Bell Ribeiro-Addy

We recognise that women and girls may suffer as a result of the cost of period products.

The so-called ‘tampon tax’ has been abolished, and period underwear now receives the same zero-rate of VAT.

A scheme is in place for education settings, with free products available for all who need them, so periods are not a barrier to education. And all hospital patients can also receive free products.

No assessment of period product schemes operating in Scotland has been made.

We recognise that women and girls may suffer as a result of the cost of period products.

The so-called ‘tampon tax’ has been abolished, and period underwear now receives the same zero-rate of VAT.

A scheme is in place for education settings, with free products available for all who need them, so periods are not a barrier to education. And all hospital patients can also receive free products.

No assessment of period product schemes operating in Scotland has been made.

The Period Products Scheme recently opened for the 2024/25 academic year, with schools and colleges able to order free period products for their pupils and students. Beyond this, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has launched a multi-year Spending Review which will set government spending plans for a minimum of three years of the five-year forecast period. This will set spending policy in line with the government’s wider fiscal strategy and change the way public services are delivered by embedding a mission-led approach.

The Spending Review will conclude in spring 2025.

This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and learning.

The right support should be available to every young person that needs it, which is why the department will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school.

The government will also be putting in place new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.

To improve children’s mental health, this government is committed to tackling child poverty and alleviating the impact of poverty on families. Child poverty has gone up by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and to prosper.

The government’s Child Poverty Taskforce have already started the urgent work to publish its Child Poverty Strategy in spring 2025. The taskforce will drive forward short- and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. Further details on the taskforce can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/child-poverty-taskforce-kicks-off-urgent-work-to-publish-strategy-in-spring.

Alongside these efforts to tackle the root causes of child poverty, the department also makes use of key national data sets to look at children and young living in economic disadvantage. For example, the department collects its own data set on children and young people’s wellbeing via the Parent, pupil and learner voice panel survey and provides representative data multiple times a year, including splits by subgroups such as for pupils eligible for free school meals. The department has previously also used data from sources such as the Programme for International Student Assessment, the Mental Health of Children and Young People in England survey, and the Health Behaviours of School Aged Children study to understand trends in children’s mental health and wellbeing over time and difference for different groups. The department will continue to use these and to explore new ways to measure the impact of its commitments to lift children out of poverty.

I am proud to have social security in my title and this government is prioritising providing security for the most vulnerable, and this includes low income families though Universal Credit, the Household Support Fund and the wider benefits system as well as our manifesto commitments to develop a child poverty strategy and roll out free breakfast clubs in every primary school.

We will be setting out our plans for social security in due course and will fulfil our continued commitment to work with disabled people and families so that their views and voices are at the heart of all that we do.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is carrying out an evidence review for prostate cancer screening, and this includes different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years of age onwards, and targeted screening programmes aimed at groups of men identified as being at higher than average risk, such as those with a family history, carriers of the BRCA2 gene mutation, and based on ethnicity.

The UK NSC is aware of Prostate Cancer UK’s report, and this will be considered as part of its evidence review process, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) does not currently recommend screening for prostate cancer. This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test for the condition, the prostate specific antigen test.

A UK NSC evidence review for prostate cancer screening is already underway. We welcome the study by Prostate Cancer UK, and will make sure it is fed into the UK NSC’s review of prostate screening.

The UK National Screening Committee is carrying out an evidence review of prostate cancer screening which includes looking at the evidence for targeted screening of specific high-risk groups. This will determine whether a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test-based screening programme for high-risk groups could provide more good than harm.

Based on the current evidence, the guidance to general practices is not to proactively offer a PSA to men without symptoms as the high level of inaccuracy could lead to unnecessary tests that carry risks of life-changing harm, such as urinary and faecal incontinence, sexual dysfunction, as well as a smaller but serious risk of sepsis. Additionally, some prostate cancers may not produce elevated PSA levels, leading to false-negative results that provide deceptive reassurance.

In order to bring together questions on the education and training of midwives and the flow of staff into the National Health Service midwifery workforce, a number of strands of the available data are presented below.

Data published by the Office for Students, in the Higher Education Students Early Statistics Survey (HESES), collates figures submitted by individual higher education providers to give an indication of the number of students starting in each academic year. The HESES’ data includes figures on undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery courses in England. The latest published data is for those starting courses in 2023. The following table shows the number of undergraduate and postgraduate starters on midwifery courses in England for 2019 to 2023:

Source: The Office for Students’ HESES data for 2023.

The following table shows the number of qualifiers from undergraduate midwifery courses in England, with a qualifier being defined by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as a student who gained a qualification during the academic year in question, for the academic years 2020/21 to 2022/23:

Source: HESA’s qualifier data 2023

Note: Data is currently only available up to the academic year 2022/23.

Additionally, there are midwives training through an apprenticeship route. The following table shows the number of starts on midwifery apprenticeships, including apprenticeships within NHS and non-NHS organisations, in each of the last five years:

Source: Department for Education Apprenticeships and traineeships statistics, October 2024.

Note: Data on the provisional starts for the year 2023/24 is only available between August 2023 to July 2024.

The Department does not hold data which would allow the identification of the route which joiners to the NHS registered midwifery workforce have taken to become active in the service, or what these flows will be in future years. Data published by NHS England does show the total annual number of staff who join active service across NHS trusts and other core organisations. Joiners are not the same as those recruited to the NHS, as they will include staff returning after breaks in activity. Joiners will also include experienced midwives joining from non-NHS providers. Within this data we can see the number who are joiners at Agenda for Change pay band five, which is where newly qualified or less experience staff would be placed. Data also contains the nationality of staff joining active service, and whilst self-reported nationality is not the same as place of training or previous residence, it does provide a guide to scale. The following table shows the annual number of midwives joining active service in the NHS in England, as well as those joining at band five, and those joining who reported non-United Kingdom nationalities, for each of the last five years up until June:

Source: NHS England, NHS Workforce Statistics.

In order to bring together questions on the education and training of midwives and the flow of staff into the National Health Service midwifery workforce, a number of strands of the available data are presented below.

Data published by the Office for Students, in the Higher Education Students Early Statistics Survey (HESES), collates figures submitted by individual higher education providers to give an indication of the number of students starting in each academic year. The HESES’ data includes figures on undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery courses in England. The latest published data is for those starting courses in 2023. The following table shows the number of undergraduate and postgraduate starters on midwifery courses in England for 2019 to 2023:

Source: The Office for Students’ HESES data for 2023.

The following table shows the number of qualifiers from undergraduate midwifery courses in England, with a qualifier being defined by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as a student who gained a qualification during the academic year in question, for the academic years 2020/21 to 2022/23:

Source: HESA’s qualifier data 2023

Note: Data is currently only available up to the academic year 2022/23.

Additionally, there are midwives training through an apprenticeship route. The following table shows the number of starts on midwifery apprenticeships, including apprenticeships within NHS and non-NHS organisations, in each of the last five years:

Source: Department for Education Apprenticeships and traineeships statistics, October 2024.

Note: Data on the provisional starts for the year 2023/24 is only available between August 2023 to July 2024.

The Department does not hold data which would allow the identification of the route which joiners to the NHS registered midwifery workforce have taken to become active in the service, or what these flows will be in future years. Data published by NHS England does show the total annual number of staff who join active service across NHS trusts and other core organisations. Joiners are not the same as those recruited to the NHS, as they will include staff returning after breaks in activity. Joiners will also include experienced midwives joining from non-NHS providers. Within this data we can see the number who are joiners at Agenda for Change pay band five, which is where newly qualified or less experience staff would be placed. Data also contains the nationality of staff joining active service, and whilst self-reported nationality is not the same as place of training or previous residence, it does provide a guide to scale. The following table shows the annual number of midwives joining active service in the NHS in England, as well as those joining at band five, and those joining who reported non-United Kingdom nationalities, for each of the last five years up until June:

Source: NHS England, NHS Workforce Statistics.

In the first year after the Taliban takeover, the UK provided £17 million to support partners in Afghanistan's neighbouring countries. This support assisted Afghan migrants and asylum seekers moving across borders, and refugee and host communities in those countries. We are also planning £161 million of funding to Afghanistan this financial year (2024-5), which includes both humanitarian aid and support for essential services in Afghanistan. We continue to monitor the situation closely.

Ministers are reviewing the FCDO's Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget to ensure it delivers on our priorities. We are committed to transparency and will publish ODA allocations for 2024-25. We are planning £161 million in aid this financial year (2024-25), with 50 per cent targeted for women and girls. UK funding supports several NGOs who promote human rights in Afghanistan, including those of women and minorities. We also contribute to an Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund project that supports civil society, particularly women-led organisations.

We recognise the importance of the Chagos Archipelago to Chagossians and have worked to ensure the agreement with Mauritius reflects their interests. Under the terms of the agreement, Mauritius will be free to implement a programme of resettlement on the islands, other than Diego Garcia, and we will finance a new trust fund for Mauritius in support of Chagossians. Separate to the agreement, we will increase our support to Chagossians in the UK and will work with Mauritius to restart visits to the islands at the earliest opportunity, including Diego Garcia, for Chagossians.

Following the agreement reached on 3 October, we will work with Mauritius to restart visits to the islands as soon as possible, including Diego Garcia, for Chagossians. In addition, Mauritius will be free to implement a programme of resettlement on the islands other than Diego Garcia.

Ministers and officials will continue to regularly engage with members of the Chagossian community on a range of issues, including on the implementation of the agreement reached between the United Kingdom and Mauritius. We recognise the huge importance of the islands to Chagossians and have worked to ensure this agreement reflects their interests.

HMRC is committed to tackling error and fraud whilst also ensuring the R&D tax relief claims process is straightforward for genuine claimants.

At Autumn Budget, HMRC published the Approach to Research and Development tax Reliefs for 2023 to 2024, which shows that the average time to complete a compliance check for 2023-24 is 246 days. The length of a compliance check will depend on a range of factors, including the complexity of the claim. The additional information required upfront to support claims is being used to inform HMRC’s risking of claims and compliance approach.

HMRC is committed to tackling error and fraud whilst also ensuring the R&D tax relief claims process is straightforward for genuine claimants.

At Autumn Budget, HMRC published the Approach to Research and Development tax Reliefs for 2023 to 2024, which shows that the average time to complete a compliance check for 2023-24 is 246 days. The length of a compliance check will depend on a range of factors, including the complexity of the claim. The additional information required upfront to support claims is being used to inform HMRC’s risking of claims and compliance approach.

The government will set out any changes to taxation at fiscal events. Its plans at the Budget on October 30^th will support its objectives of restoring fiscal responsibility whilst protecting working people.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on initial decisions on asylum claims by nationality can be found in table Asy_D02 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’. The Home Office does not publish initial decisions on asylum claims by religion.

Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to the year ending June 2024. Data for the year ending September 2024 will be published on 28 November 2024.

All asylum and human rights claims, including those based on religious persecution, are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK at: Assessing credibility and refugee status: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Each individual assessment is made against the background of relevant case law and the latest available country of origin information. This is based on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources, including reputable media outlets; local, national, and international organisations, such as human rights organisations; and information from the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office. Our assessment of the situation of a given group in a given country, is set out in the relevant country policy and information note, which is available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-policy-and-information-notes.

We have a proud record of providing protection to those who need it, for as long as it is needed, in accordance with our international obligations. Those who qualify for protection are normally granted five years’ limited leave and have access to the labour market and welfare support. Refugees, like the vast majority of migrants, are expected to complete a qualifying period of leave before being eligible to apply for settlement.

Settlement provides permission to stay in the UK permanently and freedom from immigration control for those who still require protection. As the need for protection may be temporary, a safe return review is carried out on every application for settlement on a protection route to determine and confirm the need is continuing. If there are, for example, significant improvements in country conditions or changes in personal circumstances that mean someone no longer needs protection, they may be expected to return to their country of origin or to apply to stay in the UK under other provisions of the Immigration Rules. Those who are still at risk of serious harm in their country are not expected to return there.

Our service standards for these Indefinite Leave to Remain applications is six months, and in cases where this is not possible, we contact our customers within that time to explain the reasons for this. Safeguarding, including where there are mental health issues, is an issue that we take extremely seriously and we will expedite applications if there are compelling and compassionate reasons to do so.

It is vital that detention and removal are carried out with dignity and respect, and we take the welfare and safety of people in our care very seriously. We will not tolerate any form of discrimination against those who are detained in our immigration removal estate. We keep the level of risk under regular review and will take robust action against anyone who is found not to have behaved appropriately.

In order to effectively support individuals in immigration detention who identify as LGBT+ there is detailed published guidance for all staff working in immigration removal centres (IRCs). Detention Services Orders 2/2016 ‘Lesbian, gay and bisexual detainees in the detention estate’ and 11/2012 ‘Care and Management of Transsexual Detainees’ set out the actions and safeguarding processes that are undertaken in IRCs to ensure that the needs of LGBT+ individuals are identified and appropriately met.

The abuse that took place at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) in 2017 was unacceptable.

The previous government published its response to the public inquiry into Brook House IRC on 19 March 2024, summarising the progress made since 2017 and addressing each of the ten key areas of concern raised in the report.

The new government is carefully considering the Inquiry’s recommendations and will set out its approach in due course.

Each asylum claim lodged in the UK is considered in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The cornerstone of the asylum consideration process remains the requirement to establish a well-founded fear of persecution for a reason set out in Article 1(A)(2) of the Refugee Convention. No one who is found to be at risk of serious harm, including on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, will be returned to their country of origin.

The Home Office remains committed to delivering an asylum system that is responsive to all forms of persecution including those based on sexuality or gender identity.

I thank the hon. Member for her question, I’m sure she will understand I am unable to provide an answer in order to protect personal information.

Homelessness levels are far too high. This has a devastating impact on those affected and harms our communities.

We must address this and deliver long-term solutions. The Government is considering these issues carefully and is committed to putting Britain back on track to ending homelessness. To do this we will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country.

The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and that this can have a devastating impact on those involved, as well as placing financial strain on councils. Local authorities have reported the costs of providing temporary accommodation for 2023/24. This information is available at the ‘Revenue outturn housing services (RO4)’ tables at Local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2023 to 2024 individual local authority data - outturn - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

We must address homelessness levels and deliver long term solutions. The Government will look at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors, councils and key stakeholders across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.

More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness. This includes delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, building 1.5 million new homes over the next Parliament, and abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions which will prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against and empower people to challenge unreasonable rent increases. The Government has also confirmed £450 million for a third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund which will support local authorities to obtain better quality temporary accommodation for homeless families.

The Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for cross-governmental coordination of policy to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping and will update in due course.

The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and that this can have a devastating impact on those involved, as well as placing financial strain on councils. Local authorities have reported the costs of providing temporary accommodation for 2023/24. This information is available at the ‘Revenue outturn housing services (RO4)’ tables at: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2023 to 2024 individual local authority data - outturn - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for cross-governmental coordination of policy to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping and will update in due course.

The Employment Tribunals Act 1996 and the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013 (“the Rules”) govern how cases are handled in employment tribunals. Orders for anonymity are primarily governed by rule 50 of the Rules. This provides the employment tribunals the power to make an order restricting or preventing the disclosure of any aspect of proceedings, this may include an order that a party’s identity should not be disclosed to the public. Employment tribunals may only make such an order, where it is ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ and having regard to the principle of open justice and to the Convention right to freedom of expression. As such, the question of whether such an order should be granted is a judicial decision balancing the interests of justice with the need for transparency, and is taken on a case-by case basis.