Written questions by Cocking.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the delay in confirming funding for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund for the financial year 2025-26 on families and children who receive support.

Announcements on funding for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) will be made as soon as possible. We will, of course, always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children. ASGSF applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. Where applications are agreed, therapy which starts before March 2025 may therefore continue into the next financial year, under previously agreed transitional funding arrangements.

Whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the assessment (a) process and (b) criteria for the establishment of banking hubs.

The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities, high streets, and rural areas across the UK, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. The Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 200 hubs have been announced so far, and over 100 are already open. The locations of banking hubs are independently determined by LINK, the industry coordinating body responsible for making access to cash assessments. When a cash service such as a bank branch closes, or if LINK receives a request directly from a community, LINK assesses a community’s access to cash needs. LINK will recommend appropriate solutions where it considers that a community requires additional cash services. Some of the criteria that LINK considers are whether there is a bank branch remaining, population size, number of shops on the high street, distance to the nearest bank branch, public transport links, and vulnerability of the population.Based on this independent assessment and recommendation, Cash Access UK will provide a suitable shared solution, such as a deposit service, or a banking hub, for that community.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle car theft in Broxbourne constituency.

This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police to ensure our response is as strong as it can be. I met the NPCC Vehicle Crime lead, ACC Jenny Sims, recently and discussed this matter.We work closely with policing and industry, via the recently formed National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the National Vehicle Crime Working Group. Through the working group a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure forces can share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and better tackle regional issues.We are also providing £250,000 funding this financial year to help support enforcement at ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad, including additional staff and specialist equipment.PRC data shows there was a total of 375,048 vehicle related thefts in year ending September 2024. 188,517 of these offences were theft from a vehicle and 127,874 were theft of a motor vehicle.   In the latest year, the CSEW estimates that vehicle related theft has remained relatively stable with a 1% increase against the previous year. The Home Office does not collect data at the parliamentary constituency level.

Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for publishing a Government response to the report entitled The impact of a change in the maximum park home sale commission, published on 16 June 2022.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 5693 on 7 October 2024.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on SEND transport to educational institutions.

I refer the hon. Member for Broxbourne to the answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 26397.

What steps she is taking to support private providers of school transport for SEND pupils.

Home-to-school travel is an integral part of the school system. It provides a valuable service on which many families rely. The department is grateful to the many transport operators for the crucial role they play in ensuring that children receive the education that they need to help them thrive.Local authorities are responsible for arranging home-to-school travel for eligible children. It is for them to determine how best to do so, based on local circumstances and the needs of the children travelling. They might, for example, have an in-house fleet, provide passes for free travel on public transport or contract with private transport operators for the provision of buses, coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles. Where they contract with private operators, it is for the local authority and the operator to agree suitable terms.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure adequate infrastructure is in place before new housing is built.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner.Local development plans should address needs and opportunities in relation to infrastructure and identify what infrastructure is required and how it can be funded and brought forward. When preparing a Local Plan, Planning Practice Guidance recommends that local planning authorities use available evidence of infrastructure requirements to prepare an Infrastructure Funding Statement. Such Statements can be used to demonstrate the delivery of infrastructure throughout the plan-period.The government provides financial support for essential infrastructure in areas of greatest housing demand through Land and Infrastructure funding programmes, such as the Housing Infrastructure Fund.The changes to the National Planning Policy Framework announced on 12 December will also support the increased provision and modernisation of various types of public infrastructure.The government is also committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.

What steps she is taking with Transport for London to reduce fare evasion.

Ministers and officials have regular conversations with Transport for London on a variety of issues including fare evasion on their network. Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor and TfL is responsible for operational decisions to support reduced fare evasion.

How many street works carried out under emergency procedures she considers as evidence of misuse.

The Department have examined data from our Street Manager digital service and spoken to industry representatives and found no evidence of misuse. Emergency works are needed to deal with danger to life and urgent works are needed, for example, to repair leaks, restore customer connections, and repair dangerous potholes. The Government believes, however, that there is scope to improve how such works are managed and communicated to road users and we are working with the sector to develop proposals to address this.

What discussions she has had with the utilities industry on minimising disruption caused by street works.

The Department for Transport works closely with industry stakeholders, including utility companies, as we continue to review our legislation, statutory guidance and guidance, to identify areas where the regime can be improved to minimise the impact of street works. We have recently announced to the industry that we will be clamping down on disruptive works by doubling fixed penalty notices for utility companies who fail to comply with rules and extending charges for works that overrun into weekends.As more highway authorities are progressing with their applications to operate lane rental schemes to target the most disruptive works on our roads, my Department have been engaging with utility companies directly as part of a series of regional visits. Utility companies have also been invited, along with a range of other stakeholders, to take part in a consultation on proposals to improve and simplify the lane rental application process.

What progress she has made on ending the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers.

This government inherited an asylum system under exceptional strain, with tens of thousands of people stuck in limbo without any prospect of having their claims processed. At their peak use under the previous government, in the autumn of 2023, more than 400 asylum hotels were being leased by the Home Office, at a cost of almost £9 million a day.We took immediate action to resolve that chaos by restarting asylum processing, establishing the new Border Security Command to tackle the people-smuggling gangs, cracking down on illegal working across the country, and increasing the return and removal of people with no right to be here.Inevitably, due to the size of the backlog we inherited, the Home Office has been forced to continue with the use of hotels for the time being. But this is not a permanent solution, and the small increase in the number in use at the end of last year was just a temporary but necessary step to manage pressures in the system, which is now in the process of being reversed.It remains our absolute commitment to end the use of hotels over time, as part of our reduction in overall asylum accommodation costs. In the interim, we are also continuing to increase our operational activity against smuggling gangs and illegal working, and we have increased returns to their highest level since 2018, with 16,400 people removed in the first six months this government was in charge.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle financial scams.

We are committed to working with law enforcement, industry, civil society and international partners to tackle financial scams. This includes blocking fraud at its source, disrupting it before it reaches the public, and providing preventative advice and support such as our “Stop! Think Fraud” campaign.Further industry action includes potential legislative action to ban “SIM farms”, technical devices that allow criminals to send scam texts to thousands of people at the same time, and the Online Safety Act codes of practice which will come into effect in March.In due course we will publish an expanded Fraud Strategy as set out in our manifesto, which will cover the full range of threats that our society faces from this crime.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 15845 on Small Businesses: Recruitment, when he plans to publish the small business strategy.

The Government will publish a Small Business Strategy Paper later this year. This will set out the Government’s vision for all small businesses, from boosting scale-ups to growing the co-operative economy, across key policy areas such as creating thriving high streets, making it easier to access finance, opening up overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment. The paper will complement the Government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy and Trade Strategy.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to Q53 of the evidence given by the Minister of State for Housing and Planning to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee on 20 November 202

Detail about the government’s proposed approach to strategic planning can be found in the English Devolution White Paper published on 16 December 2024.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department’s Planning Newsletter issued to local authorities on 13 December 2024, what steps local planning authorities will need to take as part of the req

Local Planning Authorities have a statutory obligation to produce a Local Development Scheme and to keep it up-to-date and publicly available. As the Secretary of State set out in her letter of 12 December 2024, we are asking all Local Planning Authoritie...

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 12 December 2024, Official Report, HCWS308, whether local authorities with existing Local Plans produced under the previous stand

Having an effective up-to-date plan in place is essential to planning for, and meeting, development needs. Whether a local authority is required to update their Local Plan as a consequence of the new housing need requirement will depend on the stage a dra...

What steps her Department is taking to encourage local authorities to apply for lane rental schemes.

The Department is in the process of updating its lane rental guidance and has recently announced a new assessment process for lane rental applications to improve and streamline the application process for authorities. We have been speaking to authorities ...

What steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of the Street Manager service.

The Street Manager service is closely managed by the Department, with officials also overseeing ongoing development and improvement of the service in line with Government Digital Services best practice. There is a governance group made up of elected repre...

How many train collisions with people have been reported in each train operating company's network area in the last 12 months; and how many people were involved in such collisions in each area.

The number of people struck by trains in the last 12 months within each of Network Rail’s regions and routes is set out below. This data shows whether the incident led to a fatality or injury, and if it was classified as a suspected suicide or as non-suic...

What steps his Department is taking to make it easier for patients in Broxbourne constituency to contact their GP practice to book appointments.

We know patients are struggling to contact their general practices (GP), including in the Broxbourne constituency. That is why we have committed to eliminating the 8:00am scramble for appointments by implementing a modern appointment booking system.The mo...