Roz Savage

There are established routes in the planning system, such as the National Policy Statements, which consider the transportation impacts of solar projects throughout their construction and operation.

The main traffic impacts are likely to be during construction, however, solar farms are generally comprised of small structures, transported in smaller vehicles before being constructed on-site. Once operational, traffic movements are usually very light, mainly for site maintenance.

Developers are also required to consider the suitability of access routes as part of their application. They may need to modify existing or construct new roads where current infrastructure is unsuitable.

The government’s ambition is that all children and young people receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need.

Whilst we recognise the urgency and need to drive improvements, we are conscious that there are no quick fixes and want to take a considered approach to deliver sustainable education reform. Our initial work includes commissioning independent evidence reviews to identify what works to support children and young people with different needs, including hearing impairments. We are also working with Ofsted to consider how outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities are better reflected in the Education Inspection Framework.

The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the route is unsafe. Where a child’s nearest school is unable to offer them a place, the nearest school that can admit them becomes their nearest school for school travel purposes.

Defra has committed to work with the internal drainage board (IDB) sector and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to review IDBs’ current funding and costs. This will include examination of whether any changes are needed to their funding model.

IDBs are local independent statutory public bodies, mainly funded by the beneficiaries of their work. This includes farmers who pay drainage rates and local authorities that pay special levies. Those beneficiaries are represented on the boards of IDBs, where decisions are made on the forthcoming programme of work and the annual drainage rates and special levies.

This Government is committed to improving transport provision across the country. We recognise the challenges people face in accessing transport, particularly in rural areas like the South Cotswolds. This is why we are working at pace to deliver our five key strategic transport priorities, which include the transforming of infrastructure to tackle regional inequality and the delivery of better integrated transport networks. DfT officials will continue to meet regularly with the councils in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire to discuss their aspirations for transport provision and provide support to address their concerns.

All local authorities in England have received bulletins from both DWP and MHCLG. The bulletins contained information about Pension Credit along with links to DWP’s online stakeholder toolkit which contains a range of materials to help promote Pension Credit to pensioners and their friends and family. The bulletins also invited local authorities to request printed promotional materials to support their local activity.

The Department also shares extensive data with all local authorities for a variety of purposes. Local authorities are allowed to re-use that data under the terms of a data sharing Memorandum of Understanding, subject to them seeking their own legal advice and subject to them notifying the Department of their intent. Through this process, local authorities can re-use the data originating from DWP to help identify people eligible for Pension Credit.

Since 16 September, the Department has also been running national paid marketing activity, including radio (Greatest Hits Radio and Smooth Radio air in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire); national and regional press (including the Swindon Evening Advertiser); paid social media; and GP and Post Office Screens (including six medical centres and nine Post Offices in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire).

General practices (GPs) are independent businesses who are contracted by National Health Service commissioners to perform medical services. The GP contract ensures that a consistent provision of healthcare is provided, including out of hours services which should be available to all patients, including in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and other rural areas.

Practices may provide out of hours services themselves, for which they will be paid, or they can opt out of providing these with their commissioner’s approval. If a practice chooses to opt out of delivering these services, they must be made available from an alternative provider for that practice’s registered patients. This is to provide practices with flexibility, as they are best placed to understand their own workforce and workloads. Any changes in services are determined by local commissioners.

It is unacceptable that too many people in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long.

That is why we will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers nationally across both adult and children and young people’s mental health services to improve response times, reduce delays, and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on busy mental health services.

In addition, people of all ages who are in crisis or who are concerned about a family or loved one can now call 111, select the mental health option, and speak to a trained mental health professional. National Health Service staff can guide callers with next steps such as organising face-to-face community support or facilitating access to alternative services, like crisis cafés or safe havens, which provide a place for people to stay as an alternative to accident and emergency or a hospital admission.

The Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) lending facility exists to provide cost effective loans to local authorities to support investment and service delivery. HM Treasury keeps all PWLB rates under review, including the discounted rate for investment in social housing. The current discounted rate for Housing Revenue Account lending remains available until June 2025.

The Government is clear that homelessness is too high and too many families are living in temporary accommodation. We want to take a long-term approach and, working with Mayors and councils across the country, we will develop a new cross-government strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness. The Deputy Prime Minister will chair an Inter-Ministerial Group to drive this forward.

We are also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including by delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. We will abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions with immediate effect, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.

All 101 places selected for Town Deals are now well progressed into delivery, using their share of £2.35 billion to support projects that boost economic regeneration. All Town Deal project business cases have been approved and all monies are now fully allocated. Annual payments are scheduled to be made as planned and the programme is due to close in March 2026. I refer the hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 3603 on 9 September 2024 pertaining to Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund.

The Government is clear that homelessness is too high and that too many families are living in temporary accommodation. We intend to take a long-term approach to prevent and end homelessness. Working with Mayors and councils across the country, we will develop a new cross-government strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness. The Deputy Prime Minister will chair an Inter-Ministerial Group to drive this forward.

We are also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including by delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. Our aspiration is to ensure that, in the first full financial year of this Parliament (2025-26), the number of Social Rent homes is rising rather than falling.

Our proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework include setting a clear expectation that housing needs assessments must consider the needs of those requiring Social Rent homes, and that local authorities should specify their expectations on Social Rent delivery as part of broader affordable housing policies.

We have asked Homes England and the Greater London Authority to maximise the number of Social Rent homes in allocating the remaining Affordable Homes Programme funding. The Government has started to review the increased Right to Buy discounts introduced in 2012, on which we will bring forward more details and secondary legislation to implement changes in the autumn. We have also announced new flexibilities for how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts to deliver replacement homes; these flexibilities will be in place for an initial 24 months, subject to review.

We are committed to setting out details of future Government investment in social and affordable housing at the Spending Review.

Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management and organisation of their own workforces, including remuneration. The Government recognises the challenges local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services. Future local authority funding decisions will be a matter for the Budget and Local Government Finance Settlement in which we are engaged.

This Government believes that the benefits of devolution are best achieved through the establishment of combined authorities or combined county authorities over sensible economic geographies and supported by a mayor.

The Government recognises the vital role district councils play and strongly encourages their involvement in combined county authorities in a number of ways, including non-constituent membership, positions on overview and scrutiny and audit committees, and via local joint working on key issues.