Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help (a) reduce workload and (b) enhance professional development support for teachers in schools serving low income communities.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department knows that the quality of teaching is the most important in-school factor for improving pupil outcomes, and that it is particularly important for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Our scholarship funding for national professional qualifications, high-quality professional development for teachers and leaders, is targeted towards supporting participation from those working in schools with the highest levels of disadvantage.

The department is committed to tackling the major drivers of high workload and poor wellbeing for teachers in all schools, including those serving low-income communities, through wide-ranging reforms to the education system and supporting schools to harness technology to enhance time efficiency and reduce workload.

Our ‘Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service shares resources that have worked in schools to reduce workload and improve staff wellbeing, developed by school leaders for school leaders. Further details on the service are available here: https://improve-workload-and-wellbeing-for-school-staff.education.gov.uk/workload-reduction-toolkit/address-workload-issues/governance/prepare-a-governing-board-report/.

The department is also working closely with unions, employer representative organisations, school leaders and other key partners to identify where we can go further to address unnecessary workload, including through the Improving Education Together agreement.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has considered implementing a methane tax on vented emissions from North Sea oil and gas operators to help incentivise improved (a) capture and (b) use of wasted gas.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK has committed to end routine flaring and venting by 2030. The North Sea Transition Authority issues consents for flaring and venting activity with strict limits and uses enforcement action as part of its regulatory toolkit. The UK’s oil and gas sector has one of the lowest upstream methane emission intensities globally and achieved the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative’s 0.2 per cent methane intensity target by 2025, achieving 0.17 per cent in 2020 with a further decrease to 0.13 per cent in 2022.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to include methane in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme scope to include methane emissions in the upstream oil and gas sector is being considered by the UK ETS Authority. The Authority will set out more detail in due course.

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 ensure that autism-related mental health needs are recognised and supported before reaching clinical thresholds.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out the core principle of early intervention and support, without the need for diagnosis, including for children and young people. In the autumn, the Government will bring forward a schools white paper, which will detail the Government’s approach to reforming the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, ensuring joined-up support, and including education and healthcare providers working together.

NHS England has also rolled out additional training across mental health services. 5,000 trainers have been trained as part of the National Autism Trainer Programme, and this training covers autism presentation in women and girls. These trainers will cascade their training to teams across mental health services.

Through the 10-Year Health Plan, we will continue to roll out mental health support teams in schools and colleges, to reach full national coverage by 2029/30. We will also ensure that support for children and young people’s mental health is embedded in new Young Futures Hubs, alongside a wellbeing offer, to ensure there is no ‘wrong front door’ for young people with mental health needs, including those who are autistic, seeking help.

The Government is transforming mental health services through 24 hour a day, seven day a week neighbourhood mental health centres to support our ambition to shift care from hospitals to communities. People will get better direct access to mental health support and advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the NHS App, without needing a general practice appointment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the gender diagnosis gap for autism.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise that diagnosis rates of autism are lower in women and girls and lower than the best evidence on prevalence. This may reflect differences in how autism presents in males and females, which may make autism more difficult to identify in women and girls.

Autism assessments should be undertaken by appropriately skilled clinicians who consider a number of factors before coming to a clinical decision. Integrated care boards and health professionals should have due regard to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines when commissioning and providing health care services, including autism assessment services. The NICE guideline Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: recognition, referral and diagnosis sets out considerations for clinicians when assessing for autism, including highlighting that autism may be under-diagnosed in women and girls.

NHS England has also rolled out training across mental health services with 5,000 trainers having been trained as part of the National Autism Trainer Programme, and this training covers autism presentation in women and girls. These trainers will cascade their training to teams across mental health services.

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.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has recognised that, nationally, the 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, and it recognises the need for 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 NHS 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 supporting inclusive environments and earlier intervention for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through the Early Language Support for Every Child and the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programmes. In addition, through local commissioning, the Government will ensure that neighbourhood health services work in partnership with family hubs, schools, nurseries, and colleges to offer timely and joined-up support to children, young people, and their families, including for those with SEND.

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 with Cabinet colleagues to use the NHS 10 Year Health Plan to adapt housing policy to better support the needs of (a) disabled and (b) older people.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise how important the right housing arrangements are in supporting people to live independently, and the need to support disabled and older people to live behind their own front door wherever possible.

We are working across Government to tackle the wider determinants of health, including poor housing and fuel poverty, providing advice on the health impacts for the new Fuel Poverty Strategy, and supporting the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government with the implementation of Awaab’s Law and the Decent Homes Standard in the social housing sector.

In the 10-Year Health Plan, we have committed to moving towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered locally to create healthier communities, spot problems earlier, and support people to stay healthier and maintain their independence for longer. Over the next three years, we will roll out the neighbourhood health approach to the groups most failed by the current system, improving people’s quality of life and easing pressures on both hospitals and the adult social care system.

We have provided an additional £172 million across this and the last financial year to uplift the Disabled Facilities Grant, which could provide approximately 15,600 home adaptations to give older and disabled people more independence in their homes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that mental health services are equipped to support autistic women and girls who may present with (a) high anxiety and (b) sensory distress in Manchester Rusholme constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We know that autistic people, including women and girls, can face challenges in accessing mental health services.

While 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 the provision of mental health support for autistic people in Manchester Rusholme, we are taking action to increase awareness and understanding of autism within health and adult social care services. Under the Health and Care Act 2022, providers registered with the Care Quality Commission are required to ensure their staff receive specific training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role.

To support this, we have been rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism to the health and adult social care workforce. The first part of this training has now been completed by over three million people.

NHS England has also rolled out additional training across mental health services. 5,000 trainers have been trained as part of the National Autism Trainer Programme and this training covers autism presentation in women and girls. These trainers will cascade their training to teams across mental health services.

NHS England also commissioned the Royal College of Psychiatrists to deliver the National Autism Training Programme for Psychiatrists, with over 300 psychiatrists trained in the past three years.

Furthermore, NHS England has published guidance on how to improve the quality, accessibility, and acceptability of care and support for autistic adults to meet their mental health needs, as well as guidance on adaptations of NHS Talking Therapies for autistic people.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) intersectionality and (b) cultural perceptions on the underdiagnosis of autism in women and girls.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department and NHS England continue to look at relevant evidence and national data sources so that we can identify and try to mitigate health inequalities.

Analyses of the NHS Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities data, which provides information on differences in healthcare between people with a learning disability and/or autism and those without, published by NHS England, supports evidence from the literature that rates of diagnoses are often lower, and below expected prevalence, in certain ethnic communities. We also know from the research literature that attitudes, beliefs, and stigma about neurodevelopmental differences likely play a significant role.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the medical model of autism support in favour of strength-based, neuro-affirmative approaches.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to creating a more inclusive society where autistic people are supported to thrive. We value the unique strengths and skills that autistic people can bring to education, employment, and communities, and there is relevant work on inclusion ongoing in multiple Government departments.

For the National Health Service, our focus is to make sure the NHS is providing the right support to the right people at the right time. For people with suspected or diagnosed autism, the optimal approach is often to identify and meet needs early in life, and support and empower individuals, which need not always be reliant on a clinical diagnosis. The 10-Year Health Plan sets out the core principle of early intervention and support, without the need for diagnosis, including for children and young people.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessments and support, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE guidelines on autism cover the different ways that health and care professionals can provide support for autistic people and aim to improve access and engagement with interventions and services.

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/

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/

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 implement benchmarking measures to ensure access to care for people with (a) respiratory conditions and (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in England.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England continues to focus on ensuring that respiratory data is readily available to all regions and systems and to ensuring that there is consistency of data, definitions, and metrics to enable meaningful comparison, monitoring of progress, and to identify population needs.

Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) works with professional bodies, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and clinicians to define and co-produce evidence-informed, best-practice clinical pathways and uses data to identify unwarranted operational or clinical variation. It provides data for continuous improvement via the Model Health System and bespoke data packs. Further information on GIRFT’s respiratory best practice guidance is available at the following link:

https://gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/medical_specialties/respiratory/

NHS England has established a national respiratory dashboard on the new Federated Data Platform which provides analysis and insight for the National Health Service on a growing range of treatment and outcome measures for respiratory disease. This includes bringing in data from the National Respiratory Audit Programme, a continuous audit of respiratory care co-funded by NHS England which aims to improve the quality of the care, services, and clinical outcomes for patients with respiratory disease across England and Wales. The audit is provided by the Royal College of Physicians and further information can be found on its website, at the following link:

https://www.rcp.ac.uk/improving-care/national-clinical-audits/the-national-respiratory-audit-programme-nrap/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the industrial strategy on increasing the availability of clinical trials for young people with cancer.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including young people with cancer, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.

The Department is working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of the medicines and therapies of the future, including for cancer.

Through the Life Sciences Sector Plan, the Government has committed to improving the speed and capacity of commercial clinical research, including trials for young people with cancer. This is supported by commitments to invest at scale in discovery science and maximise the United Kingdom’s translational research capacities, accelerating the development of new medicines and technologies, and getting innovative treatments to patients more efficiently.

Each action in the Life Sciences Sector Plan includes metrics through which performance can be measured. An annual Implementation Update will transparently summarise progress against both the overarching targets as well as on an action-by-action basis.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to increase the amount of money available to people using the Healthy Start scheme, in the context of increases in the cost of (a) fruit, (b) vegetables, (c) infant formula and (d) other essential items.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Healthy Start is a demand-led, statutory scheme and aims to support those in greatest need. We recently announced in Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan that we will uplift the value of weekly payments by 10%, boosting the ability to buy healthy food for those families who need it most. From April 2026, pregnant women and children aged over one years old and under four years old will each receive £4.65 per week, up from £4.25, and children under one years old will receive £9.30 per week, up from £8.50.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on improving diagnostic outcomes for autistic women and girls from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Answered by Nia Griffith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

NHS data suggests that rates of diagnoses for autism are often lower in certain ethnic communities, with research literature indicating that attitudes, beliefs and stigma about neurodevelopmental differences are likely to play a significant role in this.

At the end of last year, a Neurodivergence Task and Finish group was established, chaired by Professor Karen Guldberg of Birmingham University, to provide advice and recommendations on the best ways to support and meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people within inclusive mainstream settings.

The group have listened to a wide range of people, including other sector experts and stakeholders and neurodivergent children and young people, their parents, and others who care for them. The group are due to report back to me shortly.

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 ensure that the needs and wellbeing of (a) infants, (b) children and (c) young people are central to the priorities in the NHS 10-Year Plan.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and the 10-Year Health Plan is central to achieving this ambition. The three strategic shifts in the Plan set out how we are prioritising them.

Hospital to community will mean parents and children will have better access to care and treatment in their local areas, meaning less time taken out of school to make appointments and fewer hospital visits.

Analogue to digital will see delivery of My Children function on the NHS App. This will enable parents to have access to their child/children’s complete medical history. It will also enable parents to book appointments for their children and be signposted through artificial intelligence to advice for urgent and non-urgent medical questions.

Sickness to prevention will see a greater emphasis on ensuring children develop and maintain healthy habits throughout their childhood and into adulthood. Children turning 16 years old or younger this year will never legally be sold tobacco, and we intend to strengthen the existing ban on smoking in public places to reduce the harms of passive smoking to children. All children will see less junk food advertising and will be given healthy nutritious food in schools.

Found: Commons Juliet Campbell (Labour; Broxtowe) Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat; Harrogate and Knaresborough) Afzal Khan

Found: Commons Juliet Campbell (Labour; Broxtowe) Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat; Harrogate and Knaresborough) Afzal Khan

Background

Submit Evidence (by 5 Sep 2025)

Background