most recent Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) in March 2025, which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances. The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from the changes to employer NICs by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the standard 20% VAT rate on the international competitiveness of the (a) tourism and (b) hospitality sectors.

The Government recognises the significant contribution made by hospitality and tourism businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK. VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. The UK’s VAT rate of 20 per cent is close to the OECD average of 19.3 per cent. The UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU country and the joint highest in the OECD, at £90,000. This keeps the majority of businesses out of the VAT regime altogether.

What comparative assessment she has made of the total effective tax payable by (a) the hospitality sector and (b) other sectors.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has not performed a comparative analysis of the total effective tax payable from the hospitality sector and other sectors.

What assessment she has made of the impact of changes to the employer National Insurance contributions on employment levels in the hospitality sector.

The Government has set out the impacts of the policy changes from Autumn Budget 2024 in the usual way. A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.With all policies considered, this forecasts the employment level to increase from 33.6 million in 2024 to 34.8 million in 2029. The Office for Budget Responsibility published its most recent Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) in March 2025, which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances. The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from the changes to employer NICs by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.

How many prosecutions relating to spiking have there been in each of the last five year.

The Ministry of Justice does not currently collate statistics which show the number of individuals who are charged and subsequently prosecuted and convicted of offences which relate to incidents of spiking. The Government is, however, considering options to improve the way spiking crimes are recorded and collated with the aim of capturing better data to help advise preventative strategies for spiking where needed.

What steps her Department has taken to improve data collection on the prevalence of spiking.

From April 2026, offences which involved spiking will be added to the Home Office’s Annual Data Requirement. This is the formal mechanism through which the Home Office collects data from all police forces in England and Wales. This will ensure that the Home Office has access to formal, standardised and regular reporting from the police on offences involving spiking.The Home Office will also look to utilise the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS), a computer-assisted classification tool, to greatly improve the analysis of the data it receives. NDQIS will have a range of benefits including being able to identify crimes which were facilitated by spiking, such as rape or sexual assault. We expect this to give us a better understanding of the scale of spiking and its use in enabling other crimes.

What steps her Department has taken to support research into the motivations of people who commit spiking offences.

The Home Office has recently completed the tender for a piece of academic research into the motivations of perpetrators who commit spiking offences. This project will help to fill a gap in research that was identified by a recent literature review on the subject and will have practical implications by helping to inform Home Office policy and practice going forward.

With reference to the Deputy Director for 10 Year Health Plan Engagement's Change NHS website blog post, entitled, Ensuring the Plan represents everyone, which groups are classified as inclusion health groups.

Inclusion health is an umbrella term used to describe people who are socially excluded, who typically experience multiple overlapping risk factors for poor health, such as poverty, violence, and complex trauma.

What assessment her Department has made of the importance of understanding offender motivation as part of the Government's strategy to tackle spiking.

The Home Office has recently completed the tender for a piece of academic research into the motivations of perpetrators who commit spiking offences. This project will help to fill a gap in research that was identified by a recent literature review on the subject and will have practical implications by helping to inform Home Office policy and practice going forward.

What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of existing data collection systems in capturing the scale of spiking incidents in the UK.

From April 2026, offences which involved spiking will be added to the Home Office’s Annual Data Requirement. This is the formal mechanism through which the Home Office collects data from all police forces in England and Wales. This will ensure that the Home Office has access to formal, standardised and regular reporting from the police on offences involving spiking.The Home Office will also look to utilise the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS), a computer-assisted classification tool, to greatly improve the analysis of the data it receives. NDQIS will have a range of benefits including being able to identify crimes which were facilitated by spiking, such as rape or sexual assault. We expect this to give us a better understanding of the scale of spiking and its use in enabling other crimes.

With reference to the Deputy Director for 10 Year Health Plan Engagement's, Change NHS website blog, entitled, Ensuring the Plan represents everyone, what discussions his Department has with (a) travelling communities and (b) their representatives.

In building our 10-Year Health Plan, we ran one of the biggest public engagement exercises the National Health Service has ever run, including a large number of consultation events including eight in-person deliberative events with the public and seven with staff, culminating in a national summit, these events were attended by over 3,700 people. A further 17,000 people attended partner-led workshops across over 600 events. As part of these events, we aimed to include the voices of all patients, including patients whose voices are seldom heard in policy development.

What steps she is taking to ensure that victims of (a) spiking and (b) prank spiking have adequate access to justice.

The Government committed, in its manifesto, to create a new offence covering spiking. Our aim is to create a clear and modern offence that covers the wide range of behaviours currently associated with spiking, encourage victims to report such incidents and help the police respond effectively. In developing this new offence, included in the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government listened to the views of stakeholders, such as Spike Aware and Stamp Out Spiking, survivors and worked with other organisations, such as law enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service.The Government has designed the new offence to capture all incidents of spiking, including drink spiking, and where the substance is administered by other methods, such as by needle, food, vape etc.Whilst every case will turn on its facts, if someone administers a harmful substance as a prank, they would likely be found to have intent to “injure, aggrieve or annoy” the other person. This offence is part of a package of measures designed to tackle spiking and ensure victims can receive justice.

What recent discussions she has had with (a) organisations and (b) stakeholders on the creation of a criminal offence specifically targeting drink spiking.

The Government committed, in its manifesto, to create a new offence covering spiking. Our aim is to create a clear and modern offence that covers the wide range of behaviours currently associated with spiking, encourage victims to report such incidents and help the police respond effectively. In developing this new offence, included in the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government listened to the views of stakeholders, such as Spike Aware and Stamp Out Spiking, survivors and worked with other organisations, such as law enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service.The Government has designed the new offence to capture all incidents of spiking, including drink spiking, and where the substance is administered by other methods, such as by needle, food, vape etc.Whilst every case will turn on its facts, if someone administers a harmful substance as a prank, they would likely be found to have intent to “injure, aggrieve or annoy” the other person. This offence is part of a package of measures designed to tackle spiking and ensure victims can receive justice.

What (a) stakeholders, (b) NGOs and (c) interest groups have been consulted on the NHS 10-Year Plan by (i) his Department and (ii) NHS England since 4 July 2024.

Throughout the 10-Year Health Plan’s engagement activity, we have engaged with over 1,600 stakeholders, non-governmental organisations, and patient groups to hear their ideas for change. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a list of organisations that made a submission to the Change NHS engagement portal, and the organisations that were members of the 10-Year Health Plan Partners Council.

With reference to the NHS10-Year Health Plan whether discussions have been held with (a) higher socio-economic groups and (b) working people.

We launched the Change NHS website to ensure that as many people as possible could have their say. As part of this, we asked participants to provide demographic information to help us hear from a representative cross-section of the public across the engagement as a whole. In tandem, we launched two nationally representative surveys, mirroring the Change NHS website content, to enable us to sense check against the insights from online participants.At our public deliberative events, we used two channels to recruit the 755 participants to ensure the attendees were representative of the region the event was in. Firstly, two-thirds of the sample were recruited through Sortition, a method of selection designed to be representative of the population with respect to age, gender, ethnicity, location, disability, highest level of education attainment, and by index of multiple deprivation. Secondly, one third of the sample was recruited through specialist recruiters to boost audiences who are typically seldom heard in engagement. This included participants living in the 20% most deprived areas of England and those from ethnic minority backgrounds. We also held deliberative events with health and social care staff.

What recent assessments her Department has made of trends in the number of spiking incidents.

Spiking is often underreported and this can make analysis of trends difficult.In order to improve our understanding of trends, from April 2026 offences which involve spiking will be added to the Home Office’s Annual Data Requirement. This is the formal mechanism through which the Home Office collects data from all police forces in England and Wales. This will ensure that the Home Office has access to formal, standardised and regular reporting from the police on offences involving spiking.

What training is provided to frontline police officers to improve the (a) identification and (b) handling of spiking cases.

The Government have introduced through the Crime and Policing Bill a new criminal offence for spiking, to help police better respond to this crime.The Home Office has funded specialist spiking training for staff in the hospitality industry to ensure they have the skills to better detect spiking incidents, support victims who have been spiked and support law enforcement with evidence collection.The Home Office is currently working with the police-led National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection (NCVPP) on the development of police guidance across a range of VAWG crimes, including spiking.

What steps she is taking to improve coordination between (a) healthcare providers and (b) law enforcement in responding to suspected spiking incidents.

It is crucial that all organisations that may be involved in supporting victims of spiking and collecting evidence (including those in the healthcare, hospitality and education sectors) do so in a joined-up way.The Home Office is currently working with the police-led National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection (NCVPP) to assess options for schemes that promote a greater joining up between the police and other stakeholders on the collection of evidence samples from victims.

If he will list each foreign language where there has been (a) translation and (b) interpretation to facilitate engagement with the proposed NHS 10-Year Health Plan.

The Change NHS portal was available in English, Urdu, Romanian, Punjabi, and Polish, as these are the five most common languages in England, as reported by the 2021 Census. Participants at 10-Year Health Plan deliberative engagement events were given the option to request translation into any other language.