Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to implement (a) foster care reforms, (b) initiatives to improve the (i) recruitment and (ii) retention of foster carers and (c) other measures outlined in the Government’s response to the Education Select Committee’s report on Children’s Social Care published on 17 October 2025.

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

We must take urgent action to substantially increase foster care numbers. The government is delivering a regional programme for fostering recruitment and retention to streamline the process for prospective carers. There are ten regional fostering recruitment hubs, covering over 60% of local authorities in England. The hubs will continue to rollout the Mockingbird Programme, which offers peer-support to foster carers and children in their care.

Foster care is one of my top priorities as Minister for Children and Families, and we will need to go further and faster with recruiting and retaining more carers. We are prioritising fostering in our reform of children’s social care, as evidenced by the announcement of an additional £40 million investment over the next two financial years. This will benefit thousands of fostered children. We will set out more detail on our planned investments and reforms for fostering in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the value is of Prison Education Service Core Education contracts between 1 October 2025 and 31 March 2026.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The value of the Prisoner Education Service Core Education contracts between 1 October 2025 and 31 March 2026 is £51 million. This figure excludes Lot 10 (West Midlands prisons), where existing contracts under the Prison Education Framework have been extended while a re-procurement process is ongoing.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the UN Secretary-General’s report entitled Situation concerning Western Sahara: report of the Secretary-General, published on 30 September 2025, if she will call for an independent human rights body to monitor human rights in (a) occupied Western Sahara and (b) refugee camps.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided on 29 October to Question 84938.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the UN Secretary-General’s report entitled Situation concerning Western Sahara: report of the Secretary-General, published on 30 September 2025, and whether she plans to raise that report at the Security Council.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 30 October to Question 85129.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated to Integrated Care Boards to support the delivery of children’s community health services in each of the last three years.

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

Children’s community health services are part of integrated care board (ICB) core commissioning responsibilities. ICBs are given a non-ring-fenced allocation from which to commission services to meet these responsibilities and therefore there is no separate allocation.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what consideration he has given to the role of post offices in (a) onboarding and (b) supporting people who suffer from (i) identity and (ii) digital exclusion during the roll out of the digital identity scheme.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The new digital ID will be designed to be inclusive. We will launch a public consultation and have already started to engage with a range of expert organisations and community groups.

We will deliver a comprehensive inclusion programme to ensure everyone eligible is able to access this new digital ID and benefit from it. We are considering options like a digitally enabled physical alternative for those without access to technology, as well as in-person onboarding support for those who struggle to engage digitally, such as post offices, and a dedicated case working function for those who may struggle to initially prove their identity and access the system.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many phases of roll-out of free breakfast clubs will there be; when is the next phase due to start rolling out; which schools will be eligible for the second phase roll-out; and when can all state primary schools expect to have free breakfast clubs.

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

The government is committed to deliver on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill means that those schools with children on roll from Reception to Year 6 are required to offer a free breakfast club before the start of each school day. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day.

So far, the department has delivered 2.6 million breakfasts and has offered places to almost 180,000 pupils across the country. Following the success of the early adopters, we will start the first phase of national rollout of the clubs from April 2026. We are investing a further £80 million into the programme to fund approximately 2,000 additional schools between April 2026 and March 2027. This will benefit around 500,000 more children.

Further information, including specifics on eligibility, funding and expectations for schools will be provided later in the Autumn term. This will include detailed guidance as well as a wider package of support.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas have been issued to Gazan children seeking medical evacuation to the UK since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The information requested is not available from published statistics. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prison officers subject to dismissal following recent changes to Skilled Worker visa salary thresholds; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of those dismissals on prison operations.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

We are clear that net migration as a whole must come down after quadrupling in recent years as we replace Britain’s failed immigration system with one that is controlled, selective and fair.

Assessments of the number of individuals subject to dismissal following the Immigration Rule changes are not held, as sponsorship decisions depend on individual circumstances at the time of application. Sponsorship is not the sole visa route, and while individuals may be ineligible, this does not necessarily result in dismissal, as they may secure alternative right-to-work arrangements.

We will of course provide support to those who affected by these changes. Under current arrangements, prison officers already sponsored via the Skilled Worker route will be able to remain in post and extensions will be considered in line with policy. We are exploring options to support staffing, including renewed efforts to prioritise domestic recruitment.

Working in prison is an extraordinary job and we are always looking for people who want to help keep the public safe to join.

The Department carefully monitors resourcing levels to ensure that we are able to manage current staffing levels and make accurate predications around future requirements. We have recruitment activity ongoing for all sites with a current or future recruitment need.

Israel’s use of cluster munitions

Gambling executives' profits

Train safety, staffing levels and plans for driverless trains

Local authority funding (No. 2)

Road Safety Week 2025

Palestine Action

Budget 2025 and living standards

New private capital in the NHS in the Autumn Budget

Safe and legal routes for Sudanese people to the UK

Fireworks anti-social behaviour and regulation

Human rights violations and suppression of democratic opposition in Tanzania

Conflict in Sudan

50th anniversary of Franco’s death

50 years of service to the RMT by John Stewart, Leeds RMT Branch Secretary

Literacy and the criminal justice system

Economic growth and the asylum system

Future of the BBC

Accommodation standards for people seeking asylum

Mission Marigold

Border Force industrial dispute

Two-child limit

Cumulative disruption proposals and the right to protest

Found: Portcullis House to show film ‘When You Know: childbirth in the asylum system’, hosted by MP Kim Johnson