Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish proposals for the reform of provisions for delivery for special educational needs pupils in England.

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

As part of our Plan for Change, we are determined to fix the special educational needs and disabilities system and restore the trust of parents. My right hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Education, wrote to the Education Select Committee in October setting out the decision to have a further period of co-creation with families, teachers and experts from across the sector to design and test our proposals further and our full Schools White Paper building on this work will be published shortly.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total non-capital resource spend on special educational needs pupils in England in (1) 2023–24, and (2) 2024–25, and what is the projected non-capital resource spend in 2025–26.

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

Mainstream schools are not required to record or report to the department how much they spend specifically on pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), so this information is not available. Local authorities are required, however, to identify a notional budget for each school, intended as a guide to how much they might need to spend on supporting their pupils with SEN, for annual costs up to £6,000 per pupil.

Local authorities allocate high needs funding for SEND support costs in excess of £6,000 and make provision and services available for other children and young people with complex needs. Their actual high needs expenditure is set out in the table below, including a small amount of high needs funding allocated directly by the department to schools and colleges, alongside the notional SEN budget total for mainstream schools. For the financial year 2025/26 we have included a forecast of high needs expenditure that the department provided to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and that was included in their forecasts published at the autumn 2025 Budget.

Neither the OBR nor the department have finalised projections of spend over the next three financial years that take into account reforms to the SEND system from 2026/27.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the projected additional non-capital resource spend on special educational needs pupils in England in each of the next three financial years.

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

Mainstream schools are not required to record or report to the department how much they spend specifically on pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), so this information is not available. Local authorities are required, however, to identify a notional budget for each school, intended as a guide to how much they might need to spend on supporting their pupils with SEN, for annual costs up to £6,000 per pupil.

Local authorities allocate high needs funding for SEND support costs in excess of £6,000 and make provision and services available for other children and young people with complex needs. Their actual high needs expenditure is set out in the table below, including a small amount of high needs funding allocated directly by the department to schools and colleges, alongside the notional SEN budget total for mainstream schools. For the financial year 2025/26 we have included a forecast of high needs expenditure that the department provided to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and that was included in their forecasts published at the autumn 2025 Budget.

Neither the OBR nor the department have finalised projections of spend over the next three financial years that take into account reforms to the SEND system from 2026/27.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the additional cost required to extend the fruit and vegetable initiative for schools to nursery schools and other early years settings.

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

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is available to pupils in key stage 1 attending fully state‑funded primary schools. The scheme entitles schools to claim a free piece of fruit or vegetable for all children aged 4 to 6 for each school day. The government has no current plans to extend the scheme.

However, we remain committed to deliver on our pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. This will ensure that every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day, including access to a healthy breakfast which includes fruit. So far, we have delivered over 5 million breakfasts and, following the success of our early adopter scheme, we are rolling out to an additional 2,000 schools between April 2026 and March 2027. This will benefit around half a million more children.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has not been added to the list of proscribed terrorist organisations in the UK.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

It is the Government’s long-standing position not to comment on the detail of security and intelligence matters, including whether or not a specific organisation is being considered for proscription.

We are acting decisively to disrupt threats posed by Iran here in the UK. We have placed the Iranian state on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), meaning that anyone working for or directed by the Iranian state to conduct activities in the UK must declare that activity, or risk up to five years in prison.

The UK now has over 550 sanctions against Iranian linked individuals and entities, including the IRGC, which has been sanctioned in its entirety. Over 220 designations have been imposed since this Government came into office.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to extend the fruit and vegetables initiative for schools to nursery schools and other early years settings.

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

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is available to pupils in key stage 1 attending fully state‑funded primary schools. The scheme entitles schools to claim a free piece of fruit or vegetable for all children aged 4 to 6 for each school day. The government has no current plans to extend the scheme.

However, we remain committed to deliver on our pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. This will ensure that every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day, including access to a healthy breakfast which includes fruit. So far, we have delivered over 5 million breakfasts and, following the success of our early adopter scheme, we are rolling out to an additional 2,000 schools between April 2026 and March 2027. This will benefit around half a million more children.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to set a target for reducing incidence of cardiovascular disease as part of the 10 Year Health Plan for England.

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

The Government is committed to fewer lives being lost to the biggest killers, such as cardiovascular disease. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, to accelerate progress on the ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease modern service framework later this year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase funding for cardiovascular disease research.

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

The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

The Department, through the NIHR, funds research into cardiovascular disease (CVD) that is aligned with the Government’s Health Mission, embracing digital transformation, prioritising prevention over treatment, and bringing care closer to communities to tackle health inequalities and reduce the number of lives lost to the biggest killers.

For example, in 2025 the NIHR launched a new funding opportunity to invest £50 million into innovative new research in CVD, aiming to tackle preventable causes of heart disease and its complications, save lives, and reduce inequalities in this area across the United Kingdom.

In addition, our wider investments in NIHR infrastructure, strengthening specialist facilities, the workforce, and support services to enable research in the health and care system, have enabled significant CVD funded by other funders to take place.

The NIHR continues to welcome high quality applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including CVD. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to the public and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with international partners about the protection of religious minorities in northeast Syria.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

I refer the Noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement (HLWS1285), I made to the House on 28 January 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the accessibility and cultural sensitivity of cardiovascular disease risk and prevention messages.

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

The Department and NHS England regularly run health-related media campaigns targeting audiences to take preventative action. In developing the materials, we work with specialists within communities to ensure that messages are culturally appropriate and effectively tailored. We also ensure that materials are produced in accessible formats as required.

To improve access and engagement with the NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease prevention programme, we are developing the NHS Health Check Online service that people can use at home, at a time convenient to them, to understand and act on their cardiovascular disease risk.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to integrate family history data into risk assessments for cardiovascular disease.

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

As outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will work with experts to integrate genomic testing for pharmacogenomic profiles into the cardiovascular disease prevention programme, the NHS Health Check, enabling early identification and intervention for high-risk individuals.

Alongside this, to accelerate progress on the ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) later this year. The framework will support consistent, high quality and equitable care whist fostering innovation across the cardiovascular disease pathway. The Department and NHS England are engaging widely with stakeholders to co-produce the CVD MSF, ensuring that experts, people, and communities are at the heart of its development.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand eligibility for the NHS Health Check, particularly for those at high risk of cardiovascular disease.

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

The NHS Health Check is a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme. The programme is designed to assess the top risk factors for CVD in eligible people aged 40 to 74 years old, and to refer people to further support through behavioural interventions, clinical assessment, and treatment where appropriate.

Data shows that the older a person is, the more likely it is they will attend their NHS Health Check, with the highest uptake in the 70 to 74 age group.

The Department is considering the recommendations of the National Audit Office’s report Progress in preventing cardiovascular disease and reviewing a range of options to improve the impact of the NHS Health Check programme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are giving to clinicians to provide a standardised approach to effective interventions for treatment of cardiovascular disease conditions.

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

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, to accelerate progress on the ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease modern service framework (CVD MSF) later this year.

The Department and NHS England are engaging widely with stakeholders to co-produce the CVD MSF, ensuring that experts, people, and communities are at the heart of its development. These frameworks will identify the best evidenced interventions that would support progress towards this goal, with a focus on those with the best means to drive up value and equity. Furthermore, they will set standards on how those interventions should be used, alongside a clear strategy to support and oversee uptake by clinicians and providers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they are giving to appointing a National Cardiovascular Disease Director.

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

NHS England has a National Clinical Director for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Prevention.

We are committed to reducing premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next ten years and are prioritising ambitious, evidence-led and clinically informed approaches to CVD prevention and care to tackle one of the country’s biggest killers head-on.

To accelerate progress towards this ambition, we will publish a CVD Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) later this year. The framework will support consistent, high quality and equitable care whist fostering innovation across the CVD pathway. The Department and NHS England are engaging widely with stakeholders to co-produce the CVD MSF, ensuring that experts, people and communities are at the heart of its development.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to promote best practice in data collection and service standards for early identification and treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease.

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

The Government is strengthening best practice in cardiovascular disease prevention through CVDPREVENT, a national primary care audit that enables general practices (GPs) and primary care networks (PCNs) to extract data held by GPs to identify gaps in diagnosis, and management of people who are at risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim is to improve patient care, reduce inequalities, and optimise treatment.

Furthermore, this year, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease modern service framework (CVD MSF). The Department and NHS England are engaging widely with stakeholders to co-produce the CVD MSF, ensuring that experts, people, and communities are at the heart of its development. The CVD MSF will support evidence-led, consistent, high quality and equitable care whilst fostering innovation across the cardiovascular disease pathway.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what role the Civil Society Covenant will play in the delivery of the National Year of Reading.

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

The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign to address the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults. It is a department initiative, in collaboration with our delivery partner, the National Literacy Trust, who are leading the delivery of the campaign.

The National Year of Reading is operating as a collective impact campaign, allowing multiple partners from a range of sectors to participate, including schools, libraries, publishers, booksellers, media companies, retailers, and charities. It supports the Civil Society Covenant’s aims to build effective partnerships across the breadth of civil society and government, working together to tackle the deep-seated challenges of our time.

Tackling the long-term decline in reading for pleasure requires cross-sector support across the UK, as encompassed by the Go All In campaign which encourages everyone to get involved. The year includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings across the UK throughout the year.