Every parliamentary written question tabled by Manuela Perteghella this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 241–260 of 441 · this parliament
If she will take steps to extend the consultation entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, for disabled people.
I refer the Hon. member to the answer I gave on 20 May 2025 to PQ 51603 [Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament].
What steps she is taking to expand the (a) teaching and (b) learning of financial education in primary schools in (i) Warwickshire and (ii) England.
I refer the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon to the answer of 09 April 2025 to Question 43513.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent executives from water companies that have been sanctioned for releasing sewage into waterways from receiving bonuses.
The Government is clear that transformative change across the water sector is needed to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas, and modernise the sector for decades to come. Unfair bonuses have been banned under new powers given to Ofwat within the Water (Special Measures) Act which came into force on 06 June. Under Ofwat’s rules, companies are not permitted to pay bonuses to water bosses that oversee poor environmental and customer outcomes. This delivers on a key manifesto commitment and has been backdated to apply to any bonuses relating to the financial year from April last year. Additional information can be found at GOV.UK.
Whether she plans to introduce a requirement for all councillors to complete corporate parenting training covering (a) safeguarding, (b) duties under the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and (c) the responsibilities of being a corporate parent as part of induction and ongoing development.
Guidance on the implementation of corporate parenting duties was published in February 2018 and can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a93eb3ae5274a5b87c2fde4/Applying_corporate_parenting_principles_to_looked-after_children_and_care_leavers.pdf.The guidance recognises the important role that elected members play in promoting and supporting the implementation of corporate parenting within their local authority but does not mandate formal training.There are a wide range of corporate parenting training and resources readily available for elected members on the Local Government Association website and, as such, we have no plans to introduce a mandatory requirement. These resources can be found at: https://www.local.gov.uk/childrens-improvement-support-members.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that local water companies promptly implement new requirements following the enactment of Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
This Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in new developments. These should be to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits, offer reuse opportunities, reduce run off and help to improve water quality, amenity, and biodiversity. It is also important to ensure appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place.
Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for enacting Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 to (a) make sustainable drainage systems mandatory and (b) remove the automatic right to connect to public sewage infrastructure.
This Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in new developments. These should be to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits, offer reuse opportunities, reduce run off and help to improve water quality, amenity, and biodiversity. It is also important to ensure appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place.
What steps is he taking to improve NHS access for people with postural tachycardia syndrome requiring specialist care.
It is the responsibility of local integrated care boards to work with clinicians, service users, and patient groups to develop services and care pathways that are convenient and meet the needs of patients with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS). The National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) has published a clinical knowledge summary on the clinical management of blackouts and syncope, that provides advice for clinicians in the United Kingdom on best practice in the assessment and diagnosis of PoTS. This was last updated in November 2023, and is available at the following link: https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/blackouts-syncope/diagnosis/assessment/ General practitioners (GPs) have been asked to investigate symptoms to ensure that it is not misdiagnosed. Following referral, patients are treated within National Health Service cardiology and neurology services. Where more specialist advice is required, a referral will be made to an appropriate clinician. To improve awareness of PoTS amongst healthcare professionals, and specifically GPs, the Royal College of General Practitioners provides training on PoTS as part of its Syncope toolkit, which is available at the following link: https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/view.php?id=500
Communities and Local Government, what proportion of public assets in freeports has been acquired by private (a) companies and (b) corporations.
While the Department oversees the Freeports Programme, it does not collect data on the ownership of individual assets within Freeport areas. However, the vast majority of Freeport sites were in private ownership at the point of designation, reflecting the Programme’s aim to stimulate private investment and create jobs in parts of the country that see too little of it.
Communities and Local Government, what the target number of jobs was for UK (a) freeports and (b) special economic zones; and how many jobs UK (i) freeports and (ii) special economic zones have delivered to date.
As policies developed in partnership with local partners, MHCLG has not set specific targets for job creation in Freeports, nor in Investment Zones, its other major economic zone policy.However, Freeports have set out the economic impacts they expect to deliver through business cases, available on Freeports’ websites once approved by government. MHCLG-commissioned analysis projects that the 8 English Freeports alone will directly create 60,000 additional jobs and will support another 42,000 jobs across the supply chain. Local partners expect that Investment Zones across the UK will create over 90,000 jobs over the life cycle of the programme.The Department will track job creation by Freeports and Investment Zones, as a key indicator of their economic impact. To date, Freeports have attracted £6.4 billion in private investment, which is expected to create at least 7,200 jobs.
How many EU citizens with pre-settled status were considered for automatic upgrading to settled status between January and March 2025.
It is not possible to extract information from Home Office systems on how many EU citizens were considered for an automatic upgrade to Settled Status between January and March 2025. However, the latest published statistics relating to the EU Settlement Scheme noted that, between these dates, 6,287 automated grants of Settled Status were issued.
Whether she plans to publish guidance on restrictions on the use of national ID cards by holders of EU Settlement Scheme settled status for entry to the UK.
The current position for EUSS holders, as set out in the Withdrawal Agreement, is that EU citizens and UK nationals, and their respective family members, will continue to have the right to enter and leave their host state with a valid national identity card for five years after the end of the transition period (which will be 31 December 2025). Any decisions on arrangements after that date will be set out in the normal way in due course.
Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to allocate additional funding to upgrade sewage infrastructure in (a) rural and (b) suburban communities impacted by frequent overflows.
Ofwat’s final determinations for Price Review 2024 (PR24) set out a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector. Water companies are investing over £11 billion in PR24, a record amount, to improve nearly 3,000 storm overflows across England and Wales over the next five years. For England, this equates to over £10bn to improve over 2,500 storm overflows. The PR24 investment package also includes £6 billion to remove nutrients from water bodies.
What steps he is taking to hold (a) NHS and (b) water providers to account for hospital sewage leaks.
National Health Service trusts are legally responsible for maintaining their estates and facilities, to ensure they support high-quality health and care services and minimise the risk of infrastructure-related incidents impacting delivery, including sewage leaks. They should work with all necessary partners to achieve this, including water providers. To support this, the Government has provided £750 million of capital funding in 2025/26 to address critical infrastructure and safety risks in NHS buildings, on top of the £4 billion in operational capital for systems to allocate to local priorities, including investment in maintenance and repairs. Information on clinical service incidents relating to infrastructure failure at individual NHS trusts, which would include incidents relating to sewage leaks, is collected and published by NHS England through the Estates Returns Information Collection, which is available online at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection/summary-page-and-dataset-for-eric-2023-24
What funding he is allocating to repair NHS estates in Warwickshire.
In 2025/26, the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) will benefit from the £750 million estates safety fund. The estates safety fund will begin addressing the poorest quality estates, delivering vital safety improvements, enhancing patient and staff environments, and supporting National Health Service productivity. Funding will be issued to NHS trusts on the basis of individual schemes. Descriptions of the planned works and funding allocations, including those in Warwickshire, can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68398c46c99c4f37ab4e86ef/estates-safety-fund-2025-to-2026.csv/preview This investment is in addition to the £38.6 million of operational capital provisionally allocated to the Coventry and Warwickshire ICB for 2025/26 to allocate to local priorities, including investment in maintenance and repairs.Funding for repairs to the NHS estate for future years will be confirmed following planning, allocation, and approval processes.
Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle (a) misinformation and (b) disinformation in elections.
The Government takes the integrity and security of our democratic processes seriously, including from the threat posed by mis/disinformation.The UK’s Online Safety Act captures disinformation aimed at disrupting elections where it is a criminal offence in the scope of the regulatory framework. This includes the Foreign Interference Offence, which requires all in-scope companies to act against a range of state-linked disinformation and interference online.As the department responsible for managing the risk posed by online mis/disinformation targeting electoral processes, DSIT also supports ongoing work through the government’s Defending Democracy Taskforce to tackle the full scope of threats to democracy.
If he will publish an annual report on cyber resilience.
The Ministry of Defence has a strong cyber security governance function that reports annually to the Defence Board, Defence Executive Committee and the Defence Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee on the Department’s cyber security risk position. The Department also provides an annual return to the Cabinet Office using the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF), developed by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). The Department does not routinely release an annual report on cyber resilience into the public domain due to National Security reasons.
What recent steps he has taken with Cabinet colleagues to help improve cyber resilience.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works closely with the Cabinet Office and wider Government in many areas.The MOD cyber security function works closely with the Cabinet Office, Government Security, the National Cyber Security Centre and others.This includes formal boards, governance meetings, reports, returns, collaboration sessions and working groups.A key work strand is the MOD adopting GovAssure which includes reporting using the Cyber Assurance Framework (CAF), and the new Cyber and Digital Resilience Target Operating Model (TOM) led by Government Security.As announced in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), Defence will develop a Digital Warfighter Group: a highly skilled workforce that will conceive and develop warfighting capability in a digital age. This workforce will support all other SDR announcements. Our vision is the creation of a new type of operator, whose education, training and equipment supports digital operations across the entire range of Defence activity, from warfighting to Ministerial and strategic data-led decision support. The SDR also announced the establishment and creation of a Cyber and Electromagnetic (CyberEM) Command. This will bring the necessary coherence for Defence and the Armed Forces across the CyberEM Domain – which is highly contested, complex and vital to operational success in all types of operations including warfighting.
What steps she is taking to (a) reform e-lending rules and (b) enable digital interlibrary loans for university libraries.
Universities are autonomous institutions and therefore operate independently from government. As such, the responsibility for enabling digital interlibrary loans for university libraries rests with the individual institutions themselves. It is within their purview to develop and implement policies that best meet the needs of their students and faculty. The government supports the autonomy of these institutions and encourages them to collaborate and innovate in the provision of digital resources and services.
Innovation and Technology, if he will (a) grant libraries the right to archive eBooks and (b) ensure perpetual access to licensed works.
The Government has no plans to alter the copyright framework in relation to archiving at the present time. However, the Government keeps the UK copyright framework under constant review. This includes the archiving and preservation exception to copyright outlined in section 42 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.The Government welcomes continued developments from the public library sector on e-licensing and e-book lending. Arts Council England funded Libraries Connected to deliver a pilot project to explore mutual benefits of increasing the affordability and availability of eBooks in public libraries. A project summary report was published in February 2025.
What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the 10 Year Health Plan will help people with arthritis.
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving arthritis care in all parts of the country.More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all support people to manage their long-term conditions, including arthritis, closer to home.