Sarah Gibson

The criteria for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) will enable as many children and families as possible to access funding, including in Wiltshire. The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. This includes reviewing the equalities impact assessment, which will be made available in the Libraries of both Houses in due course.

Since December 2023, ASGSF applications have required the use of outcomes measurement tools to monitor the impact of ASGSF-funded therapies. Over time, these tools will enable the department and local areas to monitor the long-term impacts of the ASGSF.

The department expects the ASGSF to remain an important source of support for adoptive families across the country, with no regional differences. However, it is not the only source of support. We are funding Adoption England with £8.8 million this year, including to improve adoption support. This includes the establishment of Centres of Excellence as multidisciplinary teams in various regions to provide specialist and therapeutic support to families. We are also making £500 million available to local authorities to roll out Family Help nationally to transform services and transition towards earlier intervention. This will nearly double direct investment in preventative services.

Schools have been prioritised because they met one or more of the following criteria:

• They had buildings of specific construction types that require replacement.
• Their buildings had the highest condition need, identified in data collected in the Condition Data Collection and verified through collecting additional condition information, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-data-collection-programme-information-and-guidance.
• Their buildings had severe and urgent condition need that meant they were a high priority for replacement.
• Their buildings had risks that have the potential to cause significant harm to pupils or staff that meant they were a high priority for replacement.

More information about how the department prioritised schools can be found in the published methodology notes, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.

The number of schools in Wiltshire that have been included in the School Rebuilding Programme is 3.

The department does not have data on the proportion of young carers in Wiltshire who have received an assessment of their needs in the last 12 months. However, being a young carer was identified as a factor at end of assessment in 253 episodes of need in Wiltshire in the year ending 31 March 2024.

Services for young carers are monitored through the inspection of local authorities. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including those relating to young carers. CQC has published their assessment of Wiltshire Council, rating them Good. It reports that there were no delays in wait times for young unpaid carers needs assessments and that the young unpaid carers offer was well established with robust oversight from senior leaders. Further, Ofsted’s inspection of Wiltshire’s Children’s Services in September 2023 found the overall service to be Outstanding.

The department is aiming to publish national key stage 2 and key stage 4 data for young carers for the first time later this year. Subject to data quality, this will allow comparison of young carers progress and attainment with their peers at local authority level.

The department does not have data on the proportion of young carers in Wiltshire who have received an assessment of their needs in the last 12 months. However, being a young carer was identified as a factor at end of assessment in 253 episodes of need in Wiltshire in the year ending 31 March 2024.

Services for young carers are monitored through the inspection of local authorities. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including those relating to young carers. CQC has published their assessment of Wiltshire Council, rating them Good. It reports that there were no delays in wait times for young unpaid carers needs assessments and that the young unpaid carers offer was well established with robust oversight from senior leaders. Further, Ofsted’s inspection of Wiltshire’s Children’s Services in September 2023 found the overall service to be Outstanding.

The department is aiming to publish national key stage 2 and key stage 4 data for young carers for the first time later this year. Subject to data quality, this will allow comparison of young carers progress and attainment with their peers at local authority level.

The department does not have data on the proportion of young carers in Wiltshire who have received an assessment of their needs in the last 12 months. However, being a young carer was identified as a factor at end of assessment in 253 episodes of need in Wiltshire in the year ending 31 March 2024.

Services for young carers are monitored through the inspection of local authorities. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including those relating to young carers. CQC has published their assessment of Wiltshire Council, rating them Good. It reports that there were no delays in wait times for young unpaid carers needs assessments and that the young unpaid carers offer was well established with robust oversight from senior leaders. Further, Ofsted’s inspection of Wiltshire’s Children’s Services in September 2023 found the overall service to be Outstanding.

The department is aiming to publish national key stage 2 and key stage 4 data for young carers for the first time later this year. Subject to data quality, this will allow comparison of young carers progress and attainment with their peers at local authority level.

Since 2015, the department has spent approximately £50 billion on capital investment across England.

£19 billion of that total has supported responsible bodies to invest in the condition of the estate. This is in addition to major rebuilding programmes, including the Priority School Building Programme (532 schools across England, including five in Wiltshire) and the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) (518 schools, including three in Wiltshire).

Since 2010, previous governments have taken capital decisions which have allowed the condition of the school estate to decline significantly. This government is tackling that inheritance, which is why for 2025/26, we have increased condition allocations to £2.1 billion, up from £1.8 billion in 2024/25. More information on these allocations can be found on GOV.UK. We have also committed £1.4 billion for 2025/26 to continue the current SRP. The number of schools in the SRP released for delivery will increase to 100 this financial year. This means work on these schools can begin sooner.

Local authorities in England have been allocated £10.3 billion of basic need funding between 2015/16 and 2027/28, of which Wiltshire Council has been allocated £62.2 million, to provide mainstream school places.

Of the £3.8 billion high needs capital investment since 2018, Wiltshire has been allocated £29 million to create or improve provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Since 2015, over 450 new free schools have opened (not including studio schools or University Technical Colleges (UTC)), and of those, four schools and one UTC have opened in Wiltshire. The UTC has subsequently closed.

From 2021 to 2026, the department’s Condition Data Collection 2 is providing updated data on the condition of schools in England. Findings from Condition Data Collection 1 can be accessed here: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2285521/details.

Since 2015, the department has spent approximately £50 billion on capital investment across England.

£19 billion of that total has supported responsible bodies to invest in the condition of the estate. This is in addition to major rebuilding programmes, including the Priority School Building Programme (532 schools across England, including five in Wiltshire) and the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) (518 schools, including three in Wiltshire).

Since 2010, previous governments have taken capital decisions which have allowed the condition of the school estate to decline significantly. This government is tackling that inheritance, which is why for 2025/26, we have increased condition allocations to £2.1 billion, up from £1.8 billion in 2024/25. More information on these allocations can be found on GOV.UK. We have also committed £1.4 billion for 2025/26 to continue the current SRP. The number of schools in the SRP released for delivery will increase to 100 this financial year. This means work on these schools can begin sooner.

Local authorities in England have been allocated £10.3 billion of basic need funding between 2015/16 and 2027/28, of which Wiltshire Council has been allocated £62.2 million, to provide mainstream school places.

Of the £3.8 billion high needs capital investment since 2018, Wiltshire has been allocated £29 million to create or improve provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Since 2015, over 450 new free schools have opened (not including studio schools or University Technical Colleges (UTC)), and of those, four schools and one UTC have opened in Wiltshire. The UTC has subsequently closed.

From 2021 to 2026, the department’s Condition Data Collection 2 is providing updated data on the condition of schools in England. Findings from Condition Data Collection 1 can be accessed here: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2285521/details.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance on ‘Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’ makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.The department will keep the statutory guidance under review as we take forward our commitment to delivering an inclusive mainstream system.

The department publishes local authority level information on cross border movement, which is where pupils attend school in a different local authority to the one where they live, in the following annual accredited official statistics publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2023-24.

As of January 2024, there were 245 pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan living in Wiltshire and attending a primary, secondary or special school outside the local authority. This information does not include cases where the pupil attends an independent, general hospital school or non-maintained special school.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance ‘Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’ makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

The department has 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.

In 2017, the Department of Health published non-statutory guidance confirming that schools can purchase spare adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) from a pharmacy without a prescription and for use in an emergency situation. The department does not hold information on the number of schools which stock spare AAIs.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance ‘Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’ makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

The department has 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.

In 2017, the Department of Health published non-statutory guidance confirming that schools can purchase spare adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) from a pharmacy without a prescription and for use in an emergency situation. The department does not hold information on the number of schools which stock spare AAIs.

Pension scheme administrators have four months to implement pension sharing orders (PSOs), however the department is aware that for some members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, this timescale has been affected by the transitional protection remedy.

In some cases, there has been outstanding guidance whereby the scheme administrator could not progress PSOs until this was received, and other cases require responses from the member before they can be implemented.

The department is in regular discussion with the scheme administrator to consider the issues which have prevented some PSOs being issued to the normal timescales and will continue to closely monitor performance.

The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth with the support of a strong skills system.

This government had a dire fiscal inheritance which has made tough choices necessary to fix the foundations of our economy and prioritise in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers. The department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund Level 7 apprenticeships, outside of the levy-funded growth and skills offer.

The department will take advice from Skills England, who have been engaging with employers on this, and expects to make a final decision on affected apprenticeships in the new year.

Learners who have started these apprenticeships will be funded through to completion.

The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth with the support of a strong skills system.

This government had a dire fiscal inheritance which has made tough choices necessary to fix the foundations of our economy and prioritise in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers. The department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund Level 7 apprenticeships, outside of the levy-funded growth and skills offer.

The department will take advice from Skills England, who have been engaging with employers on this, and expects to make a final decision on affected apprenticeships in the new year.

Learners who have started these apprenticeships will be funded through to completion.

The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth with the support of a strong skills system.

This government had a dire fiscal inheritance which has made tough choices necessary to fix the foundations of our economy and prioritise in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers. The department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund Level 7 apprenticeships, outside of the levy-funded growth and skills offer.

The department will take advice from Skills England, who have been engaging with employers on this, and expects to make a final decision on affected apprenticeships in the new year.

Learners who have started these apprenticeships will be funded through to completion.

The company remains stable, and the Government is closely monitoring the situation. As the company has set out, it will continue to work with its creditors and stakeholders as part of its equity raise to improve its financial position.

The Government is prepared for all eventualities across our regulated industries- including water - as any responsible Government would be, and stands ready to intervene through the use of a Special Administration Regime, should this be required to ensure the continued provision of vital public services.

It would be inappropriate to comment further on the financial matters of a private company.

We are working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. Further details about the reformed SFI offer will be announced following the spending review in summer 2025.

We plan to launch the new Higher Tier scheme later this year; Capital Grants will re-open in summer 2025; we continue to move forward with Landscape Recovery; we are increasing payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship agreement holders to recognise their ongoing commitment to delivering environmental outcome; and we are making £110 million available for new grant competitions to support research and innovation, technology and equipment for farmers.

Lead local flood authorities are required to manage local flood risks from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses. Local flood risks should be identified and managed as part of a local flood risk management strategy. The two lead local flood authorities in Wiltshire are Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council.

In the area covered by Wiltshire Council, £38,597,000 of Capital Flood Defence Grant in Aid funding was invested between 2015/16 and 2024/25 by the Environment Agency and other Risk Management Authorities on flood related projects. The most significant of these was the Environment Agency led Salisbury River Park Scheme which spent £35,070,000 to better protect 1,062 properties. These totals exclude maintenance spending, property-level protection schemes, and some projects which cross county borders.

In the area covered by Swindon Borough Council, £2,615,993 was invested between 2015/16 and 2024/25 by the Environment Agency and other Risk Management Authorities on flood related projects.

As the independent regulator for major industry and waste, the Environment Agency (EA) is investigating sites which fall under its regulation in the Calne area to determine whether they are potential sources of the odour currently being experienced. Investigations into other potential sources are being carried out by Wiltshire Council. The EA is sharing information and updates on its ongoing investigation into the source of odour complaints in Calne with stakeholders via briefing notes. An initial briefing note was circulated on 3 April 2025, with an update issued on 28 April 2025. Further briefings will be issued as the investigation progresses.

The briefings are being issued to members of the public who have contacted the EA to report the issue, Wiltshire Council, waste site operators, UK HSA, Local Councillors, and the honourable member for Chippenham.

The Environment Agency (EA) has received a significant number of reports of odour in the Calne area throughout April. EA officers have attended and substantiated odour, believed to be landfill gas from regulated activity in Compton Bassett.

While landfill activity will on occasion give rise to a level of odour, the odour substantiated by the EA indicates an unacceptable level of pollution and the EA is actively investigating potential sources.

As part of their investigations, the EA has carried out surface emission surveys to detect landfill gas at two landfill sites in Compton Bassett. These inspections have highlighted several points on the site infrastructure at Lower Compton Landfill where improvements are required to reduce emissions of landfill gas; the EA has required the operator to make these improvements. While these works will reduce the level of odour from this site, it is unlikely that in isolation the issues identified are the sole cause of the recent complaints. The EA is considering multiple potential sources.

Further inspections of both regulated landfill sites are planned, to confirm the improvements required at Lower Compton Landfill have been completed and to continue investigations into other potential sources.

The Department announced on 4 March that it would be providing an additional £33 million for the Rural England Prosperity Fund in financial year 2025-26. This announcement continues funding beyond the lifetime of the original scheme providing new money for new projects in rural areas.

The Autumn Statement on 30 October confirmed Defra’s budgets for 2024-25 and 2025-26. Funding allocations for individual programmes have been determined through the departments business planning exercise. Future funding decisions remain subject to the Government spending review.

The Government is committed to meeting current legal targets for air quality, including the targets recently set under the Environment Act 2021, and will review the policy measures needed to achieve them. We will deliver a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy, including a series of interventions to reduce emissions so that everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guidelines are intended to inform the setting of air quality standards and are not ready-made targets for direct adoption as they do not consider achievability or individual countries’ circumstances. However, we will consider WHO guidelines as part of an evidence led process when considering future targets.

Defra officials have worked closely with international partners to learn lessons and consider best practice when developing the scheme design of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in the UK. This includes teach-ins with the German scheme administrator, as well as a visit earlier this year to observe the recycling system in Germany.

This Government remains committed to delivering the DRS for drinks containers in October 2027, as agreed with the devolved Governments of the UK, and in accordance with the Joint Policy Statement published in April 2024.

Defra intends to lay the DRS regulations for England and Northern Ireland before Parliament later this year, assuming Parliamentary time allows. The regulations would come into force in early 2025 before the Deposit Management Organisation, who will run the scheme, would be appointed in April 2025.

Over 300 properties flooded across 50 communities in Wiltshire alone during the winter of 2023/24, which was the wettest since records began 1871. These same areas of Wiltshire also experienced heavy rainfall in September 2024. The rural catchments that have seen numerous floods during this period are sensitive to both rainfall intensities and durations. It is understood that it has been a combination of both high intensity and prolonged durations during these storm events combined with saturated catchments resulting in localised flooding.

Wiltshire Council are in the process of undertaking Flood & Water Management Act 2010 Section 19 flood reports investigating the flooding issues experienced across the county last winter. We will input information and evidence into these reports.

We are working with flood risk management authorities, through a Wiltshire Rural Runoff project, to improve understanding of the causes of flooding, and it will look for potential for interventions to reduce the impacts of these types of flood events. The Calne catchments is in one of the five focus areas, and the evidence and understanding is being gathered this winter with support of the Wildlife Trusts and local landowners and farmers.

As these types of rainfall events are expected to become more frequent with climate change, The Environment Agency are exploring how they can make our flood warning service more effective for these types of rural catchment, that respond quickly to heavy intensity rain.