Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support people with epilepsy to monitor seizures.

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

At a national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with epilepsy, such as the RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit, the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the Neurology Transformation Programme.

The RightCare Epilepsy Toolkit signposts readers to the Epilepsy Self-Monitoring app developed by SUDEP Action, which is a digital tool designed to help patients understand their own personal risk of seizures, and to track and manage this risk.

In our recently published 10-Year Health Plan, we set out our plans to expand the use of wearable technologies and biosensors which will be able to provide ‘real-time data’ and help patients track and monitor their health, including people with epilepsy.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has considered introducing voluntary pension-sharing orders in cases of life-changing events.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

We have no plans to introduce further pension sharing provisions.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that schools do not use non-disclosure agreements to require teachers to take settlement agreements.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

No staff member should ever be pressured into leaving their job. Headteachers have the freedom to manage employment at their schools in accordance with the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document guidance for maintained schools and relevant employment law for all schools.

In addition, the government is taking action to ensure that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) cannot be used to take unfair advantage of workers. For example, the Employment Rights Bill now includes a measure that will void any provision in an agreement, such as a contract of employment or settlement agreement, between a worker and their employer that prevents a worker from speaking out about relevant harassment or discrimination. The government intends to outline strict conditions in regulations under which NDAs can still be validly entered into.

We are also taking significant steps to reduce pressure on teachers and therefore increase teacher retention. Our ‘Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service contains a range of supportive resources for schools to review and reduce workload, as well as improve staff wellbeing. This year saw one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that teachers are not pressured into leaving the profession.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

No staff member should ever be pressured into leaving their job. Headteachers have the freedom to manage employment at their schools in accordance with the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document guidance for maintained schools and relevant employment law for all schools.

In addition, the government is taking action to ensure that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) cannot be used to take unfair advantage of workers. For example, the Employment Rights Bill now includes a measure that will void any provision in an agreement, such as a contract of employment or settlement agreement, between a worker and their employer that prevents a worker from speaking out about relevant harassment or discrimination. The government intends to outline strict conditions in regulations under which NDAs can still be validly entered into.

We are also taking significant steps to reduce pressure on teachers and therefore increase teacher retention. Our ‘Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service contains a range of supportive resources for schools to review and reduce workload, as well as improve staff wellbeing. This year saw one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department is taking steps to help support bereaved families with council tax owed following the sale of a property.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

When a property has been left empty following the death of its owner or occupant, it is exempt from council tax for as long as it remains unoccupied and until probate is granted. Following a grant of probate (or the signing of letters of administration), a further six months exemption is possible, so long as the property remains unoccupied and has not been sold or transferred to someone else. Furthermore, this government has introduced an exception to any council tax premiums for up to 12 months after probate, provided the property has not been sold. The government does not currently have any plans to change this.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help support male voice choirs.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

His Majesty’s Government has a strong commitment to all forms of music, including choral music. Local choirs are an important part of many people’s lives across the UK, providing a creative outlet and strong sense of community, as well as an accessible, enjoyable cultural experience enjoyed by people of all ages.

The Government supports the arts financially, including choirs and singing, through its arm’s-length body Arts Council England. The Arts Council does not have a specific category for identifying investment in ‘male choirs’, however, for the financial year 2024/25 Arts Council England funded activity with a choral focus or element by nearly £44 million. This funding has supported the development, touring and promotion of choral music throughout England. Organisations supported by this funding include Ex Cathedra, a nationally recognised choir with a repertoire that reaches from the 12th to the 21st centuries.

Within the Music and Dance Scheme, the Department for Education continues to fund bursaries for training choristers through the Choir Schools’ Association.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued guidance that parking charges at NHS facilities are (a) equitable, (b) proportionate to the cost of (i) maintaining and (ii) improving parking facilities and (c) not to be used to subsidise clinical services.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions on the provision of car parking are made locally by National Health Service organisations to be consistent with the national guidance provided by NHS England.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles

This guidance requires free parking to the four free groups: disabled people; frequent outpatient attenders; parents of sick children staying overnight; and staff working night shifts. In addition, parking charges are expected to be fair for the area. Where car parking income exceeds the costs of providing the parking, the excess income is invested into NHS services.

Local charging for NHS parking will depend on a number of local factors including the availability and cost of parking, the demands for parking, for instance the pressure of parking from shopping, and the availability of alternative forms of transport such as public transport and NHS shuttle buses services.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools with provisions for wraparound care.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

​​This government is committed to providing a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. So far, we have delivered 2.6 million breakfasts and offered places to almost 180,000 pupils across the country. Following the success of the early adopters, and as the first phase of national rollout, we are investing a further £80 million into the programme to fund an additional 2,000 schools between April 2026 and March 2027. Since September 2024, over 50,000 additional full childcare places have also been made available to families through the National Wraparound Programme. ​

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to take steps to help incentivise the temporary use of vacant commercial spaces for (a) community-based and (b) start-up projects.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government is committed to bringing empty buildings back into use. That’s why we introduced High Street Rental Auctions giving local authorities the power to auction the lease of persistently vacant commercial properties and make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable for any organisation including start-up businesses and community groups.

Through the Pride in Place strategy, we are going further by giving communities extra tools to improve their high street, alongside up to £5 billion funding over ten years to 244 neighbourhoods experiencing some of the highest levels of disadvantage.