Written questions by Morton.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that (a) pregnant women and (b) young children have access to (i) malnutrition treatment and (ii) health services in Afghanistan.

We are gravely concerned about the health and nutrition situation in Afghanistan. Access to essential and nutrition services for pregnant and breastfeeding women and children is limited especially for those in rural areas and is exacerbated by Taliban restrictions on women's movement requiring male chaperones. We continue to urge the Taliban to reverse restrictions on women and girls and improve access to essential services. We have adapted our support to provide more flexible funding to help sustain essential and lifesaving health and malnutrition treatment and prevention services, including for reproductive, maternal and newborn services. We are working with other donors, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, to protect health system capacity including routine immunisations for children and reproductive and maternal services for pregnant women. We are convening key partners and donors to strengthen our collective approach to tackling food insecurity and malnutrition in Afghanistan.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of (a) 298 nutrition centres and (b) 420 health facilities on humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan in 2025.

We remain gravely concerned about the declining health and nutrition status of the most vulnerable Afghans. We are monitoring the impact of the closures of health and nutrition facilities on the most vulnerable, particularly women and children, and estimate that services for more than 3 million people are impacted. We continue to urge the Taliban to reverse their deadly ban on girls and women receiving medical education. We have adapted our support to provide more flexible funding to help sustain essential and lifesaving health and malnutrition treatment and prevention services. We are working with other donors, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, to safeguard health system capacity including routine immunisations for children and disease surveillance systems. We are convening key partners and donors to strengthen our collective approach to tackling food insecurity and malnutrition in Afghanistan.

Food and Rural Affairs, when statutory fly‑tipping enforcement guidance for local authorities will be published; and what his planned timeline is for its implementation.

The Government is seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance. Following Royal Assent, we will carry out a consultation with relevant stakeholders including local authorities. Once the consultation has concluded and responses taken into account, we will look to publish the guidance as soon as is practical.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many vehicles were seized in relation to waste crime offences in each of the last three years.

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions, including vehicles seized, to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. We are conducting a review of council powers to seize and crush vehicles of fly-tippers, to identify how we could help them make better use of this tool.

How many (a) closed and (b) previously under-investigated Child Sexual Exploitation cases have been referred for independent review since January 2025; and what percentage have since been reopened or escalated.

On 16 June the Government accepted all 12 recommendations made to Government in Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in England and Wales. We will announce further details on implementation of these measures in due course.In January, the Government announced an additional £2.5 million funding for the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to bolster its efforts to provide practical, expert, on the ground support for all 43 police forces in England and Wales. We also asked all 43 police forces to work with the Taskforce to re-open grooming gangs cases where no further action was taken. Since January, more than 800 cases have been re-opened thanks to this work.

What additional (a) funding, (b) staffing and (c) training support her Department is providing to the Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce in 2025-26.

On 16 June the Government accepted all 12 recommendations made to Government in Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in England and Wales. We will announce further details on implementation of these measures in due course.In January, the Government announced an additional £2.5 million funding for the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to bolster its efforts to provide practical, expert, on the ground support for all 43 police forces in England and Wales. We also asked all 43 police forces to work with the Taskforce to re-open grooming gangs cases where no further action was taken. Since January, more than 800 cases have been re-opened thanks to this work.

Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to launch the digital waste tracking service; and what steps are being taken to ensure industry readiness.

Defra plans to launch the digital waste tracking service from April 2026. Industry working groups are beginning next month and increased engagement is planned through webinars, information published on GitHub (an online platform where information and software code can be shared openly), and through inviting users to begin using the developing service from Autumn as part of our private beta phase of development.

What oversight mechanisms she has put in place to help ensure 100% recording of the (a) ethnicity, (b) nationality and (c) number of perpetrators in all group based child exploitation and abuse cases; and what steps she is taking to ensure compliance across all police forces.

On 16 June the Government accepted all 12 recommendations made to Government in Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in England and Wales. We will announce further details on implementation of these measures in due course.In January, the Government announced an additional £2.5 million funding for the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to bolster its efforts to provide practical, expert, on the ground support for all 43 police forces in England and Wales. We also asked all 43 police forces to work with the Taskforce to re-open grooming gangs cases where no further action was taken. Since January, more than 800 cases have been re-opened thanks to this work.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to allocate funding to enable (a) local police forces and (b) community groups to use (i) ANPR cameras, (ii) roadside CCTV and (iii) drones to (A) investigate and (B) deter fly‑tipping.

The Government has no plans to allocate funding to enable local police forces and community groups to use ANPR cameras, roadside CCTV and drones to investigate and deter fly-tipping. Fly-tipping is a blight on our communities and countryside with local authorities usually responsible for investigating and taking enforcement action. Their enforcement powers include prosecution, fixed penalty notices of up to £1,000 and seizing vehicles of fly-tippers. We want to see local authorities take the fight to waste criminals and we are taking steps to help them do so. For example, we have announced a review of their powers to seize and crush vehicles of fly-tippers to identify how we could help them make better use of this tool, such as by utilising existing technology like drones and mobile CCTV cameras. We are also currently taking steps to develop new guidance on fly-tipping enforcement to help local authorities across the country exercise their powers more consistently. The procurement and positioning of ANPR cameras are operational decisions for Chief Officers. We want to see local authorities work in partnership with others, including the police, to share intelligence and bolster operational activity. We will continue to work with the National Fly-tipping Prevention Group to highlight and share best practice with regards to tackling fly-tipping. Various practical tools, including case studies involving CCTV and a guide on establishing partnerships, are available from their website https://nftpg.com/.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of raising fixed‑penalty notice levels for fly‑tipping above the £1,000 maximum; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a publicly available league table for local authority fly‑tipping performance.

The Government no longer publishes a league table of local authority fly-tipping performance. Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and actions to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. In assessing the figures local authorities should not be classified as ‘good’ or ‘poor’ performers based purely on numbers of fly-tips and comparisons between local authorities should be made with care. We have committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess they have created. This will build on the sanctions already available which include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing and crushing of vehicles and prosecution which can lead to a significant fine, a community sentence or even imprisonment. We want to see councils make good use of their enforcement powers and are taking steps to help them do this, such as by reviewing their powers to seize and crush vehicles to identify and remove barriers. There are no plans to increase the fixed penalty levels at this time.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an estimate of the annual profits generated by organised criminals who engage in waste crime.

It is estimated that waste crime costs the UK economy around £1 billion per year. However, it is impossible to assess how much of this is “profit” for organised criminals.

How much funding has been allocated to the national inquiry into grooming gangs; and what steps she has taken to ensure (a) that there is survivor-led engagement and (b) that statutory powers are used to compel witness evidence.

On 16 June the Government accepted all 12 recommendations made to Government in Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in England and Wales. We will announce further details on implementation of these measures in due course.In January, the Government announced an additional £2.5 million funding for the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to bolster its efforts to provide practical, expert, on the ground support for all 43 police forces in England and Wales. We also asked all 43 police forces to work with the Taskforce to re-open grooming gangs cases where no further action was taken. Since January, more than 800 cases have been re-opened thanks to this work.

Whether her Department has set targets for improving (a) victim protection, (b) justice outcomes and (c) support services since the publication of Baroness Casey's audit of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse.

On 16 June the Government accepted all 12 recommendations made to Government in Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in England and Wales. We will announce further details on implementation of these measures in due course.In January, the Government announced an additional £2.5 million funding for the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to bolster its efforts to provide practical, expert, on the ground support for all 43 police forces in England and Wales. We also asked all 43 police forces to work with the Taskforce to re-open grooming gangs cases where no further action was taken. Since January, more than 800 cases have been re-opened thanks to this work.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been allocated by his Department to the Joint Unit for Waste Crime in the 2025-26 financial year; and whether he plans to allocate additional funding to support regional enforcement partnerships.

In 2025/26 the Government is providing £12 million to the Environment Agency (EA) to tackle waste crime. It is for the EA to decide how much of this is directed to the Joint Unit for Waste Crime (JUWC), but in the current year it is funding 18 posts, an increase of 8 compared to 2024/25. The EA is not the only contributor to JUWC capability; with permanent or time-limited resources being provided by other bodies.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to increase coordination between (a) the Environment Agency, (b) local authorities and (c) police forces to tackle organised waste crime.

The Joint Unit for Waste Crime, hosted by the Environment Agency, is a multi-agency taskforce established specifically to share intelligence and operational capability and capacity to tackle serious and organised criminality in the waste sector. When appropriate, this includes liaison and intelligence sharing with local authorities’ Since its formation in 2020 it has significantly enhanced interoperability and cooperation among criminal justice partners including the police, enabling more effective targeting of Organised Criminal Groups.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that landowners are not held financially responsible for clearing fly‑tipped waste from their private land.

We recognise the burden that clearing fly-tipped waste places on landowners. Local authorities are responsible for tackling fly-tipping in their areas. We want to see an effective enforcement strategy at the centre of their efforts to tackle the problem, and we are taking steps to help councils make good use of their powers. Doing so can help deter criminals from dumping waste in our countryside in the first place. Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers, including prosecution. Upon conviction, compensation for the landowner’s clearance costs can be secured. While sentencing is a matter for the court, the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group has produced a guide on presenting robust court cases. The group also helps share best practice on preventing fly-tipping on private land. These, and other practical tools, are available from their webpage at: https://nftpg.com/.

What steps she has taken to help tackle rates of group-based child sexual exploitation in (a) Greater Manchester, (b) West Yorkshire, (c) South Yorkshire and (d) Telford since the publication of Baroness Casey's audit of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse; and what additional resources her Department has allocated for (a) investigation and (b) prevention.

On 16 June the Government accepted all 12 recommendations made to Government in Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in England and Wales. We will announce further details on implementation of these measures in due course.In January, the Government announced an additional £2.5 million funding for the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to bolster its efforts to provide practical, expert, on the ground support for all 43 police forces in England and Wales. We also asked all 43 police forces to work with the Taskforce to re-open grooming gangs cases where no further action was taken. Since January, more than 800 cases have been re-opened thanks to this work.

What steps her Department has taken to model the level of police officer (a) attrition and (b) recruitment required to (i) maintain and (ii) increase overall frontline police numbers in the next three years.

The Home Office publishes data on police officer attrition as part of the Police Workforce Statistics, England and Wales. Attrition varies by force and in the year ending March 2024, 9,080 FTE police officers left the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales (excluding transfers), a decrease of 112 (or 1.2%) on the previous year.It is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions to put in place robust workforce plans to deliver sufficient recruitment to replace officers leaving the service to ensure officer numbers can be maintained. Through the Police Funding Settlement for 2025/26, a total of up to £376.8 million has been allocated to support the maintenance of police officer numbers in England and Wales in 2025-26. This is in addition to £200m which has been made available in 2025/26 to kick start the growth in neighbourhood policing personnel. By the end of this parliament there will be 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales, including up to 3000 additional neighbourhood officers by the end of March 2026.

What discussions she has had with the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner on how funding will be allocated throughout the West Midlands over the period of the Spending Review 2025.

Force funding allocations will be set out at the police settlement later this year.It is up to Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners to make decisions on local resourcing. They are best placed to make these decisions based on their local knowledge and experience.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the level of funding for the police over the period of the Spending Review 2025 on levels of (a) shoplifting, (b) phone theft and (c) violence against women.

The Government is committed to supporting the police to tackle crime. The Chancellor has announced a real terms increase in police spending power over the next three years.That included £200 million to kickstart recruitment of neighbourhood officers and PCSOs across the country. As is usual, more detail on force funding allocations for future years will be set out at the police settlement later.