Waiting time data for the driving test centres, as listed in Answer to Question 70415,  within (a) half an hour, (b) an hour and (c) two hours travel of the Gosport peninsula, is now published regularly online. More information on the data now being published and a link to this can be found on GOV.UK.

The Ministry of Defence, of which the Defence Infrastructure Organisation is part, has recently appointed and commissioned specialist advice on the future development potential of Fort Blockhouse 1 aligned with Gosport Borough Council’s emerging Local Plan.

As the Department’s clear intention is to move to war fighting readiness, I have directed that we examine non-core assets that could be disposed of to support our primary mission.

The Ministry of Defence, of which the Defence Infrastructure Organisation is part, has recently appointed and commissioned specialist advice on the future development potential of Fort Blockhouse 1 aligned with Gosport Borough Council’s emerging Local Plan.

As the Department’s clear intention is to move to war fighting readiness, I have directed that we examine non-core assets that could be disposed of to support our primary mission.

410 Single Living Accommodation bedspaces were available in Fort Blockhouse until the sites closure in December 2021.

The expansion of the early years entitlements is set to benefit childminders. The national average three and four-year-old hourly funding rate for local authorities is increasing by 4.1%, the two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.3%, and the nine months to two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.4%. Childminders may also benefit from the expected increase in demand for places.

We will work in partnership with the sector to raise the value of the profession, promote continuing professional development and give early years educators the recognition they deserve, making sure childminders are valued and supported with fair reward and recognition and more support from day one.

Maxing Tax Digital standardises the way that sole traders record and claim business expenses. It should benefit childminders, as it means that any business expenses related to childminding will be included in their tax calculations. We are, however, aware of the strength of feeling amongst childminders and those who work with them. We have been talking regularly to Coram PACEY, a professional association dedicated to supporting home-based childcare professionals, HMRC and others to understand the issue, the effect that it is having on the childminding sector and to make sure that the concerns of childminders are clearly understood.

The government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people across England can access a variety of enrichment opportunities at school as part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity.

To support delivery of the core enrichment offer set out in the government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, we are developing a new Enrichment Framework for publication in early 2026. Developed with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), alongside a sector working group, the framework will set out benchmarks to help schools and colleges plan high-quality enrichment more intentionally and strategically and will include case studies and signpost to tools and resources.

Alongside this, we are working with DCMS on the design of a £22.5 million programme to create a tailored enrichment offer in up to 400 schools over three years. We are also working closely with the Ministry of Defence to support cadet opportunities, including their commitment to expand cadet forces across schools and communities by 30% by 2030, supported by £70 million of new funding.

Government policy limits how much rents are permitted to increase each year for Social Rent and Affordable Rent homes let by registered providers of social housing.

In 2024-25, these rents were permitted to increase by up to CPI+1% based on the CPI rate in September 2023 (6.7%), which meant that rents were permitted to increase by up to 7.7%.

The Regulator of Social Housing collects annual data from registered providers of social housing regarding their rents, which can be viewed by local authority area. Data for the year 2024-25 is scheduled to be released on 28 October. Statistics for previous years, along with a look-up tool, can be found on gov.uk here.

Monthly statistics for the number of Housing Benefit claimants in Great Britain are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore, The statistics are available for various geographies, including local authority and parliamentary constituency, and are currently available to May 2025.

Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

I am happy to meet the hon. Member to discuss the opportunities to use the defence estate to contribute to growth in every part of the country, including hers.

Fort Blockhouse in Gosport was due to have been sold by 2024, but the deadline keeps moving. The Defence Infrastructure Organisation has not been at all proactive; this giant site sits empty, doing nothing for the MOD, taxpayers or the local economy. First Reform and then the Government have suggested that sites like Blockhouse will be used for asylum accommodation. Gosport deserves so much better. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss a much more innovative future for this important—

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

As of 1 September 2025, there were 640,907 car practical driving tests booked, and 30,339 driving tests available within the 24-week booking window.

The table below shows the current average waiting time and number of tests available at the driving test centres within up to two hours traveling distance from the Gosport peninsula.

Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). The Department expects MSK services to be fully incorporated into integrated care system planning and decision-making.

As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. Launched in December 2024, with 17 ICBs selected in the first cohort, including the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, GIRFT teams have deployed their proven Further Faster model to work with ICB leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with arthritis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. The GIRFT programme is continuing to develop the approach to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high-quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future, including those in Gosport constituency.

The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these will help deliver improvements to arthritis care in all parts of the country.

More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all support people to manage their long-term conditions, including arthritis, closer to home.

Additionally, to support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100

Whilst guidelines published by NICE are not mandatory, their implementation by ICBs will improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare services.

The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children across the country. This includes reviewing the Equalities Impact Assessment, which will be deposited in the House Libraries in due course.

The funding available through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) will still enable children in Gosport, as throughout our country, to access a significant package of support, tailored to meet their individual needs. In 2024/25, there was only one match-funding application to the ASGSF from Hampshire local authority. Where needed, local authorities can use their own funding to increase the amount of therapy.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity. The ASGSF is an important part of this, but other sources of support are available to adopted and kinship children. This year, we are making £500 million available to local authorities to roll out Family Help and Child Protection nationally to transform services and transition towards earlier intervention. We are also recruiting an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults, and opening new Young Futures Hubs with access to mental health support workers.

The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children across the country. This includes reviewing the Equalities Impact Assessment, which will be deposited in the House Libraries in due course.

The funding available through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) will still enable children in Gosport, as throughout our country, to access a significant package of support, tailored to meet their individual needs. In 2024/25, there was only one match-funding application to the ASGSF from Hampshire local authority. Where needed, local authorities can use their own funding to increase the amount of therapy.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity. The ASGSF is an important part of this, but other sources of support are available to adopted and kinship children. This year, we are making £500 million available to local authorities to roll out Family Help and Child Protection nationally to transform services and transition towards earlier intervention. We are also recruiting an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults, and opening new Young Futures Hubs with access to mental health support workers.

The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children across the country. This includes reviewing the Equalities Impact Assessment, which will be deposited in the House Libraries in due course.

The funding available through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) will still enable children in Gosport, as throughout our country, to access a significant package of support, tailored to meet their individual needs. In 2024/25, there was only one match-funding application to the ASGSF from Hampshire local authority. Where needed, local authorities can use their own funding to increase the amount of therapy.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity. The ASGSF is an important part of this, but other sources of support are available to adopted and kinship children. This year, we are making £500 million available to local authorities to roll out Family Help and Child Protection nationally to transform services and transition towards earlier intervention. We are also recruiting an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults, and opening new Young Futures Hubs with access to mental health support workers.

Through our Safer Streets Mission, we are driving action across Government to achieve our unprecedented mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. That means working to tackle threats to women's safety in all areas of their lives, including in public places.

We are investing £13.1m this financial year (25/26) in a new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection, to drive national coordination and improvement in the police response. This includes delivering our manifesto commitment for strengthened specialist training for officers across England and Wales, including in Hampshire, to ensure that they offer consistent protection for victims and relentlessly pursue perpetrators.

Our VAWG strategy, due to be published later this summer, will set out further measures designed to keep women and girls safe in the streets, in their homes, and online.

In regard to local government reorganisation, on the 5 February I invited unitary proposals from all two-tier councils and neighbouring unitaries including those councils in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton. It will be for local councils to consider the delivery of public services and potential impacts as they develop their proposals for reorganisation.

The invitations were clear that proposals should be supported by robust evidence and analysis and include an explanation of the outcomes it is expected to achieve. As set out in the published criteria, proposals should be for a sensible geography which will help to increase housing supply and meet local needs.

The government is clear all local planning authorities should continue work on local plans and get them in place as soon as possible. While the implications of local government reorganisation will be considered in light of the specific circumstances of any given area, local plans should still be progressed as they will act as the foundation for any new plans as required.

To inform this, local planning authorities are expected to use the government's revised standard method to assess housing needs. This is a starting point used by councils to inform the preparation of their local development plans.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework should be taken into account by local planning authorities when preparing their local plans. The Framework sets out strong policies to improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote low-carbon energy use. It also provides strong protections for existing open space, including playing fields and formal play spaces. The revised National Planning Policy Framework should be read in conjunction with the government’s planning policy for waste.

The Government recognises that some customers may face heightened risks during the migration from the analogue landline network to voice over internet protocol and my officials and I have worked hard since the election on mitigating risks to vulnerable people across the country. On 18 November 2024, the Department published guidance for communication providers on how to identify and support these customers when their landline migrates.

The Department also published a checklist of activities that communication providers must take before migrating customers to voice over internet protocol without their active consent. We expect providers to meet the safeguards set out in this checklist to keep customers safe throughout the migration.

The Government is committed to improving access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces, and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED fund, launched in September 2023, the new Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the fund.

The defibrillators provided through this scheme are required to be registered on The Circuit, the national defibrillator ambulance service database, operated independently by the British Heart Foundation in collaboration with the National Health Service. Upon registration, contact details are provided for the nominated AED guardian or guardians, who are local to the defibrillator’s location and conduct checks when required. The registered guardian receives an automatic email or text message notification if the defibrillator has potentially been used, therefore prompting the guardian to conduct a check on the AED.

The Department does not hold data on the availability of AEDs in the Gosport area, nor does it hold data on AEDs installed in Government buildings, or whether those AEDs are registered on The Circuit.

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

Measures in place to reduce waiting times for customers at all driving test centres (DTC), include the recruitment of new driving examiners (DE), conducting tests outside regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from DEs. DVSA also continues to deploy DEs from areas with lower waiting times into those where waiting times are longer.

As part of recent recruitment at DTCs that serve the Gosport constituency, DVSA has had two new examiners successfully complete training, with another potential new examiner currently in training. A further seven potential applicants are in the application process and if successful, will be offered training courses in the new year.