Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prison officers in long term and high security estate prisons have been assaulted in each of (1) close supervision centres, (2) separation centres, and (3) segregation units from 7 January 2025 to date.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Assaults statistics, including assault on staff incidents by prison, are published quarterly. These were last published in January 2026, covering data up to September 2025: Safety in custody: quarterly update to September 2025 - GOV.UK.

Centrally collated data on assaults does not go into the depth of specific residential location requested, meaning the data requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many acts of passive or active concerted indiscipline have taken place at HMP Whitemoor in the last 6 months, (2) on which dates they took place, (3) what injuries to staff or prisoners resulted, if any, and (4) what disciplinary or police action has been taken against perpetrators.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Three incidents recorded as concerted indiscipline have taken place at HMP Whitemoor in the last six months: on 6, 12 and 17 February.

Six staff responding to one of the incidents reported minor injuries that did not require hospitalisation. No prisoners or staff were injured in the other incidents.

The three incidents resulted in a total of 12 adjudications, 10 of which were referred to the police for investigation. 11 prisoners were relocated to another wing, and 10 were downgraded to a basic regime under the Incentives Policy Framework.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what funding has been allocated to improving and expanding maternity and neonatal ward infrastructure across the NHS England estate.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In 2025/26, we are investing over £149 million through the Estates Safety Fund to tackle the poorest quality infrastructure across the National Health Service maternity and neonatal estates. This will deliver vital safety improvements, enhance patient and staff environments, and support NHS productivity, enabling better care for mothers and their newborns. A further £25 million will support trusts to tackle the causes of maternal death, enhance maternity bereavement facilities, and improve triage services.

In addition, we are backing the NHS with over £4 billion in operational capital in 2025/26, with a further £16.9 billion over the following four years. NHS organisations will manage their operational capital allocations locally and can assign funding to maternity and neonatal infrastructure if this is a local priority.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what additional resources they are putting into careers guidance in schools and colleges to help reduce potential future increases in the number of young people not in education, employment or training.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department is expanding opportunities for young people through high-quality careers guidance and meaningful work experience. Evidence shows that strong careers provision can reduce the risk of a young person being not in education, employment or training by 8% after age 16 and 18.

Working with the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC), we continue to raise quality through investment in careers hubs, employer networks and careers leader training, all of which help schools and colleges improve their provision. The CEC is introducing OnTrack+, a data tool that helps educators identify emerging support needs for learners in years 7 to 11, strengthening engagement and supporting successful post-16 transitions.

The department’s ambition is for every young person to have two weeks’ worth of work experience during their secondary education. We are investing in pilot activities to identify and remove barriers to high-quality placements, with targeted support for disadvantaged cohorts and learners in state-funded alternative provision.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of university undergraduate courses offer a placement year.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education sector. This data is shared with the department and includes a wide range of information on student courses.

The department only has placement data on courses that have students enrolled on. For the 2024/25 academic year, approximately 23.9% of undergraduate courses with students enrolled on had the option of taking a placement with a length of at least one year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the current level of midwife vacancies is nationally.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

While NHS England collects information on the current level of midwife vacancies from National Health Service provider trusts, this information has not been centrally validated.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has met its target to provide 1.975 million car practical tests by March 2026; and whether it has been able to achieve a national car practical driving test wait time of seven weeks or fewer.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

As driving tests taking place in March contribute to the total tests provided in the 2025 to 2026 financial year, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will not be able to provide a final overall figure until April at the earliest.

The average waiting time in weeks, as of February 2026, was 21.6 weeks.

DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. A full-time driving examiner (DE) can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.

Examiner capacity is rising, with 1,556 full-time equivalent (FTE) examiners now in post supported by ongoing recruitment and training changes. The 1,556 FTE DEs in February 2026 is an increase of 108 when compared to the number of DEs in February 2025 (1,448 FTEs).

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are considering further initiatives to increase the number of driving examiners.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

As driving tests taking place in March contribute to the total tests provided in the 2025 to 2026 financial year, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will not be able to provide a final overall figure until April at the earliest.

The average waiting time in weeks, as of February 2026, was 21.6 weeks.

DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. A full-time driving examiner (DE) can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.

Examiner capacity is rising, with 1,556 full-time equivalent (FTE) examiners now in post supported by ongoing recruitment and training changes. The 1,556 FTE DEs in February 2026 is an increase of 108 when compared to the number of DEs in February 2025 (1,448 FTEs).