Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve retention of early career teachers in schools rated (a) requires improvement and (b) inadequate by Ofsted.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
From September 2025, all early career teachers (ECTs) are entitled to two years of development support and training based on the content of the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF). The offer for ECTs includes regular, structured sessions with a dedicated mentor and time off timetable to undertake development activities, including training and mentoring. This investment is grounded in strong evidence that high-quality teaching is the most important in-school factor for improving pupil outcomes, and that structured professional development is key to teacher effectiveness and retention.
In addition to a structured programme of development and support, every ECT is also supported by an appropriate body who ensures that their teaching post is suitable and that ECTs receive all their entitlements and are supported with any difficulties. This support is available to every ECT serving an induction period. There are also restrictions on schools in special measures recruiting new ECTs unless Ofsted’s report specifically states that they can.
The latest data suggests that the support available to ECTs is having a positive impact on retention. In 2024/25, the ECT retention rate showed a continued increasing trend with one-year retention reaching 89.7%, the highest on record for a cohort of ECTs since the introduction of the Early Career Framework reforms.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of teacher shortages on the availability of Computer Science A level in schools in the most disadvantaged areas.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every young person, including those most disadvantaged.
Whilst it is ultimately for individual schools to decide which courses to offer, the best way of supporting schools to offer A level computer science is to ensure high-quality computing teaching by helping schools to recruit and retain good teachers.
For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is offering a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. This will support the recruitment and retention of specialist computing teachers in the schools and areas that need them most. In Rusholme Constituency, seven out of a maximum seven schools are eligible for these retention payments. There are also tax-free bursaries worth £29,000 and tax-free scholarships worth £31,000, to encourage talented trainees to teach computing.
In the 2024/25 academic year, there were 496 new postgraduate entrants to computing initial teacher training (ITT), a 21% increase on the number of entrants in the 2023/24 academic year (411). The number of postgraduate entrants in 2024/25 was broadly in line with the average across the last ten years.
As of April 2025, the department is seeing positive recruitment trends regarding postgraduate ITT recruitment in computing. So far, there have been more candidate submissions (+10%), offers (+42%) and acceptances (+47%) compared to the same point in the previous recruitment cycle.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for autism (a) diagnosis and (b) support for (i) adults and (ii) children in Manchester Rusholme constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has recognised that, nationally, demand for assessments for autism has grown significantly in recent years, and that people are experiencing severe delays for accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future, including early intervention and support without the need for diagnosis.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including provision of autism services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for people referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and following a recent diagnosis of autism. Since publication, NHS England has been supporting systems and services to identify where there are challenges for implementation and how they might overcome these.
The Government is also supporting inclusive environments and earlier intervention for children through the Early Language Support for Every Child and the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programmes.
The NHS Greater Manchester ICB, shaped by engagement with over 15,000 people, has developed a new model of care to improve the outcomes of children and young people with neurodiverse needs. The model supports:
- local neurodevelopmental hubs to provide a single point of access for help, each with specialist teams to provide tailored support for individuals and families;
- triage and prioritisation, where children who are most vulnerable and in need of support are seen first; and
- standardising core services across Greater Manchester to reduce regional inequalities.
The NHS Greater Manchester ICB has also prioritised alignment with the adoption of the GM Children and Young People and Adult Autism Standards for all commissioned services, with further information available at the following link:
https://autismgm.org.uk/resources/gm-autism-post-diagnosis-standards/
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure adult (a) diagnostic and (b) post-diagnostic pathways for autism are (i) available and (ii) accessible in Manchester.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has recognised that, nationally, demand for assessments for autism has grown significantly in recent years, and that people are experiencing severe delays for accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future, including early intervention and support without the need for diagnosis.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including provision of autism services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for people referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and following a recent diagnosis of autism. Since publication, NHS England has been supporting systems and services to identify where there are challenges for implementation and how they might overcome these.
The Government is also supporting inclusive environments and earlier intervention for children through the Early Language Support for Every Child and the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programmes.
The NHS Greater Manchester ICB, shaped by engagement with over 15,000 people, has developed a new model of care to improve the outcomes of children and young people with neurodiverse needs. The model supports:
- local neurodevelopmental hubs to provide a single point of access for help, each with specialist teams to provide tailored support for individuals and families;
- triage and prioritisation, where children who are most vulnerable and in need of support are seen first; and
- standardising core services across Greater Manchester to reduce regional inequalities.
The NHS Greater Manchester ICB has also prioritised alignment with the adoption of the GM Children and Young People and Adult Autism Standards for all commissioned services, with further information available at the following link:
https://autismgm.org.uk/resources/gm-autism-post-diagnosis-standards/
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Teaching Regulation Agency and (b) university providers on expanding initial teacher training places targeted at schools in disadvantaged areas.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Evidence shows that high-quality teaching is the most important in-school factor that improves outcomes for children. The department has reformed initial teacher training and the early career induction to ensure that children in every area of England benefit from high-quality teaching. The High Potential Initial Teacher Training Programme, currently delivered by Teach First, recruits high-quality candidates specifically for placement in schools serving low-income communities to help improve outcomes for pupils. We are making the post-graduate teaching apprenticeship route easier to deliver for schools, helping us to better meet candidate demand across the country, including in lower income areas.
Work is already underway to deliver on our pledge to recruit an additional 6,500 expert teachers. The workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time employed staff between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools. Our future schoolteacher pipeline is also growing. As of June 2025, there are 12% more trainees who have accepted offers to train as secondary teachers, and in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, acceptances are up 25% compared to last year.
The Teaching Regulation Agency has no responsibility in determining initial teacher training placement provision.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to work (a) Teach First and (b) other school led partnerships to place additional high calibre graduates into schools in low income communities.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Evidence shows that high-quality teaching is the most important in-school factor that improves outcomes for children. The department has reformed initial teacher training and the early career induction to ensure that children in every area of England benefit from high-quality teaching. The High Potential Initial Teacher Training Programme, currently delivered by Teach First, recruits high-quality candidates specifically for placement in schools serving low-income communities to help improve outcomes for pupils. We are making the post-graduate teaching apprenticeship route easier to deliver for schools, helping us to better meet candidate demand across the country, including in lower income areas.
Work is already underway to deliver on our pledge to recruit an additional 6,500 expert teachers. The workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time employed staff between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools. Our future schoolteacher pipeline is also growing. As of June 2025, there are 12% more trainees who have accepted offers to train as secondary teachers, and in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, acceptances are up 25% compared to last year.
The Teaching Regulation Agency has no responsibility in determining initial teacher training placement provision.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will (a) extend and (b) increase bursaries and salary uplifts for shortage subject teachers in schools with high proportions of pupils from low income backgrounds.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is offering Targeted Retention Incentive payments worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. These payments are offered to teachers in the most disadvantaged 50% of schools nationally, based on the proportion of pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium. This supports the recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most. It also represents a doubling of the payments of up to £3,000 after tax that were offered in the same schools prior to the 2024/25 academic year.
In addition, the department announced an initial teacher training (ITT) financial incentives package worth £233 million for trainee teachers in the 2025/26 academic year, a £37 million increase on the last cycle. This includes bursaries worth up to £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £31,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. It also includes salary grants of up to £29,000 in the same subjects so schools, including those in disadvantaged areas, can recruit trainee teachers on salaried routes including the Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure access to new medicines for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE aims, wherever possible, to issue recommendations on new medicines close to the time of licensing. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance.
NICE is currently evaluating dupilumab for treating moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and itepekimab as an add-on maintenance treatment for moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of methane reduction measures on (a) air quality and (b) public health.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that methane contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone, a harmful air pollutant, and is also a significant greenhouse gas. That is why the Government are taking action to drive down emissions of this pollutant.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce methane emissions from agriculture through (a) dietary changes, (b) manure management, (c) innovation in feed additives and (d) other methods.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan (CBDP), published in 2023, outlines measures to reduce methane in the agricultural sector and meet our Carbon Budget 4-6 commitments.
Defra is actively exploring ways to reduce methane emissions, including through scientific research into livestock management, feed, and breeding. The Government will set Carbon Budget 7 by June 2026 outlining the next phase of the UK’s net zero pathway, including future policies to further mitigate methane from agriculture.
In particular, we are supporting access to nutritious food and healthier diets through our ambitious Food Strategy. The Government respects individual dietary choices for a healthy diet, as set out by the NHS Eatwell Guide. Adherence to the Eatwell Guide has been shown to improve both health and environmental outcomes, with appreciably lower environmental impact than the current UK diet.
To support manure management, the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund provides grants to improve farm productivity, slurry management and animal health and welfare, which contribute to methane reductions.