Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are responsible for assessing risks that may impact their local area through Community Risk Registers and for developing plans against a range of nationally and locally identified risks, informed by the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) and associated planning assumptions. Risks within the NSRA are assessed against reasonable worst-case scenarios with input from relevant subject matter experts. The NSRA assigns clear ownership of risks to the relevant Lead Government Department and considers both specific risks and their wider consequences through linked and cascading scenarios.

Food-related risks are considered within the national risk framework, including through risks owned by DEFRA and the Food Standards Agency. Decisions on food supply planning assumptions and food resilience policy therefore sit primarily with DEFRA as the Lead Government Department.

We provide the majority of support for culture and grassroots sport through our arm’s length bodies, including Arts Council England, Sport England and Historic England.

We will continue to work closely with local leaders to design funds. Our public bodies have responsibility for decisions on funding allocations and will continue to share eligibility criteria and transparent data on allocations on their websites.

As set out in the UK Government Resilience Action Plan, the Cabinet Office provides scrutiny of response capabilities across the UK Government through National Capabilities Assessments which take place every two to three years. Defra considers these assessments and works work the Cabinet Office, other Government departments and industry to ensure the food supply chain is fully incorporated in emergency preparedness planning.

Defra engages with Local Resilience Forums across England, including those in the South West, through established resilience and planning arrangements. This engagement supports information sharing, preparedness and response planning for a range of risks that could affect food supply and access.

This Government continues to work with resilience partners at national and local level to maintain the UK’s food resilience.

Defra works across Government including the Cabinet Office, other Government Departments and Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) to ensure food supply is fully incorporated as part of emergency preparedness.

LRFs play a vital role in preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies, including incidents that may affect food supply chains. The Government supports LRF capability through national guidance, exercising, assurance and preparedness programmes, including the Local Capabilities Assessment process, which helps identify strengths and areas for improvement across England.

Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.

We know that work is good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. This Government is committed to giving disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living in Somerset, the confidence that working will not trigger a reassessment and a potential loss of benefits.

We have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work. These include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres, Access to Work grants and Connect to Work, as well as initiatives joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, and WorkWell.

Through the Health Transformation Programme, we are creating a more joined-up health and employment journey for customers. This includes exploring how people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be supported to access a range of services that improve wellbeing, independence and, where appropriate, support them to move closer to or remain in work.

As part of this, we are testing a voluntary support offer for some PIP-only customers. PIP Case Managers can refer eligible customers to a virtual hub (telephone only at present), where support is tailored to their circumstances and focused on addressing barriers to wellbeing and independence. This may include signposting to services such as the National Careers Service, and Citizens Advice, and relevant national and local support services, depending on their circumstances. The support offer is currently being tested in a limited number of areas while we learn what works best for customers.

In Jobcentres around 1,000 (full time equivalent) Pathways to Work Advisers, provide personalised one-to-one support to disabled customers and people with health conditions to help them identify and overcome obstacles which may stop them from moving towards or into work or to access employment and wider skills support, and our employment programmes.

The Timms Review, the first ever full review of PIP, seeks to ensure we have a system that supports disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence, including through employment.

The Review, which is considering how the assessment could ensure people access the right support at the right level, will publish its final recommendations in the autumn.

The department recognises the importance of understanding the diversity of the school workforce, including the experiences of neurodivergent staff. The School Workforce Census (SWC) already collects information on disability, which may include some neurodivergent conditions where individuals choose to declare them. However, the disability data collected does not enable the department to identify or extract information specifically on neurodivergent staff.

The department keeps the content of the SWC under regular review to ensure it meets user needs while minimising administrative burdens on schools. The department has not made a specific assessment of the merits of introducing a separate data field for neurodivergence. Any proposal to do so would require careful consideration of data quality, staff disclosure rates and the impact on schools and employers.

The department will continue to consider opportunities to improve its understanding of workforce diversity.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 16 September in response to Question 28051 and on 19 June in response to Question 3468.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 16 September in response to Question 28051 and on 19 June in response to Question 3468.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is unable to prioritise learners who have already taken a practical driving test and been unsuccessful over learners seeking to take their test for the first time. All learner drivers have valid reasons for wanting to access a test appointment as soon as possible, and providing preferential access to one group over another would not be fair.

DVSA is focused on increasing overall test availability and is exploring a range of measures to provide additional test capacity at different stages throughout the booking window. This approach is intended to offer greater choice and opportunity for all learner drivers, rather than prioritising specific groups of learners.

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD) can be difficult to diagnose in their early stages because their symptoms may resemble those of other neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease. Diagnosis is based on specialist clinical assessment and investigations to rule out other conditions.

In Yeovil, National Health Services are taking steps to improve both the speed and consistency of PSP and CBD diagnosis. These include the recruitment of additional neurology consultants, the appointment of inpatient nurse specialists for Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, the introduction of a neurology advice and guidance service for general practitioners (GPs), and plans to expand clinics at community hospitals. Since late 2025 they have also introduced an advice and guidance portal for GPs where they can offer a written treatment plan or arrange an investigation without the need for an outpatient appointment.

These measures are intended to improve access to specialist expertise and ensure outpatient appointments are used effectively for patients requiring diagnosis and treatment planning.

As the Minister of State for Social Care, I also have responsibility for neurodiversity.

Children and young people with neurodevelopmental conditions should be able to access timely and quality mental health support. We expect services to make reasonable adjustments and provide care tailored to neurodivergent children, including through accessible communication and environments. We are also working to improve coordination between mental health, neurodevelopmental, education, and wider children’s services, so that children receive timely support and are not passed between services.

We are also developing a new cross-Government Mental Health Strategy for England, which will reflect the mental health needs of autistic people and people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including where mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions overlap, with a focus on more integrated, equitable, and tailored support. The strategy will be informed by the findings and recommendations of the independent review into prevalence and support for mental health conditions, ADHD, and autism. The review is considering how support can be provided earlier and more effectively, including whether diagnosis has too often become the main gateway to help and how people can receive practical support based on need before and alongside diagnosis.