Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions his Department has had with German counterparts concerning lessons from the January Berlin power outage for the UK's civil preparedness.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office has not directly engaged with German counterparts regarding the January power outage in Berlin. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is the Lead Government Department for energy resilience.

DESNZ officials have closely engaged with the British Embassy Berlin regarding this incident to understand what happened and what lessons can be learnt.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to promote equality and inclusion as part of the National Year of Reading.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Oxford East, to the answer of 24 February 2026 to Question 112742.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what measures her Department is taking to help prevent the censorship of online information concerning women's health.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Online Safety Act does not prevent adults or children from accessing legal content about women’s health. Safeguards for freedom of expression have been built in throughout the framework of the Act, which places duties on platforms to protect users’ rights to freedom of expression when introducing safety measures.

The largest services regulated by the Act will have additional duties meaning they cannot arbitrarily remove content, and they will need to be clear what content is acceptable on their services and enforce the rules consistently. Users will have access to effective complaints procedures to appeal when content is unduly taken down.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what applicant-led funding streams are available to medical researchers.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds clinical, public health, and social care research and works in partnership with the National Health Service, universities, local government, other research funders, patients, and the public, and the NIHR also funds global health research. Funding opportunities can be accessed from the NIHR website, at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding-opportunities

The NIHR also provides a wide range of applicant‑led funding streams that support high‑quality research across all areas of human health and care which can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/research-funding/funding-programmes

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding schemes his Department provides for medical researchers.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds clinical, public health, and social care research and works in partnership with the National Health Service, universities, local government, other research funders, patients, and the public, and the NIHR also funds global health research. Funding opportunities can be accessed from the NIHR website, at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding-opportunities

The NIHR also provides a wide range of applicant‑led funding streams that support high‑quality research across all areas of human health and care which can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/research-funding/funding-programmes

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what role public libraries will play in the delivery of the National Year of Reading.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Public libraries are central to the success of the National Year of Reading’s campaign to engage people of all ages with reading. The Reading Agency has been appointed to work with sector partners to deliver and support public library engagement. The Summer Reading Challenge in 2026, and World Book Night, the annual celebration of reading for adults on 23 April 2026, will be key moments for libraries during the National Year of Reading 2026. Throughout the year, The Reading Agency will provide public libraries with resources, toolkits, and print and digital materials to support their work and boost engagement.

Local authorities such as Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Hillingdon, Oxfordshire and Nottinghamshire are actively celebrating and participating in the National Year of Reading programmes with various activities and events at their library branches.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her oral statement of 17 November 2025 on Asylum Policy, what discussions she has had with her Canadian counterpart on the operation of Named Community Sponsorship schemes.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

In the Restoring Order and Control Statement, the Government committed to transforming its approach to safe and legal routes.

The Government is working with a range of stakeholders, including civil society, to design and develop the new sponsored pathways to ensure they work for beneficiaries, stakeholders and government. Stakeholder engagement is ongoing throughout the design process.

Work is underway to operationalise these new routes and further details will be provided in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her oral statement of 17 November 2025 on Asylum Policy, what steps her Department has taken to engage civil society in the establishment of a Named Community Sponsorship scheme.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

In the Restoring Order and Control Statement, the Government committed to transforming its approach to safe and legal routes.

The Government is working with a range of stakeholders, including civil society, to design and develop the new sponsored pathways to ensure they work for beneficiaries, stakeholders and government. Stakeholder engagement is ongoing throughout the design process.

Work is underway to operationalise these new routes and further details will be provided in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her oral statement of 17 November 2025 on Asylum Policy, what her timeline is for establishing a Named Community Sponsorship scheme.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

In the Restoring Order and Control Statement, the Government committed to transforming its approach to safe and legal routes.

The Government is working with a range of stakeholders, including civil society, to design and develop the new sponsored pathways to ensure they work for beneficiaries, stakeholders and government. Stakeholder engagement is ongoing throughout the design process.

Work is underway to operationalise these new routes and further details will be provided in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of long COVID on the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made specifically on the potential impact of long COVID on the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training.

DWP has commissioned the Right Honourable Alan Milburn to author a report that will seek to understand the drivers of the increase in the number of young people who are not in education, employment, or training and to investigate the root causes of this rise in economic inactivity.

The latest available annual data on the number of young people who are NEET by main health condition published by the DWP in November 2025 can be found at: The employment of disabled people 2025 - GOV.UK - Table NEE002

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the mean and mode amounts of consolation payments are, in any years his Department has data for.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The number of consolatory payments authorised and the mean amounts per financial year to benefit claimants in the last ten years are in the table (below).

The department records aggregated data for each quarter rather than individual level payments, therefore we are not able to supply a mode amount paid without additional work which would require disproportionate cost. Consolatory payments recognise personal impacts such as gross inconvenience or severe distress.

Complaints to DWP have increased year on year in-line with increases in caseloads, as well as the department continuing to improve its handling processes. The rise in special payments made to recognise impacts on customers’ well‑being, reflects better acknowledgement of when service has fallen short.

Notes:

• Data is rounded to the nearest 5
• This data is available from internal operational datasets, but not from an Official or National statistic quality source

The department does not keep a breakdown of consolatory payments awarded by region.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many consolation payments have been offered, per annum for the last ten years, to benefits claimants whose cases are mishandled or excessively delayed.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The number of consolatory payments authorised and the mean amounts per financial year to benefit claimants in the last ten years are in the table (below).

The department records aggregated data for each quarter rather than individual level payments, therefore we are not able to supply a mode amount paid without additional work which would require disproportionate cost. Consolatory payments recognise personal impacts such as gross inconvenience or severe distress.

Complaints to DWP have increased year on year in-line with increases in caseloads, as well as the department continuing to improve its handling processes. The rise in special payments made to recognise impacts on customers’ well‑being, reflects better acknowledgement of when service has fallen short.

Notes:

• Data is rounded to the nearest 5
• This data is available from internal operational datasets, but not from an Official or National statistic quality source

The department does not keep a breakdown of consolatory payments awarded by region.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department keeps a regional breakdown of the number of consolation payments made.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The number of consolatory payments authorised and the mean amounts per financial year to benefit claimants in the last ten years are in the table (below).

The department records aggregated data for each quarter rather than individual level payments, therefore we are not able to supply a mode amount paid without additional work which would require disproportionate cost. Consolatory payments recognise personal impacts such as gross inconvenience or severe distress.

Complaints to DWP have increased year on year in-line with increases in caseloads, as well as the department continuing to improve its handling processes. The rise in special payments made to recognise impacts on customers’ well‑being, reflects better acknowledgement of when service has fallen short.

Notes:

• Data is rounded to the nearest 5
• This data is available from internal operational datasets, but not from an Official or National statistic quality source

The department does not keep a breakdown of consolatory payments awarded by region.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps have been taken towards Option 2 from Pavement parking options for change: government response.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

On 8 January 2026, I announced the publication of the government’s formal response to the 2020 public consultation 'Pavement parking: options for change' which sets out the legislative measures to tackle pavement parking.

In the first instance we will give local authorities powers this year to issue Penalty Charge Notices for vehicles parked in a way that unnecessarily obstructs the pavement. My officials have begun work on secondary legislation and guidance for this option, and associated stakeholder engagement.