Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the increased funding for employment support will be allocated to the hospitality sector in coastal towns.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Pathways to Work Green Paper made clear that the additional funding for employment support is aimed at all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits, who want help to get into or return to work.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support single parents to secure affordable accommodation suitable for their children following a separation.

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

Local housing authorities set their own allocation schemes, governed by a legal framework set by central government. This allows councils to design schemes in a way that best meets local needs.

Local housing authorities may consider a household’s size and needs when allocating housing. They may also take into account the circumstances of a separated parent who needs to accommodate visiting children.

Local housing authorities must publish a summary of their allocation scheme and ensure that advice and information is available free of charge to everyone in their area about the right to apply for an allocation of accommodation.

Applicants have the right to information that will enable them to assess how their application is likely to be treated under the authority’s allocation scheme, including whether they are likely to fall within any of the priority categories and whether accommodation appropriate to their needs is likely to be made available.

Allocation schemes must also be framed so as to give applicants the right to be informed of certain decisions and the right to review certain decisions.

The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. On 2 July, the government set out its plan for kickstarting a decade of social and affordable housing renewal and I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on that day (HCWS771).

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support clean energy initiatives in Eastbourne constituency.

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

The Department is supporting clean energy initiatives in Eastbourne through funding and regional delivery mechanisms. The Greater South East Net Zero Hub provides technical and coordination support to local authorities and community groups to develop renewable energy projects.

The Community Energy Fund offers grants of up to £140,000 for feasibility and business case development of community-led schemes. A further £1.28 million has been allocated to the Hub for 2025/26 through the Great British Energy Community Fund to continue supporting clean energy delivery in the region. Eastbourne-based projects are eligible to apply.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to support victims of crimes committed using social media in (a) Eastbourne and (b) the South East.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Online Safety Act gives social media companies new duties to protect all UK users on their services, including users based in Eastbourne and the South East. Under the regulation, platforms need to take steps to reduce the risk their services are used to facilitate illegal activity. They need to remove illegal content when it does appear. They need to offer UK users reporting routes so that they can report illegal content, and they need to take effective action in response. Ofcom oversees these duties and has strong powers to enforce compliance.

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 reduce A&E waiting times in Eastbourne.

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

The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years and is committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the NHS Constitutional standard across England, including in Eastbourne.

Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out a fundamental shift in the approach to urgent and emergency care. It will drive collaboration across the system to deliver improvements for patients this year, and is backed by nearly £450 million of capital investment.

Furthermore, our 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will reduce waiting times in accident and emergency by shifting care into the community through new neighbourhood health services, forming a key part of our mission to reform the National Health Service.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support the energy efficiency of homes in Eastbourne.

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

The Warm Homes Plan will help households, including those in Eastbourne, take up measures like solar panels, heat pumps, batteries and insulation, helping them save money on their bills and benefit from cleaner, cheaper heating. Support is available under current government schemes including the Energy Company Obligation, the Great British Insulation Scheme, the Warm Homes: Local Grant, the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

Recommendations for home energy improvements is also available at the GOV.UK ‘Find Ways to Save Energy in Your Home’ webpage.

Further detail on the Warm Homes Plan will be set out by October.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support people living in fuel poverty in Eastbourne constituency.

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

The Government's review of the 2021 fuel poverty strategy and the latest fuel poverty statistics confirm that a new plan is needed to accelerate progress to alleviate fuel poverty. We have therefore consulted on a revised fuel poverty strategy, with a focus on improving the energy performance of homes, supporting low-income households with energy affordability and protecting them from high prices. The consultation closed on 4 April and we are considering the responses received.

It is imperative that fuel poor homes benefit from the transition to net zero. We are investing £13.2bn in the Warm Homes Plan over the Spending Review period (up to 2029/30), in line with the Manifesto commitment. This is a major step forward in the Government’s plans to upgrade 5 million homes over this Parliament and cut energy bills for good.

Support is also available through the Warm Home Discount schemes which provide eligible low-income households across Great Britain with £150 off their winter energy bill. On 19 June we announced that we are expanding the Warm Home Discount to around an additional 2.7 million households. This means that from next winter, around 6 million low-income households will receive the £150 support to help with their energy bill costs.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that services provided through the Buy with Confidence Scheme complete satisfactory work.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Buy With Confidence scheme is run solely by local authority Trading Standards departments.

Local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales operate independently from central government and are responsible for the provision of Trading Standards services. This includes responsibility for assessing businesses joining the scheme, business compliance and enforcement if things go wrong.

DBT has strengthened consumer law enforcement through the implementation of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The Act gives local authorities the ability to apply to the courts for civil sanctions to impose monetary penalties on businesses who exploit their customers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to improve access to reproductive health in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex.

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

Improving access to reproductive health services in Eastbourne and East Sussex is a matter for local determination.

The Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access to most sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception advice, through the Public Health Grant. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need, and to commission the blend of service access that best suits their population.

In addition, under the GP Contract, contraceptive services are an essential service that practices must provide, or arrange for the provision of, to their patients. Practices are paid for providing essential services via the global sum, which is a capitated payment based on practice patient list size, weighted to account for estimated patient workload and unavoidable costs.

Contraception is also available direct from pharmacies, both prescribed and over the counter, as well as online and through other health care services.

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 improve hospital food for patients in Eastbourne.

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

Access to nutritious, tasty, and aesthetically pleasing hospital food can improve patient morale and contribute to their recovery.

All National Health Service trusts, including in Eastbourne, are expected to follow the NHS National Standards for Healthcare Food and Drink. There are eight mandatory standards all trusts are required to meet. This includes having a food and drink strategy and demonstrating that they have suitable food service provision, which is appropriate for their demographic, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Further information on the NHS National Standards for Healthcare Food and Drink is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/national-standards-for-healthcare-food-and-drink/

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 increase levels of cleanliness in hospitals in Eastbourne.

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

Cleanliness in hospitals is integral for patient safety and to ward off infections. We expect all National Health Service hospitals, including in Eastbourne, to follow the National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness 2025, which were published in February 2025. The standards apply to all healthcare organisations, and are available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/national-standards-of-healthcare-cleanliness-2025/

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 libraries in Eastbourne.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.

The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires the Secretary of State to “superintend and promote the improvement of the public library service provided by local authorities in England”. To assist this function the department regularly monitors local authority library service provision.

I understand that as at 31 December 2023 the statutory library provision delivered by East Sussex County Council was 17 local authority-run static libraries. Two of these static libraries are located in the Eastbourne constituency: Eastbourne and Hampden Park.

We are committed to ensuring that funding is targeted effectively at the places and services that need it most and allocated in a way that empowers local leaders to deliver against local priorities. Recent decisions taken at the Spending Review result in an average real terms increase in local authority core spending power of 2.6% per year between 2026-27 to 2028-29.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to support hospices in Eastbourne.

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

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The funding will help hospices to provide the best end of life care to patients and their families, in a supportive and dignified physical environment.

The first £25 million tranche of that funding, which Hospice UK kindly allocated and distributed to hospices throughout England, has been fully spent by hospices on capital projects. From this first tranche of funding, St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne received £179,191. Demelza Hospice Care for Children, which is the closest children’s hospice provider to Eastbourne, received £242,135. The second tranche of funding, consisting of £75 million, will be allocated in the coming weeks for use in 2025/26.

In addition, we are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant. Demelza Hospice Care for Children will receive an allocation of £1,750,000 for 2025/26.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the uptake of apprenticeships in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, which will provide greater flexibility to employers and learners across the country, including in Eastbourne and East Sussex, and support the industrial strategy.

From August, the department will be introducing seven new foundation apprenticeships for young people in targeted sectors, including construction and the built environment, digital, and health and social care. We are also reducing the apprenticeship minimum duration to eight months so that shorter apprenticeships are possible from August. These flexibilities will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work and fuel innovation in businesses across the country.

To support employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays £1,000 to employers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18 years old, and for apprentices aged 19 to 24 years old who have an education, health and care plan or have been in local authority care. We will also provide £2,000 payments to employers for every foundation apprentice they take on and retain. Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to 25 when they earn less than £50,270 a year.

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 grassroots sports clubs in Eastbourne.

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

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. This funding builds upon the additional £100 million that was announced for the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in March. Details regarding funded projects can be found via the recently updated 2024/25 project lists, which are publicly available here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/multi-sport-grassroots-facilities-programme-projects-2024-to-2025 - and is also available in the Library of the House.

The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sports and health club facilities in England, through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.

We will now work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, and then set out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK.

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 music and arts programmes in (a) Eastbourne and (b) England.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

For 2023 - 2026 our arms-length-body Arts Council England is investing around £444 million per annum into their National Portfolio Organisations across England. This includes nearly £550k of annual funding to the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, which attracts over 175,000 visitors a year, and engages with over 55,000 participants a year through its learning and outreach programme.

Arts Council England’s open funding programme, National Lottery Project Grants provides over £100 million of support annually to individuals and organisations, and since 2023 has invested over £600k into arts projects across Eastbourne.

The government wants to ensure everyone has access to high quality arts and culture in the places they call home, and the new Creative Foundations Fund, announced in February, will invest £85 million to support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. This will ensure their buildings and infrastructure will provide improved user experience for visitors and ensure they can be enjoyed by visitors for many more years to come. Guidance for the fund was published at the end of May and Arts Council England will be accepting Expressions of Interest until 25 July. With grants available from £100,000 and up to £10 million, this fund is a significant opportunity for eligible organisations across the country, including those in Eastbourne, to address their capital needs.

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 increase the number of available general practice appointments in Eastbourne.

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

The Government is determined to work with the National Health Service to fix the front door of our health service and ensure that everyone can access general practice (GP) appointments and services, including in Eastbourne. Through our 10-Year Health Plan, it will be easier and faster to see a GP. The 8:00am scramble will end, we will train more doctors, and we will guarantee digital consultations within 24 hours.

In October 2024, we invested £82 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of 1,900 individual GPs into primary care networks across England, helping to increase appointment availability and improve care for thousands of patients.

We have also delivered the biggest boost to GP funding in years, an £889 million uplift, with GPs now receiving a growing share of National Health Service resources. Additionally, the new £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund will create additional clinical space within over 1,000 practices across England. This investment will deliver more appointments and improve patient care.

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 tackle health inequalities in (a) Eastbourne and (b) the South East.

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

The Government is committed to building a fairer Britain, one where people can live longer, healthier lives regardless of where they are born or their financial circumstances. Tackling health inequalities requires a whole-Government effort. The newly published 10-Year Health Plan outlines a long-term vision to tackle these inequalities, address social determinants of health, and to make the National Health Service fit for the future, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future

In Eastbourne and across the South East, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ South East Regional Team provides system leadership for population health and for reducing health inequalities. This includes working with local authorities and integrated care systems to develop and deliver population health programmes at a local level, supporting regional NHS priorities and long-term planning on prevention and health inequalities, contributing to the development of the public health workforce, and enhancing data, intelligence, and insights for population health.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, steps his Department is taking to support patients with (a) Type 1 and (b) Type 2 diabetes in Eastbourne.

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

NHS Sussex has made notable progress in recent years in tackling the growing challenge of diabetes, with a strong focus on prevention, equity, and modernisation of care pathways. NHS Sussex is committed to commissioning the diabetes care that people need, and has a range of services available.

With rising prevalence, particularly among those under 40 years old, prevention is a strategic priority. A range of nationally commissioned programmes are available to support people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, including:

- the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme;

- the type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme;

- the Digital Weight Management Programme; and

- access to GLP-1 receptor agonists where clinically appropriate.

Sussex partners are actively working to increase the uptake of these offers, particularly in high-inequality and underserved populations.

In 2024/25, Sussex launched a multi-agency initiative to co-design a structured education programme tailored for people under 40 years old with type 2 diabetes, an increasingly prevalent yet underserved group.

In 2025/26, this work will shift to a neighbourhood level delivery model, enabling enhanced reviews and improving access to bespoke, community embedded education, especially for those in high-need areas.

In Eastbourne, a specialist diabetes care service is provided at Eastbourne District General Hospital, complemented by a general practice led locally commissioned service to support primary care delivery.

Building on this, NHS Sussex is co-designing an integrated, all-age, whole-pathway model for diabetes care across Sussex. This model will:

- embed prevention throughout the pathway;

- align with Integrated Community Team structures;

- leverage the diabetes technology revolution, for instance remote monitoring, diagnostics, and digital coaching;

- reduce variation in access and outcomes; and

- support a resilient and retained specialist workforce, through robust training and multi-disciplinary team development

In the first year of the hybrid closed loop (HCL) roll-out, Sussex achieved approximately 80% uptake among eligible children, young people, and high-risk adults with type 1 diabetes. In the second year, the rollout will expand to additional national priority groups in line with NHS England’s guidance.

Workforce planning is fully embedded in this process to ensure sustainable, equitable access to HCL technology across the system.

NHS Sussex continues to make progress and remains fully committed to improving outcomes, reducing variation, and delivering person-centred, future-ready diabetes care for people across Eastbourne and the wider Sussex system.

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 increase access to addiction support in Eastbourne.

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

The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need, and we recognise the need for evidence-based, high-quality treatment.

As a condition of the Public Health Grant, local authorities are responsible for improving the take up of, and outcomes from, their drug and alcohol treatment services, based on an assessment of local need and a plan which has been developed with local health and criminal justice partners. In addition to funding through the Public Health Grant, in 2025/26, the Department is providing East Sussex County Council with £3,095,946 from the Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant and £168,422 from the Individual Placement and Support grant to help improve drug and alcohol treatment and recovery support, which includes housing and employment. In the 12 months to May 2025, there were 2,791 adults who had benefited from treatment in East Sussex, compared to 2,657 in the 12 months to May 2024.

This year, the Government is providing an additional £70 million for local authority-led Stop Smoking Services in England, building on existing funding made available via the Public Health Grant. Additional funding for Stop Smoking Services is based on the number of smokers in each local authority, and East Sussex County Council has been allocated an extra £710,734 for 2025/26.

All funding is provided at the East Sussex level, and it is for East Sussex County Council to determine how to meet needs in Eastbourne.

In April 2025, a new statutory levy on gambling operators, expected to raise approximately £100 million per year, was introduced to fund the research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harms. The levy will be distributed across the three workstreams, with 50% allocated to NHS England, alongside appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales, to commission the development of effective treatment and support services at national and sub-national levels.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce the number of empty retail units and (b) help regenerate high streets in (i) Eastbourne and (ii) other towns.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

This government is taking several steps to reduce empty retail units and regenerate high streets in Eastbourne and other towns across the country. Eastbourne will benefit from up to £20 million over 10 years through the £1.5 billion Plan for Neighbourhoods programme announced in March, which aims to regenerate local areas, including high streets in deprived areas.

Additionally, the government is tackling vacancy with High Street Rental Auctions, giving local authorities the power to auction rental rights of persistently vacant commercial properties. We are also legislating through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill for a new Community Right to Buy, enabling communities to acquire valued assets. These measures will help revive footfall, boost local economies, and empower communities.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help improve levels of digital literacy in the South East.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government published its Digital Inclusion Action Plan, which outlines the first five actions we are taking over the next year to boost digital inclusion in every corner of the UK.

These will be targeted at local initiatives for boosting digital skills and confidence, widening access to devices and connectivity, and getting support to people in their own communities. This includes improving digital literacy, increasing digital upskilling, and enhancing support for the Essential Digital Skills framework, which helps businesses and individuals to get the digital skills they need.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the provision and availability of vocational educational programmes for pupils across Eastbourne.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

As announced in the Spending Review, the government is making over £1 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028/29.

This will support and grow the wide range of technical routes and work-based training available for people of all ages across the country including in Eastbourne. This includes:

• Widening the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer, including new foundation apprenticeships, which will give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working life.

• T levels, a high-quality technical education option for young people, including a valuable workplace industry placement which prepares them for work.

• Higher Technical Qualifications, occupation-focussed level 4 to 5 qualifications, approved and quality marked as providing the skills demanded in the workplace by employers.

• Skills Bootcamps giving learners the chance to build sector-specific skills with a job interview on completion and ‘Free Courses for Jobs’ giving learners the chance to access high value level 3 qualifications.

We have also strengthened legislation to ensure all secondary pupils have multiple opportunities for meaningful encounters with providers of technical education and apprenticeships.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support people with childcare costs in Eastbourne constituency.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.

From the start of September 2024, eligible working parents have been entitled to 15 hours a week of early education and care from the term after their child turns nine months. From September 2025 this will extend to 30 hours, matching the three and four-year-old offer to support children right up until starting school.

In 2025/26 alone, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements. This represents a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25 as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements, so eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 30 hours of funded childcare.

As announced at Spending Review 2025, the government will provide an additional £1.6 billion per year by 2028/29, compared to 2025/26, to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents.

Additionally, the Universal Credit childcare offer supports claimants with the costs of childcare, no matter how many hours they work.

Tax-Free Childcare remains available for working parents of children aged 0-11, or up to 17 for eligible disabled children.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase funding for training in (a) Sussex Police and (b) other local police forces.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is committed to ensuring police forces are supported to effectively tackle crime. That is why we have increased funding for policing in England and Wales by up to £1.2 billion this financial year. Sussex Police will receive up to £423 million in 2025-26. This is an increase of up to £28.5 million compared to the previous year.

Training standards and the national policing curriculum are set by the College of Policing. Forces provide local training and development at several different levels ranging from initial entry, leadership and ongoing development.

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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 increase the number of dentist appointments in Eastbourne.

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

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Eastbourne constituency, this is the NHS Sussex ICB. ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The NHS Sussex ICB is expected to deliver 26,546 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.

ICBs have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.

To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure pupils are able to access high quality meals in schools in (a) Eastbourne and (b) the South East.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.

School governors and trustees have a statutory duty to ensure compliance with these school food standards. To improve understanding of the school food standards and give governing boards confidence to hold their school leaders to account, the department, along with National Governance Association, developed an online training course on school food for governors and trustees.

Additionally, the department has announced that we are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. Giving half a million more children access to a nutritious meal during the school day will lift 100,000 out of poverty and lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning they get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.

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 local media in(a) Eastbourne constituency and (b) East Sussex.

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

Sustainability of local journalism across the country is an area of particular concern for this Government, including in Eastbourne and East Sussex. Government understands the important work that local news does across the UK, including outlets such as the Argus, the Eastbourne Reporter and the Eastbourne Herald. We are developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, reporting on the issues that matter to communities, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story.

We are working across Government and with other stakeholders as the Strategy develops, and we recently held a roundtable discussion with local news editors to discuss our planned approach and collaboration with industry on the Strategy. An industry working group has now been set up to consider the issues in more detail and we will announce more in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many employers in Eastbourne accessed apprenticeship levy funds in the last financial year.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

120 employers in Eastbourne accessed funding for apprenticeships in the 2024/25 financial year to support new apprenticeship starts or those continuing their apprenticeships from previous years. This figure includes levy-paying employers as well as non-levy paying employers, who are likely to be small and medium-sized employers.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of young people not in employment, education or training in Eastbourne constituency.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is determined to break down barriers to opportunity for all our young people and transform their life chances, including those in Eastbourne.

Young people are entitled to participate in education and training up to age 18. Local authorities have statutory duties to support young people into education and training, including identifying and helping those who are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET). The department has published guidance to help local authorities identify young people at an increased risk of becoming NEET, based on characteristics such as a learning difficulty or disability, or poor school attendance, so they can be given extra support.

The government will establish a Youth Guarantee of support to access training, an apprenticeship or help to find work for all 18 to 21-year-olds to prevent them becoming excluded from the world of work at a young age. £45 million has been allocated to eight Mayoral Strategic Authority Trailblazers to develop the Youth Guarantee. The department will work with local areas on future expansion.

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 grow the tourism industry in Eastbourne.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is implementing the most significant overhaul of regional destination management in a generation, creating a portfolio of nationally supported, strategic and high-performing Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) in partnership with VisitEngland. These LVEPs will provide strong local leadership and governance in tourism destinations all over the country, including in rural and coastal areas.

The East Sussex, Brighton & Hove and West Sussex LVEP are included in this partnership, and works collaboratively with both local authority and private sector partners to communicate investment opportunities and to showcase Eastbourne’s strengths as a place to live, work, study and invest in, as well as a premier destination for visitors.

DCMS continues to work with VisitBritain/VisitEngland to champion visits to the British countryside to a worldwide audience. VisitBritain’s new GREAT-funded international marketing campaign, ‘Starring GREAT Britain’, uses the hook of Britain’s rich film and television history to encourage more international visitors to explore across Britain, including many rural destinations.

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 seaside tourism in Eastbourne constituency.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

With coastal and countryside destinations making up 25% of domestic day trips and 31% of domestic overnight stays in 2023, DCMS recognises tourism as a key sector with the potential to contribute strongly to economic growth and pride in place of an area.

DCMS and VisitEngland have transformed England’s visitor economy landscape through a new and robust structure of Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) – sharing priorities, resources and targets to help attract more visitors who stay for longer. Over 40 LVEPs have now been accredited, including the East Sussex, Brighton & Hove and West Sussex LVEP, aiming to drive investment and spend across regions and support the government's devolution agenda.

VisitBritain’s GREAT-funded international marketing campaign launched at the beginning of this year. ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ has used the hook of Britain’s rich film and television history to encourage more international visitors to explore across Britain, including many rural and coastal destinations.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to provide guidance to schools on when the roll out free breakfast clubs will take place in Eastbourne.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Free breakfast clubs were made available in up to 750 early adopter schools from April 2025, as part of a test and learn phase in advance of a national rollout. Further details on the national rollout, including guidance for schools, will be available in due course.

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 the supply of Pancreatin for people struggling to acquire their required quantity and dosage.

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

The Department is currently managing a supply issue with the pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) Creon, which is used by patients with conditions such as cystic fibrosis and certain cancers, including pancreatic cancer and neuroendocrine cancer. The supply issue with Creon is impacting countries throughout Europe and has been caused by the limited availability of raw ingredients and manufacturing capacity constraints to produce the volumes needed to meet demand. This is causing knock-on supply issues with alternative PERT products.

The Department is continuing to work with all suppliers of PERT to help resolve the supply issues in the short and longer term. This includes asking that they expedite deliveries, source stock from other markets, and increase production. Through these discussions we have managed to secure additional volumes for 2025 for the United Kingdom.

The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the remaining gap in the market. In May 2024, pancreatin preparations were added to the Department’s list of medicines that cannot be exported from the UK or hoarded. In the longer term, the Department has had interest from non-UK suppliers of PERT wishing to bring their products to the UK and, along with colleagues in the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, we are working with these potential suppliers, and if authorised, these products could further diversify and strengthen the market.

The Department has widely disseminated comprehensive guidance to healthcare professionals about these supply issues, which provides advice on how to manage patients whilst there is disruption to supply to ensure that no patient is left without PERT.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support the recruitment of teachers in (a) Eastbourne constituency and (b) East Sussex.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

High-quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest impact on children’s outcomes. This is why the government’s Plan for Change has committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools, and in our colleges over the course of this Parliament.

To support this key pledge, we recently announced a 4% pay award for 2025/26, building on the 5.5% pay award for 2024/25, resulting in a near 10% pay award for teachers since this government came to power. We also announced a teacher training financial incentives package worth nearly £233 million, including bursaries worth up to £29,000 tax-free, and scholarships up to £31,000 tax free. We also announced targeted retention payments worth up to £6000, with 10 schools in the Eastbourne constituency, and 31 schools in East Sussex qualifying for these.

The teaching workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers, between 2023/24 and 2024/25, in secondary and special schools. In Eastbourne constituency there are 30 more secondary and special school teachers, with 457 FTE teachers this year.

35th anniversary of the murder of Ian Gow MP

Introduction of the Hillsborough Law and the 36th anniversary

Post Offices in rural areas

Equitable national prostate cancer screening

Immigration application fees for young adults and children

Palantir Technologies, Peter Thiel and the NHS (No. 2)

Found: Current membership Andy Slaughter (Labour; Hammersmith and Chiswick) (Chair) Josh Babarinde (Liberal

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Andy Slaughter (Chair); Josh Babarinde; Matt Bishop; Pam Cox; Linsey

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Claire Young Sarah Dyke Charlotte Cane Olly Glover Martin Wrigley Tessa Munt Helen Maguire Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde

Found: Catherine Atkinson MP ■ Richard Atkinson, President, The Law Society of England and Wales ■ Josh Babarinde

Submit Evidence (by 30 Sep 2025)

This inquiry will examine how advice and legal services are adapting to secure access to justice across civil, criminal, and family law, and the impacts of the cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency.