Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her expected timetable is for publication of the call for evidence on safeguarding children out of school settings.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government launched the call for evidence on 29 May 2025 to better understand current practice in the out-of-school settings sector and invite views on possible approaches to further strengthen safeguarding standards.
This closed on 21 September 2025 and the department is currently analysing responses, with support from independent external analysts, given the significance of this issue.
The department also intends to carry out further engagement, including focus groups with parents and small providers, and sector roundtables with safeguarding experts and sector representatives, before issuing a full response.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 support families who have experienced baby loss in North Herefordshire constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Three National Health Service trusts primarily provide services supporting families in the North Herefordshire constituency who have experienced baby loss.
The Wye Valley NHS Trust has a dedicated bereavement midwife, who is trained to care for and support parents and families who have suffered the loss of their baby. There is a dedicated bereavement suite at the Hereford County Hospital, where families are cared for after birth and can spend time with their baby. If they wish, parents also have the option of doing memory making activities with their baby.
The Worcestershire Royal Hospital provides dedicated bereavement care through specialised bereavement suites, managed by bereavement midwives.
Targeted psychological interventions for women experiencing moderate, severe, and complex mental health difficulties following birth trauma or baby loss at any stage, are provided by the Beacon Maternal Mental Health Service, which is part of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the written statement of 11 November 2025 on Pension Update, HCWS1044, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of Automatic Pension Forecast letters relating to communication of State Pension age changes for 1950's born women.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Secretary of State announced in his oral statement of 11 November 2025 that we will retake the decision made in December 2024 as it relates to the communications on State Pension age.
This was because findings from a 2007 report had not been drawn to the attention of the previous Secretary of State as its potential relevance to the making of her decision was not evident at the time.
The process to retake the decision is underway and it is important that we give this full and proper consideration. We will update Parliament on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of setting a target for uptake of training on violence against women and girls for criminal justice practitioners.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is committed to improving the capability and confidence of criminal justice practitioners in responding to violence against women and girls (VAWG), and training is embedded across the criminal justice system to support this.
Training is delivered and monitored by the relevant criminal justice organisation or body. For example, probation staff receive a comprehensive national learning offer that includes mandatory and advanced modules on domestic abuse, stalking and safeguarding. CPS prosecutors receive role-appropriate training on VAWG, ensuring they have the knowledge and skills to handle these cases effectively. In the criminal courts, we have announced that we will make trauma-informed training focused on domestic and sexual abuse available to all staff employed by HMCTS.
Training for the judiciary and the Bar is delivered independently by the Judicial College and the Bar Standards Board, who set and review their own requirements. To preserve judicial independence, the statutory responsibility for judicial training rests with the Lady Chief Justice.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Freedom From Violence and Abuse Strategy, what proportion of the £550 million funding for victim and survivor support services over the next three years will be directed to (a) Specialist services run by and for the community and (b) other domestic abuse services.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government has committed to halving Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a decade. That is why we are investing £550 million over the next three years for victim and witness support services. The 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) across England and Wales receive annual grant funding from the Ministry of Justice victim and witness budget to commission local practical, emotional and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types, including domestic abuse. This includes ‘core’ funding, which is for PCCs to allocate at their discretion based on their assessment of local need, and funding that is ring-fenced for sexual violence and domestic abuse services. It is for PCCs to decide how much of their funding will be directed to specialist services run by and for the community, and other domestic abuse services.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with his German counterpart on funding for the Tropical Forest Forever Facility.
Answered by Katie White - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The SoS regularly engages with his international counterparts on a variety of issues.
In July, Minister McCarthy met with Jochen Flasbarth in Berlin, where they briefly discussed the Tropical Forests Forever Facility and expressed support for the initiative.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of electricity demand from AI-related data centres on his net zero targets.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government received independent advice from NESO on achieving clean power by 2030, published in November 2024. This allowed for a fourfold increase in data centre electricity demand between then and 2030, within an overall conclusion that clean power by 2030 is challenging but achievable.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Government categorises large-scale AI and data-centre infrastructure to be of strategic national importance; and what protections or ownership safeguards it plans to apply to them.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Data centres are vital to the UK’s prosperity and security and underpin our digital economy and AI ambitions. We have taken decisive action and work closely with industry to monitor and mitigate potential future threats to data centres.
Last year we designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure and are legislating through the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to introduce proportionate regulatory oversight in the sector. The National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021 also gives the Government powers to intervene in or block investments and other acquisitions in the UK economy that could harm national security, and data infrastructure is one of the 17 mandatory areas of the economy requiring a notification to Government.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to establish a statutory regulatory framework for artificial intelligence relating to (a) data governance, (b) privacy and (c) copyright.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK already has a range of statutory frameworks that apply to AI. Existing rules that apply to AI systems include data protection, competition, equality legislation, the copyright framework, and other forms of sectoral regulation.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps through the forthcoming Elections Bill to regulate the online targeting of people with (a) misinformation and (b) disinformation by (i) foreign states and (ii) others seeking to influence the outcome of elections and referenda.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
It is, and always will be, an absolute priority to protect our democratic processes from both mis and disinformation and from foreign interference. Any new regulation addressing mis and disinformation must be carefully balanced with the need to protect freedom of expression and the legitimate public debate which is also crucial to a thriving democracy. Since March, the Online Safety Act has required services to take steps to remove illegal disinformation content. Illegal disinformation content includes state-sponsored disinformation in scope of the Foreign Interference Offence, and disinformation aimed at disrupting elections where it is a criminal offence in scope of the regulatory framework. This can include false statements of fact about a candidate’s personal character or conduct and undue influence on voters.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce coordinates work to protect UK political parties, elected officials and electoral infrastructure from threats including foreign interference and the Joint Election Security and Preparedness unit coordinates work to protect UK elections and referendums. The Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan launched last month to disrupt and deter spying from states.
The Government’s strategy for modern, secure and inclusive elections, published in July, sets out our plan to strengthen oversight of and safeguards against known and emerging threats, including foreign interference. We will deliver a robust and proportionate response to known risks, protecting the integrity of our system and reinforcing public trust in democracy.