Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support public libraries in Gloucester.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.

I understand that Gloucestershire had 32 local authority-run static libraries as of December 2023, with five of those libraries located in Gloucester itself.

The government is committed to getting local government back on its feet. The provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available £69 billion for local government, which is a 3.5% real terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support small businesses impacted by flooding in Gloucester.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My thoughts remain with householders and business owners impacted by flooding after the recent heavy rainfall, flooding is a devastating experience for all those affected.

Government support in the aftermath of flooding is only provided in exceptional circumstances. At present, overall, the scale of impacts is not sufficiently significant for the Flood Recovery Framework to be activated in any area. However, officials continue to review impacts data and stand ready to support as appropriate.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to encourage investment in high streets in (a) Gloucester and (b) Gloucestershire.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government is committed to rejuvenating high streets, supporting businesses and communities that drive town centre success. High Street Rental Auctions, effective December 2024, give local authorities in England powers to auction rental rights for vacant commercial properties, addressing long-term vacancies.

To further revitalise high streets, the Government is tackling anti-social behaviour, late payments, and crime, empowering communities to utilise vacant properties. Initiatives include, expanding banking hubs, strengthening the Post Office network, and reforming business rates. A Small Business Strategy Paper will be introduced this year to support small businesses.

Gloucester City Council received £1.468 million from UKSPF over three years to enhance community spaces, and support local businesses, including on the high street. Gloucester was awarded £11 million to transform the Greyfriars Quarter around Eastgate Shopping Centre. These aim to create vibrant, sustainable high streets for residents and visitors. Gloucestershire has received an additional £2.308 million from UKSPF which could also be invested in high streets.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people have received funding from the disabled facilities grant in (a) Gloucester and (b) Gloucestershire in the last five years.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Disabled Facilities Grant allocation to Gloucester and Gloucestershire for the last five years has been as follows:

This information is also available through the website of Foundations, the National Body for Disabled Facilities Grants and Home Improvement Agencies here: Disabled Facilities Grant Annual Allocations.

It is for local authorities to decide how to spend their allocation and deliver adaptations to eligible disabled and older people. Government does not hold data on how many people have received Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) funding.

Government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling older and disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. This is why on 3 January 2025 government announced an immediate £86 million in-year uplift to the DFG, taking the funding total to £711 million for 2024-25. This will allow 7,800 more eligible people to make vital improvements to their home allowing them to live more independent lives and reducing hospitalisations.

Furthermore, government announced an £86 million additional investment in the DFG for the 2025-26 financial year at the Autumn Budget (bringing total funding for 2025-26 to £711 million).

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help increase the availability of childcare in Gloucester.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Giving children the best start in life is key to the government’s Opportunity Mission. Good parenting and high-quality early education provide the foundation for children to achieve and thrive. This government is determined to ensure that parents have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and childcare.

The department is rolling out more government-funded childcare entitlements to help millions of families, working hand in hand with the early years sector to build a system that works for them, parents and above all, children. This includes delivering 3,000 new and expanded school-based nurseries to make high-quality childcare accessible and available. As a first step, primary schools have been able to apply for up to £150,000 of a total £15 million capital funding, with the first stage of the plan set to support up to 300 new or expanded nurseries across England. High-quality, school-based nursery provision is popular with parents, especially families with multiple children. It can help schools upgrade spare space whilst also providing early support to children and families, supporting their transition into primary school. School-based nursery settings have proportionally higher qualified staff and see lower staff turnover, providing more consistency of care for children. Proportionally, school-based nurseries also look after more children with special educational needs and disabilities and offer a higher proportion of places in the most deprived areas.

In the 2024/25 financial year, early years providers are set to benefit from over £2 billion extra investment compared to last year, to support the rollout of 30 hours of government-funded early education from next September, rising in 2027/28 to over £4.1 billion. As announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, the department expects to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements in 2025/26, which is around a 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we continue to deliver the expansion to eligible working parents of children aged from nine months.

The department has confirmed funding rates for 2024/25 and has also announced a new £75 million expansion grant to support nurseries, childminders and other providers to deliver the 35,000 additional staff and 70,000 places required to meet demand for next September. The government will also deliver the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing rates by over 45% to up to £570 per eligible child per year. This unprecedented increase is an investment in quality early education for those children who need it most, in the areas that need it most, to give them the support they need to be school ready at age five and go on to have the best life chances.

Department hourly funding rates for Gloucester have been confirmed at, £5.47 for 3-4-year-olds, £7.60 for 2-year-olds and £10.33 for under 2s.

This government is committed to delivering the expansion to 30 hours government funded childcare for eligible working families from September 2025 but there will be challenges including providers securing enough staff and places to meet demand, with the capacity needed varying across the country. The department is supporting the sector to attract talented staff and childminders to join the workforce by creating conditions for improved recruitment. We are urging the public to ‘do something BIG’ and start a career working with small children through our national recruitment campaign. Our dedicated website also helps people find out more about gaining qualifications and search for existing job vacancies. Skills Bootcamps for the early years are available and lead to an accelerated apprenticeship, and we are funding Early Years Initial Teacher Training as a route for new and existing staff to gain Early Years Teacher Status. To support childminders to join and stay in the profession, we have implemented new flexibilities to work with more people and spend more time working from non-domestic premises.

The department is working closely with local areas and the early years sector to do everything we can to ensure there are enough places and the sector has the workforce needed to provide those places and to bridge local gaps ahead of September 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dentists have been recruited under the dental recruitment incentive scheme in Gloucester.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Within the NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB), seven dentists have been recruited under the dental recruitment incentive scheme. ICBs continue to work with practices in their area to support recruitment to these posts.

This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of young people out of work, education and training in (a) Gloucester and (b) Gloucestershire in the last five years.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department publishes statistics on those not in education, employment or training (NEET) for England from the labour force survey for young people aged 16-24. This is available at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief. The number of 16 to 24-year-olds estimated as NEET in England for the last five years can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d9b4d0bf-3a58-4907-5a37-08dd3479441b.

However, these estimates are only published at national level due to limitations with sample sizes for lower-level geographies. Therefore, NEET rates for young people aged 16-24 in Gloucester and Gloucestershire cannot be provided.

However, local authorities are required to encourage, enable or assist young people’s participation in education or training and return management information for young people aged 16 and 17. This data is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/neet-and-participation-local-authority-figures. The data shows that of the young people aged 16 and 17-years-old who were known to Gloucestershire local authority in the link below for the last five years: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/fb35cd74-1667-4de1-ab38-08dd34489990.

These statistics are published as transparency data so some caution should be taken if using these figures.

In addition, 16-18 destination measures are published. These official statistics show the percentage of pupils not continuing to a sustained education, apprenticeship or employment destination in the year after completing 16-18 study, that is 6 months of continual activity. This can be used as a proxy for the number of young people out of work, education and training at age 18. The latest publication includes destinations in 2022/23 by Parliamentary constituency boundaries at that time. Data can be found here for Gloucester parliamentary constituency for the last five years here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/365fe966-b823-4406-ab39-08dd34489990.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to help improve ambulance waiting times in Gloucester.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to improving urgent and emergency care performance and getting ambulance response times, including in Gloucester, back to the NHS Constitution’s standards. We are clear, however, that there are no quick fixes and to turn things around will take investment and reform.

Recent action includes the Autumn Budget, which announced £25.6 billion of additional healthcare funding over the next two years; and the publication of the ‘Road to recovery: the government's 2025 mandate to NHS England’ on the 30^th January, which set prioritised delivery instructions for the NHS including for urgent and emergency care. This is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/road-to-recovery-the-governments-2025-mandate-to-nhs-england/road-to-recovery-the-governments-2025-mandate-to-nhs-england

In Spring, we will publish a 10-Year Health Plan which will set out the reforms needed to build a health service that is fit for the future.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve access to NHS dentistry in Gloucester.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

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 areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, 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 Integrated Care Boards across England. For Gloucester constituency, this is NHS Gloucestershire ICB.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support adult social care providers in Gloucester.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025-26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.

The additional funding available to Gloucestershire in 2025-26 means that they will see an increase to their Core Spending Power of up to 6.6% in cash terms.

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve access to treatment for people with functional neurological disorder.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The majority of services for people with neurological conditions, including functional neurological disorder (FND), are commissioned locally. Integrated care board commissioners are best placed to configure services for their populations, and will be supported by clinical guidance.

At a national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with neurological conditions, including FND, such as the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the Neurology Transformation Programme.

In 2023, the National Neurosciences Advisory Group developed a clinical pathway for FND, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nnag.org.uk/optimal-clinical-pathway-adults-fnd-functional-neurological-disorder

NHS England is in the process of updating the Specialised Neurology service specification. This will include FND, which is not included in the current published version. Service specifications are important in clearly defining the standards of care expected from organisations funded by NHS England to provide specialised care.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) also has guidance in place to support clinicians in the diagnosis of suspected neurological conditions, including FND. The NICE guidance, Suspected neurological conditions: recognition and referral, updated in October 2023, includes guidance on FND, and outlines symptoms that are often common in FND, such as recurrent dizziness, limb or facial weakness, numbness and tingling, and difficulties with memory and concentration. The guidance also outlines that the severity of the symptoms of FND often fluctuate and increase during times of stress.

The NICE is also currently developing a guideline on rehabilitation for chronic neurological disorders and acquired brain injury, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10181

FND will be included in the final guideline, which the NICE expects to publish in September 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will take steps to implement a National Cardiovascular Disease Plan.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to ensuring fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). That is why, building on the 2019 NHS Long Term Plan commitment to prevent 150,000 heart attacks, strokes and dementia cases by 2029, this Government has set a CVD-specific mission ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and strokes by 25% within a decade.

The Department and NHS England are working together at pace to understand the scale of the CVD challenge and the greatest opportunities for progress.

This includes through building on action already taken as part of the NHS Long Term Plan to improve the timely identification and treatment of CVD risk factors, such as high blood pressure, raised cholesterol and atrial fibrillation, and drawing on what we have we have heard from the public, patients and staff through the 10-Year Health Plan engagement exercise.

The 10-Year Health Plan, once published, will set out the Government's overarching vision for delivering on its health mission, including how we deliver the critical shift from a focus on treating illness to preventing conditions such as CVD.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent steps his Department has taken to help ensure that people can access support through the Warm Homes Plan in Gloucester.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As the first step towards the Warm Homes Plan, the Government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next three years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency, with £1 billion of this allocated to 2025/2026.

This includes support for the most vulnerable, including those in Gloucester, to help slash fuel poverty. To fund energy efficiency upgrades and low-carbon heating for social housing residents, lower income households, and renters, £1.29 billion has been committed to the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and £500m for the Warm Homes: Local Grant respectively. Delivery is expected to start this year.

Further details on the Warm Homes Plan will be set out in due course.

Found: Whitby) (Lab) • Uma Kumaran (Stratford and Bow) (Lab) • Chris Law (Dundee Central) (SNP) • Alex McIntyre