Written questions by Reynolds.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of UK defence readiness following recent Russian incursions in NATO airspace; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that (a) the UK and (b) its allies are able to respond effectively to potential future incursions.

The UK is committed to defending every inch of NATO territory, including our contribution of Typhoon jets to defend Polish airspace as part of NATO’s Eastern Sentry. NATO is more united than ever as we continue to work closely to support Ukraine and defend the alliance’s territory. The Defence Secretary recently confirmed that we will be extending our contribution to Eastern Sentry until the end of 2025. Over the past 18 months, the RAF has also conducted routine deployments of Typhoons to both Poland and Romania to protect NATO airspace. In the UK, RAF fighter jets at RAF Coningsby and RAF Lossiemouth are held at continuous high readiness 24/7, 365 days a year, to protect UK sovereign airspace. They routinely launch to intercept unidentified aircraft flying in the UK’s area of interest as part of NATO’s air policing mission.

What recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of regional variations in the proportion of NHS Continuing Healthcare applications that are approved; and what steps he is taking to ensure consistency in decision making across Integrated Care Boards.

The Department works closely with NHS England to monitor levels of regional variation in eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). This includes NHS England implementing an operational assurance regime across regions which promotes accurate assessment, equal access, standardisation, and consistency within CHC funding.This assurance regime has a specific focus on reducing unwarranted variation in CHC across the country. To support this further during 2025/26, NHS England has increased their regional assurance meetings from every three months to every two months.To support improved patient experience in relation to CHC, the NHS Performance and Assessment Framework for 2025/26 also includes an assurance standard for Integrated Care Boards to monitor the percentage of Standard CHC referrals completed within 28 days.

What his Department’s policy is on the use of cash for food vendor payments in NHS hospitals.

The Department does not have a policy on the use of cash for the payment of food vendors in National Health Service hospitals. These decisions are taken locally by NHS organisations.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to publish guidance for managing agents and freeholders on how costs should be allocated for remedial works relating to historic building defects when the developer is no longer in existence.

The Building Safety Act allows for civil cases to be brought against companies which were associated with those responsible for historic building defects, even when these responsible parties are no longer in existence or are making use of complex corporate structures to avoid their remediation responsibilities. Guidance on how costs should be allocated for remedial works relating to historic building defects when the developer is no longer in existence (in which case costs are shared between government, leaseholders and freeholders) has already been published and can be found here:Remediation costs: what leaseholders do and do not have to pay - GOV.UKLeaseholder contribution caps - GOV.UK.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating an accreditation scheme for fire door replacement works to allow approved contractors to carry out such works without requiring Building Safety Regulator approval.

The government introduced the higher-risk building control regime to ensure more stringent oversight and accountability during the design and construction of higher-risk buildings, backed by stronger enforcement and sanctions. All proposed higher-risk building work now must receive approval from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) before starting. These changes are in line with Dame Judith Hackitt’s recommendations to improve the focus on compliance with building regulations and to ensure residents are, and feel, safe in their homes. However, we are aware that there are concerns regarding the impacts of the delays and the difficulty in getting approval for certain types of high-volume work to existing higher-risk buildings, including the repair and replacement of fire doors. We are working closely with the BSR to address these current challenges and to ensure the regime is proportionate and fit for purpose. Nevertheless, allowing certain types of higher-risk building work to progress without BSR oversight risks inconsistency in applying building regulations, potentially compromising safety standards and resulting in non-compliance. Therefore, any changes would need to be carefully considered, particularly while the sector is still getting to grips with the new regime. Competent Person Schemes allow registered professionals and companies to self-certify their work as compliant with the building regulations. Operation of a scheme is voluntary, as is membership of a scheme. Scheme operators are authorised under paragraph 4A of Schedule 1 to the Building Act 1984 and are named in Schedule 3 to the Building Regulations 2010.  After applying, they are assessed by the BSR and approved by MHCLG ministers. Before ministerial approval, applicants must demonstrate that they have the managerial, financial and technical ability to operate a scheme. This includes demonstrating compliance with the Conditions of Authorisation. At this time, no industry organisation has expressed interest in operating a Competent Person Scheme for the repair and/or replacement of fire doors.

Whether he is taking steps to (a) speed up the marriage application process, (b) expand the scope of legal marriage venues and (c) review the 28-day notice period prior to the marriage ceremony.

The 28-day notice period implemented by the Immigration Act 2014 remains in place not only for administrative reasons but also to support safeguards against sham marriages. The Government has no plans to review this.The Law Commission’s 2022 report on weddings law made 57 recommendations for the reform of weddings law, including in relation to preliminaries, and where weddings can take place. The Government appreciates the importance of these issues and will provide an update in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of nurseries falling within Class E of the Town and Country Planning Order 1987 on neighbouring residents; and if he will review the classification to ensure that (a) traffic generation, (b) parking pressure and (c) road safety can be properly considered by local planning authorities before such uses are introduced.

My Department has made no such an assessment. We continue to keep planning regulations under review.

How many telephone calls were received by HM Revenue and Customs in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016.

HMRC’s published historic data series includes figures for 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. This data sets out the number of telephony contacts and the percentage of total call attempts handled by HMRC Contact Centres. These figures, along with the length of time which callers waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser, are set out in the table below: Telephony2014-152015-162016-17Contacts 64,781,97860,804,09249,865,940% of total call attempts handled by Contact Centres71.971.691.7Average length of time that callers to HMRC waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser (minutes and seconds)10:1814:336:53 The percentage of total call attempts handled by contact centres includes calls handled by an adviser and calls where the query was resolved without speaking to an adviser, for example, after listening to a recorded informational message. HMRC’s telephone service standard is to answer 85 per cent of phone calls to advisers. This has been the primary telephony target since 2022-23, and there is published performance against this metric since 2020-21, which can be found in HMRC’s historic data series on Gov.uk. A target of 85 per cent of adviser attempts handled was reviewed and confirmed as part of HMRC's funding settlement at the Spending Review in June 2025. HMRC has not made an assessment of the additional level of funding that would be required to enable HMRC to answer all telephone calls. The target of answering 85 per cent of calls to advisers, which was agreed at the Spending Review in June 2025, strikes the necessary balance between delivering a good service and providing value for money to taxpayers.

What the average length of time was that callers to HM Revenue and Customs waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016.

HMRC’s published historic data series includes figures for 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. This data sets out the number of telephony contacts and the percentage of total call attempts handled by HMRC Contact Centres. These figures, along with the length of time which callers waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser, are set out in the table below: Telephony2014-152015-162016-17Contacts 64,781,97860,804,09249,865,940% of total call attempts handled by Contact Centres71.971.691.7Average length of time that callers to HMRC waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser (minutes and seconds)10:1814:336:53 The percentage of total call attempts handled by contact centres includes calls handled by an adviser and calls where the query was resolved without speaking to an adviser, for example, after listening to a recorded informational message. HMRC’s telephone service standard is to answer 85 per cent of phone calls to advisers. This has been the primary telephony target since 2022-23, and there is published performance against this metric since 2020-21, which can be found in HMRC’s historic data series on Gov.uk. A target of 85 per cent of adviser attempts handled was reviewed and confirmed as part of HMRC's funding settlement at the Spending Review in June 2025. HMRC has not made an assessment of the additional level of funding that would be required to enable HMRC to answer all telephone calls. The target of answering 85 per cent of calls to advisers, which was agreed at the Spending Review in June 2025, strikes the necessary balance between delivering a good service and providing value for money to taxpayers.

What the service level target is for HM Revenue and Customs for answering telephone calls; and when that target was last reviewed.

HMRC’s published historic data series includes figures for 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. This data sets out the number of telephony contacts and the percentage of total call attempts handled by HMRC Contact Centres. These figures, along with the length of time which callers waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser, are set out in the table below: Telephony2014-152015-162016-17Contacts 64,781,97860,804,09249,865,940% of total call attempts handled by Contact Centres71.971.691.7Average length of time that callers to HMRC waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser (minutes and seconds)10:1814:336:53 The percentage of total call attempts handled by contact centres includes calls handled by an adviser and calls where the query was resolved without speaking to an adviser, for example, after listening to a recorded informational message. HMRC’s telephone service standard is to answer 85 per cent of phone calls to advisers. This has been the primary telephony target since 2022-23, and there is published performance against this metric since 2020-21, which can be found in HMRC’s historic data series on Gov.uk. A target of 85 per cent of adviser attempts handled was reviewed and confirmed as part of HMRC's funding settlement at the Spending Review in June 2025. HMRC has not made an assessment of the additional level of funding that would be required to enable HMRC to answer all telephone calls. The target of answering 85 per cent of calls to advisers, which was agreed at the Spending Review in June 2025, strikes the necessary balance between delivering a good service and providing value for money to taxpayers.

What estimate she has made of the additional level of funding that would be required to enable HM Revenue and Customs to answer all telephone calls.

HMRC’s published historic data series includes figures for 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. This data sets out the number of telephony contacts and the percentage of total call attempts handled by HMRC Contact Centres. These figures, along with the length of time which callers waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser, are set out in the table below: Telephony2014-152015-162016-17Contacts 64,781,97860,804,09249,865,940% of total call attempts handled by Contact Centres71.971.691.7Average length of time that callers to HMRC waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser (minutes and seconds)10:1814:336:53 The percentage of total call attempts handled by contact centres includes calls handled by an adviser and calls where the query was resolved without speaking to an adviser, for example, after listening to a recorded informational message. HMRC’s telephone service standard is to answer 85 per cent of phone calls to advisers. This has been the primary telephony target since 2022-23, and there is published performance against this metric since 2020-21, which can be found in HMRC’s historic data series on Gov.uk. A target of 85 per cent of adviser attempts handled was reviewed and confirmed as part of HMRC's funding settlement at the Spending Review in June 2025. HMRC has not made an assessment of the additional level of funding that would be required to enable HMRC to answer all telephone calls. The target of answering 85 per cent of calls to advisers, which was agreed at the Spending Review in June 2025, strikes the necessary balance between delivering a good service and providing value for money to taxpayers.

How many and what proportion of telephone calls to HM Revenue and Customs were answered in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016.

HMRC’s published historic data series includes figures for 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. This data sets out the number of telephony contacts and the percentage of total call attempts handled by HMRC Contact Centres. These figures, along with the length of time which callers waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser, are set out in the table below: Telephony2014-152015-162016-17Contacts 64,781,97860,804,09249,865,940% of total call attempts handled by Contact Centres71.971.691.7Average length of time that callers to HMRC waited before ending their call without speaking to an adviser (minutes and seconds)10:1814:336:53 The percentage of total call attempts handled by contact centres includes calls handled by an adviser and calls where the query was resolved without speaking to an adviser, for example, after listening to a recorded informational message. HMRC’s telephone service standard is to answer 85 per cent of phone calls to advisers. This has been the primary telephony target since 2022-23, and there is published performance against this metric since 2020-21, which can be found in HMRC’s historic data series on Gov.uk. A target of 85 per cent of adviser attempts handled was reviewed and confirmed as part of HMRC's funding settlement at the Spending Review in June 2025. HMRC has not made an assessment of the additional level of funding that would be required to enable HMRC to answer all telephone calls. The target of answering 85 per cent of calls to advisers, which was agreed at the Spending Review in June 2025, strikes the necessary balance between delivering a good service and providing value for money to taxpayers.

What recent steps her Department has taken to ensure local authorities have sufficient resources to repair and maintain residential roads; and what steps she plans to take to improve the long-term funding settlement available for tackling potholes and surface deterioration.

The Government takes the condition of our country’s roads very seriously and is committed to supporting local authorities in maintaining and renewing the local highway network. This Government has made a record investment of almost £1.6 billion for local road maintenance this financial year, a £500 million increase compared to 2024/25. Building on this, we will provide £24 billion of capital funding between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to maintain and improve our motorways and local roads across the country. This funding increase will allow National Highways and local authorities to invest in significantly improving the long-term condition of England’s road network.

Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to help ensure that staffing levels of lock keepers and river infrastructure on the non‑tidal River Thames are sufficient to guarantee public and operator safety.

Ensuring public and operator safety on the non-tidal River Thames is a priority for the Environment Agency (EA). The EA is investing in additional lock and weir resource.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of midwifery recruitment freezes on maternal health outcomes in England; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce staffing shortages in maternity services in areas where (a) hospital access times are longer and (b) home birth provision has declined.

The Government is committed to tackling the retention and recruitment challenges that face the National Health Service.NHS England is leading a range of initiatives to boost the retention of existing staff. This includes building a compassionate and inclusive culture, supporting staff wellbeing, and promoting flexible working opportunities.On 11 August, we announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The Graduate Guarantee will ensure that there are enough positions for every newly qualified midwife in England. The package of measures will unlock thousands of jobs and will ensure thousands of new posts are easier to access by removing barriers for NHS trusts, creating opportunities for graduates and ensuring a seamless transition from training to employment.Vacant maternity support worker posts will be temporarily converted to band 5 midwifery roles, backed by £8 million to create new opportunities specifically for newly qualified midwives and to further ease the recruitment strain.These new measures aim to tackle graduates’ concerns about job availability and ensure the NHS has the right staff to provide the best possible care to patients everywhere.Targeted retention work for midwives is being undertaken by NHS England, led by the Chief Nursing Officer for England. This work contains a range of measures, including creation of a midwifery and nursing retention self-assessment tool, mentoring schemes, strengthened advice and support on pensions, and embedding flexible retirement options. NHS England has also invested in unit-based retention leads which, alongside investment in workforce capacity, has seen a reduction in vacancy, leaver and turnover rates.There are four nationally run programmes to develop midwifery staff, at bands 6 and above, from ethnic minority groups to better support patients, in addition to local initiatives to better reflect the community of the women and babies they support.Responsibility for the delivery, implementation and funding decisions for services ultimately rests with the appropriate NHS commissioner. This includes waiting times and homebirth provisions.NHS commissioners are expected to develop clear plans for reverting temporary service changes or developing plans for the permanent reconfiguration of the service. All service changes should be based on clear evidence that they will deliver better outcomes for patients.

What steps his Department is taking to strengthen the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for properties; and what discussions he has had with (a) industry stakeholders and (b) property owners to help ensure successful delivery.

Department officials have worked closely with industry on the implementation and design of the policy to ensure the policy is fair and proportionate for landlords and tenants alike. This includes multiple workshops this year with these stakeholders to update the policy to significantly reduce complexity and administrative burdens.

What her timetable is for ending the operations of organised people smuggling gangs; and how she will measure progress towards this goal under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

The Border Security Command (BSC) continues to focus on tackling the organised immigration crime gangs that are facilitating small boat crossings, working with domestic partners such as the National Crime Agency, and overseas counterparts in a range of countries, to dismantle the gangs and disrupt their supply chains. This work has already led to a number of widely publicised raids and arrests, as well as agreements with France, Germany, Italy, Iraq and other key partners which will increase enforcement activity and cooperation further over the coming months.The BSC is working closely with delivery partners who tackle organised immigration crime across Whitehall, collecting key data across the system such as organised immigration crime disruptions, with the ambition to track long-term impact and support the delivery of operational activity. This will support the BSC’s ability to drive cohesive delivery across the system and ensure a secure and effective border. Working collaboratively in this way will allow us to increase the number of OIC groups which we break up and subsequently reduce small boat crossings. These numbers will be monitored to ensure we make changes to our approach when neededIn November last year the Prime Minister announced an additional £58m to the Agency’s core budget in 2025/26 to support NCA’s disruptions of serious and organised crime. This represents an increase of 9% from their 2024/25 core budget.On 11 June 2025, the Chancellor announced up to £280 million per year for the Border Security Command by the end of the spending review period in 2028-2029. We have boosted the NCA’s capacity to tackle organised immigration crime by funding 100 new specialist officers, bringing the total dedicated Full Time Employees close to 500.This summer, the Home Office announced a £100 million funding injection to further strengthen existing law enforcement operations. The funding will pay for up to 300 extra National Crime Agency officers (NCA), state-of-the art detection technology and new equipment to smash the networks putting lives at risk in the Channel.We have also signed a landmark agreement with France to prevent dangerous small boat crossings. This agreement means that anyone entering the UK on a small boat can be detained on arrival and returned to France by the UK government. The aim is to test the deterrent effect to prevent dangerous journeys by demonstrating that small boat crossings are not a viable way to enter and remain in the UK and to disrupt the organised immigration crime gangs.Ensuring we have the right legislation in place to take robust, meaningful action to address these challenges is crucial. With this in mind, the UK’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, currently going through Parliament, creates new powers for law enforcement through new criminal offences, expanded data-sharing capabilities and an improved intelligence picture to identify, intercept, disrupt and prevent serious and organised crime.Once the Bill has received Royal Assent the Home Office will report progress in the usual way. In addition, the Bill requires the Border Security Commander to produce an annual report which will be laid before Parliament ahead of publication. The report will include the implementation and delivery of measures contained within the Bill.

What steps is she taking to dismantle organised people smuggling gangs; and how recent (a) legislative and (b) operational measures will (i) improve border security and (ii) protect vulnerable individuals from exploitation.

The Border Security Command (BSC) continues to focus on tackling the organised immigration crime gangs that are facilitating small boat crossings, working with domestic partners such as the National Crime Agency, and overseas counterparts in a range of countries, to dismantle the gangs and disrupt their supply chains. This work has already led to a number of widely publicised raids and arrests, as well as agreements with France, Germany, Italy, Iraq and other key partners which will increase enforcement activity and cooperation further over the coming months.The BSC is working closely with delivery partners who tackle organised immigration crime across Whitehall, collecting key data across the system such as organised immigration crime disruptions, with the ambition to track long-term impact and support the delivery of operational activity. This will support the BSC’s ability to drive cohesive delivery across the system and ensure a secure and effective border. Working collaboratively in this way will allow us to increase the number of OIC groups which we break up and subsequently reduce small boat crossings. These numbers will be monitored to ensure we make changes to our approach when neededIn November last year the Prime Minister announced an additional £58m to the Agency’s core budget in 2025/26 to support NCA’s disruptions of serious and organised crime. This represents an increase of 9% from their 2024/25 core budget.On 11 June 2025, the Chancellor announced up to £280 million per year for the Border Security Command by the end of the spending review period in 2028-2029. We have boosted the NCA’s capacity to tackle organised immigration crime by funding 100 new specialist officers, bringing the total dedicated Full Time Employees close to 500.This summer, the Home Office announced a £100 million funding injection to further strengthen existing law enforcement operations. The funding will pay for up to 300 extra National Crime Agency officers (NCA), state-of-the art detection technology and new equipment to smash the networks putting lives at risk in the Channel.We have also signed a landmark agreement with France to prevent dangerous small boat crossings. This agreement means that anyone entering the UK on a small boat can be detained on arrival and returned to France by the UK government. The aim is to test the deterrent effect to prevent dangerous journeys by demonstrating that small boat crossings are not a viable way to enter and remain in the UK and to disrupt the organised immigration crime gangs.Ensuring we have the right legislation in place to take robust, meaningful action to address these challenges is crucial. With this in mind, the UK’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, currently going through Parliament, creates new powers for law enforcement through new criminal offences, expanded data-sharing capabilities and an improved intelligence picture to identify, intercept, disrupt and prevent serious and organised crime.Once the Bill has received Royal Assent the Home Office will report progress in the usual way. In addition, the Bill requires the Border Security Commander to produce an annual report which will be laid before Parliament ahead of publication. The report will include the implementation and delivery of measures contained within the Bill.

What assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of large businesses repaying SME invoices 60 or 90 days after receipt of the invoice on levels of interruption to SME cashflow.

On 31st July DBT published new research showing that late payments cost the UK economy £11bn per year and closes down 38 UK businesses every day, with a disproportionate impact upon small businesses.Government is putting in place the most significant legislation to tackle late payments in over 25 years, giving the UK the strongest legal framework on late payments in the G7. The consultation on stronger new legislative measures to ensure small businesses are paid promptly closes on 23 October.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a diplomatic humanitarian convoy to facilitate the delivery of aid through the Rafah Crossing; and what recent discussions he has had with his Egyptian counterpart on diplomatic escorts for humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The political and security conditions in Gaza are not currently suitable for the deployment of diplomatic convoys and escorts. Israel must allow the full range of humanitarian relief supplies to enter and be distributed within Gaza via all crossings and routes, and the Israel Defense Force (IDF) must ensure their safe passage.