Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support the removal of sexualised deepfake content from X.

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

Sexually manipulated images of women and children are despicable and abhorrent. The government is clear that no one should have to go through the ordeal of seeing intimate images of themselves online. There are no excuses not to act, and services must deal with this urgently.

Sharing, or threatening to share a deepfake intimate image without consent is a criminal offence. The government has made it a priority offence under the Online Safety Act, meaning services need to take proactive steps to tackle this content. Ofcom has robust enforcement powers to use where providers are not complying with their duties.

This week we havesigned the commencement order to urgently bring powers to criminalise the creation of intimate images without consent into force.

Ofcom has confirmed that they have opened a formal investigation into X and have the government’s full backing to take necessary enforcement action.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues tp help reduce the prevalence of phone use whilst driving.

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

The Government takes road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The use of mobile phones while driving is unacceptable, and there are already tough penalties for those committing an offence.

We published our Road Safety Strategy on 07 January setting out our plans to improve the safety of our roads. As part of this we are reviewing the motoring offences and published a consultation, exploring areas of particular concern including drink and drug driving.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the readiness category is of (a) HMS Glasgow, (b) HMS Belfast and (c) HMS Cardiff.

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.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the readiness category is of (a) RFA Lyme Bay, (b) RFA Mounts Bay, (c) RFA Cardigan Bay, (d) RFA Argus, (e) RFA Fort Victoria, (f) RFA Tidespring, (g) RFA Tiderace, (h) RFA Tidesurge and (i) RFA Tideforce.

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.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Navy vessels are at (a) R1, (b) R2, (c) R3, (d) R4, (e) R5, (f) R6, (g) R7, (h) R8, (i) R9, (j) R10 and (k) R11.

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.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Navy personnel are at (a) R1, (b) R2, (c) R3, (d) R4, (e) R5, (f) R6, (g) R7, (h) R8, (i) R9, (j) R10 and (k) R11.

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of health visiting on the Government’s target of raising the healthiest generation of children ever.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. The child health workforce, including health visiting teams, are central to how we support families to give their children the best start in life.

Health visitors lead the Healthy Child Programme, England’s universal, community-based public health programme for children and families. The work of health visitors enables early intervention and prevents the need for high-cost NHS treatments down the line. Their impact is vital to realising both our ambition to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and the shifts from hospital to community, and treatment to prevention.

As set out in the Best Start in Life strategy, the Government has committed to strengthening health visiting services so that all families have access to high-quality, support they need.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of her Department’s guidance on following distances.

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

Rule 126 of The Highway Code includes guidance on stopping distances and states that drivers and riders ‘should leave enough space between you and the vehicle in front so that you can pull up safely if it suddenly slows down or stops’ and ‘…never to get closer than the overall stopping distances’ set out on pages 52 and 53 of the code. Tailgating can be considered careless driving, which is a fixed penalty offence.

All road users are required to comply with road traffic law. If road users do not adopt a responsible attitude or if their use of the highway creates an unsafe environment, or causes nuisance, they may be committing a number of offences that can make them liable for prosecution.

Enforcement of the law is a matter for the police who will decide on the evidence of each individual case, whether an offence has been committed and the appropriate action to take.

In addition to the Highway Code, National Highways uses Variable Message Signs on motorways to encourage appropriate lane discipline. The Government’s THINK! road safety campaign also provides information to road users to encourage safer behaviour. Enforcement of road traffic law is a matter for the police.

In June 2025, National Highways ran a communications campaign on this issue, using media, digital and social media. The aim was to align the uncomfortable feeling of being followed too closely in everyday life with the similar feelings this evokes when being tailgated on a high-speed road, namely discomfort and anxiety.

Following the success of that campaign, and the genuine media interest in this topic, National Highways is planning a new communications campaign to launch next month. This low / no cost campaign moment will educate drivers on the dangers of tailgating and aim to change behaviour by looking at driving etiquette and evoking England’s love for manners and respect.

The campaign will launch w/c 23rd February across owned and earned media channels. It will involve:

• Press activity which demonstrates the scale of the issue and brings its regional elements to life. This will be pitched to national broadcast channels and print/ online outlets
• Creative social media content addressing the campaign themes, activated across channels including Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Shorts
• Interactive digital activity illustrating the regional trends
• Stakeholder engagement and sharing of key campaign messaging

National Highways adheres to the Government Communication Service evaluation framework and will be measuring the success of this campaign wave through a series of measures, including social listening tools and Media Equivalent Value.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that military memorials are kept in good condition.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Responsibility for military memorials is split between several organisations, depending on the type and location of the memorial.

Across the globe, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains 23,000 war memorials and war cemeteries commemorating 1.7 million commonwealth casualties who died during the First and Second World Wars. During the Financial Year 2024-25, the Ministry of Defence contributed £56.3 million Grant in Aid funding to support this core commemoration to a high standard, sometimes in inhospitable locations.

Additionally, there are many military memorials, both within the UK and abroad, which have been established, and are owned by institutions such as local authorities, charities, churches, museums, schools, businesses and private individuals. The care and maintenance of such memorials are the sole responsibility of the owner.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps are being taken to (a) clear the backlog of unclaimed Armed Forces pensions and (b) prevent the accumulation of unclaimed pensions in future.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

There is currently no backlog for unclaimed deferred pensions.

The Ministry of Defence continues to conduct tracing exercises 60 working days after the pension due date to establish the member's address and invite them to claim; we continue to explore additional mechanisms to identify individuals who qualify for an unclaimed deferred pension.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Found: Yours sincerely, Sarah Owen MP Chair, Women and Equalities Committee Cc: Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: parliament.uk Yours sincerely, Sarah Owen MP Chair, Women and Equalities Committee Cc: Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Floor 100 Parliament Street London SW1A 2BQ E: enquiries@dcms.gov.uk www.gov.uk/dcms Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: committees.parliament.uk/committee/378/culture-media-and-sport-committee/ Yours sincerely, Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Mr Bayo Alaba; Vicky Foxcroft; Damian

Found: HM Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Dame Caroline Dinenage MP Chair, Culture,

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Vicky Foxcroft; Damian Hinds; Dr

Found: Parliament Street London SW1A 2BQ E: enquiries@dcms.gov.uk www.gov.uk/dcms Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: T: +44 (0) 7548 846909 E: Mark.Bourgeois@gpa.gov.uk Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Vicky Foxcroft; Damian Hinds; Dr

Found: ukactive Briefing for Dame Caroline Dinenage MP – business rates The below briefing provides

Found: 100 Parliament Street London SW1A 2BQ E: enquiries@dcms.gov.uk www.gov.uk/dcms Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Parliament Street London SW1A 2BQ E: enquiries@dcms.gov.uk www.gov.uk/dcms Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Mr Bayo Alaba; Vicky Foxcroft; Damian

Found: information about our use of your personal data visit: historicen gland.org.uk/privacy Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Parliament Street London SW1A 2BQ E: enquiries@dcms.gov.uk www.gov.uk/dcms Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage MP Chair, Culture, Media and Sport Committee House of Commons London

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Mr Bayo Alaba; Vicky Foxcroft; Damian

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the operational future of the (a) RFA Argus and (b) RFA Fort Victoria; and what the current status is of each vessel.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the right hon. Member to the response I gave to Question 106973 on 26 January 2026 to the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage).

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-01-20/106973

Found: of this, we re-established the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, chaired by Dame Caroline Dinenage

Found: of this, we re-established the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, chaired by Dame Caroline Dinenage