Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support grassroots comedy professionals and businesses outside London.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The government recognises the vital role of grassroots live comedy and is working to support the sector. Arts Council England (ACE) awarded a £45,000 grant in October 2026 to the Live Comedy Association (LCA) for a 10-month support programme to benefit the sector, including grassroots organisations. Officials are also advising on the LCA’s annual survey. Officials are in regular contact with the Comedy Representation and Artform Trust (CRAFT) on policy issues.

In May, ACE delivered a dedicated funding information session to help comedy organisations and artists, including those working at grassroots level, access available funding.

DCMS has also supported live comedy by providing a one-off £7 million grant to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society (EFFS) for 2024 to 2026. As one of the world’s largest live comedy and arts festivals, funding has supported a new permanent home for the Society, a digital transformation project, and an artist support fund, ‘Keep it Fringe Fund’ (KIFF). KIFF has helped UK artists develop and perform work at the Fringe, including many that may otherwise have been unable to take part.

Self-employed comedy workers will also benefit from the work of the recently appointed Freelance Champions.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support collaboration between youth services, employers, skills providers and local authorities to help improve outcomes for young people at risk of becoming not in education, employment or training.

Answered by Vicky Foxcroft - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

Youth Matters outlines an ambitious plan to support young people to learn and get into good jobs, and is backed by over £500 million of funding from DCMS for fun things to do outside of school, support when and where young people need it, more safe spaces and access to trusted adults. This investment in youth services will help young people develop soft skills such as peer connections, relationships, personal development and increase their confidence, and can help young people access the right opportunities for them.

We have committed to launch 50 Young Futures Hubs by the end of this Parliament, bringing mental health and wellbeing support, careers guidance and positive activities into one place to prevent young people from becoming NEET (not in employment, education or training). We have worked closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to develop this programme and link to Youth Hubs services where appropriate, and this complements the broader Youth Guarantee to give every young person the chance to earn or learn.

£10 million also will be invested to expand the access young people have to trusted adults and help young people build the confidence, skills and experience to be ready for work, delivered in partnership with the King’s Trust (subject to a business case), and our Enrichment Expansion Programme will support up to 400 schools to provide a youth-voice led, tailored enrichment offer supporting their development and essential life skills. We will also provide support for the training and employment of 1000 new youth workers to help reduce the risk of unemployment.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of (a) trends in the level of youth homelessness and (b) the adequacy of support available to young people (i) leaving care, (ii) fleeing domestic abuse and (iii) facing the threat of eviction.

Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Local housing authorities report their homelessness activities under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 by completing the Homelessness Case Level Information Collection (H-CLIC) statistical return which provides a breakdown of age of applicants owed a homelessness duty available at Homelessness statistics - GOV.UK (Tab A6). It also includes households with care leavers owed a homelessness duty. For the latest financial year, this is available at Statutory homelessness in England: financial year 2024-25 - GOV.UK.

On 30 September, amended homelessness legislation came into force to prevent care leavers who are in scope of the corporate parenting duty from being found intentionally homeless. The department published updates to the Homelessness Code of Guidance to reflect this reform, alongside a new chapter on young people, which is available at Chapter 22: Young people, including those with care experience - Guidance - GOV.UK.

As set out in our National Plan to End Homelessness, we are developing a national youth homelessness prevention toolkit and we are also developing a Domestic Abuse Homelessness Prevention Toolkit to help councils prevent homelessness and improve support for survivors of domestic abuse, including young people.

Since 2021, Tier 1 local authorities in England have a statutory duty to ensure that victims of domestic abuse and their children can access support in relevant safe accommodation when needed, backed by £499 million government funding over the period 2026-27 to 2028-29.  The statutory guidance Delivery of support to victims of domestic abuse in domestic abuse safe accommodation services - GOV.UK is clear that local authorities should consider the needs of all victims, including children and young people, when planning and commissioning support.

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 prioritise implementation of the National Cancer Plan in Frome and East Somerset.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Cancer Plan sets out key actions and ambitions to improve cancer outcomes across the entire country, including in Frome and East Somerset. The plan will play a crucial role in reducing disparities in the access and quality of cancer services and will ensure that all patients, no matter their location, have timely access to high-quality cancer care.

The recently reformed National Cancer Board is responsible for tracking the progress of the commitments within the plan and for providing regular updates to ministers. Ministers will publish an annual summary of progress, along with a more in-depth report after three years to assess where the plan needs updating and refreshing to ensure that is has the greatest impact. The board has appointed independent leads to monitor the impact of the plan on health inequalities, rarer cancers, and children and young people’s cancers, to reduce disparities and champion progress across these themes.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential for a ban on the release of sky lanterns.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided on 10 September 2026 to PQ UIN 26787.

Corridor care in the NHS

Maternity safety in the NHS

E1 settlement project and international law

Foster care system

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