Melanie Ward

DESNZ has responsibility for the measurement of fuel poverty in England. The latest

estimates of fuel poverty in England are available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics

Fuel poverty is a devolved matter and different metrics of fuel poverty are used in the Devolved Administrations.

This Government is committed to resetting the relationship and seeking to deepen ties with our European friends, neighbours and allies. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) allows for potential cooperation on aviation safety in a number of areas, including on personnel licencing. The UK will continue to seek expansions in the aviation safety chapter of the TCA where appropriate.

Outturn for Maternity Pay consists of both Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance, and is published by country in the Expenditure by country and region tables, last updated following Autumn Statement 2023.

Outturn for Scotland in the last five years available is as below

(Expenditure £ million, nominal terms)

Maternity Allowance expenditure figures for Scotland are estimates using national and regional breakdowns from Official Statistics on Maternity Allowance benefit caseload and average amounts of benefit paid, applied to GB outturn expenditure totals.

Statutory Maternity Pay Expenditure figures for Scotland are estimates using national and regional breakdown of amounts of SMP paid to employees, applied to GB outturn expenditure totals.

Please note, these figures may change with the next publication of data, following Autumn Budget 2024.

We are not expecting to publish breakdowns of MA in Autumn 2024 as a new operational system to record MA cases is currently being developed. As such, Maternity Allowance statistics will be suspended from the quarterly statistics release on 13 August 2024 until data can be extracted from the new system. (Maternity Allowance: quarterly statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).

A consultation on proposed reforms to the CMS was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. The consultation includes exploration of removing Direct Pay and managing all CMS cases in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster. The consultation also explores how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported.

The Government extended the consultation to the 30 September 2024 to ensure full stakeholder engagement can take place, we will then consider the next steps for CMS.

Statistics for the total number of people living in relative and absolute poverty are not available at a constituency level.

Statistics on the total number of people in living in relative and absolute poverty both before and after housing costs at regional level are published annually in the Households Below Average Income statistics Households below average income (HBAI) statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Statistics on the number of Children living in absolute and relative poverty per constituency are published annually in the “Children in low income families: local area statistics” publication and can be found in tabs “5_Relative_ParlC” and “6_Absolute_ParlC”. These are only produced on a before housing cost basis.

A link to these statistics can be found here: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Department for Work and Pensions produces household income statistics on both a before housing costs and after housing costs basis, published in its Households Below Average Income publication. However, these are not available at constituency level: Households below average income (HBAI) statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Office for National Statistics produces household disposable income statistics. However, these are also not available at constituency level. The latest regional gross disposable household income statistics can be found here: Regional gross disposable household income, UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

The Department monitors and manages medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. Information is not collected on a local level.

The Department has been working hard with industry and NHS England to help resolve supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved and all strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.

We are continuing to work to resolve supply issues where they remain, for methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets. We are engaging with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to assess the challenges faced and their actions to address them. We are also directing suppliers to secure additional stocks, expedite deliveries where possible, and review plans to further build capacity to support continued growth in demand for the short and long-term. We anticipate intermittent regional supply disruptions to continue, and we expect supply to improve in the UK from October 2024.

In parallel, the Department has worked with specialist clinicians, including those within the National Health Service, to develop management advice for NHS clinicians to consider prescribing available alternative brands of methylphenidate prolonged release tablets or available alternative ADHD medicines. We would expect ADHD service providers and specialists to follow our guidance, which includes offering rapid response to primary care teams seeking urgent advice or opinion for the management of patients, including those known to be at a higher risk of adverse impact because of these shortages.

To aid ADHD service providers and prescribers further we have widely disseminated our communications, and continually update a list of currently available and unavailable ADHD products on the Specialist Pharmacy Service website, helping ensure that those involved in the prescribing and dispensing of ADHD medications can make informed decisions with patients.

The Department recognises the significant physical and psychological consequences of birth trauma and the devastating impact this has on women. The Government remains fully committed to improving the quality and consistency of care for women throughout pregnancy, birth, and the critical months that follow. National Health Service trusts in England submit data through the Maternity Services Data Set from the booking appointment through to discharge from maternity services, which is usually approximately 10 days after birth. This includes data on instrumental delivery complications including post-partum haemorrhage and severe perineal tears but, due to the time period covered by the data, does not capture lasting health problems arising from birth.

The UK's robust export licensing criteria state that the Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law. Following the Government's decision on 2 September to suspend certain arms export licences to Israel for use in Gaza, there are currently no extant licences that we assess are for use in Lebanon or the West Bank, apart from the licences for the F-35 components which were exempted. We are clear that International Humanitarian Law must be upheld, and civilians protected.

The FCDO supports a comprehensive approach to mass atrocity prevention. However, we have no plans to develop a new national strategy at this time. Since 2022, the FCDO's conflict directorate has been strengthening monitoring capabilities to identify and escalate atrocity risks before they occur. We will continue to develop our capacity to respond to atrocity risks, drawing on expertise across HMG and beyond, including from civil society, academia and cooperation with bilateral partners and multilateral organisations.

The UK Government does not hold this data directly. However, we are extremely concerned about the number of casualties amongst the humanitarian sector community, including our own UK nationals. International Humanitarian Law provides for the protection of non-combatants. Whilst in Israel, the Foreign Secretary pressed Prime Minister Netanyahu to implement improved deconfliction processes to protect aid workers. I will continue to raise with my Israeli counterparts the incidents that affect the delivery of vital humanitarian work.

Israel must take concrete steps to protect civilians and aid workers in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. This includes deconfliction between military and humanitarian operations, and supporting the minimum operating requirements of the UN agencies. The World Central Kitchen (WCK) deaths on 2 April, including the death of three British Nationals, were an appalling example of Israel's failure to provide an effective deconfliction mechanism to keep humanitarian operations safe from military operations.

It is our policy that any FCDO monitoring and assessment of atrocity risks is confidential and therefore we have no plans to publish. However, we continue to monitor risks closely and will continue to update the House on the ongoing situation in Gaza. We do not have access to the advice provided to the previous Government.

I know that the loan charge is an extremely important issue for many members and their constituents.

I have met with campaigners to discuss the loan charge, and the Chancellor and I are considering this matter further. We will provide an update in due course.

The Electoral Commission is the independent electoral regulator and will be reporting on the administration of the May elections and the recent General Election. This will include the proportion of individuals turned away for lack of accepted identification. We anticipate publication of their initial findings on voter ID later this month and their full election report later in the year.

In line with our manifesto commitments, we will carefully review the voter ID rules and evaluate how they impacted citizens during the General Election before bringing forward firm proposals for reform in due course. This will of course include full consideration of the Electoral Commission’s findings.

With regard to postal voting at the 2024 General Election, I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 199 on 26 July 2024.

The Government is committed to delivering economic growth across the country and is considering how to best fund long-term local funding in line with wider fiscal and economic priorities.

Post-March 2025 funding is a decision for the Budget.

I regularly talk to the Chancellor and her team to discuss many aspects of funding, across all the departments’ business and my officials work closely with those in the Treasury. The future of any departmental programme will be agreed as part of the budget and next fiscal event in light of those discussions.

The Government is committed to delivering economic growth across the country, and is considering how to best fund long-term local funding in line with wider fiscal and economic priorities.