Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will review the Universal Credit capital rules that reduce or remove entitlement for claimants with savings above £6,000 and £16,000, in cases where a claimant has a lifelong disability or health condition which means they will never be able to work; and what assessment she has made of the impact of those provisions on disabled claimants who need to build savings to meet disability‑related costs such as specialist equipment, mobility aids and home adaptations.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The current system already permits people with capital between £6,000 and £16,000 to receive means-tested support through a tapered reduction in entitlement to Universal Credit. It also includes a specific capital disregard for funds that are required for essential home alterations - for example, if these are needed to meet disability-related needs. There are no plans to introduce additional exemptions.

Extra cost benefits such as Personal Independence Payment are available to eligible customers with long-term health conditions and disabilities. These benefits are to contribute towards the additional costs associated with these conditions and can be used according to the claimant’s own priorities. They can be paid in addition to other financial and practical support which someone can receive, including provision from the NHS and Local Authorities towards specialist equipment, mobility aids, and home adaptations.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on adopted children, children living under Special Guardianship Orders, and their families of the reductions to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) fair access limits introduced in April 2025; and if she will publish evidence gathered in the last 12 months on (a) the potential effect of the lower £3,000 annual funding cap, (b) the inclusion of specialist assessments within that cap, (c) the removal of match‑funding provisions for higher‑cost therapeutic interventions, and (d) resulting consequences for the wellbeing of the children and their families, access to therapeutic services, and placement stability.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The revised criteria for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) were introduced in April 2025 and were designed to ensure support for all those applying for ASGSF funding. An equalities impact assessment was published in July 2025.

Analysis shows that in 2024/25, users of the fund had an average spend of £3,170. The department continues to review data on the impact on applications numbers and value of applications to assess the overall impact of the changes made. Local authorities and regional adoption agencies may supplement funding where additional support is assessed to be required. Over 15,000 applications have been approved since April 2025, including over 1,000 specialist assessments, demonstrating continued access to support.

As the Minister for Children and Families, I recently announced the continuation of the ASGSF for 2026 to 2028, and a consultation on the longer-term future of adoption support, including a call for evidence on what works for children and families.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many completed flood and coastal erosion risk management capital schemes have undergone formal post-project appraisal in each of the last five financial years; and what proportion of all completed schemes this represents.

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

Every individual project is managed following the Gateway process set out in the Government Functional Standard for Project Delivery. As a project nears completion, Project Managers are required to test the readiness for service (Gateway 4) and then check that the required benefits have been delivered (Gateway 5). This allows for contracts with suppliers to be formally closed and for lessons to be learned and shared.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate the Environment Agency has made of the annual funding required to maintain all flood defence assets at their target condition grade, and what the actual expenditure has been on a) routine maintenance and b) capital repair of existing flood defence assets in each of the last five financial years.

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

The Environment Agency’s (EA) Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) assets play a critical role protecting communities from the impacts of flooding. The EA has an annual programme of around 110,000 asset inspections, which can increase in-year to 165,000. The EA’s asset register is updated daily, meaning the baseline is in flux, preventing a meaningful comparison of figures between years. The EA therefore reports the percentage of assets at or below target condition. During quarter 2 of the 2025/26 financial year, 92.9% of the EA’s assets were currently at or above target condition.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Environment Agency flood defence assets recorded a change in condition grade between consecutive inspections in each of the last five financial years, broken down by whether condition improved or deteriorated.

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

The Environment Agency’s (EA) Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) assets play a critical role protecting communities from the impacts of flooding. The EA has an annual programme of around 110,000 asset inspections, which can increase in-year to 165,000. The EA’s asset register is updated daily, meaning the baseline is in flux, preventing a meaningful comparison of figures between years. The EA therefore reports the percentage of assets at or below target condition. During quarter 2 of the 2025/26 financial year, 92.9% of the EA’s assets were currently at or above target condition.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many flood defence asset inspections the Environment Agency carried out in each of the last five financial years; and what proportion of flood defence assets have been inspected at least once in the last three years.

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

The Environment Agency’s (EA) Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) assets play a critical role protecting communities from the impacts of flooding. The EA has an annual programme of around 110,000 asset inspections, which can increase in-year to 165,000. The EA’s asset register is updated daily, meaning the baseline is in flux, preventing a meaningful comparison of figures between years. The EA therefore reports the percentage of assets at or below target condition. During quarter 2 of the 2025/26 financial year, 92.9% of the EA’s assets were currently at or above target condition.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Environment Agency flood defence assets were at each condition grade (1 to 5) in each of the last five financial years.

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

The Environment Agency’s (EA) Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) assets play a critical role protecting communities from the impacts of flooding. The EA has an annual programme of around 110,000 asset inspections, which can increase in-year to 165,000. The EA’s asset register is updated daily, meaning the baseline is in flux, preventing a meaningful comparison of figures between years. The EA therefore reports the percentage of assets at or below target condition. During quarter 2 of the 2025/26 financial year, 92.9% of the EA’s assets were currently at or above target condition.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Environment Agency has made of the potential impact of the reformed flood funding rules announced in October 2025 on the prioritisation of asset maintenance relative to new construction.

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

The Environment Agency is delivering the Government’s Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) Investment Programme of flood and coastal defences, investing £2.65 billion over 2024/5 and 2025/6 with a target of 52,000 properties better protected.

A new three-year £4.2 billion FCRM Investment Programme starts in April 2026. New projects will align with the strategic objectives set out within the Government’s funding rules announced in October 2025. It is expected to result in more eligible capital asset maintenance projects. These projects will either refurbish or replace existing assets that already provide protection to communities. The prioritisation of projects for investment will follow the approach set out in Defra’s flood funding policy published in 2025.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will extend business rates exemptions to nurseries delivering Government-funded childcare places, comparable to the exemptions recently announced for pubs and to those that apply to schools and academies.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Business rates are a broad-based tax on the value of non-domestic properties, including nurseries. At the Budget, the Government announced a £4.3 billion support package announced at the Budget to support ratepayers across all sectors seeing bill increases. As a result of the Budget package, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases. This also means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

In recognition of the fact they are valued differently to some other sectors, and industry bodies have highlighted concerns with how costs are accounted for in this methodology, particularly during periods of high inflation, the Government is providing additional support to pubs.

More broadly, in 2026-27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements. We are investing over £1 billion more compared to 2025-26 to deliver a full year of the expanded entitlements and an above inflation increase to funding rates.

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Conduct of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

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