Written questions by Slade.

Whether he plans to reopen the New to Partnership Payment Scheme to support healthcare professionals to become GP partners.

The Department has no current plans to reopen the New to Partnership Payment Scheme, which was launched by NHS England and ran from July 2020 to June 2023.We recognise that fewer general practitioners (GPs) are interested in going into partnership, and that the partnership model is not the only model currently delivering general practice. General practices can and do choose to organise themselves in different ways, many of which cite evidence of good outcomes in terms of staff engagement and patient experience.Reasons for GPs not wanting to take on a contractor role or moving back to a salaried role from a contractor role can vary and include concerns about workload and work/life balance, the personal financial risk involved or a lack of interest in aspects of the work, such as managing income and expenditure.Where the traditional GP partnership model is working well, it should continue, but through the delivery of the 10-Year Health Plan we want to create an alternative that supports the neighbourhood health model, provides resilience and allows economies of scale, securing the sustainability of general practice into the future.We have committed to substantive GP contract reform within this Parliament following acceptance of the 2025/26 contract by the England general practitioners committee of the British Medical Association. As part of this, we expect to consider a breadth of topics, which may include updates to the partnership model.

Innovation and Technology, if he will hold discussions with the Advanced Research and Innovation Agency on holding a public consultation before external trials of sun dimming take place.

The Advanced Research and Invention Agency’s (ARIA) ‘Exploring Climate Cooling’ programme, backed by £56.8 million, has been designed to build an evidence base which will enable scientists to better understand and properly assess whether or not Earth cooling approaches could help to mitigate climate change safely.ARIA is an independent research body, and they are conducting cautious, controlled research aimed at improving understanding of the risks and impacts of Solar Radiation Modification. This will produce important information for decisions around the world.Whilst ARIA is not intending to hold a public consultation on the Exploring Climate Cooling programme, ARIA has put in place an independent oversight committee, made up of international experts, to support governance of outdoor experiments and communication of their findings. Projects with field trial components will be subjected to risk and impact assessment by an independent team of experts and subjected to a degree of co-design with local communities; the results of both exercises will be publicly available prior to any outdoor experiment taking place. An independent assessment will also take place on completion of any outdoor experiment, also to be made publicly available.

What assessment she has made of the impact of the current funding model for higher education on (a) students and (b) University staff.

The government is committed to creating a secure future for our world-leading higher education (HE) sector and has already taken a number of actions to help move the sector towards a more stable financial footing, including the difficult decision to increase maximum tuition fee limits for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%, in line with the forecast rate of inflation.We have published an Equality Impact Assessment of the impact of changes to fee limits and student support for the 2025/26 academic year on undergraduate students with protected characteristics and disadvantaged students.The department recognises that some HE providers are making difficult decisions around staffing in order to safeguard their financial sustainability. Ultimately the sector is independent from government and as such must continue to make the necessary and appropriate financial decisions to ensure their long-term sustainability.However, we expect providers to work with staff, to help identify how best to operate efficiently. All efficiency measures taken by the sector should provide a better long-term future for students, staff and the country.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to (a) require broadband providers to share infrastructure and (b) ensure that (i) lamp posts and (ii) other publicly-owned infrastructure are accessible for usage in (A) 5G, (B) broadband and (C) mobile development.

Duties and obligations relating to telecommunications installations are included in the Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003, which include requirements to share apparatus where practicable. This is supported by the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice 2016 and the recently published Telecommunications Poles Working Group Best Practice Recommendations, published by the Internet Services Providers’ Association.The Communications (Access to Infrastructure) Regulations 2016 give operators the right to request access to another operator’s infrastructure. Furthermore, the government supports Ofcom’s Physical Infrastructure Access framework, which facilitates the sharing of Openreach’s infrastructure, such as ducts and poles.We have encouraged the use of public sector assets for digital infrastructure, including via the £7 million Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Accelerator programme, which helped councils and industry identify publicly owned assets suitable for telecoms deployment. Our £1.3m Smart Infrastructure Pilots Programme funded six local authorities to install "smart" multi-purpose columns or lamp posts that provide wireless connectivity services and other uses, such as EV charging and WiFi.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the number of local authorities receiving Exceptional Financial Support in the 2025-26 financial year.

The Government recognises the significant pressures that councils are facing. The Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. The £3.4 billion, when taken together with a 3% core council tax referendum principle and a 2% adult social care precept, results in an average overall real terms increase in local authority core spending power of 2.6% per year over the next multi-year settlement (2026-27 to 2028-29). The government is committed to fixing the foundations of local government through ambitious reform. To support local authorities as we do so, we are inviting views through the Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation on a package of transitional arrangements available over the multi-year Spending Review period. Any council that has concerns about its ability to set or maintain a balanced budget should approach the department in the first instance. Details of any councils where additional support has been agreed will be published to GOV.UK in the usual manner.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of partner GPs in each of the next 10 years.

As self-employed contractors, general practitioners (GPs) act as providers making their own decisions based on local workforce needs. This includes decisions about the number of partners and salaried GPs at the practice.GPs will be the cornerstone of the Neighbourhood Health Service. The excellent GP leaders we currently have across the system, and those we will nurture and develop for future generations, will be integral in shaping and delivering it.Following the publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, 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. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the best care for patients, when they need it. From now on, we will ensure that staff will be better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future, so they can achieve more.

What steps she has taken with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to review the (a) safe and (b) effective use of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in cases where an individual has fluctuating capacity to make (i) safe and (ii) informed decisions.

The Ministry of Justice has responsibility for the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005, which provides a framework for making decisions on behalf of adults who are unable to do so for themselves. The 2007 statutory Code of Practice issued under the MCA already provides guidance to practitioners and others on the conduct of capacity assessments in keeping with the principles of the MCA. Paragraphs 4.26 and 4.27 and Chapter 3 of the Code provide guidance on people with fluctuating capacity and how to support them to make a decision.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2025 to Question 56471 on foie gras import controls, if he will publish a timeline for the negotiations of the proposed UK-EU common veterinary agreement; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including provisions that would enable the UK to impose trade restrictions on animal products in future on public morality grounds.

Our aim is to start the detailed negotiations as soon as possible, as we want to see businesses benefit from removing barriers to trade. It is too soon to comment on the details of the negotiations. However, animal welfare is a priority for this Government. We are committed to upholding our high animal welfare standards as part of wider trade policy and will use the most appropriate tools to do so.

If she will centralise the payment of national non-domestic rates for (a) private, (b) voluntary and (c) independent early years settings.

It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.The small business rate relief scheme provides up to 100% relief for eligible businesses occupying one property with a rateable value of £12,000 or below, and reduced bills up to £15,000. Further, if a nursery is a charity, charitable rate relief provides 80% off rates bills, which can be topped up to 100% by the local authority.The government funds local authorities to deliver the early years entitlements through the early years national funding formula for the 3 and 4-year-old entitlement and a separate formula for the 2-year-old and below entitlement. The hourly funding rate paid to local authorities for these entitlements is designed to recognise the average costs across different provider types and is intended to reflect staff and non-staff costs, including business rates. In 2025/26 alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, an additional £2 billion (over 30% increase) compared to 2024/25, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements.There are no current plans to extend the centralised payment system to private, voluntary or independent early years settings or to make these settings exempt. However, all processes are kept under review.

If she will make non-domestic early years settings exempt from business rates.

It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.The small business rate relief scheme provides up to 100% relief for eligible businesses occupying one property with a rateable value of £12,000 or below, and reduced bills up to £15,000. Further, if a nursery is a charity, charitable rate relief provides 80% off rates bills, which can be topped up to 100% by the local authority.The government funds local authorities to deliver the early years entitlements through the early years national funding formula for the 3 and 4-year-old entitlement and a separate formula for the 2-year-old and below entitlement. The hourly funding rate paid to local authorities for these entitlements is designed to recognise the average costs across different provider types and is intended to reflect staff and non-staff costs, including business rates. In 2025/26 alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, an additional £2 billion (over 30% increase) compared to 2024/25, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements.There are no current plans to extend the centralised payment system to private, voluntary or independent early years settings or to make these settings exempt. However, all processes are kept under review.

Whether she plans to impose (a) quotas and (b) no-flying times at night at (a) Bournemouth International Airport and (b) other regional airports.

The Government only sets noise-related restrictions at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports. At all other airports, including Bournemouth, flight restrictions are set through the planning system and not by the Government. It is the responsibility of the relevant local planning authority to conduct any necessary noise assessments and to enforce any restrictions.

If she is taking steps to ban pavement parking.

The Department held a consultation on pavement parking in 2020 and has been considering all the views expressed in response to the consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible. In the meantime, local authorities can make use of existing powers to restrict and enforce pavement parking.

Media and Sport, whether she plans to exempt Ukraine from the ban on donations used to support military action.

Providing support or military supplies to any foreign armed force is not a charitable purpose, and no UK charity can legally undertake such activity. There are no plans to change this. The Charity Commission for England and Wales published guidance in 2022 after the full-scale invasion on how charities and trustees can respond to the crises in Ukraine.

Whether she has taken steps with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) rateable values and (b) small business rates relief on (i) nurseries and (ii) pre-schools.

It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.The small business rate relief scheme provides up to 100% relief for eligible businesses occupying one property with a rateable value of £12,000 or below, and reduced bills up to £15,000. Further, if a nursery is a charity, charitable rate relief provides 80% off rates bills, which can be topped up to 100% by the local authority.The government funds local authorities to deliver the early years entitlements through the early years national funding formula for the 3 and 4-year-old entitlement and a separate formula for the 2-year-old and below entitlement. The hourly funding rate paid to local authorities for these entitlements is designed to recognise the average costs across different provider types and is intended to reflect staff and non-staff costs, including business rates. In 2025/26 alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, an additional £2 billion (over 30% increase) compared to 2024/25, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements.There are no current plans to extend the centralised payment system to private, voluntary or independent early years settings or to make these settings exempt. However, all processes are kept under review.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to nurseries pricing structures on families who usually use fewer than 30 funded hours of nursery provision and are being asked to increase these hours to ensure nurseries can keep operating.

The department is committed to rolling out the expanded childcare entitlements, working hand in hand with the early years sector.In 2026/27, the government is expecting to spend over £9 billion on early years entitlements, supporting more parents to balance family life and work.The department updated existing statutory guidance for local authorities, which emphasises transparency at the heart of how the entitlement should be passed on to parents.Providers should set out how many government-funded hours parents are receiving, to ensure parents understand their usage of the entitlements.Providers remain able to charge parents for any additional, private paid hours according to their usual terms and conditions, provided taking up private paid hours is not a condition of accessing the entitlements place.

Whether she plans to reduce space requirements for children under two years of age in early years education settings.

We are currently considering the feedback to the department’s consultation on the use of ‘free flow’ outdoor space for children aged two years and above in early years settings.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of poverty on access to (a) minimally processed and (b) healthy food (i) for children and young people and (ii) in general.

Delivering on our commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for the Government, and the Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce is working to publish the Child Poverty Strategy.Evidence suggests that in the long-term, food insecurity may be associated with poorer diets and poorer health, including higher risk of overweight and obesity. Further information on the evidence is available at the following link:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6426124/The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ UK Food Security Report 2024, which pulls together data from a range of sources including the Department of Work and Pensions’ Family Resources Survey, found that 90% of United Kingdom households were food secure in 2022/23. Further information on the UK Food Security Report 2024 is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/united-kingdom-food-security-report-2024/united-kingdom-food-security-report-2024-theme-4-food-security-at-household-level#healthy-dietData from the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey report shows that participants in higher income households, and households in less deprived areas, were closer to meeting some dietary recommendations. However, where diets failed to meet recommendations, this was consistent across the range of income and deprivation. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey-2019-to-2023/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey-2019-to-2023-reportHealthy Start was introduced in 2006. It helps to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households, supporting the Government’s aim to create the healthiest generation of children in our history.Healthy Start is a demand-led, statutory scheme and aims to support those in greatest need. We recently announced in Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan that we will uplift the value of weekly payments by 10%, boosting the ability to buy healthy food for those families who need it most. From April 2026, pregnant women and children aged over one years old and under four years old will each receive £4.65 per week, up from £4.25, and children under one years old will receive £9.30 per week, up from £8.50.Through the Food Strategy, the Government is also transforming the food system in the UK to make good, healthy food more accessible and affordable, as part of the Government's Plan for Change.

Communities and Local Government, when she expects new elected mayoral roles to be filled for each authority.

The consultations in the six areas on the Devolution Priority Programme have now closed, and the government is carefully considering the evidence collected. Further updates will be communicated in the usual way, in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of processes by which local authorities can be (a) incentivised and (b) held accountable to meet their social housing targets.

On 2 July, the government published a plan setting out the foundations for a decade of renewal in social and affordable housing. This is focused on delivering the biggest increase in supply in a generation, alongside a transformational and lasting change in the safety and quality of homes. The plan includes a “call to arms” to everyone with a role in social and affordable housing – including local authorities – to step up and prove they can deliver at scale and at pace. We have asked all Council Leaders to examine what role they can play in reinvigorating council housebuilding. Councils will be able to bid for the new 10-year £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme, which is the biggest long-term investment in social and affordable housing in recent memory – with a target to deliver at least 60% of the homes as Social Rent. We also want to make it easier for councils to use their own resources and land to build more homes. For those without a Housing Revenue Account, we are reviewing the threshold of homes they hold at which they need to open one. We will exempt newly built social homes from Right to Buy for 35 years, ensuring councils are not losing homes before they have recovered the costs of building them. We are also allowing councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales with greater flexibility on how to spend them to accelerate and increase delivery of replacement homes. We are helping councils borrow more cheaply from the Public Works Loan Board until the end of 2025-26 and with the LGA, the government has established a new Association of Directors of Housing to help councils collaborate and share best practice. We have also launched the Council Housing Skills and Capacity Programme, backed by £12m of funding in 2025-26. This programme will be delivered in partnership with Homes England and the Local Government Association, to support councils to upskill their existing workforces, recruit and retain graduates to specialist housebuilding positions, and enhance their engagement with the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme. The government’s revised National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that, in their role as local planning authorities, councils are responsible for establishing the need for affordable housing in their area – including for Social Rent homes in particular. Local authorities who own social housing are required to meet regulatory standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing – including for the quality of accommodation they provide. As part of our commitment to ensuring that all social and affordable housing tenants can live in a warm and decent home, on 2 July we launched consultations on an updated and modernised Decent Homes Standard and on a new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard. These new standards would be binding on local authorities and other registered providers of social housing. On 3 July the government launched the new Local Government Outcomes Framework, which represents a new approach to outcome-based accountability for councils in England. The Framework includes draft metrics on the year-on-year change in social rented dwellings held in local authorities’ Housing Revenue Account and the proportion of council-owned social housing deemed decent.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2025 to Question 18835 on Pharmacy and with reference to the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework: 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026, published on 31 March 2025, whether he plans to respond to the consultation entitled Pharmacy supervision; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changing the policy requiring a pharmacist to be present for bagged medication to be handed over on pharmacy costs.

The Government will shortly publish its response to the public consultation entitled Pharmacy Supervision. An impact assessment will be published alongside draft legislation, on the legislation.GOV.UK website, at the following link:www.legislation.gov.uk