Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve skills in the defence workforce.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As the War in Ukraine has proven, we are only as strong as the industry behind it. That is why the Defence Investment Plan reaffirms our £182 million commitment to enhancing defence industry skills across the UK.
As part of that, we are launching Defence Technical Excellence Colleges across the country, including Weston College in the South West, providing more funding to universities and colleges to increase capacity on defence-focused Higher Education courses; and supporting mid-career professionals to reskill and upskill.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to ensure local Integrated Care Boards are giving adequate resourcing to (a) customer service, (b) complaints and (c) appeals teams.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
It is for integrated care boards (ICBs) to determine how to make best use of their resources to deliver their duties and responsibilities and meet the healthcare needs of their local populations.
Specifically on complaints, the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 set out in law the minimum standards National Health Service organisations must adhere to in respect of their complaint handling arrangements.
When ICB responsibilities increased to include primary care commissioning in April 2023, additional complaints handlers were moved into ICB structures, to complement their existing complaints handling resource. As part of the 2026/27 national oversight framework, published on 11 June 2026, new reporting will commence to understand how well ICBs have discharged their duties, as referenced in complaints regulations.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of Local Authority’s experience of introducing Article 4 Directions covering Houses in Multiple Occupation; and whether any proposals will be brought forward to simplify this process.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department engages regularly with local authorities about a range of planning matters, including those that have introduced an ‘Article 4’ direction.
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals for a more flexible policy in relation to the use of Article 4 so local planning authorities can remove
permitted development rights where it is necessary to protect the amenity or well-being of an area, for instance to support the renewal of towns centres or where there is an overconcentration of small Houses in Multiple Occupation.
We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what reason Companies House is using Authorised Corporate Service Providers as an alternative method for HMRC contact.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Authorised Corporate Service Providers (ACSPs) are agents that can verify the identities of their clients and file information with Companies House on their behalf. They are not an alternative method for HMRC contact.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department are taking to (a) ensure the compliance of (i) home and (ii) travel insurance firms with their legal obligations and (b) improve consumer protections related to (A) home and (B) travel insurance.
Answered by Rachel Blake
The government recognises the important role of home and travel insurance products in building the financial resilience of consumers and protecting them when things go wrong.
The Treasury is responsible for setting the overall legal framework for regulating Financial Services. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is an independent body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry, including insurance firms. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) investigates individual complaints against firms.
The FCA introduced their Consumer Duty in 2023, which has had a positive impact in shifting firms towards an approach that is more focused on outcomes for consumers. The FCA’s 2025 review of home and travel claims handling identified examples of good practice and areas for future improvement which the regulator is taking forward.
Last year’s super-complaint by Which? reflected ongoing consumer concerns regarding home and travel insurance. The government takes these concerns seriously and will be responding, alongside the FCA, to the Financial Services Regulation Committee’s inquiry into the regulation of the consumer insurance market.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures her Department will take to ensure adequate support is in place for integrating SEND pupils into mainstream educational settings as part of its planned SEND reforms.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is improving access to specialist support in mainstream settings through an investment of £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), to deliver a new Experts at Hand offer. This will enable earlier access to specialist support and interventions for children and young people in early years settings, schools and colleges.
This is supported by £40 million of investment in the specialist workforce, including £15 million to expand the speech and language therapy workforce. This will fund apprenticeships, upskill staff, and ensure an advanced speech and language therapy practitioner is available in every ICB geographic area.
The remaining £26 million will support the training of at least 200 educational psychologists per year in 2026 and 2027.
In addition, we are further investing £1.6 billion in an Inclusive Mainstream Fund to support the development of a more inclusive education system. Additional funding will be provided to early years, schools and colleges to boost their existing core funding for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with over £500 million per year over the next three years to help schools strengthen their inclusive offer.
This funding, alongside their existing core funding for SEND, will help equip schools to invest in high quality, adaptive teaching; inclusive pedagogy and decision-making; and creating safe, calm and accessible learning environments.
The SEND reforms propose the development of Individual Support Plans to provide a record of need and provision for any child or young person receiving targeted, targeted plus or specialist support in school or college. They will be developed by settings together with parents and young people, giving every child or young person receiving targeted or specialist support a clear and consistent record of their needs and the help they receive, so that support is joined‑up, timely and genuinely centred on what will help them to thrive.
We have engaged extensively with stakeholders, including parents, carers and sector representatives, throughout the recent consultation period and will continue to do so as we take health and education reforms forward.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide further support to care leavers attending university.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All eligible care leavers, regardless of age or personal circumstances, who are attending undergraduate higher education courses in the 2026/27 academic year, will be eligible for the maximum loan for living costs, removing key barriers to accessing education.
This reform is central to the government's mission to break down barriers to opportunity, ensuring, that everyone, regardless of their background, has the chance to get on in life.
Supporting disadvantaged and underrepresented students in higher education remains a key government priority. To this end, through the Strategic Priorities Grant £253 million has been allocated to eligible providers in the current academic year 2025/26 to support successful student outcomes: full-time and part-time; the disabled students ’premium; and mental health premium.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that (a) communications between parents of children with special educational needs and local authorities are transparent and (b) authorities are accountable in their decision making.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities are responsible for identifying, assessing and meeting the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and should communicate openly with children, young people and their families.
The SEND Code of Practice sets out that they must consult children, young people, parents and carers when preparing and reviewing their Local Offer. The department supports family involvement through funding Parent Carer Forums, regional participation events and local information, advice and support services.
Where parents disagree with particular decisions, they can use local complaints processes, and, for EHC (education, health and care) related issues, seek early resolution through mediation and appeal to a First-tier Tribunal.
Area SEND inspections provide independent evaluation of local arrangements, and the department, alongside NHS England, provides support and challenge to local area partnerships, including through the use of intervention, which we propose to strengthen, where the quality of local provision is not acceptable.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure the timelines set out in the animal welfare strategy are met.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Animal Welfare Strategy sets out the priority issues that this Government will address, focusing on the changes and improvements that Defra aim to achieve by 2030. Policies will be delivered throughout this time.
This Government will convene regular meetings at both official and ministerial level with stakeholders to facilitate sharing of information and ensure the reforms which have been identified are working and as a forum to review progress against the strategy.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria applied to Fire Control staff for the award of the Platinum Jubilee Medal, Diamond Jubilee Medal, and Golden Jubilee Medal.
Answered by Samantha Dixon
The eligibility criteria for each Jubilee medal were agreed across government, in consultation with the Devolved Administrations, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, and approved by the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals and Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In respect of the Fire and Rescue Services, eligibility was restricted to fire service personnel called to the scene of 999 response calls and who were potentially placing themselves in danger.
No further assessment has been made and there are no plans to review the criteria.