Written questions by Hayes.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the impact of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions on the charity sector.

The recent Budget took the tough choices needed to fix the foundations and restore economic stability. DCMS Ministers have spoken to representatives from the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector and are aware of their concerns about the impacts of the increase to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs).The government acknowledges that these changes will affect all sectors of the economy, which is why we have put in place mitigations to protect smaller organisations in particular, by more than doubling the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that next year, 865,000 employers (43%) will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of employers will see no change or gain overall from this package.We are also expanding eligibility of the Employment Allowance by removing the £100,000 eligibility threshold, to simplify and reform employer NICs so that all eligible employers now benefit. Employers will also continue to benefit from employer NICs reliefs including for hiring under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.Within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving. Our tax regime for charities, including exemption from paying business rates, is among the most generous of anywhere in the world, with more than £6 billion in charitable reliefs provided to charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs and their donors in 2023 to 2024. The biggest individual reliefs provided are Gift Aid at £1.6 billion and business rates relief at nearly £2.4 billion.

Whether she has had recent discussions with her Turkish counterpart on illegal immigration into the UK.

Home Office Ministers and officials are in regular communication with a wide range of international partner countries working together to tackle organised immigration crime.

Whether British servicemen at UK nuclear weapons tests had their blood counts monitored after the programme had concluded.

Nuclear Test Veterans made a huge contribution to UK security, including helping to establish the UK’s nuclear deterrent, which to this day keeps our country safe. Like all Service personnel, those who were present at the UK nuclear weapon tests may have had medical testing undertaken throughout their career. I have asked Ministry of Defence officials to look at records to fully understand what information the Department holds in relation to the medical testing of Service personnel who took part in the UK nuclear weapons tests. I will provide an update on this in due course.

How many irregular migrants have received a waiver from paying the immigration health surcharge in each year since 2017.

Information on Fee Waiver outcomes is published as part of the Migration Transparency statistics; however it is not possible to disaggregate Fee Waivers granted to irregular migrants from the data. The Migration Transparency data can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-dataData is not held on whether individuals receiving refunds are regular or irregular migrants. The IHS refund is linked to the outcome of an application, rather than the status of a migrant.

How many irregular migrants have received a refund for paying the immigration health surcharge since 2017.

Information on Fee Waiver outcomes is published as part of the Migration Transparency statistics; however it is not possible to disaggregate Fee Waivers granted to irregular migrants from the data. The Migration Transparency data can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-dataData is not held on whether individuals receiving refunds are regular or irregular migrants. The IHS refund is linked to the outcome of an application, rather than the status of a migrant.

Whether she has had recent discussions with her Vietnamese counterpart on illegal immigration into the UK.

Home Office Ministers and officials are in regular communication with a wide range of international partner countries working together to tackle organised immigration crime.

Whether he plans to publish a review of the potential costs to the NHS of changes to the law on assisted dying.

There is no review of the potential costs to the National Health Service of changes to the law on assisted dying and accordingly, there are no plans to publish a review.

If he will make an assessment of the impact of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions on care homes.

The Government considered the cost pressures facing adult social care as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the Spending Review process. This assessment took into account a wide range of factors, including changes to employer National Insurance contributions, and the National Living Wage increases. No specific assessment has been made on the impact of an increase to employer National Insurance contributions on care home providers.In response to the range of pressures facing local authorities, the Government is providing a real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of approximately 3.2%, which includes £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26.

What steps he is taking to support rural households off the gas supply network with the cost of energy.

The Government is committed to ensuring energy bills are affordable for all consumers. The Warm Home Discount provides a £150 rebate off energy bills for eligible low-income households. We expect around 3 million households to receive this support this winter. Although standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, and are regulated by Ofgem, we know that too much of the burden of the bill is placed on them. The Government has worked constructively with the regulator on the issue of standing charges, and we are committed to lowering the cost of them. As part of the Warm Homes Plan, we have committed £3.4 billion over the next three years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency. This includes £1.8 billion to support fuel poverty schemes, helping over 225,000 households reduce their energy bills by over £200. We will set out the full details of our ambitious Warm Homes Plan next spring.

How many children have been investigated for non-crime hate crimes in the last five years.

The Home Office does not centrally hold or collate information on the number of children who have been investigated by police forces for non-crime hate incidents.The statutory Non-Crime Hate Incidents Code of Practice makes it clear that a child who is subject of an non-crime hate incident report may have lower appreciation of the impact of their words or behaviour, thus recording their personal data may be a disproportionate response.

How many applications for gangmaster licences have been refused in the last five years.

The annual number of applications for gangmaster licences that have been refused are published in the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority’s Annual Reports and Accounts. Annual accounts have been published up to and including the 2022-23 financial year. From the available published data, the total number of refused applications since 2019/20 up to and including 2022/23 is 42.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support charities in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Charities play a vital role in supporting our communities, and have a rich understanding of the local areas in which they are embedded, such as in South Holland and the Deepings.DCMS is supporting the sector across England in a number of ways, including through the provision of grants through, for example, the VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme and the Know Your Neighbourhood fund. DCMS also supports charities by growing other sources of funding such as the social investment market and the dormant assets scheme, and building the capacity of VCSEs to bid for government contracts through the Contract Readiness Programme, which increases their sustainability.Last year, the Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund distributed £76 million to VCSE organisations to support them with the rising cost of living. This included funding to organisations in the East Midlands - a full list of recipients can be found online.The Government values the work that charities do. Resetting the relationship between civil society and Government is a priority, and we want to ensure that the sector is recognised as a trusted and independent partner whose voice is heard. That is why DCMS has been working closely with key civil society bodies to develop a framework for a new Covenant between government and civil society, which was launched by the Prime Minister in October.

If he will make an assessment of the impact of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions on hospices.

We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The employer National Insurance contributions rise will be implemented in April 2025, and the Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course.

How many and what proportion of care homes in South Holland and the Deepings constituency are rated (a) good and (b) excellent by the Care Quality Commission.

There are currently 36 care homes registered with the Care Quality Commission in South Holland and The Deepings constituency. Data from 1 November 2024 shows that two care homes, or 6%, are rated Outstanding, and 24 care homes, or 67%, are rated Good.

If he will take steps to increase funding for brain injury reablement services in rural areas.

The Government wants a society where every person, including those with a long-term condition such as an acquired brain injury (ABI), receives high-quality, compassionate continuity of care, with their families and carers supported.We will change the National Health Service so that it becomes not just a sickness service, but one able to prevent ill health in the first place. This will help us be better prepared for the change in the nature of disease and allow our services to focus more on the management of chronic, long-term conditions, like ABIs, including rehabilitation where appropriate.A decision on the next steps on ABIs at the national level will be taken in the coming months. Meanwhile, we have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver an NHS fit for the future. We will be carefully considering input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan over the coming months. The engagement process has been launched and I would encourage my fellow Parliamentarians to engage with that process, to allow us to fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are, including on ABI. More information about how they can input into the plan is available at the following link:https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services such as rehabilitation and reablement services, and ensuring that there is appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their population. The core ICB allocations formula is an estimate of the relative need for healthcare resources in each ICB, and is recommended by an independent committee. The formula includes a range of adjustments that account for the fact that the costs of providing health care may vary between rural and urban areas.Often, rehabilitation and reablement services don’t provide services exclusively for patients with brain injuries, but also provide rehabilitation for patients with other conditions, such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, it is difficult to quantify the total about of funding that is spent on brain injury reablement services specifically.

What steps her Department is taking to support people with learning difficulties in rural areas that are seeking paid employment.

We have a range of specialist initiatives to support people with learning disabilities and other disabled people into work. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants. £12.3 million has also been invested into 23 lead Local Authority areas to provide support to autistic people and people with learning disabilities, under the Local Supported Employment Programme. As part of the Get Britain Working plan, we will be devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve. Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes promoting a digital information service for employers to help them support disability at work and the Disability Confident scheme.

If she will collate the number of non-crime hate incidents recorded by police forces in each of the last five years.

The Home Office does not currently centrally hold or collate information on the number of non-crime hate incidents recorded by police forces.

What assessment he has made of the economic impact of foreign direct investment projects in Lincolnshire in the last five years.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) looks to encourage investment across the UK, working closely with relevant economic development and inward investment officers across the whole of the Lincolnshire region. Investment into the region has seen 1,295 new jobs were created in the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area in 2021-22, 1,159 in 2022-23 and 198 in 2023-24. Statistics at LEP level are not available for previous years. The estimated economic impact of FDI in the UK in 2023-24 was £5.8bn and analysis shows that FDI has a net economic benefit to the whole of the UK.

What steps his Department is taking to help support the growth of independent brewers in Lincolnshire.

Independent brewers, including those in Lincolnshire, are at the heart of many of our communities and important for economic growth.The government is reducing alcohol duty on qualifying draught products, representing an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85m a year and will consult on ways to encourage small brewers to retain and expand their access to UK pubs, maximising drinkers’ choice and local economies.This Government will be publishing our Small Business Strategy next year. This will set out our vision for all small businesses, from boosting scale-ups to growing the co-operative economy.Through the Hospitality Sector Council, we are addressing strategic issues for the sector related to high street regeneration, skills, sustainability, and productivity.

What the average waiting time is to register with an NHS dentist in Lincolnshire.

Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice and there is no single waiting list, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly and may operate local waiting list arrangements.The responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the South Holland and The Deepings constituency, this is the NHS Lincolnshire ICB.