Helen Grant

Paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May states:

“By long-standing convention, observed by successive Governments, the fact of, and substance of advice from, the law officers of the Crown is not disclosed outside government. This convention is referred to in paragraph [5.14] of the Ministerial Code [updated on 6 November 2024]. The purpose of this convention is to enable the Government to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.”

This is known as the Law Officers’ Convention and it applies to your question.

Network congestion, hills, buildings, trees, and the distance from the mobile mast can impact on a consumer’s experience of 5G outdoors and the material construction of properties can additionally affect indoor connectivity.

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 85% of UK premises are now able to access a gigabit-capable broadband connection.

As of February 2024, over 1 million premises had been upgraded to gigabit-capable broadband through government-funded programmes. In total, 36 Project Gigabit contracts have now been signed, to bring fast, reliable broadband to over 1 million more homes and businesses, with more contracts to be awarded in the coming months.

Government wants all areas of the UK to benefit from mobile connectivity.

Ofcom’s reporting shows that 92% of the pre-boundary change constituency area has 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile operators, and that basic (non-standalone) 5G is available from at least one mobile operator outside 99% of premises.

I am aware that Ofcom’s data does not always reflect consumers’ experience of mobile networks. I recently wrote to Ofcom, asking them to set out steps to improve their reporting.

Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. We are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition.

According to the independent website ThinkBroadband.com, over 98% of premises in the Maidstone and Malling constituency can already access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and over 88% have access to a gigabit-capable (>1000 Mbps) connection.

The information that broadband suppliers share with Building Digital UK (BDUK) indicates that there is significant further commercial rollout planned in the area. Remaining premises that are unlikely to be reached by suppliers’ commercial plans will be considered for support through Project Gigabit.

The Government is acting to support more people in getting onto the pitch wherever they live via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which is investing £123 million UK-wide throughout 2024/25. This will ensure that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

The Programme’s aim is to provide a multi-sport benefit with up to 40% of funded projects supporting at least one other sport on a sustainable and regular basis. Our delivery partner for the programme in England, the Football Foundation, works closely with Sport England and the respective National Governing Bodies of other sports to encourage development of multi-sport projects and promote collaboration between clubs at local level. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, our delivery partners are the Scottish Football Association, Cymru Football Foundation and Irish Football Association, who each work with applicants to ensure that there is a multi-sport offering in various projects.

Between 2021 and 2024, Sport England and delivery partners in other parts of the UK invested £204 million into Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities, providing new and upgraded pitches and facilities.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England. They invest £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year.

The Football Association will receive up to £26.1 million from Sport England between 2022 and 2027.

The Football Governance Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 24 October 2024. I look forward to working across the House in due course to progress the Bill through Parliament and ensure we deliver on much needed regulation for the game.

This autumn.

DCMS is working closely with the Department for Health and Social Care as it implements the restrictions on advertisements for less healthy food and drink which are due to come into force in October next year.

The impact of the policy on DCMS sectors was assessed as part of the impact assessment completed by the previous Government. The full impact assessment can be found on GOV.UK.

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.

The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with SEND through early identification, effective support, high quality teaching and effective allocation of resources.

High quality teaching is central to ensuring that pupils with SEND are given the best possible opportunity to achieve in their education. To support all teachers, we are implementing a range of teacher training reforms to ensure teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed, including those with SEND.

On 1 September 2024, the government introduced a new mandatory leadership level National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs). The NPQ will play a key role in improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND by ensuring SENCOs consistently receive high quality, evidence-based training. This is crucial given the central role SENCOs play in supporting pupils with SEND.

A new Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework is due to be implemented from September 2025, which contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND, including, developing an understanding of different pupil needs and learning how to provide opportunities for success for all pupils.

The availability of training and career progression opportunities for teaching assistants helps ensure schools have the skilled staff they need to deliver high quality education. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has recently approved a new Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant apprenticeship, allowing teaching assistants to specialise in one of three areas: SEND, social and emotional wellbeing or curriculum provision. The apprenticeship will be available for candidates to undertake in 2025.

In addition, assistive technology (AT) can break down barriers to opportunity for students with SEND. The department is broadening the effective use of AT for teachers through research, training and guidance.

The department recognises the financial pressures on local authorities due to rising costs in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. The Core Schools Budget Grant will provide over £140 million in additional funding for special and alternative provision schools in 2024/25 to cover increased costs from teachers' pay and support staff negotiations. This is in addition to the £10.75 billion allocated this year for high needs funding and teacher-related costs.

The department’ budget for the 2025/26 financial year is still under review, with funding allocations dependent on the upcoming Spending Review in October. The department recognises the delay and will announce allocations as soon as possible. We are acutely aware not only of the financial pressures that local authorities are facing due to the increasing cost of supporting young people with complex needs but also of the pressures on the government as a whole due to the financial situation it has inherited.

Mainstream schools have a statutory duty to use their best endeavours to ensure that provision for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), such as dyslexia, is made for those who need it. Guidance on this duty is set out in the special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice. Schools should involve pupils and their parents throughout this cycle.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

The government will be focusing on a community-wide approach, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and I will work with families and education and care experts to deliver this in the best interests of all children.

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) are currently being prepared across England. They will identify and prioritise actions and areas for nature recovery and nature-based solutions. The first strategies are expected this autumn with the remainder following in the first half of 2025.

In July, the Secretary of State announced a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan to ensure it is fit for purpose to deliver our legally binding environmental targets. Defra is working with stakeholders to undertake this review, including looking at the role of, and support for, LNRSs in its delivery.

It is evident that the previous Government failed to protect and restore nature. The previous Environment Improvement Plan did not focus enough on delivery of our Environment Act targets and as a result nature is in crisis.

Biodiversity net gain requires most planning applications to deliver a 10% increase in biodiversity compared to what was there before. The biodiversity to be delivered is calculated using the biodiversity metric, developed by Natural England together with stakeholders over a period of many years, drawing on the best science available.

By applying the biodiversity metric to all eligible development sites, we will make sure that the right habitat creation and enhancement takes place to both compensate for what has been lost and deliver a gain.

The metric also rewards biodiversity actions taken in line with Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs), incentivising the right actions to be taken in the right places as LNRSs are brought forward across England.

This Government has set out its intention to deliver for nature, taking action to meet our Environment Act targets, and working in partnership with civil society, communities and business to restore and protect our natural world.

Wilding or rewilding is the restoration of ecosystems to the point where they are more regulated by natural processes. This Government is supporting a number of initiatives to create wilder landscapes across England, as part of a broader approach to nature recovery. Rewilding is not appropriate in all situations, and we must balance priorities including food production.

One of the ways this Government is supporting wilder landscapes and wildlife-rich habitat is through Landscape Recovery (LR), one of Defra’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. LR is for landowners and managers who want to take a large-scale, long-term approach to producing environmental and climate goods on their land. It will facilitate and fund ambitious projects through bespoke, 20+ year agreements. LR supports objectives such as restoring ecological or hydrological function across a landscape, peatland restoration, woodland management, or habitat restoration.

The Water (Special Measures) Bill delivers on our manifesto commitment to put water companies under tough special measures by strengthening regulation and begin the work of cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas.

As an immediate step, this Government will strengthen regulation to reverse the tide on the unacceptable destruction of our waterways, ensuring water companies deliver for customers and the environment and attract private-sector investment to upgrade our crumbling infrastructure.

Change will take time. The Government will outline further legislation to fundamentally transform our water industry and restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health.

The Kent & Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF) is responsible for operational decision making on traffic management measures in response to disruption at Eurotunnel and/or the Port of Dover. The KMRF have well-practised tactical plans in place, including Operation Brock.

While these measures help to mitigate against the worst of any disruption, the Department still recognises the impact disruption has on local residents, businesses, hauliers, and passengers. Therefore, the Department is working with the KMRF and other local stakeholders to continually improve how traffic management plans operate.

Utility companies have a right to access the public road network to repair and maintain the services on which we all rely, as well as to meet the requirements of regulators, for example, to restore services to customers. Utility companies must send a permit to the relevant local highway authority within 2 hours of being on-site and the authority can assess and agree the necessary duration of the works with the company to ensure disruption to road users is minimised. National Highways operate their own arrangements for agreeing access for utility companies to the strategic road network.

Unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting elderly or disabled relatives (including partners) or friends. We are determined to give family carers the help and support they need and deserve.

Research published in 2024 estimated that around 1 in 4 carers receiving Carer’s Allowance are caring for their partner. Unpaid carers may be able to receive financial support from the department depending on their circumstances. Carer’s Allowance provides a measure of financial support and recognition for people who are not able to work full time due to their caring responsibilities. The rate of Carer’s Allowance is £81.90 a week in 2024/25, and from April 2025 this will increase by 1.7%.

In addition to Carer’s Allowance, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit. These benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the carer element and the additional amount for carers respectively. Currently, the Universal Credit carer element is £198.31 per monthly assessment period. The additional amount for a carer in Pension Credit is £45.60 a week.

In making its decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the Government had regard to an equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements. The equality analysis was published on Friday 13th September, and can be found here: GOV.UK.

Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Payment alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them. We will ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need.

The State Pension is the foundation of income in retirement and will remain so protecting 12 million pensioners through the triple lock. Based on current forecasts, the full rate of the new state pension is set to increase by £1,700 over the course of this Parliament.

We are also providing support for pensioners through our Warm Homes Plan which will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.

The Household Support Fund is also being extended for a further six months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025.  An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual.

The Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales provides eligible low-income households across Great Britain with a £150 rebate on their electricity bill. This winter, we expect over three million households, including over one million pensioners, to benefit under the scheme.

The Department has taken a number of steps to help prevent foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). The UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines, published in 2016, provide clear advice to women not to drink alcohol if they are planning for a pregnancy or are pregnant, and are available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a80b7ed40f0b623026951db/UK_CMOs__report.pdf

The National Health Service website offers advice on the use of alcohol during pregnancy and sources of support, which includes speaking to a general practitioner, midwife, or local treatment service, or contacting the Government’s Talk to Frank website. Further information on the NHS website’s advice on the use of alcohol during pregnancy and sources of support, and the Government’s Talk to Frank website is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/drinking-alcohol-while-pregnant/

www.talktofrank.com/contact-frank

The Department asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a Quality Standard in England (QS204) for FASD to help the health and care system improve both diagnosis and support for people affected by FASD. The quality standard also covers support during pregnancy to improve awareness and prevent the disorder. It was published in March 2022, and is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs204

The Department will soon be publishing the first ever United Kingdom clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment. The aim of the guidelines is to promote and support good practice and improve quality of service provision, resulting in better outcomes for people experiencing harmful drinking and alcohol dependence. The guidelines will set out how maternity, alcohol treatment, and other healthcare professionals should support women to reduce or stop their alcohol use as quickly and safely as possible, to reduce the ongoing exposure of the foetus to alcohol and the risk and severity of future disability.

To repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. On the impact on charities in particular, our tax regime for charities, including exemption from paying business rates, is among the most generous of anywhere in the world, with tax reliefs for charities and their donors worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.

The Government considered the cost pressures facing adult social care as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the Spending Review process. This assessment took into account a wide range of factors, including changes to employer National Insurance contributions, and the National Living Wage increases.

In response to the range of pressures facing local authorities, the Government is providing a real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of approximately 3.2%, which includes £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26.

The Women's Health Strategy call for evidence in 2021 received nearly 100,000 responses from individuals, and over 400 written submissions from expert groups and researchers. It identified a range of issues including women not feeling listened to by healthcare professionals, damaging taboos and stigmas in women’s health that can prevent women from seeking help and that can reinforce beliefs that debilitating symptoms are normal, healthcare services not considering women’s needs by default, and under-representation of women in research.

We are considering how to take forward the Women’s Health Strategy for England. The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we reform the National Health Service, and we will put women’s equality at the heart of our missions.

NHS England does not hold this information centrally. However, the provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines.

Employers determine the number of specialist nurses needed to provide care for the population. However, there is no specific regulatory requirement for post registration education, and people can choose to upskill to meet their own educational requirements.

Student nurses do receive broad preparation, so they are able to support adults needing care, including those with dementia. The Advanced Clinical Practice programme supports the progression of clinicians, enabling them to take on more specialist roles.

We recognise the significant impact the theft of tools can have, especially on people who rely on these to earn a living.

We are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which aims to prevent the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting.

The Act requires secondary legislation before it can come into effect. We will be carefully considering the views of those who may be affected by the legislation and its regulations, to understand the potential implications and determine the scope of the legislation.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets an expectation that the provision of local services is to be taken into account when planning for development.

Local development plans should address needs and opportunities in relation to infrastructure and identify what infrastructure is required and how it can be funded and brought forward. This will remain the case irrespective of whether any proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework or wider national planning policy are taken forward.

When preparing a Local Plan, Planning Practice Guidance recommends that local planning authorities use available evidence of infrastructure requirements to prepare an Infrastructure Funding Statement. Such Statements can be used to demonstrate the delivery of infrastructure throughout the plan-period.

The Government provides financial support for essential infrastructure in areas of greatest housing demand through the Housing Infrastructure Fund.

The Government is also committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure that new developments provide appropriate affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.

The Deputy Prime Minister outlined the early steps we are taking to deliver the biggest boost to social and affordable housing for a generation in her written statement made on 30 July 2024 (HCWS48). More announcements will be made in due course.

As set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner.

Local planning authorities are required to plan for infrastructure delivery as part of plan-making and report on their use of developer contributions in Infrastructure Funding Statements.

The Government will keep the provision of local infrastructure under review, including when considering revisions to national planning policy.

Housing targets are an important tool to ensure housing is delivered in the right places – this is critical in tackling the chronic shortage that the country is facing that means owning a home is a distant reality for much of the public.

We cannot local a generation out of homeownership, we must build the homes the next generation needs.

As set out in the manifesto, the Government will restore mandatory housing targets. We will reverse the damaging changes introduced in December 2023 that undermine our growth ambitions and commitment to delivering 1.5 million homes. We will set out more detail in the forthcoming National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) update.

We will take a brownfield first approach, prioritising the development of previously used land wherever possible and fast-tracking approval of urban brownfield sites.

Brownfield alone will never be enough to build the homes we need– which is why we will look to lower quality ‘grey belt’ land where necessary to meet local housing needs.

By enabling democratic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built – the major brakes on the planning system will be addressed to support sustainable growth.

We are working at pace on various revisions to the NPPF, with a view to public consultation on a new draft Framework in due course.

Housing targets are an important tool to ensure housing is delivered in the right places – this is critical in tackling the chronic shortage that the country is facing that means owning a home is a distant reality for much of the public.

We cannot local a generation out of homeownership, we must build the homes the next generation needs.

As set out in the manifesto, the Government will restore mandatory housing targets. We will reverse the damaging changes introduced in December 2023 that undermine our growth ambitions and commitment to delivering 1.5 million homes. We will set out more detail in the forthcoming National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) update.

We will take a brownfield first approach, prioritising the development of previously used land wherever possible and fast-tracking approval of urban brownfield sites.

Brownfield alone will never be enough to build the homes we need– which is why we will look to lower quality ‘grey belt’ land where necessary to meet local housing needs.

By enabling democratic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built – the major brakes on the planning system will be addressed to support sustainable growth.

We are working at pace on various revisions to the NPPF, with a view to public consultation on a new draft Framework in due course.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is not Government legislation. If the Bill were to progress, the Government may well assess the policy and its impacts. Should the Bill become law, the appropriate arrangements will be made to ensure the Government is able to fulfil its legal duties.