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 help safeguard young people from (a) drug and (b) alcohol addiction.

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

The most effective and sustainable approach to safeguarding children and young people from drug and alcohol harm is by giving them the best start in life, and by keeping them safe, well, and happy. Our mission-based approach will ensure that every child has the best start in life and that we create the healthiest generation of children ever.

Statutory guidance on relationships, sex, and health education requires all primary and secondary schools to ensure that pupils know the key facts and risks associated with alcohol and drug use, as well as how to manage influences and pressure, and keep themselves healthy and safe. The Department has worked with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to develop lesson plans on alcohol and drugs and has commissioned an update of the resources to be published later this year.

The Government also has an alcohol and drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce alcohol and drug use and its harms by providing awareness to young people, parents, and concerned others. Further information is available on the Talk to FRANK website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.talktofrank.com/

Children and families affected by parental alcohol and/or drug use can experience adverse health, social, and economic outcomes, which can continue for generations without effective interventions to break the cycle. The Department is continuing to invest in improvements to local alcohol and drug treatment services to ensure that those in need can access high quality help and support.

In addition to the Public Health Grant, local authorities have had a further £267 million from the Department this year to improve the quality and capacity of treatment. This is alongside the additional investment of £105 million made available by the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government to improve treatment pathways and recovery, housing, and employment outcomes for people affected by alcohol and drug use.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including political education in the national curriculum.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

For secondary schools, democracy and politics is currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which covers parliamentary democracy, the key elements of the constitution of the United Kingdom, the power of government and how citizens and parliament hold it to account. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship, using non-statutory programmes of study at key stages 1 and 2.

Support for curriculum delivery is available through optional, free and adaptable resources from Oak National Academy (Oak). Oak launched its new curriculum sequences for secondary citizenship earlier this academic year, with the full package of curriculum resources expected to be available by this autumn. Oak resources can be found here: https://www.thenational.academy/.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.

The Review Group has now published its interim findings and clarified that its next phase of work will consider coverage of key knowledge and skills within every subject. The interim report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-interim-report.

The government will respond to the review’s final recommendations in the autumn.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help protect young people from drink spiking.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Spiking is an appalling crime that undermines the public's right to feel safe when they are simply enjoying a night out. It can happen to anybody regardless of age, gender or sexuality. We are taking tough new action to prevent spiking incidents, ensure that victims of spiking receive enhanced protection and support when they are out and about - creating a safer night out for everyone.

The Government has introduced new legislation, as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, to strengthen the response to these appalling incidents.

We have also rolled out specialist spiking training for staff in the night-time economy to ensure they have the skills to detect possible spiking incidents, support victims who have been spiked and to support law enforcement with evidence collection.

Additionally, we are committed to supporting the Office for Students and Department for Education in implementing a new registration condition which, from August 2025, will require all higher education providers to implement policies and procedures to prevent and tackle sexual misconduct and other forms of harassment affecting their students; including all forms of spiking.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the Land Registry to (a) record and (b) publish a property owner's Company Registration Number on title register documents.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

HM Land Registry (HMLR) requires that the registration number of a company is supplied when a UK company is being registered. Company registration numbers are recorded in the proprietorship entry of the title register.

Copies of title registers are normally available from HMLR’s Search for land and property information page on gov.uk here.

HMLR publishes information about registered land and property in England and Wales owned by UK companies on gov.uk here.

Found: Evans Darren Paffey Rachael Maskell Maya Ellis Apsana Begum Barry Gardiner Andy McDonald Andrew Cooper