Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2024 to Question 6049 on Pension Credit: Gosport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the survey sample sizes for entitled non-recipients of Pension Credit.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The take-up statistics which include the estimated number of entitled non-recipients for Pension Credit, are based on survey data from the Family Resources Survey. The Family Resources Survey is designed to produce robust regional estimates and does not include all local authorities each year so is not suitable for analysis at, or below, the Local Authority level [PQ 74999, Emma Lewell-Buck]. There is not currently an intention to increase the achieved sample size.

Further detail on the upcoming sample size of the Family Resources Survey can be found here: Family Resources Survey: release strategy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of driving tests within (a) half an hour, (b) an hour and (c) two hours travel of the Gosport peninsula.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA’s) main priority is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times, whilst upholding road safety standards.

DVSA continues to take measures to increase test availability. These include the recruitment of driving examiners, conducting tests outside regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays and buying back annual leave from driving examiners.

As of 21 October 2024, there were 567,344 car practical driving tests booked, and 84,092 driving tests available within the 24-week booking window.

The table below shows the current average waiting time and number of tests available at the driving test centres within up to two hours traveling distance from the Gosport peninsula.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2024 to question 6040 on Flood Control: Alverstoke, what discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management catch up funding.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra Ministers regularly meet with the Environment Agency’s leadership team to discuss delivery of departmental priorities, including the floods investment programme. We have inherited a programme which is behind schedule due to the impacts of inflation, the covid pandemic, and skills and labour shortages. We will therefore be reviewing the programme to ensure flood risk management is fit for the challenges we face now and in the future. Decisions on future spending will be made at the Spending Review later this month.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of a text and data mining exception to copyright legislation.

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

We recognise the important role that the UK copyright framework plays in supporting investment into the creative industries and ensuring that talent and creativity are rewarded. Finding the right balance between rewarding human-centred creativity, fostering the potential of AI to open up new creative frontiers and ensuring legal certainty for all those working in these fields is going to be complex and challenging, but addressing it is a priority of this Government. My department is working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to address this issue.

This work requires thoughtful engagement with the creative industries and with AI developers including widespread consultation. DCMS and DSIT chaired roundtables with AI developers and representatives of the creative industries to discuss AI and IP issues on 17 September. The Government will continue to work closely with a range of stakeholders on this topic, and will set out next steps soon. These would need to address a range of issues in the round, including transparency.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to hold a consultation on a text and data mining exception to copyright legislation.

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

We recognise the important role that the UK copyright framework plays in supporting investment into the creative industries and ensuring that talent and creativity are rewarded. Finding the right balance between rewarding human-centred creativity, fostering the potential of AI to open up new creative frontiers and ensuring legal certainty for all those working in these fields is going to be complex and challenging, but addressing it is a priority of this Government. My department is working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to address this issue.

This work requires thoughtful engagement with the creative industries and with AI developers including widespread consultation. DCMS and DSIT chaired roundtables with AI developers and representatives of the creative industries to discuss AI and IP issues on 17 September. The Government will continue to work closely with a range of stakeholders on this topic, and will set out next steps soon. These would need to address a range of issues in the round, including transparency.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had recent discussions with representatives of the creative industries on proposals for a text and data mining exception to copyright legislation.

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

We recognise the important role that the UK copyright framework plays in supporting investment into the creative industries and ensuring that talent and creativity are rewarded. Finding the right balance between rewarding human-centred creativity, fostering the potential of AI to open up new creative frontiers and ensuring legal certainty for all those working in these fields is going to be complex and challenging, but addressing it is a priority of this Government. My department is working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to address this issue.

This work requires thoughtful engagement with the creative industries and with AI developers including widespread consultation. DCMS and DSIT chaired roundtables with AI developers and representatives of the creative industries to discuss AI and IP issues on 17 September. The Government will continue to work closely with a range of stakeholders on this topic, and will set out next steps soon. These would need to address a range of issues in the round, including transparency.

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 ensure that large scale lotteries meet social responsibility requirements.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

There are around 500 large society lotteries licensed by the Gambling Commission. The Gambling Act 2005 has licensing objectives that underpin the responsible functions that any Lottery must meet. These include:

• preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder, or being used to support crime

• ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way

• protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

All Society and local authority lotteries licensed by the Gambling Commission are required to comply with the relevant conditions and codes of practice, which are set by the Gambling Commission. These licence conditions are set out at the time a licence is issued. Further information about social responsibility requirements are contained in the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice.

The National Lottery is managed under separate legislation - the National Lottery Act 1993. This establishes a statutory duty on the Government to ensure it is run with due propriety, wide social value commitments, while contributing substantially to Good Causes across the UK and via the Lottery Duty.

The Licence is awarded through a competitive process to an operator with an overriding duty to ensure the interests of every Participant in respect of playing, engaging with or being exposed to, the National Lottery are protected. This is supported through regulatory requirements overseen by the Gambling Commission.

The current operator Allwyn has its own strategy of creating additional social value commitments in the way they operate their business and engage with all National Lottery partners. More information on Allwyn’s social value plan can be found here.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of private school pupils with an education, health and care plan who will (a) enter mainstream state education, (b) enter specialist state education and (c) drop out of mainstream education as a result of the proposed application of VAT to private school fees..

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

The department has not made any estimate of the number of pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan who will enter state-funded mainstream or special schools or leave private mainstream education as a result of the proposed application of VAT to private schools’ fees. The department cannot be certain of the precise level, if any, of transfer from private to state sectors additional to the movements between schools, and between the private and state sectors, which happen each year in all parts of the country. The department will monitor demand and capacity using our normal processes and will work with local authorities to meet any pressures.

It is however worth noting that most pupils with EHC plans are educated in mainstream state-funded schools and more than 97% of pupils with EHC plans attending private schools have their place fully funded by their local authority. Where pupils’ places in private schools are being funded by local authorities, local authorities will be able to reclaim the VAT.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the potential revenue loss from large society lotteries who should be paying lottery duty due to not meeting social responsibility requirements but have not.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Exemptions are permitted from Lottery Duty including for lotteries run as Large Society Lotteries under the terms of the Gambling Act 2005.

Regulatory responsibility for those lotteries lies with the Gambling Commission. Society lotteries require a licence to operate from the Gambling Commission and are tightly regulated.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of delays to fitness to practice investigations on dentists' mental health.

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

No assessment has been made by the Department. The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator for dentists and dental care professionals in the United Kingdom. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) is responsible for overseeing the work of the healthcare professional regulators. The PSA’s latest report on the GDC’s performance is available at the following link:

https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/docs/default-source/publications/performance-reviews/monitoring-report-gdc-2022-23.pdf?sfvrsn=aa0b4a20_7

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the publication entitled Annual statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain 2023, published on 11 September 2024, what steps he plans to take to (a) increase funding for the further development and uptake of human-specific methods that can replace the use of animals in medical research and testing and (b) support scientists to transition to these approaches.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government has committed to partnering with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the requirements for phasing out of animal testing and we are currently engaging with the sector as to how to take this commitment forward.

The Government invests £10m annually in the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to accelerate the development and adoption of non-animal approaches. The NC3Rs receives additional funding from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) for specific programmes and substantial in-kind support from companies for their CRACK IT innovation programme.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to review the police funding formula.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Any future changes to the funding and resourcing of police forces in England and Wales will be considered and awarded in the normal way.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing the recommendations of the National Centre for Creative Health's review entitled Creative Health Review, published on 6 December 2023.

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

No specific assessment has been made.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will amend the Future Homes and Buildings Standards to ensure that all newbuild homes include solar photovoltaic panels.

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

Future standards next year will set our new homes and buildings on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels and ensures they are fit for a net zero future. This will support our ambition that the 1.5 million homes we will build over the course of this parliament will be high quality, well designed and sustainable. That is why the Deputy Prime Minister and I are clear that rooftop solar should play an important role, where appropriate, as part of the future standards for homes and buildings.  Responses to the recent Future Homes and Buildings standards consultation are being reviewed, and government will publish a response in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for project licences to conduct experiments on animals under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were refused permission between 1 January 2023 and 30 September 2024.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

From 1 January 2023 to 30 September 2024, no applications for a project licence under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 have been refused.

The Government publishes extensive guidance for the regulated sector on applying for project licences. Applications are internally reviewed by an establishment’s Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body before being submitted to the regulator for assessment.

Applications received by the regulator are frequently returned to the applicant for reconsideration. Applicants may amend or withdraw an application in response to feedback from the regulator.

Generally, the number of applications refused is not an indicator for the robustness of the regulatory regime.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2024 to Question 7738 on General Practitioners: Gosport, what steps he plans to take to introduce Neighbourhood Health Centres in Gosport constituency.

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

We have committed to trialling Neighbourhood Health Centres to bring together a range of services, ensuring healthcare is closer to home and patients receive the care they deserve. This is part of our broader ambition to move towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered in local communities to spot problems earlier.

I thank my Rt. Hon. friend for their suggestion of Gosport as a trial location. We are working with officials to explore options for how best to trial Neighbourhood Health Centres.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the open letter entitled Statement on AI Training, published on 23 October 2024.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts, and Tourism and I held roundtables with the creative, media and AI sectors last month and our departments continue to engage with those stakeholders to inform our approach. The Statement on AI Training provides the views of individual creators and performers from across the sector and will also inform our approach alongside our engagement with the AI and broader creative industries sectors.

The Government is committed to supporting the growth of the creative industries and AI sectors while recognising the value of human-centred creativity. Whilst clarity is needed, this is a complex topic, and we must take the time to hear stakeholder views and give them careful consideration.

Found: Tuesday 29 October 2024 Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage, in the Chair Bayo Alaba Mims

Found: of Commons London SW1A 0AA 24 October 2024 INT2024/ 08147/DC Dear Dame Caroline

Found: Current membership Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport; Conservative) (Chair) Mr Bayo Alaba (Southend East

Found: Current membership Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport; Conservative) (Chair) Mr Bayo Alaba (Southend East

Found: Current membership Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport; Conservative) (Chair) Mr Bayo Alaba (Southend East

Found: 100 Parliament Street London SW1A 2BQ E: enquiries@dcms.gov.uk www.gov.uk/dcms Dame Caroline

Found: Sir Alec Shelbrooke Chris Philp John Cooper Gregory Stafford Katie Lam Gareth Bacon Dame Caroline

Found: Sir Alec Shelbrooke Chris Philp John Cooper Gregory Stafford Katie Lam Gareth Bacon Dame Caroline

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is to continue work from the last Parliament examining the challenges faced by the British film and high-end television industry and how the sector and its workforce can be better supported.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is to hold a short inquiry into the BBC World Service.