Charlotte Cane

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministerial Colleagues on a number of issues.

The latest statistics for the number and proportion of households in fuel poverty in parliamentary constituencies in England can be found in the published sub-regional fuel poverty Official Statistics, in Table 5: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sub-regional-fuel-poverty-data-2024-2022-data.

There are targeted schemes to deliver energy efficiency measures, and bill support through the Warm Home Discount scheme, available to eligible low-income and fuel poor households. The Warm Homes Plan includes an initial £1.8 billion to support fuel poverty schemes over the next 3 years. The 2021 fuel poverty strategy, which sets out how we will reach our fuel poverty targets, is currently under review.

According to Ofcom’s December 2024 Connected Nations report, just 0.1% of properties are unable to get decent broadband coverage (defined as at least 10 Mbps download speed and 1 Mbps upload speed), with 89% of rural UK residential properties having superfast broadband coverage (>=30 Mbps). Clearly this still leaves a significant number of rural properties with inadequate broadband coverage.

Through Project Gigabit, more than £2 billion of contracts have been signed to connect over a million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband (>1000 Mbps). These premises predominantly fall in rural areas.

For those premises still unable to get a decent broadband connection, the Broadband USO provides consumers the right to request a decent broadband connection.

The SME Digital Adoption Taskforce led by Phil Smith and reporting to DBT is looking specifically at SMEs adopting technology. They are working towards their interim report. The National Technology Adviser and Government Chief Scientific Adviser are running an official Government review reporting to the Chancellor, DBT SoS and DSIT SoS that identifies barriers that businesses within the Industrial Strategy’s 8 growth sectors face when adopting established and novel technologies. This is then related to productivity and growth of the economy. It is building on existing analysis, industry insights and other government reviews and workstreams. Recommendations will feed directly into Industrial Strategy work.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is central to the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth. The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out how we will lay the foundations for AI growth, driving adoption and building UK capability.

The Intellectual Property Office identified copyright, digital replicas, and computer-generated works as potential high-impact areas. The Government is consulting to gather evidence of the impact of AI to inform future policy development.

We are looking at the broader IP system to ensure it supports the AI sector, while continuing to protect the UK’s strengths in traditional innovation and creativity.

The UK’s immigration offer enables talented scientists, researchers and innovators to come to the UK through a number of visa routes such as the Global Talent visa, the High Potential Individual visa and the Skilled Worker visa, and we continually keep our policies under review.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has regular discussions with the Home Office, and with other Government Departments, to ensure that the UK’s world-class science, research, technology and innovation sectors are supported.

UKRI allows researchers coming to the UK who are working at least 50% of their time on a UKRI grant to claim the cost of their visa from the grant. Many other research funders operate a similar policy. Researchers in receipt of Horizon Europe grants are also allowed to claim the cost of their visa from their grant.

The vast majority of AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, and the UK's existing expert regulators are best placed to do this. The government is committed to ensuring that regulators have the right expertise and resources to make proportionate and effective decisions about AI.

The Government also intends to introduce targeted requirements on the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI systems. These proposals will build on the voluntary commitments secured at the Seoul and Bletchley AI Summits and will strengthen the role of the AI Safety Institute.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

Through a graduated approach, it is the responsibility of teachers to monitor the progress of all pupils and put support in place where needed. Where a child who has special educational needs requires more support than the school they are in can usually provide, schools, parents or carers can ask the local authority to carry out an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment.

The department recognises the critical role of educational psychologists within the SEND system, including in their statutory contribution to EHC assessments. To support this, the department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024. This builds on the £10 million currently being invested in a cohort of over 200 trainees who began their training in September 2023. As these trainees complete their studies, they will join the workforce to support the capacity of local authority educational psychology services, including in delivering assessments.

The government recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children.

On 27 October 2024, the government announced a £40 million package to trial a new Kinship Allowance in up to ten local authorities to test whether paying an allowance to cover the additional costs of supporting the child can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. The announcement is accessible here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-protects-education-priorities-in-face-of-inherited-22-billion-blackhole. The department will share further details on the process for selecting local authorities in due course.

This is the single biggest investment made by government in kinship care to date. This investment could transform the lives of vulnerable children who can no longer live at home.

The programme will begin in 2025 and decisions about future national rollout will be informed by the findings of the evaluation. The department will share further detail on the timetable and delivery of the programme in due course.

Protecting communities around the country from flooding and coastal erosion is one of the new Secretary of State’s five core priorities.

This Government will improve resilience and preparation across central government, local authorities, local communities and emergency services to better protect communities across the UK. We will launch a new Flood Resilience Taskforce to turbocharge the delivery of new flood defences, drainage systems and natural flood management schemes.

In the short-term, the Environment Agency are working hard to sustain the current standard of service in the Fenland area. £172m in capital investment has been committed between 2021/22 - 2026/27 across the area, with £23.93m of this in the East Cambridgeshire area.

In parallel, work is progressing to develop a long-term adaptive plan for flood infrastructure in the Fens. The 'Fens 2100+’ is a £9.8m programme to develop a Fens-wide flood resilience investment strategy that achieves long-term value for money and generates regional and national benefits. It’s being developed with, and for, Flood Risk Management Authorities so they can plan for the next 20-25 years of flood risk management. This investment strategy will be completed in 2025.

Further information can be found here: Fens2100+ - Environment Agency - Citizen Space (environment-agency.gov.uk).

Whilst it is our ambition through public ownership to deliver a more affordable railway, any long-term changes or concessions made to rail fares policy require balancing against the potential impacts on passengers, taxpayers and the railway. Most regulated rail fares will increase by 4.6 per cent on 2 March 2025. This will be the lowest absolute increase in three years and will support the Government’s long-term plans to achieve financial sustainability of the railway.

The Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund is providing local authorities in England with over £380m to support the installation of tens of thousands of public chargepoints.

As well as significant funding, the Government continues to make it easier, quicker and cheaper to install chargepoints. In December, the Government announced that it will make changes to planning legislation to facilitate off-street chargepoint installations and to allow the use of street works permits for quicker charger deployment. The Government also published guidance to help local authorities with cross-pavement charging solutions and the results of a review to address common issues around EV infrastructure and grid connections.

Good local bus services have an essential role to play in keeping rural communities connected. The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them, including in rural areas. The government has committed to increasing accountability by including a measure on socially necessary services so that local authorities and bus operators have to have regard for alternatives to changing or cancelling services.

In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.

The government is investing over £150 million to deliver the 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 £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 a cap on bus fares beyond this point.

The published interim evaluation of the £2 fare cap showed that patronage continued to recover following the COVID 19 pandemic and early evidence from the first two months of the scheme suggested the £2 fare cap may have played a role in this recovery. The final evaluation of the £2 fare cap, including a further assessment of its impact on patronage will be published in due course.

Rail has an important role in connecting rural communities as part of the wider transport system. The department requires its train operators to plan services and rail timetables that are designed to meet expected passenger demand. These should be resilient and provide value for money for the taxpayer. These timetables are kept under review and, where appropriate, adjusted to reflect fluctuations in demand.

We know that patients are waiting too long for cancer treatment, and we will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer on time or earlier, treating it faster, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system.

As we set out in our new plan for reforming elective care, we are committed to improving performance on cancer waiting times. Further details will be set out in a dedicated national cancer plan and the NHS’s annual operational planning guidance.

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and to better using the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as part of the shift from hospital to community and from treatment to prevention.

Now that the budget for Government has been set, we will shortly be resuming our consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding the funding arrangements for community pharmacy.

The Dental Statistics - England 2023-24, published by the NHS Business Services Authority on 22 August 2024, is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324

In England, in 2023/24, 3,674,731 urgent dental treatments in the National Health Service were delivered, which was 10.8% of all treatments delivered.

This Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS 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, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, 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 (ICBs) across England. For Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency, this is the NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough ICB.

Too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are too long. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment.

We will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Young Futures Hubs in every community.