Sarah Gibson

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 13th May is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 13th May is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 28th April is attached.

The Industrial Strategy set out our public finance offer to crowd private investment into clean energy industries, including our hydrogen economy. This includes: £1bn Clean Energy supply chain fund; £5.8bn for the National Wealth Fund to invest this Parliament in clean industries; and a £4bn British Business Bank Growth Capital scale and start up financing package. The proposed British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity costs for manufacturing supply chains in priority clean energy sectors such as hydrogen, making the UK an even more competitive place to invest.

My officials work with the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero to showcase investment opportunities and our world-class hydrogen sector capability.

Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies constitute a frontier Industrial Strategy sector, so the government has committed targeted support to boost exports by showcasing UK capabilities through our global network, increasing access to international supply chains, and expanding clean energy sector agreements. UK Export Finance can offer a range of support for overseas sales, and as set out in the new Trade Strategy, aims to deliver £10bn in clean growth financing by 2029. Additionally, DRIVE35 will provide £2.5bn for zero-emission vehicle manufacturing including fuel cells, and the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme offers grants to UK fuel cell manufacturers investing in UK-based research and development.

The Government recognises the need for strong, home-grown clean energy supply chains to support good jobs and support sustainable economic growth as we accelerate to net zero. Our Clean Industries Sector Plan sets out a strong offer for domestic manufacturing such as the £1bn Great British Energy supply chain fund included in our comprehensive Public Finance Institution offer, as well as considering expanding the Clean Industry Bonus to hydrogen.

My officials in the UK and overseas are working closely with UK-based companies to highlight and develop opportunities across the hydrogen value chain both in the UK and abroad.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has not undertaken region-specific modelling of economic spillover effects for (a) Wiltshire or (b) other individual counties. In developing place-based policy, DBT may draw on cross-government evidence—for example, Office for National Statistics publications (e.g., subnational trade flows; UK input–output tables) and Department for Transport scheme appraisals of “wider economic impacts”—but these are not DBT analyses, are method- and scheme-specific, and are not designed to produce county-level spillover estimates. DBT keeps the available evidence under review to inform programmes where appropriate.

Everywhere will benefit from the Industrial Strategy’s national policy offer – there are clusters of the growth driving sectors across the whole country including in rural areas and our package addresses the biggest constraints to growth highlighted by these businesses.

Our wider Growth Mission supports people and businesses across the country, including those in rural areas, through policies to create the conditions for businesses to invest and employ, and consumers to spend with confidence. This includes interventions in the Small Business Strategy.

We recognise that rural areas offer significant potential for growth and are central to our economy and we are committed to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas.

The UK is well placed to be a global leader in hydrogen deployment and supply chains, with significant export market potential for UK manufacturers. The Clean Energy Industries Plan (CEI) sets out a comprehensive Public Finance Institution offer to crowd private investment into sustainable supply chains in the UK and we will ensure hydrogen benefits from this. The offer includes:

• Energy, Engineered in the UK (EEUK) is Great British Energy’s (GBE) flagship supply chain investment programme, delivering £1 billion of funding to increase UK manufacturing capacity, drive down technology costs, and create and support jobs across the UK. GBE is currently engaging with companies in various clean energy sectors, including the hydrogen supply chain, to explore potential interventions under EEUK.
• The National Wealth Fund has committed to direct part of its £5.8 billion capitalisation towards low carbon hydrogen and its associated supply chains. Hydrogen is also one of the 10 sectors they have selected to catalyse in their recently published 5-year Strategic Plan.

DESNZ is collaborating with the public finance institutions to align these offers with the needs of hydrogen and fuel cell manufacturers.

Energy, Engineered in the UK (EEUK) is GBE’s flagship supply chain investment programme, delivering £1 billion of funding to increase UK manufacturing capacity, drive down technology costs, and create and support jobs across the UK.

Aside from the £300m Offshore Wind and Networks fund, funding under EEUK has not been pre-allocated to specific technologies or sectors. GBE will deploy the funding strategically, as aligned with its Strategic Plan and the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, working with industry and the wider energy ecosystem to identify where public investment can best unlock UK capability and crowd in private capital. GBE is currently engaging with companies in various clean energy sectors, including the hydrogen supply chain, to explore potential interventions under EEUK.

We will present a full government response and implementation plan soon, taking account of our national security considerations, and planning, environmental and court processes.

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is committed to delivering the joined up, strategic energy planning needed for Great Britain to support economic growth, deliver a secure energy system and pave the way to a sustainable energy future. The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan gives a clear direction for our power system strategy for both 2030 and beyond, forming the basis for NESO's reformed connections queue out to both 2030 and 2035. NESO have now delivered clear queue outcomes to developers. At present, Government does not consider it necessary to produce any interim guidance.

The methodology for the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) was formally approved in May 2025 by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, together with Ofgem. As announced by NESO, the final SSEP will now be delivered in Autumn 2027, with pathway options submitted for decision by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero in summer 2026.

Since 2020, Innovate UK, which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), has awarded more than £405 million in hydrogen related R&D funding to support technology development, strengthen supply chains, advance hydrogen production, and to enable its use across the transport, energy, and industrial sectors.

The Industrial Strategy set out the government’s approach to attract private investment into clean energy industries, including our hydrogen economy (including the £1 billion Clean Energy supply chain fund), £5.8 billion for the National Wealth Fund to invest in clean industries, and a £4 billion British Business Bank Growth Capital scale and start-up financing package. The proposed British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will also reduce electricity costs for manufacturing supply chains in priority clean energy sectors such as hydrogen.

Innovate UK supports businesses innovating in hydrogen and fuel cells through several initiatives, including DRIVE35, a £2.5 billion programme supporting businesses conducting R&D in manufacturing zero emission vehicles. The Department for Transport delivers R&D funding to develop clean maritime technologies including hydrogen and fuel cell technologies through its UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE). Other funding streams include Innovation Loans and Investor Partnerships, which can help commercialise highly innovative late-stage R&D projects. Information on all Innovate UK competitions can be found at https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/search.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology invests approximately £200 million into cancer research annually via UK Research and Innovation, particularly via Innovate UK and the Medical Research Council (MRC). In parallel, the Department of Health and Social Care funds cancer research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research and invested £133 million in 2023/24. UKRI and NIHR does not ringfence funding for specific cancer types. However, from 2020-2024 MRC committed £982,632 to research on neuroblastoma, this includes a project to develop and clinically test a new probe to diagnose and aid resection of tumours in children.

The Government has not estimated the number of residents spending over 5% of household income on broadband and mobile services in Wiltshire.

We regularly engage with Ofcom, the independent regulator of telecommunications, who publish research on affordability of telecoms services, including the number of households who struggle to pay for their bills, but they do not report on the number of households paying above 5% of their income.

To support low-income households, over 25 providers offer low-cost mobile and broadband packages for those on Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits.

According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2025 Spring Update, in the Wiltshire local authority area, 104 premises had no mobile, fixed or wireless internet service provider coverage and in the Chippenham constituency, 14 premises. And through Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network, we are continuing to deliver broadband and mobile connectivity to hard-to-reach areas with limited or no coverage.

Ofcom survey data shows that around 5% of households nationally do not have at home internet access, we do not have a more local breakdown of this figure.

The Government published its Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February 2025, which outlines the first five actions we are taking over the next year to boost digital inclusion across the UK.

All children should have the opportunity to access books and other resources to support their learning and enjoyment.

Public libraries are delivered by local government in accordance with the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964. Local authorities must have regard to encouraging both adults and children to make full use of the library service and keeping adequate stocks sufficient in number, range and quality to meet the needs of their communities.

Public libraries are free to join and there are over 2,500 static statutory libraries in England, found in every type of community, including 30 in Wiltshire. The government is committed to getting local government back on its feet. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase on 2024-25.

School libraries complement public libraries by giving pupils access to a range of books and other kinds of texts, both in and out of school. Individual schools will decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils and headteachers have autonomy to decide how best to spend the core schools funding that is allocated to them by government. School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025-26, meaning that core school funding will total £65.3 billion compared to £61.6 billion in 2024-25. Following the Spending Review announcement, core schools funding, including SEND investment, will increase from £65.3bn in 2025-26 to £69.5bn by 2028-29.

Arts Council England has invested £539,520 in Chippenham since April 2022 through a combination of regular funding and project funding for individuals and organisations such as Folio, a dynamic, female-led new writing theatre company, which received £122,329 over 2 project grants.

In addition, Arts Council England’s open-access funds are available across England, including in market towns such as Chippenham. This includes:

• National Lottery Project Grants – open to applications between £1000 and £100,000. Arts Council England is currently focused on three time-limited priorities: Supporting Grassroots Music, Museum Unlocking Collections and Universal Library Offers projects.
• Develop Your Creative Practice – awards from £2000 to £12,000 that support individual creative and cultural practitioners to focus on their development and take them to the next stage of their practice.
• Capital – financial assistance to museums, libraries and arts organisations to invest in buildings, equipment, digital infrastructure and technology with a view to securing their longer term viability and sustainability. For the financial year 2025/2026 the Libraries Improvement Fund (LIF) will provide funding for public libraries of up to £500,000 (total available £5.5m).
• Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) – Funding for urgent repairs to accredited non national museums up to £5m (total available £25m).
• Creative Foundations Fund (CFF) – Funding for equipment and buildings for arts organisations – Strand 1 up to £1m and Strand 2 Over £1m and up to £10m (total available £85m).

The Creative Industries Sector Plan will be published shortly, announcing new measures to grow the creative industries across the whole of the UK.

The government is committed to strengthening protections to ensure that people can continue to enjoy gambling, without the risks that can ensue from harmful gambling.

The previous government published its gambling white paper in April 2023. The white paper set out the future of regulation and legislation in the gambling sector. This included a broad package of evidence-led proposals which aim to prevent harm as early as possible, and we have delivered on the introduction of the statutory levy and online slots stake limits. We will continue to monitor the best available evidence in taking decisions on future gambling reform, and the Minister for Gambling will outline further steps in due course, including on the ombudsman.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) has considered the impact of processed foods on health in 2023 and 2025, and recommends that on balance, most people are likely to benefit from reducing their consumption of processed foods high in energy, saturated fat, salt and free sugars and low in fibre.

The School Food Standards already restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods, but to ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the department is working with with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with updated nutrition guidance.

The School Food Standards apply to food and drink provided to pupils on school premises up to 6pm and include vending machines.

The department is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever. The healthy schools rating scheme celebrates the positive actions that schools are delivering in terms of healthy living, healthy eating and physical activity, and supports schools in identifying further actions that they can take in this area.

Healthy eating is covered in science and design and technology in the national curriculum as well as in health education, as part of the relationships, sex and health education curriculum.

The School Food Standards restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods. Governing Boards have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the School Food Standards and should appropriately challenge the headteacher and the senior leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its obligations.

The department does not collate or publish data on the proportion of ultra-processed foods in school meals. The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day, and restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods.

Governing boards have a responsibility to ensure compliance and should appropriately challenge the headteacher and the senior leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its obligations. To support governors, 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 Standards and give governing boards confidence to hold their school leaders to account on their whole school approach to food.

The government is developing a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education and skills and will shortly publish the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper.

Apprenticeships are jobs that equip learners with the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need for a specific occupation. Employers, working in conjunction with Skills England, develop the content of apprenticeship standards according to the needs of their industries. This will include job-specific mathematics or English skills wherever relevant.

In addition, the department funds apprentices to achieve up to level 2 qualifications in mathematics and English as part of their apprenticeship. The qualifications give apprentices the broader skills they need to thrive in work and life and the mathematics qualification includes content on calculating interest, discounts and percentage increases/decreases, probability and budgeting, as well as building confidence with numbers more generally. We require all 16 to 18-year-olds to achieve a level 1 or level 2 qualification as part of their apprenticeship, if they do not already hold one.