Written questions by Evans.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2025 to Question 31507, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of additional staff on pension credit application processing times.

The Government has recently put in place the biggest ever pension Credit tave-up drive. To help ensure it has the capacity to assess all claims within reasonable timeframes, the Department has deployed over 500 additional staff through a combination of internal redeployments, use of external providers and external recruitment. We measure Pension Credit performance via our published 50 working day timeliness measure and monitor weekly average actual clearance times. The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (ARA) on 22nd July 2024. This shows that in 2023/24 DWP cleared 192,000 Pension Credit claims within the planned 50 working day timescale, equating to 77.7%. The next publication of the ARA will include claims processed in the Financial Year 2024 to 2025, which is due for publication in the summer. As a result of this investment in staff the latest Average Actual Clearance Time is now down to 56.2 working days in week commencing 24th February 2025 after a peak of 87 working days week commencing 9 December 2024. Please note, the Average Actual Clearance Time figures shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. It is rounded to the nearest working day and based on the week the claim was cleared, rather than the week the claim was made.

What steps she is taking to seek improvements to the child maintenance system; and what recent discussions she has had with statutory and non statutory bodies to discuss system improvements.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is taking steps to make improvements across the child maintenance system and create a modern, accessible and robust service through our Service Modernisation Programme and CMS reforms.Throughout our Service Modernisation Programme, we have worked with suppliers who have experience of transforming organisations globally – this is ongoing, and we benefit from their insight and innovation. Additionally, we have worked with other government departments to understand elements of their transformation, for example HMRC on how they have modernised guidance.The Service Modernisation Programme (SMP) has already delivered significant improvements to the customer experience through the provision of online services and Digital Assist Telephony Service enabling parents to access their on-line My Child Maintenance Case at any time. We have restructured our telephony call routing system, made incremental improvements to customer communications, including a full review of letters, and made significant advancements to our IT systems. The wide-reaching programme aims to continue to reform and modernise CMS services with increased effectiveness and efficiency and will continue to engage a wide range of statutory and non-statutory bodies to do this.The CMS has recently concluded a public consultation on policy changes to the CMS (The Child Maintenance: Improving the collection and transfer of payments) and are analysing the responses. This includes removing the Direct Pay service and managing all CMS cases in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster. The consultation also sought views on how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported to use CMS, and whether removing Direct Pay completely would benefit victims and survivors of domestic abuse. This is ongoing and the Government will publish a response in due course. Following the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 receiving royal assent in 2023, government consulted on accelerating enforcement to inform its proposed regulations to support the introduction of administrative liability orders. Proposed changes will streamline the enforcement process and facilitate compliance from paying parents more quickly. We are working to bring them into effect as soon as possible. The department is also conducting a programme of work to review the maintenance calculation to make sure it is fit for purpose, reflects today’s social trends and is future proofed to handle further changes.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2025 to Question 31507 on Pension Credit, what departmental budget stream is supporting the funding for additional staff to process pension credit applications.

The Government has recently put in place the biggest ever pension Credit tave-up drive. To help ensure it has the capacity to assess all claims within reasonable timeframes, the Department has deployed over 500 additional staff through a combination of internal redeployments, use of external providers and external recruitment. We measure Pension Credit performance via our published 50 working day timeliness measure and monitor weekly average actual clearance times. The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (ARA) on 22nd July 2024. This shows that in 2023/24 DWP cleared 192,000 Pension Credit claims within the planned 50 working day timescale, equating to 77.7%. The next publication of the ARA will include claims processed in the Financial Year 2024 to 2025, which is due for publication in the summer. As a result of this investment in staff the latest Average Actual Clearance Time is now down to 56.2 working days in week commencing 24th February 2025 after a peak of 87 working days week commencing 9 December 2024. Please note, the Average Actual Clearance Time figures shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. It is rounded to the nearest working day and based on the week the claim was cleared, rather than the week the claim was made.

If he will take steps to increase the (a) offer and (b) size of cadet forces in the context of proposed increases to defence expenditure.

We want more young people to be able to become Cadets given the tremendous benefits which can be gained from the experience. We are committed to sustaining Cadet Forces across the UK, and we are looking to significantly grow Cadet numbers and support youngsters throughout the UK to enrich their lives by choosing to join the Cadets. To this end, I have directed that a review is carried out to look at how we can increase the size and offer of the Cadet Forces. Defence officials have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to consider how we can deliver these aims. Input has been provided by advocates and subject matter experts including Cadet leaders within the Ministry of Defence, Lords Lieutenants, Cadet Honorary Colonels, through the Cadet Force chains of command, and from many other interested parties. The review is closely aligned with the Strategic Defence Review and is undertaken in the context of recent announcements of increases in Defence spending. The resource requirements of any expansion will be evaluated in light of competing priorities, but our investment in Cadets is fantastic value for money. The total annual cost of the Cadets is fully covered if the life outcomes of just 1% of Cadets change each year so that they are in education, training, or employment.

What assessment he has made of the opportunities available to improve diagnosis times for autism spectrum disorder.

It is the responsibility of the integrated care board (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessments and diagnosis, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. Since publication, NHS England has been supporting systems and services to identify where there are challenges for implementation, and how they might overcome these.In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services. NHS England is also working with research organisations to explore evidence-based models that support improved outcomes for those people waiting for an autism assessment.As part of the Government’s five long-term missions, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and make it fit for the future. Department officials recently convened a roundtable with autistic people and people with a learning disability to listen to their views on the future of the NHS as part of 10-Year Health Plan.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase of employer National Insurance on the (a) operational costs and (b) financial profitability of small and medium sized tourist attractions.

The Government recognises the vital role that small and medium-sized tourist attractions play in supporting local economies and driving economic growth across all regions of Great Britain. The increase in employer National Insurance contributions will affect businesses across all sectors, which is why the Government has put in place mitigations to protect smaller businesses. The Government remains committed to supporting the tourism industry, and my department will continue working with the sector to understand cost pressures.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies of the statistics, published by Sky News, showing that the Care Quality Commission has inspected 3.6% of the 67,778 concerns it received between October 2022 and 2024 about elderly care homes.

No such assessment has been made. The number of concerns raised with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and highlighted by Sky News, include those which are being handled by another body, for example, a local authority or the police. It may also include duplicates, that is, where a number of concerns have been raised about the same incident.While not all information shared with the CQC would necessarily result in an inspection, it does inform ongoing monitoring and will result in action where there are indications that people are at risk of harm.

How many Remedial Service Statements (a) are required in total (b) have been issued to date (c) are calculated and awaiting fulfilment and (d) still outstanding.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), the scheme administrator, has identified that 381,920 remedial service statements are required for affected members who have retired. Of these, 21 statements have been issued and 393 have been calculated and are awaiting fulfilment, and 381,506 are outstanding.A revised delivery plan for remedial service statements is currently in production and will be communicated with affected individuals within the coming weeks. The Department recognises the importance of issuing the remedial service statements to members in a timely way and is working with the NHSBSA to increase delivery.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2025 to Question 23858 on NHS Business Services Authority: Workplace Pensions, how many remedial pension savings statements (a) were required in total, (b) had been issued to date, (c) were calculated and awaiting fulfilment and (d) were still outstanding in the latest period for which data is available.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), the scheme administrator, has identified that 137,694 remedial pension savings statements are required. Of these, 60,630 statements have been calculated and issued, and 1,887 statements have been calculated and are awaiting fulfilment. The 75,177 statements outstanding include statements that require calculations and statements that require re-calculations.The NHSBSA had previously reported a higher number of statements issued due to a batch of remedial pension savings statements being categorised as “issued” when they were still undergoing their quality assurance process. The current figures only consider remedial pension savings statements as “issued” once they have passed the NHSBSA’s quality assurance and have been fulfilled.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the forthcoming consultation about the Flooding funding formula will consider instances when small communities do not qualify for the threshold for funding due to the (a) size of the communities and (b) flooding focused on roads and connectors rather than houses.

A consultation will be launched in the coming months on the flood investment framework. This will include a review of the existing floods funding formula to ensure that the challenges facing businesses and rural and coastal communities are adequately taken into account when delivering flood protection. The consultation will be open to everyone, and we will be inviting all stakeholders, including organisations that play a role in flood resilience, community groups and members of the public, to share their views and be part of the consultation. We will review all responses received to improve our approach to floods investment.

When (a) he and (b) the Minister of State for Care last met with Community Pharmacy England.

I last met with Community Pharmacy England on 25 February 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 23859 on General Practitioners: Recruitment, what his planned timetable is for collecting that data.

Data on numbers of general practitioners (GPs) employed through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme is not currently published. Information on the number of recently qualified GPs for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme is currently being collated. We are working to verify the data and establish its reliability, which is necessary before any dataset can be published.

How many NHS appointments were lost due to strike action between July to November (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

NHS England publishes data on the number of rescheduled appointments due to industrial action, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/preparedness-for-potential-industrial-action-in-the-nhs/We are pleased that a deal was agreed in summer 2024 between the Government and the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee bringing an end to its prolonged strike action. The Government can now work with resident doctors to get on with its mission of fixing the health service for patients, including tackling waiting lists.As set out in the Plan for Change, we have committed to return to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029. We have already supported this with additional investment in the Autumn Budget 2024, which has enabled us to deliver an additional two million appointments, seven months ahead of schedule.

If he will publish the NHS-commissioned independent economic analysis of pharmacy funding before the conclusion of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework contract negotiations.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. Both the interim and draft final reports of the economic analysis have been shared with Ministers and Community Pharmacy England and are informing the current consultation.This work is nearing completion and will be published soon.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Care Quality Commission's ability to oversee safe care of patients in hospital premises.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not operationally fit for purpose and has been subject to a review from Penny Dash. It has itself commissioned reviews from Mike Richards and Vic Rayner to support recovery of the organisation. It is working at pace to improve its performance, and the Department is holding the CQC to account to ensure that it oversees safe care of patients, in all settings.Ministers regularly meet with arms-length bodies, external stakeholders and key organisations to discuss a variety of issues, including but not limited to the quality of patient hospital care. There have also been discussions with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at official level on the trends in maternity and urgent and emergency care.Patient safety is a top priority for the Government, and the CQC plays an important role in ensuring that providers meet the standards of care expected by patients, carers, families and loved ones.

What recent discussions he has had with the Care Quality Commission on trends in the quality of patient hospital care.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not operationally fit for purpose and has been subject to a review from Penny Dash. It has itself commissioned reviews from Mike Richards and Vic Rayner to support recovery of the organisation. It is working at pace to improve its performance, and the Department is holding the CQC to account to ensure that it oversees safe care of patients, in all settings.Ministers regularly meet with arms-length bodies, external stakeholders and key organisations to discuss a variety of issues, including but not limited to the quality of patient hospital care. There have also been discussions with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at official level on the trends in maternity and urgent and emergency care.Patient safety is a top priority for the Government, and the CQC plays an important role in ensuring that providers meet the standards of care expected by patients, carers, families and loved ones.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the outcome was of the Flood Resilience Taskforce Meeting held on 5 February 2025.

The Flood Resilience Taskforce met for the second time on 5 February. It included representation from national and local government, the emergency services, businesses and environmental interest groups. The Taskforce discussed the impacts and learning from flooding experienced since September and outline proposals to reform the flood investment framework ahead of a consultation later this Spring. Outcomes from the discussion included agreement to continue work to improve warning and informing services, to consider the support available to local authorities, and identify vulnerable communities. This work will be taken forward through action groups that will report to the next Taskforce meeting.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) level of support and (b) opportunities to access long-term education for people with cerebral palsy with no cognitive impairment.

I refer the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth to the answer of 14 January 2025 to Question 22163.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the UK Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief on the role of freedom of religion or belief in his policies.

The Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) holds regular discussions with the Minister for Human Rights on key FoRB issues and reports to the Foreign Secretary through the Minister for Human Rights. The UK Government champions the right to FoRB and promotes tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral fora - including our position at the UN and Article 18 Alliance - our bilateral work, and programme funding.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on (a) homelessness charities and (b) homelessness service provision contracted from councils.

Due to the difficult economic inheritance from the previous government, we had to take a number of difficult decisions on tax, welfare and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability. The Government has considered the implications of this policy change, and the impacts were published in the usual way as part of the Autumn Budget process. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year, making a total spend of almost £1 billion in 2025/26.