Gareth Thomas

For teachers, the geographical areas covered by the different teacher pay ranges were defined some years ago to reflect a practical approach to compensate teachers working in London.

The School Teachers’ Review Body has not recommended any changes to London pay ranges in recent years; however, the Department is currently considering what additional flexibilities should be built into the statutory pay and conditions framework as a result of our commitment on changes to pay and conditions through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and we will keep this matter under review.

For police officers, there’s London Weighting and London Allowance. There’s not an inner and outer London rate – it’s the same across all of London.

London Weighting and London Allowance were last reviewed by the Police Remuneration Review Body in the 2025/26 pay round.

Decisions on pay, including London weighting, are delegated to individual departments for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS); departmental policies on London weighting are not collected centrally. The SCS pay framework is managed centrally and only operates a national pay range.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 8th January is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 10th October is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 10th October is attached.

Our department is helping businesses take advantage of trade deals through engagement, guidance, and practical support. Events to promote understanding of FTAs have been held in all parts of the UK this year, including during International Trade Week.

Guides to ensure business have clear advice on taking advantage of FTAs have been published on recent FTAs, and are being prepared for the UK-India FTA. SMEs can also access support on FTAs through the new Business Growth Service.

The Government’s Plan for Small Businesses strengthens the business environment, improves finance access, creates growth opportunities, and boosts SME competitiveness across the UK.

To protect negotiation-sensitive information the Department for Business and Trade will not be publishing a full assessment of the potential economic impact of mutual recognition agreements on conformity assessment between the UK and EU. This Government remains committed to tackling barriers to trade with the EU, addressing areas of mutual benefit to both the UK and EU.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1st December to question 93634 (Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament).

Improved business travel mobility arrangements with the EU would benefit individuals and businesses in both the UK and EU, likely increasing trade between us and the EU and increasing our GDP over time. The UK government is committed to supporting UK businesses to trade more easily with our biggest trading partner, the EU.

Where the British Business Bank receives complaints about lenders' actions on debt recovery, cost of lending and fees charged by lenders, these are referred to the relevant lender. While all complaints are logged, the current system does not include a specific category for debt-recovery-related issues. No fees were charged under the COVID-19 loan schemes, and there are no fees for Start Up Loans other than interest payments.

We are aware that UK and EU stakeholders have highlighted that conformity assessment barriers negatively impact their ability to trade since the UK left the EU. Ahead of the UK-EU summit in May 2025 we explored a number of proposals with our EU partners on manufactured goods. To inform these discussions the government assessed the potential economic impact of a range of measures, including a mutual recognition agreement on conformity assessment, which indicated that such an agreement would be mutually beneficial for both the UK and EU. What was announced at the UK-EU summit reflects the outcome of the discussions.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ofcom about online safety matters. For example, in October, the Secretary of State wrote to Ofcom requesting an update on its implementation of the Online Safety Act, including work to ensure platforms tackle antisemitic and hateful content and abuse.

Ofcom’s reply outlined the main themes of its work in tackling antisemitism and other forms of hate speech and abuse. This includes driving compliance through the Online Safety Act’s regulatory framework, building on its codes of practice, working with civil society to build its evidence base and targeted working with platforms during crises.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including older people, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities to stay fit and healthy.

We understand sport helps encourage people to be active and support all grassroots activity to promote this message, and help people participate in sporting activity.

All national governing bodies and UK broadcasters are operationally and editorially independent of the Government. Consequently, we do not plan to have discussions with them regarding their commissioning plans in relation to encouraging those aged over 60 to participate in sporting activity.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including older people, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities to stay fit and healthy.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through DCMS’s Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Their ten-year Uniting the Movement strategy reinforces their commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for those from under-represented groups, including older people. Sport England has also ensured that each of its programmes impact directly on those with long-term health conditions, including older people, with initiatives like the 'We are Undefeatable' campaign.

The Government is committed to making the UK the best place in the world to produce video games. We recognise the high growth potential of the sector, and are committed to improving its access to finance.

This is why, as part of the Creative Industries Sector Plan, we have committed £30 million over the next three years for the Games Growth Package, which includes a significant expansion of the UK Games Fund which will continue to provide grants to early-stage studios across the UK to develop prototypes and new intellectual property, and run development programmes for new graduates.

The tax reliefs offered to video games companies continue to make the UK one of the best places in the world to make video games. Our Video Games Expenditure Credit ensures that this highly skilled and innovative industry is able to thrive and the government will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure its continued effectiveness.

Also outlined in the Creative Industries Sector Plan was a significant increase in support from the British Business Bank (BBB) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The BBB is committing an additional £4 billion of Industrial Strategy Growth Capital to support investment and growth in the eight priority Industrial Strategy sectors, including the creative industries, while UKRI will lead efforts to significantly increase public funding for the creative sectors, including support for commercialisation and tech adoption.

I have not had discussions with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about the inclusion of netball, or any other sport, in the Olympic Games.

The Olympic sports programme is determined by the IOC. The British Olympic Association, as the National Organising Committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is the domestic representative to the IOC and does so operating independently of the Government.

The department does not hold this information.

Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations – AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC – rather than by central government. These organisations have the freedom to create a Somali and/or Romanian GCSE based on the subject content for modern foreign languages set by the department. This decision would be informed by several factors, including the level of demand from schools and the proportion of the population in the UK speaking the language.

Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations – AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC – rather than by central government. These organisations have the freedom to create a Somali and/or Romanian GCSE based on the subject content for modern foreign languages set by the department. This decision would be informed by several factors, including the level of demand from schools and the proportion of the population in the UK speaking the language.

As set out at the UK-EU Summit in May, the UK agreed to work towards association to the Erasmus+ programme on mutually agreed financial terms.

Negotiations are ongoing, and the timelines for any association are subject to ongoing discussion. We are open to associating to Erasmus+ for 2027 in principle, but only if we can reach agreement on financial terms, which should ensure a fair balance as regards the contributions of and benefits to the UK.

​​A high quality citizenship education helps to provide pupils with the knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to play a full and active part in society. The citizenship curriculum is compulsory within the national curriculum at secondary and primary schools can choose to teach citizenship at key stages 1 and 2, following the non-statutory framework for citizenship.

​Pupils should be taught about the roles played by public institutions and voluntary groups in society, which could include co-operatives, and the ways in which citizens work together to improve their communities.

​The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is seeking to deliver a curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive. The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published shortly with the government’s response.