Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that teachers and pupils are adequately equipped to use artificial intelligence tools safely and effectively in the classroom.

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

The department is taking comprehensive action to ensure teachers and pupils are equipped to use artificial intelligence (AI) safely and effectively. Our Generative AI policy position sets clear guidance on the opportunities and risks of AI, and provides practical advice for safe, responsible use by educators. It emphasises that AI should enhance not replace high quality teaching and is informed by extensive evidence from educators, experts, parents and pupils.

We have also introduced updated Generative AI Product Safety Standards, announced at the UK Generative AI for Education Summit on Monday 19 January. These set out the safeguards AI developers must meet, including child centred design, enhanced filtering of harmful content, and protections for pupils’ cognitive and emotional wellbeing, ensuring tools are safe by design.

At Bett 2026 on Wednesday 21 January, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has committed to a five‑point plan for AI in education, including a strong focus on building the evidence for the safe and effective use of AI and technology tools to support pupils and teachers, and a new digital skills pathway for education staff.

Alongside this, we have published sector-developed support materials and are investing in evidence-based AI tools, helping schools adopt AI confidently, safely and in ways that support teaching and learning.

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 improve access to mental health services for children in North East Somerset and Hanham.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including children and young people’s mental health services in the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.

As prioritised in our Medium-Term Planning Framework, we are taking action to reduce the longest waits for specialist mental health support, tackling regional disparities, and expanding access, thereby making services more productive so children and young people spend less time waiting for the treatment they need.

We are also accelerating the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029. With an additional 900,000 children and young people having access by spring 2026, 60% of all pupils will have access to this early support at school, up from 44% in spring 2024. As part of this, we are investing an additional £13 million to pilot enhanced training for staff so that they can offer more effective support to young people with complex needs, such as trauma, neurodivergence, and disordered eating.

More widely, we are rolling out Young Futures Hubs. The Government’s first 50 Young Futures Hubs will bring together services at a local level to support children and young people, helping to ensure that young people can access early advice and wellbeing intervention. We will work to ensure that there is no wrong door for young people who need support with their mental health.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a national strategy for modern foreign language teaching in the context of levels of take-up of modern foreign language GCSEs.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework which early years providers are required to follow includes a requirement for babies to be placed down to sleep in line with the latest government safety guidance here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids/

To make the existing requirements clearer for all the department plans to add in more detail to the EYFS frameworks. We have worked with safe sleep experts including the Lullaby Trust on proposed new wording. We plan to make these changes as soon as possible

The ‘Early years qualification requirements and standards’ document sets out the minimum qualification requirements, including the qualifications criteria at Levels 2 and 3, that staff must meet to be recognised as level 2, level 3 or level 6 members of staff for the purpose of working within the EYFS staff:child ratios. The document is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-qualification-requirements-and-standards.

Both the level 2 and level 3 criteria include knowledge of rest and sleep provision, with level 3 also including use of equipment, furniture and materials safely with regard for sleep safety.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if the department will make an assessment of the potential effect of turning off Freeview on areas with poor broadband connectivity.

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

Digital inclusion and ensuring that all households across the country have access to high-quality, reliable broadband is a priority for the Government. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to ensure that all aspects of digital inclusion are considered as part of any decisions we make on the future of digital terrestrial television.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment has the department made of the potential impact of the government’s Warm Homes Plan on levels of fuel poverty in North East Somerset and Hanham.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

DESNZ’s annual sub-regional fuel poverty statistics estimate the rates of fuel poverty in constituencies within England, and will therefore reflect the impacts of the Warm Homes Plan in time.

The Department will publish monitoring statistics and evaluation of policies announced in the Warm Homes Plan. DESNZ currently publishes statistics covering the uptake and impacts of energy efficiency measures here.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data her Department holds on survival rates for new trees planted in the Western forest.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Western Forest was launched on 21 March 2025 and is in its first tree-planting season. This runs between October and April. Monitoring will commence after this period. Consistent with Defra’s tree planting grants it will provide annual payments for up to 15 years after planting to support essential maintenance and tree survival. As part of the Trees programme, we will be commissioning research to improve our understanding of the success of survival rates, and the factors influencing successful woodland establishment for newly planted trees.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support people with disabilities into work in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.

Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.

Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work.

DEAs in the Jobcentres supporting the constituency deliver in-depth Work Ability conversations, focusing on strengths, suitable work options, workplace adjustments and confidence building. Additionally, part of the constituency is served by the WorkWell West pilot in the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board.

We set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work Green Paper and are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support.

Additionally, we have developed a digital information service for employers, oversee the Disability Confident Scheme and continue to increase access to Occupational Health. Bath Jobcentre organised a Disability Confident job fair which was held at the Guildhall in October with Disability Confident employers, further job fairs targeting disabled people are currently in planning.

In recognition of employers’ vital role in addressing health-related economic activity, we appointed Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead the independent Keep Britain Working Review. The Report was published on 5 November. In partnership with the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Health and Social Care, we are rapidly designing the Vanguard phase to test new employer-led approaches to support individuals to stay in work and develop a Healthy Workplace Standard, putting Sir Charlie’s key recommendations into action.

The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan also states the Government’s intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.