Written questions by Darling.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to recover costs incurred by local authorities in maintaining the safety, security and environmental integrity of the property portfolio originating from the administration of the Carlauren Group ;and whether she has made an estimate as to the total cost to local authorities of this work since 2019.

Local authorities have flexibility over the money they receive, enabling them to work with their residents to decide how best to spend it on local priorities. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are responsible for commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care.The responsibility for management of any of Carlauren Group’s former properties sits with the current freeholders, who would be responsible for any related costs. Local authorities can decide how to pursue recovery of any costs incurred in line with their broader financial responsibilities.

Communities and Local Government, when her Department plans to publish the prospectus on the Long-Term Plan for Towns.

The Chancellor confirmed at the Budget on 30 October that the Long-Term Plan for Towns will be retained and reformed as part of a new regeneration programme.A revised prospectus for the programme will be published in due course, confirming the associated timelines and a new set of strategic objectives aligned to this government’s missions.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of an enhanced financial support package for care leavers aged 18 to 25.

We understand the challenges care leavers face and that is why the department continues to provide additional dedicated support through a series of safeguards and easements aimed at simplifying their interaction with the benefit system. This includes support with preparing applications for Universal Credit when approaching their 18th birthday, an exemption from the Shared Accommodation Rate until their 25th birthday, and, for those aged 18-21, access to Universal Credit and housing support if they wish to take up full-time study in non-advanced education. More widely, the Government is committed to reviewing Universal Credit.

If she an estimate of the cost of providing all care leavers in England with the over 25 rate of Universal Credit.

No such estimate has been made.

If she will include bespoke support for unemployed care leavers in the Youth Guarantee.

We recognise the challenges care leavers face as they move out of the care system and are working closely with Department for Education to ensure care leavers can access the right skills, opportunities, and wider support, to move towards sustained employment and career progression. Under the new Youth Guarantee, all young people between 18-21 years will be able to access support to enter employment, education and training opportunities. This includes Care Leavers who we know are more likely than their peers to not be in education, employment or training and may benefit from more tailored support to support their transition as they leave the care provided by their Local Authority. We are working closely with the Department for Education on the design of the Youth Guarantee, which is in the early stages of development. The Autumn Budget announced that we will establish eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazer areas to test new ways of supporting young people into employment, education or training, by bringing together and enhancing existing programmes in partnership with local areas. Further details will be set out the up-coming ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper.

If he will review support for parents who will not be entitled to Neonatal Care Leave and Pay because they (a) are self-employed and (b) have another ineligible employment status.

The Government recognises the challenges and worry facing parents whose babies are admitted to neonatal care; we will set out more information on our plans in this area shortly.The Government is committed to reviewing the parental leave system so that it best supports working families.

What recent discussions his Department has had with NICE on reducing the time taken for patients to access treatment for very rare diseases in cases when there is uncertainty on the (a) incidence and (b) prevalence of the disease.

The Department has regular discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about a range of issues, including in relation to timelines for appraisals. The NICE aims to issue draft guidance on new medicines, including for rare diseases, as close to the time of licensing as possible.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of benefits sanctions on children in the households of those sanctioned.

Our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is a key priority for this Government. The Child Poverty Taskforce has already started urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025 and will continue to explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. No assessment has been made of the potential impact of benefit sanctions on children in the households of those that have been sanctioned. The Department records information on the number of children living in Universal Credit (UC) households as part of the official Universal Credit Statistics. The Department also records information on the number of people on UC who have received a sanction as part of the official Benefit Sanctions Statistics. These statistics are produced using different methodologies, therefore information on the number of children living in households subject to a UC sanction is not readily available.

How much funding per (a) primary and (b) secondary school student is provided In (i) Cornwall, (ii) Plymouth, (iii) Torbay, (iv) Devon and (v) in the five local authorities with the highest level of education attainment.

Mainstream schools receive the majority of their core school funding through the schools block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG). DSG has funding data for Cornwall, Plymouth, Torbay and Devon. It does not include funding in respect of the ‘local authorities with the highest level of education attainment’ because there are a number of different ways in which education attainment can be measured. The local authorities which have the highest level of education attainment would depend on which of these measures were used. The primary and secondary per-pupil funding for the 2024/25 financial year through the schools block of the DSG can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2024-to-2025. The DSG funding excludes the additional funding schools have received through other grants, notably the 2024/25 teachers’ pay additional grant, the 2024/25 teachers’ pensions employer contribution grant and the 2024/25 core schools budget grant.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of compensating commercial fishermen who are displaced from fishing grounds by offshore wind development projects.

Impacts of proposed offshore wind developments on affected stakeholders, including fishers, is considered during the development consent process. The Government encourages offshore wind developers and the fishing industry to discuss potential impacts at an early stage.In cases where there have been monetary settlements for disruption or displacement, these have been agreed on an individual project basis between the offshore wind developer and the affected fishers.

Whether her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the over-25 rate of universal credit to care leavers.

The Government supports care leavers by offering a series of safeguards and easements aimed at simplifying and improving their interaction with the benefit system. This includes single care leavers qualifying for the more generous one-bedroom Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate until their 25th birthday. The Government is committed to reviewing Universal Credit. Details of the review will be set out in due course.

What assessment she has made of the impact of the stronger nudge to pensions guidance on Pension Wise guidance usage by pension savers.

The Stronger Nudge to pension guidance regulations were introduced in June 2022. In the year following this (June 2022 to May 2023) around 124,000 Pension Wise appointments were attended, and in the subsequent year (June 2023 to May 2024) around 119,000 appointments were attended. These figures represent a 14% and 9% increase, respectively, on the number of appointments prior to the introduction of the regulations. Overall, Stronger Nudge has accounted for around 16% of attended Pension Wise appointments between June 2022 and October 2024, according to unpublished data from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). Increases in Pension Wise uptake cannot be solely attributed to the Stronger Nudge regulations. The Department for Work and Pensions works closely with MaPS to understand what pensions guidance people are using and to help people get the right guidance at the right time, with further support available through multiple channels. Depending on individual circumstances, these channels may direct people, through triaging, to Pension Wise (delivered by MaPS) or may help them decide Pension Wise is not appropriate for them at that time. For example, in the 2023/24 financial year, 258,000 people accessed the more holistic Money Helper pensions guidance (also delivered by MaPS). This is a 13% increase from 2022/23.

Communities and Local Government, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that care leavers below the age of 26 are given priority need status for homelessness support.

The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, including young people and care leavers. We will look at these issues carefully and will consider youth and care leaver homelessness as we develop our long-term, cross-government strategy working with Mayors and councils across the country, to get us back on track to ending homelessness.Helping care leavers to make a successful transition from care to independence is a priority for this Government. We will improve access to social housing for care leavers under 25 and exempt them from local connection and residency tests for social housing. We will work with the sector and engage with relevant stakeholders to bring forward these changes in due course.The Homelessness Reduction Act places duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness. These duties apply irrespective of whether a person has 'priority need' or if they are 'intentionally homeless'.

Whether his Department is taking steps to establish a formal pathway for the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of Charles Bonnet Syndrome.

Patients who experience Charles Bonnet symptoms who are already under hospital eye services can access support services via an Eye Care Liaison Officer within the hospital. Otherwise, a patient should contact their general practice (GP). The GP will make sure that the patients is not suffering hallucinations for any other reason, and then refer them directly to local Low Vision Services, which will incorporate support for Charles Bonnet Syndrome.Healthcare professionals are responsible for ensuring their clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.

Whether he plans to increase the number of healthcare professionals trained to (a) diagnose and (b) treat Charles Bonnet Syndrome.

Patients who experience Charles Bonnet symptoms who are already under hospital eye services can access support services via an Eye Care Liaison Officer within the hospital. Otherwise, a patient should contact their general practice (GP). The GP will make sure that the patients is not suffering hallucinations for any other reason, and then refer them directly to local Low Vision Services, which will incorporate support for Charles Bonnet Syndrome.Healthcare professionals are responsible for ensuring their clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.

What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on reforms to business rates.

The government will create a fairer business rates system that protects the high-street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century. Autumn Budget 2024 announced the first steps including an intention to introduce permanently lower multipliers for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties from April 2026. To fund this sustainably the government also intends to introduce a higher multiplier on properties with Rateable Values (RV) of £500,000 or more. During the interim period, for 2025-26, RHL properties will receive a 40% relief on business rates bills up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. The small business multiplier paid by properties with RVs below £51,000 will also be frozen for a further year. The government published a discussion paper at Budget which sets out priority areas for further reform and invites stakeholders to a conversation about transforming the system over the Parliament.

Whether she has undertaken financial modelling for a potential compensation scheme for issues raised in the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024.

As part of our work on the Ombudsman’s investigation and report, we have been considering the costs of setting up a compensation scheme. The Ombudsman used DWP’s broad estimates in their report published 21 March 2024, stating that “Compensating all women born in the 1950s at the level 4 range would involve spending between around £3.5 billion and £10.5 billion of public funds”. This estimate excludes administration costs. This government is giving its full and proper consideration to all areas of the Ombudsman's report. Once this work has been undertaken, we will be in a position to outline our approach.

How many full-time civil servants are working on the response to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024.

Work is ongoing by civil servants across grades who work both full and part-time. The Ombudsman’s report is detailed and complex. It took around 6 years to complete and the issues it considers span a period of some 30 years. It is not possible to determine the exact number of people working on this as it fluctuates as we review and consider different elements of the Ombudsman’s report and evidence. The work includes input from teams across the Department, who support it as and when needed. Once this work has been undertaken, we will be in a position to outline our approach.

Whether he plans to introduce (a) the right to paid employment leave and (b) legal safeguarding for kinship carers.

The Government greatly values kinship carers who care for children who cannot live with their parents. The Government has committed in the Plan to Make Work Pay to review the system of parental leave to ensure that it best supports all working families. We will set out more information in due courseIn relation to legal safeguarding, the Law Commission will carry out a review into the legal statuses and orders for kinship carers, to ensure that the legislative framework is fair, modern, and meets the needs of its users.

If she is will hold discussions with Auditory Verbal UK on tackling barriers to opportunities for deaf children.

There are no current plans to meet. However, I note that my colleague the Minister for Early Education has met with and visited Auditory Verbal UK to understand the work they are doing to improve the lives of deaf children.