Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to community pharmacies of the rise in (a) business rates and (b) the National Minimum Wage from 1 April 2025.

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

We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.

The Department has considered the increases in the National Living Wage when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on health technology assessment methods for evaluating novel therapies for Alzheimer's disease.

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

Department officials have regular discussions with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about a range of topics, including its health technology assessment methods.

The NICE develops its guidance independently on the basis of an assessment of the available evidence, in line with its published health technology evaluation manual. The NICE keeps its methods and processes under review to ensure that they are appropriate to emerging new treatments and aligned with best practice.

The NICE has established a Health Technology Assessment Innovation Laboratory (HTA Lab) that aims to address the challenges that may arise in the assessment of innovative health technologies.

The NICE’s HTA Lab carried out a project to identify the key issues that are likely to emerge during the evaluation of the disease modifying treatments for dementia, including those licensed for Alzheimer’s disease. The project concluded that the NICE’s current approach and methods are appropriate for evaluating these treatments. The report is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/our-research-work/hta-lab-projects#dmdts

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England, published on 29 November 2024, whether offices are now required to rinse or wash empty food containers and bottles to place in recyclable waste.

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

Yes, as of 31 March 2025 all workplaces with ten or more full-time equivalent employees, including offices, must separate out recycling (plastic, metal, glass, paper and card) and food waste for recycling. Recyclables should be rinsed to remove any food or other contaminants to ensure the materials can be recycled.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of civil service employees under performance management procedures.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Performance management is managed by individual departments, meaning this information is not held centrally.

In March, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced that the Government will be strengthening performance processes for the SCS.

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 conduct a review of environmental compliance obligations.

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

Defra complies with the Better Regulation Framework alongside HMT’s Green Book and Magenta Book principles. Where required, Defra will conduct post implementation reviews (PIRs) of legislation.

The Chancellor’s Action Plan, published 17 March 2025, is supported by Defra. In that plan we have already committed to take actions relating to environmental and planning regulation, amongst other things. We want to ensure our regulatory system becomes more flexible, coherent and innovation-friendly to support new infrastructure and development, whilst upholding our protections for the environment and local communities.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department quantifies compliance costs for new regulations.

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

‘’Compliance costs” are the costs of complying with government regulation. These will typically include familiarisation costs, costs relating to monitoring or data reporting, and costs related to inspections where relevant. When analysing impacts on businesses of any new or amended policy, Defra complies with the Better Regulation Framework alongside HMT’s Green Book and Magenta Book principles.

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 includes indirect business losses when estimating compliance costs.

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

“Compliance costs” are the costs of complying with government regulation. When analysing impacts on businesses of any new or amended policy, Defra complies with the Better Regulation Framework alongside HMT’s Green Book and Magenta Book principles. We do not routinely consider indirect costs to business as this is not a requirement of the Framework.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many public contracts awarded by his Department have been subject to investigations for (a) fraud and (b) corruption since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government takes any allegations of fraud and corruption very seriously. 5 contracts have been referred to the Cabinet Office Assurance, Compliance and Counter Fraud Team for consideration of allegations of fraud or corruption.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment on energy payments to gas fired electricity generators during the winter period December 2024 to February 2025.

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

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has not conducted a formal impact assessment on energy payments to gas fired electricity generators during the winter period December 2024 to February 2025. The Government is working closely with Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator to ensure the Balancing Mechanism, a tool that ensures electricity supply meets demand in real-time, remains competitive and transparent. The Government continues to monitor the Capacity Market - the main tool for ensuring continued security of electricity supply - making improvements where necessary to ensure it remains fit for purpose.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how frequently his Department reviews initial compliance cost estimates in impact assessments.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Sections 28–31 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 set the legislative requirements for the inclusion of statutory review provisions in secondary legislation, including that a report of the first review must be published within five years of the relevant legislation's commencement date and subsequent reports published at intervals not exceeding five years. In the absence of a review provision, the post-implementation review statutory guidance made under section 31 of the act states that policies should still be subject to proportionate monitoring, evaluation and non-statutory review, where appropriate.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what methodology his Department uses to identify potentially unnecessary regulations.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The government is reforming the regulatory landscape because it is not functioning as effectively as it should. Officials in the Department for Business and Trade are working with colleagues across government and have undertaken extensive engagement with businesses, think tanks and other key stakeholders to identify regulatory barriers to economic growth across the Industrial Strategy growth-driving sectors.

In particular, this work is being informed by responses to the Industrial Strategy Green Paper, so we are hearing directly from as many stakeholders as possible. These reforms will be published in due course as part of the Industrial Strategy.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 40054, what the total salary cost was for the staff engaged in the redesign of the Great British Energy logo from commission to delivery.

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

As per my answer to Question 40054, Great British Energy’s logo was created in-house and with government resources. However, since the staff involved were not recruited specifically to design the logo a detailed breakdown of the time and costs involved is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

I can however assure the hon Member that the Government is committed to ensuring that staff resources are used efficiently and effectively.

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 reduce compliance costs for agricultural subsidies.

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

“Compliance costs” are the costs of complying with Government regulation. Our Environmental Land Management Schemes provide farmers and land managers with the support they need to help restore nature, which is vital to safeguard our long-term food security, support productivity and build resilience to climate change. Participation in these schemes is discretionary, and so they do not of themselves carry compliance costs.

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 is taking steps to (a) monitor and (b) reduce compliance costs for fisheries regulations.

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

Costs of compliance for regulations are assessed through Impact Assessments when regulations are introduced according to the Better Regulation Framework. Defra regulators keep all regulations under review to understand their effectiveness. We are also mindful of the desire of the fishing industry to have bespoke regulation, appropriate for the stocks and circumstances. This can add complexity and costs, something we are considering as we develop and implement Fisheries Management Plans.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the total value of the (a) VAT zero-rating and (b) Insurance Premium Tax concession applied to vehicles (i) purchased or (ii) leased as part of the Motability Scheme from the most recent data available.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC’s published tax relief statistics provide an estimate of the cost of the Zero Rate of VAT for Vehicles and other supplies to disabled people (vehicles only) of £1,210 million in 2023-24, see Non-structural tax reliefs - GOV.UK. Most of this cost represents vehicles in the Motability scheme, but it also includes other sales of adapted vehicles to disabled people.

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 maintains accurate records of compliance costs for agricultural regulations.

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

Costs of compliance for regulations are assessed through Impact Assessments when regulations are introduced according to the Better Regulation Framework. Defra regulators carry out regular monitoring and evaluation of regulations to understand their effectiveness.

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 maintains records of compliance costs for agricultural regulations.

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

Costs of compliance for regulations are assessed through Impact Assessments when regulations are introduced according to the Better Regulation Framework. Defra regulators carry out regular monitoring and evaluation of regulations to understand their effectiveness.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what accountability measures exist for civil servants producing regulatory impact assessments.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

When producing regulatory impact assessments, the government expects all civil servants to adhere to published guidance including the Better Regulation Framework and HM Treasury Green Book.

All civil servants involved in the production of impact assessments are subject to the standards of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality set out in the Civil Service Code and are held to account principally through their relevant performance management framework.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to require routine independent assessments of regulatory costs.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Assessments of regulatory costs that departments produce as part of the options assessments for major regulatory provisions within the scope of the Better Regulation Framework are subject to independent scrutiny by the Regulatory Policy Committee. On 13 March, the Prime Minister issued a new target for the government to cut the costs of regulation to business. This target for government departments and regulators will lead to less red tape and greater economic growth. The government will bring forward its plans to meet the target and its method for assessing progress towards it later this year.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has identified international trade compliance obligations for (a) simplification and (b) removal.

Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

This Government's central mission is economic growth, with trade being a core part of that Mission.  The Trade Strategy sets out a clear plan to maximise trade opportunities now and in the future. The Trade Strategy is grounded in the realities of the context in which we are operating and provides practical tools to support businesses to trade and drive growth both in the current context and in the future. It will primarily focus on the ways that trade is changing and how the UK can take a forward-facing approach to upcoming challenges.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department validates estimates of compliance costs provided by regulated industries.

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

“Compliance costs” are the costs of complying with government regulation. These will typically include familiarisation costs, costs relating to monitoring or data reporting, and costs related to inspections where relevant. When analysing impacts on businesses of any new or amended policy, Defra complies with the Better Regulation Framework alongside HMT’s Green Book and Magenta Book principles.

Where required, Defra will conduct post implementation reviews (PIRs) of legislation.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the accuracy of its compliance cost evaluations.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

On 13 March, the Prime Minister announced that government will cut the costs of regulation to business by 25% by the end of this Parliament. First, we must fully understand these costs. To do this, we will establish a robust regulatory baseline by using data government already holds and working in partnership with business to understand their real-life experiences of complying with regulation.

Reducing these costs on businesses will allow them to flourish and to innovate, enabling economic growth.

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 the recent National Living Wage increase and National Insurance Contributions rise on the financial viability of community equipment providers.

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

At the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Government announced a £22.6 billion increase in day-to-day health spending and a £3.1 billion increase in the capital budget over financial years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026. Departmental budgets beyond 2025/26 will be set through phase two of the Spending Review, which will conclude and be published in June 2025.

The rise in employer National Insurance contributions (ENIC) will be implemented from April 2025, and NHS England has published planning guidance setting out the funding available to integrated care boards and the overall approach to funding for National Health Service providers in the next financial year, which takes account of a variety of pay and non-pay factors and pressures on providers of secondary healthcare. The NHS Payment Scheme is equally applicable to NHS and non-NHS providers of secondary healthcare, and published national prices include an estimate of ENIC costs.

Local NHS procuring authorities, whether integrated care boards or NHS providers, are responsible for discussing and agreeing contracts with community equipment providers, which will take into account the resources available to them. Economic growth is the Government’s number one mission, and the Government supports businesses to invest, grow, and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. To support the growth mission, the Government is driving forward work to implement a modern Industrial Strategy, to reset trade relations, to support small business, and to deliver a new deal for working people.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with representatives from the community equipment sector on the potential impact of costs on service availability and patient access.

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

At the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Government announced a £22.6 billion increase in day-to-day health spending and a £3.1 billion increase in the capital budget over financial years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026. Departmental budgets beyond 2025/26 will be set through phase two of the Spending Review, which will conclude and be published in June 2025.

The rise in employer National Insurance contributions (ENIC) will be implemented from April 2025, and NHS England has published planning guidance setting out the funding available to integrated care boards and the overall approach to funding for National Health Service providers in the next financial year, which takes account of a variety of pay and non-pay factors and pressures on providers of secondary healthcare. The NHS Payment Scheme is equally applicable to NHS and non-NHS providers of secondary healthcare, and published national prices include an estimate of ENIC costs.

Local NHS procuring authorities, whether integrated care boards or NHS providers, are responsible for discussing and agreeing contracts with community equipment providers, which will take into account the resources available to them. Economic growth is the Government’s number one mission, and the Government supports businesses to invest, grow, and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. To support the growth mission, the Government is driving forward work to implement a modern Industrial Strategy, to reset trade relations, to support small business, and to deliver a new deal for working people.

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 community equipment providers in managing rising operational costs while ensuring continued service provision.

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

At the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Government announced a £22.6 billion increase in day-to-day health spending and a £3.1 billion increase in the capital budget over financial years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026. Departmental budgets beyond 2025/26 will be set through phase two of the Spending Review, which will conclude and be published in June 2025.

The rise in employer National Insurance contributions (ENIC) will be implemented from April 2025, and NHS England has published planning guidance setting out the funding available to integrated care boards and the overall approach to funding for National Health Service providers in the next financial year, which takes account of a variety of pay and non-pay factors and pressures on providers of secondary healthcare. The NHS Payment Scheme is equally applicable to NHS and non-NHS providers of secondary healthcare, and published national prices include an estimate of ENIC costs.

Local NHS procuring authorities, whether integrated care boards or NHS providers, are responsible for discussing and agreeing contracts with community equipment providers, which will take into account the resources available to them. Economic growth is the Government’s number one mission, and the Government supports businesses to invest, grow, and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. To support the growth mission, the Government is driving forward work to implement a modern Industrial Strategy, to reset trade relations, to support small business, and to deliver a new deal for working people.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has assessed compliance costs associated with local authority planning approvals.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Ensuring compliance with planning approvals is a matter for local planning authorities. As such, the Department has not made an assessment of the costs involved.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 26635 on Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal, whether (a) his Department and (b) WRAP has undertaken research on restricting residual waste volumes by capping the quantity of bin bags provided to local households for collection.

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

No, Defra has not undertaken research on this. WRAP, supported by Defra, and with input from local authorities, has developed good practice guidance on household and commercial waste collections designed to help local authorities deliver quality waste and recycling services to citizens in England. This will include guidance on residual waste collection and is intended to be published shortly.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32568 on Litter: Fines, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse being non-statutory on levels of compliance with that guidance.

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

The Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse, as it relates to cleaning standards, is statutory guidance. The code was amended in 2019 to include advisory guidance on litter enforcement. We do not intend to make an assessment of levels of compliance with the enforcement guidance. The Government is however currently examining the benefits of making it statutory.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which coroner jurisdictions have the longest inquest wait times; and what steps she is taking to bring them in line with national averages.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The requested information is available in, or can be extrapolated from, the Coroner Statistics 2023 which are published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2023. Statistics for 2024 will be published on 08 May 2025.

The Government is committed to supporting an inquest process which is as swift as possible and which puts the bereaved families at the heart of the process. We recognise the impact of delays on bereaved families and wider systems and will continue to work closely with the Chief Coroner, Local Authorities and other key partners to reform and deliver a framework for the future development of coroner services.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting times are for coroner inquests in each region.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The requested information is available in, or can be extrapolated from, the Coroner Statistics 2023 which are published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2023. Statistics for 2024 will be published on 08 May 2025.

The Government is committed to supporting an inquest process which is as swift as possible and which puts the bereaved families at the heart of the process. We recognise the impact of delays on bereaved families and wider systems and will continue to work closely with the Chief Coroner, Local Authorities and other key partners to reform and deliver a framework for the future development of coroner services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what type of mental health support will patients who are prescribed antidepressants be able to receive from community pharmacies.

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

The New Medicine Service (NMS) is an advanced service offered by community pharmacies, providing patients with advice to address any possible side effects, issues, or questions that patients who are prescribed a new medicine may have. The service focuses on treatments for long-term conditions, including asthma and hypertension.

Early interventions of this type can improve medication adherence, patient outcomes, and can reduce pressure on the wider National Health Service. From October 2025, the NMS will expand to introduce depression as a further therapeutic area for which patients can receive support.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32571 on WRAP: Finance, how much funding to WRAP has been budgeted for the 2025-26 financial year.

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

A WRAP grant provision of £5,952,500 for 2025-26 is planned, this is provisional subject to agreement of the 2025-26 programme proposal from WRAP.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32568 on Litter: Fines, if he will take steps to issue guidance to local authorities on establishing a mechanism to (a) appeal and (b) review fixed penalty notices.

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

There is no formal right of appeal against a fixed penalty notice. If an alleged offender does not accept their liability for the offence, there is no requirement on them to pay the fixed penalty. They may have to defend their case in court. We consider it good practice for councils to operate an informal dispute process to minimise the number of cases that reach court.

Advisory enforcement guidance attached to the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse provides enforcing authorities with advice on how to operate a process for informally disputing liability. The Government is currently considering the benefits of placing this guidance on a statutory footing.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 26631 on WRAP, if he will publish the contract or memorandum of understanding between his Department and WRAP that provides the basis for his Department funding WRAP.

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

Details of the WRAP grant agreement are published on the Grants register held on GOV.UK. The WRAP grant agreement details the purpose and objectives of the grant, standard terms and conditions, performance monitoring and financial assurance.

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 has funded any publications produced by WRAP in each of the last three years.

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

Yes, Defra has funded a number of publications produced by WRAP in each of the last three years including publications on food waste reduction, recycling and textiles.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the proportion of additional funding for community pharmacies that will be required from 1 April 2025 to cover the increase in (a) employer National Insurance contributions, (b) business rates and (c) the National Minimum Wage in (i) 2024-25 and (ii) 2025-26.

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

We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department, from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.

The Department considered the increase in the National Living Wage when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

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 4 March 2025 to Question 32576 on Fires: Air Pollution, whether the UK Health Security Agency and its predecessor has made an assessment of the impact of air pollution caused by backyard burning of domestic waste on public health.

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

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), formerly Public Health England, has published systematic reviews of the epidemiological studies on the health impacts associated with outdoor and indoor exposure to solid fuel burning. This included biomass and coal, and respiratory diseases in children and adults. The evidence suggests that burning solid fuels indoors could contribute to the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer in adults, while the evidence for other respiratory effects is less clear. The results regarding outdoor exposure and the health effects were too limited to draw firm conclusions.

The evidence of links between exposure to air pollution and a wider range of health effects, such as adverse birth outcomes, diabetes, and increased dementia risk, also continues to build, with varying strengths of evidence. This was noted in the Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report on air pollution 2022, which the UKHSA contributed to. This report is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2022-air-pollution

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken for coroner inquests on the issuing of Prevention of Future Death reports.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Regulation 28(3) of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013 provides that a Prevention of Future Death report may not be made until a coroner has considered all the documents, evidence and information that, in the opinion of the coroner, are relevant to an investigation. The Chief Coroner has issued Guidance for coroners on reports to prevent future deaths, including on the timing of any report in the context of an individual investigation. The Guidance is available at: Reports to prevent future deaths (PFDs) - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary.

The Government is committed to supporting an inquest process which is as swift as possible and which puts the bereaved families at the heart of the process. We recognise the impact of delays on bereaved families and wider systems and will continue to work closely with the Chief Coroner, Local Authorities and other key partners to reform and deliver a framework for the future development of coroner services.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32569 on Domestic Waste: Recycling and Waste Disposal, whether WRAP provided guidance on the Simpler Recycling reforms to residual waste collection.

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

WRAP, supported by Defra, and with input from local authorities, has developed good practice guidance on household and commercial waste collections designed to help local authorities deliver quality waste and recycling services to citizens in England. This will include guidance on residual waste collection and is intended to be published shortly.

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 increase (a) survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and (b) the availability of defibrillators in Isle of Wight East constituency.

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

To improve patients' survival rates following out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, the Government has committed to improving access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED Fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the fund.

As part of the application process, the Department has selected Smarter Society as its independent partner to manage grant applications against requirements specified by the Department, to ensure that resources are allocated to where there is the greatest need, for instance remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.

When an AED is installed, these defibrillators are required to be registered on The Circuit, the national defibrillator and ambulance service database. Upon registration, contact details are provided for the nominated AED guardian/s who are local to the defibrillator’s location and conduct checks when required. One AED has been distributed through the fund to the Isle of Wight East postcode area.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 40054, what the total staff time spent on the redesign of the Great British Energy logo was.

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

As per my answer to Question 40054, Great British Energy’s logo was created in-house and with government resources. However, since the staff involved were not recruited specifically to design the logo a detailed breakdown of the time and costs involved is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

I can however assure the hon Member that the Government is committed to ensuring that staff resources are used efficiently and effectively.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 40054 on Great British Energy: Logos, what the internal costs were for the redesign of the Great British Energy logo.

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

As per my answer to Questions 42936 and 42937 the staff involved in the creation of Great British Energy’s logo were not recruited specifically to design the logo. Therefore, a detailed breakdown of the time and costs involved is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

I can however assure the hon Member that the Government is committed to ensuring that staff resources are used efficiently and effectively.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2025 to Question 28295 on Wood-burning Stoves: Health Hazards, what the (a) terms of reference and (b) timetable is of his Department’s review of options for reducing emissions from domestic burning.

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

The Government is committed to taking action to clean up our air and protecting the public from the harm of pollution. Domestic solid fuel burning accounted for 20% of PM2.5 emissions in 2023, with indoor wood burning accounting for 11% of total PM2.5. The Government concluded a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) and published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025. Later in 2025 we will publish a revised Environmental Improvement Plan, to protect and restore our natural environment. It will be a clearer, prioritised plan for achieving environmental outcomes, including improving air quality through action on PM2.5.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her Department's policy is on whether compliance costs reported for financial regulations should be subject to periodic independent verification.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Following the announcement to cut the administrative costs of regulation on businesses by 25% by the end of this Parliament, the government is now taking forward a baselining exercise to understand how much regulation is costing and where it can be reformed to remove unnecessary burdens and achieve its policy objectives more efficiently. We are considering a range of methodologies to ensure our baselining is robust.

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 requires the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to undertake and publish a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) when consulting on any proposal to make or amend rules, to analyse the likely expected costs and benefits arising from the changes. The FCA and PRA are also required to maintain CBA Panels which provide advice on the preparation of CBAs.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data his Department holds on the average duration that civil service employees remain under performance management before a resolution is reached.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Performance management is managed by individual departments, meaning this information is not held centrally. In March, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced that the Government will be strengthening performance processes for the SCS.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 40570 on Ministers: Aviation and to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36276 on Military Aircraft: Helicopters, which (a) Ministers and (b) Departments are eligible to procure official helicopter travel under the provisions of the Central Cabinet Office Corporate Travel Agency Contract other than the Ministry of Defence.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Central Cabinet Office Corporate Travel Agency Contract contains provisions for the booking of aviation assets for any government department or minister, in accordance with the Ministerial Code. This contract has not been utilised for helicopter travel by this government.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how often her Department assesses compliance costs associated with local government administration.

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

The Department regularly engages with authorities across the country to understand the administrative costs councils face, and to work with the sector to reduce these.

The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25. The majority of funding in the Settlement is unringfenced, recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department takes to calculate compliance costs education-related regulations.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department assesses education-related regulation compliance costs for businesses and households as per the Better Regulation Framework, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/better-regulation-framework.

This typically involves a proportionate assessment of the costs following the steps outlined in the framework:

• Stakeholder consultation.
• Rationale for regulation.
• Options Assessment.
• Economic analysis of the expected compliance costs, including the Small and Micro Business Assessment.
• Development of a regulatory impact assessment (RIA), including the estimated direct costs to businesses and households.

These RIAs are scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) as required and published alongside legislation when laid before Parliament.

The RPC also publishes opinions of the department’s RIAs, all of which in the past ten years have been Green-rated as fit-for-purpose. These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/rpc-opinions-for-department-for-education.

Compliance costs of regulations to public sector services such as local authorities, schools and children’s services are estimated in a similar way. This can involve consultation with impacted stakeholders, analysis of expected administration and adaptation costs, evidence from similar regulations and modelling of potential impacts as appropriate.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether compliance obligations related to defence procurement will be assessed for potential reduction.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Through our acquisition reforms we are streamlining our processes and taking risk-based approaches to procurement. We will focus assurance activity where it is most needed, reducing bureaucracy to drive pace in delivery, while ensuring compliance with the Department’s legal obligations.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how frequently his Department reviews compliance costs for the technology sector.

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

Sections 28–31 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 set the legislative requirements for the inclusion of statutory review provisions in secondary legislation, including that a report of the first review must be published within five years of the relevant legislation's commencement date and subsequent reports published at intervals not exceeding five years. In the absence of a review provision, the post-implementation review statutory guidance made under section 31 of the act states that policies should still be subject to proportionate monitoring, evaluation and non-statutory review, where appropriate.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to commission external reviews of digital compliance regulations.

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

The Government's independent regulators regularly review regulations and provide their independent recommendations to the Secretary of State to ensure that these regulations are effective and support businesses within the sector.

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Found: Q220 Joe Robertson: So, NHS England is disappearing. ICBs are definitely staying?

Found: ; Ben Coleman; Jen Craft; Josh Fenton-Glynn; Andrew George; Paulette Hamilton; Alex McIntyre; Joe Robertson

Found: Ben Coleman; Jen Craft; Josh Fenton -Glynn; Andrew George; Paulette Hamilton; Alex McIntyre; Joe Robertson

Found: ; Ben Coleman; Jen Craft; Josh Fenton-Glynn; Andrew George; Paulette Hamilton; Alex McIntyre; Joe Robertson

Found: Ben Coleman; Dr Beccy Cooper; Jen Craft; Josh Fenton-Glynn; Andrew George; Paulette Hamilton; Joe Robertson