Written questions by Bool.

What steps his Department has taken to help reduce waiting times for autism assessments for children in rural areas.

Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service, published September 2024, highlighted the severe delays for accessing autism assessments and that demand for assessments for autism has grown significantly in recent years.It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessments for children in rural areas, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. In doing so, ICBs should take account of waiting lists, considering how local funding can be deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs, including those in rural areas, and the NHS 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. 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.

Communities and Local Government, what (a) training and (b) resources her Department has provided to fire and rescue services to respond to battery energy storage system-related incidents.

It is the responsibility of fire and rescue authorities to ensure that firefighters receive the appropriate equipment and training to safely respond to the wide range of incidents that they attend. The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) also provides guidance to fire and rescue services to help keep firefighters and the public safe. In 2023, the NFCC published guidance on Battery Energy Storage System sites.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued to fire and rescue services on responding to incidents involving large-scale battery energy storage systems.

It is the responsibility of fire and rescue authorities to ensure that firefighters receive the appropriate equipment and training to safely respond to the wide range of incidents that they attend. The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) also provides guidance to fire and rescue services to help keep firefighters and the public safe. In 2023, the NFCC published guidance on Battery Energy Storage System sites.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential long-term fire risk associated with lithium-ion battery energy storage systems.

The Government considers that the safety risks posed by BESS are small and well managed under the robust regulatory framework overseen by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). This framework requires responsible parties to take measures to ensure health and safety throughout all stages of a battery system’s deployment. The safety standards framework for BESS is kept under review to respond to changing circumstances. Government, working alongside the industry-led Electricity Storage Health and Safety Governance Group, will continue to monitor events in the sector to ensure that a robust framework is sustained.

What funding her Department is providing for special educational needs provision in rural schools.

The department recognises the essential role that small, rural schools play in their communities. The national funding formula (NFF) accounts for the particular challenges, including those of providing for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), faced by small schools in rural areas through the lump sum and sparsity factors. The NFF lump sum for the 2025/26 financial year is set at £145,100 and provides a fixed amount of funding that is unrelated to pupil-led factors. In addition, eligible (small, rural) primary schools attract up to £57,400, and eligible secondary or all-through schools attract up to £83,400, in sparsity funding in 2025/26 through the NFF.Where the additional support for a pupil with SEN exceeds £6,000 per annum, the local authority provides the school with extra funding from its high needs budget. The department is providing £1 billion more for high needs budgets in 2025/26, bringing total high needs funding to over £12 billion, to help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting their pupils with complex needs. Of that total, West Northamptonshire Council is being allocated over £79 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £5.5 million on the 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs NFF.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he has taken to improve broadband connectivity in rural parts of South Northamptonshire constituency.

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 99% of homes and businesses in the South Northamptonshire constituency can access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and over 93% have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection (>1000 Mbps).To improve this coverage further, CityFibre is delivering a Project Gigabit contract across Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes, targeted at bringing gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas that are unlikely to be otherwise reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout. Approximately 1,700 premises in the South Northamptonshire constituency are currently expected to benefit from this contract. The vast majority of these premises are in rural parts of the constituency.

What steps she plans to take to support the recruitment and retention of teachers in rural secondary schools.

High-quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child’s educational outcome. Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s opportunity mission and boosting 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.We have announced a 4% pay award to school teachers and leaders, accepting in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s pay recommendation and two months ahead of last year.This comes on top of the 5.5% pay award that we announced last July. We are seeing early improvements in recruitment and retention with over 2,000 more people training to become secondary school teachers this year. Recruitment is also on track to improve further for 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.We are doing more to continue to improve recruitment and retention, including in rural secondary schools. We have increased funding for training bursaries to £233 million in 2025/26, worth up to £29,000 tax-free. We are also offering scholarships worth up to £31,000 tax free. 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, 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.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle rural crime in South Northamptonshire.

Under our Safer Streets Mission reforms, rural communities will be better safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, increased neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent theft of farm equipment and fly-tipping.This financial year we will be providing the first Home Office funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). The funding boost of over £800,000 in total will help the units tackle those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.This will allow these specialist units to continue their work in tackling rural and wildlife crime which can pose unique challenges for policing given the scale and isolation of rural areas.The National Police Chiefs’ Council Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025 provides a framework through which policing, and its partners can work together to tackle the most prevalent threats and emerging issues which predominantly affect rural communities NPCC-Wildlife-Rural-Crime-Strategy-2022-2025.pdf (nwcu.police.uk) We are working closely with the NPCC to deliver the next iteration of their strategy, to ensure the government’s Safer Streets Mission benefits every community no matter where they live, including rural communities.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to ensure that new housing developments in rural areas are accompanied by appropriate infrastructure.

I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to Question UIN 26106 on 5 February 2025.

Media and Sport, what support is available for (a) local heritage and (b) arts organisations in South Northamptonshire constituency.

In the South Northamptonshire constituency, Arts Council England has provided over £600,000 of funding between 2021-2025.This includes 11 awards across combined arts, music and theatre, totalling more than £290,000. “The Play’s The Thing” Theatre Company received £39,366 for their biennial ‘Taking the Stage’ symposium, celebrating the role of women in the performing arts.Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice has also supported four individual artists with a total of £47,113 across theatre and visual arts. ItsCreative People and Places funding stream has awarded £321,703 per annum to ‘Made with Many’ for 2022-25 – to produce events and activities that put the community at the heart of commissioning artists and producing new and exciting events, through conversations with local people and community decision-making panels. Since 1994, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded more than £18.2m to 95 projects in South Northamptonshire. Examples of organisations and projects they have supported include £11.6m in support of Silverstone Heritage and a grant of £233,800 supporting much needed repairs to the roof of the Grade I listed All Saints' Church, Middleton Cheney. Since 2020, Historic England provided £56,000 towards re-roofing the Brewhouse at Sulgrave Manor. They also provided financial support for the Peterborough Diocese Places of Worship Support Officer for 10 years up to 2024 and £4,000 for Weedon Lois Castle site. The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme provide grants towards VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship. Since August 2022, a total of £228,640.15 has been awarded to 33 Listed Places of Worship in the South Northamptonshire constituency area. This year, the Secretary of State also announced a new £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund. This will include support to museums, heritage, arts and music venues across the country and is a critical step that this Government is taking to help create jobs, boost local economies, and expand access to arts, heritage and culture for communities.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the mental health challenges facing farmers in England; and what steps his Department is taking to improve access to mental health support services in (a) rural and (b) agricultural communities.

We use existing channels to listen to, and monitor, impacts of our policy changes on farmers. This includes regular meetings with farming welfare charities, listening to feedback from farming organisations, speaking to farmers directly at events, and through our Farmer Opinion Tracker. Defra are working in consultation with communities, farming support organisations and experts across government with the aim of improving mental and physical health outcomes for the agricultural community. Delivery of mental health interventions sits with the Department for Health and Social Care, who are investing in mental health to ensure it receives the same attention as physical health. This includes the hiring of 8,500 new mental health support workers, which will reduce delays and provide faster treatment closer to people’s homes – including in rural communities. The Government is also building a national network of Young Futures hubs, which will be present in every community and will deliver support for young people facing mental health challenges.

With reference to the British Hair Consortium's report entitled Securing the future of UK hairdressing and beauty: the economic, fiscal & societal case for VAT reform, published in February 2025, what steps she is taking to support apprenticeships in the hair and beauty sector.

I refer the hon. Member for South Northamptonshire to the answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 34828.

With reference to the British Hair Council's report entitled Securing the future of UK hairdressing and beauty: the economic, fiscal & societal case for VAT reform, published in February 2025, whether she has made an assessment of the potential economic benefits of reducing the VAT rate to ten per cent for labour-based services .

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is also the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.

With reference to the British Hair Council's report entitled Securing the future of UK hairdressing and beauty: the economic, fiscal & societal case for VAT reform, published in February 2025, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a mandatory register of hairdressing professionals.

Hairdressing salons and barbers, like other employers, are subject to normal business regulations such as health and safety requirements, employer and public liability insurance. The Hairdressers Registration Act of 1964 already provides for a UK register of qualified hairdressers and HMRC will investigate evidence suggesting businesses have misclassified individuals for tax purposes and Government collaborates closely with law enforcement to monitor criminal behaviour.The Government has no immediate plans to introduce further regulation of the hair industry, but we will always remain open to evidence

Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on the negotiation of a Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement with the EU.

The UK and EU are like-minded partners with similarly high standards. We have been clear that the trading relationship can be improved, hence why we are seeking to negotiate an SPS agreement to help boost trade and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers in the UK and the EU. It’s too early to discuss specific areas in detail and we will not be providing a running commentary on discussions with the EU.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) airports and (b) ports are announcing the ban on personal imports of (i) meat and (ii) dairy products to travellers from EU countries.

The Government has been engaging with airports, ports and travel operators to communicate the ban on personal imports of meats and dairy products from EU countries, introduced on 12 April 2025.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of VAT on the financial sustainability of hair and beauty salons.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is also the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing VAT rate on hair and beauty salons.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is also the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the funding for the Dover Port Health Authority 2025-26 covers the cost of vets.

The funding allocated to Dover Port Health Authority for 2025-26 does not cover the costs of Official Veterinarians.

If she will conduct a review of the VAT system as it applies to (a) the hair and beauty sector and (b) other labour-intensive industries.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is also the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.