Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on creating a National Care Service.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

Chaired by Baroness Casey of Blackstock, the Commission will start a national conversation about what people expect from adult social care, setting us on the road to fundamental reform that will build a social care system fit for the future.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending regulations on blue badges to include a provision for people who run (a) taxis and (b) other transport vehicles that are designed to provide facilities for people with disabilities.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Blue Badge scheme provides a range of parking concessions for people with a long-term disability, who travel either as passengers or drivers, that affects their capacity to access the goods and services they need to use.

The regulations governing the Blue Badge scheme define a disabled person's badge as: “a badge issued by a local authority for display on any motor vehicle driven by a disabled person or used for the carriage of a disabled person or of several disabled persons.”

The concessions can be used by taxis and any other vehicles with the badge on display, to drop off and collect a Blue Badge holder. The Department has no plans to amend the current eligibility criteria.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number and proportion of overseas voters who did not receive a ballot in time to vote at the general election in 2024; and whether her Department plans to take steps to increase the proportion of overseas voters who receive a ballot in time.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Department does not hold information on the number of overseas voters that did not receive a ballot in time to vote at the general election in 2024.

As set out in our response to the Electoral Commission’s evaluation of the 2024 general election, published last month (Electoral Commission’s reports on the 2024 elections: government response - GOV.UK), the Government recognises the Commission’s findings with regards to the difficulties faced by British citizens living overseas when trying to participate in UK elections.

As part of our review of electoral registration and conduct, the government, in partnership with electoral practitioners and the Electoral Commission, is examining several aspects of the system for overseas electors, with a view to identifying practical solutions to some of the challenges faced.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the permanent cost of pay rises for primary school teachers implemented in September 2024 has been factored into school budgets beyond April 2025.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning the core schools budget will total over £64.8 billion compared to almost £61.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This includes the £2.3 billion announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 and over £930 million being provided to support schools and high needs settings with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions from April 2025.

The funding announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 includes funding to cover the remaining costs of the 2024 teachers’ pay award in the 2025/26 financial year.

For mainstream schools, all of this funding has been rolled into the schools national funding formula in 2025/26, ensuring that it forms an ongoing part of schools’ core budgets.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the timing of the start of the school budget year in April and the academic year in September on schools' ability to budget effectively for staffing needs when pupil numbers increase in September.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are generally funded on the basis of their pupil numbers in the previous October census, therefore meaning the funding that schools receive for the 2025/26 funding year will be based on pupil numbers as of October 2024. This practice means that the department can publish allocations with enough time to give schools certainty over funding levels and to aid in their planning. It also gives schools time to adjust to any declines in pupil numbers, before these have an impact on their funding.

However, the department understands that this can cause problems where schools are experiencing significant growth in pupil numbers. The department also allocates ‘growth funding’ to local authorities. This can be used by local authorities to support both maintained schools and academies in managing a significant growth in pupil numbers, in advance of this increase being reflected in schools’ core funding allocations.

Found: Biomass carbon accounting • Chris Hinchliff MP (Q61): The IPCC guidelines do not automatically consider

Found: Perkins (Chair); Barry Gardiner; Anna Gelderd; Sarah Gibson; Allison Griffiths; Pippa Heylings; Chris Hinchliff

Found: New Amendments: 2 and 3, NC1 to NC3 _1 Chris Hinchliff .

Found: New Amendment: 1 _1 Chris Hinchliff ★.

Found: Imran Hussain Dr Simon Opher Mary Kelly Foy Nadia Whittome Adrian Ramsay Kate Osborne Chris Hinchliff

Submit Evidence (by 24 Apr 2025)

The Environmental Audit Committee is undertaking an inquiry on airport expansion and climate and nature targets. In this inquiry the Committee is seeking to:

Submit Evidence (by 26 May 2025)

Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a large, complex group of about 14,000 synthetic chemicals used in a wide variety of everyday products. For example, PFAS are used to keep food from sticking to packaging or cookware, make clothes and carpets resistant to stains, and create firefighting foam that is more effective.