Written questions by Evans.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 82927 on Special Educational Needs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the outcomes of the Curriculum and Assessment Review feed into the forthcoming White Paper on SEND provision.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review looked closely at how to break down the barriers that hold back children and young people, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.We have already accepted the Review’s recommendation to develop new evidence-based resources to support curriculum adaptation for all children and young people.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a new (a) strategy and (b) framework to replace the UK Rare Diseases Framework.

The UK Rare Diseases Framework was published following the National Conversation on Rare Diseases, which received nearly 6,300 responses. This helped identify the four priorities of the framework in tackling rare diseases, which are: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatment, and drugs. The Government remains committed to improving the lives of those living with rare conditions and will be publishing the next England Rare Diseases Action Plan for rare disease day in 2026, as in previous years. We recognise that despite the progress that has been made there remains considerable unmet need for people living with rare conditions. We are carefully considering the future of the UK Rare Disease Framework and will be announcing our intentions at a later date.

Whether his Department has conducted a formal audit of funding for the HGV driving bootcamp.

The government carries out assurance and financial reconciliation exercises of Skills Bootcamps across all sectors, including the HGV sector. The department publishes data on Skills Bootcamps starts, completions and outcomes by sector. This can be found here; Skills bootcamps starts, completions and outcomes, Financial year 2023-24 - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK. The department does not publish this information by provider.

What recent progress the National Crime Agency has made on tackling cash-only businesses engaged in money laundering.

Addressing cash-based money laundering is one of the strategic priorities of the National Economic Crime Centre, which sits within the National Crime Agency. In March 2025, the NECC led a three-week intensification campaign (Operation MACHINIZE) against barbershops and other cash intensive businesses which saw 380 premises visited, 84 warrants, 35 arrests, and the seizure of illicit goods.This was followed by a second phase of activity (Operation MACHINIZE 2) throughout October which involved every UK police force and Regional Organised Crime Unit, Home Office Immigration Enforcement, Trading Standards, HM Revenue & Customs and Companies House. The operation saw: 2734 premises visited and raided, 924 individuals arrested, over £10.7m of suspected criminal proceeds seized and over £2.7m worth of illicit commodities destroyed.The Home Office is working closely with partners to use the learning from this operation to build on and develop long-term solutions.

Whether his Department holds data on the number of (a) starts, (b) completions and (c) licences obtained from the HGV providers (i) System Group and (ii) Qube.

The government carries out assurance and financial reconciliation exercises of Skills Bootcamps across all sectors, including the HGV sector. The department publishes data on Skills Bootcamps starts, completions and outcomes by sector. This can be found here; Skills bootcamps starts, completions and outcomes, Financial year 2023-24 - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK. The department does not publish this information by provider.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 82925 on Special Educational Needs, what recent discussions she has had with (a) children, (b) parents and (c) experts on SEND provision; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing (i) consultation portals and (ii) additional contact mechanisms for the public to share ideas.

This government is determined to deliver reform that stands the test of time and rebuilds the confidence of families. To ensure lived experience and partnership are at the heart of our solutions, we are currently engaging with children, young people and their families, experts, charities and other sector organisations through our special educational needs and disabilities Ministerial development group, regional and online engagement sessions, and ministerial roundtables as well as through our online portal which can be accessed here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-reform-national-conversation/.We want to hear from as many people as possible, from parents and young people to those working in schools, colleges and early years – building a consensus on what works to help deliver lasting reform. The experiences shared during these engagement opportunities will be vital in ensuring that our proposals effectively deliver meaningful reforms for families. We will also continue engagement as part of a formal consultation following the Schools White Paper publication, and the responses received will be carefully considered in shaping the reforms.

How many people have been over detained in prison in the last five reported years.

Release inaccuracy is yet another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are clamping down on those errors that do occur, and this includes unlawful detentions.On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps which includes strengthening release checks across prisons and an independent inquiry will report its recommendations to prevent further inaccuracies.The Government is determined to fix release inaccuracies and ensure the public is properly protected.The data requested comes from internal management information and is therefore not fully Quality Assured and does not meet the standard required for publication.

What representations his Department has received from Integrated Care Boards on (a) the abolition of NHS England and (b) subsequent planned redundancies.

The Department has not received any formal representations from the integrated care boards regarding the abolition of NHS England or any subsequent planned redundancies. This includes anything in relation to NHS England’s announced voluntary redundancy scheme, which will be open to applications from Monday 1 December until 11:59pm on Sunday 14 December.Communications between the Department and the integrated care boards regarding workforce planning are managed within existing operational processes.

What discussions his Department has had with Integrated Care Boards on the source of funding for redundancy packages resulting from the abolition of NHS England.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear about the need for a smaller centre, as well as scaling back integrated care board running costs and National Health Service provider corporate costs in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy in the NHS.Funding arrangements have been agreed with His Majesty’s Treasury to enable redundancies to be funded within the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC’s) Spending Review settlement. £860 million of planned resource funding has been re-profiled from later to earlier years of DHSC’s Spending Review settlement. This will enable DHSC to continue making progress towards halving headcount across DHSC and NHS England. This will unlock savings of £1 billion a year by the end of the Parliament, equivalent to the cost of over 115,000 extra hip and knee operations.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 August 2025 to Question 67474 on NHS England: Redundancy, when his Department will provide an update on the cost impact of integrating NHS England with the DHSC.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre. Reducing the size of the Department and NHS England will ultimately deliver hundreds of millions of pounds of savings that can be recycled into front line care. There will be no direct reduction in frontline staff as a result of these changes.As part of the transition to the new structure, on Tuesday 11 November, NHS England announced a voluntary redundancy scheme, to allow staff to leave before the merger takes place. The scheme will run from Monday 1 December until 11:59pm on Sunday 14 December.In making these reductions, we will not be cutting any investment into the NHS or frontline services; the savings made will more than offset the cost of redundancy payments.We have recently announced the Spending Review settlement which provides an additional £29 billion of annual day-to-day spending in real terms by 2028/29 compared to 2023/24. We are now carefully reviewing how the settlement is prioritised, including making provision for redundancy costs.The Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure that the public and parliamentarians are appropriately informed of the relevant information, at the appropriate time. Any publication requirements that become applicable will be complied with as a minimum.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of his Department's requirement to keep online consultation tools open from 8am to 6:30pm from Monday to Friday on (a) patient safety and (b) GP surgeries' workload.

The change regarding online access means parity for walk-in, phone and online access. Implementation was deferred by six months to 1 October 2025 so practices could prepare and get support for this transition if needed. The requirement builds on policies that have been in place for several years to encourage the shift to modern general practice. Practices that consistently use online access report improvements in services for both patients and staff. We agreed that safeguards would be in place for patient safety. Practices are permitted to display guidance on their websites and premises advising patients not to submit an online consultation request if their issue is urgent, and to instead call the practice directly or attend in person.Further, in 2024/25, 85% of primary care networks said all of their practices already had online consultations available for patients to make administrative and clinical requests at least for the duration of core hours, with no patient safety issues raised, and claimed incentive funding for this. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are working to identify practices who are struggling with the requirements, so that they can offer more focussed support.Last summer, we took action to address general practitioner (GP) unemployment. By investing £160 million in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme in the last year, we have recruited over 2,500 GPs into general practice since October 2024. This will help patients access appointments.

How many (a) GP practices and (b) Primary Care Networks providing NHS care are currently registered as Limited Liability Partnerships.

The Department does not hold comprehensive data on the types of organisations delivering general practice services.However, we expect that a large majority of GP practices operate as traditional GP partnerships, rather than Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs). Approximately 95 percent of practices hold General Medical Services or Personal Medical Services contracts, which cannot be held by LLPs.Alternative Provider Medical Service (APMS) contracts, which offer greater flexibility, can be held by LLPs. However, only around 5 percent of GP practices hold APMS contracts, and not all of these operate as LLPs.Primary Care Networks do not hold GP contracts in their own right and are not required to form legal entities. Therefore, we expect very few operate as LLPs.

What guidance his Department issues to general practice staff on triaging (a) online consultation submissions and (b) reports of life-threatening symptoms shortly before the online tool closes each day.

The Department updates the General Medical Services and Personal Medical Services regulations that govern general practice. NHS England issues contractual variations and provides supplementary resources to support practices in implementing these changes.The change to online access requirements was deferred by six months to 1 October 2025 so practices could prepare and get support for this transition if needed. Practices were encouraged to consider what changes they have needed to implement to ensure they were ready to meet this requirement from 1 October 2025. This approach was intended to facilitate a smooth transition and minimise any disruption to patient care. Practices are permitted to display guidance on their websites and premises that states patient should not submit an online consultation request if their issue is urgent and should instead call the practice or attend in person.There is a range of support on offer for practices including guidance, joint webinars from NHS Confederation and NHS England to showcase best practice and case studies where this is working well.

Whether funding from local budgets will be used to pay redundancy packages, in the context of the abolition of NHS England.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre, as well as scaling back integrated care board running costs and NHS provider corporate cost reductions in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy.£860 million of planned resource funding has been re-profiled from later to earlier years of the Department’s Spending Review settlement. This will enable the Department to continue making progress towards halving headcount across the Department and NHS England. This will unlock savings of £1 billion a year by the end of the Parliament, equivalent to the cost of over 115,000 extra hip and knee operations.

What plans he has to allocate funding for redundancy packages (a) following the abolition of NHS England and (b) for Integrated Care Boards.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we are clear on the need for a smaller centre, as well as scaling back integrated care board running costs and National Health Service provider corporate cost reductions in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy.£860 million of planned resource funding has been re-profiled from later to earlier years of the Department’s Spending Review settlement. This will enable the Department to continue making progress towards halving headcount across the Department and NHS England. This will unlock savings of £1 billion a year by the end of the Parliament, equivalent to the cost of over 115,000 extra hip and knee operations.

If she will make an assessment of the amount of police time taken to administer vehicle stops under section 163 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Section 163 of the Road Traffic Act (RTA) 1988 allows a police officer in uniform to require the driver of a vehicle to stop when directed.This is an important provision in maintaining road safety. It also enhances understanding of road traffic crime and vehicle-enabled crime.Enforcement of traffic law and the deployment of available resources is an operational matter for individual Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to determine, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 October 2024 to Question 73744 on Private Education, whether the matter of the financial impact of VAT on private school fees was discussed at the meeting on 22 July 2025.

The impact of VAT changes on private schools with Independent Schools Council membership was discussed at the meeting on 22 July.

Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2025 to Question 74384 on Rugby, what assessment her Department has made of the long-term financial sustainability of professional rugby union; and whether she plans to discuss the financial challenges facing professional rugby union with Premiership Rugby.

The governance of rugby union is a matter for the Rugby Football Union (the national governing body for rugby union), which is independent of government.DCMS continues to work with the RFU, representatives of Prem and Champ clubs as well as the Tier Two Board, and the wider sport sector to support the ongoing sustainability of elite and community level rugby union.I have met with Prem Rugby previously to discuss the long-term financial sustainability of professional rugby union, and my officials regularly engage with Prem Rugby on this issue.

Pursuant to his Department's press release entitled Major NHS update brings menopause into routine health checks, published on 23 October 2025, what steps he is taking to identify those who are eligible for but have not undertaken health checks.

The recent announcement that menopause will be included in the NHS Health Check will mean that eligible women can access information on menopause more easily, including information on managing symptoms, where to seek support, and treatment options.Based on the percentage of eligible people who received an NHS Health Check in 2024/25, we expect that approximately 2.1 million women aged 40 to 55 years old could be given this support in the next five years. If all eligible women aged 40 to 55 years old received an NHS Health Check, we would provide information on the menopause to up to five million women every five years.We know that there is more to do to improve the impact of the NHS Health Check programme and we are currently piloting an online NHS Health Check which we hope will make it easier for people to access this important health check.

Whether he will have discussions with (a) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and (b) NHS England on the applicability of current guidance to assist medical professionals to recognise type 1 diabetes in (i) babies (ii) toddlers (iii) children and (iv) adolescents at the point of care.

This is a matter for National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as the independent body responsible for providing guidance and quality standards on the treatment and care of diabetes in England. NICE has an established prioritisation process for the identification of priorities for guidance development.NHS England has published a RightCare toolkit which sets out what good quality diabetes care looks like for children and young adults and includes guidance on timely and accurate diagnosis.