Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote the inclusion of disabled students in schools; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including in the national curriculum teaching about the life experiences of disabled people.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

This government is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools to break down barriers to education, alongside ensuring that special schools can support children with the most complex needs.

The department will strengthen accountability on mainstream settings to be inclusive, including through Ofsted, support the mainstream workforce to increase their special educational needs and disabilities expertise, and encourage schools to set up resourced provision or special educational needs units to increase capacity in mainstream schools. This is being supported by an additional £740 million for high needs capital in 2025/26. Local authorities can use their high needs capital funding to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings. It can also be used to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings. High needs funding will also increase by almost £1 billion in 2025/26, compared to 2024/25.

The department has created an Expert Advisory Group for Inclusion, led by Tom Rees, to advise myself and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education on how to drive inclusive education practice.

Within a broad framework, set out in subject-specific programmes of study, schools currently have flexibility to organise the content and delivery of the curriculum to meet the needs of their pupils.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review will ensure that the curriculum appropriately balances ambition, excellence, relevance, flexibility and inclusivity for all our children and young people.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) boys and (b) young men receive education in school on preventing violence against women and girls in schools.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade. Education has a crucial role to play in tackling harmful behaviour, helping children and young people to develop empathy, boundaries and respect for difference.

Through compulsory relationships education, all pupils, including boys and young men, learn how to form positive and respectful relationships and develop an understanding the concepts and laws around sexual harassment and sexual violence.

The department is currently reviewing the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum, including engaging with key stakeholders to look at how this can fully complement our wider actions to tackle violence against women and girls.

Separately, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will consider how RSHE fits into the wider curriculum.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help support Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (a) to reduce waiting times, (b) limit the rejection of referrals and (c) improve trust in services by both (i) parents and (ii) children.

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

It is unacceptable that too many children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are too long. We are determined to change that, which is why we will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across child and adult mental health services, to reduce delays and provide faster treatment.

Better prevention is key to reducing the demand for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, which is why we will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school, so that mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, can be identified early on and prevented from developing into more serious conditions in later life. We will also roll out Young Futures hubs in every community.

We expect that these measures will help to limit the rejection of referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and improve trust in services for both parents and children.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent the closure of Post Office branches in (a) Chipping Barnet constituency and (b) the UK.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Post Office interim Chair, Nigel Railton, recently-announced a transformation plan, which aims to put the Post Office on a more stable financial footing for the future, including by reducing costs, and to increase Postmaster remuneration. The detail of Nigel Railton's transformation plan is being examined by my department, and the plan is subject to Government funding and the outcome of the upcoming spending review. The Post Office will continue to deliver on the 11,500 minimum branch requirement and geographical access criteria set by Government.

No decisions regarding Directly Managed Branches, including those in Chipping Barnet, have been taken. The Post Office has been clear however that it’s their ambition to operate the network on a fully franchised basis in time as this is a more sustainable model.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing regulations similar to disabled parking on parent and child parking spaces.

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

The Department for Transport has no current plans to regulate the use of parent and child parking spaces, which typically operate in privately owned car parks such as supermarkets.

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, for which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has responsibility, places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. This government is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector and will announce its plans for the new Code in due course.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the new visa requirements for Colombian citizens on UK citizens who are intending to return to the UK with children born through surrogacy in Colombia.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The status of British Citizens is not affected by the reintroduction of a visa requirement for Colombian nationals. The new visa requirements introduced on 26 November 2024 relate to visitors and passengers in transit only. The visa requirements for those who intend to settle in the UK or enter for any other reason have not changed. Full consideration was given to the likely impact of the change on Colombian nationals. British Citizens who intend to return to the UK with a child born through surrogacy are advised to seek specialist immigration advice.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to take steps to increase protection for victims of stalking when the perpetrator has a mental health condition.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking and doing all that it can to protect victims and robustly manage perpetrators.

On 3 December, the Government announced a raft of new measures to tackle stalking by putting victims first and increasing the protections available to them. This includes plans to increase the use of Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) by legislating to provide for the courts to impose them of their own volition on conviction or acquittal. Currently only the police can apply for an SPO to a magistrate's court.

SPOs are an essential tool designed to protect victims of stalking at the earliest possible opportunity and address the perpetrator's behaviours before they become entrenched or escalate in severity. They allow positive requirements to be imposed and this can include the perpetrator attending mental health support, but also a perpetrator programme to address the root causes of their offending.

Found: Foundation Trust The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer MP (Holborn and St Pancras) & Prime Minister The Rt Hon Dan Tomlinson