Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing mandatory reporting requirements for retirement homes on staff departures and replacements.

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

The Department does not currently mandate reporting requirements for retirement homes on staff departures and replacements.

The Care Act 2014 sets out local authorities’ legal duties when assessing people’s care and support needs. For workforce capacity, there is a duty to ensure that sufficient services are available for meeting the care and support needs of adults and their carers in the area.

Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 states that providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) must deploy “sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to enable them to meet the needs of the people using the service at all times”. The CQC can take regulatory action if providers registered with them are in breach of any parts of this regulation, including if providers have an insufficient number of suitably qualified, skilled, and experienced persons deployed.

The Department continues to monitor adult social care workforce capacity, bringing together national data sets from Skills for Care’s monthly tracking data, the Capacity Tracker tool, and intelligence from key sector partners.

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 support retirement homes in maintaining continuity of care during staffing changes.

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

Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 states that providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), including residential care homes, must deploy “sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to enable them to meet the needs of the people using the service at all times”. The CQC can take regulatory action if providers registered with them are in breach of any parts of this regulation, including if providers have an insufficient number of suitably qualified, skilled, and experienced persons deployed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to make an assessment of the adequacy of (a) the allocation of resident funds and (b) other aspects of the regulatory framework governing financial accountability in retirement homes.

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

The Care Quality Commission has regulatory powers to compel providers to be financially viable when delivering regulated activities and to protect service users from financial misappropriation.

In addition, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is the independent complaints lead for adult social care and investigates complaints from those receiving social care, including on financial issues.

Whilst there are no immediate plans to make an assessment of resident funds, the independent commission chaired by Baroness Louise Casey will have the scope to consider all aspects of adult social care, including financial matters, and will make recommendations on impactful reform as part of the first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help support hotels in West Dorset constituency.

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

The Government recognises that hotels in the West Dorset constituency are a major driver of the local economy, contributing to tourism revenue, creating jobs and supporting related industries like restaurants, retail, and transportation. The Government supports hotels across West Dorset through measures such as business rates relief, and funding opportunities like the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in the aim to alleviate operational costs, promote regional tourism, and drive economic growth.

On Friday 2 May, it was announced that Dorset has acquired LVEP status. Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) work in partnership with VisitEngland. These LVEPs will provide strong local leadership and governance in tourism destinations all over the country. They will work collaboratively with both local authority and private sector partners to communicate investment opportunities and to showcase Dorset's strengths as a place to live, work, study and invest in, as well as a premier destination for visitors.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support rural Dorset Council in managing rising fly tipping incidents.

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

This Government understands the difficulty that fly-tipping poses to all landowners. We have committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created and will provide further details on this in due course.

We encourage and support councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are currently seeking powers to provide statutory guidance on fly-tipping enforcement. We have also announced a review of council powers to seize and crush the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.

We continue to work with stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union and local authorities, through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to share good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land. Various practical tools, including case studies and ‘how to’ guides on key issues such as setting up effective local partnerships, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to increase penalties for repeat fly tipping offences.

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

We have committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess they have created. This will build on the sanctions already available which include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing and crushing of vehicles and prosecution which can lead to a significant fine, a community sentence or even imprisonment. There are no plans to increase the fixed penalty levels for repeat fly-tipping offences at this time.

The Defra chaired National Fly-tipping Prevention Group has produced a guide on how local authorities, and others, can present robust cases to court. This is available at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group.

We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are currently seeking powers to provide statutory guidance on fly-tipping enforcement. We have also announced a review of council powers to seize and crush the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to introduce dental buses to treat (a) low-income, (b) elderly and (c) disabled patients in West Dorset constituency.

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 the areas that need them most.

The decision about whether to commission dental vans should be made locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs know the needs of their local areas and are best placed to make decisions about whether or how mobile dental vans can contribute to meeting the dental care needs of their population. For the West Dorset constituency, this is the NHS Dorset ICB.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of short-term models to ensure dental access in (a) rural and (b) coastal areas with no current NHS dental practices.

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

We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in rural and coastal areas. 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 the 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 the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England.

The additional 700,000 urgent dental appointments will be available across the country, with specific expectations for each region. These targets are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most.

ICBs have started to advertise posts through the Golden Hello scheme. 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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of crash mat availability in (a) Dorset and (b) other rural fire services.

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

It is the responsibility of fire and rescue authorities to ensure that firefighters receive the equipment and training they need to safely respond to incidents, and to do so in light of their individual areas’ risk profiles and Community Risk Management Plans. We work closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council to ensure that the fire and rescue sector has sufficient resource to keep the public safe.

The government does not hold any data or publish any statistics on equipment used at incidents.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to monitor imports of queen bees from Ukraine for the presence of Tropilaelaps mites.

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

Protecting our country from pests and diseases is a key priority and that is why we have stringent monitoring processes in place to detect pests and diseases. Imports of honey bee queens must be inspected and certified as free from certain pests and diseases before they can be exported to the UK and they can only come from pest free areas. Honey bee queens from Ukraine must enter the UK via a border control post where they are inspected.

The Department is working with the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit (NBU) to prevent Tropilaelaps species, a serious pest of honey bees from entering the UK and harming our bee population. As well as the import controls, there is an extensive surveillance programme in place for invasive pests and the NBU provide training and guidance on pest recognition to all UK beekeepers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to publish the consultation on access reform; and whether it will include provisions for enhancing public rights of way.

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

The Government recognises the importance of access to nature for health and wellbeing and is committed to ensuring it is safe, inclusive, and appropriate. We’re delivering on our ambitious manifesto commitment to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England.

Further details on the next steps will be provided later this year, following the outcome of the Spending Review and the publication of the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has considered establishing a dedicated National Crime Agency unit to investigate institutional failings in cases of group-based child sexual exploitation.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government continues to focus on delivering meaningful change for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation, including group-based child sexual exploitation.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) and police forces can investigative any criminal activity, including offences that have occurred in relation to institutional failings in cases of group-based child sexual exploitation. We have significantly strengthened the National Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to support police investigations into group-based child sexual exploitation across the country, and we have asked all 43 police forces in England and Wales to work with the Taskforce to review historic cases where 'No Further Action' was taken and to pursue new lines of inquiry, where appropriate, to get justice for more victims and to get more perpetrators behind bars.

We are awaiting Baroness Casey's national audit into group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and will set out any further work in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of ongoing investigations into institutional failings related to group-based child sexual exploitation.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government continues to focus on delivering meaningful change for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation, including group-based child sexual exploitation.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) and police forces can investigative any criminal activity, including offences that have occurred in relation to institutional failings in cases of group-based child sexual exploitation. We have significantly strengthened the National Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to support police investigations into group-based child sexual exploitation across the country, and we have asked all 43 police forces in England and Wales to work with the Taskforce to review historic cases where 'No Further Action' was taken and to pursue new lines of inquiry, where appropriate, to get justice for more victims and to get more perpetrators behind bars.

We are awaiting Baroness Casey's national audit into group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and will set out any further work in due course.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to extend the Community Energy Fund to support additional eligible projects.

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

In 2025/26 Community Energy Groups will be able to access a share of £5 million in grant funding through the Great British Energy Community Fund. This extension of the Community Energy Fund will enable both rural and urban communities across England to continue accessing funding to develop local clean energy projects for investment.

Once Great British Energy is fully operational it will develop its longer-term support offer for Community Energy Groups as well as for Local and Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information his Department holds on the average cost of connecting to the electricity grid in (a) rural and (b) urban areas; and whether he plans to take steps to help reduce differences in the average cost.

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

The Department does not hold data on average connection costs for rural and urban areas. Under Ofgem’s regulation through network price controls, network companies are investing to provide new electricity network capacity ahead of need. This should reduce connection costs and timelines in both rural and urban areas.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department provides funding to rural communities for the cost of connecting to the electricity mains.

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

The Department does not provide funding for connection costs specific to rural areas. Under Ofgem’s price control framework, network companies are investing in new electricity network capacity ahead of need. This should reduce both connection costs and timelines, including in rural areas.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the UK’s involvement in the Security Action For Europe initiative.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Strengthening our security and defence partnership with the EU will deliver on our Plan for Change and turbo charge the UK’s defence industries to help safeguard the security of the European continent. Since we first came to office, the Government has been committed to strengthening its relationship with the EU. The Foreign Secretary regularly discusses European security issues with his Cabinet colleagues. We welcome efforts to enhance the EU’s defence production and look forward to the UK/EU Summit next week.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding is available to police forces for the purchase of inflatable rescue mats used to prevent injuries from high-level jumps.

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

The Home Office does not hold the requested information.

Decisions around procuring this type of equipment is a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables, Police and Crime Commissioners or their Mayoral equivalents, to be taken in line with the needs of their local force.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a national (a) specification or (b) reserve for inflatable crash mats for the emergency services.

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

The Home Office does not hold the requested information.

Decisions around procuring this type of equipment is a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables, Police and Crime Commissioners or their Mayoral equivalents, to be taken in line with the needs of their local force.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of standardising the availability of fall-prevention equipment across police forces.

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

The Home Office does not hold the requested information.

Decisions around procuring this type of equipment is a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables, Police and Crime Commissioners or their Mayoral equivalents, to be taken in line with the needs of their local force.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether crash mats are included in national resilience equipment standards.

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

The Home Office does not hold the requested information.

Decisions around procuring this type of equipment is a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables, Police and Crime Commissioners or their Mayoral equivalents, to be taken in line with the needs of their local force.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of police forces have inflatable crash mats.

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

The Home Office does not hold the requested information.

Decisions around procuring this type of equipment is a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables, Police and Crime Commissioners or their Mayoral equivalents, to be taken in line with the needs of their local force.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department has provided to rural police forces for the procurement of emergency equipment.

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

The Home Office does not hold the requested information.

Decisions around procuring this type of equipment is a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables, Police and Crime Commissioners or their Mayoral equivalents, to be taken in line with the needs of their local force.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on funding for fire and rescue services assisting ambulance services with emergency entry to properties.

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

There have been no recent discussions about such funding.

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 29 of April 2025 to Question 46588 on Abiraterone, what discussions she has had with NICE on its engagement with health authorities on the (a) appraisal and (b) use of abiraterone acetate for high-risk non-metastatic prostate cancer.

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

The Department has had no such discussions. Abiraterone does not have a marketing authorisation for use in the treatment of high-risk, non-metastatic prostate cancer and has not been evaluated for that indication by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The NICE makes recommendations for the National Health Service in England on the vast majority of new and significant licence indications, but does not evaluate medicines that are used outside their marketing authorisations or “off-label”.

NHS England considered abiraterone as an off-label treatment for the treatment of hormone sensitive, non-metastatic prostate cancer through its clinical policy development process in 2024/25. Through this process NHS England confirmed that there was sufficient supporting evidence to support the routine commissioning of abiraterone in this indication, but it has not been possible to identify the necessary recurrent funding to support the commissioning of abiraterone for this purpose, or any other treatments within the prioritisation round. Should the funding position change and a further prioritisation round take place, abiraterone for the treatment of hormone sensitive, non-metastatic prostate cancer will be reconsidered.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of regulation to help tackle third-party resellers charging inflated prices for driving test appointments.

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

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests across the country and has announced further measures to review the driving test booking system.

On the 18 December 2024, DVSA launched a call for evidence, seeking views on the current rules to book tests. This will lead to consultation on improving processes, including any potential future legislative changes. On the 23 April the Secretary of State announced that this consultation has been fast-tracked to May 2025.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of fire departments have inflatable crash mats.

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

MHCLG collects data through the Fire and Rescue Service Incident Recording System (IRS) on equipment used by Fire & Rescue Services at the scene of an incident. It does not include data for the specific equipment category of inflatable crash mat.

This data is published in a variety of publications, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fire-statistics and data tables here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fire-statistics-data-tables; though no statistics are published on the equipment used at incidents.

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 impact of research on the long-term effects of covid-19 on his Department's public health strategies.

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

In October 2024, the Department hosted a roundtable on long COVID research with the Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Lucy Chappell, discussing the relevance of the research to other post-viral syndromes and strategies to stimulate further research in the scientific community.

The Department regularly reviews evidence on the health and economic impact of diseases and conditions. Where appropriate, this evidence is used to produce impact assessments which inform the development of new policies to address the needs of the population.

The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation, remain committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment for long COVID.

Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, through the NIHR and the MRC, we have invested over £57 million on research into long COVID, with almost £40 million of this through two specific research calls on long COVID. The funded projects aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical care.

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 ensure that funding provided through NHS dental contracts is adequate for meeting the costs of providing care in rural areas.

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

We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural and coastal areas. 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 National Health Service dentists. There are no perfect payment systems and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.

The NHS in England invests £3 billion into dentistry every year. NHS England is responsible for issuing guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) on dental budgets.

NHS England’s Planning Guidance for 2025/26 has now been published and sets out the funding available to ICBs. Planning guidance also confirms that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority. Dental budgets are ringfenced and NHS England reserves the right to direct unused resources, if contractors are unable to deliver on NHS dental commitments.

In July 2022, the first substantial changes to the NHS dental contract, since the 2006 Dental System Reforms, were made. These changes included allowing the best performing practices to see more patients where commissioners have given agreement, with up to 10% extra activity. Furthermore, the minimum value for a Unit of Dental Activity was uplifted to £28 from April 2024, benefitting 876 contracts.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the NHS dentistry funding model in ensuring access to dental care in West Dorset.

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

We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural and coastal areas. 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 National Health Service dentists. There are no perfect payment systems and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.

The NHS in England invests £3 billion into dentistry every year. NHS England is responsible for issuing guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) on dental budgets.

NHS England’s Planning Guidance for 2025/26 has now been published and sets out the funding available to ICBs. Planning guidance also confirms that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority. Dental budgets are ringfenced and NHS England reserves the right to direct unused resources, if contractors are unable to deliver on NHS dental commitments.

In July 2022, the first substantial changes to the NHS dental contract, since the 2006 Dental System Reforms, were made. These changes included allowing the best performing practices to see more patients where commissioners have given agreement, with up to 10% extra activity. Furthermore, the minimum value for a Unit of Dental Activity was uplifted to £28 from April 2024, benefitting 876 contracts.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to review the Units of Dental Activity system.

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

We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural and coastal areas. 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 National Health Service dentists. There are no perfect payment systems and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.

The NHS in England invests £3 billion into dentistry every year. NHS England is responsible for issuing guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) on dental budgets.

NHS England’s Planning Guidance for 2025/26 has now been published and sets out the funding available to ICBs. Planning guidance also confirms that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority. Dental budgets are ringfenced and NHS England reserves the right to direct unused resources, if contractors are unable to deliver on NHS dental commitments.

In July 2022, the first substantial changes to the NHS dental contract, since the 2006 Dental System Reforms, were made. These changes included allowing the best performing practices to see more patients where commissioners have given agreement, with up to 10% extra activity. Furthermore, the minimum value for a Unit of Dental Activity was uplifted to £28 from April 2024, benefitting 876 contracts.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered temporarily restricting imports of queen bees from regions with a high risk of parasitic infestation.

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

Protecting our country from pests and diseases is a key priority and that is why we have stringent monitoring processes in place to detect pests and diseases. Imports of honey bees are only accepted from approved countries and are subject to rules relating to notification and health certification. Imports of honey bee queens must be inspected and certified as free from certain pests and diseases before they can be exported to the UK and they can only come from pest free areas. A risk-based approach applies to checks on imports, including some laboratory testing of packaging and accompanying worker bees, for evidence of bee pests and diseases. As well as the import controls, there is an extensive surveillance programme in place for invasive pests and the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit provide training and guidance on pest recognition to all UK beekeepers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of local authority enforcement powers to prevent fly tipping.

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

Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, vehicle seizure and prosecution action which can lead to a significant fine or even imprisonment. We encourage councils to make good use of these powers, and we are taking steps to develop statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support councils to consistently and effectively exercise their powers. We have also announced a review of their powers to seize and crush vehicles of suspected fly-tippers to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.

Research commissioned by Defra in 2023 into the effectiveness of enforcement against littering, fly-tipping and dog fouling is available at: https://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/ProjectDetails?ProjectId=21398. The report was unable to identify any firm conclusions about the effectiveness of enforcement due to data limitations. A more recent assessment of the effectiveness of local authority enforcement powers to prevent fly tipping has not been made.

We have committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is providing (a) training and (b) technical assistance to help Ukrainian forces (i) operate and (ii) maintain drone technologies.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The UK is co-leading the Drone Capability Coalition (DCC) with Latvia, which will increase the quality and quantity of drones provided to Ukraine, including through a recent order of 30,000 drones.

Nationally, in the 2024-25 financial year, the UK delivered drones worth over £325 million to Ukraine, which included collaboration between UK and Ukrainian drone companies.

The UK works closely with the Armed Forces of Ukraine to ensure that they can effectively operate the drones provided, including through providing training and technical assistance. It should also be noted that Ukrainian drone capability is world leading so this partnership offers significant opportunity for UK capability.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help protect access to green lanes for people with mobility difficulties.

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

This Government recognises the importance of access to nature for health and wellbeing and is committed to ensuring it is safe, inclusive, and appropriate including for people with reduced mobility. We are delivering on our ambitious manifesto commitment to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England. Further details will be shared later this year, following the Spending Review and the publication of the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.

Additionally, we are implementing key initiatives to increase access to green spaces, including the £33 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which aims to make protected landscapes, national trails, forests, and the wider countryside more inclusive and accessible.

Local authorities are responsible for maintaining rights of way in the area they are responsible for. They are required to publish and maintain a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) which must explain how improvements made by the local authority to the public rights of way network including restricted byways and byways open to all traffic will provide a better experience for all users including those with reduced mobility.

There have been no recent discussions with the Green Lane Association.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of responsible green lane use on the health and well-being of people.

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

This Government recognises the importance of access to nature for health and wellbeing and is committed to ensuring it is safe, inclusive, and appropriate including for people with reduced mobility. We are delivering on our ambitious manifesto commitment to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England. Further details will be shared later this year, following the Spending Review and the publication of the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.

Additionally, we are implementing key initiatives to increase access to green spaces, including the £33 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which aims to make protected landscapes, national trails, forests, and the wider countryside more inclusive and accessible.

Local authorities are responsible for maintaining rights of way in the area they are responsible for. They are required to publish and maintain a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) which must explain how improvements made by the local authority to the public rights of way network including restricted byways and byways open to all traffic will provide a better experience for all users including those with reduced mobility.

There have been no recent discussions with the Green Lane Association.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Green Lane Association on sustainable countryside access.

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

This Government recognises the importance of access to nature for health and wellbeing and is committed to ensuring it is safe, inclusive, and appropriate including for people with reduced mobility. We are delivering on our ambitious manifesto commitment to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England. Further details will be shared later this year, following the Spending Review and the publication of the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.

Additionally, we are implementing key initiatives to increase access to green spaces, including the £33 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which aims to make protected landscapes, national trails, forests, and the wider countryside more inclusive and accessible.

Local authorities are responsible for maintaining rights of way in the area they are responsible for. They are required to publish and maintain a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) which must explain how improvements made by the local authority to the public rights of way network including restricted byways and byways open to all traffic will provide a better experience for all users including those with reduced mobility.

There have been no recent discussions with the Green Lane Association.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has received applications for (a) the Safer Streets Fund and (b) other funding streams for fall-prevention equipment from the Police and Crime Commissioner for Dorset.

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

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave him on 13 May to Question 50409.

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 support local commissioning bodies during dental contract reforms.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local populations and to determine the priorities for investment.

NHS planning guidance for 2025/26 confirms that dental budgets are ringfenced, and that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority. Careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver genuine improvements for patients and the profession, and so that ICBs are supported to commission services in line with system changes.

NHS England supports ICBs with their local commissioning responsibilities for primary dental services with the provision of nationally agreed policies and procedures. NHS England has also published guidance to support commissioners to take advantage of the opportunities offered to commission further and additional services through flexible commissioning, which enables the responsible commissioner to tailor services to meet local population oral health needs. Further information can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/opportunities-for-flexible-commissioning-in-primary-care-dentistry-a-framework-for-commissioners/

We are continuing to meet representatives of the dental sector to discuss how we can best deliver our shared ambition to improve access for NHS dental patients

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an estimate of the potential impact of the classification of ancillary spaces as separate dwellings for council tax purposes on costs for owners of listed buildings.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is the organisation responsible for determining the council tax band of all domestic properties. In doing this they will make an assessment of whether a property consists of one dwelling or multiple dwellings. They will make this decision based on legislation and case law. The government does not have any plans to change this approach.

Where part of a property is liable as a separate dwelling, it will be liable for the standard rate of council tax for that band set by local authorities in the area. The council tax system does contain a number of discounts and exemptions to reflect different types of annexes. The government’s guidance on how annexes are treated for council tax purposes can be found here.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department has issued on the classification of (a) annexes and (b) sculleries in listed buildings for council tax purposes.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is the organisation responsible for determining the council tax band of all domestic properties. In doing this they will make an assessment of whether a property consists of one dwelling or multiple dwellings. They will make this decision based on legislation and case law. The government does not have any plans to change this approach.

Where part of a property is liable as a separate dwelling, it will be liable for the standard rate of council tax for that band set by local authorities in the area. The council tax system does contain a number of discounts and exemptions to reflect different types of annexes. The government’s guidance on how annexes are treated for council tax purposes can be found here.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the average waiting time to see a GP in West Dorset constituency, in the latest period for which data is available.

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

West Dorset sits within the NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board (ICB). In March 2025, 39.2% of appointments in the ICB took place on the same day as booking, and 73.4% took place within two weeks of booking. Nationally, 44.2% of appointments took place on the same day as booking, and 82.1% took place within two weeks of booking.

There are a number of factors which can influence the timing of appointments, and patients may wish to book routine or follow-up appointments further in advance.

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 with Dorset Integrated Care Board to recruit more GPs in West Dorset constituency.

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

Last year, the Department added general practitioners (GPs) to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), and provided an extra £82 million in funding, meaning that GPs could be recruited more quickly by primary care networks (PCNs).

Between 1 October 2024 and 28 February 2025, 1,503 fully qualified GPs have been recruited through the ARRS, including in West Dorset.

The Government has committed to training thousands more GPs. NHS Dorset has established a joint task force with the Dorset GP Education Centre to increase the number of training placements for GP’s training in Dorset, with West Dorset identified as an opportunity for growth.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that appropriate biosecurity checks are conducted on (a) vehicles and (b) goods arriving in the UK from France, following the introduction of restrictions on personal imports of meat and dairy products.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government has stepped up measures to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD), following a further confirmed case in Hungary, close to the Austrian border.

The Government has already banned personal imports of cattle, sheep and other ruminants and pig meat as well as dairy products, from Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria earlier this year in response to confirmed outbreaks of FMD in those countries.

We recognise the risk posed by illegal imports via personal imports. Border force officers are responsible for detention and seizure of any illegal Products of Animal Origin (POAO) goods at points of entry and Defra is working closely with authorities at points of entry to help control the illegal movement of POAO into Great Britain in personal imports.

Current policy reflects our experience of responding to past outbreaks of animal disease and is in line with international standards of best practice for disease control.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps with dental schools to develop apprenticeship programmes to help expand the dental workforce.

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

There are a number of apprenticeship standards available to support the development of the dental workforce, including Level 3 Dental Nurse, Level 4 Dental Practice Manager and Level 4 Orthodontic Therapist.

NHS England has been supporting dental schools to encourage delivery of the Level 6 Dental Hygienist apprenticeship standard, and the department continues to make it easier for providers to offer and deliver apprenticeships, including cutting red tape through reforms to the payment system.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has raised concerns with his French counterpart on the lack of visible (a) controls and (b) public information at French ports of departure on the new import restrictions.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government communicated the ban on personal imports of meats and dairy products from EU countries introduced on 12 April 2025, via a press release and information on social media and on GOV.UK. It has also published updated posters for operational partners to display.

As part of our national mission to protect our food sector and farmers, Defra has written to ports, airports and travel operators requesting that they take further steps in communicating the new rules to travellers as a matter of urgency.

Defra has also written to Ministers from the Department for Transport, Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Ministers asking for their help with making travellers aware of the new rules.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of GP patient-to-practice ratios in (a) rural constituencies and (b) West Dorset constituency.

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

As of 31 March 2025, the median number of patients per practice was 7,447 in the West Dorset constituency. This compares to 8,812 nationally. Data on general practice patient to practice ratios in rural constituencies is not held.

This government is determined to work with the NHS to fix the front door of our health service and ensure everyone can access GP services. The Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund was announced during the 2024 spending review and provides new capital funding of £102 million in 2025 to 2026 to support improvements in the primary care estate. The fund aims to enhance the use of existing infrastructure, create additional capacity for the GP and practice workforce, and enable additional patient appointments.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support the (a) development and (b) deployment of drone technologies by Ukraine.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The UK is co-leading the Drone Capability Coalition (DCC) with Latvia, which will increase the quality and quantity of drones provided to Ukraine, including through a recent order of 30,000 drones.

Nationally, in the 2024-25 financial year, the UK delivered drones worth over £325 million to Ukraine, which included collaboration between UK and Ukrainian drone companies. This includes the co-development of drone technologies, for example; radios, alternative navigation methods, electronic warfare resistant GPS antennas.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to integrated care boards on maintaining access to dental services in underserved communities.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry and receive an annual allocation of funding to secure services to meet the needs of their population.

NHS England supports ICBs with their local commissioning responsibilities for primary dental services with the provision of nationally agreed policies and procedures. NHS England has also published guidance to support commissioners to take advantage of the opportunities offered to commission further and additional services through flexible commissioning, which enables the responsible commissioner to tailor services to meet local population oral health needs. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/opportunities-for-flexible-commissioning-in-primary-care-dentistry-a-framework-for-commissioners/

We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in rural and coastal areas. 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 the 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.

ICBs have started to advertise posts through the Golden Hello scheme. 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. As of 10 April 2025, in England, there are 53 dentists in post with a further 44 dentists who have been recruited but are yet to start in post. Another 256 posts are currently advertised.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase the level of funding available for new GP premises in (a) rural areas and (b) West Dorset constituency.

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

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future and recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects. We recently announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund to deliver upgrades this financial year to more than a thousand general practice (GP) surgeries across England.

At the local level, the Dorset Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for deciding how the NHS budget for its area, including the West Dorset constituency, is spent and for allocating funding according to local priorities, such as new GP surgeries.

The Dorset ICB has been provisionally allocated the following amounts from capital programmes and operational capital for 2025/26:

• £34.3 million from our Constitutional Standards Recovery Fund;
• £9.2 million from our Estates Safety Fund;
• £1.4 million from our Primary Care Utilisation Fund; and
• £78.9 million in operational capital funding.

Sewage pollution

Carers Week 2025

Access to Work backlogs

World Bee Day (No. 2)

World Bee Day

Citizens Advice in East Dorset and Purbeck

Political parties at Pride

Closure of Yeovil District Hospital’s maternity unit

Climate and Nature Bill

Community Energy Pathways and the King’s Award for Sustainable Enterprise

UK-EU Summit

Court transcript costs

Improving equestrian road safety awareness

Safe sleep standards in early years settings

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Found: Jarvis Pippa Heylings Caroline Voaden Tessa Munt Charlotte Cane Tom Gordon Clive Jones Edward Morello

Found: Jarvis Pippa Heylings Caroline Voaden Tessa Munt Charlotte Cane Tom Gordon Clive Jones Edward Morello