Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the Fourth Report of Session 2024-25 of the Education Committee, Children’s Social Care, published on 10 July 2025, HC 430; and whether she plans to accept the recommendation on the development of a national foster care strategy.

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

The department responded to the Fourth Report of the Session 2024-25 of the Education Committee, Children’s Social Care in September 2025. This includes our response to recommendation 29: ‘The Department for Education must put in place a national fostering strategy to complement the existing strategies for adoption and kinship care. As part of this, it should consult on introducing a national register of foster carers and review the financial support available to ensure that it is adequate to meet their needs.’

Foster care is one of my top priorities as Minister for Children and Families, and we 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 demonstrated by the announcement of an additional £40 million investment over this financial year and the next two financial years. This will bring benefits to thousands of fostered children. We will set out more detail on our planned investments and reforms for fostering in due course.

The Education Select Committee published the findings on 17 October 2025, the findings can be found here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/49799/documents/266904/default/.

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 Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent attacks on Kurdish-majority areas on (a) the long-term stability of regions formerly liberated from ISIS with the support of the Syrian Democratic Forces and (b) the UK’s ongoing counter-terrorism objectives in Syria and Iraq.

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

We were concerned by the recent escalation of violence in the Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods in Aleppo on 6 October and welcomed the swift ceasefire agreement reached between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Government. It is vital that both sides continue to engage in negotiations to reach a sustainable political settlement. The UK Representative for Syria regularly engages with both parties in support of an inclusive political process and the implementation of the deal agreed in March.

We continue to monitor the humanitarian situation closely. Reports from partners indicate no major access constraints impeding delivery of humanitarian assistance. The UK will provide up to £254.5 million of humanitarian support to Syria and the region in 2025.

Protecting the safety and security of the UK and its citizens remains first duty of this Government, and we will continue to work with relevant authorities in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere to pursue our Counter-Terror objectives and keep our country safe.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with (a) representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces and (b) other local partners on measures to protect civilians in Kurdish-majority areas of northern Syria from further attacks.

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

We were concerned by the recent escalation of violence in the Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods in Aleppo on 6 October and welcomed the swift ceasefire agreement reached between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Government. It is vital that both sides continue to engage in negotiations to reach a sustainable political settlement. The UK Representative for Syria regularly engages with both parties in support of an inclusive political process and the implementation of the deal agreed in March.

We continue to monitor the humanitarian situation closely. Reports from partners indicate no major access constraints impeding delivery of humanitarian assistance. The UK will provide up to £254.5 million of humanitarian support to Syria and the region in 2025.

Protecting the safety and security of the UK and its citizens remains first duty of this Government, and we will continue to work with relevant authorities in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere to pursue our Counter-Terror objectives and keep our country safe.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of reports that armed groups affiliated with the Syrian Interim Government have (a) carried out bombardments of and (b) caused civilian casualties in the Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in Aleppo on 6 October 2025.

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

We were concerned by the recent escalation of violence in the Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods in Aleppo on 6 October and welcomed the swift ceasefire agreement reached between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Government. It is vital that both sides continue to engage in negotiations to reach a sustainable political settlement. The UK Representative for Syria regularly engages with both parties in support of an inclusive political process and the implementation of the deal agreed in March.

We continue to monitor the humanitarian situation closely. Reports from partners indicate no major access constraints impeding delivery of humanitarian assistance. The UK will provide up to £254.5 million of humanitarian support to Syria and the region in 2025.

Protecting the safety and security of the UK and its citizens remains first duty of this Government, and we will continue to work with relevant authorities in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere to pursue our Counter-Terror objectives and keep our country safe.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with her international partners to help support humanitarian access to Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in Aleppo.

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

We were concerned by the recent escalation of violence in the Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods in Aleppo on 6 October and welcomed the swift ceasefire agreement reached between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Government. It is vital that both sides continue to engage in negotiations to reach a sustainable political settlement. The UK Representative for Syria regularly engages with both parties in support of an inclusive political process and the implementation of the deal agreed in March.

We continue to monitor the humanitarian situation closely. Reports from partners indicate no major access constraints impeding delivery of humanitarian assistance. The UK will provide up to £254.5 million of humanitarian support to Syria and the region in 2025.

Protecting the safety and security of the UK and its citizens remains first duty of this Government, and we will continue to work with relevant authorities in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere to pursue our Counter-Terror objectives and keep our country safe.

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 workforce capacity in children’s community health services.

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

We are committed to reducing long waits and improving timely access to community health services, including for children’s community services. We are working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services and on actions to reduce waiting times for these services.

NHS England continues to monitor community service waiting times via the Community Health Services SitRep data collection, to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services. Data is published monthly and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/community-health-services-waiting-lists/

The National Health Service has also published an overview of the core community health services that integrated care boards, service providers, and their partners should consider when planning services for their local population, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/standardising-community-health-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 support Integrated Care Boards to reduce waiting times for (a) speech and language therapy, (b) physiotherapy, (a) community paediatrics and (d) other community health services for children.

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

Community health services are an essential building block in developing a neighbourhood health service, working closely with primary care, social care, and other community services to provide more care in the community to spot problems early.

We are committed to reducing long waits and improving timely access to community health services, including for children’s services. We are working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services and on actions to reduce waiting times for these services.

NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting times via the Community Health Services (CHS) SitRep data collection which collects monthly data on waiting lists and waiting times for community health services, to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services. Data is published monthly, and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/community-health-services-waiting-lists/

A metric on waits of over 52 weeks for CHS is included in the 2025/26 National Oversight Framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-oversight-framework-2025-26/

As part of our work to improve access to children’s CHS, NHS England commissioned NHS Benchmarking to undertake an analysis of provider data on Community Paediatrics to develop a detailed understanding of activity and the opportunities for improvement and transformation. The report is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-community-services

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of waiting times for children’s community health services; and what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for those services.

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

Community health services are an essential building block in developing a neighbourhood health service, working closely with primary care, social care, and other community services to provide more care in the community to spot problems early.

We are committed to reducing long waits and improving timely access to community health services, including for children’s services. We are working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services and on actions to reduce waiting times for these services.

NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting times via the Community Health Services (CHS) SitRep data collection which collects monthly data on waiting lists and waiting times for community health services, to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services. Data is published monthly, and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/community-health-services-waiting-lists/

A metric on waits of over 52 weeks for CHS is included in the 2025/26 National Oversight Framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-oversight-framework-2025-26/

As part of our work to improve access to children’s CHS, NHS England commissioned NHS Benchmarking to undertake an analysis of provider data on Community Paediatrics to develop a detailed understanding of activity and the opportunities for improvement and transformation. The report is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-community-services

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce a maximum waiting time target for children’s community health services.

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

Community health services are an essential building block in developing a neighbourhood health service, working closely with primary care, social care, and other community services to provide more care in the community to spot problems early.

We are committed to reducing long waits and improving timely access to community health services, including for children’s services. We are working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services and on actions to reduce waiting times for these services.

NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting times via the Community Health Services (CHS) SitRep data collection which collects monthly data on waiting lists and waiting times for community health services, to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services. Data is published monthly, and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/community-health-services-waiting-lists/

A metric on waits of over 52 weeks for CHS is included in the 2025/26 National Oversight Framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-oversight-framework-2025-26/

As part of our work to improve access to children’s CHS, NHS England commissioned NHS Benchmarking to undertake an analysis of provider data on Community Paediatrics to develop a detailed understanding of activity and the opportunities for improvement and transformation. The report is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-community-services

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July to Question 61880 on Western Sahara: Trade Agreements, what discussions she has had with Sahrawi representatives on trade with Western Sahara.

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

Trade agreements negotiated by the UK are conducted with sovereign states and in accordance with international law. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) officials regularly meet Sahrawi representatives to discuss UK policy on Western Sahara, including trade.

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.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for the termination of IPP licences have been refused in each of the past 12 months; and what proportion of total applications that represents.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The process of terminating an IPP licence does not require an application to be made. Rather, the Secretary of State for Justice has a statutory obligation to refer an offender serving an IPP sentence to the Parole Board once three years have elapsed since first release (the qualifying period), in order for the Board to consider whether to terminate the licence. If the licence is not terminated by the Parole Board at the end of the qualifying period, it will be terminated automatically after a further two years, provided the offender is not recalled to custody.

The changes introduced by the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 have reduced the number of people serving IPP sentences in the community by around two thirds, including over 1,700 IPP licences being automatically terminated on 1 November 2024.

The Parole Board published its annual report for 2024/2025 on 10 July this year. The report provides the number of IPP licence terminations and refusals for those cases considered by the Parole Board for the 12-month period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. The report covers IPP termination numbers on page 16 and is available here: Parole Board for England and Wales Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25.

The Parole Board will terminate an IPP prisoner’s licence except where it judges that the continued supervision of the offender on licence is necessary for the purposes of public protection.

Support for early years and the National Literacy Trust

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

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

Human rights violations and suppression of democratic opposition in Tanzania

Conflict in Sudan

50th anniversary of Franco’s death

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

Cumulative disruption proposals and the right to protest

Two-child limit

Freezing of Local Housing Allowance

68 Is Too Late report by the Prison Officers' Association

Kashmir Black Day and self-determination

Loan Charge and settlement terms offered to large companies and individuals

Detention of British journalist Sami Hamdi in the United States

Tower Hamlets counter-demonstration on 25 October 2025

Yemen

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