Written questions by Evans.

Media and Sport, what (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory bodies her Department has consulted on opportunities for grassroots music collaboration as part of the national youth strategy.

We are developing a new National Youth Strategy with young people and cross-sector experts, and have set up a Youth Advisory Group and Expert Advisory Group as part of this engagement. Members of our Expert Advisory Group have a range of different professional and academic expertise related to young people and work in different fields including: youth work, music, creative skills industries, funding, policy development and sport. We are also in contact with a wide range of other stakeholders working with young people across relevant sectors.

What steps he is taking to increase the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of speech and language therapists.

Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service employers. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.NHS England is leading the National Retention Programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the contribution of statutory planning consultees in protecting the role of playing fields for sports and exercise.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510).

Whether he has plans to use external consultants to support the transfer of NHS England responsibilities to his Department.

Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to determine the structure and requirements of the team required to support the creation of a new centre for health and care.

If she will make an estimate of the cost to community pharmacies of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions from April 2025.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. This report was published on 28 March 2025. We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this 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 Department considered the increases in National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a first step in delivering stability for the future, and a commitment to rebuilding the sector.

What steps he is taking to support the retention of GPs.

We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.Under recently announced changes to the GP Contract in 2025/26, the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) will become more flexible to allow primary care networks (PCNs) to respond better to local workforce needs. The two ARRS pots will be combined to create a single pot for reimbursement of patient facing staff costs. There will be no restrictions on the number or type of staff covered, including GPs and practice nurses.In a drive to recruit GPs via the ARRS and to bring back the family doctor, the salary element of the maximum reimbursement amount that PCNs can claim for GPs will be increased from £73,113 in 2024/25, the bottom of the salaried GP pay range, to £82,418, an uplift of £9,305, representing the lower quartile of the salaried GP pay range, as some GPs will be entering their second year in the scheme. Proportionate employer on-costs will also be included within the overall maximum reimbursement amount which PCNs will be able to claim.Our commitment to growing the GP workforce includes addressing the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encouraging them to return to practice. We know that high workloads can be a key driver for GPs reducing their contracted hours or leaving the profession altogether. That’s why we are tackling morale through drivers such as growing the workforce and reducing bureaucracy through our Red Tape Challenge, to improve job satisfaction and reduce the risk of burnout.

If he will make an estimate of the cost to community pharmacies of the proposed increase in the National Living Wage from April 2025.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. This report was published on 28 March 2025. We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this 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 Department considered the increases in National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a first step in delivering stability for the future, and a commitment to rebuilding the sector.

With reference to the Written Statement of 3 March 2025 on the Outcome of the 25-26 GP Contract consultation, HCWS486, which 32 targets will his Department remove from GPs.

For the 2025/26 GP Contract year, the 32 Quality and Outcomes Framework indicators that were income-protected for 2024/2025 have been permanently retired. The 32 permanently retired indicators are listed in Annex B at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/changes-to-the-gp-contract-in-2025-26/

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2025 to Question 33084 on Pharmacy: Finance, when he plans to publish the independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. This report was published on 28 March 2025. We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this 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 Department considered the increases in National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a first step in delivering stability for the future, and a commitment to rebuilding the sector.

What steps he is taking to improve access to speech and language therapy.

We inherited a broken National Health Service with waiting times across all areas unacceptably high. In his investigation into the NHS in England, Lord Darzi highlighted the crisis in children’s community services with too many children waiting too long for services, including speech and language therapy, impacting their wellbeing, education and life chances. Lord Darzi also made clear we need to need to focus on community services. Too many adults are waiting too long to receive speech and language therapy, negatively impacting their communication or swallowing abilities. Through our 10-Year Health Plan, we will shift healthcare from hospitals to community. This shift to community services, like speech and language therapy, helps to prevent costly and intensive support later. Through the 10-Year Health Plan, we will revisit the Long Term Workforce Plan to ensure we have the right staff delivering the right services in the right place. We continue to improve access to speech and language therapy, including though the Early Language and Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme, with the Department of Education and NHS England. The ELSEC programme provides training and support to education settings, to increase their ability to support speech, language, and communication development.

With reference to his interview with BBC Radio 5 Live on 28 February 2025, if he will publish the data showing that 900 new GPs have been employed since July 2024.

Data on the number of general practitioners in the workforce is available through the General Practice Workforce series of Official Statistics, at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/general-and-personal-medical-services/31-january-2025Information on the number of recently qualified general practitioners for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme will be published shortly

What assessment she has made of the level of (a) importance of the Adoption and Special Guardian Support Fund to families with adopted children and (b) funding provided to families out of the Fund in the last reported financial year.

As part of spending review discussions, there are regular conversations between the department and His Majesty’s Treasury. We will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being made as part of these discussions.The ASGSF has provided valuable support to both adoptive and special guardianship families during 2024/25, helping them to thrive and enabling children and young people to make the best start in life. In 2023/24, the last full financial year, the Fund supported a total of 19,495 children and families with funding of £49,191,908.

What discussions she is having with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the future of the Adoption and Special Guardian Support Fund.

As part of spending review discussions, there are regular conversations between the department and His Majesty’s Treasury. We will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being made as part of these discussions.The ASGSF has provided valuable support to both adoptive and special guardianship families during 2024/25, helping them to thrive and enabling children and young people to make the best start in life. In 2023/24, the last full financial year, the Fund supported a total of 19,495 children and families with funding of £49,191,908.

Whether she is taking steps to ensure the continuance of the funding for the Adoption and Special Guardian Support Fund after March 2025.

As part of spending review discussions, there are regular conversations between the department and His Majesty’s Treasury. We will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being made as part of these discussions.The ASGSF has provided valuable support to both adoptive and special guardianship families during 2024/25, helping them to thrive and enabling children and young people to make the best start in life. In 2023/24, the last full financial year, the Fund supported a total of 19,495 children and families with funding of £49,191,908.

What estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the abolition of NHS England.

We recognise there may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake the integration of NHS England and the Department but these costs and more will be recouped in future years because of a smaller and leaner centre. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.

What the cost to the public purse is of the redundancy package for staff being made redundant from NHS England.

We recognise there may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake the integration of NHS England and the Department but these costs and more will be recouped in future years because of a smaller and leaner centre. By the end of the process, we estimate that these changes will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which will be reinvested in frontline services.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had on the adequacy of the (a) training, (b) registration and (c) regulation of dog (i) trainers and (ii) behaviourists.

Defra is working hand in hand with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to encourage responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog, including considering the role of education and training (for both dogs and their owners).

What recent discussions he has had with (a) police forces and (b) local authorities on the (a) effectiveness of current legislation on and (b) adequacy of resources for encouraging responsible dog ownership in public areas.

The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police and local authorities with a range of flexible tools and powers, including Community Protection Notices, Civil Injunctions and Public Spaces Protection Orders, that they can use to tackle irresponsible dog ownership.Appropriate use of the powers is a local decision for police, local authorities and other agencies; however, the Home Office regularly engages with police and local authority partners to discuss the effectiveness of the legislation.Set against our Safer Streets Mission, this government is committed to reducing anti-social behaviour (ASB). We are making changes to some of the powers in the 2014 Act via the Crime and Policing Bill, introduced to Parliament last month, to ensure the powers – based on engagement with police and local authorities – are as effective as possible. These changes include increasing the upper limit for a fixed penalty notice for breaches of Community Protection Notices and Public Spaces Protection Orders from £100 to £500 to act as a stronger deterrent to ASB.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 36448 on Pension Credit, how many staff were seconded from the Child Maintenance Services and Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt to process pension credit applications; and for what time period.

100 colleagues have been redeployed from Child Maintenance Services and 20 colleagues redeployed from Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt to support Pension Credit activity.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2024 to Question 19399 on Dangerous Dogs, what the outcomes were from his discussions on improving data (a) collection and (b) recording on dog attacks; and what recent discussions he has had with (i) police and (ii) local authorities on this matter.

Defra is continuing to work with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to explore measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. This includes continuing to consider how we can improve data collection and recording so we are in a better position to take action.