Amanda Hack

The Warm Homes Plan will help cut household bills for families and slash fuel poverty. The Government has committed £13.2 billion to upgrade millions of homes across the country.

The Government is working to ensure that homes are fit for the future and the Department has been carrying out research to respond to the relevant climate change adaptation risks identified by the third Climate Change Risk Assessment, including to health and wellbeing. This work is informing the development of the Warm Homes Plan.

Making Britain a Clean Energy Superpower is one of the five Missions set out by the government: aiming for clean power by 2030 and accelerating to net zero. Delivering the Warm Homes Plan is central to the clean energy mission. Targeting decarbonisation of heat in buildings will account for around 75% of reduction in all building emissions as well as reducing demand.

Decarbonising buildings will support 175,000 jobs by 2030 and 240,000 by 2035 – resulting in £6 billion additional GVA by 2030. It is the only certain way to permanently lower bills (through energy efficiency), protecting the UK against price shocks, reducing demand and therefore preserving energy security and helping the UK become energy independent.

As part of the Warm Homes Plan, the government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency. Officials are exploring the role of incentives and private finance for households to support homeowners with the upfront costs.

The government is committed to protecting homeowners across the UK, further details for improved consumer protection will be set out in the Warm Homes Plan.

The government also recognises the importance of access to trusted and impartial information, the retrofitting tool ‘find ways to save energy in your home’ (https://www.gov.uk/improve-energy-efficiency), provides tailored guidance to help consumers and is supported by a call centre.

The Government engages regularly with communications providers to ensure that the industry-led switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) proceeds safely and with minimum inconvenience for end users. For many users, the upgrade will only involve unplugging their existing landline phone from the wall and plugging it into the back of their broadband router.

As part of the migration to VoIP, current landline-only consumers do not need to purchase a general broadband connection if they do not want one. Most users can retain the same telephone devices after the migration, but in scenarios where this is not possible, they will receive a replacement device for free. Existing contracts will not increase in price when customers are migrated to VoIP.

The Department does not hold data on the number of landline-only VoIP products but is working with stakeholders to identify those that require additional support during their PSTN migration, including consumers who are dependent on their landline.

The Government engages regularly with communications providers to ensure that the industry-led switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) proceeds safely and with minimum inconvenience for end users. For many users, the upgrade will only involve unplugging their existing landline phone from the wall and plugging it into the back of their broadband router.

As part of the migration to VoIP, current landline-only consumers do not need to purchase a general broadband connection if they do not want one. Most users can retain the same telephone devices after the migration, but in scenarios where this is not possible, they will receive a replacement device for free. Existing contracts will not increase in price when customers are migrated to VoIP.

The Department does not hold data on the number of landline-only VoIP products but is working with stakeholders to identify those that require additional support during their PSTN migration, including consumers who are dependent on their landline.

The Government engages regularly with communications providers to ensure that the industry-led switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) proceeds safely and with minimum inconvenience for end users. For many users, the upgrade will only involve unplugging their existing landline phone from the wall and plugging it into the back of their broadband router.

As part of the migration to VoIP, current landline-only consumers do not need to purchase a general broadband connection if they do not want one. Most users can retain the same telephone devices after the migration, but in scenarios where this is not possible, they will receive a replacement device for free. Existing contracts will not increase in price when customers are migrated to VoIP.

The Department does not hold data on the number of landline-only VoIP products but is working with stakeholders to identify those that require additional support during their PSTN migration, including consumers who are dependent on their landline.

Everyone, including children and young people, should have the opportunity to play sport and do regular physical activity. The Government has committed to continued funding for grassroots facilities which will ensure that communities have access to high-quality, inclusive facilities, no matter where they live.

The Government recently announced £100 million additional funding for the UK-wide Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme which funds new and upgraded pitches, facilities, and equipment, so that sites can provide a more inclusive and sustainable offer throughout the year, including the school holidays.

More widely, the Government has confirmed more than £200 million of funding for the Holiday, Activities and Food (HAF) programme over the 2025/26 financial year. The HAF programme provides healthy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families over the school holidays, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning.

The department’s defibrillator programme was the largest rollout of defibrillators across England to date. The programme provided over 20,000 defibrillators to almost 18,000 schools, ensuring that all state-funded schools in England have access to a device.

The department is working with the British Heart Foundation to understand the impact the programme is having. Since our rollout, the number of school defibrillators registered on the national database, The Circuit, has risen by 252%, with 66% of all schools in England now having at least one device registered. Our evaluation shows that defibrillators we provided have been available for use and deployed in over 12,000 emergency situations, where there has been a suspected cardiac arrest.

The department continues to work with the British Heart Foundation to evaluate and understand the impact of our programme and support schools in registering their defibrillators on The Circuit.

It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department understands the value of compliance with the school food standards. We continue to work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) following the findings of the compliance pilot run by the department and the FSA during the 2022/23 academic year.

School governors and trustees have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the school food standards and should work with the headteacher and the senior leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its obligations.

To support governors, in November 2024 the department, along with the National Governance Association, launched an online training course on school food for governors and trustees. This training is designed to improve understanding of the school food standards and give governing boards confidence to hold their school leaders to account on their whole school approach to food.

Additionally, to ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance. We will consider approaches to compliance to ensure children receive the nutritious meals they need.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for North West Leicestershire to the answer of 21 March 2025 to Question 36968.

Governing bodies must ensure that the arrangements they put in place are sufficient to meet their statutory responsibilities and that policies, plans, procedures and systems are properly and effectively implemented. This includes the duty under Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions and the duties under the Equality Act 2010.

The department has included reminders to schools of these duties in its regular schools’ email bulletin. The department has also recently alerted schools to external resources from trusted allergy organisations. This includes the Schools Allergy Code, developed by The Allergy Team, Independent Schools’ Bursars Association and the Benedict Blythe Foundation, and Allergy School created by the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation.

The government is committed to the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme and the impact it has on children, young people and families. The department is very pleased that the overall funding for the HAF programme in 2025/26 will again be more than £200 million, with delivery across England taking place at Easter, summer and Christmas.

Funding beyond March 2026 is subject to the multi-year spending review and any decisions will be made as part of the spending review taking place later this year.

We are working together with the devolved Governments to ban wet wipes containing plastic across the UK. For England, we will legislate in Autumn this year.

The Government is committed to ensuring a high level of protection for human health and the environment. Drinking water quality in England is exceptionally high and among the best in the world; the UK was ranked in the top 8 countries globally for drinking water safety in the 2024 Environmental Performance Index.

Public drinking water compliance with the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016 has been consistently high for years. The most recent published figures show 99.97% compliance rate compared with between 98-98.5% in the early 1990s.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) publishes advice on drinking water quality safety and standards online. In December 2024, the DWI published a report, with recommendations, on drinking water standards by an advisory group of specialists with wide-ranging technical expertise. Defra and the DWI will work together to consider potential regulatory updates to England’s drinking water quality legislation based on these recommendations.

Defra works with other departments, regulators and devolved administrations to assess PFAS levels, their sources and potential risks, informing future policy and regulation.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) has provided guidance on PFAS since 2007, most recently updated in August 2024 and consolidated in March 2025. The guidance uses a tiered system with graduated responses based on concentrations detected in raw water.

In 2021 a guideline value of 0.1 micrograms per litre (µg/L) was adopted. Since August 2024, water companies must monitor for 48 PFAS in supplies, agreed with the UK Health Security Agency as safe levels with an appropriate margin. Any exceedance must be reported to the DWI, with actions taken to reduce levels. No exceedances have been found in UK supplies.

The DWI continues to review advice from World Health Organisation and the UK’s Committee on Toxicity, acting on emerging science to safeguard public health.

The Yellow fish campaign is a targeted community-led engagement initiative that raises awareness of water pollution caused by contaminants such as chemicals, oils, detergents, and litter entering road drains. Where drainage has been identified as a pollution source, this campaign offers a practical, visible solution to support pollution reduction efforts. It aligns with policy goals on clean water, community engagement and sustainable infrastructure and is a solution that should be encouraged in appropriate locations.

The Government’s message is clear – if you need to use wet wipes, dispose of them in the bin, not the loo, flushing wet wipes causes a number of environmental and drainage impacts.

We are considering if further action, including on product labelling, is required to tackle the issues caused by wrongly flushing wet wipes and other unflushables.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.

As set out in DVSA’s 2024/25 business plan, DVSA is beginning the process of replacing it’s booking system. The system has many uses including:

• booking and scheduling of all practical driving and riding tests

• recording mandatory training taken by professional lorry and bus drivers

• administering the register of approved driving instructors (ADIs) and the compulsory basic training (CBT) scheme for novice motorcyclists

DVSA will start by replacing the test booking and scheduling service. This will allow better capture and meeting of customers’ requirements, including those with additional needs. DVSA will update the way it schedules tests using modern, flexible technology that makes better use of examiners’ time and reduces manual processes.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the DVSA continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests.

DVSA deploys bot protection to help stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing, and DVSA’s work on this is ongoing.

The attached Excel document shows the percentage of car practical driving tests attended for the last ten full financial years.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests.

Between 28 May and 23 July 2025, DVSA ran a public consultation on improving the rules for booking car driving tests. Views were sought from the driver training industry, learner drivers and other interested parties on changes which aim to prevent learner drivers from being exploited by those who resell tests at a higher price.

In line with the consultation principles, DVSA will aim to publish a summary of responses, including the next steps, which might include new legislation.

While the selling of tests for profit is not illegal, DVSA deploys enhanced bot protection to help stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly, but these applications are constantly evolving and changing. DVSA continues looking for ways to ensure the safest and fairest way to book a driving test is for a legitimate candidate to use its services. DVSA has zero tolerance for those who exploit learner drivers and is committed to tackling the reselling of driving tests.

The attached spreadsheet, WPQ00047632, shows the number bookings made* and the number of bookings ,including percentage, of practical driving test bookings where the initial test candidate’s driving licence number was subsequently changed to a different driving test candidate’s licence number in each month since January 2015.

* The number of bookings made does not equate to the number of practical driving tests conducted. Not all test bookings result in a test being conducted.

Government has regular discussions with local authorities about accessing the £381 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund and has appointed a support body to assist local authorities with pre and post-application support.

In December 2024, following significant engagement with local authorities, the Government published cross-pavement guidance to help local authorities understand what they need to consider for the roll-out of cross-pavement solutions. This includes relevant planning permissions, minimum existing standards, responsibilities and case studies of trials.

We continue to invest in improving connectivity for passengers on our railways. Major enhancements, such as Transpennine Route Upgrade and East West Rail, will provide new connections for passengers alongside wider investment in improvements that totals around £2bn each year. Increasingly our focus is on connectivity to places that have had less historic investment, and more than 75% of our forecast spend is proposed to be outside of London and the South East in the next Spending Review Period.

Following the period of public consultation on creosote, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is undertaking an in-depth assessment as part of the renewal process of creosote as a biocidal active substance under the Great Britain Biocidal Products Regulation. This work is still under way, and is due to complete in Spring 2026.

A final decision on the renewal will be taken by the Secretary of State in 2026.

Work on the 2021-22 and 2022-23 Social Fund Annual Reports is underway, and these will be published as soon as possible. The 2023-24 Social Fund Annual Report will follow in due course.

Access to Work has a significant backlog of applications, with 62,000 outstanding applications in February 2025. This has resulted in significant delays and we are considering changes within the existing policy framework to reduce this.

To support customers with the application process, we have streamlined our delivery process and made all core parts of the Scheme, such as applying and requesting payment, fully digital. We recognise that significant delays can have adverse effects on customers, our Case Managers receive training in how to identify and support vulnerable customers during their application process and can provide advanced support to those whose wellbeing is affected during the application process.

The number of complaints made to DWP regarding the Child Maintenance Service is published within table 11 of the Child Maintenance Service Official Statistics: Child Maintenance Service statistics - GOV.UK. Data is presented on a quarterly basis.

Table 1: Number of complaints received by the Child Maintenance Service

Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 5

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) are committed to delivering the best possible service to all customers. Customers can contact the CMS in a number of different ways.

This could be via the telephone, by post or through the CMS online service. Depending on what the query is and how it was made, response times can vary.

Whilst the DWP does not collate data on average response times for all queries across different CMS channels, we are working to improve the efficiency of our customer interactions. We will continue to review, evaluate, and enhance our service lines to meet demand and deliver a quality customer service.

The Department has not held any discussions with the owners or guardians of defibrillators. Publicly accessible defibrillators owned by local community organisations are acquired through a variety of means. This can include applying for one from a charity operated fund, purchasing one directly from a charity, or purchasing one as a private purchase. It is not uncommon for charities supplying defibrillators through a fund to require those defibrillators to be registered on The Circuit. Defibrillator charities also promote The Circuit on their website.

There is no registry or database of defibrillator purchases in England, and it would not be appropriate for the Department to have access to the personal information of the people who purchase these devices. Therefore, it is not possible for the Department to contact people who have purchased a defibrillator privately, be it through a charity or from a private company.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition that can be diagnosed in multiple different ways, including without a diagnosis code and in primary care settings, and therefore it is very difficult to identify the number of specific diagnostic tests carried out overall.

However, the diagnosis code for PCOS is recorded in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) dataset. The number of patients treated in secondary care where the primary diagnosis is PCOS is as follows:

• in 2023/24, there were 2,226 outpatient attendances for patients with a recorded primary diagnosis of PCOS; and
• in 2023/24, there were 1,169 admitted treatment episodes for patients with a recorded primary diagnosis of PCOS.

The most recent publications for outpatient and admitted activity in 2023/24, namely the Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity Diagnosis 2023 to 2024 table and the Outpatient Primary Diagnosis by Attendance Type 2023 to 2024 table, have been placed in the Library due to the size of the data.

While we have no plans at present to make such an assessment, we know that more needs to be done to support women with gynaecological conditions, such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we reform the National Health Service.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support and to provide the right support at the right time to the right people, including women with PCOS. We are transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the NHS App, including self-referral for talking therapies.

For 2025/26, mental health spending is forecast to amount to £15.6 billion. This represents a significant uplift of £688 million in real terms spending on mental health compared to the previous financial year.

In the Spending Review announcement, we have confirmed that we will fulfil our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers for children and adults by the end of this Parliament. 6,700 of these workers have been recruited since July, meaning we are more than halfway towards our target.

Women’s health hubs bring together healthcare professionals and existing services to provide integrated women’s health services in the community, centred on meeting women’s needs across their life course.

As set out in the core specification on the GOV.UK website, women’s health hubs should provide assessment and treatment for menstrual problems, including but not limited to care for heavy, painful, or irregular menstrual bleeding, and care for conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome.

We are looking to integrated care boards to further expand their coverage of women’s health hubs to improve local delivery of services to women. We will support them in doing so, drawing on the learning from the existing women’s health hubs.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not yet published its clinical guideline on the assessment and management of polycystic ovary syndrome. The guideline is currently in development and NICE expects to publish the final guideline in November 2026. Once published, National Health Service commissioners will be expected to take the guideline fully into account in designing services that meet the needs of their local populations.