Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to introduce increased statutory rights and protections for foster carers, including safeguards against unsubstantiated allegations; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of such reforms on the stability and wellbeing of children in foster care.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data centrally on the number of fostering placements at constituency level. Nationally, placement sufficiency remains under strain, which is why reforms are essential to renewing fostering and improving support for carers and children.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mechanisms are in place to ensure accountability for public sector bodies and organisations carrying out safeguarding functions on behalf of local authorities; and whether her Department plans to introduce new measures to improve transparency, oversight and consequences for procedural failures.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026’ sets clear expectations for how organisations must safeguard children. Inspectorates and regulators are key to ensuring organisations follow their statutory duties. Ofsted inspects early years provision, schools, further education and skills providers, and all children’s social care services including children’s homes, fostering agencies and adoption services.
Joint Targeted Area Inspections are multi-agency inspections carried out by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services and HM Inspectorate Probation.
Out-of-school settings have a common law duty of care to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm, alongside other statutory obligations relating to Disclosure and Barring Service requirements and health and safety legislation.
DfE will provide a formal response to the call for evidence on safeguarding in these settings in due course, following ongoing stakeholder engagement.
The department is establishing a Child Protection Authority to strengthen the child protection response regardless of where harm takes place.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to review cases where foster carers and children may have been adversely affected by Local Authority Designated Officer investigations; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a public inquiry into historic failures in the foster care system and related safeguarding procedures.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The local authority designated officer (LADO) is a local authority function. Local authorities are responsible for managing allegations against adults who work with children and the LADO plays a vital role in safeguarding children by overseeing the management of allegations made against adults who work with children in any capacity. To help ensure the LADO role is delivered consistently and effectively, we are working with the national LADO network to make operational guidance available. This guidance seeks to draw together current good practice to support a more consistent approach nationally.
The department has announced an ambitious reform programme to urgently address the sharp decline in foster carers and modernise fostering. The reforms establish a clear direction built on relationships, stability and trust, simplifying outdated rules, strengthening national recruitment, expanding regional collaboration and improving support.
Our primary metric will be the number of approved fostering places in local authorities and third sector providers, with the aim of creating an additional 10,000 fostering places by the end of this Parliament.
The fostering plan is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewing-fostering-homes-for-10000-more-children.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the guidance entitled Applying to the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme, updated on 5 March 2026, when the additional 24‑month Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) extension will open for applications in practice; and whether the widened 90‑day application window will apply to both first and subsequent UPE applications.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government has extended the Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) by a further 24 months to provide stability and security for those who still need sanctuary in the UK due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The additional 24‑month extension under the UPE scheme will open to applications from 8 April 2026, in line with the relevant changes to the Immigration Rules.
Eligible individuals whose current Ukraine scheme permission is due to expire will be able to apply to the UPE scheme up to 90 days before expiry. The widened 90‑day application window applies both to first‑time UPE applications and to subsequent applications for the additional 24‑month extension.
Applying at any point within this window will not reduce the total period of permission granted, and any remaining valid permission will be added to the new grant.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when energy suppliers will be required to provide consumers with the option of having a SMETS2 smart meter installed in a non‑communicating mode; and for what reason this option was not put in place prior to the RTS switch‑off.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Energy suppliers are best placed to make decisions on metering based on customers’ individual circumstances, and in some cases may be able to provide alternative arrangements if the customer does not want a smart meter in smart mode.
However, the customer would then not be able to access the full range of benefits offered by smart meters operating in ‘smart mode’ such as sending automatic readings, access to cheaper time-of-use tariffs, and accurate energy bills based on actual household usage, rather than estimates.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish an implementation plan for the National Cancer Plan.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan, published on the 4 February, sets out several commitments and ambitions, to be delivered within the next 10 years. The plan sets out in tables at the end of each chapter what actions we will take and when we will implement them. There is no plan to publish an additional implementation plan, for this reason.
A reformed National Cancer Board will support and monitor the delivery of the commitments and ambitions and will be the forum for updating on progress, exposing issues, and for injecting scrutiny. The board will provide regular updates to ministers and support development of an annual progress report.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will review the communication strategy relating to possible evacuation routes, including advice on travelling to neighbouring airports such as Muscat International Airport, to ensure British nationals receive timely and actionable information before evacuation flights are announced.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 16 March in response to Question 118590.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the consistency of her Department's travel advice issued to British nationals in the Middle East; and what steps are being taken to ensure that advice does not conflict with subsequent evacuation guidance.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 16 March in response to Question 118590.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that British nationals stranded in the Gulf region are proactively contacted by consular officials to assess medical needs, including access to essential prescription medication.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 16 March in response to Question 118590.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to bring the Fielding Palmer Hospital back into full-time use as a community health hub for Lutterworth.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The transition from hospital to community care was one of the three big shifts set out in the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, and we recognise the role of community facilities in delivering this ambition.
The 2025 Spending Review set out a four-year health capital settlement extending to 2029/30. This will provide local National Health Service organisations, including the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, responsible for Fielding Palmer Hospital, with the confidence needed for long-term investment decisions, including larger infrastructure projects.
From 2026/27 to 2029/30, the NHS Midlands Region has been allocated £910.1 million to deliver the shift from hospital to community care and to support the return to constitutional standards. Regional teams are currently prioritising the funding between proposed schemes across the midlands and will be considering the merits of a community health hub for Lutterworth as part of this process. In addition to national capital, the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust has been allocated £40.2 million in operational capital across 2026/27 to 2029/30, which they can allocate to local priorities, including funding for a new health hub.