Every parliamentary written question tabled by Simon Opher this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 101–120 of 333 · this parliament
Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing the tax exemption from woodlands.
Income Tax and Corporation Tax do not apply to woodlands managed on a commercial basis and with a view to making profits. This treatment was introduced in 1988 to prevent high-income individuals sheltering other income from tax by setting it against expenditure on forestry.
What estimate he has made of the value of support accessed through the Industry Initiative component of the Warm Home Discount scheme in the most recent year where data is available.
Ofgem administer the Warm Home Discount Scheme Industry Initiatives of behalf of the Department. Their most recent assessment was for winter 2023/24 where Industry Initiatives delivered £76.4 million in support (£65.5 million in England & Wales and £10.9 million in Scotland) – an increase of £44.3 million compared with winter 2022/23. These initiatives supported over 2.8 million consumers across Great Britain by providing a range of services, including energy efficiency measures, energy and smart meter advice, debt assistance, benefit checks, and financial assistance payments. The Department sets the overall policy and spending targets for the scheme, but the financial responsibility for Industry Initiatives lies with the suppliers. In 2023/24, 47 Industry Initiatives were funded in England & Wales and 25 in Scotland. The services and their associated consumer support values included: Energy efficiency measures: £21.79m (England & Wales)Energy advice: £11.63m (England & Wales), £2.47m (Scotland)Debt assistance: £11.51m (England & Wales), £1.17m (Scotland)Financial assistance payments: £9.72m (England & Wales), £4.35m (Scotland)Benefit checks: £5.01m (England & Wales), £0.66m (Scotland)Mobile homes: £0.84m (England & Wales), £0.21m (Scotland)Referrals: £0.06m (England & Wales)Over 1.7 million consumers were supported in England & Wales and nearly 1.1 million in Scotland. For more detailed information on this latest assessment, please visit https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/warm-home-discount-annual-report-scheme-year-13
Which services accessed funding through the Industry Initiative component of the Warm Home Discount scheme in the most recent year where data is available; how much funding was received by each supplier; and what the value was of support accessed by consumers through each service.
Ofgem administer the Warm Home Discount Scheme Industry Initiatives of behalf of the Department. Their most recent assessment was for winter 2023/24 where Industry Initiatives delivered £76.4 million in support (£65.5 million in England & Wales and £10.9 million in Scotland) – an increase of £44.3 million compared with winter 2022/23. These initiatives supported over 2.8 million consumers across Great Britain by providing a range of services, including energy efficiency measures, energy and smart meter advice, debt assistance, benefit checks, and financial assistance payments. The Department sets the overall policy and spending targets for the scheme, but the financial responsibility for Industry Initiatives lies with the suppliers. In 2023/24, 47 Industry Initiatives were funded in England & Wales and 25 in Scotland. The services and their associated consumer support values included: Energy efficiency measures: £21.79m (England & Wales)Energy advice: £11.63m (England & Wales), £2.47m (Scotland)Debt assistance: £11.51m (England & Wales), £1.17m (Scotland)Financial assistance payments: £9.72m (England & Wales), £4.35m (Scotland)Benefit checks: £5.01m (England & Wales), £0.66m (Scotland)Mobile homes: £0.84m (England & Wales), £0.21m (Scotland)Referrals: £0.06m (England & Wales)Over 1.7 million consumers were supported in England & Wales and nearly 1.1 million in Scotland. For more detailed information on this latest assessment, please visit https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/warm-home-discount-annual-report-scheme-year-13
What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Industry Initiative component of the Warm Home Discount scheme.
Ofgem administer the Warm Home Discount Scheme Industry Initiatives of behalf of the Department. Their most recent assessment was for winter 2023/24 where Industry Initiatives delivered £76.4 million in support (£65.5 million in England & Wales and £10.9 million in Scotland) – an increase of £44.3 million compared with winter 2022/23. These initiatives supported over 2.8 million consumers across Great Britain by providing a range of services, including energy efficiency measures, energy and smart meter advice, debt assistance, benefit checks, and financial assistance payments. The Department sets the overall policy and spending targets for the scheme, but the financial responsibility for Industry Initiatives lies with the suppliers. In 2023/24, 47 Industry Initiatives were funded in England & Wales and 25 in Scotland. The services and their associated consumer support values included: Energy efficiency measures: £21.79m (England & Wales)Energy advice: £11.63m (England & Wales), £2.47m (Scotland)Debt assistance: £11.51m (England & Wales), £1.17m (Scotland)Financial assistance payments: £9.72m (England & Wales), £4.35m (Scotland)Benefit checks: £5.01m (England & Wales), £0.66m (Scotland)Mobile homes: £0.84m (England & Wales), £0.21m (Scotland)Referrals: £0.06m (England & Wales)Over 1.7 million consumers were supported in England & Wales and nearly 1.1 million in Scotland. For more detailed information on this latest assessment, please visit https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/warm-home-discount-annual-report-scheme-year-13
For what reason her Department has not published service standards for the time taken for applications for Family visas made on the basis of a person’s private life to be considered.
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, including service standards for processing visa applications.
How many midwives were working in the NHS in England at the most-recent point for which figures are available; how many of those qualified (a) in the UK and (b) outside of the UK, by country; and what estimate he has made of the number that will be working in the NHS in future years from each of these categories.
NHS England publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. This covers staff working for hospital trusts and in integrated care in England. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the human resources system for the National Health Service. This data shows that as of April 2025, there are 24,959 full time equivalent midwives working in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. Further information is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statisticsThe Department does not hold information on how many NHS midwifes qualified in the United Kingdom and outside of the UK, by country. However, NHS England publishes data on the nationality of its staff, which may be of interest as context. The latest information on the nationality of NHS staff by staff group is available at the following link, in tab 14 of the file named Preliminary – NHS HCHS Workforce Statistics, Trusts and core organisations – data tables, April 2025:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics/march-2025The Department has made no specific estimate of the number of UK and non-UK qualified midwives who will be working in the NHS in future years. We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a workforce ready to deliver a transformed service. They will be more empowered, more flexible, and more fulfilled.
How many and what proportion of people diagnosed with hypertension through the NHS Health Check programme were subsequently tested for chronic kidney disease in each of the last five years.
Blood pressure is one of seven risk factors for cardiovascular disease assessed in the NHS Health Check, and it is also a risk factor for chronic kidney disease. Individuals who have a high blood pressure reading during their NHS Health Check are referred to their general practice for further clinical investigation, and subsequent diagnosis of hypertension and management where appropriate.Data is currently not collected on the number of individuals who, following their NHS Health Check, are diagnosed with hypertension and are subsequently tested for chronic kidney disease.We are considering how to improve data collection and monitoring of the NHS Health Check following the National Audit Office report.
What steps his Department is taking to increase (a) referral to and (b) uptake of testing for chronic kidney disease among people diagnosed with hypertension through the NHS Health Check programme.
Individuals who have a high blood pressure reading during their NHS Health Check are referred to their general practice for further clinical investigation, and subsequent diagnosis of hypertension and management where appropriate.In 2024, NHS England incorporated a new indicator into the CVDPREVENT audit to monitor the measurement of kidney function, a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio test, in people with hypertension, as recommended in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
What steps she is taking to support (a) dyscalculic learners and(b) learners with maths learning difficulties.
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including dyscalculia, receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.The department funds the Maths Hubs programme, a school-led network aimed at improving the teaching of mathematics for all pupils in publicly funded schools. The programme covers primary, secondary and special schools and uses a mastery-based teaching approach, which aims to secure understanding of key concepts. This includes training for teachers on techniques such as avoiding cognitive overload by breaking the learning down into small manageable steps, using representations to expose mathematical structure, and ensuring that learning is sequenced in a coherent manner so it makes sense to pupils.Professionals can access online training to develop their understanding how the curriculum support learners. This includes approaches to support learners who face barriers to understanding of maths, such as those with SEND or dyscalculia.
Whether he plans to review the criteria for which applications to join the British Army are rejected on medical grounds.
This Government inherited a recruitment crisis, with targets being missed every year for the past 14 years, and is taking decisive action to get recruitment back on track. This has included the largest pay rise to personnel in decades and scrapping 100 outdated policies that slow recruitment down. Defence is committed to a diverse workforce and is seeking to ‘select in’ rather than ‘select out’ and is focused on work to review the current policies for Armed Forces recruiting. An update to Joint Service Publication (JSP) 950 Leaflet 6-7-7, which outlines the medical entry standard for the Armed Forces, was published in August 2024 following an intensive period of review undertaken by clinical experts, Defence personnel staff and the recruiting agencies. Recent updates to policy include; new regulations for a range of conditions including asthma and eczema, and candidates with Autism Spectrum Disorder may now be able to join the Armed Forces providing they meet certain criteria.
Innovation and Technology, if he will hold discussions with Ordance Survey on the potential merits of making the Ordnance Survey Maps Premium (a) service and (b) app available to the public for free.
Ordnance Survey is a public corporation, operating on a commercial basis. Ministers meet regularly with the leadership of Ordnance Survey to discuss how the company can support the Government’s priorities.Ordnance Survey makes its authoritative geospatial data available to the public and private sectors, including individuals, directly and through commercial partners. A free version of the OS Maps app, which uses data that Ordnance Survey makes available under Open Government Licence, is used by over a million people every month. The premium subscription provides additional features and has over half a million active subscribers. It is already freely available to key users such as Mountain Rescue in Scotland, England and Wales.
What plans her Department has to raise awareness of the availability of Pension Credit this winter.
The Government wants all pensioners to get the support to which they are entitled. That is why since Autumn 2024 we have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign. The Department’s campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit has continued in numerous stages between January and July 2025 and has included radio, print and social media adverts as well as continuing work with stakeholders. We plan to continue promotional activity from Autumn through to the end of the financial year with the campaign aimed at eligible pensioners who are not yet claiming, and their friends and family, as we work to increase the take up of Pension Credit.
Innovation and Technology, what information his Department holds on the amount of income generated by the Ordnance Survey from public subscriptions in the last five years.
Since 2022-23, Ordnance Survey has published the revenue from paying subscribers to the OS Maps platform and app in its Annual Report and Accounts, and these are set out below.2022/23: £8.4m2023/24: £9.5mThe Annual Report and Accounts for 2024-25 will be published in due course and laid before Parliament.
For what reason there are currently no service standards in place for Family route visa applications.
Family visa applications have a service standard of 12 weeks. Further information on our Family visa service standards can be found here: Visa processing times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK.
Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase political engagement amongst young people.
The government, in its manifesto, committed to increasing the engagement of young people in our democracy, by giving 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all UK elections. The government believes that enabling 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in all UK elections will foster early and sustained participation in civic life and enhance engagement in our democratic processes. We want young people to find their voice and exercise their right to vote – registering to vote is a vital first step towards doing that.
Whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban sponsorship of sports events by unhealthy food brands.
The Government is taking bold action to tackle the childhood obesity crisis and raise the healthiest generation of children ever.We are progressing with the implementation of the advertising restrictions for less healthy food or drink products on television and online, which evidence shows are the media that children engage with the most. The restrictions include a 9:00pm watershed on television and a 24-hour restriction on paid-for advertising online, and are expected to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets per year.We have no current plans to ban the sponsorship of sports events by food brands associated with less healthy food or drink products or ban the advertising of less healthy food or drink products at sports events. We continue to review the evidence of the impacts on children of less healthy food or drink product advertising, and will consider where further action is needed.
Whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban advertising of unhealthy foods at sports events.
The Government is taking bold action to tackle the childhood obesity crisis and raise the healthiest generation of children ever.We are progressing with the implementation of the advertising restrictions for less healthy food or drink products on television and online, which evidence shows are the media that children engage with the most. The restrictions include a 9:00pm watershed on television and a 24-hour restriction on paid-for advertising online, and are expected to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets per year.We have no current plans to ban the sponsorship of sports events by food brands associated with less healthy food or drink products or ban the advertising of less healthy food or drink products at sports events. We continue to review the evidence of the impacts on children of less healthy food or drink product advertising, and will consider where further action is needed.
What steps he is taking to reduce the occurrences of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.
At a national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with epilepsy, including the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit, the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, and the Neurology Transformation Programme.One of the key focuses of the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit is reducing epilepsy-related deaths, including Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). The toolkit includes several recommendations regarding identifying those who are most at risk of an epilepsy-related death and preventing SUDEP.In addition, the Royal College of General Practitioners aims to raise awareness of SUDEP amongst general practitioners and other primary care professionals, through its e-learning modules on SUDEP and seizure safety, which were developed in collaboration with SUDEP Action and last updated in December 2024.Health Education England, now part of NHS England, has also developed an Epilepsy Programme in collaboration with SUDEP Action, which is designed to enable healthcare professionals, particularly those who are not specialists in epilepsy, to better understand SUDEP and how the risk of SUDEP can be reduced.National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on epilepsy recommends that clinicians should discuss the risk of SUDEP with patients newly diagnosed with epilepsy and ensure their understanding of the risk.
What steps he is taking to increase awareness of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.
At a national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with epilepsy, including the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit, the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, and the Neurology Transformation Programme.One of the key focuses of the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit is reducing epilepsy-related deaths, including Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). The toolkit includes several recommendations regarding identifying those who are most at risk of an epilepsy-related death and preventing SUDEP.In addition, the Royal College of General Practitioners aims to raise awareness of SUDEP amongst general practitioners and other primary care professionals, through its e-learning modules on SUDEP and seizure safety, which were developed in collaboration with SUDEP Action and last updated in December 2024.Health Education England, now part of NHS England, has also developed an Epilepsy Programme in collaboration with SUDEP Action, which is designed to enable healthcare professionals, particularly those who are not specialists in epilepsy, to better understand SUDEP and how the risk of SUDEP can be reduced.National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on epilepsy recommends that clinicians should discuss the risk of SUDEP with patients newly diagnosed with epilepsy and ensure their understanding of the risk.
What steps she is taking to improve transport links between Bristol and Stroud.
Funding has been allocated to local authorities to improve bus services in the regions, which includes £8 million of funding for Gloucestershire County Council. Rail journeys between Bristol and Stroud require passengers to change at Gloucester or Swindon. Whilst there are currently no plans to change service patterns in the area Great Western Railway (GWR) increased services between Gloucester and Bristol from 2023 which provides more journey opportunities for passengers seeking to travel between Stroud and Bristol.