Written questions by Morton.

Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes she plans to deliver in this Parliament.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).

Food and Rural Affairs, whether additional funding has been allocated to the Environment Agency to tackle waste crime in the current financial year.

Defra works closely with the Environment Agency (EA) to ensure it is equipped to carry out its functions effectively and deliver for the public and the environment. The EA’s total budget for 2025 to 2026 has increased to £2,274 million and includes £10 million baselined for waste crime enforcement and additional £5.6 million this financial year to tackle waste crime.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of prosecutions for waste crime offences in England and Wales.

Of the additional £5.6 million allocated to the Environment Agency (EA) this year to tackle waste crime, £2 million has allowed the EA to recruit an additional 43 operational staff and achieve focus on enforcement. Prosecution is not always the most effective way of stopping waste crime and the EA will continue to use a variety of approaches to disrupt and prevent waste crime, whilst prosecuting the worst offences and offenders, in line with its strategy for reducing crime in the waste sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the conviction rate was for waste crime offences in each of the last five years.

The conviction rates for the last five years are as follows: 2020 – 82%2021 – 81%2022 – 86%2023 – 83%2024 – 84%

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of energy costs on energy intensive industries.

Government is well aware of the issue of high industrial energy costs, and the challenges that poses for Energy Intensive Industries (EII). That is why we continue to offer support to electro-intensives through the EII compensation scheme and the Supercharger. We will also soon be consulting on an uplift of the Network Charges Compensation scheme. The recent Industrial Strategy also committed to consulting on the establishment of a new support scheme, British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) which will exempt up to 7,000 businesses from some of policy costs included within electricity bills.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Oral Contribution of the Secretary of State for Transport: Road and Rail Projects delivered on 8 July 2025, how many of the 39,000 new properties will be built (a) in the West Midlands combined authority area and (b) in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.

The 39,000-figure cited by the Secretary of State for Transport is an estimate of the number of new homes that will be supported by the road and rail projects announced on 8 July 2025. My Department is working with others across government to ensure that investment in transport infrastructure maximises opportunities to support new homes across England.

What information his Department holds on the number of businesses which have ceased trading each day since July 2024.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 15th July is attached.

Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes have been built since July 2024.

Statistics on gross additional affordable housing supply in England between April 2024 and March 2025, including the number of affordable homes built, will be published by December 2025.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Oral Contribution of the Secretary of State for Transport: Road and Rail Projects delivered on 8 July 2025, when the 39,000 new properties will be built.

The 39,000-figure cited by the Secretary of State for Transport is an estimate of the number of new homes that will be supported by the road and rail projects announced on 8 July 2025. My Department is working with others across government to ensure that investment in transport infrastructure maximises opportunities to support new homes across England.

What steps his Department is taking to help reduce industrial electricity prices.

Government is well aware of the issue of high industrial energy costs, and the challenges that poses for Energy Intensive Industries (EII). That is why we continue to offer support to electro-intensives through the EII compensation scheme and the Supercharger. We will also soon be consulting on an uplift of the Network Charges Compensation scheme. The recent Industrial Strategy also committed to consulting on the establishment of a new support scheme, British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) which will exempt up to 7,000 businesses from some of policy costs included within electricity bills.

What recent discussions he has had with businesses on the S&P Global Flash UK PMI.

Details of the meetings held by Ministers of the Department for Business and Trade are available on transparency pages of gov.uk and are released as part of the Government’s transparency agenda.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of fiscal uncertainty on levels of business confidence.

Ensuring fiscal stability is a core part of delivering economic stability and providing a strong foundation for growth. The Government has been clear that the fiscal rules are non-negotiable.We also introduced a series of responsible reforms to the fiscal framework that improve certainty, transparency and accountability, such as committing to one major annual fiscal event to provide certainty for families and businesses and introducing a ‘fiscal lock’ to ensure no government can announce fiscally significant measures without being subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility.The Government monitors a wide range of indicators to assess the UK’s economic performance, including measures of business confidence.

With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy 2025, published on 23 June 2025, if he will provide a breakdown of where he plans for the 41,000 new homes in the West Midlands to be built; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on this matter.

In setting out how the Government will strengthen connections between and within city regions and clusters, the Industrial Strategy confirmed our commitment to delivering and maximising the growth benefits of HS2. The Industrial Strategy referenced independent research by Arcadis, conducted on behalf of HS2 Ltd, that suggests HS2 could lead to 41,000 new homes in the West Midlands. The source can be found at https://www.arcadis.com/en-gb/projects/europe/united-kingdom/hs2-impact-study.The department has worked closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government during the development of the Industrial Strategy and will continue to do so.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of resources available to local authorities to enforce waste disposal regulations.

This question has been interpreted as relating to whether an assessment has been made regarding adequate infrastructure availability for local authorities to meet their Simpler Recycling requirements. We are working with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) and waste industry representatives to support readiness for the Simpler Recycling requirements. Specifically, we have engaged with Materials Recycling Facilities (MRF) operators and local authorities to identify challenges with MRF capacity, investment and upgrade timelines, and to work with the sector to identify interventions to support MRFs as they prepare for Simpler Recycling. Those engaged with us are aware of their obligations and are working hard to upgrade their facilities to ensure they can separate the target materials as required by Simpler Recycling. Further workstreams have included engagement with the organics processing sector who are also clear of the obligations on them and the increase in food waste material which will be generated in the coming years.

What steps her Department with Cabinet colleagues to help seek justice for every victim of grooming gangs.

On 16 June 2025, the Home Secretary made a statement to Parliament announcing Government's acceptance of all the recommendations made in Baroness Louise Casey's independent National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in England and Wales.The Government is now moving swiftly to act on these recommendations which includes the establishment of a national inquiry into Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation, with the power to go into local areas, gather evidence, talk to victims, compel witnesses to appear, and to get to the truth of institutional failures.We have also announced that the police will launch a new national criminal operation into group-based child sexual exploitation, overseen by the National Crime Agency, against a backdrop of continued investment in other work to strengthen law enforcement capacity and capability to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation, including the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce which - since July 2023 - has supported the arrest of over 1300 individuals and protected thousands of victims.Both initiatives will operate in parallel with continued commitment from Government to strengthen efforts to tackle this abhorrent crime and improve victims and survivors' access to justice.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that local housing targets include provision for (a) infrastructure and (b) brownfield remediation.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes a new Standard Method for assessing housing needs that is aligned to our Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million new safe and decent homes in England by the end of this Parliament. The Standard Method for assessing housing needs provides a starting point for local planning authorities (LPAs) to inform the preparation of their local development plans. Once an assessment has been made, LPAs should take into account land availability, environmental constraints, and other relevant matters, to determine how much of the assessed housing need can be met. It is for local authorities, in consultation with their communities, to set out the most appropriate strategy to meet their housing needs. The NPPF makes clear that planning policies and decisions should give substantial weight to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements for homes and other identified needs and should support opportunities to remediate derelict and contaminated land. Local development plans should address needs and opportunities in relation to infrastructure and identify what infrastructure is required and how it can be funded and brought forward. When preparing a Local Plan, Planning Practice Guidance recommends that local planning authorities use available evidence of infrastructure requirements to prepare an Infrastructure Funding Statement. Such Statements can be used to demonstrate the delivery of infrastructure throughout the plan-period. The government provides financial support for essential infrastructure in areas of greatest housing demand through Land and Infrastructure funding programmes, such as the Housing Infrastructure Fund.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of infrastructure developments on agricultural land.

The government places great importance upon our agricultural land. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should recognise the benefits of the Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land (land in grades 1, 2 and 3a of the Agricultural Land Classification system). Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be preferred to those of a higher quality.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of Great British Energy on reducing household energy bills.

The Government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower will bring energy security, protect billpayers, create good jobs, and help to protect future generations from the cost of climate breakdown. Delivering clean power by 2030 will protect billpayers from volatile international fossil fuel markets and bring down energy bills for good Great British Energy is a key part of this plan. It will ensure taxpayers and billpayers reap the benefits of homegrown energy by investing in and developing clean energy projects across the United Kingdom.

What assessment he made of the potential impact of delaying the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill’s provisions on unfair dismissal protections on levels of business confidence.

There is no delay to implementation. On 1 July the Government published “Implementing the Employment Rights Bill: Roadmap”. It provides clarity for employers and workers on when Government will consult on the implementation of Bill measures, and when measures will take effect. Feedback from businesses is that this clarity has improved confidence. The Roadmap sets out our initial view that day one unfair dismissal protections will take effect in 2027, after regulations have been made and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service has considered to what extent , to reflect day one rights in the Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish a timetable for announcing a UK pledge for the Global Fund’s upcoming replenishment for the 2026-28 period.

The UK has long been a strong supporter of the Global Fund and we are proud to be co-hosting the 8th replenishment this year in partnership with South Africa. Over the coming months, we will work through decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used and then discuss the timing of our pledge announcement with the Global Fund and our co-hosts South Africa.