Ben Goldsborough

Information on specific technologies such as heat pumps used across the Government estate is not held centrally. Across the office estate managed by Cabinet Office’s Government Property Agency, there are 2 buildings which are heated in part by heat pumps.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) works closely with local authorities and investment partners to monitor and support the impact of foreign direct investment in the South Norfolk constituency.

Foreign direct investment in the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area resulted in 14 FDI projects and the creation of 516 new jobs in 2023-24, including both single-site and multi-site projects. While this area covers South Norfolk, specific statistics for the parliamentary constituency are not published due to confidentiality concerns.

DBT provides a wide-ranging package of export support for food and drink businesses in Norfolk and across the whole of the UK. This includes educational support to upskill food producers via our Export Academy and one to one support from International Trade Advisors and our extensive overseas network, with trade advisors promoting UK food in over 100 countries. Overseas we deliver a comprehensive programme of trade shows, trade missions and events to connect exporters with buyer and new market opportunities. Our UK Export Finance agency helps companies access export finance, with a dedicated finance manager covering Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.

The Low Pay Commission publishes a report that provides a coverage of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) each year, shortly before the rates are updated in April. The report provides a Local Authority and Regional breakdown of NMW and NLW coverage, including those paid below or within 5p of the applicable rate. Data on those who are within 50p of the rates is not provided as part of the report.

In total, over 3 million workers are expected to receive a pay rise due to increases to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in April 2025.

We will also publish an Impact Assessment alongside the legislation that implements the increase to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage. The Impact Assessment will provide a regional and country breakdown on the number of workers benefitting from an increase.

The Department for Business and Trade provides a comprehensive package of support to increase exports, including the Export Support Service, UK Export Finance and a network of trade advisers across the UK and overseas. The department remains committed to breaking down market access barriers affecting the horticultural industry, and to opening up new markets for horticultural exports through trade agreements.

The latest statistics for the number of households in fuel poverty in 2022 in administrative areas and parliamentary constituencies in England can be found in the published sub-regional fuel poverty statistics, in Tables 2 and 4: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics

For England and Wales, the Planning Act 2008 sets out the consultation requirements that developers of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), including electricity transmission projects, are required to follow. In April 2024, new guidance was published for NSIPs which sets out the consultation milestone that requires developers to demonstrate that they have consulted adequately with communities. The developer’s statutory consultation needs to show compliance with the energy National Policy Statements, including in relation to construction. In Scotland, the Scottish Government’s good practice guidance sets out the expectations and requirements for consultation.

The previous government’s response to the consultation on community benefits for transmission network infrastructure was published in November 2023. This document outlines that, when combined with bill discounts and additional benefits for underground cables and substations, these levels of wider benefits could lead to benefits to society with an estimated value between £1.5bn - £7.8bn if improved acceptability reduces delays to network build. These benefits come from reduced network constraint costs and emissions savings.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/community-benefits-for-electricity-transmission-network-infrastructure

It is important for this Government that where communities host clean energy infrastructure, they should directly benefit from it. We are currently considering how to ensure communities benefit from living near new onshore electricity transmission infrastructure.

It is important for this Government that where communities host clean energy infrastructure, they should directly benefit from it. We are currently considering how to ensure communities benefit from living near new onshore electricity transmission infrastructure.

In 2021/22, UKRI invested £478 million in East Anglia.

For example, Innovate UK’s Launchpad programme is allocating up to £7.5 million to help SMEs in the East of England agri-tech and food technology cluster to grow. Norfolk County Council is one of the Launchpad’s partners.

Other UKRI investments in the region include the Next Generation Infrastructure programme, delivered jointly by the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory; and the Earlham Institute-coordinated BioFAIR, which will establish a transformative digital research infrastructure for life sciences.

The department publishes official statistics on Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans annually, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. This includes data at local authority level on the rate of EHC plans issued within the deadline of 20 weeks.

The attached table contains details of assessments in 2023 by local authority and by the duration, in days, between the date of the request for assessment and the date of the assessment outcome. This includes those for whom a plan was issued and those with the decision not to issue a plan, but excludes cases where the assessment was withdrawn.

The person-level data collection on EHC plans is in its second year. As a result, we expect the quality of data returns to improve over time, as the collection becomes established. In particular, the recording of the dates of the assessment request and the assessment outcome is subject to data quality issues, which become especially prominent when looking at a low level of granularity. For this reason, cases over two years have been aggregated, and where the date of request is missing or was recorded after the outcome date, this is marked in the table as ‘not available’. The department continues to work with local authorities in understanding and improving the data collection.

The information requested is not held by this department.

The department collects aggregate data on the use of parenting orders, education supervision orders and penalty notices from local authorities in England through the annual parental responsibility measures attendance census. No information is collected on characteristics of the children concerned. The available data is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/parental-responsibility-measures.

The department collects aggregate data on school attendance orders issued and revoked from local authorities in England through the new collection on elective home education and children missing education. No information is collected on characteristics of the children concerned. The available data is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window with the first payment normally issued four months after the start of the agreement and quarterly thereafter.

As of 21 November 26,329, payments have been made within fourth months and 371 not within four months.

The number of water abstraction licences (temporary, full and transfer) live for all or part of the financial year for each of the last ten financial years is shown in the tables below. This data is shown by former Environment Agency (EA) regions.

This had been done by former EA regions to ensure consistency and allow comparison, as the EA changed its area boundaries in 2016.

For the purposes of this analysis, the boundary of each former EA region is river catchment based.

Also, these figures are for the country of England only. Figures for the former ‘Wales’ and ‘Midlands’ EA regions only include water abstraction licences with abstraction points located in England.

The Government appreciates and values the vital work of the horticulture industry and, as part of our mission-driven government, we are committed to working with colleagues across Whitehall to support the sector.

Underlining this commitment, the Seasonal Worker visa route has been confirmed for 2025, with a total of 43,000 Seasonal Worker visas available for horticulture next year. This is broadly the same allocation as the sectors received in 2023 and 2024, which comfortably met demand. This will help the sector secure the labour and skills needed to bring high quality British produce to market.

We are also continuing support for crop Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs) investing in R&D for breeding to improve crop varieties supporting crop resilience and efficiency.

The following table lists the answer:

The table below shows the number of water abstraction licences (temporary, full and transfer) live for all or part of the financial year for each of the last ten financial years.

In the Budget on 30 October, the government confirmed it will invest over £150 million to introduce a new £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London from 1 January until 31 December 2025. Under the plans of the previous administration, the current £2 cap on bus fares had been due to expire on 31 December 2024, and prior to the Budget, there was no further funding available to maintain the cap beyond this point.

The published interim evaluation of the £2 fare cap showed that patronage continued to recover following the COVID 19 pandemic. The final evaluation of the £2 fare cap will be published in due course.

Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities, and the government is committed to delivering better bus services and growing passenger numbers. Since the de-regulation of buses in England, passenger numbers have declined, and the government is determined to fix this.

As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will pass the Better Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, to ensure networks can meet the needs to the communities who rely on them and encourage passengers back onto buses, including in South Norfolk, East Anglia and right across England. The Department will work closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on these ambitions.

Both the Rail Minister and I are early in our tenure as Transport Ministers. As such, he has yet to speak to Network Rail regarding the status of the Wymondham station accessibility project. The Department looks forward to discussing these proposals with Network Rail and other stakeholders in the near future.

Active Travel England (ATE) provides funding and support to all local authorities in England, including those in rural areas. For example, ATE provides training on infrastructure design guidance and is developing specific guidance for good practice application in rural areas. In 2024, ATE also provided £1 million to the ten National Parks in England to help them develop better links to rural towns and villages.

Both the Rail Minister and I are early in our tenure as Transport Ministers, and he is yet to speak to Network Rail regarding the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement. However, as Transport Ministers we recognise the benefits the scheme could bring for freight and passenger rail services in East Anglia, including the Cambridge to Norwich route. The Rail Minister looks forward to discussing these proposals with Network Rail and other stakeholders in due course.

DWP pays local authorities a Housing Benefit subsidy for temporary accommodation cases but this is subject to limits to incentivise local authorities to find settled accommodation for residents and to ensure good value for money for the taxpayer. Local authorities usually pay the costs of temporary accommodation upfront and then claim back from DWP through the Housing Benefit subsidy.

The rate of subsidy is usually based on 90% of the January 2011 Local Housing Allowance rates and maximum subsidy caps of £500 and £375 per week are in place in some high rent areas.

DWP collects data on local authority Housing Benefit expenditure and levels of Housing Benefit subsidy paid, including temporary accommodation expenditure in England, Scotland and Wales. Housing Benefit expenditure and subsidy data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

We understand that local authorities are subject to many funding pressures which are impacting their budgets. However, any increases to the subsidy rates for temporary accommodation would need to be taken in the context of the government’s missions, goals on housing, and the fiscal position.

The Government is committed to the Triple Lock, which means that in April 2025, the basic and new State pension will increase by the higher of the growth in average earnings, price increases or 2.5%.

The relevant percentage increase applied to the State Pension in April 2025 is subject to a statutory review conducted by the Secretary of State. The review will typically begin in October, once the relevant indices have been published by the Office for National Statistics. On completion of the review, the Secretary of State will lay a statement in Parliament.

We cannot estimate the number of people who will be in receipt of the Winter Fuel Payment by constituency from 1 April 2025.

The Secretary of State will undertake her annual statutory review of benefits and State Pensions for the next financial year ahead of the Autumn Budget. This means that we cannot estimate what the total value of the Winter Fuel Payment and State Pension uprating will be by constituency from 1 April 2025.

At the Autumn Budget, the Government announced a £22.6 billion increase in day-to-day health spending and a £3.1 billion increase in the capital budget over this year and next. Phase 2 of the Spending Review will consider overall funding for subsequent years. For next year, 2025/26, the allocation for the NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board will be set out alongside planning guidance for the next financial year at the earliest opportunity, and is therefore not currently available.

The Department is committed to promoting safe and timely discharge for people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness to appropriate accommodation. Every acute hospital has access to a care transfer hub to manage discharge for people with more complex needs, who need extra support.

The Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have published guidance and supporting materials for health and care staff on discharging people at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness. This ensures that every health and care interaction with a homeless person acts as an opportunity to provide support and signposting, with the aim of ending rough sleeping. This joint guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness

The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the development of the Government’s plans for social and affordable housing.

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment or treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nationally. The National Institute for Health and Care Research has commissioned a research project to provide initial insights into local ADHD diagnosis waiting times data collection. We are also supporting a taskforce that NHS England is establishing to look at ADHD service provision, announced in March 2024. The taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD. NHS England is also working to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan.

In regard to autism, waiting times are published quarterly by NHS England, and include information about the waiting time from referral to a first care contact, since 2019. Further information is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/autism-statistics

The following table shows the number of people with an open referral, the number of people with an open referral and a care contact, and the median waiting time in days of patients with an open suspected autism referral, where their first care contact was within the year, for each of the last five years:

Source: Mental Health Services Dataset.
Notes:

1. care contact is used as a proxy for an assessment, and data could only be provided from 2019/20 as this is the first full year in which the methodology was agreed, and the data quality of the fields used in the autism pathway was sufficient; and
2. given autism data has only been published since 2019/20, it should be expected that data quality would improve over time, and as such, some of the change seen will be the result of data quality improvements.

The information is not available in the format requested.