Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the data on incidence of corridor care to be published by NHS England.

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

The Government is committed to tackling the unacceptable practice of corridor care in our National Health Service. Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, published in June 2025, sets out steps we are taking, including the commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care.

NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements related to the use of temporary escalation spaces, to drive improvement. The data quality is currently being reviewed, and the information will be published shortly.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether integrated care boards will be given additional one-off funding for redundancy programmes to meet the 50% cost reduction target.

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

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has given to integrated care boards on covering redundancy programme costs.

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

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to help increase awareness amongst employers of the incentives available to hire apprentices, including National Insurance relief when hiring apprentices under 25.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government offers a range of financial support to help employers to take on apprentices. In addition to the National Insurance exemptions for apprentices under 25, the government pays £1,000 to employers that take on apprentices under 19 or eligible 19 to 24-year-olds.

An incentive payment of up to £2,000 has also been introduced to employers who take on foundation apprenticeships, on the seven apprenticeships that launched in August 2025.

Apprenticeships and the financial support available for employers are promoted through multiple channels, including social media and email and telephone marketing campaigns.

In addition, the government facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises 2,500 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he has made on the design of the PIP review.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Timms Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, carers, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, to ensure that expertise from a wide range of perspectives is drawn upon.

On 30 October, I announced that the Review will be co-chaired by myself alongside Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE. We will oversee a steering group responsible for leading the co-production process, setting the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan. The group will be made up of a majority of disabled people or representatives of disabled people’s organisations and will be recruited through an open and transparent Expression of Interest (EOI) process. The EOI is now live and will run until 30 November.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many state school students took the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those students were female.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The data requested is below. Data relating to 2024/25 will be available in February 2026.

The number and proportion of state-funded student entries for international baccalaureate by sex

*Source: A level and other 16 to 18 results

*Coverage: All institutions, England

To note regarding the data:

• Includes entries from students at state-funded schools and colleges who ended 16-18 study in the reported year (for example, 2023/24).
• Discounting rules apply (in other words, where students have multiples entries in the same subject, the best result is included).
• The sex of one of the 21/22 entrants was unknown and has not been captured by the data.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what protocols exist for (a) her Department and (b) the Office for Students when approached by (i) universities and (ii) lenders regarding (A) university financial difficulties, (B) debt arrangements and (C) lending terms.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not intervene directly in negotiations between universities and banks. As independent institutions, universities are responsible for managing their own finances. We do of course regularly meet both with providers and banks to discuss the finances of higher education institutions. However, it is important these discussions are kept confidential.

The processes and protocols of the Office for Students (OfS) are a matter for them. In the first instance, providers should speak to the OfS where they have identified financial risk.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what involvement (a) her Department and (b) the Office for Students have had in discussions between universities and their commercial lenders on (i) university debt arrangements, (ii) financial sustainability and (iii) lending terms since 2022.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not intervene directly in negotiations between universities and banks. As independent institutions, universities are responsible for managing their own finances. We do of course regularly meet both with providers and banks to discuss the finances of higher education institutions. However, it is important these discussions are kept confidential.

The processes and protocols of the Office for Students (OfS) are a matter for them. In the first instance, providers should speak to the OfS where they have identified financial risk.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions (a) her Department and (b) the Office for Students has participated in discussions with commercial lenders on university (i) debt arrangements and (ii) financial sustainability since 2022.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not intervene directly in negotiations between universities and banks. As independent institutions, universities are responsible for managing their own finances. We do of course regularly meet both with providers and banks to discuss the finances of higher education institutions. However, it is important these discussions are kept confidential.

The processes and protocols of the Office for Students (OfS) are a matter for them. In the first instance, providers should speak to the OfS where they have identified financial risk.

Tomorrow’s Engineers Week 2025

Gambling executives' profits

Fly-tipping and illegal waste dumping by criminal gangs

Local Housing Allowance

Release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah and the plight of British nationals arbitrarily detained abroad

Conduct of Sir Robbie Gibb and the independence of the BBC Board

Protections for animals and people

Local government and social care

Conduct of Samir Zitouni and Stephen Crean on the 18.25 Doncaster to Kings Cross train on 1 November 2025

Found: requirement to produce local growth plans “adds duties but at the moment without giving resources”.16 Ian Sollom