Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking through the criminal justice system to protect children who become victims of stalking.

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

Stalking is an insidious crime that can leave victims, including children, living in fear just going about their daily lives. Recognising children as victims in their own right is vital and this Government will go further to ensure this is put into practice. This Government is fully committed to tackling stalking and doing all that it can to protect victims, including children.

We have appointed Richard Wright KC to lead a review of the stalking legislation to determine whether the law should be changed to support a better understanding and better identification of stalking. It will examine the extent to which the legislation helps or hinders the effective management of stalking cases through the criminal justice system from identification to investigation and prosecution. The full review, including any recommendations, must be submitted to the Secretary of State by the end of March 2026.

We are also delivering on the manifesto commitment to strengthen Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs). Through the Crime and Policing Bill we are introducing provisions which, once implemented, would provide for the courts to impose SPOs on conviction and acquittal of their own volition. SPOs are an essential tool designed to protect all victims of stalking at the earliest possible opportunity and address the perpetrator’s behaviours before they become entrenched or escalate in severity. SPOs support existing tools to ensure there are robust protections available to victims, including children.

Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are also introducing statutory guidance to set out the process by which the police should release identifying information about stalking perpetrators to victims so appropriate safeguards can be put in place, including for any relevant children.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to establish accessible, non-police reporting pathways for (a) children and (b) young people who experience online harassment.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Online Safety Act requires services in scope to take steps to protect children from both illegal content and harmful content, including abusive and bullying content. These services must implement easy-to-use reporting mechanisms for users to report illegal content and content harmful to children. Providers should respond quickly and effectively and signpost children to appropriate support.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to support local councils to make funding decisions in relation to amenities for women’s and girls’ sports.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality facilities and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.

This includes supporting the This Girl Can campaign, run by our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which has inspired millions of women and girls to get active. 1.6 million more women are expected to be active as a result of the campaign by 2028.

The Government is also harnessing the power of hosting major sporting events, such as investing £6.7 million into the Impact 25’ programme for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which has been used to make facilities more accessible for women, train new female coaches and match officials and provide sanitary packages to clubs nationwide. To honour the Lionesses recent European Championship triumph, the Government has announced new plans that are expected to more than double the share of slots dedicated to women’s and girls’ teams at Government-funded facilities across England over the next five years.

The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public sport and leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level. I will continue to discuss the provision of amenities for women and girls sport with local authorities, Sport England and ministerial colleagues.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking too increase engagement of women and girls with sport in the north of Greater Manchester.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality facilities and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.

This includes supporting the This Girl Can campaign, run by our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which has inspired millions of women and girls to get active. 1.6 million more women are expected to be active as a result of the campaign by 2028.

The Government is also harnessing the power of hosting major sporting events, such as investing £6.7 million into the Impact 25’ programme for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which has been used to make facilities more accessible for women, train new female coaches and match officials and provide sanitary packages to clubs nationwide. To honour the Lionesses recent European Championship triumph, the Government has announced new plans that are expected to more than double the share of slots dedicated to women’s and girls’ teams at Government-funded facilities across England over the next five years.

The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public sport and leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level. I will continue to discuss the provision of amenities for women and girls sport with local authorities, Sport England and ministerial colleagues.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that (a) developers in Greater Manchester adhere to their obligations under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and (b) section 106 funding is used for women’s sports amenities.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that access to high-quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and physical activity is important for the health and well-being of communities. The Framework sets out that planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the need for open space, sport and recreation facilities and opportunities for new provision, which plans should then seek to accommodate.

Local planning authorities can use planning obligations, entered into under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended), to help mitigate the impact of a specific development to make it acceptable in planning terms. This could include, for example, requiring a developer to contribute towards the provision of public infrastructure such as sports facilities where this is necessary to make an otherwise unacceptable development acceptable. This will depend on the specifics of the development and is a matter for local decision makers.

The government is clear that developers must deliver on their planning obligations. Section 106 planning obligations are legal agreements, and a local planning authority may take enforcement action in respect of any breach of the obligations contained within them. Enforcement is at the discretion of the local planning authority, and therefore it is for the local planning authority to decide whether enforcement action is appropriate in each case.

The government is committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure section 106 funding is being used by councils in Greater Manchester to increase revenue for sports facilities.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that access to high-quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and physical activity is important for the health and well-being of communities. The Framework sets out that planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the need for open space, sport and recreation facilities and opportunities for new provision, which plans should then seek to accommodate.

Local planning authorities can use planning obligations, entered into under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended), to help mitigate the impact of a specific development to make it acceptable in planning terms. This could include, for example, requiring a developer to contribute towards the provision of public infrastructure such as sports facilities where this is necessary to make an otherwise unacceptable development acceptable. This will depend on the specifics of the development and is a matter for local decision makers.

The government is clear that developers must deliver on their planning obligations. Section 106 planning obligations are legal agreements, and a local planning authority may take enforcement action in respect of any breach of the obligations contained within them. Enforcement is at the discretion of the local planning authority, and therefore it is for the local planning authority to decide whether enforcement action is appropriate in each case.

The government is committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support veterans into suitable employment in Greater Manchester.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Employment support from the Ministry of Defence is available to veterans in Greater Manchester, including the Career Transition Partnership, which can be accessed two years before and two years after leaving Service. In the last year, 88% using this service secured employment within six months. Op ASCEND, available two years after leaving, has helped support over 5,000 veterans and family members into sustainable careers.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to address the role of social media companies in enabling (a) harassment and (b) stalking through their platforms.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Online Safety Act since its implementation in 2023 places legal duties on social media companies to tackle online harms, including harassment and stalking. Platforms must assess risks, swiftly remove illegal content, and implement measures to prevent abuse. They are also required to provide clear reporting tools. Ofcom, the independent regulator, is responsible for ensuring services are complying with their safety duties. The Act also introduced new communications offences, including cyber-flashing and threatening communications, strengthening protections against online harassment and stalking. The Secretary of State is taking steps to make cyberflashing, and assisting and encouraging self-harm priority offences, in addition to stalking and harassment already being priority offences, to strengthen the act further.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to include measures to support children in the deepest poverty in the forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy.

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

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Heywood and Middleton North, to the answer of [DATE] to Question 82529.

Found: Aquarone (Liberal Democrat; North Norfolk) Dr Scott Arthur (Labour; Edinburgh South West) Mrs Elsie Blundell

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Ruth Cadbury (Chair); Dr Scott Arthur; Mrs Elsie Blundell; Jacob

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Ruth Cadbury (Chair); Dr Scott Arthur; Mrs Elsie Blundell; Jacob

The Government has introduced the Railways Bill to Parliament to legislate for its commitment to unify network operations with infrastructure management under a single organisation – Great British Railways.