Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Since September 2024, the department has invested over £180 million in the National Wraparound Programme, which has created over 50,000 additional childcare places.
Support with costs for wraparound childcare is also available for eligible parents through the Tax-Free Childcare and the childcare element of Universal Credit.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures are in place to ensure that children from low-income families in the North East have access to high-quality early years education; and what additional support is being provided to reduce disparities in readiness for primary school.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government’s Plan for Change commits to giving children the best start in life. From age 2, children in low-income families, those with education, health and care plans, and looked-after children are eligible for 15 hours of funded early education.
Disadvantaged children may also receive the early years pupil premium (EYPP).
From April 2025, this was increased by 45%. From next year, we will provide additional funding to extend EYPP in areas most in need, and test different approaches to using this funding to understand how best to maximise its impact.
As part of the Opportunity Mission, £37 million has been awarded to 300 primary schools to create or expand nurseries.
The department is establishing Best Start Family Hubs to provide greater support for families. Local authorities are also developing ambitious Best Start local plans to meet the milestone to get a record number of children school ready every year by 2028.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether they plan to increase or redistribute funding to schools in the North East.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) is used to allocate core funding for mainstream schools in England. We have now published the NFF for 2026/27, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-for-schools-and-high-needs-from-2025.
Through the NFF, the North East is receiving £2,341 million in provisional funding for mainstream schools in the 2026/27 financial year. This represents an increase of £62 million compared to the 2025/26 financial year.
These figures are based on pupil numbers from the 2025/26 dedicated schools grant (DSG). Final allocations will be based on updated pupil numbers in the 2026/27 DSG.
In the North East, average per pupil funding through the schools NFF will be £6,852 in the 2026/27 financial year. This compares to £6,671 per pupil in the 2025/26 financial year. The 2025/26 comparison figure includes the schools budget support grant and National Insurance contributions grants that were paid outside the NFF in 2025/26, to ensure a fair comparison.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has commissioned research into the potential impact of occupational exposure to hazardous medicinal products among nursing staff on (a) reproductive and (b) other long‑term health; and what assessment he has made of the cost to the NHS of sickness absence related to such exposure.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As per our response to questions PQ87515, PQ84145, and PQ84445 on 11 November 2025, the Government has not commissioned any research on the reproductive health outcomes or long-term health effects of the occupational exposure of nursing staff to hazardous medicinal products. No assessment has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of sickness absence related to this.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to require NHS employers to provide ongoing (a) training and (b) health surveillance for all staff who (i) handle and (ii) otherwise may be exposed to hazardous medicinal products; and how her Department monitors compliance with those standards.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 October 2025 to Question UIN 84444.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to review the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations to ensure that hazardous medicinal products with reprotoxic effects are controlled to the same standard as (a) carcinogens and (b) mutagens.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 October 2025 to Question UIN 84440.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she is taking steps to promote the use of (a) biological safety cabinets, (b) closed‑system drug‑transfer devices and (c) engineering controls in healthcare settings; and whether she plans to provide funding for NHS trusts to implement these controls.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 October 2025 to Question UIN 84144.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been arrested for protesting the proscription of Palestine Action.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. Anyone expressing support for a proscribed organisation should expect to be investigated by the police.
To be clear, those who want to oppose the proscription of Palestine Action can do so freely and lawfully – that is not itself an offence. It is an offence when protest is focused on showing support for an organisation that has been proscribed.
The Home Office releases statistics which cover arrests for terrorist-related activity on a quarterly basis. The latest release for the quarter ending June 2025 can be found here:
.Operational decisions, including arrests, are a matter for the police, who are independent of Government.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how the cyber risk to Government has changed in the last 5 years; how his Department's approach to cyber security has changed in that time; and what assessment he has made of how the Government's level of cyber resilience has changed in that time.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our approach to tackling Government cyber risk is driven by the 2022 Government Cyber Security Strategy which sets a clear target for critical functions to be hardened to cyber attack by 2025.
We have made important steps in understanding and mitigating risk; GovAssure has dramatically improved our understanding of cyber resilience levels across government and the systemic issues preventing departments from achieving targets. The Government Cyber Coordination Centre enables us to respond as one government to cyber incidents, threats and vulnerabilities.
However, the threat picture is the most sophisticated it has ever been and the UK's resilience picture is poorer than previously estimated. In January 2025, the NAO report into Government cyber resilience confirmed that Government since 2022 has not improved its cyber resilience quickly enough to meet its 2025 target. We welcome the report and are taking immediate action to address the recommendations.
We are accelerating our response through the launch of a more interventionist approach, which will address the long-standing shortage of cyber skills, strengthen accountability for cyber risks, provide greater support for delivery in the form of cyber services, guidance, and hands-on technical support and bolster our response capabilities to fast-moving cyber incidents.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to be able to meet its target for the Government to be cyber resilient by the end of 2025.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our approach to tackling Government cyber risk is driven by the 2022 Government Cyber Security Strategy which sets a clear target for critical functions to be hardened to cyber attack by 2025.
We have made important steps in understanding and mitigating risk; GovAssure has dramatically improved our understanding of cyber resilience levels across government and the systemic issues preventing departments from achieving targets. The Government Cyber Coordination Centre enables us to respond as one government to cyber incidents, threats and vulnerabilities.
However, the threat picture is the most sophisticated it has ever been and the UK's resilience picture is poorer than previously estimated. In January 2025, the NAO report into Government cyber resilience confirmed that Government since 2022 has not improved its cyber resilience quickly enough to meet its 2025 target. We welcome the report and are taking immediate action to address the recommendations.
We are accelerating our response through the launch of a more interventionist approach, which will address the long-standing shortage of cyber skills, strengthen accountability for cyber risks, provide greater support for delivery in the form of cyber services, guidance, and hands-on technical support and bolster our response capabilities to fast-moving cyber incidents.