Written questions by Raja.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to prevent subscription-based streaming services from being brought within the scope of the TV licence fee.

A TV licence is currently required to watch live TV, and to watch or download any BBC programme on iPlayer. Households are therefore already required to hold a TV licence to watch live TV on a subscription-based streaming service.The Government launched the BBC Charter Review last year. As part of the BBC Charter Review, we are looking at a range of options to support the BBC with sustainable and fair funding, including how the BBC can operate more efficiently, generate more commercial revenue, and how the licence fee could be reformed including the scope of services for which a TV licence is required.The Government is now considering responses to the public consultation, and these will inform policy decisions for the next BBC Royal Charter. These will be set out in a White Paper, expected to be published later this year.

What specific support and guidance has been provided to NHS services in a) Leicester and b) the East Midlands to identify and manage infants presenting with symptoms consistent with the cereulide toxin exposure.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), along with partner agencies in the devolved administrations, have been supporting the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland, and local authorities with their investigations responding to the recall of infant formula products potentially contaminated with cereulide toxin.Briefing notes with situational updates on successive formula recalls, case numbers and guidance on management of cases were issued on 7 January 2026, 27 January 2026, and 12 February 2026 to primary care including general practitioners, National Health Service clinicians, private hospitals, and other health care professionals across the whole of England. These communications reminded health care professionals to notify cases to the UKHSA and included advice on clinical assessment and management of cases of cereulide toxicity, diagnostic testing of clinical samples and of recalled formula for toxigenic Bacillus cereus or detection of cereulide toxin gene. The briefing notes were extensively cascaded across various professional networks, for instance Royal College of General Practitioners, Emergency medicine, Neonatology and Paediatrics.This has led to the UKHSA receiving multiple clinical notifications from across England, allowing us to investigate potential cases further, including testing individual batches of recalled formula from the households of children who have presented to healthcare settings for presence of the toxin.Throughout this process the UKHSA’s health protection teams and experts in gastrointestinal infections have engaged with and supported NHS clinicians and families of children who may have ingested recalled batches of formula.

Whether his Department is considering mandating routine cereulide toxin screening in all powdered infant and follow-on formula products placed on the UK market.

Infant formula regulations set robust nutritional and compositional standards, to ensure that all infant formulas for sale in the United Kingdom are suitable for meeting the nutritional requirements of babies. While these regulations do not specify testing for individual toxins, infant formula is also subject to the UK’s overarching food safety legislation which requires food business operators to ensure that products placed on the market are safe.At present, the Government does not have plans to introduce mandatory testing of cereulide or other toxins in infant formula. While recent product recalls demonstrate that contamination can occur and must be taken seriously, contamination of infant formula is rare and the UK has processes in place to rapidly identify and manage risks when they arise, including through investigation and product recalls. Any decision to mandate routine testing would need to be evidence based and proportionate while prioritising infant safety.

What steps her Department is taking to provide incentives to Local Highway Authorities to achieve green ratings under traffic light rankings for pothole repairs; and whether she plans to impose consequences on authorities not achieving green ratings.

The Government has provided a record investment of £7.3 billion for local highways maintenance over the next four years. A portion of this funding is incentive funding, which is subject to local highway authorities publishing their maintenance plans and meeting performance-based criteria. By meeting these criteria, local highway authorities will also be able to achieve better ratings. Any authorities that received a red rating under the Department’s rating system also receive access to a dedicated support programme to help them improve their rating and local road conditions. At present, the Department has no plans to penalise or withhold resources from local highway authorities that do not achieve a green rating. We instead aim to support local highway authorities – through our record funding and wider support and guidance – so that they can achieve a better rating and to ensure road conditions improve nationwide.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the funding allocated to Local Highway Authorities for pothole repairs.

The Department has announced a record £7.3 billion investment into highways maintenance over the next four years which will enable local authorities to invest in significantly improving the long-term condition of England’s road network, delivering faster, safer and more reliable journeys. By confirming funding over a four-year period, local authorities will have greater certainty to plan ahead and move away from short-term fixes, enabling more proactive and preventative work to stop potholes from forming in the first place. The Department will monitor how effectively local authorities use this record level of funding through annual transparency reports, incentive funding requirements which encourage authorities to follow best practice in highways maintenance, and the new traffic-light ratings system which was announced in January. Together, these measures will provide clearer oversight of local performance and help ensure that funding is used to deliver lasting improvements for road users.

What funding she has allocated to National Highways for ongoing repairs and maintenance of motorways and strategic A roads in addition to funding provided in the Autumn Budget 2025.

The third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) due to be published in March will set out the funding that will be provided to National Highways for the operation, maintenance and renewal of the strategic road network over the period from 2026/27 to 2030/31.

How many people who departed the UK under a voluntary return scheme subsequently (a) re-entered the UK unlawfully and (b) made a further asylum claim within five years of departure.

The information requested regarding the number of individuals who departed under a voluntary return scheme and subsequently re-entered the UK is not available from published statistics.The Home Office publishes all available information on returns expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK

What the cost to the public purse has been of the Voluntary Return scheme, including (a) financial assistance payments, (b) flights and travel costs, (c) casework and staffing costs and (d) reintegration costs; and what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the Voluntary Return scheme on wider costs to the public purse.

The information requested regarding the number of individuals who departed under a voluntary return scheme and subsequently re-entered the UK is not available from published statistics.The Home Office publishes all available information on returns expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK

What estimate his Department has made of the number of UK businesses that have relocated overseas since July 2024; and what information his Department holds on the reasons for those relocations.

The Department for Business and Trade does not hold this information. We continue to support UK businesses and have many avenues through which businesses of all sizes can explore opportunities to grow internationally. We will continue to review how we can support businesses moving forward.

What guidance his Department issues to first aid training providers on anatomical differences between men and women relevant to the delivery of CPR.

The Department is aware of research that shows differences in bystander response in providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to men versus women. Research also shows that training is key to improving bystander confidence in providing CPR to women and use of female manikins may assist in this.NHS England has published a list of tools and resources on its website to improve cardiac arrest outcomes, with further information available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/clinical-policy/cvd/improving-outcomes-in-cardiac-arrest-tools-and-resources/This includes guidance from St John’s Ambulance on How to do CPR and use a defibrillator on a person with breasts, which is available at the following link:https://www.sja.org.uk/first-aid-advice/cpr-on-women-and-other-people-with-breasts/

How much and what proportion of Vehicle Excise Duty receipts was (a) allocated to and (b) spent on road repair and maintenance in the 2024-25 tax year.

The Consolidated Fund receives the proceeds of Vehicle Excise Duty along with most other tax revenues to support public services and investment in infrastructure, including vehicle infrastructure and road maintenance. The Government is going well beyond its promise to fix an additional one million potholes per year, by providing funding to fix the equivalent of more than seven million extra potholes in 2025/26 in England.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the predominant use of male CPR manikins in first aid training on survival outcomes for women experiencing cardiac arrest.

The Department is aware of research that shows differences in bystander response in providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to men versus women. Research also shows that training is key to improving bystander confidence in providing CPR to women and use of female manikins may assist in this.NHS England has published a list of tools and resources on its website to improve cardiac arrest outcomes, with further information available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/clinical-policy/cvd/improving-outcomes-in-cardiac-arrest-tools-and-resources/This includes guidance from St John’s Ambulance on How to do CPR and use a defibrillator on a person with breasts, which is available at the following link:https://www.sja.org.uk/first-aid-advice/cpr-on-women-and-other-people-with-breasts/

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that estate agents comply with existing consumer protection law; to help support effective enforcement action against rogue operators who mislead consumers; and to help ensure regulations on responsible businesses are not burdensome.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), protects consumers from unfair trading practices and prohibits traders, including estate agents, from omitting (or providing unclear, untimely or obscure) material information to consumers in any ‘invitation to purchase’.The DMCCA strengthens consumer law enforcement by giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) new administrative powers, and the CMA and courts the ability to impose significant monetary penalties of up to 10% of turnover.The CMA has published updated guidance on price transparency and unfair commercial practices to help businesses comply.

Whether her Department is taking steps to help reduce the rate of Air Passenger Duty for (a) domestic flights and (b) flights to European destinations.

The government is committed to securing the long-term future of the aviation sector in the UK and recognises the benefits of the connectivity it creates between the UK and the rest of the world. The rate of Air Passenger Duty (APD) in part depends on destination. There are four destination bands, including a domestic band (for destinations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), and Band A (which includes all destinations in the EU and EEA and other European destinations). From 1 April 2026, the reduced rates for domestic and Band A flights will be £8 and £15 respectively. This compares with rates of £102 and £106 for Bands B and C respectively (which apply to destinations further away from London). Following recent increases to APD rates to account for higher-than-expected levels of inflation, at Budget 2025, the government announced it will uprate APD rates in line with RPI from 1 April 2027 and round to the nearest penny. This constitutes a real terms freeze. This will ensure that airlines continue to make a fair contribution to the public finances, particularly given that tickets are VAT free and aviation fuel incurs no duty.

Whether her Department has any plans to make (a) Universal Credit, (b) Employment and Support Allowance, and (c) Housing Benefit taxable state benefits.

Means-tested benefits that are designed to meet specific costs, such as Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit, are not taxable, and the government has no current plans to alter this.

How many individuals convicted of sexual offences have been sentenced to immediate custody during the current Parliament; and what percentage of all individuals convicted of sexual offences received an immediate custodial sentence during that same period.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions and sentences for a variety of offences, including sexual offences, in the Outcomes by Offences data tool. The tool can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK. The data can be filtered by ‘month’ and ‘year’.

Media and Sport, what support her Department provides to increase participation in grassroots sport in (a) Leicester and (b) Leicestershire.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.That is why we provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million of National Lottery and exchequer funding. The City of Leicester received a total of £971,350 of Sport England funding in 2024/25. The County of Leicestershire received a total of £1,937,467 million of Sport England funding in 2024/25.In addition, on 27 January, the Government announced that £85 million of the £400 million package for grassroots sport facilities will be invested in during 2026/27, funding the continuation of the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme. This funding is designed to increase participation opportunities and benefit the areas most in need, with 50% investment going to the 30% most deprived areas in the UK.

Media and Sport, what guidance her department provides on ensuring that sports facilities and stadia in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) the UK are safe and welcoming environments for women and girls.

The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all sports facilities and stadia are welcoming and safe for women and girls. We’ve launched the Women’s Sport Taskforce to tackle challenges and barriers facing women and girls in sport, from grassroots to elite, and are harnessing the power of hosting major sporting events, such as investing £6.7 million into the Impact 25’ programme for the Women’s Rugby World Cup to make facilities more accessible for women. We are also investing £80.3 million in high-quality grassroots sports facilities through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities (MSGF) Programme in England in 2025/26, and will also invest £68.35 million in 26/27. We will more than double priority access to grassroots football pitches for women and girls over the next four years. MSGF funded facilities should reserve at least 20% of priority use slots for women and girls teams. Our delivery partner in England, the Football Foundation, has recently announced the Lionesses HERe to Play Fund which will help to ensure grassroots sports facilities across England are welcoming, safe and accessible for a new generation of women and girls. Our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign has also worked with ukactive, CIMSPA and Women’s Aid to publish new guidance to help fitness and leisure facilities continue to create safer spaces for women and girls to be active. In addition, the safety of all those who attend sporting fixtures is a priority for the Government. The Government funds the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) whose purpose is to ensure sports grounds are safe for everyone, including women and girls. The SGSA continues to support world class standards of physical supporter safety for all attendees.

What was the evidential basis for the decision to freeze the student loan repayment threshold for graduates; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of this on graduates' disposable incomes.

The fiscal situation this government inherited means we’ve had to make tough but fair choices, including on student loan repayment threshold freezes. Student loan borrowers repay a portion of their income (typically 9%) above the repayment threshold. A Plan 2 graduate earning £30,000 will repay only around £4 a month in FY2026–27. The student finance system is heavily subsidised by government, and lower-earning graduates will always be protected, with any outstanding loan and interest cancelled at the end of the repayment term. It is right that those who are able to repay do so. The Department for Education has published analysis of the impact of the repayment threshold freeze on total repayments here.

Whether his department plans to issue guidance on the potential risks of genetic defects in children born from consanguineous relationships.

NHS England has published training modules about close relative marriage and genetic risk for midwives and health visitors. The training modules have been published for health professionals to access and there are no plans to publish them more widely. There are no plans to issue public facing guidance.