Fred Thomas

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

Educational psychologists play a critical role in the support available to children and young people, providing statutory input into education, health and care assessments and advising the school workforce on how to support children and young people with SEND. However, the department knows that current workforce shortages are a barrier to this.

As the employers of educational psychology services, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that their services are adequately staffed. However, we are taking measures to support local authorities by investing in building the pipeline. The department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from September 2024. This is in addition to the £10 million currently being invested in the training of over 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023. As these trainees complete their studies, they will join the workforce to support local authority educational psychology services, including contributing to statutory assessments.

To support retention, following graduation, trainees who have had their training funded by the department are required to remain in local authority employment for a minimum period. For trainees beginning their course in September 2024, this requirement has increased to three years.

Under the Security and Emergency Measures Direction 2022 (SEMD), all water companies must report to Defra any water outages that impact over 5,000 properties or will last over 24 hours.

In 2025, one incident affecting Plymouth was reported to Defra. Between 21 April and 23 April, a burst water main at a Dousland Water Treatment Works caused a water supply outage to approximately 9,800 properties in Plymouth.

There were no water supply outages in Plymouth reported to Defra in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

The Government and the Environment Agency work with water companies and other stakeholders to monitor and manage water resources in England. Water companies are responsible for ensuring a secure water supply for their customers. Plymouth lies in South West Water's Roadford Water Resource Zone, which is supplied from reservoirs, rivers, and some boreholes.

Every 5 years water companies must prepare and maintain a water resources management plan (WRMP). The WRMP sets out how a company intends to achieve a secure supply of water for customers, resilient to droughts, and with environmental protections and enhancements over the next 25 years. WRMP's are closely assessed by Ofwat and the Environment Agency, who advise on the acceptability of plans before companies are given permission to publish by the government.

South West Water's latest draft WRMP, which includes the measures it will take to ensure the resilience of water supply in the Roadford zone, was scrutinised by regulators and given permission for publication in January 2025, subject to some revisions, which the company is currently making.

I recently visited the fishing industry in Plymouth and was made aware of reports of an unusual abundance of octopus in the Southwest including Cornwall.

Defra understands this ‘octopus bloom’ is impacting shellfish potting fisheries and causing concern to the fishing industry in the Southwest.

Government scientists, the Marine Management Organisation and local Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities have met with Defra on the 20^th of May to discuss this phenomenon, the evidence, the impacts on the crab and lobster stocks as well as possible actions.

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six.

The disabled eligibility criteria are set out in section 146 of the Transport Act 2000. To support local authorities, the Department maintains guidance on assessing the eligibility of disabled applicants, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-forlocal-authorities-on-eligibility-for-disabled-people. However, local authorities are responsible for administering disabled concessionary bus passes and the Department plays no role in the assessment of applications.

The government is committed to improving public transport services so they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. On 17 December, the government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill to put the power over local bus services back into the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them, including for disabled people. The Bill includes measures which will make bus travel more accessible and inclusive.

On 1 October 2024, the first phase of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 came into force, meaning that newer vehicles providing local services must provide audible and visible information on stops, destinations and diversions. The majority of services will need to comply by October 2026.

Ensuring the rail network is also accessible is at the heart of our passenger-focused approach to improving rail services. We know that the experience for disabled people when traveling on rail too often falls short of what is expected and what passengers deserve. We are committed to improving the experience for disabled passengers and have committed to publishing an accessibility roadmap to explain the actions we are taking to improve accessibility ahead of Great British Rail.

Attendance Allowance (AA) is a weekly benefit for those over State Pension age who require care or supervision as a result of a physical or mental disability. AA is paid at two rates. A higher rate of £110.40 a week for claimants who need help or supervision for both day and night or who are terminally ill. And a lower rate of £73.90 for claimants who need frequent help or supervision during the day or night.

AA provides financial support towards the extra costs faced by disabled people. It is neither means-tested, nor based on National Insurance contributions paid and recipients can choose how they wish to spend it. Receipt of AA can provide a passport to additional amounts in means-tested benefits (notably Pension Credit and Housing Benefit) for those on low incomes and to Carer’s Allowance for the person providing care for them.

AA has never included a mobility component and so cannot be used in payment for a leased Motability Scheme vehicle. Government mobility support is focused on people who are disabled earlier in life.

There is no constraint on what an award of Attendance Allowance can be spent on, and a recipient may choose to use this benefit to fund mobility aids.

There are no plans to review the Scheme’s qualifying benefits.

Attendance Allowance (AA) is a weekly benefit for those over State Pension age who require care or supervision as a result of a physical or mental disability. AA is paid at two rates. A higher rate of £110.40 a week for claimants who need help or supervision for both day and night or who are terminally ill. And a lower rate of £73.90 for claimants who need frequent help or supervision during the day or night.

AA provides financial support towards the extra costs faced by disabled people. It is neither means-tested, nor based on National Insurance contributions paid and recipients can choose how they wish to spend it. Receipt of AA can provide a passport to additional amounts in means-tested benefits (notably Pension Credit and Housing Benefit) for those on low incomes and to Carer’s Allowance for the person providing care for them.

AA has never included a mobility component and so cannot be used in payment for a leased Motability Scheme vehicle. Government mobility support is focused on people who are disabled earlier in life.

There is no constraint on what an award of Attendance Allowance can be spent on, and a recipient may choose to use this benefit to fund mobility aids.

There are no plans to review the Scheme’s qualifying benefits.

The Secretary of State is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and the State Pension, including statutory pay. This is based on a review of trends in prices and earnings growth in the preceding year.

From April 2025 the standard rate of Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance increased by September 2024’s CPI figure of 1.7% from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.

The primary goal of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is to ensure that children receive the financial support they are entitled to. To achieve this, the CMS collaborates with HMRC and Benefit systems to accurately calculate maintenance payments. This collaboration helps prevent paying parents from misrepresenting their income. Parents can make a request to the CMS to have other forms of income not previously considered included in the maintenance calculation.

To tackle fraudulent reporting of earnings, if there is any suspicion of income misrepresentation, the Financial Investigations Unit (FIU) steps in to conduct a thorough investigation. Complex income and cases where a paying parent may be responsible for declaring their own income can also be investigated by the FIU. This specialist team can request information from financial institutions to check the accuracy of information the CMS is given. When an investigation finds evidence of fraud, the FIU will seek to prosecute or forward the case to HMRC for fraud action.

Too many patients are finding it impossible to access care. In May, a staggering 1.4 million patients waited for over a month for an appointment.

That is why we are committed to: fix the front door to the NHS; bring back the family doctor; and shift the focus of care away from hospitals and into the community.

There are no plans to re-establish the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). The principal functions of the OGC are being successfully delivered by the Government Commercial Function including the Crown Commercial Service.

The safety of personnel remains the Ministry of Defence’s top priority and we are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of our forces and maintain operational readiness. Where it is appropriate, alternative body armour plates have been issued to those on high-threat deployments.

Work continues, at pace, to test and ensure the safety of sufficient Enhanced Combat Body Armour (ECBA) plates. To date 30% of the required number of ECBA plates have been scanned and are in the process of being distributed back to units. This is being prioritised based on operational requirements. It is anticipated that the most impacted users will receive tested ECBA plates by the end of this month.

The Tactical Ballistic Plate programme, which will replace both Osprey body armour and ECBA plates, is expected to deliver from 2027.

This Government’s unwavering commitment to the triple lock to our nuclear deterrent is underpinned by major infrastructure programmes underway on the Clyde and in Devonport and the Dreadnought submarine programme in Barrow-in-Furness.

Our commitment to SSN-AUKUS and the increased use of uncrewed submersibles will also modernise the Royal Navy’s subsea capabilities.

We know that finding employment after release reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. That is why the Government’s manifesto commits to break the cycle of reoffending by better supporting prisons to link up with employers and the voluntary sector.

Employment roles are in place across all 93 resettlement prisons to prepare prisoners for work on release, match them to jobs and provide ID documents to secure work. These are supported by employment advisory boards, linking local employers with the prison resettlement.

We have launched regional Employment Councils which bring businesses together with prisons, probation and the Department of Work and Pensions to support offenders in the community.

In addition, HMPPS’ Creating Future Opportunities programme offers tailored support for ex-offenders - particularly those who are furthest from the labour market - to secure employment, training and education opportunities for release.

We also work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure support is in place for ex-offenders in the community, for example, through co-location of services.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the length of service of Probation Officers in Table 4 of the quarterly “HM Prison and Probation Service workforce statistics” publication. The latest publication and associated tables, which cover the year to September 2024, are available here:

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2024.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/673de4672ff787d4e01b0886/hmpps-workforce-statistics-tables-sep-2024.ods

Data is only available since the National Probation Service was formed in June 2014, as a result of which length of service data for 30 June 2010 is unavailable. Length of service data for Probation Officers in post on 30 June 2024 is included in the above publication.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the leaving reasons of probation officers in Table 14b of the quarterly “HM Prison and Probation Service workforce statistics” publication. The latest publication and tables, which covers the year to September 2024, are available here:

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-september-2024

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/673de4672ff787d4e01b0886/hmpps-workforce-statistics-tables-sep-2024.ods

Data is only available since the National Probation Service was formed in June 2014, as a result of which the number who retired in 2010 is unavailable. The number of probation officers who retired in 2019 and 2023 is included in the above publication.

The number who retired in 2014 is available in the December 2015 publication available here: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics-december-2015

This only includes data for those who retired after the formation of the National Probation Service in 2014.

Caseload data for Probation Officers is unavailable pre-unification of the Probation Service (June 2021). Caseload data for the service as a whole is published for earlier periods (Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK) but is not broken down by which Probation Service grade delivers it.

As of 30 June 2023, the proportion of Probation Officers with a caseload above 30, 40, 50 and 60 is:

i) Dataset as of 30 June 2023 from the Workload Measurement Tool (WMT). Data has been taken as of a single day in 2023 and caseload per officer is likely to fluctuate across the year.

ii) For caseloads of less than 30, the percentage of total Probation Officers is 47.3%

The capacity of the prison estate is published weekly and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-figures-2024.