Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that online platforms offer children diversity of content.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting high-quality, culturally relevant, UK-made children’s content, and the considerable benefits it brings. The popularity of online services, including video-sharing platforms, means there is now more choice than ever for young audiences. The Government is engaging with creators, producers, broadcasters, and video-sharing platforms to see how they can work more closely together to surface UK-made, high-quality content. We want to ensure children’s programming is easily accessible, and continues to inform, educate, and entertain young people into the future.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support children’s educational content creators on online platforms.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting high-quality, culturally relevant, UK-made children’s content, and the considerable benefits it brings. The popularity of online services, including video-sharing platforms, means there is now more choice than ever for young audiences. The Government is engaging with creators, producers, broadcasters, and video-sharing platforms to see how they can work more closely together to surface UK-made, high-quality content. We want to ensure children’s programming is easily accessible, and continues to inform, educate, and entertain young people into the future.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2025 to Question 93580 on Eating Disorders: Mental Health Services, which external stakeholders his Department is engaging with in the development of the modern service framework for mental health.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to publish the modern service framework for severe mental illness in the latter half of 2026.
Engagement on the modern service framework will involve a wide range of stakeholders, such as people with lived experience, clinicians, allied professionals, social workers, the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, commissioners, and National Health Service Leaders. We have recruited a third Co-Chair for the Modern Service Framework, Jo Lomani, who is a national mental health co-production lead and expert by lived and living experience, to support the implementation of our lived-experience involvement and co-production strategy. This aims to ensure that people who use mental health services stay at the centre of everything we do.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2025 to Question 93580 on Eating Disorders: Mental Health Services, when the Government expects to publish the modern service framework for mental health.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to publish the modern service framework for severe mental illness in the latter half of 2026.
Engagement on the modern service framework will involve a wide range of stakeholders, such as people with lived experience, clinicians, allied professionals, social workers, the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, commissioners, and National Health Service Leaders. We have recruited a third Co-Chair for the Modern Service Framework, Jo Lomani, who is a national mental health co-production lead and expert by lived and living experience, to support the implementation of our lived-experience involvement and co-production strategy. This aims to ensure that people who use mental health services stay at the centre of everything we do.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to develop a UK major events strategy.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The UK is a world-class host for major events, and the government is investing in a decade-long pipeline to drive economic growth and community impact.
Support for sporting events is already established through the Gold Framework. Additionally, DCMS will launch a new Visitor Economy Growth Strategy next year to strengthen the business events industry and enhance the UK's global competitiveness.
The Department welcomes the CMS Select Committee Inquiry into major events and continues to engage with industry to address challenges and identify further opportunities for collaboration and growth.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the availability of low-quality, online children’s content on levels of SEND diagnosis.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Research from the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education demonstrates that rates of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) identification are increasing internationally, and England is one of the countries with a relatively higher percentage change of pupils identified with SEND. The research is available here: https://www.european-agency.org/activities/data/cross-country-reports
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced on 4 December the launch of an independent review into prevalence and support for mental health conditions, ADHD and autism so children, young people and adults can receive the right support
The SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years makes it clear that meeting the needs of a child with special educational needs does not require a diagnostic label or test. Instead, we expect teachers to monitor the progress of all pupils and put support in place where needed. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has her Department made of the potential merits of incorporating history-based video games to enhance learning.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are trusted to use their judgement to choose high quality resources and deliver their lessons in ways that work best for their pupils.
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review has recommended that the department works with experts to assess the validity of digital practice in subjects, and we will consider inclusion of relevant digital content in the national curriculum based on this process.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to ensure that the National Curriculum includes immersive experiences.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, published on 5 November, sets out our plans for a refreshed curriculum to ensure that all pupils develop the knowledge and skills that we know are essential for life, work and innovation.
Schools are trusted to use their judgement to choose high quality resources and deliver their lessons in ways that work best for their pupils.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support UK festival organisers with the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill, in the context of the workforce flexibility requirements of the sector.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Festivals are crucial to the UK's culture, providing a platform for emerging artists, supporting local economies and creative jobs, and bringing joy to thousands.
The impact on UK festivals will depend on the regulations that we will bring forward following consultation on the measures in the Employment Rights Act 2025.
The government will ensure there is sufficient time for businesses to familiarise themselves with these new employment rights before they come into force, and we intend to provide clear guidance for employers and for workers in advance of implementation.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the Premier League and the Football League.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Act and this is available here: http://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments.