Written questions by Collins.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing mandatory nutritional targets for large supermarket retailers.

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and tackling the three biggest killers, which will require effort from across society, not just for obesity but also for alcohol and smoking.We have made a start with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and will continue to speak to partners across industry and civic society to best understand what actions help to change behaviours in a way that puts power in the hands of consumers.As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, we are committed to achieving our Health Mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, and under the 10-Year Health Plan, to shift from sickness to prevention. Making the healthier choice the easier choice is a major part of creating a food environment that is fairer, with the fewest lives lost to the biggest killers, and where everyone lives well for longer.As part of considerations around mandatory healthiness targets, the previous administration brought together the Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP), a shared programme of work across the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, and the Food Standards Agency. Separate from the eco strand of FDTP headed by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, the FDTP health strand was paused at the election and is being reviewed alongside other obesity policies.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the Climate and Nature Bill.

This Government is absolutely committed to tackling the climate and nature crises and has agreed steps to take forward the spirit and substance of the Climate and Nature Bill with the Bill’s Sponsors. There is already a well-developed legislative framework that supports our actions in the areas of climate and nature including the Climate Change Act and the Environment Act. In accordance with parliamentary convention, the Government will set out its formal position on this Bill when its Second Reading debate is scheduled to resume.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce differences in healthy life expectancy between regions in England.

Tackling health inequalities is central to our Health Mission, which is why the Government has committed to halving the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions, by addressing the social determinants of health. Work is currently underway across the Department and with NHS England and the regional Directors of Public Health to develop approaches to address regional health inequalities.In line with the Health Mission, we will also be launching a 10-Year Health Plan with the core focus of addressing healthcare inequity, ensuring the National Health Service is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the Winter Fuel Payment on living standards for pensioners in Harpenden and Berkhamsted.

The Government is, protecting pensioners on the lowest incomes. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or other qualifying means-tested benefits or tax credits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 or over. The last Labour Government lifted over one million pensioners out of poverty, and this Government – despite having to make the tough decisions to deal with our dire inheritance - remains absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement. Our commitment to the Triple Lock means that spending on State Pensions is forecast to rise by around £31 billion over this Parliament. While the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people, other help is also available for low-income pensioners. This includes Cold Weather Payments in England & Wales and help with energy bills via the Warm Home Discount scheme, as well as the Household Support Fund in England, which we extended for a further year with funding of £742 million, with corresponding funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of introducing regulations on the advertising of products high in fat, sugar or salt (a) in outdoor spaces and (b) on audio-only media on public health.

The Government is taking bold action to tackle the childhood obesity crisis, and will create 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. This includes a 9:00pm watershed on television and a 24-hour restriction on paid-for advertising of these products online. These restrictions are expected to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets per year and reduce the number of children living with obesity by 20,000.An assessment has not been made on the potential impact of introducing regulations on the advertising of products high in fat, sugar, or salt in outdoor spaces or on audio-only media on public health. Audio-only media, for instance podcasts or online radio, are exempt from the advertising restrictions due to limited evidence about the child audience for these services and the effect they have on children’s food consumption.We continue to review evidence of the impacts on children of advertising for less healthy food and drink products and will consider where further action is needed.

What steps her Department is taking to help increase the level of uptake of Pension Credit in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) the rest of England.

The Government wants all pensioners to get the support to which they are rightly entitled. That is why we ran the biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign across the whole of Great Britian. This included adverts on television; radio; social media; on YouTube; on advertising screens in Pharmacies, Post Offices and leisure centres (including in Harpenden and Berkhamsted). The campaign also featured on train advertising panels (including on Chiltern, Greater Anglia, and Thameslink services) as well as in the press.As part of the campaign, the Department engaged with all councils in Great Britain, including Hertfordshire council, through the regular Local Authority Welfare Direct bulletins. We also directly targeted 120,000 pensioners in receipt of Housing Benefit inviting them to claim Pension Credit. More recently, around 11 million pensioners will have received a leaflet promoting Pension Credit along with their State Pension uprating letter.Building on the success of our campaign, we are now writing to all pensioners who make a new claim for Housing Benefit, and who appear to be entitled to Pension Credit, encouraging them to make a claim.The latest Pension Credit applications and awards statistics were published on 27 February and are available at: Pension Credit applications and awards: February 2025 - GOV.UK. The statistics show that the Department made almost 50,000 extra awards on the comparable period in 2023/24. The next set of statistics will be published on 29 May.

What steps her Department is taking to support vulnerable people into work in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

The Get Britain Working White Paper set out the biggest reforms to employment support for a generation to support our ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate. The Department for Work and Pensions will shift from being a department for employment support and welfare to being a department for work. This means a new, locally led system of work and health support being available for those who are unemployed, bringing together existing locally delivered employment support as a single coherent offer that is part of areas’ local growth plans. Our Jobcentre teams work closely with the Local Authority as well as employers, local colleges and providers in Harpenden and Berkhamsted to promote employment opportunities for our customers, including those who are vulnerable. Jobcentres also have a range of specialist roles to work with vulnerable customers. These roles include Disability Employment Advisers, Prison Work Coaches, Supporting Families Employment Advisers, Visiting Officers and more. There is a range of employability support options such as face to face or group sessions, job fairs and career events to help engage with vulnerable customers in a setting to suit their needs. There is also Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAP) and Mentoring Circles where our Jobcentre teams work closely with employers and providers to give customers the skills they need to enter employment. An example is that we are currently running a Care Sector SWAP for full and part time roles which can be completed at home to support lone parents and those with health conditions to participate. The Jobcentre teams also have a range of contracted support which is available to our vulnerable customers to help them move closer and in to work. This includes Restart, Work and Health Programme, CV help from NCS, Disability Forums and Jobclubs.

Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to adapt farming subsidy schemes to incentivise the (a) housing of all farmed animals in woodland and (b) planting of woodland in permanent pasture; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on (i) animal welfare, (ii) climate and (iii) biodiversity.

Businesses must notify the competent authorities in advance of a consignment arriving in GB when it contains High risk or Medium A risk plants and plant products as they are subject to phytosanitary controls. Upon completion of the notification an initial risk assessment is provided detailing whether an inspection is required. Drivers and notifiers are informed in one of two ways. If the transporter uses the Goods Movement Vehicle Service (GVMS), drivers should use the ‘check if you need to report an inspection’ service, to find out what they need to do. Drivers should check this service again before they reach the point of entry.If the transporter does not use GMVS, Imports of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) will provide an initial risk assessment telling the importer/agent if their consignment needs SPS checks when they submit their import notification. If the consignment does need checks, the importer/agent will also receive a text and email message 2 hours before the transporter’s estimated time of arrival in GB. The message will confirm what the transporter needs to do. They can also check their IPAFFS dashboard.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing additional funding for social rent homes in the forthcoming spending review.

The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549).The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes.We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent.

Whether her Department plans to increase taxes on global tech companies.

The UK remains committed to reaching a global solution on the taxation of the digital economy through Pillar 1 of the G20-OECD Inclusive Framework project. The UK has fully implemented Pillar 2 of the project which ensures all multinationals are subject to a minimum rate. The Digital Services Tax (DST) is an interim tax measure to ensure that digital services providers pay UK tax on digital services that reflects the value they derive from UK users. It is UK’s intention to repeal our Digital Services Tax (DST) when Pillar 1 of the OECD project is in place.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the rate of discharge from hospitals into social care in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) England.

It is a priority for the Government to support hospital discharge and ensure that people receive the care that they need.On 30 January 2025, the Government published the policy framework for the Better Care Fund (BCF) in 2025/26, which took effect on 1 April 2025. The new BCF Policy Framework supports local areas to use pooled funding in a way that reduces delayed discharges and delivers greater impact for those receiving integrated care.£9 billion of funding is available through the BCF for 2025/26, including £149 million provided to Hertfordshire. This consists of £110 million to the Hertfordshire and West Essex and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Boards, and £39 million to Hertfordshire County Council.

What steps her Department is taking to help reduce regional differences in social care provision for disabled children.

On Thursday 20 March I announced the launch of the national Families First Partnership programme, backed by over £500 million in grant funding to support rollout. This includes the publication of the Families First Programme guide, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/families-first-partnership-programme.The department’s goal for this programme is to improve access to support for families, including families with disabled children, right across the country. The aim is to rebalance the system of support away from crisis intervention and towards earlier help, delivering on the government’s mission to provide children with the best start in life, keep children safe and break down barriers to opportunity.The department recognises there is geographical variation for a range of reasons. Through the rollout of this programme, local areas will co-design services with partners and families to better understand local need and services, to inform future delivery. We will work to support local authorities throughout the transformation period.

What steps his Department is taking to help reduce barriers to social care for (a) deafblind people and (b) other disabled people with complex needs in (i) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (ii) the rest of England.

Under the Care Act 2014 and Care and Support (Assessment) Regulations 2014, local authorities are responsible for ensuring people with complex disabilities, including deafblind people, access the right care and support. Under the Equality Act (2010), local authorities must also make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are performing against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to the access and provision of care and support for people with complex disabilities. Support for people with complex disabilities will form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care. In that context, the CQC will, for example, report on how the local authorities work with deafblind people when there is something important to highlight, such as something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement. The CQC is assessing all 153 local authorities in England. So far, the CQC has published over twenty assessments, including an assessment for Hertfordshire County Council, which is available at the following link:https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/Hertfordshire1By identifying local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, CQC assessments facilitate the sharing of good practice and help us to target support where it is most needed. These steps will help to ensure that people with complex disabilities, including deafblind people, do not face barriers to accessing appropriate care.

What steps her Department is taking to increase access to assessments for Special Educational Needs in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) England.

The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to achieve and thrive in mainstream settings through early identification, effective support, high quality teaching and effective allocation of resources.Through a graduated approach, teachers are responsible for monitoring the progress of all pupils and putting support in place where needed. Where a child who has SEND needs more support than their school can usually provide, schools, parents or carers can ask the local authority to carry out an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment.The department recognises the critical role of educational psychologists within the SEND system, including their statutory contribution to EHC assessments. The department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024, building on the £10 million currently being invested in a cohort of over 200 trainees who began their training in 2023. Trainees will join the workforce to support the capacity of local authority educational psychology services, including in delivering assessments.The department provides support and challenge to the Hertfordshire local area partnership by monitoring progress against its priority action plan and improvement plan and by providing advice and guidance via a SEND expert advisor. The partnership has also established a SEND Improvement Board, independently chaired by Dame Christine Lenehan, to oversee progress and provide appropriate challenge.The department expects all local authorities to meet their statutory duties and we will continue to monitor and challenge Hertfordshire County Council’s EHC plan 20 week timeliness.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to emergency dentistry in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency this is the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB. ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB are expected to deliver 5,712 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.

What steps his Department is taking to improve support for family carers in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support they need. Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires them to provide a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers.On the 7 of April 2025, the Government increased the Carer’s Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This represents the largest increase in the earnings limit since the Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976.Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service highlighted the need for a fresh approach to supporting and involving unpaid carers, to improve outcomes across the board, for carers, for those they care for, and the NHS itself.These findings will be carefully considered as part of our 10-year plan to reform and modernise the NHS, and as we continue to shape our plans to reform adult social care, including through the National Care Service.We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.The commission will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the terms of reference for the Advisory Committee on Online Information.

Ofcom and its advisory committees are independent of government. The design of the advisory committee’s Terms of Reference are therefore a matter for Ofcom.The Online Safety Act includes clear requirements for the Committee’s responsibilities: advising Ofcom on how providers should address mis- and disinformation, how the regulator should exercise their transparency powers and fulfil their statutory duty to promote media literacy in relation to mis- and disinformation. These obligations are unchanged and are duly reflected in the terms of reference for the Online Information Advisory Committee.

Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will extend agroforestry funding to (a) include multiple species and (b) increase tree planting density to help provide an appropriate habitat for (i) pigs and (ii) chickens.

Our in-field agroforestry offers under the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes allow flexibility for land managers to decide on tree species and densities that suit their objectives, to realise the multiple benefits that trees provide in the farming landscape. Land managers are able to establish and maintain a wide range of eligible woodland and fruit tree species, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eligible-tree-species-elm-agroforestry-action. Land managers can also be paid a species diversity bonus for planting 5 or more species of tree, to help improve the resilience of agroforestry systems. Our ELM in-field agroforestry offers allow for a range of planting densities. Under the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, land managers can establish and maintain in-field agroforestry systems with an average of 30-130 trees per hectare on low sensitivity land. Our Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier offers will pay land managers to maintain in-field agroforestry systems up to an average of 400 trees her hectare.

Communities and Local Government, if she will provide funding for social rent homes in the Spending Review.

The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549).The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes.We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that deafblind people can access appropriate social care in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) the rest of England.

Under the Care Act 2014 and Care and Support (Assessment) Regulations 2014, local authorities are responsible for ensuring people with complex disabilities, including deafblind people, access the right care and support. Under the Equality Act (2010), local authorities must also make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are performing against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to the access and provision of care and support for people with complex disabilities. Support for people with complex disabilities will form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care. In that context, the CQC will, for example, report on how the local authorities work with deafblind people when there is something important to highlight, such as something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement. The CQC is assessing all 153 local authorities in England. So far, the CQC has published over twenty assessments, including an assessment for Hertfordshire County Council, which is available at the following link:https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/Hertfordshire1By identifying local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, CQC assessments facilitate the sharing of good practice and help us to target support where it is most needed. These steps will help to ensure that people with complex disabilities, including deafblind people, do not face barriers to accessing appropriate care.