Written questions by Evans.

What her policy is on the lane rental scheme.

The Government generally supports ways of working that incentivise effective co-ordination, planning and delivery of road and street works. The Government is still in its early stages and is carefully considering next steps in this policy area.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to encourage joint working between (a) councils and (b) voluntary bodies to tackle local homelessness.

This Government recognises the crucial role that councils and the voluntary and community sector play in addressing homelessness and is committed to working closely with these partners, as well as councils and mayors, as we develop a new cross-government ...

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a royal commission on social care.

The Government is determined to tackle the challenges facing adult social care. We want everyone to live an independent, dignified life. That is why we will build consensus on the long-term reform needed to create a National Care Service. We will engage w...

What her policy is on continuing the Household Support Fund after 30 September 2024.

The Government has announced funding to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £500 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF, including funding for the Devo...

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to extend the Rough Sleeping Initiative 2022-25 beyond April 2025.

The Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for cross-governmental coordination of policy to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping and will update in due course.

What discussions she has had with (a) public and (b) private bodies on implementing more disability accessible electric vehicle charging points at public venues.

The Government wants everyone to be able to make the switch to electric vehicles, which is why we strongly encourage chargepoint procurers and operators to adopt the British Standards Institution Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 1899:2022 standard. ...

What steps she is taking to improve access to electric vehicle charging points across the motorway and A road network.

There are now over 960 open-access (can be used with any electric vehicle) rapid (50kW) and ultra-rapid (150kW+) chargepoints at motorway service areas across England. The Rapid Charging Fund pilot will fund a portion of the cost of upgrading electrical c...

With reference to the report entitled UK Payment Markets Report, published by UK Finance in July 2024, what discussions she has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) financial institutions and (c) business groups on (i) trends in the numbers of and (ii) support for UK adults who mainly use cash for transactions.

While the ongoing trend in payments in the UK has been away from cash and towards digital payment methods, the government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups or who otherwise rely mainly on cash. In May 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Financial Lives Survey estimated that 3.1 million people paid for everything in cash over the previous year. In recognition of the importance of cash access, it has been protected in UK law. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 provides the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities, with reference to the government’s stated objectives for protecting cash access as set out in a government Policy Statement. The FCA must also seek to ensure that there is reasonable provision of free withdrawal and deposit facilities in relation to personal current accounts, so that those who rely on cash are protected. In July 2024, the FCA published its final rules setting out its approach to regulating access to cash, which come into force on 18 September.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of bringing railway contracts into public ownership on outstanding multi year projects that (a) update fleets, (b) improve timetables and (c) support infrastructure improvements.

The process of transitioning railway passenger services into public ownership will not impact existing multi-year projects to update fleets, improve timetables and support infrastructure improvements. Existing projects can continue unless there is a good reason for review. The continued operation of rolling stock is one of the considerations when taking operators back into public ownership. The Department will work closely with private sector Train Operating Companies and Network Rail during the transition process to understand the position of any such projects and build these into transition planning if appropriate. Railway passenger services currently operated by private sector companies under contract to the Secretary of State will transfer into DfT OLR Holdings Ltd (DOHL) when current contracts end or reach their contractual break point. DOHL is tasked with undertaking transfers efficiently and effectively, with no disruption to passengers and employees. DOHL has managed four successful transfers in recent years and is scaling up to ensure the successful transfer of more services into public ownership.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help improve mobile phone coverage in (a) Hinckley and Bosworth constituency and (b) Leicestershire.

The Government is committed to improving mobile coverage across the UK. Ofcom’s most recent coverage data for the former constituency of Bosworth shows 97% 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile network operators and that 5G is available from at least one mobile network operator outside 88% of premises.I am aware that Ofcom’s coverage data does not always reflect consumers’ experience of mobile networks at a local level, and I am intent on ensuring Ofcom takes all necessary steps to improve the accuracy of its coverage data. Alongside this, the Government intends to reform the planning system in a way that will make it easier to build digital infrastructure.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing railway contracts into public ownership in order of operational performance.

The Government has been clear that passenger train operations will transfer to a public-sector operator as current contracts end or reach their contractual break point, avoiding the need to pay compensation to the current operators. The Secretary of State is continually monitoring performance and will not hesitate to take appropriate action when operators fall short, up to and including termination if the relevant contractual conditions are met.

If she will publish the equality impact assessment for changes to winter fuel payment entitlement.

The Regulations will come into force on 16 September, the first day of the Winter Fuel Payment qualifying week. In making a decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the Government had regard to an equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements. However, it is not the convention for equality analyses to be published alongside secondary legislation.

With reference to the Competition and Markets Authority's paper entitled Road fuel review, published on 12 October 2022, if he will make it his policy to introduce a statutory (a) open data fuel finder scheme and (b) monitory function to help scrutinise the petrol industry.

In the King’s Speech 2024, the government has committed to introduce a Digital Information and Smart Data Bill, which could provide the legislative basis to implement the statutory open data scheme. The government will respond to the road fuels consultation, published earlier this year, in due course. The Digital Markets, Competition & Consumer Act 2024 gives the Competition and Markets Authority information gathering powers to undertake the permanent monitoring function. We will commence these provisions as soon as possible.

If he will ask NHS England to monitor the (a) uptake of locally implemented waste reduction schemes and (b) impact of such schemes on levels of unused medicines.

NHS England is leading a programme on medicine optimisation which aims to help patients to improve outcomes and safety, take medicines as intended, avoid taking unnecessary medicines, and reduce wastage. Community pharmacies also offer the New Medicines Service, providing further support to patients newly prescribed certain medicines, and the Discharge Medicines Service, enabling hospitals to refer recently discharged patients to a community pharmacy for support with new medication. Structured Medicine Reviews are offered by general practices (GPs), where pharmacists are part of multi-disciplinary teams to review patients’ medication, optimise their medication, and prevent wastage. In addition, electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) allows a GP to send repeat prescriptions to a patient’s pharmacy to manage the dispensing of the specific medicines required. As part of the eRD service, the pharmacy is required to make sure that the patient still needs all of their medicines, and dispense to the patients only those that are needed. The national overprescribing review from 2021 set outs a series of practical and cultural changes necessary to ensure patients receive the most appropriate treatment for their needs, while ensuring value for money. The impact of these and other measures is not centrally monitored.

If she will take steps to ensure that the pension credit application process is (a) streamlined and (b) user friendly to complete.

We are streamlining all Pension Credit application routes by using information held internally to reduce the number of questions the citizen must answer. A key objective of DWP’s Service Modernisation Programme is to utilise end user research to understand how the application process should operate in the future and consider the opportunities on how services can be more user friendly and easily accessible for citizens.

What steps she is taking to encourage pension credit take up in (a) Leicestershire and (b) the East Midlands.

The Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions wrote to all local authorities on 20 August. The letter acknowledged the vital role local authorities play in supporting their communities. The Government recognises that many local authorities already do a huge amount of work to promote benefit take-up. We are asking that local authorities support our national Pension Credit campaign and help us reach those eligible pensioners who have not claimed Pension Credit, so they continue to receive an annual Winter Fuel Payment.Building on last year’s ‘Invitation to Claim’ trial, the Department will be directly contacting approximately 120,000 pensioner households who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit.We will be inviting these households to apply for Pension Credit before the 21 December backdating deadline, in order to ensure that if they are eligible they will also qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment.As part of the last week’s Pension Credit Week of Action, we joined forces with national charities, broadcasters and local authorities to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim. From 16 September, we will be running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels (including Nottingham Post and Leicester Mercury, and a range of local East Midlands radio stations including Greatest Hits Radio, Smooth Radio and Gold). The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply. Our future campaign messaging will also focus on encouraging pensioners to apply for Pension Credit before the 21 December 2024, which is the last date for making a successful backdated claim for Pension Credit in order to receive a Winter Fuel Payment.

What assessment she has made of the impact of her Department’s Service Modernisation Programme in (a) encouraging more people to apply for pension credit and (b) improving the customer service experience when applying for pension credit.

The modernisation of Retirement Services, which includes Pension Credit, forms a key part of DWP’s Service Modernisation Programme. An objective of the team is to understand how the application process should operate in the future and understand the opportunities on how services can be accessed easier and faster for citizens. We are utilising end user research to improve the customer experience on all Pension Credit application routes and using information held internally to reduce the number of questions the citizen must answer. As part of our modernisation, we are engaging with leading external organisations to understand what improvements could be made to help increase Pension Credit take up and improve ease of application.

Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with representatives of the Save Tall Ship Tenacious campaign on saving the SV Tenacious to support future generations of seafarers with disabilities and long-term health conditions.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is aware of the campaign regarding the future of the SV Tenacious after its owner and operator, The Jubilee Sailing Trust (Tenacious) Limited, entered administration. Unfortunately, the department does not have a suitable funding stream or policy lever to meet the unique and necessary means required to support the ship, and therefore does not believe it would be appropriate to hold discussions with representatives of the organisation. However, if an organisation offers to take over the running of the ship, then officials could potentially provide advice on how to access funding streams.

What progress she has made on the RIS3 road improvement programme.

The Government is considering the content and timing of the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) alongside all transport infrastructure spend.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of proposed upgrades to the A5 between Hinckley and Tamworth on the regional economy.

Improvements to the A5 between Hinckley and Tamworth have been considered extensively by National Highways as part of the pipeline of possible future enhancements to the strategic road network. The business case has been developed and considered the local and wider economic impacts in line with the Department for Transport’s Transport Analysis Guidance.