Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help tackle educational underachievement.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed, but too many face barriers holding them back, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The government’s Plan for Change sets our intention to give every child the best start in life, setting a milestone of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn, backed by investment close to £1.5 billion over the next three years, subject to the spending review.

High and rising standards are the key to strengthening outcomes for every child. The department is driving standards in every school through regional improvement for standards and excellence teams, a refreshed high quality curriculum and assessment system, and recruiting an additional 6,500 additional teachers.

The Schools White Paper will build on our existing work to drive school standards and improve outcomes for all children.

This is alongside wider work to improve outcomes for all children, including tackling child poverty and our Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many assessments for Personal Independence Payment were carried out by Capita by telephone in 2025.

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

Capita delivers Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the Midlands and Wales, and on behalf of the Department for Communities (DfC) in Northern Ireland.

Information relating to the Midlands and Wales is not currently published by DWP; however, we intend to include this data in a future statistical release.

If your query concerns Northern Ireland, responsibility for this information rests with the DfC. This data is not held by DWP.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many assessments for Personal Independence Payment were carried out by Capita in person in 2025.

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

Capita delivers Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the Midlands and Wales, and on behalf of the Department for Communities (DfC) in Northern Ireland.

Information relating to the Midlands and Wales is not currently published by DWP; however, we intend to include this data in a future statistical release.

If your query concerns Northern Ireland, responsibility for this information rests with the DfC. This data is not held by DWP.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what financial support is available for the installation of solar panels in UK domestic settings.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Solar is an important part of the Government’s strategy for increasing energy performance of buildings and contributes to meeting the government’s fuel poverty targets.

The Warm Homes Plan will deliver £15 billion of public investment helping households take up measures like solar panels, heat pumps, batteries and insulation. Homeowners will soon be able to apply for government-backed, low and zero interest loans to assist with upfront costs for solar.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (i) prosecutions and (ii) convictions there were for the use of a mobile phone while driving in each of the last five years.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions and convictions for a wide range of criminal offences including using a mobile phone when driving in England and Wales within the Outcomes by Offences data tool.

This can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provision for the police.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The 2026–27 final police funding settlement provides up to £21.0 billion for the policing system in England and Wales.

This is an increase of up to £1.3 billion compared with the 2025–26 settlement, representing a 6.7% cash increase and a 4.4% real terms increase. Total funding to police forces will be up to £18.4 billion, an increase of up to £796 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. This equates to a 4.5% cash increase and a 2.3% real terms increase in funding.

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 trends in the level of vaccine uptake in schools.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors uptake of childhood and adolescent vaccinations via the school-based programmes and publishes this in annual coverage reports. Uptake across the programmes has shown a decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, with some evidence of stabilisation during the academic year 2023/24. The reports are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake

NHS England, in conjunction with regional colleagues, has produced a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination school-aged immunisation improvement and uptake plan for internal operational National Health Service use, as part of their commitment to improving vaccine coverage.

In addition, NHS England has improved digital communications on vaccinations, including expanding the NHS app, and has improved access to the HPV vaccine outside of schools through community clinics at convenient times and locations.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were entitled to free school meals in each of the last three years.

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

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department publishes data on free school meal (FSM) eligibility and the number of eligible pupils taking FSMs on school census day in the annual Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics accredited official statistics, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2024-25.

The latest figures were published in June 2025, and the next figures will be published in summer 2026.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many life sentences have been handed out to people under the age of 16 in the last five years.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Between year ending September 2021 and year ending September 2025, 10 defendants aged under 16 have been given a life sentence. This is a further breakdown of published sentencing outcomes data released routinely as part of the Accredited Official Statistics series Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly which is available here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

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 support the holiday parks industry.

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

DCMS recognises the significant value that the holiday parks industry provides in supporting our rural and coastal economies. The Government is committed to ensuring their long-term viability by modernising the business rates system and providing targeted marketing to overseas visitors.

From April 2026, we are replacing temporary reliefs with permanently lower business rate multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties. This structural shift provides long-term certainty and is worth nearly £900 million annually. To protect businesses from sudden valuation shocks, we have introduced a £3.2 billion Transitional Relief scheme, which caps bill increases at 15% for most businesses

The Government has set out a package of pro-growth regulatory changes for the retail and hospitality sectors, including the first National Licensing Policy Framework, which supports the flexible growth of hospitality services within holiday parks.

DCMS and VisitBritain are actively working to boost visitor numbers and extend the tourism season for coastal and rural operators. The ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign uses the UK’s film and television heritage to drive international visitors into rural destinations, increasing the profile of areas where many premier holiday parks are located.

The forthcoming Visitor Economy Growth Strategy will cement these measures, providing a long-term plan to increase visitor flows, maximise sector value, and deliver sustainable growth for our coastal and rural communities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of further and higher education funding.

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

The department has increased investment in 16-19 education by £400 million in the 2025/26 financial year. From the Spending Review, we will invest nearly £800 million extra in 2026/27, including and fully consolidating the £190 million boost to 2025/26 funding provided in May.

The department is investing in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), spending £1.4 billion in the 2025/26 academic year. The ASF fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to support adults to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning.

To support long‑term stability in higher education, the department is increasing maximum tuition fees in line with inflation, by 2.71% in 2026/27 and 2.68% in 2027/28, in addition to the 3.1% increase delivered for the current academic year. The government provides £1.31 billion in Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) funding for the 2025/26 academic year to support teaching, high‑cost subjects and disadvantaged students, and we are working with the Office for Students to reform the SPG to better target priority skills needs and access and participation.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants were overpaid cost of living payments in 2025; and what is the total amount of the overpayments identified in 2025.

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

The Department publishes fraud and error statistics annually and the data for FYE 2025 can be found here: Fraud and error in the benefit system, Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2025 - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure additional funding for community pharmacies to meet demand.

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

Funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework increased to £3.073 billion for 2025/2026. This represented the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a first step in delivering stability for the future and a commitment to rebuilding the sector.

The 2026/27 national community pharmacy funding arrangements will be subject to consultation with Community Pharmacy England, which will commence shortly.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for an emergency ambulance response.

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

The Government recognises that in recent years ambulance response times have not met the high standards patients should expect.

We are determined to turn things around. Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/26 is backed by almost £450 million of capital investment, and commits to reducing category 2 ambulance response times to 30 minutes on average this year.

The latest data from December 2025 for ambulance response times in England shows progress, with category 2 incidents responded to in 32 minutes 43 seconds on average, this is 14 minutes and 43 seconds faster than the same period last year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve fire safety in healthcare settings.

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

The National Health Service has unique fire safety issues given the nature of its services and the patients it treats. These issues and related risks are analysed with risk reduction measures such as specific technical guidance updates and technical bulletins based on this data being developed and published where appropriate. Professional networking ensures that best practice is shared with the NHS via professional organisations such as National Fire Chiefs Council, the National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers, and the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management.

This specific fire safety guidance is provided to the NHS in the Health Technical Memorandum 05 generally referred to as Firecode. This guidance is being revised to fully reflect recent changes in legislation, technology, and policy, and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/fire-safety-in-the-nhs-health-technical-memorandum-05-03/

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 adequacy of the availability of specialist doctors and nurses for headaches.

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

The Department has not made an assessment of the adequacy of the number of specialist doctors and nurses for headaches employed in the National Health Service in England.

Patients presenting with headaches may be treated through multiple points of contact across primary, urgent, and secondary care, with input from different clinical teams depending on symptoms and severity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve respite services for carers.

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

The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need.

In England, the Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers. The Better Care Fund includes funding that can be used for carer support, including short breaks and respite services. Local areas determine how the money is best used to support carers, depending on local need and with reference to their statutory responsibilities.

We have raised the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit from £151 to £196 per week, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage and representing the largest cash increase ever.

The Government is making around £4.6 billion of additional funding available for adult social care in England in 2028-29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector in making improvements.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take to increase availability of renal psychology services for kidney patients.

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

Mental health and psychosocial support, such as renal psychology services, for people living with kidney disease is a key priority within NHS England’s programme to improve renal care. The Renal Service Transformation Programme, published in 2023, provides a national framework for raising standards across the renal pathway, including a strengthened focus on supporting the emotional and psychological needs of patients.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on legal costs in the last five years.

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

The following table shows the total legal fees for the core Department per the audited annual reports from 2020/21 to 2024/25, rounded to the nearest thousand:

The legal fees for the departmental group can be found in the Annual Report and accounts in the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025#

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-to-2022

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to set a target for the reduction of the use of single-use plastic.

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

Defra does not currently have plans to bring forward legislative proposals to set a target for the reduction of the use of single-use plastic.

This Government is committed to moving to a circular economy and will publish a Circular Economy Growth Plan that sets out how government will deliver a more circular and more prosperous economy.

Defra will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/or materials to take a systematic approach, in line with circular economy principles, to reduce the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products and encourage reuse solutions.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households are in receipt of benefits in excess of £28,000.

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

The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is an annual report that provides facts and figures about the incomes and living circumstances of households and families in the UK. The FRS uses a nationally representative sample of UK households and includes data on benefit receipt, at both individual and family levels.

The latest FRS is available for 2023/24 and, in the ‘Income and state support data tables’, Table 2.14a shows the number of benefit units in the UK by the total amount of annual state support received for that financial year, plus the two preceding years. This data is also available in the ‘FRS Family 2’ table in the Family (Benefit Unit) Dataset on Stat-Xplore. Please read the notes which accompany these tables.

The number of families who received in excess of £28,000, can be extracted from the Family (Benefit Unit) Dataset on Stat-Xplore by using the custom range functionality (which is available to registered users) on the Family (Benefit Unit), total, annual amount of Income received from State Support, in bands, in latest prices (CPI-adjusted real terms) data by using the ‘Range’ option in the ‘Measures’ section.

You can register or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required. In addition there is also the FRS Stat-Xplore User Guide.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure vulnerable children in care are given the best start in life.

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

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Reforming children’s social care is essential to ensuring vulnerable children have the best start in life. We are shifting the system toward early, preventative support so more families can stay safely together.

Our plans will help children remain with their families wherever possible, increase support for kinship carers and foster families and improve outcomes for children in care and care leavers, including through the rollout of the Staying Close programme. We will also fix the care market to reduce profiteering and put children’s needs first, alongside strengthening multi‑agency approaches to keep children safe.

Backed by £2.4 billion over the next three years, national reforms to Family Help, Multi‑Agency Child Protection and Family Group Decision Making will be delivered through the Families First Partnership programme, with local authorities deciding how best to use these resources to support vulnerable children in care. A further £1.5 billion will improve access to affordable early education, raise early years quality and strengthen family services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to healthcare services in rural areas.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan has set out a long-term vision to reform the National Health Service and make it fit for the future. Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the 10-Year Health Plan, to ensure the NHS is there for anyone who needs it whenever they need it.

This includes ending the postcode lottery for cancer patients through introducing new training places targeted at trusts with the biggest workforce gaps, prioritising rural and coastal areas.

There are also a range of adjustments made to integrated care board funding allocations that account for the fact that the costs of providing health care may vary between rural and urban areas. These adjustments specifically support remote or sparsely populated areas.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many online child sexual abuse offences have been recorded in England and Wales in the last 3 years.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Online child sexual abuse offences are captured in police recorded crime via an online crime flag being applied to a series of offences deemed most likely to be child sexual abuse. This includes contact sexual offences and obscene publications offences which act as a proxy for indecent images of children (IIOC) offences.

In April 2015, it became mandatory for all forces to return quarterly information on the number of crimes flagged as being committed online as part of the Annual Data Requirement (ADR). Since April 2024 this has been supported by the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS) which aims to improve the quality and consistency of flagging. Data released prior to 2024 are not directly comparable due to the move to NDQIS.

The online crime flag refers to any crime committed either in full, or in part, through use of online methods or platforms. The online crime flag helps provide a national and local picture of how internet and digital communications technology are being used to commit crimes, and an understanding of the prominence of certain crimes that are happening online, compared to offline.

An offence should be flagged where online methods or internet-based activities were used to facilitate the offence (e.g. through email, social media, websites, messaging platforms, gaming platforms, or smart devices). In April 2024, recording guidelines were amended to clarify that offences committed via SMS text messages or online-platform-enabled phone calls should also be flagged.

These data are published quarterly via the Office for National Statistics (ONS), originally in ‘Other related tables’ and now in ‘Appendix tables’ as per links below.

Note: Data across the year are not comparable due to continued improvements to the processing of online flags.

The Government is committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse and exploitation and is committed to taking robust action to better safeguard children, ensuring victims and survivors receive appropriate care and support and pursuing offenders and bringing them to justice.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many tonsillectomies were carried out on children in each of the last five years.

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

A count of finished consultant episodes in England for children aged zero to 17 years old with a primary or secondary procedure of tonsillectomy from 2020/21 to 2024/25 is as follows:

• between 2020/21 there were 9,706 procedures;
• between 2021/22 there were 16,914 procedures;
• between 2022/23 there were 21,348 procedures;
• between 2023/24 there were 24,807 procedures; and
• between 2024/25 there were 31,000 procedures.

The increase in the number of procedures carried out each year between 2020/21 and 2024/25 reflects the National Health Service’s ongoing work to recover elective activity following the disruption caused by the COVID‑19 pandemic and represents a return to pre-pandemic levels of treatment.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date her Department first raised with the BBC that the announcement on Graduated Driver Licensing scheme could be made on the BBC’s day of road safety coverage.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Department for Transport has not made an announcement on a Graduated Driving Licensing scheme.

Whilst we are not considering further restrictions on newly qualified drivers such as carrying passengers or driving at night, as announced on the 7 January, we are consulting on a Minimum Learning Period in England, Scotland, and Wales before learner drivers can take their test, and on a lower drink drive limit for novice drivers..

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that people with cystic fibrosis have access to Orkambi, Symkevi and Kaftrio on the NHS.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In July 2024, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) approved three disease modifying treatments, Orkambi, Symkevi, and Kaftrio, as treatment options for eligible National Health Service patients with cystic fibrosis, under the terms of a commercial agreement reached between NHS England and the manufacturer, Vertex. These treatments are now routinely funded by the NHS in England for eligible patients.

Across England, further access to Orkambi, Symkevi, and Kaftrio on the NHS for people with cystic fibrosis who do not meet the eligibility requirements in the NICE guidance, is guided by the NHS England commissioning statement at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-england-commissioning-statement-arrangements-for-access-to-cystic-fibrosis-transmembrane-conductance-regulator-cftr-modulators-for-licensed-and-off-label-use-in-patients-with-cystic-fibrosis/

This means that means approximately 95% of people with cystic fibrosis in England are now eligible for modulator therapy.

NICE is an England-only body. Health is largely a devolved matter and decisions on the availability of medicines for use in the NHS in the devolved administrations is a matter for the devolved government.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her most recent annual estimate is for the amount of waste deposited illegally across England and Wales.

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

Waste is a devolved matter and the information provided in this answer is for England only.

The Environment Agency (EA) focuses on tackling large-scale waste crime in England, often linked to organised criminal activity while fly-tipping is managed by local authorities.

The EA has no estimate of the total amount of waste deposited illegally each year - by its nature waste crime is hidden and so inherently difficult to measure. The EA estimates that the amount of waste deposited in illegal waste sites which came to their attention in 2025 was 845,906 tonnes. In addition to this, waste will have been deposited during 2025 at sites which came to EA’s attention in earlier years. This waste is of varying types, with significantly different environmental impacts. As these are estimates the true figure may be more or less. The estimates only relate to those sites of which the EA is aware.

Defra does not have an estimate for the total amount of fly-tipped waste in England annually. However, local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. These figures are separate to the large-scale incidents dealt with by the EA, and we expect that they exclude the majority of private-land incidents.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure effective regulation and enforcement is in place to tackle the environmental and financial impact of waste crime.

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

This Government is committed to tackling waste crime from the fly-tippers who blight our towns and villages to the serious and organised crime groups who are exploiting the waste sector.  Those responsible for committing waste crime, rather than taxpayers, should cover the cost of cleaning up the mess they create.

We are making policy and regulatory reforms to close loopholes exploited by criminals and have increased the Environment Agency’s (EA’s) budget for waste crime enforcement by over 50% this year to £15.6 million.

The EA hosts the Joint Unit for Waste Crime which brings together the EA, HMRC, National Crime Agency, the police, waste regulators from across the UK and other operational partners to share intelligence and tasking to disrupt and prevent serious organised waste crime. Our extra funding has enabled the EA to double the size of the Joint Unit for Waste Crime. Overall, the EA has been able to increase its frontline criminal enforcement resource in the Joint Unit for Waste Crime and area environmental crime teams by 43 full time staff.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has undertaken an assessment of the environmental impacts associated with poor animal health.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra has made several assessments of the environmental impacts associated with animal health, including the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. Improved animal health is recognised as important in reducing agricultural greenhouse gas mitigations in the Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan (2025).

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help improve the profitability of UK farm produce.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Farming Roadmap and the full Government response to the Farming Profitability Review will be published later this year, which will set out the wider plan to boost profitability and long-term viability.

The Government is currently already taking forward a series of measures. A new Farming and Food Partnership Board will bring together farmers, processors, retailers, and the wider supply chain to strengthen collaboration across the sector. The Government is investing £30 million in a Farmer Collaboration Fund to support peer-to-peer networks so farmers can share knowledge and learn from each other.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive will be also reformed to make it simpler and fairer, with two application windows this year. The June window will support smaller farms and those without agreements, and the September window will be open to all farms. The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme will be extended for three additional years, supported by £30 million of funding next year.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in the prison population are deemed to have a learning difficulty.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The data we hold is for public sector prisons in England only (education in Wales is a devolved responsibility) and is limited to prisoners who have undertaken an assessment of educational standard prior to enrolment on an education course, rather than the population as a whole. It can be found via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-education-and-accredited-programme-statistics-2024-to-2025/prison-education-and-accredited-programme-statistics-2024-2025.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in England and Wales are on remand awaiting trial.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the untried remand population in custody in the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly (OMSQ) publication. This data can be found in Population Table 1_Q_2 of OMSQ: Offender management statistics quarterly: July to September 2025 - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking help improve addiction and mental health treatment.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We know that people with co-occurring substance use and mental health needs do not receive the integrated, person-centred care they require and deserve. The Department and NHS England have recently published the Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Delivery framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/co-occurring-mental-health-and-substance-use-delivery-framework.

This framework commits the Department and NHS England to delivering several national actions to improve delivery of integrated, person-centred care across drug and alcohol treatment and mental health services. The framework also includes recommended actions on how the health system can also work together to improve outcomes for those with co-occurring needs.

We also know that gambling can have a wide-ranging negative effect on health and inequalities and is associated with poor mental health and in severe cases suicide, as well as the knock-on impacts from gambling related debt. In April 2025, the statutory gambling levy came into effect to fund the research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harm across Great Britain. In its first year, the levy has raised nearly £120 million, with 50% allocated to gambling harms treatment activity across Great Britain.

Lastly, rates of smoking continue to fall in the general population, although inequality remains, with higher rates of smoking in other groups such as people with a mental health condition or people in routine and manual work. Stop Smoking Services are effective in reaching high-prevalence groups. By targeting support in populations with greater need, we want to secure a smoke-free generation together, where no one is left behind.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to improve food supply security across the UK.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK has a resilient food supply chain built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes.

Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce regional inequalities in health outcomes.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is a priority for the Government to increase the amount of time people spend in good health and prevent premature deaths, with an ambitious commitment to halve the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions.

We know that everyday life poses greater health risks to the most disadvantaged in society, and that the current model of care works least well for those who already experience disadvantage and are far more likely to have complex needs. To help tackle this, we will distribute National Health Service funding more equally locally, so it is better aligned with health need.

Further to this, much of what determines health and wellbeing is influenced by factors other than health services. As a result, we are taking bold action across the Government on the social determinants of health to build a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer.

Cross-Government activity includes the introduction of Awaab’s Law, ensuring landlords will have to fix significant damp and mould hazards, and legislating for a new statutory health and health inequalities duty for strategic authorities.

We support the NHS’s CORE20PLUS5 approach which targets action to reduce health inequalities in the most deprived 20% of the population and improve outcomes for groups that experience the worst access, experience, and outcomes within the NHS. The approach focuses on improving the five clinical areas at most need of accelerated improvement, namely cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory, maternity, and mental health outcomes, in the poorest 20% of the population, along with other disadvantaged population groups identified at a local level.

In addition, we know that the Carr-Hill formula, the United Kingdom’s formula for allocating core funding to general practices (GPs), is considered outdated, and evidence suggests that GPs serving in deprived parts of England receive on average 9.8% less funding per needs adjusted patient than those in less deprived communities, despite having greater health needs and significantly higher patient-to-GP ratios. This is why we are currently reviewing the formula to ensure that resources are targeted where they are most needed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people who are victims of human trafficking.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office does not have an up-to-date estimate of the number of victims of human trafficking. Understanding the true scale of modern slavery is difficult due to a few factors, including the hidden nature of the crime.

We understand from recent estimates by NGOs that well over 100,000 individuals in the UK may be affected by this crime.

Data on the number of identified potential victims of modern slavery in the UK, as indicated through National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals, are published every quarter. In total, 19,125 potential victims of modern slavery were referred in 2024 (with latest 2025 annual figures to be published later this month). We continually look to improve the quality and provision of these statistics. The NRM statistics publications can be found here: National Referral Mechanism statistics - GOV.UK.

The Government remains firmly committed to ensuring that all victims of human trafficking and modern slavery are effectively identified and supported to rebuild their lives, while taking action to bring those who exploit vulnerable people to justice.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to maximise the amount of time surgeons spend in theatre.

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

The Government is taking steps to maximise the amount of time surgeons spend in theatre so they can get through theatre lists more quickly. This includes providing additional capacity via surgical hubs to get through high volume, low complexity lists, and by other productivity measures to free up clinicians’ time to spend in theatres.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the a) longest and b) shortest custodial sentence handed down for possession of a Class B drug with intent to supply was in each of the last five years.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The data requested is published by the Ministry of Justice.

The Sentencing Council’s guideline on ‘Possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply’ can be found here: https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/guidelines/supplying-or-offering-to-supply-a-controlled-drug-possession-of-a-controlled-drug-with-intent-to-supply-it-to-another/ which sets out the relevant factors for courts to consider when sentencing for this offence.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the labour supply to the agri-food sector.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognises that access to a sufficient workforce is essential for the resilience and productivity of the farming. Whilst Defra does assess the number of people currently working in agriculture this does not include questions related to adequacy of supply. The Farming Profitability Review, however, is a recent assessment of impacts on farming, which includes considerations of labour availability. Recommendations from this review covered a range of labour supply issues related to migrant workers, education and wider skills requirements.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the devolved institutions on Local Growth Funds.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Ministers and officials in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government regularly engage with counterparts in the devolved governments on matters relating to local and regional economic growth.

Engagement with devolved governments and the Offices for the Nations forms part of the work to develop and implement the Local Growth Fund in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This will ensure the funding fits the needs and circumstances of each nation, is spent on projects that matter to the people of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and drives productivity and growth across the UK.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support the hospitality, pub and food to go sectors to remain in business.

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

The Government is committed to supporting pubs and the wider hospitality sector, which is why we have taken decisive action. We recently announced an additional 15% cut for pubs on top of the permanent reduction in the business rates multiplier for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties.

We recognise that revaluation has increased bills for some businesses, which is why we are providing £4.3 billion over three years to protect ratepayers from sharp rises. We are also launching a review of how pubs and hotels are valued for business rates.

Alongside this, we have introduced the first National Licensing Policy Framework, expanded temporary event permissions, doubled the Hospitality Support Fund to £10 million, and will bring forward a new High Streets Strategy later this year to help reinvigorate our communities.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what legislative steps will be required to introduce the Graduated Driver Licensing scheme by October 2026.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Driver licensing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Assembly can advise on the legislative steps required to introduce Graduated Driving Licensing in Northern Ireland.

For England, Scotland and Wales on 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. As part of the strategy, we launched a consultation on introducing a Minimum Learning Period for learner drivers in England, Scotland and Wales.

Whilst we are not considering further restrictions on newly qualified drivers such as carrying passengers or driving at night, we are consulting on a Minimum Learning Period in England, Scotland, and Wales before learner drivers can take their test.

Once the consultation has concluded, we will publish our response in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to detail the average waiting time for gynaecological consultant appointments, in each of the last five years, broken down by Health and Social Care Trust.

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

The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold waiting list data for health and social care trusts of Northern Ireland. Health policy is largely devolved, and this data is therefore held by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland.

In England, waiting list data for all specialities, including gynaecology services and median waiting times, is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/

This data does not provide a breakdown of waiting times for appointments and surgery, as waiting times are measured from referral to first definitive treatment, a decision not to treat, or when a patient has decided to refuse treatment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to detail the average waiting time for gynaecological surgery, in each of the last five years, broken down by Health and Social Care Trust.

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

The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold waiting list data for health and social care trusts of Northern Ireland. Health policy is largely devolved, and this data is therefore held by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland.

In England, waiting list data for all specialities, including gynaecology services and median waiting times, is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/

This data does not provide a breakdown of waiting times for appointments and surgery, as waiting times are measured from referral to first definitive treatment, a decision not to treat, or when a patient has decided to refuse treatment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve waiting times for gynaecological (i) consultant appointments and (ii) surgery.

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

Reducing waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and we are committed to cutting waiting times across all specialities, including gynaecology. We have committed to return to the National Health Service constitutional standard, that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, by March 2029. We are making good progress, as waiting lists have been cut by over 310,000 since the Government came into office, which includes almost 20,000 patients waiting for gynaecology treatment over the same period.

Our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, set out the reforms we are making to improve gynaecology waiting times, across England. This includes innovative models of care that offer care closer to home and in the community, piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres for patients with post-menopausal bleeding, and increasing the relative funding available to incentivise providers to take on more gynaecology procedures. It also includes expanding the number of surgical hubs, which provide valuable and protected capacity across elective specialities, including gynaecology. Currently, over half of the 125 operational elective surgical hubs in England provide gynaecology services. Wider elective reforms will help cut waiting times for gynaecology services, including more consistent clinical triage, tackling missed appointments, and scaling up remote monitoring and use of patient-initiated follow ups. We are also introducing an “online hospital”, through NHS Online. From 2027, people on certain pathways, including severe menopause symptoms and menstrual problems that may be a sign of endometriosis or fibroids, will have the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home, providing additional appointments to cut waiting times.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide additional resources to gynaecology services to help reduce waiting times.

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

Reducing waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and we are committed to cutting waiting times across all specialities, including gynaecology. We have committed to return to the National Health Service constitutional standard, that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, by March 2029. We are making good progress, as waiting lists have been cut by over 310,000 since the Government came into office, which includes almost 20,000 patients waiting for gynaecology treatment over the same period.

Our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, set out the reforms we are making to improve gynaecology waiting times, across England. This includes innovative models of care that offer care closer to home and in the community, piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres for patients with post-menopausal bleeding, and increasing the relative funding available to incentivise providers to take on more gynaecology procedures. It also includes expanding the number of surgical hubs, which provide valuable and protected capacity across elective specialities, including gynaecology. Currently, over half of the 125 operational elective surgical hubs in England provide gynaecology services. Wider elective reforms will help cut waiting times for gynaecology services, including more consistent clinical triage, tackling missed appointments, and scaling up remote monitoring and use of patient-initiated follow ups. We are also introducing an “online hospital”, through NHS Online. From 2027, people on certain pathways, including severe menopause symptoms and menstrual problems that may be a sign of endometriosis or fibroids, will have the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home, providing additional appointments to cut waiting times.

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 help increase the number of specialist arterial vascular consultants.

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

We set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England that over the next three years, we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts, with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.

The Government is committed to training the staff we need, including doctors, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed services set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

Captain Philip Gilbert Muldowney

70th anniversary of Tayto Crisps

International Epilepsy Day 2026

Student finance

Scotland Loves Local Week

Business rates reform and revaluation

200th anniversary of the birth of Walter Bagehot

Dual nationals and new UK entry documentation requirements

34th anniversary of the Khojaly massacre

Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund 2026-27

Girl Pwr Studios

Team GB men's curling team's silver medal

South Molton Pannier Market

West Berkshire Community Champion Awards 2026

Crawley Hospital Urgent Treatment Centre opening hours

1st Ram Hill Scout Group

Papur y Bobl, Rhosgadfan community newspaper

Hull Kingston Rovers 2025 World Club Challenge victory

Girlguiding Bristol and South Gloucestershire

Fire at Fusco Vehicle Sales in Bangor on 9 January 2026

50th anniversary of the Court of the Deacons of the Ancient and Royal Burgh of Linlithgow

NHS access to medical cannabis for children with drug-resistant epilepsy

Thornbury and District Stroke Support Group

Surveillance and political intimidation of journalists

Styled by Macs and the Best Family-Run Boutique Award

Pause of puberty blockers trial and the potential merits of its full cancellation

Turpie & Co. of Bathgate

Merched y Môr and the World's Toughest Row

Amending the Terrorism Act 2006

Securing the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme

SSE Thermal Community Investment Fund

National Lottery Funding for Digital Kindness

Monday Club in Falkirk

Strathcarron Hospice fundraising by Avant Homes Scotland

River Meon

Scottish Opera founder Sir Alexander Gibson's 100th birthday

Trafficking of the victims of grooming gangs overseas

Glasgow Girls Club receives Arts Champion award

Child protection from illicit vapes

Kendal Farmers Market

Royal Mail postal delivery services

National Lottery funding for La Leche League Collective

Finnegans

Review of the student loan system

National Lottery Funding for Scot Tech Army Ltd

30th anniversary of Held In Our Hearts

Bracknell Forest Politics in Action 2026

International Mother Languages Day 2026

The Lonely Broomstick

Place2Be and Children’s Mental Health Week

Sisters and Misters 30th anniversary fundraiser for Strathcarron Hospice

The Kit-Tea Café

Knockmore railway line

Hayes School mental health ambassadors

Fire and Peace Recovery

Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund’s Wee Box Appeal 2026

Ellis Stevenson and WorldSkills UK

Newfield Park Primary Academy

Moray Rape Crisis

Edinkillie Community Association SCIO

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at Lord Williams’s School

MADE (Moray Arts Development Engagement)

Funding for fire and rescue services

America250 and Ulster Scots connections

Clydemuir Primary School

High street bank closures

Rape gang overseas trafficking

Removal of statutory consultee status from Sport England

Councillor Stephen Lismore

185th anniversary of Liszt’s Taunton concert

Elmbridge Primary School Eco-Council

Vicky's Dog Grooming Parlour

Startime Variety

Rare Disease Day and Achalasia

Enforced disappearance and collective punishment in Balochistan, Pakistan

15th anniversary of the Bahrain pro-democracy uprising

Closure of McKillens Fashions, Ballymena

Keith Butcher

Radiotherapy in the National Cancer Plan

Lambhill Stables Green Champion award

Heart Unions Week and the contribution of trade unions

Online abuse

Ella Hayes Little Champion award

Thatcham level crossing

20th anniversary of Time Twisters

Home-Start North Glasgow volunteers Health and Wellbeing Champion award

Grey belt policy and the impact on villages and rural communities

Public inquiry into Epstein links

Conduct of Lord Mandelson (No. 3)

Wilma Mather Senior Champion award

World Cancer Day and breast cancer

Timmergreens Primary School, Arbroath

Murder of Royal Navy sailor David Cuthbert

Flooding as a result of Storm Chandra

140th anniversary of Clydesdale Harriers Athletics Club

Financial Support for the Music and Dance Scheme

100th anniversary of the Royal British Legion in Dromore

Artificial Intelligence chatbots

Stamp Duty liability for periodic tenancies

Peter Quinney

Seafarer pay and conditions at the Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Found: Jim Shannon made representations.