Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to include young carers within the daily attendance recording.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department wants to ensure that young carers have the best life chances by supporting them to access and thrive in education. We recognise that absence from school can be a symptom and indicator of wider needs within a family, and that the early identification of attendance issues is crucial.
Young carers are now included in the school census, providing annual data to establish long-term trends and help schools develop identification and support strategies. The department continues to monitor the quality of data on young carers collected via school registers, informing consideration on whether to include young carers in the daily data collection in the future.
The statutory ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, in place since 19 August 2024, specifically references young carers and promotes a ‘support first’ approach. The department has also provided local authorities with access to code level breakdowns of attendance data at pupil level, enabling local authorities to cross-reference real-time data sources to monitor the attendance of pupils identified as young carers.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made on the potential impact of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty across his Departmental responsibilities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local authorities are already bound by this duty when they discharge their housing and homelessness duties, and independent Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers support service personnel and their families to register and to vote. Extending the legal duty of the Armed Forces Covenant to MHCLG would therefore align with my department’s existing policies.
A detailed assessment can be found in our response to the Defence Committee in April, available at: committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/142062/default/.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many carers aged 18 to 21 receive (a) Universal Credit and Carer's Allowance and (b) the carer element of Universal Credit but not Carer's Allowance in England.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Data from February 2025 shows that there were 15,872 people aged 18-21 who received Universal Credit and Carer’s Allowance in England. The source for this figure is the benefit combinations dataset on Stat-Xplore.
The department does not hold data on how many carers aged 18-21 in England receive UC and Carer’s Element but not Carer’s Allowance and to provide this would be at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has assessed the suitability of Fujitsu Ltd to continue holding public sector contracts following its role in the Horizon IT system failures.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The impact that the Horizon scandal has had on postmasters and their families is horrendous. This Government is determined to hold those responsible to account.
Fujitsu’s culpability needs to be assessed in light of the final report of Sir Wyn Williams’s Inquiry. Once it is published we will carefully consider whether to launch debarment investigations based on the findings in that report.
In January 2024, Fujitsu committed to withdraw from bidding for contracts with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concluded – it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has a contract with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s capabilities. Fujitsu’s correspondence on this matter is deposited in Parliament.
The Cabinet Office is monitoring Fujitsu’s compliance with these bidding constraints and carries out regular reviews of Fujitsu’s performance across their Government contracts. The Crown Representative meets regularly with the UK CEO to discuss this and other issues.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how Fujitsu Ltd’s central role in the Horizon IT failures is affecting its eligibility for future government contracts.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The impact that the Horizon scandal has had on postmasters and their families is horrendous. This Government is determined to hold those responsible to account.
Fujitsu’s culpability needs to be assessed in light of the final report of Sir Wyn Williams’s Inquiry. Once it is published we will carefully consider whether to launch debarment investigations based on the findings in that report.
In January 2024, Fujitsu committed to withdraw from bidding for contracts with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concluded – it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has a contract with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s capabilities. Fujitsu’s correspondence on this matter is deposited in Parliament.
The Cabinet Office is monitoring Fujitsu’s compliance with these bidding constraints and carries out regular reviews of Fujitsu’s performance across their Government contracts. The Crown Representative meets regularly with the UK CEO to discuss this and other issues.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) opened for applications in July 2024, replacing the Recovery Loan Scheme, and has recently been extended until 31 March 2029. Evaluations for GGS are currently being procured and will commence in 2026/27.
As of June 2025, GGS had supported a total of 16,082 facilities, driving the sustainability and growth of smaller businesses across the UK. The status of these facilities is summarised in the table below.
Status | Number of facilities | % of facilities |
On Schedule | 13,912 | 86.51% |
Arrears | 368 | 2.29% |
Defaulted | 259 | 1.61% |
Claimed | 151 | 0.94% |
Settled | 481 | 2.99% |
Fully Repaid | 911 | 5.66% |
Total | 16,082 | 100.00% |
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Growth Guarantee Scheme in providing loans to small and medium-sized enterprises on terms more favourable than those available commercially.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) opened for applications in July 2024, replacing the Recovery Loan Scheme, and has recently been extended until 31 March 2029. Evaluations for GGS are currently being procured and will commence in 2026/27.
As of June 2025, GGS had supported a total of 16,082 facilities, driving the sustainability and growth of smaller businesses across the UK. The status of these facilities is summarised in the table below.
Status | Number of facilities | % of facilities |
On Schedule | 13,912 | 86.51% |
Arrears | 368 | 2.29% |
Defaulted | 259 | 1.61% |
Claimed | 151 | 0.94% |
Settled | 481 | 2.99% |
Fully Repaid | 911 | 5.66% |
Total | 16,082 | 100.00% |
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that the Timms Review includes workstreams on the potential impact of (a) illness fluctuations, (b) invisible symptoms and (c) mobility on the PIP assessment process.
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 and other experts to ensure that expertise from a wide range of perspectives is drawn upon. This means the Government will share ownership and responsibility for how the Review runs and what it recommends.
We are currently working through how to best co-produce the Review, taking into account the feedback from extensive stakeholder engagement over the summer. I anticipate it will be led by a core leadership group of around a dozen people, the majority of whom will be disabled people.
Through co-production, it will be for this core leadership group – building from the Terms of Reference – to set the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan. The Review will invite input from a wide range of perspectives. I will share more details about our approach to the Review, and recruitment of its leadership group, shortly.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to include people with lived experience of (a) fluctuating conditions, (b) invisible symptoms and (c) challenges with mobility in the membership of the core group overseeing the Timms 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 and other experts to ensure that expertise from a wide range of perspectives is drawn upon. This means the Government will share ownership and responsibility for how the Review runs and what it recommends.
We are currently working through how to best co-produce the Review, taking into account the feedback from extensive stakeholder engagement over the summer. I anticipate it will be led by a core leadership group of around a dozen people, the majority of whom will be disabled people.
Through co-production, it will be for this core leadership group – building from the Terms of Reference – to set the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan. The Review will invite input from a wide range of perspectives. I will share more details about our approach to the Review, and recruitment of its leadership group, shortly.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of agri-environment agreements that are due to expire in 2025 without being replaced on her environmental targets.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra are offering a one-year extension to more than 5,000 farmers whose Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier (CS MT) agreements are due to expire on 31 December this year. This targeted, time-limited extension is being offered, whilst we develop the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive for 2026, and refresh the Environmental Improvement Plan and roll out the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. The one-off investment of £70m (from within existing budgets) will allow farmers to continue their vital role in sustainable food production and nature’s recovery. Ministers will now review plans for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), to ensure the available funding is distributed more efficiently and more fairly.