Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve accessibility of public transport for visually impaired people.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

This government is committed to improving transport public services, so they are more inclusive and enable people with visual impairments to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. As part of our broader mission to break down barriers to opportunity, we recognise that more needs to be done to ensure transport is accessible to all.

Our Bus Services Act 2025 includes a comprehensive package of measures to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of local transport. Through the Act, we are helping authorities to provide safer and more accessible bus stations and stops and mandating more streamlined disability training for bus drivers and frontline staff. We are also requiring local authorities to regularly review the accessibility of their bus networks through the development and publishing of a Bus Network Accessibility Plan.

The government recognises the concerns which have been raised about floating bus stops. On 20 November I wrote to all local traffic authorities in England requesting that they put on hold designs which require people to board or alight directly from or into a cycle track. The Act requires the Secretary of State to publish statutory guidance on their provision and design within three months of Royal Assent, drafting of which is underway.

We are also continuing the implementation of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations (AIR), which will require audible and visible destination and next stop information on board most local bus services by October 2026.

Ensuring the rail network is also accessible is at the heart of our passenger-focused approach to improving rail services. We are committed to improving the experience for disabled passengers and that is why we have published a roadmap to an accessible railway. It sets out what we are doing now to improve the day-to-day travelling experience for disabled passengers in the lead up to Great British Railways being established. We have installed platform edge tactile paving at every station in England with the final station in Scotland due to be complete next month. The final Welsh station, currently closed for refurbishment, will have them installed when it reopens in April.

We are also committed to developing an Accessible Travel Charter. The Charter is a commitment to a shared vision for accessible travel. It will set out what disabled travellers can expect from their journeys, share best practice across organisations and create consistency in end-to-end journeys for disabled travellers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help increase awareness of good eye care procedure.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet local need. We are not aware of any issues with the availability of sight testing services. The decision to commission enhanced eye care services will be determined by local ICBs following a local needs assessment.

The NHS.UK website sets out the importance of regular sight tests whilst also providing information about entitlement to free National Health Service sight tests. The Department also looks for opportunities to promote the importance of NHS sight tests, such as through National Eye Health Week.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of optician services.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet local need. We are not aware of any issues with the availability of sight testing services. The decision to commission enhanced eye care services will be determined by local ICBs following a local needs assessment.

The NHS.UK website sets out the importance of regular sight tests whilst also providing information about entitlement to free National Health Service sight tests. The Department also looks for opportunities to promote the importance of NHS sight tests, such as through National Eye Health Week.

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 access to (a) emotional support and (b) mental health services for people living with a visual impairment.

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

We recognise that people with mental health issues, including those people living with a visual impairment, are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we are working to ensure the National Health Service provides the right support to the right people at the right time.

At the Spending Review, we confirmed that we will deliver on our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament, roll out mental health support teams to cover all schools in England by 2029/30, and expand NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support schemes.

We have also already started piloting Neighbourhood Mental Health Centres. These pilots aim to provide open access care for anyone with a severe mental illness 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our aim is to have one Neighbourhood Health Centre in each community that brings together NHS, local authority, and voluntary sector services into one building to help create a holistic offer that meets the needs of local populations, including those living with a visual impairment.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to support pubs with increases in their business rates bills.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

Without our support, pubs would have faced a 45% increase in the total bills they pay next year. Because of the support we’ve put in place, this has fallen to just 4%.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, while ensuring that warehouses used by online giants will pay more. The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID.

Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to close migrant hotels.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

At its peak under the previous government, around 400 hotels were used to accommodate asylum seekers – costing £9 million per day. That figure is now under 200 - the government remains committed no longer using hotels to accommodate asylum seekers by the end of this Parliament.

Hotel closures are prioritised based on a wide range of criteria. The hotel exit plan will continue to be carefully managed to ensure that all supported asylum seekers are accommodated in suitable alternative accommodation, including large sites, elsewhere in the estate.

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 vision rehabilitation in (a) Ashfield constituency and (b) the UK.

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

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have the duty to shape their care market and to commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes encouraging a wide range of service provision to ensure that people, including those with sight loss, have a choice of appropriate services and equipment that maximise independence.

Although the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not currently required to assess vision rehabilitation services, as regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, sensory services, including vision rehabilitation, do form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care.

CQC assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for development, in their delivery of their duties under part 1 of the Care Act. This facilitates the sharing of good practice and helps us to target support where it is most needed. It may be helpful to know that the CQC will report on sensory services when there is something important to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement. Reports are published on the CQC’s website, available at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports

In England, we continue to fund the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which is administered by local authorities. This grant helps eligible older and disabled people, including those with a vision impairment, to adapt their homes to make them safe and suitable for their needs. Practical changes include installing stairlifts, level-access showers, and ramps.

We have provided an additional £172 million over two years to uplift the DFG, which could provide approximately 15,000 extra home adaptations to give people more independence in their homes. This brings total funding for the DFG to £711 million in both 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support visually impaired people to live independently.

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

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have the duty to shape their care market and to commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes encouraging a wide range of service provision to ensure that people, including those with sight loss, have a choice of appropriate services and equipment that maximise independence.

Although the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not currently required to assess vision rehabilitation services, as regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, sensory services, including vision rehabilitation, do form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care.

CQC assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for development, in their delivery of their duties under part 1 of the Care Act. This facilitates the sharing of good practice and helps us to target support where it is most needed. It may be helpful to know that the CQC will report on sensory services when there is something important to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement. Reports are published on the CQC’s website, available at the following link:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports

In England, we continue to fund the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which is administered by local authorities. This grant helps eligible older and disabled people, including those with a vision impairment, to adapt their homes to make them safe and suitable for their needs. Practical changes include installing stairlifts, level-access showers, and ramps.

We have provided an additional £172 million over two years to uplift the DFG, which could provide approximately 15,000 extra home adaptations to give people more independence in their homes. This brings total funding for the DFG to £711 million in both 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of spiking in each of the last five years.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Incidents of spiking may be prosecuted under various criminal offences. These offences encompass a broad spectrum of criminal behaviours, not all of which constitute spiking.

The Ministry of Justice does not currently collate statistics which show the number of individuals who are charged and subsequently prosecuted and convicted of offences which relate to incidents of spiking. The Government is, however, considering options to improve the way spiking crimes are recorded and collated with the aim of capturing better data to help advise preventative strategies for spiking where needed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrant hotels have been closed in the last year.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

At its peak under the previous government, around 400 hotels were used to accommodate asylum seekers – costing £9 million per day. That figure is now under 200 - the government remains committed no longer using hotels to accommodate asylum seekers by the end of this Parliament.

Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the availability of sign language education courses.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

There are a variety of British Sign Language (BSL) qualifications available, from Level 1 through to Level 6. This includes Level 1 and 2 accredited qualifications offered by the Institute of British Sign Language, Signature and ABC Awards.

There are also funds available for adults who want to learn new skills through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), which fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3. 68% of the ASF is devolved to 13 strategic authorities, including the East Midlands Authority, who are responsible for ASF provision to their residents. The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for the remaining ASF and makes funding available for a range of qualifications including the Level 1 Award in BSL.

The government, working with Ofqual, has also developed the content and assessment arrangements for a new BSL GCSE.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure veterans are not (a) homeless and (b) rough sleeping.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

This Government is fully committed to ensuring that all veterans across the UK have access to the support they need on housing. That is why we have committed an additional £12 million to ensure the continuation of the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme. Op FORTITUDE will also be extended, putting the service that has already supported over 1,000 veterans on a sustainable footing. These programmes will deliver three years of support services across the UK for veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

On 11 December 2025, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published A National Plan to End Homelessness. The Ministry of Defence contributed to this strategy including committing to ensuring that all councils are aware of service provision in their area to support veterans at risk of homelessness.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with businesses on ensuring customers can contact them on the telephone and not just by email.

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

Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, businesses are obligated to provide contact information in a clear and comprehensible manner which is easily, directly and permanently accessible. This includes the business name, the geographical address where the business is established, a telephone number, and email address.

The specific mechanisms businesses use to provide customer services is a commercial decision that the government does not normally seek to intervene in.

While there is no record of a specific discussion on this matter, the Department engages regularly with businesses on consumer law.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in English as an additional language funding on the long term financial sustainability of schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.

The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor​ forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.

A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.

For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.

The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, whether her Department monitors how (a) primary and (b) secondary schools spend English as an additional language funding.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.

The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor​ forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.

A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.

For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.

The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, what English as an additional language funding may be used for in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.

The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor​ forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.

A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.

For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.

The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, whether her Department plans to review the English as an additional language funding formula.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.

The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor​ forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.

A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.

For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.

The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, how many schools receive English as an additional language funding.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.

The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor​ forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.

A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.

For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.

The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.