Written questions by Bool.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a graduated driving license.

We have had to strike a balance between protecting young people and not overly impacting their opportunities to access work and education and social activities. Whilst we are not considering Graduated Driver Licensing with further restrictions on newly qualified drivers such as carrying passengers or driving at night, we are consulting on a Minimum Learning Period in England, Scotland, and Wales before learner drivers can take their test. This would allow learners more time to gain essential experience, for example in different weather conditions, before driving independently and so reduce the risk to themselves and other drivers. We know that introducing a Minimum Learning Period has potential to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries. This is why we are consulting on the introduction of pre-test measures and combining these with the post-test measures already in place through the New Drivers Act. The New Drivers Act has a form of “probationary period” of 2 years for novice drivers of all ages in Great Britain. During this time, instead of the standard 12 points, if 6 or more points are received, including in the learning period, a driver's licence is revoked and they must apply again for a provisional licence, re-entering the learning stage. Additionally, we are considering further post-test measures as part of the motoring offences consultation, where views are being sought on a lower blood alcohol limit for novice drivers in England and Wales.

Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria her Department plans to use to differentiate between small and large farms in assessing eligibility for future SFI applications.

The department will publish a precise definition before the first application window opens in June.  This is one of the details we’ll be testing with key stakeholders.

What steps the Department has taken to monitor the progress of children whose education has been disrupted by long COVID.

The department does not hold data on the number of children absent specifically due to long COVID. Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. As set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ and ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ guidance, schools and local authorities should work together to ensure that pupils at school with medical conditions, including long COVID, should be properly supported so that they have full access to education. Both sets of guidance are available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

Whether her Department tracks the number of children whose education has been disrupted by long COVID.

The department does not hold data on the number of children absent specifically due to long COVID. Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. As set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ and ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ guidance, schools and local authorities should work together to ensure that pupils at school with medical conditions, including long COVID, should be properly supported so that they have full access to education. Both sets of guidance are available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

What data her Department holds on the proportion of spirits duty revenue generated from UK-produced spirits sold in pubs.

HMRC does not hold data on alcohol duty paid on alcohol sold in pubs. Alcohol duty is paid at the point of production or import and would not generally be paid directly by pubs. Statistics on alcohol duty are published in the Alcohol Bulletin - GOV.UK. Estimates derived from sales data collected on behalf of the Office for National Statistics for the period 1 February 2024 to 31 January 2025 indicate around 15% of spirits are consumed on-trade and around 85% off-trade.

What estimate her Department has made of the cost of spirits duty, business rates, VAT, and employer National Insurance contributions paid by pubs in the last 12 months.

HMRC does not hold readily available data on revenue from spirits duty, VAT, and employer National Insurance contributions paid by pubs. HMRC does not hold information on business rates which are administered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

What recent estimate she has made of the revenue generated from spirits duty paid by on-trade premises compared to off-trade retailers.

HMRC does not hold data on alcohol duty paid on alcohol sold in pubs. Alcohol duty is paid at the point of production or import and would not generally be paid directly by pubs. Statistics on alcohol duty are published in the Alcohol Bulletin - GOV.UK. Estimates derived from sales data collected on behalf of the Office for National Statistics for the period 1 February 2024 to 31 January 2025 indicate around 15% of spirits are consumed on-trade and around 85% off-trade.

What recent estimate her Department has made of the spirits duty revenue at risk from pub closures.

HMRC does not hold data on alcohol duty paid on alcohol sold in pubs. Alcohol duty is paid at the point of production or import and would not generally be paid directly by pubs. Statistics on alcohol duty are published in the Alcohol Bulletin - GOV.UK. Estimates derived from sales data collected on behalf of the Office for National Statistics for the period 1 February 2024 to 31 January 2025 indicate around 15% of spirits are consumed on-trade and around 85% off-trade.

What assessment her Department has made of UK spirits duty rates for the on-trade compared to equivalent rates in (a) Ireland, (b) France, (c) Germany, and (d) other EU member states.

The UK’s alcohol duty system balances protecting the public finances and promoting health. There is significant variation in alcohol taxation policy amongst European countries. The World Health Organization recently published a comparison of alcohol taxes across the WHO European Region, which can be found here.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief on Scottish family farms.

We are striking a fair balance between supporting farmers and fixing the public services on which our rural communities rely.Our reforms to the Agricultural Property Relief means that the majority of those claiming relief, three quarters, will not be affected. The vast majority of farmers will not be affected at all. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of further permitted development protections for registered historic battlefields in England.

The government is committed to the protection of the historic environment.We consider new permitted development rights, and amendments to existing ones, on a case-by-case basis.Changes to permitted development rights are generally made following public consultation, including consideration of any impacts on the historic environment.Local planning authorities can also remove national permitted development rights where it is necessary to protect local amenity or the well-being of an area by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction.

How many appointments to ministerial private office have been made by exceptions to the civil service recruitment principles since July 2024; and how many transfers of civil servants from other departments by exceptions there have been since that date.

Between July 2024 and 03 November 2025 there were no appointments made by exception to Ministerial Private Offices among the delegated grades (below Senior Civil Servant (SCS) level). However, during this period there was one direct Ministerial appointment at SCS level, this was the Strategic Advisor to the Secretary of State and Head of Review and Challenge.

What steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to replenish UK munitions stockpiles.

As announced in the Strategic Defence Review, we our investing £6 billion this Parliament in munitions to replenish our stockpiles. This investment includes £1.5 billion specifically to develop an “always on” munitions pipeline, building six new munitions and energetics factories to ensure we increase the capacity and resilience of our domestic munitions production. I look forward to meeting the hon. Member to discuss her perspectives in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a deer management strategy.

Defra provides a wide range of support to help landowners and managers tackle deer impacts on woodlands. This includes grants for managing their impacts and for capital items, as well as funding of relevant projects, including those that facilitate landscape scale action. A dedicated Forestry Commission team of Deer Officers is in place, providing nationwide advice, facilitating grant support and encouraging landscape scale collaborative management. Natural England are leading the Sussex Woods Protected Sites Strategy pilot, focused on reducing deer impacts on protected woodlands, which includes supporting landowners and managers to work together at scale to manage deer impacts. We are considering plans for further action on deer impacts management and will outline these, including any implications for the existing regime for the licensing of managing deer at night, in due course.

How many incidents relating to deer management were reported by police forces in 2023-24.

The Home Office does not hold any data on the number of incidents related to deer management reported by police forces, or how many required an armed police response.While the Home Office does collect and publish annual statistics on the number of police firearms operations, the data excludes operations involving discharges for animal destruction and does not include any details of the nature of the incidents.The latest available data for the year ending 31 March 2025 can be accessed at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-use-of-firearms-statistics-april-2024-to-march-2025

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to streamline the deer management night licensing regime.

Defra provides a wide range of support to help landowners and managers tackle deer impacts on woodlands. This includes grants for managing their impacts and for capital items, as well as funding of relevant projects, including those that facilitate landscape scale action. A dedicated Forestry Commission team of Deer Officers is in place, providing nationwide advice, facilitating grant support and encouraging landscape scale collaborative management. Natural England are leading the Sussex Woods Protected Sites Strategy pilot, focused on reducing deer impacts on protected woodlands, which includes supporting landowners and managers to work together at scale to manage deer impacts. We are considering plans for further action on deer impacts management and will outline these, including any implications for the existing regime for the licensing of managing deer at night, in due course.

How many incidents relating to deer management required an armed response from police officers in the year 2023-24.

The Home Office does not hold any data on the number of incidents related to deer management reported by police forces, or how many required an armed police response.While the Home Office does collect and publish annual statistics on the number of police firearms operations, the data excludes operations involving discharges for animal destruction and does not include any details of the nature of the incidents.The latest available data for the year ending 31 March 2025 can be accessed at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-use-of-firearms-statistics-april-2024-to-march-2025

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to incentivise deer management by local landowners at a landscape scale.

Defra provides a wide range of support to help landowners and managers tackle deer impacts on woodlands. This includes grants for managing their impacts and for capital items, as well as funding of relevant projects, including those that facilitate landscape scale action. A dedicated Forestry Commission team of Deer Officers is in place, providing nationwide advice, facilitating grant support and encouraging landscape scale collaborative management. Natural England are leading the Sussex Woods Protected Sites Strategy pilot, focused on reducing deer impacts on protected woodlands, which includes supporting landowners and managers to work together at scale to manage deer impacts. We are considering plans for further action on deer impacts management and will outline these, including any implications for the existing regime for the licensing of managing deer at night, in due course.

How many appointments to ministerial private offices since July 2024 have been made by civil service recruitment principles exceptions including the transfer of civil servants from other departments who were appointed by exceptions without open and fair competition.

The Department has made one appointment to ministerial private offices since July 2024 to 4 September 2025 by exception to the Civil Service recruitment principles.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to update building regulations to require the inclusion of solar panels on new warehouse developments.

The Future Buildings Standard, which will be set through changes to the Building Regulations in autumn this year, will apply to new non-domestic buildings, including new warehouse developments. The Government published a consultation on the Future Buildings Standard which closed in March 2024. We consulted on two potential performance requirement options for non-domestic buildings, both of which included the use of solar panels. The Government will respond to the consultation and publish the new standard later this year.