Written questions by Dillon.

Innovation and Technology, whether the use of planning reform to boost mobile connectivity is a formal responsibility of her Department.

Responsibility for national planning policy in England, including permitted development rights, sits with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is responsible for digital infrastructure policy.We engage regularly with MHCLG on the role of the planning system in supporting mobile connectivity. As part of this work, the government launched a call for evidence, led jointly by DSIT and MHCLG, to assess whether changes to existing permitted development rights could better support digital infrastructure deployment.The call for evidence closed on Thursday, 26 February, and subject to the evidence received, the government will determine next steps, which may include consulting on proposed measures and, where appropriate, bringing forward legislation.

What assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of commissioning MenB vaccination programmes through community pharmacies.

The Government is looking to expand the number of vaccines offered in community pharmacies across the country through local, targeted vaccination programmes. This has already started, with NHS England commissioning some community pharmacies in the Midlands, North-West, London, and East of England to help deliver the year-round respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programmes to eligible pregnant women, to protect newborns, and adults aged 75 to 79 years old as well as the year-round Pertussis vaccination programme to eligible pregnant women.NHS England also nationally commissioned community pharmacies to administer flu vaccines for two and three year olds for the first time in autumn 2025. An evaluation will assess whether this use of community pharmacies improves vaccine uptake and helps tackle regional health inequalities, in line with the NHS Vaccination Strategy.The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an expert scientific advisory committee that advises the Government on eligibility for vaccination and immunisation programmes. The JCVI has been consulted on the immediate vaccine response to the outbreak and clinical effectiveness of potential future outbreak response vaccination strategies.On the 17 March, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, also announced to the House of Commons that he would ask the JCVI to review eligibility for meningococcal B (MenB) vaccination. The JCVI will conduct a full assessment of the cost-effectiveness of a routine adolescent MenB vaccination programme and provide a complete and formal response to my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care as soon as practicable.The Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England will continue to ensure arrangements are place to ensure that everyone who is eligible for MenB vaccination can access vaccinations via appropriate care routes.

Whether his Department is considering commissioning MenB vaccination programmes through community pharmacies.

The Government is looking to expand the number of vaccines offered in community pharmacies across the country through local, targeted vaccination programmes. This has already started, with NHS England commissioning some community pharmacies in the Midlands, North-West, London, and East of England to help deliver the year-round respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programmes to eligible pregnant women, to protect newborns, and adults aged 75 to 79 years old as well as the year-round Pertussis vaccination programme to eligible pregnant women.NHS England also nationally commissioned community pharmacies to administer flu vaccines for two and three year olds for the first time in autumn 2025. An evaluation will assess whether this use of community pharmacies improves vaccine uptake and helps tackle regional health inequalities, in line with the NHS Vaccination Strategy.The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an expert scientific advisory committee that advises the Government on eligibility for vaccination and immunisation programmes. The JCVI has been consulted on the immediate vaccine response to the outbreak and clinical effectiveness of potential future outbreak response vaccination strategies.On the 17 March, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, also announced to the House of Commons that he would ask the JCVI to review eligibility for meningococcal B (MenB) vaccination. The JCVI will conduct a full assessment of the cost-effectiveness of a routine adolescent MenB vaccination programme and provide a complete and formal response to my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care as soon as practicable.The Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England will continue to ensure arrangements are place to ensure that everyone who is eligible for MenB vaccination can access vaccinations via appropriate care routes.

What assessment he has made of the potential role of community pharmacies in delivering a MenB vaccination catch-up programme for students and other at-risk groups.

The Government is looking to expand the number of vaccines offered in community pharmacies across the country through local, targeted vaccination programmes. This has already started, with NHS England commissioning some community pharmacies in the Midlands, North-West, London, and East of England to help deliver the year-round respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programmes to eligible pregnant women, to protect newborns, and adults aged 75 to 79 years old as well as the year-round Pertussis vaccination programme to eligible pregnant women.NHS England also nationally commissioned community pharmacies to administer flu vaccines for two and three year olds for the first time in autumn 2025. An evaluation will assess whether this use of community pharmacies improves vaccine uptake and helps tackle regional health inequalities, in line with the NHS Vaccination Strategy.The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an expert scientific advisory committee that advises the Government on eligibility for vaccination and immunisation programmes. The JCVI has been consulted on the immediate vaccine response to the outbreak and clinical effectiveness of potential future outbreak response vaccination strategies.On the 17 March, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, also announced to the House of Commons that he would ask the JCVI to review eligibility for meningococcal B (MenB) vaccination. The JCVI will conduct a full assessment of the cost-effectiveness of a routine adolescent MenB vaccination programme and provide a complete and formal response to my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care as soon as practicable.The Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England will continue to ensure arrangements are place to ensure that everyone who is eligible for MenB vaccination can access vaccinations via appropriate care routes.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she plans to take to hold technology companies accountable for fraud occurring on their platforms.

The Online Safety Act lists fraud as a priority offence, meaning that in-scope services must now prevent and minimise user-generated fraud content from appearing on their platforms and swiftly remove it if it does. User-to-user services must also manage the risk of being used to facilitate priority offences, including fraud.Services designated by Ofcom as Category 1 and 2A (large user-to-user and large search services respectively) will have additional duties to tackle paid-for fraudulent advertising. Ofcom aims to publish its categorisation register, and to consult on the additional duties for categorised services – including on fraudulent advertising - around July 2026.

Innovation and Technology, when her (a) Ministers and (b) Officials last met with representatives from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to discuss using planning reform to boost mobile connectivity.

Responsibility for national planning policy in England, including permitted development rights, sits with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is responsible for digital infrastructure policy.We engage regularly with MHCLG on the role of the planning system in supporting mobile connectivity. As part of this work, the government launched a call for evidence, led jointly by DSIT and MHCLG, to assess whether changes to existing permitted development rights could better support digital infrastructure deployment.The call for evidence closed on Thursday, 26 February, and subject to the evidence received, the government will determine next steps, which may include consulting on proposed measures and, where appropriate, bringing forward legislation.

What steps his Department is taking to help support the decarbonisation of non-domestic buildings.

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is supporting public sector organisations in England to install low carbon heating and energy efficiency measures across their estates up until 2028. The Department is also working with the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), which is leading cross-Whitehall work on the potential role for private finance to support public sector decarbonisation. Through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, commercial, public and voluntary sector buildings can receive £7,500 for heat pumps and £5,000 for biomass boilers. The Department also helps fund the UK Business Climate Hub, an online resource supporting SMEs identify and implement changes to their energy use. The department also consulted strengthening non-domestic minimum energy efficiency standards to EPC B and will publish its government response in due course.

What progress has been made towards the goal of delivering a 75% reduction in emissions from public sector buildings by 2037, compared to a 2017 baseline.

The goal of delivering a 75% reduction in emissions from public sector buildings by 2037 compared to a 2017 baseline was a target set by the previous Government.Direct emissions from public sector buildings in the UK were 8.6 MtCO2e in 2017 and 8.8 MtCO2e in 2025 (provisional statistics). Since 2020 the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme has supported, and continues to support, over 1,400 projects to help public sector organisations decarbonise their estates, with funding allocated up until 2028.

What steps his department is taking to address a) accreditation, b) oversight and c) verification failings of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and other previous programmes, and to ensure that these failings are not repeated in the Warm Homes Plan.

The Department has taken action to improve the oversight and quality of installations in the current system. This includes increased oversight of TrustMark, tighter certification rules limiting installers to one PAS 2030 certification per measure and updated PAS 2035/2030:2023 standards mandating site visits and higher professional qualifications. We are committed to reforming the consumer protection system, as set out in the Warm Homes Plan. We will consult this year on options for bringing the oversight of energy efficiency and microgeneration installations for government schemes under closer government control.

What consideration he has given to embedding independent architectural design expertise as a key pillar in developing retrofits funded through the Warm Homes Plan.

The Government recognises that good retrofit design is essential to high-quality home upgrades. The Warm Homes Plan takes a whole-house approach, supporting packages of measures including clean heat, solar, batteries and insulation, according to what is most appropriate and cost-effective for each property. Product designers and installers will take architecture into account. The Government is also supporting improved skills, standards, and oversight across the sector to drive better outcomes for households and reduce bills.

Communities and Local Government, for what reason paragraph 119 on communications infrastructure was removed from the National Planning Policy Framework.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included a new section intended to replace Chapter 10 of current Framework on supporting high-quality telecommunications infrastructure. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on horseracing of increasing sports betting duties without changes to the Horserace Betting Levy.

Horseracing was not subject to the 10% increase in General Betting Duty which was announced in the Autumn Budget. His Majesty’s Treasury published a tax information and impact note alongside these changes.Horseracing is the only sport in receipt of a direct government-mandated levy, which helps to drive improvements in the sport. The levy is designed to ensure that the financial contribution of betting operators to the racing industry reflects the benefits derived from racing as a betting product. Whilst levy income was the highest ever in 2025 at £108m, it only comprises around 6% of racing’s overall income. The promotion of gambling products is a matter for operators. Britain’s gambling market is regulated by the Gambling Commission, which takes a risk-based approach to regulation.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on the promotion of higher-risk gambling products of increasing sports betting duties without changes to the Horserace Betting Levy.

Horseracing was not subject to the 10% increase in General Betting Duty which was announced in the Autumn Budget. His Majesty’s Treasury published a tax information and impact note alongside these changes.Horseracing is the only sport in receipt of a direct government-mandated levy, which helps to drive improvements in the sport. The levy is designed to ensure that the financial contribution of betting operators to the racing industry reflects the benefits derived from racing as a betting product. Whilst levy income was the highest ever in 2025 at £108m, it only comprises around 6% of racing’s overall income. The promotion of gambling products is a matter for operators. Britain’s gambling market is regulated by the Gambling Commission, which takes a risk-based approach to regulation.

How many new Fracture Liaison Services have been established since July 2024.

Our 10-Year Health Plan committed to rolling out Fracture Liaison Services (FLSs) across every part of the country by 2030. The Department does not routinely collect data on the number of FLSs. The Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme, which includes a dedicated FLS database, is a clinical audit of fracture prevention care, delivered by the Royal College of Physicians. The FLS database collects, measures, and reports on the care provided by FLSs in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It does not include opening and closing dates of FLSs but provides an annual snapshot of the number of FLSs that have submitted data. The database is available at the following link: https://www.fffap.org.uk/FLS/charts.nsf/benchmarks?ReadForm&yr=2025&vw=BALL&org1= The Royal College of Physicians publishes an annual report on FLSs in England and Wales, which is available at the following link: https://www.rcp.ac.uk/95436

Whether his Department has considered introducing a mandatory licensing scheme for building companies.

The Government is fully committed to implementing the Grenfell Inquiry recommendation that principal contractors working on higher-risk buildings should be licenced through a scheme managed by the Building Safety Regulator. We have accepted this recommendation as an important step in enhancing building safety standards. We continue to engage with stakeholders as to whether a wider licencing scheme would improve standards of consumer protection. This work is progressing alongside our broader initiatives to enhance competency across the construction sector through the Industry Competence Committee, ensuring a comprehensive approach to raising standards throughout the industry.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS trusts collect complete data on the diagnosis, treatment and care of people with secondary breast cancer.

The Government recognises the importance of robust, comprehensive data on secondary, or metastatic, breast cancer to improve patient outcomes, inform research, and support effective workforce and service planning.Through the National Cancer Plan, for the first time, we have committed to delivering the systemic definition, identification, and counting of recurrent and metastatic cancers, starting with metastatic breast cancer, addressing longstanding gaps in national data on secondary disease.To improve data collection, the National Disease Registration Service’s Get Data Out programme is strengthening the scope, quality, and accessibility of cancer data. This includes expanding the data made available to the public, clinicians, and researchers on incidence, routes to diagnosis, treatments, and survival.This data is used to support cancer research and outcomes analysis, to inform service and workforce planning, including understanding demand for specialist roles such as breast cancer clinical nurse specialists, and to provide real‑world evidence to support assessments of clinical and cost effectiveness used in commissioning and appraisal processes. NHS England is also taking action to improve the completeness and consistency of data collected by National Health Service trusts. This includes funding national audits for primary and metastatic breast cancer using routinely collected NHS data. These audits assess diagnosis, treatment, and care pathways, identify variation in practice, and highlight areas where data quality or service delivery can be improved.On 11 September 2025, the second State of the Nation report for primary and metastatic breast cancer was published by the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre, and officials in the Department and NHS England are acting on the findings where appropriate, including to strengthen data quality across trusts.

How the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy 3 will enable local authorities to plan and deliver continuous, high-quality active travel networks.

I am carefully considering the feedback from the consultation on the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, including in respect of the planning and delivery of active travel networks. I expect to publish the Strategy in the Spring.

What steps she is taking to ensure that the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy 3 tackles barriers preventing women from cycling.

The Government does of course recognise how important it is that we tackle such barriers. My Department is reflecting on how best to address this within the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, which we expect to publish in the Spring.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce homelessness in West Berkshire.

The government is providing £3.6 billion funding for homelessness services from 2026/27 to 2028/29, including more than £2.2 billion for local authorities to prevent and address homelessness and rough sleeping through the Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant, as well as £969 million for temporary accommodation within the Revenue Support Grant. You can find local authority level allocations on gov.uk here. We published our national strategy, A National Plan to End Homelessness, in December 2025. You can find our plan to tackle homelessness on gov.uk here.

What discussions her Department has had with industry representatives on alternatives to the business rates system.

The Call for Evidence on business rates and investment closed on 18 February. As part of this process, the Government engaged industry representatives for more detailed evidence on how the business rates system influences investment decisions, with questions on the business rates system’s tax structure, small business rates relief, improvement relief and empty property relief. The Government is carefully considering representations we’ve received, and a response to the Call for Evidence will be published in due course.