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 increase participation in women’s football.

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

The Government is determined to drive participation opportunities for women and girls across sport, including football. The Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme will invest £85 million in 2026/27, with 30% of priority slots reserved for women’s and girls’ teams. We will also continue to use the Women’s Football Taskforce to deliver tangible change for women and girls from grassroots to elite level.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) other progressive neurological conditions received Access to Work support in 2024-25 by provision type.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Although the Department collects information on the medical condition(s) of Access to Work customers, readily available primary medical condition categories do not allow for the disaggregation of people with multiple sclerosis or other progressive neurological conditions. Where this information is recorded it may be stored as descriptive free-text and extracting it would require manual review of individual records therefore incurring a disproportionate cost. Statistics on the number of people in receipt of payment for Access to Work by readily available primary medical condition categories are published annually in Table PAY03a-d of the Access to Work official statistics: Access to Work statistics - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure access to services for disabled people with assistance dogs.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Equality Act 2010 places a general duty on businesses and service providers to make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled people, including people with assistance dogs, access to goods and services so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act. It has published guidance - ‘Assistance Dogs: a guide for businesses and service providers’ - to help businesses and service providers understand what they can do to meet their legal duties to assistance dog owners.

Duties and protections under the Equality Act are ultimately enforceable through the courts, and anybody who thinks that they have been discriminated against - including where access to an assistance dog has been refused - can take legal action to seek to resolve the issue. The EHRC will support people who have experienced discrimination through that process.

This Government supports Guide Dogs UK’s ‘Open Doors’ campaign which aims to achieve the fullest possible access for owners of guide dogs and assistance dogs and has met Guide Dogs UK several times over the last 18 months. I have also met with other MPs and continued discussions with stakeholders on how to improve access to public spaces for disabled people with assistance dogs. This Government will continue to reinforce the message that assistance dogs should be allowed access to businesses and services, except in the most exceptional circumstances.

International Workers’ Memorial Day 2026

Seafarers in the Strait of Hormuz

Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners

Palestinian Nakba commemoration march