Monica Harding

The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) supports UK National Security and as part of that delivers on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) in support of UK’s WPS National Action Plan. All projects funded through the ISF consider how their work can benefit gender and social inclusion. ISF projects use marker tools such as the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) indicators to ensure that gender issues are considered from the design stage.

In 2025-26 the Fund has a dedicated allocation for gender and national security work. Funding allocations for 2025/26 are due to be published in the autumn alongside the ISF Annual Report 2024/25 and allocations for future financial years will be announced in due course.

Supporting women and girls is a priority for this Government. The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) supports UK National Security and as a part of that delivers on Women, Peace and Security through the UK National Action Plan. The ISF addresses gender and national security threats, both domestically and internationally across the breadth of its work. All ISF programmes consider the impact of gender on their work alongside dedicated projects.

My officials engage regularly with a number of industry bodies, including the Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacturers Association who represent the UK disposable nappy, adult continence care and period product industries.

Subject to Royal Assent of the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill, the Government will consult on a range of issues, including the safety of period products, to ensure that any changes to the regulatory framework are robust and consistent. As part of this, we are considering further research and testing in this area to complement the consultation, as well as engaging with other interested Government Departments in reviewing any evidence and agreeing a way forward following consultation.

Most period products are regulated by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, which requires all products to be safe and for consumers to be provided with information on the potential risks of a product.

Officials are currently reviewing the evidence base concerning the safety of period products, from which any evidence gaps will be identified, and appropriate expert evidence or further research sought. Where appropriate the Department will seek to work with other interested Government Departments, including those with responsibility for the regulation of glyphosate.

Earlier this year we announced plans to extend the Warm Homes Discount to an extra 2.7 million families, meaning a total of 6 million households will get £150 off their bills next winter. We are taking these short term steps whilst we progress our mission to deliver a clean power system by 2030. This is the way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently.

We have announced a target to deliver 300,000 home upgrades this year, as we know that too many families are living in poor quality housing and paying over the odds to heat their homes.

The Warm Homes Plan will be critical to ending the scourge of energy inefficiency and ensuring that families have energy security.

AI services that allow users to share content with one another or that search live websites to provide results are regulated under the Online Safety Act.

In-scope services are required to assess the risk of harm to users from illegal content on their services and implement measures to mitigate this risk. Where services are likely to be accessed by children, they will also need to risk assess for content harmful to children and take action to protect children from harmful content.

Ofcom has a range of robust enforcement powers to ensure compliance with the Act. Ofcom publishes details on the enforcement action it takes on its website.

AI services that allow users to share content with one another or that search live websites to provide results are regulated under the Online Safety Act.

In-scope services are required to assess the risk of harm to users from illegal content on their services and implement measures to mitigate this risk. Where services are likely to be accessed by children, they will also need to risk assess for content harmful to children and take action to protect children from harmful content.

Ofcom has a range of robust enforcement powers to ensure compliance with the Act. Ofcom publishes details on the enforcement action it takes on its website.

AI services that allow users to share content with one another or that search live websites to provide results are regulated under the Online Safety Act.

In-scope services are required to assess the risk of harm to users from illegal content on their services and implement measures to mitigate this risk. Where services are likely to be accessed by children, they will also need to risk assess for content harmful to children and take action to protect children from harmful content.

Ofcom has a range of robust enforcement powers to ensure compliance with the Act. Ofcom publishes details on the enforcement action it takes on its website.

AI services that allow users to share content with one another or that search live websites to provide results are regulated under the Online Safety Act.

In-scope services are required to assess the risk of harm to users from illegal content on their services and implement measures to mitigate this risk. Where services are likely to be accessed by children, they will also need to risk assess for content harmful to children and take action to protect children from harmful content.

Ofcom has a range of robust enforcement powers to ensure compliance with the Act. Ofcom publishes details on the enforcement action it takes on its website.

We are working closely with the sector to understand the needs of arts centres, which are integral to communities up and down the country. Through sector engagement, as well as the recent Arup and Future Arts Centres report, Evaluating Capital Investment Needs for Arts Centres in the UK, we are aware that arts centres are facing significant challenges with their estates.

The £85 million Creative Foundations Fund (CFF), launched by this government earlier this year, is supporting arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates, including essential renovations and repairs. An important part of this government’s growth mission, this fund aims to strengthen the long-term economic viability of the creative and cultural industries. Arts centres that met the criteria were eligible to apply for the fund, and Arts Council England have notified all those that submitted Expressions of Interest of who is being taken forward to the full application stage. The Arts Council will notify all applicants of the outcome of their full application and commit all funding by 31 March 2026.

Whilst we do not have any plans to launch a capital investment programme specifically for arts centres, we were able to secure significant investment at the Spending Review for Arts, Culture and Heritage infrastructure. The Spending Review sets out DCMS’s high-level funding settlement and we will share further details in due course.

We are working closely with the sector to understand the needs of arts centres, which are integral to communities up and down the country. Through sector engagement, as well as the recent Arup and Future Arts Centres report, Evaluating Capital Investment Needs for Arts Centres in the UK, we are aware that arts centres are facing significant challenges with their estates.

The £85 million Creative Foundations Fund (CFF), launched by this government earlier this year, is supporting arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates, including essential renovations and repairs. An important part of this government’s growth mission, this fund aims to strengthen the long-term economic viability of the creative and cultural industries. Arts centres that met the criteria were eligible to apply for the fund, and Arts Council England have notified all those that submitted Expressions of Interest of who is being taken forward to the full application stage. The Arts Council will notify all applicants of the outcome of their full application and commit all funding by 31 March 2026.

Whilst we do not have any plans to launch a capital investment programme specifically for arts centres, we were able to secure significant investment at the Spending Review for Arts, Culture and Heritage infrastructure. The Spending Review sets out DCMS’s high-level funding settlement and we will share further details in due course.

The department has made Safety Valve agreements with 38 local authorities. These are: Bath and North East Somerset, Barnsley, Bexley, Blackpool, Bolton, Bracknell Forest, Bristol, Bury, Cambridgeshire, Croydon, Darlington, Devon, Dorset, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Isle of Wight, Kent, Kingston upon Thames, Kirklees, Medway, Merton, Norfolk, North Somerset, North Tyneside, Richmond upon Thames, Rotherham, Salford, Slough, South Gloucestershire, Southwark, Stoke-on-Trent, Surrey, Torbay, Wiltshire, Wokingham and York. All agreements are published on GOV.UK and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-very-high-deficit-intervention.

Of these, five agreements are currently suspended. The local authorities with suspended agreements are Bath and North East Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Hillingdon and Norfolk.

All Safety Valve local authorities receive ongoing support through the monitoring process.

The high needs national funding formula will be used to allocate high needs funding to local authorities in the 2025/26 financial year. Provisional 2025/26 national funding formula allocations for local authorities have now been published and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs-2025-to-2026.

For 2025/26, Surrey County Council has been allocated a provisional high needs funding amount of over £239 million. This represents an increase of 7% per head of their projected 2 to 18-year-old population, compared with their 2024/25 formula allocation.

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 is providing an increase of almost £1 billion for local authorities’ high needs budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND in England to £11.9 billion.

The department is now in the process of calculating indicative high needs funding allocations for local authorities next year, which will be published shortly.

It is for the local authorities to decide how they manage their spending to secure the best possible outcomes for children and young people within the resources available.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission jointly inspect local area SEND provision to ensure there is joined-up support for children, young people and their families. These inspections are published and enable the department to intervene in cases of significant concern. The inspections also allow the department to work with local areas and professional advisors to address any areas of weakness that might be identified.

The Safety Valve programme helps local authorities provide an improved special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) service by maximising the impact of their high needs budget and promoting a more stable and effective system for children and young people with SEND. Safety Valve agreements were established only if both the local authority and the department agreed that the proposals would improve services for children and young people with SEND. The future use of Safety Valve agreements is under review.

Existing Safety Valve agreements do not in any way release local authorities from their obligation to fulfil their statutory duties to children and young people with SEND, and no agreement would have been made if it compromised a local authority’s ability to meet these obligations. The department regularly reviews the implementation of all Safety Valve agreements through our monitoring process, and provides support and intervention if they go off track. The department does not hold any data on the potential impact of Surrey’s Safety Valve agreement regarding funding per education, health and care plan.

The Safety Valve programme helps local authorities provide an improved special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) service by maximising the impact of their high needs budget and promoting a more stable and effective system for children and young people with SEND. Safety Valve agreements were established only if both the local authority and the department agreed that the proposals would improve services for children and young people with SEND. The future use of Safety Valve agreements is under review.

Existing Safety Valve agreements do not in any way release local authorities from their obligation to fulfil their statutory duties to children and young people with SEND, and no agreement would have been made if it compromised a local authority’s ability to meet these obligations. The department regularly reviews the implementation of all Safety Valve agreements through our monitoring process, and provides support and intervention if they go off track. The department does not hold any data on the potential impact of Surrey’s Safety Valve agreement regarding funding per education, health and care plan.

The Environment Agency (EA) has confirmed that the six Wastewater Treatment works (WwTW) inspected in the River Mole Catchment in the current financial year, referenced in the response to PQ 13669 on Rivers: Sewage, are as follows:

• Burstow WwTW
• Crawley WwTW
• Holmwood WwTW
• Horley WwTW
• Merstham WwTW
• Leatherhead WwTW

In the time since the response to Question 13669 was provided, the EA has inspected three additional WwTW in the Rive Mole catchment:

• Warick Wold WwTW
• Colgate WwTW
• Ironsbottom WwTW

The EA has confirmed plans for a fourfold increase in water company inspections – 4000 by end of March 2025 - to hold companies to account, including unannounced inspections.

The increase in inspections will allow the EA to conduct more in-depth and independent audits to get to the root-cause of incidents, reducing the reliance on operator self-monitoring.

Following Storm Henk, the Environment Agency (EA) has undertaken a significant amount of debris clearance on weir structures, including the removal of a number of sunken & stricken vessels. The cost of the clean-up operation undertaken by our teams and supply chain partners has been more than £1 million over the last 6 months.

The main flood risk reduction plan currently being developed along this area is the proposed River Thames Scheme (RTS). It is a partnership between the EA, Surrey County Council and other local partners, that will reduce the risk of flooding for communities from Staines to Teddington, including between Weybridge and Long Ditton. This will be achieved through the creation of a new flood channel, in two parts, and capacity improvements to Sunbury, Molesey and Teddington weirs on the Thames and to the river in the Desborough area. RTS will reduce flood risk to around 11,000 homes and 1,600 businesses.

The EA are also looking at how to reduce the impact of flooding in Thames Ditton. Measures under consideration include raised barriers and property flood resilience measures to reduce the impact of flooding and allow a faster recovery. Any solution must be cost beneficial to attract public funding.

The main flood prevention plan currently in development along this part of the River Thames is the proposed River Thames Scheme (RTS). It is a partnership between the Environment Agency (EA), Surrey County Council, and other local partners that will reduce the risk of flooding for communities from Staines to Teddington, including between Weybridge and Long Ditton. This will be achieved through the creation of a new flood channel, in two parts, and capacity improvements to Sunbury, Molesey and Teddington weirs on the Thames and to the river in the Desborough area. The RTS is planning to reduce flood risk to around 11,000 homes and 1,600 businesses.

The EA is also looking at how to reduce the impact of flooding in Thames Ditton. Measures under consideration include raised barriers and property flood resilience measures to reduce the impact of flooding and allow a faster recovery.

It is Ofwat's responsibility, through the price review process, to independently scrutinise company plans and ensure the prices water companies charge customers are fair and proportionate.

The Government is committed to taking action to address water poverty and help vulnerable customers with their water bills. All water companies, including Thames Water, have measures in place for customers who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, including measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support.

Furthermore, we expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their public commitment to end water poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to this end.

It is Ofwat's responsibility, through the price review process, to independently scrutinise company plans and ensure the prices water companies charge customers are fair and proportionate.

The Government is committed to taking action to address water poverty and help vulnerable customers with their water bills. All water companies, including Thames Water, have measures in place for customers who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, including measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support.

Furthermore, we expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their public commitment to end water poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to this end.