Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available to schools to tackle the challenges faced by pupils living in poverty, including access to (a) free school meals, (b) mental health services and (c) after-school programmes in the North East.

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

​​We are supporting schools to tackle the challenges faced by pupils in poverty. As part of this support, schools will receive pupil premium funding worth over £3 billion in the 2025/26 financial year to support the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils.

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​The removal of the two-child limit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures announced this year, including the expansion of free school meals, which will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament and put £500 back in families’ pockets. Further, we are delivering on our pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children.

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​We are also providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding mental health support teams (MHSTs). As of April 2025, 57% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in the North East region were covered by an MHST.

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​The department will also publish an Enrichment Framework, providing advice for schools on delivering a high-quality enrichment offer, including extra-curricular activities after school.

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​Since September 2024, the department has invested over £180 million in the National Wraparound Programme, which has created over 50,000 additional childcare places.

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​Support with costs for wraparound childcare is also available for eligible parents through the Tax-Free Childcare and the childcare element of Universal Credit.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has issued guidance to (a) schools and (b) educational establishments to make them aware of potential concerns with Colours Play Sand.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

UK regulators are in touch with counterparts in Australia regarding reports of chemical concerns related to rainbow-coloured sand products. There is no evidence these products are available on the UK market. Our product safety regulations require businesses to only place safe consumer products on the market, including toys or products aimed at children. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), in my Department, and Local Authority Trading Standards enforce the regulations, and have powers to remove products from sale and prevent imports where unsafe items are identified.

The Government does not collect data on sales of individual products.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to communicate concerns of potential harmful substances in Educational Colours Rainbow Sand.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

UK regulators are in touch with counterparts in Australia regarding reports of chemical concerns related to rainbow-coloured sand products. There is no evidence these products are available on the UK market. Our product safety regulations require businesses to only place safe consumer products on the market, including toys or products aimed at children. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), in my Department, and Local Authority Trading Standards enforce the regulations, and have powers to remove products from sale and prevent imports where unsafe items are identified.

The Government does not collect data on sales of individual products.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data he holds on how many packs of educational colours rainbow sand was sold before it was no longer available.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

UK regulators are in touch with counterparts in Australia regarding reports of chemical concerns related to rainbow-coloured sand products. There is no evidence these products are available on the UK market. Our product safety regulations require businesses to only place safe consumer products on the market, including toys or products aimed at children. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), in my Department, and Local Authority Trading Standards enforce the regulations, and have powers to remove products from sale and prevent imports where unsafe items are identified.

The Government does not collect data on sales of individual products.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a new national strategy for palliative and end-of-life care.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England.

The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and will enable integrated care boards to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan.

Further information about the MSF is set out in the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave on 24 November 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of renegotiating current private finance debt to reduce future payouts.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts are not held by the Department. Contracts are held between the local National Health Service trust and their respective private finance company. The contracts were let for a prescribed period of time, with the terms set at the outset and limited areas for renegotiation.

The Department’s Private Finance Team together with the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority provides expert support and advice to NHS trusts with PFI contracts on a case-by-case basis, considering all options available whilst maintaining contractual compliance. This includes, but is not limited to, improving the performance of existing contracts, assessing the costs of existing contracts and where efficiencies and savings can be realised, and managing hand back of the assets at the end of the contract term. The Department’s Private Finance team also continues to assess opportunities to refinance debt where possible and where it would be value for money.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the impact of (a) changes in patient need, (b) drug prices, (c) inflation and (d) changes in the level of private finance debt on the budget for the NHS in each of the next ten years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington on 1 December 2025 to Question 93637.

Football Supporters’ Association’s Stop Exploiting Loyalty campaign

Border violence

Higher education pension cuts

US military build-up in the Caribbean

Driver-only trains on East West Rail

Habitat regulations

International Day of People with Disabilities

Thanking postal workers

Independent Office for Police Conduct findings on Norman Bettison

Found: Farnsworth: Access to NHS dentistry • Caroline Voaden: Residential estate management companies • Ian Lavery