Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of commercial agencies in the supply teaching sector; and whether she plans to provide funding for non-commercial operators in that sector.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers and are best placed to make decisions on this.

The supply market in England is large and diverse. It includes supply pools, direct recruitment and commercial agencies. Although the department does not hold data on the precise number of commercial agencies operating, agencies account for the majority of supply provision to schools.

The department is aware of the concern around agency fees and is working with the Crown Commercial Service on their agency supply deal, which supports schools to obtain value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. The deal has established a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which will be transparent with schools about the rates they charge.

There are currently no plans to provide funding for non-commercial operators in the sector. The department does, however, continue to conduct policy research into the supply market.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of mandating that supply staff (a) are paid according to national pay scales and (b) have access to (i) the Teachers' Pension Scheme and (ii) other relevant pension funds.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

​​A supply teacher’s pay and pension depends on how the supply teacher is employed.

​Supply teachers employed directly by a state maintained school or local authority must be paid in accordance with the statutory arrangements for teachers laid down in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document. If a supply teacher is employed by a private agency or non-maintained school, the employer can set the rate of pay.

​The Teachers’ Pensions Regulations currently provide for supply teachers to participate in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) where they are employed by a scheme employer, including local authorities, academies and further education colleges.

​Where supply teachers are self-employed or remain employed by a supply agency and their services are provided under a ‘contract for services’, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS as there is no organisation to undertake the employer role, including remitting contributions to the scheme. However, eligible supply teachers working via agencies are entitled to workplace pensions.

​The department does not have plans at this time to assess the potential benefits of mandating pay or pensions for supply teachers.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the planned timescales are for the action points in the Cross-government Pharmaceuticals in the Environment Group Roadmap on addressing levels of fipronil and imidacloprid detected in UK waterways; and how she plans to measure their levels of success.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Cross-government Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PiE) Group Roadmap sets out a phased approach to addressing the presence of fipronil and imidacloprid in UK waterways. It outlines three broad categories of action: immediate efforts focused on communication and education; medium-term actions centred on evidence gathering; and longer-term regulatory interventions.

To ensure the roadmap remains responsive to emerging evidence and evolving priorities, the timelines have been intentionally kept broad. This flexibility is essential to allow the programme to adapt to new challenges or opportunities as they arise. While we have indicative timeframes, i.e. immediate actions are expected to show significant progress within a year, medium-term actions within five years, and longer-term actions will be shaped by the evidence gathered during the medium term, we recognise that agility is key. In particular, the longer-term regulatory actions will require careful consideration of the evidence base as it develops.

Success will be measured through progress against roadmap actions, including delivery of stakeholder engagement, improved guidance, and evidence outputs. In addition, environmental monitoring, led by the relevant UK environment agencies, will track levels of fipronil and imidacloprid in surface waters over time. Collectively, these measures will help assess the effectiveness of stewardship efforts and guide future regulatory decisions.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has considered requiring pet products containing pesticides that are sold off the shelf to the public to provide explicit (a) advice and (b) warnings of their potential impacts on the environment at the point of sale.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is aware of stakeholder concerns regarding veterinary medicines that can be sold without a prescription and are available from general retailers (AVM-GSL distribution category) for some companion animal flea and tick products. A review of this distribution category for these products remains an option that the VMD is considering in order to assess the requirements for advice and environmental warnings at the point of sale.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust in addressing the long waits for ambulances and emergency care at the acute hospital in Cornwall.

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

We are committed to improving urgent and emergency care and returning to the waiting time standards set out in the National Health Service constitution through actions set out in Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 and the Medium Term Planning Framework for 2026/27 to 2028/29.

On the 6 June 2025, we published our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, backed by a total of nearly £450 million of funding. The plan focuses on improvements that will see the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care performance next winter and on making urgent and emergency care better every day, including reducing ambulance handovers to a maximum of 45 minutes and actions to support at least 78% of patients in accident and emergency being seen within four hours.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has been focusing on its ‘clinical vision of flow’, alongside whole system work which is delivering improvement in urgent and emergency care performance.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking with energy suppliers to help prevent large increases in energy bill direct debits.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Ofgem is the energy regulator for Great Britain and works to protect energy consumers and ensure they are treated fairly.

Under the terms of Ofgem’s Standard Licence Conditions, customers may challenge increased direct debit payment amounts with their supplier and ask the supplier to justify how they calculated the new amount. Suppliers must explain clearly how they reached the figure they want to charge and give the meter readings used. If a customer is not happy with the supplier’s calculation, they can ask the supplier to lower the monthly payments to reflect the energy use more accurately.

If a customer is concerned about the size of a credit balance on their energy account, they can ask their supplier to refund it.

The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and bring down energy bills, and therefore direct debits, permanently.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of children that are able to swim 25 metres confidently.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Swimming and water safety is a vital life skill, which is why it is a mandatory part of the primary PE National Curriculum.

All schools must provide swimming instruction in either key stage 1 or 2. In particular, pupils should be taught to: swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres; use a range of strokes effectively; and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

Primary schools can use their PE and sport Premium funding to provide top-up swimming and water safety lessons for those pupils that do not meet national curriculum requirements after they have completed core swimming and water safety lessons.

The Department for Education is also funding the ‘Inclusion 2028’ grant at up to £300,000 per year to improve opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities to participate in school sport, including swimming and water safety.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her planned timeline is for the allocation of £400 million into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to ensuring that communities across the UK benefit from high-quality sport facilities to help enable people to get active and build pride in place in local communities. At least £400 million is to be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities over the next four years. This investment will fund projects that promote health, wellbeing and community cohesion, while removing the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups, such as women and girls, people with disabilities, and ethnic minority communities.

The Government has allocated £5 million of this funding towards basketball and basketball-led multi-sport facilities in England in 2026/27. This dedicated funding for basketball will be matched by the NBA, who will invest £5 million through to 2028.

Funding is subject to departmental business planning processes which are ongoing. We are working with the sports sector and local leaders to develop plans for delivering this funding, prioritising the areas which need it most across the UK and ensuring that investment best serves the needs of these communities. Further details will be announced in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Affordable housing set to benefit from £100 million following CMA probe, published on 9 July 2025, whether he has considered the potential merits of allocating the English portion of the £100 million to community-led housing.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

As the Competition and Markets Authority set out in its final decision letter published on 30 October 2025 (which can be found on gov.uk here), the government will disburse England’s proportion of the payment to the affordable homes programmes delivered by Homes England and the Greater London Authority.

On 7 November 2025, my Department published a policy statement on the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) which can be found on gov.uk here. This was accompanied by detailed guidance for prospective bidders published by Homes England and the Greater London Authority.

While maximising supply is at the forefront of the SAHP, the programme is also designed to support greater diversity and supply of the different types of homes that can be delivered, as well as greater diversity in who delivers these homes.

We recognise that some types of social and affordable homes that are much needed can often cost more to deliver – such as some homes built by local councils, supported housing, community-led and rural homes. The new programme is designed to be flexible to support the greater diversity of supply needed, and we are asking providers to come forward with ambitious bids that reflect this diversity.

The flexibility in grant rates provided for under the new programme will help community-led schemes achieve viability and help the sector grow towards its full potential.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits in recognising the role of renewable liquid fuels in decarbonising off-gas-grid households.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As sustainable biomass is a limited resource, the government expects it to be prioritised where there are limited alternatives for decarbonisation. Renewable liquid heating fuels (RLHFs) are also more expensive to use than other heating solutions.

However, the government recognises that RLHFs could play a limited role in decarbonising off-gas grid homes. Before taking decisions on whether to support the use of RLHFs, the government would require stronger evidence on their affordability for consumers, and the availability of sustainable feedstock.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to assess the (a) adequacy of levels of swimming pool provision and (b) long-term factors that might impact future levels of swimming pool provision.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to ensuring that communities across the UK benefit from high-quality sport facilities to help enable people to get active and build pride in place in local communities. We are aware that factors including pressures around energy costs and ageing facilities may impact the future provision of sports facilities, including swimming pools. That is why at least £400 million is to be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities across the UK over the next four years. This investment will fund projects that promote health, wellbeing and community cohesion, while removing the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups, such as women and girls, people with disabilities, and ethnic minority communities.

Found: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat; Glastonbury and Somerton) Terry Jermy (Labour; South West Norfolk) Jayne Kirkham

Found: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat; Glastonbury and Somerton) Terry Jermy (Labour; South West Norfolk) Jayne Kirkham

Found: Q402 Jayne Kirkham: I have a coastal seat as well.

Found: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee member present: Jayne Kirkham.