Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on his proposed changes to energy performance certificates; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) this policy and (b) his other energy policies on the viability of the short-term rental sector in (i) rural and (ii) coastal communities.

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

On the 4^th December 2024, the Government published the consultation on Energy Performance Certificate Reform. Alongside the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, my Department is currently considering all the responses and the Government will publish a response in due course.

The Government is also consulting on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector, including whether short-term lets should be included in the scope of our changes. We encourage stakeholders to feed in their views and evidence on the potential impact of these proposals. Following the consultation process, a government response and full impact assessment will be published.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to incentivise small businesses in the (a) computing and (b) AI sector to generate their own renewable energy.

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

The Government is committed to ensuring the growth of AI and data centres in the UK is done in a way that supports our clean power mission and longer-term decarbonisation goals. The department has funded the AI for Decarbonisation Programme which supports the development of innovative AI approaches to address critical challenges in decarbonisation. The department is also running a Business Energy Advice Service pilot in the West Midlands. This provides free energy assessments and match-funded grants to small businesses to support them to decarbonise and reduce their energy demand. The scheme has been extended to 31 March 2026.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former service personnel have waited over four months for their medical records to be released by the Defence Medical Service to their civilian GP.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

When an individual leaves the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of facilitating the transfer of healthcare information to their civilian healthcare provider(s).

On leaving Defence Medical Services (DMS) care, Service personnel are provided with a medical care summary, known as an FMed133, and advised to register with an NHS GP and provide them a copy of their FMED 133.

If a patient’s full DMS health record is required, this is provided on request from their NHS GP. Given this and that some records are never requested, no accurate estimate can be made of the average time from discharge to the receipt of the medical records by the NHS GP.

To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards the greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs and expects to implement changes over the next 1-2 years.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken for the Defence Medical Service to release veterans’ medical records to their GP.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

When an individual leaves the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of facilitating the transfer of healthcare information to their civilian healthcare provider(s).

On leaving Defence Medical Services (DMS) care, Service personnel are provided with a medical care summary, known as an FMed133, and advised to register with an NHS GP and provide them a copy of their FMED 133.

If a patient’s full DMS health record is required, this is provided on request from their NHS GP. Given this and that some records are never requested, no accurate estimate can be made of the average time from discharge to the receipt of the medical records by the NHS GP.

To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards the greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs and expects to implement changes over the next 1-2 years.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time taken is for the Defence Medical Service to release a veteran’s medical record post discharge from the Armed Services.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

When an individual leaves the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of facilitating the transfer of healthcare information to their civilian healthcare provider(s).

On leaving Defence Medical Services (DMS) care, Service personnel are provided with a medical care summary, known as an FMed133, and advised to register with an NHS GP and provide them a copy of their FMED 133.

If a patient’s full DMS health record is required, this is provided on request from their NHS GP. Given this and that some records are never requested, no accurate estimate can be made of the average time from discharge to the receipt of the medical records by the NHS GP.

To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards the greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs and expects to implement changes over the next 1-2 years.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the provisions of the updated initial teacher training and early career framework which relate to pupils with SEND have been (a) co-produced, (b) designed, (c) developed, (d) evaluated and (e) delivered with (i) autistic people and (ii) people with a learning disability.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

During 2023, the department reviewed the initial teacher training core content framework (CCF) and the early career framework (ECF) to ensure they remained based on the most up-to-date evidence. This review paid particular attention to the needs of trainees and early career teachers (ECTs) when supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

As part of the review process, the department analysed evaluation data and feedback, which included discussions with lead providers, senior school leaders, induction tutors, and mentors and ECTs. The department also worked closely and met regularly with groups of influential educational stakeholders. These were representative groups who acted in an advisory capacity and included SEND educational specialists.

As a result of this review, the updated initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF), which will underpin training for trainee and ECTs from September 2025, contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND and the department has enhanced the requirement on lead providers of ECT training to develop SEND training materials.

As the updated ITTECF will not be implemented until September 2025, the department has not yet evaluated its impact, however we recognise that continuous improvement is essential in order to transform the training and support for all new teachers, and to review the experiences and needs of ECT as well as trainees. This is why we are committing to a full review of the programme in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for ECTs. We know that it is crucial that ECTs feel supported teaching pupils with SEND and will review our approach to SEND and the support we provide ECTs in teaching pupils with SEND. We will work with stakeholders to ensure that we continue to provide the best possible support for pupils with SEND.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of employees required for Ofcom’s Online Safety Directorate to effectively carry out its duties.

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

In 2023/24, Ofcom had 189 full-time equivalent posts in the Online Safety Group. This does not include staff who work on online safety in other groups such as legal, enforcement and research.

The government has ensured Ofcom has the funding it needs to deliver online safety regulation effectively, with £72.6 million allocated for online safety spend in 2025/26. This additional funding will result in additional staff for the Online Safety Group and other divisions.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many people work for Ofcom’s Online Safety Directorate.

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

In 2023/24, Ofcom had 189 full-time equivalent posts in the Online Safety Group. This does not include staff who work on online safety in other groups such as legal, enforcement and research.

The government has ensured Ofcom has the funding it needs to deliver online safety regulation effectively, with £72.6 million allocated for online safety spend in 2025/26. This additional funding will result in additional staff for the Online Safety Group and other divisions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Care Quality Commission on minimising the risk of future backlogs emerging for (a) inspections and (b) reinspections of healthcare providers.

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

Departmental officials meet fortnightly with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to discuss measures CQC have put in place to address among other issues, delays in the production of inspection reports and initial inspection and reinspection.

As part of this process, the CQC provides fortnightly updates to senior Departmental officials on the work it is doing to improve and ensure it has robust systems in place to support the changes it is making to deliver its assessment activity of the providers it regulates. This increased reporting to, and oversight from, the Department also allows the level of risk across the CQC’s delivery to be monitored at a senior level.

Delays to the CQC’s inspection activities are partially due to failures of its IT systems. The CQC has accepted recommendations of the independent review into the CQC’s technology which was published in March 2025 and is available at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/news/independent-review-cqc-technology-published

The CQC is currently working to review options for alternative methods of inspection report publication while work is carried out to make necessary changes to its IT systems.

The introduction of a ‘hybrid’ approach which launched on 2 December 2024 aims to streamline the existing process by discontinuing scoring at the evidence category level and instead reporting at the quality statement level. This change is intended to improve efficiency for CQC staff. In addition, efforts are underway to address the backlog of ‘stuck’ assessments within the system. As of 24 April 2025, the current number of ‘stuck’ assessments is 52, a reduction of 448.

Work continues to further lower this number and to strengthen the monitoring and management of assessment delays.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Care Quality Commission on reducing the delay in the production of reports for healthcare providers following (a) their initial inspection and (b) reinspections.

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

Departmental officials meet fortnightly with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to discuss measures CQC have put in place to address among other issues, delays in the production of inspection reports and initial inspection and reinspection.

As part of this process, the CQC provides fortnightly updates to senior Departmental officials on the work it is doing to improve and ensure it has robust systems in place to support the changes it is making to deliver its assessment activity of the providers it regulates. This increased reporting to, and oversight from, the Department also allows the level of risk across the CQC’s delivery to be monitored at a senior level.

Delays to the CQC’s inspection activities are partially due to failures of its IT systems. The CQC has accepted recommendations of the independent review into the CQC’s technology which was published in March 2025 and is available at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/news/independent-review-cqc-technology-published

The CQC is currently working to review options for alternative methods of inspection report publication while work is carried out to make necessary changes to its IT systems.

The introduction of a ‘hybrid’ approach which launched on 2 December 2024 aims to streamline the existing process by discontinuing scoring at the evidence category level and instead reporting at the quality statement level. This change is intended to improve efficiency for CQC staff. In addition, efforts are underway to address the backlog of ‘stuck’ assessments within the system. As of 24 April 2025, the current number of ‘stuck’ assessments is 52, a reduction of 448.

Work continues to further lower this number and to strengthen the monitoring and management of assessment delays.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department has offered to the Care Quality Commission to reduce the backlog of (a) initial inspections and (b) reinspections of healthcare providers.

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

Departmental officials meet fortnightly with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to discuss measures CQC have put in place to address among other issues, delays in the production of inspection reports and initial inspection and reinspection.

As part of this process, the CQC provides fortnightly updates to senior Departmental officials on the work it is doing to improve and ensure it has robust systems in place to support the changes it is making to deliver its assessment activity of the providers it regulates. This increased reporting to, and oversight from, the Department also allows the level of risk across the CQC’s delivery to be monitored at a senior level.

Delays to the CQC’s inspection activities are partially due to failures of its IT systems. The CQC has accepted recommendations of the independent review into the CQC’s technology which was published in March 2025 and is available at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/news/independent-review-cqc-technology-published

The CQC is currently working to review options for alternative methods of inspection report publication while work is carried out to make necessary changes to its IT systems.

The introduction of a ‘hybrid’ approach which launched on 2 December 2024 aims to streamline the existing process by discontinuing scoring at the evidence category level and instead reporting at the quality statement level. This change is intended to improve efficiency for CQC staff. In addition, efforts are underway to address the backlog of ‘stuck’ assessments within the system. As of 24 April 2025, the current number of ‘stuck’ assessments is 52, a reduction of 448.

Work continues to further lower this number and to strengthen the monitoring and management of assessment delays.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on changes to employer National Insurance Contributions and the potential impact on (a) community care services and (b) wider healthcare services.

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

The Department has discussed the impact of employer National Insurance contributions with HM Treasury, and has been informed of the Department’s allocation.

The Government’s intent is to publish the allocations alongside departmental budgets for 2025/26 at the Mains estimates. This will be published as a supplementary table, with a brief description of the methodology used accompanying it, and the table will not list a breakdown of the specific compensation to individual services.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to reduce the time taken for the licensing process for marine restoration projects.

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

Defra officials are working with arms-length bodies to understand whether improvements could be made to the marine licensing regime when considering applications for habitat restoration. This includes reviewing the time taken to grant licences for marine restoration projects to identify any opportunities that may reduce consenting timeframes.

The MMO's key performance indicator for new marine licence applications is to determine 90% of applications within 13 weeks. However, some applications, particularly those with significant public interest or complex characteristics, may take longer.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the impact of the Business Rates Review on live entertainment venues.

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

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues. The Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties from 2026-27. To provide further support, the government has extended RHL relief at 40% for 2025-26. The Government is prioritising the creative industries, including live music, as part of the Industrial Strategy.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress she has made on a touring agreement with the EU.

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

The UK Government remains in constructive dialogue with the EU on tackling the challenges facing UK musicians and their support staff when touring in the EU, as well as other EU reset priorities. Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds and European trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič have been tasked with moving discussions forward and leaders will take stock at the UK-EU Summit in May.

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 merits of consulting with suppliers of community care equipment and services to make an assessment of (a) levels of provision gaps and (b) their potential impact on community care patients.

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

On 30 January 2025, NHS England published the guidance Standardising community health services, specifically codifying core services, which is available the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/standardising-community-health-services/

Community health services cover a diverse range of healthcare delivery, and the guidance supports improved commissioning and delivery of community healthcare services. Codifying community health services will help to better assess demand and capacity and will help commissioners make investment choices as they design neighbourhood health provision that shifts care to community based settings.

This publication is available for designing, commissioning, and delivering community health services, including neighbourhood health. Integrated care boards and their partners should consider the core components to support demand and capacity assessment and planning with providers, and should ensure the best use of funding to meet local needs and priorities.

Equipment such as wheelchair services, orthotics, and prosthetics for both adults and children and young people are core components of community health services and are refenced in the guidance.

Local National Health Service organisations have access to a wide range of procurement routes, but the Government has put in place a range of initiatives to help NHS bodies make informed choices about the products and the route through which they are bought. These include the NHS Supply Chain, a national body which is responsible for procuring and delivering the majority of consumables, equipment, and other supplies into the NHS. The NHS Supply Chain was set up to leverage the collective buying power of the NHS, to drive savings and provide a standardised range of clinically assured quality products at the best value.

Found: Jon Collins CEO Live Music Industry Venues and Entertainment (LIVE) Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage MP Chair, Culture, Media and Sport Committee House of Commons London

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

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Mr Bayo Alaba; Zöe Franklin; Dr Rupa

Found: Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2TX 12th Floor, 82 King Street, Manchester M2 4WQ Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Current members Attendance Dame Caroline Dinenage (Conservative, Gosport) (Chair) (added 9 Sep 2024

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Mr Bayo Alaba; Zöe Franklin; Damian

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Zöe Franklin; Mr James Frith; Damian

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Zöe Franklin; Mr James Frith; Damian

Found: Letter from Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Committee Chair, to Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State for

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: _NC4 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage Clive Jones Vikki

Found: _NC5 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage Clive Jones Vikki

Found: Not called_NC4 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage Clive Jones

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: STAGE Tuesday 6 May 2025 4 _NC2 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: _NC2 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage Clive Jones Ms Stella

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: _NC2 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage Clive Jones Ms Stella

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: _NC2 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage Clive Jones Ms Stella

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: _NC2 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage Clive Jones Ms Stella

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: _NC2 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage Clive Jones Ms Stella

Found: Carolyn Harris Tonia Antoniazzi Gill Furniss Catherine Fookes Elaine Stewart Cat Smith Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: _NC2 Victoria Collins Sir John Whittingdale Pete Wishart Dame Caroline Dinenage Clive Jones Ms Stella