Written questions by Darling.

Innovation and Technology, whether she has a strategy to accelerate the development and adoption of metamaterials.

The government is committed to support the development and adoption of metamaterials, as part of our wider ambition to strengthen the UK’s advanced materials ecosystem. In June 2025, the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy prioritised advanced materials as a frontier industry and committed an initial £50 million to a National Materials Innovation Programme. The first feasibility call went live in November and specifically highlights metamaterials and metasurfaces as a strategic opportunity area.This builds on existing government support for metamaterials, including the £19.6 million MetaHub public-private partnership with the University of Exeter, to advance 3D nanoscale metamaterials, and the Metamaterials Network Plus.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to improve the availability of high-quality STEM skills and support innovation in the South West, particularly in sectors critical to defence, ICT, and energy security.

The Government is committed to strengthening STEM skills and driving innovation across the UK, including the South West. DSIT has launched the TechFirst programme to deliver tech and AI learning to 1 million young people by 2029. This builds on CyberFirst, which has reached 415,000 students and recognised 230 schools, including 47 in the South West.Since 2022, DSIT’s Cyber Local programme has delivered 18 initiatives in the South West, supporting economic growth and skills development. A list of 2024–25 programmes is available here.DSIT is working with other government departments to increase regional and national STEM skills provisions. Through the Clean Energy Jobs Plan, the Government is investing £1.2 billion in skills development, including a £100 million Engineering Skills Package and new Technical Excellence Colleges. The South West hosts the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult in Hayle, supporting innovation and skills development in marine and energy technologies.The UK Government’s Defence Industrial Strategy, backed by a £182 million skills package, includes the Plymouth Defence Growth Deal (September 2025), securing a share of £250 million to boost defence innovation and skills in the region.The Post‑16 Education and Skills White Paper focuses on employer‑led training and technical routes to tackle skills gaps. In the South West, this means Local Skills Improvement Plans shaping provision for priority sectors like clean energy, digital and defence, alongside Technical Excellence Colleges, expanding higher technical courses and apprenticeships to meet regional demand.

When she plans to publish a fuller equalities impact assessment of the Child Poverty Strategy, including its impact on groups at highest risk of poverty.

A full summary equalities analysis was published alongside the Child Poverty Strategy and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-poverty-strategy-summary-equalities-analysis.The impacts of policies contributing to the Child Poverty Strategy will be kept under review and monitored on an ongoing basis by departments using their own established approaches to considerations made under the Public Sector Equality Duty.The ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the Child Poverty Strategy will also continue to assess the poverty risk and prevalence for groups with protected characteristics, as far as the data and evidence gathering allow.The monitoring and evaluation framework, published alongside the Strategy, set out that a baseline report will be published in summer 2026, with annual reporting on progress thereafter.

When she plans to respond to the urgent correspondence from the hon. Member for Torbay dated 12 November 2025 on the potential closure of the custody suite in Torbay.

A response to this letter has been sent.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department provides trauma informed training to their Embassies and Consulates.

We prioritise maintaining a global network of internally trained Trauma Risk incidence Management assessors through a regular training programme which is open to all staff, UK and Country-Based. We have also begun to offer Type 2 trauma courses to both home and overseas based teams on demand.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Wait 45 policy for ambulance wait times, including on corridor care and patients being looked after in sub-optimal areas.

NHS England continues to regularly monitor trust performance.We are tackling unacceptable ambulance handover delays by introducing a maximum 45-minute standard, supporting the quicker release of ambulances, helping them get back on the road to treat patients. These delays should be recognised as a system wide responsibility and effective collaboration between ambulance services, acute trusts, integrated care boards, and other providers is required.Nationally, we have seen average handover delays fall to 31 minutes 19 seconds in October compared to 40 minutes 20 seconds in October 2024. This reflects the improvements in Category 2 response times to 32 minutes 37 seconds from 42 minutes 15 seconds over the same time period.We are also committed to ending corridor care. When Release to Rescue is implemented, ambulance trusts must put in place robust patient protection measures. Patients should only be cared for in temporary escalation spaces when all other options are exhausted, and this must not become standard practice.Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan set out steps we are taking to improve accident and emergency waiting times, including the commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care. The data quality is currently being reviewed, and the information will be published shortly.

What the selection criteria was for the location of the 43 new neighbourhood hubs.

We have launched wave 1 of the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) in 43 places across England, including Cornwall and the Isle of Scilly.This is a large-scale change programme for all partners involved in delivering neighbourhood health, including the National Health Service, local government, social care providers, other statutory and non-statutory organisations and the voluntary sector. There is a strong focus on co-production and working with the people and communities they serve, and taking a ‘test, learn and grow’ approach in line with the wider public sector reform agenda.We had an overwhelming response to the NNHIP, receiving 141 applications, which is approximately 83% of the number of places in England. Given the large volume of high-quality applications, selecting sites for wave 1 was not an easy task.Selection was carried out in line with usual NHS England processes, with all applicants assessed against consistent criteria. This includes demonstrating strong integrated working, clear readiness to participate, robust governance and data sharing arrangements, and a focus on areas with the greatest need.Work is underway to consider the future direction of the NNHIP, and we will share an update on this as soon as we can.

Whether she plans to extend arrangements allowing UK-bound group travellers to use national identity cards to other major sending countries such as Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

EU national children are permitted to use their national identity cards instead of a passport when travelling to the UK as part of an organised French school group accompanied by documentation which has been authenticated by the relevant French authorities. This scheme has been in operation since 10 March 2023. A similar scheme is planned for German school groups.The UK currently has no plans to extend the current arrangements allowing French and German groups to use national identity cards to other countries.

With reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism during the debate on Hospitality Sector of 3 September 2025, Official Report, column 351WH, whether she plans to introduce a tourism tax.

The Government has announced powers for Mayors to introduce a visitor levy on short-term overnight accommodation in their region, to drive economic growth including through support for the local visitor economy, if they so choose.We have published a consultation running until 18 February 2026, so that the public, businesses, and local government can shape the design of the power to introduce a levy that will be devolved to local leaders.The precise design and scope of the power for Mayors to introduce a visitor levy is still under development and the Government welcomes engagement from the hospitality sector in developing this power through the consultation process.The impacts of the levy will largely be determined by local decisions. Mayors will decide whether to introduce a levy and, if so, consult on specific proposals. We expect Mayors to engage constructively with businesses and their communities to hear these concerns. This will inform their decisions regarding whether and how a levy will be applied and how any revenue is invested.Following consultation, we expect Mayors would publish a summary of the consultation results and their response, including a final prospectus, and an impact assessment, informed by the consultation.

Whether officials in her Department have worked on proposals to provide Mayors with powers to introduce a visitor levy.

The Government has announced powers for Mayors to introduce a visitor levy on short-term overnight accommodation in their region, to drive economic growth including through support for the local visitor economy, if they so choose.We have published a consultation running until 18 February 2026, so that the public, businesses, and local government can shape the design of the power to introduce a levy that will be devolved to local leaders.The precise design and scope of the power for Mayors to introduce a visitor levy is still under development and the Government welcomes engagement from the hospitality sector in developing this power through the consultation process.The impacts of the levy will largely be determined by local decisions. Mayors will decide whether to introduce a levy and, if so, consult on specific proposals. We expect Mayors to engage constructively with businesses and their communities to hear these concerns. This will inform their decisions regarding whether and how a levy will be applied and how any revenue is invested.Following consultation, we expect Mayors would publish a summary of the consultation results and their response, including a final prospectus, and an impact assessment, informed by the consultation.

Whether her Department has carried out modelling on a visitor levy.

The Government has announced powers for Mayors to introduce a visitor levy on short-term overnight accommodation in their region, to drive economic growth including through support for the local visitor economy, if they so choose.We have published a consultation running until 18 February 2026, so that the public, businesses, and local government can shape the design of the power to introduce a levy that will be devolved to local leaders.The precise design and scope of the power for Mayors to introduce a visitor levy is still under development and the Government welcomes engagement from the hospitality sector in developing this power through the consultation process.The impacts of the levy will largely be determined by local decisions. Mayors will decide whether to introduce a levy and, if so, consult on specific proposals. We expect Mayors to engage constructively with businesses and their communities to hear these concerns. This will inform their decisions regarding whether and how a levy will be applied and how any revenue is invested.Following consultation, we expect Mayors would publish a summary of the consultation results and their response, including a final prospectus, and an impact assessment, informed by the consultation.

Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and combined Mayoral Authorities on taxes relating to the hospitality sector.

The Government has announced powers for Mayors to introduce a visitor levy on short-term overnight accommodation in their region, to drive economic growth including through support for the local visitor economy. We have published a consultation running until 18 February 2026, so that the public, businesses, and local government can shape the design of the power to introduce a levy that will be devolved to local leaders. I am, of course, in regular communication with Ministers in other Departments on a range of issues, including options for deeper devolution.

What estimate he has made of the (a) number of patients in Torbay NHS Foundation Trust who had no criteria to reside but who were not discharged by the end of the day and (b) what proportion of acute day beds this entails in each of the last seven days.

Data on the daily number of patients who no longer meet the criteria to reside is published monthly by NHS England, and is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/discharge-delays/acute-discharge-situation-report/In addition, monthly average figures for the number of general and acute beds are published by NHS England, and are available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/bed-availability-and-occupancy/critical-care-and-general-acute-beds-urgent-and-emergency-care-daily-situation-reports/For the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, there were on average 34 adult patients each day in October 2025 who had no criteria to reside but who were not discharged by the end of the day.The following table shows the proportion of acute beds occupied by patients with no criteria to reside but who had not been discharged for the last seven days of October 2025, during which time there were an average of 385 adult general and acute beds available, for the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust:DateNumber of patients remaining in hospital who no longer meet criteria to resideProportion of adult general and acute beds occupied by patients with no criteria to reside25/10/2025298%26/10/2025277%27/10/20253710%28/10/2025318%29/10/2025349%30/10/20253910%31/10/2025339%

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps she is taking to help ensure a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.

I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made on Gaza and Sudan by the Foreign Secretary on 18 November and the statement on the Middle East by the Prime Minister on 14 October, following his participation in the Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt on 13 October, where he addressed these issues at length.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she last had discussions with her Israeli counterparts on (a) violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and (b) the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given on 29 July to question 66511, and on 3 September to question 71442.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support international efforts to document and investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on 19 September to Question 74226.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the participation of Palestinian representatives in post-ceasefire governance arrangements for Gaza.

I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made on Gaza and Sudan by the Foreign Secretary on 18 November and the statement on the Middle East by the Prime Minister on 14 October, following his participation in the Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt on 13 October, where he addressed these issues at length.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of Israeli settlement expansion on the viability of a future Palestinian state.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given on 29 July to question 66511, and on 3 September to question 71442.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to her Israeli counterparts on the rise in settler violence and forced displacement affecting Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given on 29 July to question 66511, and on 3 September to question 71442.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has held discussions with international partners on the absence of a defined timeline for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza under the ceasefire agreement.

I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made on Gaza and Sudan by the Foreign Secretary on 18 November and the statement on the Middle East by the Prime Minister on 14 October, following his participation in the Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt on 13 October, where he addressed these issues at length.