Warinder Juss

It may be appropriate for dormant companies to hold some statutory or regulatory roles. No recent assessment has been undertaken across all statutory and regulatory roles. The Government keeps company law, as a whole, under regular review and makes changes when issues arise. If there is evidence of an issue, the department is happy to look into it.

The UK possesses tremendous tidal resource which could play a role in balancing the intermittency of wind and solar generation as we transition towards a carbon-neutral power sector.

Tidal stream is a home-grown industry of considerable promise, and the UK remains the world leader in tidal stream generation technologies. With around half of the world's operational deployment, the UK is on track to have over 130 MW of tidal stream capacity deployed by 2029.

Wave energy technologies have promise and the Government is closely monitoring the strides being made by the sector.

The Department apologies for the delay in our response on this occasion. Our response was issued on 4^th July 2025.

Arts Council England (ACE) makes decisions about which organisations and projects to fund in the National Portfolio independently of government and Ministers, which means there is no political involvement in arts funding decisions.

However, ACE ensures fair distribution of the National Portfolio, by using a place-based approach. It analyses data on regional cultural engagement, local needs, and economic conditions to address historic funding imbalances. Initiatives like Priority Places support underrepresented areas. The assessment process considers geographic diversity alongside artistic quality and public benefit. Funding also includes support for charities and non-profit organisations that deliver cultural, educational, and community outcomes. Regular monitoring and reporting ensure accountability, transparency, and that investment benefits audiences and artists nationwide, not just in major urban or historically well-funded regions. The current Portfolio delivers activity in every corner of England, with over £1 million going to Wolverhampton this year, and £88m going to the West Midlands more broadly each year.

The new Creative Foundations Fund will invest £85 million to support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. This will ensure their buildings and infrastructure will provide improved user experience for visitors and will ensure they can be enjoyed by visitors for many years to come. Eligible organisations must be not-for-profit and show that their primary aims are cultural and their activities fall within the remit of ACE. They must have delivered cultural activity in the last 12 months and be able to demonstrate that the investment is business-critical to delivering creative or cultural activity. Full eligibility details in the guidance can be found on ACE’s website.

High quality teaching is the factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s education. There are now 468,693 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, but we must do more to ensure we have the workforce needed to provide the best possible education for every child in all parts of the country, which is why the government has set out the first step of its opportunity mission, to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers.

Teachers are supported by a range of staff that help drive high standards and ensure we give children the best possible life chances. We have laid the groundwork for the reinstatement of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body, thereby recognising and championing the vital role support staff play in schools across the country. The Body was scrapped in 2010 by the previous government. In the first hundred days, this government has legislated to bring it back.

We are committed to resetting the relationship with the education workforce and working alongside them to re-establish teaching as an attractive, expert profession. Work has already begun to recruit 6,500 new teachers with the expansion of our flagship teacher recruitment campaign, and we will focus on getting more teachers into shortage subjects and supporting areas that face the largest recruitment challenges. We are offering retention payments worth up to £6,000 for teachers in years 1 to 5 teaching physics, mathematics, chemistry and computer science in disadvantaged schools.

The first crucial step towards achieving this is to ensure teaching is once again an attractive and respected profession and teachers get the pay they deserve, which is why we have accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools from September.

Alongside teacher pay, financial incentives are an effective way to increase teacher supply, and we are continuing to support teacher trainees with tax-free bursaries of up to £29,000 and scholarships of up to £31,000 in shortage subjects. To help with retention, new teachers of mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing, in the first five years of their careers, also receive retention payments if working in disadvantaged schools.

The department is providing schools with almost £1.1 billion in additional funding, in the financial year 2024/25, to support schools with overall costs. This matches what we have calculated is needed to fully fund, at a national level, the teacher pay award, and the support staff pay offer in financial year 2024/25, after accounting for the overall available headroom in schools’ existing budgets.

The Department apologises once more to the hon. Member for the delay in responding. We will endeavour to provide a response to the hon. Member shortly.

A reply to the hon. Member is being prepared and will be issued as soon as possible. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.

The social security system will always be there for those who can’t work.

As part of the recent announcements, we are making changes to the rates in Universal Credit, we will ensure that the incomes of those with the most severe, lifelong conditions who will never be able to work have their incomes protected.

We will also guarantee that for both new and existing claims, those in this group will not need to be reassessed in future.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. The Child Poverty Taskforce is exploring how we can harness all available levers to reduce child poverty, including social security reforms, before publishing a strategy that will deliver lasting change.

Any form of racism or discrimination is unacceptable and has no place in our National Health Service.

Action is being taken to address racism and discrimination in the NHS, including an urgent review of antisemitism, other forms of racism, and the oversight and regulation of healthcare professionals. The NHS is also strengthening mandatory anti-racism training across the NHS.

Additionally, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment which will include reducing violence against staff and tackling racism and sexual harassment. They will underpin the NHS Oversight Framework and act as an early warning signal for the Care Quality Commission.

Any form of racism or discrimination is unacceptable and has no place in our National Health Service.

Action is being taken to address racism and discrimination in the NHS including an urgent review of antisemitism, other forms of racism and the oversight and regulation of healthcare professionals. The review will consider how regulators address complaints of antisemitism and other forms of racism from a complaint being raised, to investigation and fitness to practice proceedings. The review will also consider how greater transparency can be brought to regulatory processes, including General Medical Council investigations and Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service decision making on antisemitism and other racism complaints.

Additionally, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment which will include reducing violence against staff and tackling racism and sexual harassment. They will underpin the NHS Oversight Framework and act as an early warning signal for the Care Quality Commission.

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes its decisions independently of the Government and in line with its carefully developed methods and processes. It would not therefore be appropriate for the Department to comment on or intervene in NICE’s decision making. However, these are very difficult decisions to make, and NICE recognises that they have real and important implications for patients. It only publishes final guidance on the use of a medicine after a very careful consideration of the evidence and a consultation with stakeholders.

NICE has not yet concluded its appraisal. It has received two appeals against its draft recommendation which will be heard by NICE’s independent appeal panel on 25 November 2025. Progress of the appraisal is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-hst10061

Brineura is currently available to National Health Service patients for a limited period, under a managed access agreement that was agreed in 2019. This will ensure continued access for patients who have already started treatment. It will also ensure continued access for patients who begin treatment either before the agreement ends in December or when NICE publishes its final recommendations, depending on which is sooner.

NHS England has asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health and care services and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within their structure, with the expectation of achieving a reduction in their running cost allowance. NHS England provided additional guidance to ICBs, National Health Service trusts, and NHS foundation trusts in a letter on 1 April 2025. This letter is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/

Along with the reform of NHS England’s responsibilities, these changes will form part of a package of measures, including the forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan, that positively impact on patient care and safety by driving quality of care, productivity, and innovation in the NHS. ICBs will continue to deliver their statutory responsibilities and NHS England’s transformation team will continue to work with ICBs to develop their plans and ensure the implementation of changes whilst maintaining a focus on delivering NHS statutory functions.

Earlier in 2025, NHS England ran a consultation on the 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme. This consultation was not specific to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment services, but some concerns were raised about a perceived potential impact on ADHD services, particularly in respect of the impact on the right to choose. No changes to the legal right to choose were proposed as part of this. Following consultation, the original proposals have not been implemented.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors, to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, with the report expected in summer 2025.

The Government is also committed to patients’ legal right to choose their provider when referred to consultant-led treatment, or to a mental health professional, for their first appointment as an outpatient. This commitment is reflected in the NHS Constitution for England and the NHS Standing Rules, and is explained in the NHS Choice Framework. In addition to this, NHS England has regulatory oversight responsibilities to ensure patient choice operates effectively in the NHS.