Written questions by Heylings.

What steps his Department is taking to increase day care outpatient provision for the treatment of (a) children, (b) young people and (c) adults with eating disorders.

NHS England is refreshing guidance on children and young people's eating disorders, to increase the focus on early identification and intervention and to shift away from inpatient care to community-based care models, including day hospitals/outpatient services.Updated guidance will highlight the importance of improved integration between dedicated community eating disorder services, outpatient day services, wider children and young people's mental health and neurodevelopmental services, schools, colleges and primary care to reduce the need for inpatient stays. The guidance will also improve awareness, provide expert advice and improve support for children and young people presenting with problems with eating, whilst ensuring swift access to specialist support as soon as an eating disorder is suspected.Since April 2021, all integrated care systems have received fair shares funding to transform their adult community mental health services, including eating disorders. NHS England has also published guidance to support systems with implementing intensive day patient care.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for (a) GP referral for assessment, (b) assessment and (c) treatment for patients with eating disorders.

General practice (GP) is the front door to the National Health Service, and we know that patients are struggling to see a GP. We are committed to fixing this and delivering the care that patients deserve. That is why, in October 2024, we provided an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme enabling the recruitment of 1,000 newly qualified GPs across England. This will increase the number of GP appointments delivered, which will benefit thousands of patients seeking access to GP care. We will also bring back the family doctor by incentivising continuity of care so patients can see the same doctor at each appointment, which is key to managing and supporting patients with conditions, including eating disorders.The Department continues to work closely with NHS England to ensure that people with an eating disorder get the care and treatment they need. NHS England is continuing to expand community-based eating disorder services’ capacity. This includes crisis care and intensive home treatment, to improve outcomes and recovery, reduce rates of relapse, prevent eating disorders continuing into adulthood. Also, if admission is required as a very last resort, reduce lengths of stay.

Whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the condition of the UK cycling industry.

No formal assessment has been completed; however, the Department has engaged with key industry brands on issues and will continue to do so moving forward. The industry has recently faced significant headwinds, impacting growth and profitability. Despite this, the industry is stabilising with some retailers reporting positive financial performance. There are signs of recovery and potential growth in key high-demand areas such as Road, Gravel, and Electric Mountain Bikes.

What steps she has taken to review the effectiveness of the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme for facilitating the travel of wheelchair users to education and work.

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. The ENCTS costs around £700 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations would need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability. The Department has conducted a review of the ENCTS and we are considering next steps.

What steps his Department is taking to support businesses which export bicycles.

Under the umbrella of the recently announced Business Growth Service, UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises an online support offer and a wider network of support including the Export Academy, UK Export Finance, the International Markets network and one-to-one support from International Trade Advisers.This support is available to all UK businesses including those that sell and wish to export bicycles.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the Child Maintenance Service to (a) increase protections for the victims of domestic abuse and (b) to prevent the withholding or artificial reduction of child maintenance payments being used as a form of economic abuse.

A consultation on proposed reforms to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. This included:removing Direct Pay and managing all CMS cases in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster,exploring views on collection fees and the impact of proposals to reduce, but maintain, fees andexploring how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported. This follows the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act receiving royal assent in July 2023. The consultation was extended by this Government at the end of July and ran until 30 September 2024. We are currently analysing the responses we have received, and the Government will publish a response in due course. CMS Domestic Abuse training has been updated with input from external stakeholders and wider DWP to ensure caseworkers recognise and respond safely and appropriately to customers who are experiencing domestic abuse or are survivors of domestic abuse. This package includes an understanding of abuse, including economic abuse, and, of course, given the context, covers post separation abuse.The CMS will use its strong enforcement powers to pursue those who willfully avoid their financial obligations to their children. Cases involving complex income can be investigated by the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU). This is a specialist team which can request information from financial institutions (such as banks, investment companies and mortgage companies) to check the accuracy of information the CMS is given.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 25004 on Infected Blood Compensation Scheme: Hepatitis, what assessment he has made of the sufficiency of funding for compensation for the affected families of people with hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

In the Autumn budget, the Government announced £11.8 billion of funding to compensate eligible infected and affected people. Each eligible person will get the compensation they are due.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of a third runway at Heathrow on the UK's carbon budget.

The government is committed to reaching net zero by 2050 and meeting our carbon budget obligations, as set out in the Climate Change Act. Making Britain a clean energy superpower and delivering greener transport, including aviation, is a Department for Transport priority. We have been clear that any airport expansion proposals will need to demonstrate they contribute to economic growth and can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding climate change commitments, as well as meeting strict air quality and noise standards. The government will set out detail on plans for meeting legislated carbon budgets later this year.

What reforms to disability benefits she plans to introduce in 2025; when each reform will be implemented; and whether she plans to publish any further consultations on planned reforms.

This Government is committed to reforming the system of health and disability benefits so that it promotes and enables employment among as many people as possible. We are working to develop proposals for health and disability reform in the months ahead and will set them out in a Green Paper ahead of the Spring Statement. This will launch a public consultation on the proposals. This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, so we will consult on these proposals, where appropriate, with disabled people and representative organisations.

Communities and Local Government, what her timeline is for implementing the decent homes standard.

The government intend to bring forward a consultation this year on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sectors.

When he will confirm funding for the Great British Insulation Scheme for the 2025-26 financial year.

The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) is not a government funded grant scheme, but an obligation on larger energy suppliers to provide energy efficiency support to eligible households through the installation of one insulation measure per home. GBIS is scheduled to run until March 2026 and is funded through consumer bills, under the price cap.

When she will publish the Warm Homes Plan.

The Warm Homes Plan will help people find ways to save money on energy bills and transform our ageing building stock into comfortable, low-carbon homes that are fit for the future. Future funding towards decarbonisation and to tackle fuel poverty will be considered as part of Phase 2 of the Spending Review, which will conclude in late Spring 2025. The Warm Homes Plan will be published after the conclusion of the Spending Review, and further details will be set out in due course.

What his planned timetable is for providing national coverage for fracture liaison services.

We remain committed to rolling out Fracture Liaison Services across every part of the country by 2030.In the meantime, we are investing in 13 high-tech bone density DEXA scanners, which are expected to provide an extra 29,000 scans to ensure people with bone conditions get diagnosed earlier.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing compensation for small shareholders for the loss of shares in Northern Rock Plc.

An independent valuer determined that Northern Rock shares were of no value immediately prior to the company being taken into public ownership, and therefore no compensation was due. This independent valuation was upheld in the both the Upper Tribunal in 2011 and the Court of Appeal in 2013. HM Treasury considers this matter settled.

If he will take steps to ensure that the UK's Nationally Determined Contribution (a) facilitates a just transition and (b) commits to increased climate finance.

In January, the UK submitted its nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), providing additional information on our headline target, including how it will facilitate a just transition. The UK is dedicated to supporting workers, communities and businesses to transition to net zero. As part of the Clean Power Mission to reach clean power by 2030, the UK has established an Office for Clean Energy Jobs (“the Office”) to explore what is needed to ensure our workforce can deliver the dramatic pace of change needed to reach this goal. The UK is committed to delivering climate finance to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate impacts and support a transition to low-carbon economies. In compliance with Article 9.5 of the Paris Agreement, the UK submitted its third Finance Biennial Communication to the UNFCCC in December 2024 which sets out our forward-looking action on the support components of the Paris Agreement. We have also reaffirmed the existing commitment to spend £11.6bn in International Climate Finance by 2025/2026, including at least £3bn on nature. Our next International Climate Finance commitment will be carefully considered and determined through the Spending Review this year. But we’re also clear that public finance alone is not going to fund the global transition, and are working closely with partners to mobilise more private capital for the climate transition.

When affected family members of people with blood infected by hepatitis B will be able to apply for compensation.

Those affected by their relationship to an eligible individual infected with Hepatitis B will be able to claim via the compensation scheme. This may include partners, parents, children, and siblings of an eligible infected person, as well as some people who acted as a carer for an infected person. The delivery of compensation payments is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority. The Government expects payments to eligible affected people to begin this year, following a second set of regulations that I will be laying in Parliament in the coming weeks.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of tariffs with night-time low electricity pricing for people with (a) electric vehicles and (b) solar panels.

The Government is supportive of electricity suppliers offering tariffs which enable consumers, including electric vehicle owners and those using solar panels, to consume energy at off peak times. This benefits all consumers by reducing the need for additional grid capacity. More generally, we want to see the market offering new, innovative products and services that will help enable consumers to lower their bills, get a better service and support the transition to net zero. The setting of these tariffs is a commercial matter for suppliers.

If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the (a) funding and (b) availability of the Sleepio app for people with insomnia.

There is currently no central funding from NHS England to support the national commissioning of digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia to integrated care boards.Sleepio remains available for local commissioning by integrated care systems, should they choose to commission this product, as part of local insomnia care and treatment pathways.No further assessments relating to the funding or availability of this product at a national level are currently planned.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes made to employer's National Insurance contributions at the Autumn Budget 2024 on agency workers under IR35.

The Government publishes Tax Information and Impact Notes (TIINs) for tax policy changes. TIINs give a clear explanation of the policy objective and an assessment of the impacts including on the Exchequer, individuals and families, businesses including civil society organisations and others. The TIIN for the employer NICs changes was published on 13 November 2024.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking legislative steps to introduce a land use framework.

The Government plans to take action toward realising a Land Use Framework in the first year of its time in power.