Written questions by Gilmour.

If his Department will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Pharmacy First initiative in relation to reducing the workload for GP surgeries.

National Health Service pharmaceutical services delivered in community pharmacy are subject to evaluations to assess various outcomes such as clinical appropriateness and impacts on other parts of the NHS. The National Institute of Health and Care Research is conducting an evaluation of Pharmacy First to assess how the service has been implemented across England, including impacts on prescribing in the general practice (GP) setting, use of hospitals and how the service has impacted access and cost for different patient groups.From July 2024 to February 2025, over 1.7 million Pharmacy First clinical pathway consultations were delivered by community pharmacies. In the same period, over 1.5 million minor illness referrals and 1.4 million consultations for urgent medical supplies were delivered by community pharmacies in England to support patients and help to alleviate the pressure on GP surgeries.Pharmacy First compliments and enhances the already wide range of services offered by community pharmacy including the provision of health advice and sale of over-the-counter medicines for a wider range of minor illness to support patients to selfcare rather than attend a GP, helping to increase access to care for patients closer to home in their communities.

If his Department will hold discussions with patient experience boards from integrated care boards to help inform the restructuring of (a) NHS England and (b) his Department.

The Department and NHS England are strongly committed to embedding patient experience across our work. On the transformation programme to restructure NHS England and the Department, the change is being explicitly designed to take forward the Government’s ambitious reform agenda and three strategic shifts which will be set out in the forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan. Patient experience will feature as a prominent theme in the Plan.Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions and responsibilities. At the appropriate time, we will ensure that the public and parliamentarians are updated on developments.

If his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing medical exemptions to access NHS care for dental injuries caused as a result of epileptic seizures.

There are currently no plans to extend the list of people eligible for free National Health Service dental care to include those with dental injuries caused by epileptic seizures. Free NHS dental care is available to people who meet one of the following criteria: under 18, or under 19 and in full-time education; pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months; being treated in an NHS hospital and the treatment is carried out by the hospital dentist, keeping in mind that patients may have to pay for any dentures or bridges; and receiving low-income benefits, or under 20 and a dependant of someone receiving low-income benefits.Support is also available through the NHS Low Income Scheme for those patients who are not eligible for exemption or full remission of dental patient charges. More information is available at the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-free-nhs-dental-treatment-in-england/ Community dental services provide specialised dental services to people with additional needs and are available in a variety of places to ensure everyone can have access to dental care. These include hospitals, specialists’ health centres and mobile clinics, as well as home visits or visits in nursing and care homes. These services may be available to people with epilepsy, depending on their needs.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to legally redefine the term affordable housing to be linked to social rent.

To reflect this government’s priorities, the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 places greater emphasis on the delivery of Social Rent homes and includes a separate definition of Social Rent so that it is not referred to as just one of a number of types of affordable housing for rent.The government continues to consider what further steps we can take to honour our commitment to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.

If she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Office of the Public Guardian in investigating a person with lasting power of attorney.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has processes in place to review the performance of the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and hold it to account. The MoJ reviews OPG performance through a system based on the Cabinet Office requirements for sponsorship of public bodies.We have no evidence OPG is failing to appropriately investigate allegations of abuse. The demand on OPG investigations has increased, so OPG is training additional investigators to meet demand, as well as process improvements to improve processing times. OPG continues to prioritise safeguarding concerns and reviews over 95% of all concerns received within 2 days. Whilst the time taken to conduct the investigation is longer than OPG’s target of 70 days, the investigations undertaken continue to be thorough and detailed, ensuring the right outcome is achieved.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the decision to cap the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund on children in adoptive and kinship care.

I refer the hon. Member for Tiverton and Minehead to the answer of 13 May 2025 to Question 49523.

If her Department will issue guidance on raising an issue of safety on a housing development where the operators are aware of the risks.

The Health and Safety Executive already provide guidance on raising health and safety issues in a workplace or public space. This can be found on their website www.hse.gov.uk/contact/tell-us-about-a-health-and-safety-issue.htm

If she will make an assessment of the appropriateness of the duties of care homes in relation to Lasting Powers of Attorney for residents.

Evidence indicates the overall scale of abuse using lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) is low. There were just over 8 million powers of attorney on the Office of the Public Guardian’s (OPG) register in 2023/24. It completed investigations into around 2,800. 597 cases resulted in either court action or a requirement for the attorney to complete remedial action. In that context, a specific assessment at this time of the duties on care homes in relation to LPAs would not be a proportionate response.Anyone, including care home management or staff, who has a concern about how an LPA has been made or used should raise this with the OPG. The OPG has processes to investigate such issues and take appropriate action where necessary.Under the Care Act, where a local authority has reasonable cause to suspect that an adult in the local authority’s area has needs for care and support and appears to be at risk of, or experiencing abuse or neglect, and is unable to protect themselves as a result of those needs, the local authority must carry out a safeguarding enquiry. Where necessary, this would include raising concerns with OPG for investigation where a property and affairs LPA is in place, and they believe it has been used to perpetrate abuse.

If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the provision of emergency back up generators in rural (a) hospitals and (b) GP surgeries.

No national assessment has been made of the provision of emergency backup generators in hospitals and general practice surgeries. It is the responsibility of each National Health Service provider to have resilience plans and procedures in place.Guidance is provided to the NHS within the Health Technical Memorandum 06 series, namely Health Technical Memorandum 06-01: Electrical services supply and distribution, Health Technical Memorandum 06-02: Electrical safety guidance for low voltage systems, and Health Technical Memorandum 06-03: Electrical safety guidance for high voltage systems, which are all respectively available at the following three links:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/electrical-services-supply-and-distribution-htm-06-01/https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/electrical-safety-guidance-for-low-voltage-systems-htm-06-02/https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/electrical-safety-guidance-for-high-voltage-systems-in-healthcare-premises-htm-06-03/This guidance is for healthcare organisation, defined as an organisation that provides or intends to provide healthcare services, and is therefore applicable to primary and secondary care providers.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on independent businesses in rural constituencies.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change. It means employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage without paying employer NICs.

Whether she made an assessment of the potential impact of removing the match-funding provision through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund on children in adoptive and kinship care before announcing those changes.

I refer the hon. Member for Tiverton and Minehead to the answer of 13 May 2025 to Question 49523.

If his Department will meet with Ofgem to discuss poor practice in the recouping of (a) missed and (b) underpaid payments in the energy sector.

The Department has regular meetings with Ofgem on a number of issues. The Government takes the issue of accurate billing very seriously. All suppliers must take all reasonable steps to reflect accurate meter readings in bills or statements sent to customers where these have been provided by a customer or obtained by the supplier. This is also laid out in the Ofgem’s licence conditions. Specifically, Ofgem’s Supplier Licence Conditions 21BA is clear that a back-bill can only be provided to a customer for electricity or gas used more than 12 months ago if they were not correctly billed for it at the time.Ofgem’s Supplier Licence Conditions 31I states that suppliers must ensure that domestic customers are provided with due notice prior to any increase in charges. All energy suppliers must follow Ofgem’s enforceable overarching principles of the Standard Licence Conditions 0 and 0A. These are a set of broad and enforceable ‘standards of conduct’ principles that set fundamental expectations on how suppliers must ensure fair treatment of each customer. These principles guide supplier behaviour, information provision, and customer service processes.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the Exmoor National Park Authority on the suitability of change of use applications for pubs on Exmoor.

Planning permission is always required to change use of a pub, ensuring that local consideration can be given to any such proposals through the planning application process, in consultation with the local community. Defra cannot comment on individual planning cases.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Oral Statement of 20 May 2025 on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Official Report, what discussions he has had with (a) his Israeli counterpart (b) other Israel representatives on that Statement.

On 20 May, I summoned the Israeli Ambassador to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and made clear the UK's opposition to expanded military operations in Gaza and rising violence & intimidation by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities in the West Bank. The UK will not stand by as this happens. We continue to have similar conversations at all official levels with the Israeli system to urge Israel to take action against violent settlers and halt settlement expansion which directly endanger the viability of a two-state solution.

What steps her Department is taking to help support rural (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) further education colleges to recruit (i) sustainable and (ii) adequate levels of staff.

High-quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child and young person’s outcome in schools and colleges. Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child. This is why the department is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new teachers across secondary and special schools and in our colleges over the course of this Parliament.The government is announcing a 4% pay award to school teachers and leaders, accepting in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s pay recommendation and doing so earlier than at any point in the last 10 years. This comes on top of the 5.5% pay award that we announced last July which has resulted in early improvements in recruitment and retention and has put us on course to meet the pledge. Over 2,000 more people are training to become secondary school teachers this year and recruitment is on track to improve even further for the cohort set to start training in 2025/26, with 1,070 more acceptances to postgraduate and teacher degree apprenticeship initial teacher training courses in secondary subjects by the end of April 2025, compared to the same time last year. Additionally, over 2,500 more teachers are expected to stay in the profession over the next three years.The department is doing more to continue to improve recruitment and retention. We have increased funding for training bursaries to £233 million in 2025/26, worth up to £29,000 tax-free, and initial teacher education apprenticeships to attract trainees in key subjects such as maths, physics and equivalent subjects in further education (FE) such as construction. For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the department is also offering a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools and technical subjects in all FE colleges, including rural and coastal areas.As part of our recruitment and retention strategy, it is vital that we improve the day to day experience of teachers and ensure that teaching is once again a respected and attractive profession that teachers remain and thrive in. We are supporting teachers to reduce their workload and improve their wellbeing, and enabling greater opportunities for greater flexible working.To provide targeted regional support, including for rural areas, the department has established a network of 87 Teaching School Hubs across the country. The Hubs provide approved high-quality professional development to teachers at all stages of their careers and play a significant role in delivering initial teacher training, the Early Career Framework and National Professional Qualifications.We want to empower FE colleges to recruit the right teachers and subject specialists for their local areas. Our national FE recruitment campaign is targeted to raise awareness, improve perceptions and understanding, and increase consideration of a career in FE amongst industry professionals, and supports professionals to find FE jobs in their area.We have specific programmes to support these industry experts start their careers in FE. Taking Teaching Further (TTF) is a two-year programme that supports FE providers to recruit and provide early career support to those with the relevant knowledge and/or industry experience to retrain as FE teachers, aiming to boost the quality and industry-relevance of teaching.We are also investing over £400 million more in 16-19 education in the 2025/26 financial year and have made approximately £50 million of this funding available to colleges for April to July 2025 to respond to current priorities, such as recruitment and retention.

If she will make an estimate of the (a) length in number of applicants and (b) duration of time of the backlog in Personal Independence Payment awards.

As at the end of January 2025, a total of 265,000 New Claims were in progress. This figure has been rounded to the nearest 1,000.For the average clearance times in median weeks for New Claims under Normal Rules, please see the Personal Independence Payment Official Statistics to January 2025, the information you requested can be found on Table 1A.

If his Department will make an assessment of the suitability of the appointment of General Sir Gwyn Jenkins as First Sea Lord.

General Jenkins is a proven leader with a distinguished career in both the military and at the core of Government. He brings with him a wealth of operational and organisational expertise and he will continue the modernisation of the Royal Navy, ensuring it can meet future threats and continue to safeguard our nation’s security and prosperity. As with all Defence appointments at this seniority, there was a rigorous selection process involving a panel with the Secretary of State, the Permanent Secretary, a Non-Executive Director and an independent panel member. Final approval to appoint was granted by the Prime Minister and the King.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of restoring the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund in the forthcoming spending review.

The government is investing an extra £680 million for mental health services, recruiting 8,500 extra mental health workers. Through our Plan for Change, we will tackle the mental health crisis and give every child a healthy start to life.The adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) will continue to complement other important services, including the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and our expanded access to mental health support teams in schools.This year we will be funding Adoption England to develop multi-disciplinary teams in more Regional Adoption Agencies, jointly with health and education partners, so adoptive families can get holistic joined up support.All funding after March 2026 is subject to decisions in the next spending review. However, we recognise and value the positive impact of the ASGSF in supporting adoptive and kinship families and its importance to many.The department was not able to consult organisations before the recent announcement, due to the need to open the fund for applications as soon as possible for the benefit for children. I regularly meet with adoption stakeholders, including recently meeting with the charity Adoption UK and, separately, with the department’s Adopter Reference Group, where we discussed the ASGSF.

With which organisations her Department held discussions on changes to the level of funding provided through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.

The government is investing an extra £680 million for mental health services, recruiting 8,500 extra mental health workers. Through our Plan for Change, we will tackle the mental health crisis and give every child a healthy start to life.The adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) will continue to complement other important services, including the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and our expanded access to mental health support teams in schools.This year we will be funding Adoption England to develop multi-disciplinary teams in more Regional Adoption Agencies, jointly with health and education partners, so adoptive families can get holistic joined up support.All funding after March 2026 is subject to decisions in the next spending review. However, we recognise and value the positive impact of the ASGSF in supporting adoptive and kinship families and its importance to many.The department was not able to consult organisations before the recent announcement, due to the need to open the fund for applications as soon as possible for the benefit for children. I regularly meet with adoption stakeholders, including recently meeting with the charity Adoption UK and, separately, with the department’s Adopter Reference Group, where we discussed the ASGSF.

What assessment her Department has made of the capacity of (a) children and adolescent mental health services and (b) other services to support adopted and kinship cared children, in the context of the reduction of the Adoption and special guardianship support fund.

The government is investing an extra £680 million for mental health services, recruiting 8,500 extra mental health workers. Through our Plan for Change, we will tackle the mental health crisis and give every child a healthy start to life.The adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) will continue to complement other important services, including the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and our expanded access to mental health support teams in schools.This year we will be funding Adoption England to develop multi-disciplinary teams in more Regional Adoption Agencies, jointly with health and education partners, so adoptive families can get holistic joined up support.All funding after March 2026 is subject to decisions in the next spending review. However, we recognise and value the positive impact of the ASGSF in supporting adoptive and kinship families and its importance to many.The department was not able to consult organisations before the recent announcement, due to the need to open the fund for applications as soon as possible for the benefit for children. I regularly meet with adoption stakeholders, including recently meeting with the charity Adoption UK and, separately, with the department’s Adopter Reference Group, where we discussed the ASGSF.