Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she will publish her Local Media Strategy.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Supporting local media across the country is a particular concern for this Government and we are working across Government and with stakeholders to develop a Local Media Strategy. DCMS ministers held a roundtable discussion with local news editors last year to discuss the planned approach and collaboration with industry on the Strategy. An industry working group has been meeting regularly since June 2025 to consider the issues in more detail. The Strategy will be published in the coming months.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of regulation and (b) level of trade body membership of funeral service providers contracted by local authorities for provision of services that fall outside of a local authority's obligations under Section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises the urgency of concerns about the funeral sector and is committed to responding at pace to ensure that the highest standards are always upheld by funeral directors and others involved in the care of people that have died.
To that end, the Government is considering the full range of options to strengthen and improve standards to safeguard the security and dignity of the deceased. In this context, an interim update on progress with our response to the Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 report was published by the Department for Health and Social Care on 16 December 2025 (Fuller inquiry: government interim update on phase 2 recommendations - GOV.UK), and we will provide a full response by summer 2026.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to help ensure that the enrichment entitlement is received by young people in Gosport.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people across England can access a variety of enrichment opportunities at school as part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
To support delivery of the core enrichment offer set out in the government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, we are developing a new Enrichment Framework for publication in early 2026. Developed with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), alongside a sector working group, the framework will set out benchmarks to help schools and colleges plan high-quality enrichment more intentionally and strategically and will include case studies and signpost to tools and resources.
Alongside this, we are working with DCMS on the design of a £22.5 million programme to create a tailored enrichment offer in up to 400 schools over three years. We are also working closely with the Ministry of Defence to support cadet opportunities, including their commitment to expand cadet forces across schools and communities by 30% by 2030, supported by £70 million of new funding.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Report: Government Interim Update on Progress, when he plans to respond to recommendations 29, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 69, 71 and 72.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will publish a full response to the Inquiry’s recommendations in summer 2026, setting out progress and next steps on the 75 recommendations, including the 11 specified.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the Scottish Government's Burial and Cremations Department Funeral Director Code of Practice in reducing the number of funeral directors that are in breach of the law.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises the urgency of concerns about the funeral sector and is committed to responding at pace to ensure that the highest standards are always upheld by funeral directors and others involved in the care of people that have died.
To that end, the Government is considering the full range of options to strengthen and improve standards to safeguard the security and dignity of the deceased. In this context, an interim update on progress with our response to the Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 report was published by the Department for Health and Social Care on 16 December 2025 (Fuller inquiry: government interim update on phase 2 recommendations - GOV.UK), and we will provide a full response by summer 2026.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken for statutory levy funding on the financial resilience of organisations operating within the gambling harm prevention sector.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We recognise the concerns raised by some organisations about funding uncertainty and the impact this can have on their financial resilience and day-to-day operations. We are taking steps to ensure that valuable knowledge, skills and expertise are retained across the gambling harms prevention system during the transition to the statutory levy.
Working with commissioners, we have engaged closely with GambleAware, which is continuing to provide funding to relevant voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations until April 2026. This includes transitional funding to help stabilise prevention-focused organisations that sit outside GambleAware’s routine commissioning activity.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has now launched the application process for its Gambling Harms Prevention: Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise grant fund. This follows extensive market engagement to provide timely updates, manage provider expectations around future funding processes and timescales, and support greater stability across the system. The application window will close on 6 February 2026, with funding released from April 2026. Devolved governments are responsible for delivery of the prevention programmes in Scotland and Wales and work is progressing to support organisations there.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Navy vessels were at (a) High, (b) Very High and (c) Extremely High readiness in each year since 2022.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In agreement with the House of Commons Defence Committee (HCDC), Royal Navy Surface Fleet readiness data is provided on a six-monthly basis. This information can be found on the HCDC website but for ease, please find links to the previous two submissions:
committees.parliament.uk/publications/49894/documents/267958/default/
committees.parliament.uk/publications/49270/documents/262458/default/
To protect the operational security of the Fleet, I am unable to provide further granularity.
In addition, the Royal Navy does not hold individual Service Personnel at a readiness state but rather Force Elements or individual units. This information is withheld as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.