Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the net departure of business owners from the UK in the past two years.

Answered by Lord Stockwood - Minister of State (HM Treasury)

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has not made a formal assessment on the net departure of business owners from the UK in the past two years.

Through the Industrial Strategy and Plan for SMEs, the government is backing entrepreneurs to start, scale and stay in the UK. DBT continues to focus on its core mission of supporting businesses to invest, grow and export, helping to ensure the UK remains an attractive destination for business activity.

DBT provides a range of services for UK firms - including business support, access to finance, investment facilitation, and export assistance - aimed at helping companies manage rising costs, expand markets, and navigate economic uncertainty.

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.