Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress he has made on appointing a special envoy for complex detention cases.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is committed to strengthening support for British Nationals overseas, including through the appointment of an Envoy for complex detention cases. Further details will be announced in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help retain skilled and experienced foster carers.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Currently, there are ten fostering regional programmes active across England, collaborating with 64% of all local authorities to recruit and retain foster carers who will provide loving homes, local to the children who need them. An additional £15 million was announced to support this programme in the budget, and the department intends to move towards full national roll-out in the next financial year.

As part of this model, the department is supporting foster carers, and the children they care for, by expanding ‘The Mockingbird Family Model’. This innovative evidence-based approach, where relationships are central to the design of the programme, involves six to ten satellite families grouped into a constellation around a hub home carer. Research shows that carers who participate in Mockingbird are 82% less likely to de-register than households that do not participate.

In addition, the department funds ‘Fosterlink’, a diagnostic support service for local authority fostering services, which will review current processes to identify areas for service and practice improvements, as well as creating a national network in which to share best practice. Finally, the department is continuing to fund ‘Fosterline’, a free helpline service for current and prospective foster carers.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of subsidising the cost of IT courses for staff in small and medium enterprises.

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

Use of digital technology is a key driver for productivity, helping businesses become more efficient. However, many businesses in the UK are slow to adopt new software, and we know smaller businesses in particular may not have access to information, resources and skills to do so.

Government already supports digital skills through initiatives like digital apprenticeships, digital skills bootcamps and the Digital Inclusion Action Plan. We are exploring ways to help businesses become more digital through the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce, Technology Adoption Review, and AI Opportunities Action Plan.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for how long will the Government fund free breakfast clubs.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department has introduced the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill which will mean every state-funded school with primary aged children will offer a free breakfast club. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, can have a supportive start to the school day. The Bill will also mean that breakfast clubs will be enshrined in law, ensuring the longevity of the breakfast clubs policy.

From April 2025, up to 750 participating schools in the early adopter programme will be funded to provide access to a free, universal breakfast club lasting at least 30 minutes and including food.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to take steps to help ensure private telecommunications infrastructure providers are unable to install hardware without consultation with local communities.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

We deprecate the installation of unnecessarily intrusive telecommunications infrastructure, especially where operators have not cooperated in sharing infrastructure or followed guidelines such as consulting communities. Planning regulations aim to strike a balance between the economic and social benefits of investments in digital infrastructure and the needs and concerns of local communities.

The deployment of telecoms infrastructure in England requires planning permission. Most telecommunications infrastructure, including new masts and poles, benefit from permitted development rights.

Regulations and guidelines set out the requirements that communications providers must adhere to when exercising these rights, including any requirements to engage with or notify local planning authorities prior to deploying new infrastructure, and any expectations for engaging with communities. Local planning authorities have discretion on engaging communities about proposed applications.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department issues on timings schools will be expected to run free breakfast clubs to and from on a given day.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

From the start of the summer term, early adopter schools will be expected to deliver a free, universal breakfast club providing childcare and food for at least 30 minutes, immediately before the start of the compulsory school day. This will also be a requirement for all schools with primary aged children under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breakfast-clubs-early-adopter-guidance-for-schools-and-trusts-in-england/breakfast-clubs-early-adopter-guidance-for-schools-and-trusts-in-england.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve unity amongst his European counterparts on the provision of support to Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government is in constant contact with European partners to ensure that Ukraine has the support it needs. The Foreign Secretary and I engage regularly with European counterparts on this issue, including at the Munich Security Conference on 14-16 February. On 2 March, the Prime Minister will convene a group of countries to discuss how we go forward together as allies in light of the situation that we face.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps to increase his Department's support for (a) Commonwealth veterans and (b) British army veterans born outside of the UK.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

This is a Government of service that will always stand up for those who serve our country. I am working across Government and with civil society to ensure veterans get access to the support they need.

The Government is deeply grateful to all those who serve in our Armed Forces and recognises the huge contribution that Commonwealth veterans have made to our national security throughout our history. This gratitude is being converted into action with the Government’s manifesto commitment to scrap visa fees for non-UK veterans who have served more than four years and their families. The MOD is working with the Home Office to implement this commitment.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to introduce an independent organisation to (a) monitor and (b) control parking fees at airports.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

As commercial businesses it is for airport operators to manage and justify the amount and advertising of parking charges. Parking arrangements are subject to contractual agreements between airport operators, car parking companies and covered by consumer laws. While there are no plans to introduce an independent organisation to monitor or control parking fees at airports, the Department for Transport expects car parking at airports to be managed appropriately.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has considered establishing an independent national oversight mechanism for deaths involving (a) state and (b) law enforcement bodies.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Government is committed to improving transparency and accountability in the state’s response to learning from investigations involving state-related deaths and more widely. To this end, we are actively considering how we can most effectively address concerns about the lack of oversight and monitoring of recommendations and findings from public inquiries, inquests and other investigation processes.

For example, in the context of the recent response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report (Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report: Government response (HTML) - GOV.UK), we have undertaken to establish a publicly accessible record of all recommendations made by public inquiries since 2024; we will ensure that this becomes standard practice for all future public inquiry reports; and will consider putting the requirement to maintain such a record on a statutory footing.

In addition, the Ministry of Justice is undertaking a programme of work in light of the Justice Committee’s recent recommendations for the coroner service, including those aimed at better learning from death investigation and other fact-finding processes. This will include further work to improve accessibility to information from coroners’ Prevention of Future Death reports; and to ensure, particularly across government, that lessons from these reports are learned; that learning is disseminated as quickly and widely as possible; and that it is effectively monitored and evaluated. We are also working with the Chief Coroner to identify ways to further improve the transparency and availability of the published reports and accountability for responses to them.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will advocate for a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against (a) President Putin and (b) the political leadership of the Russian Federation.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK continues to support work towards establishing a Special Tribunal on the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, and is playing an active role in the Core Group established by Ukraine to progress this work. Senior UK legal and policy experts attended the most recent Core Group meeting in February in Brussels, and will attend further meetings this month in Strasbourg. Our focus within the Core Group is to ensure that any legal instruments agreed for the establishment of a Special Tribunal are legally sound and able to attract broad international support.

Found: ) Dr Scott Arthur (Labour; Edinburgh South West) Catherine Atkinson (Labour; Derby North) Mrs Elsie Blundell

Found: ) Dr Scott Arthur (Labour; Edinburgh South West) Catherine Atkinson (Labour; Derby North) Mrs Elsie Blundell

Found: Resolved, That Mr Steff Aquarone, Dr Scott Arthur, Catherine Atkinson, Mrs Elsie Blundell