Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of AI companion software on (a) children's mental health, (b) children's social skills and (c) trends in the level of children's loneliness.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is working to build evidence of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) tools for education, both on the opportunities and the risks. We are supporting the sector to use AI safely.
We are funding the development of global guidelines for the safe and effective use of generative AI in education, in partnership with the OECD and, in January 2025, we announced that leading global tech firms had committed to making AI tools for education safer by design. Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Amazon Web Services have helped develop a set of expectations AI tools should meet to be considered safe for classroom use. These are accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/generative-ai-product-safety-expectations/generative-ai-product-safety-expectations.
The Generative AI product Safety Expectations framework was announced on 22 January 2025 and we have published online materials to help all educators. These materials can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/using-ai-in-education-settings-support-materials.
Screens are prevalent in children's lives at home and in education. It is crucial to have protections like the Online Safety Act, while using technology to benefit children. Schools play a key role in promoting balanced technology use, minimising harmful content, and teaching online safety.
The department is working across government to implement the Online Safety Act and address technology-related risks, including AI in education, while maximising opportunities for these technologies to support education.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 publish a dementia strategy.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government wants a society where every person with dementia receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.
The 10-Year Health Plan will address the challenges diagnosed by Lord Darzi in his independent investigation into the National Health Service in England, and will set the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of complex health and care needs, including people living with dementia. We are carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with dementia, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.
As part of this work, we will consider how best to meet the needs of people with dementia, including whether it is appropriate to develop a dementia strategy.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the NHS 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance to include a target on dementia diagnosis.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government remains committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7% and agrees that timely diagnosis is vital to ensure that people with dementia can access the treatment and support they need.
The Darzi Investigation found that there were too many targets set for the National Health Service, which made it hard for local systems to prioritise their actions or to be held properly accountable.
This is why we have taken a new approach to NHS Planning Guidance this year, reducing the number of national directives from 32 to 18. We will only turn the NHS around by doing things differently. These are the first steps on our journey for long-term reform of the NHS.
NHS Planning Guidance is not an exhaustive list of everything the NHS does, and the absence of a target does not mean it is not an area of focus.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has carried out an impact assessment for the removal of the dementia diagnosis target from NHS planning guidance.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government remains committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7% and agrees that timely diagnosis is vital to ensure that people with dementia can access the treatment and support they need.
The Darzi Investigation found that there were too many targets set for the National Health Service, which made it hard for local systems to prioritise their actions or to be held properly accountable.
This is why we have taken a new approach to NHS Planning Guidance this year, reducing the number of national directives from 32 to 18. We will only turn the NHS around by doing things differently. These are the first steps on our journey for long-term reform of the NHS.
NHS Planning Guidance is not an exhaustive list of everything the NHS does, and the absence of a target does not mean it is not an area of focus.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the challenges faced by young carers in balancing their caring responsibilities with (a) education and (b) training.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Young carers have been a hidden cohort for too long. They provide essential care and support to their loved ones, often stepping up in challenging situations at the expense of their own development and wellbeing.
The department is using school census data to shine a light on young carers’ attendance, suspensions and exclusions, and is aiming to publish data on their educational progress and attainment this autumn. This will ensure they receive tailored support and do not miss out on vital educational opportunities.
The statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ requires designated safeguarding leads to undergo training to provide them with the knowledge and skills to carry out their role. This includes having a good understanding of, and alertness to, the needs of young carers to identify their needs.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of teacher's awareness of young people's caring responsibilities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Young carers have been a hidden cohort for too long. They provide essential care and support to their loved ones, often stepping up in challenging situations at the expense of their own development and wellbeing.
The department is using school census data to shine a light on young carers’ attendance, suspensions and exclusions, and is aiming to publish data on their educational progress and attainment this autumn. This will ensure they receive tailored support and do not miss out on vital educational opportunities.
The statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ requires designated safeguarding leads to undergo training to provide them with the knowledge and skills to carry out their role. This includes having a good understanding of, and alertness to, the needs of young carers to identify their needs.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on reducing overprescribing.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I have discussed with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) concerns raised by Members of Parliament about the adverse effects of antidepressant prescribing, and what the MHRA can do to improve communication on the risks of different medicines.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans her Department has to ensure that neighbourhood plans continue to (a) determine and (b) deliver local housing needs.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 59114 on 19 June 2025.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 fund support services for local neighbourhood plan development.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 59114 on 19 June 2025.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that guidance and resources for School Attendance Support Teams includes young carers.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department wants to ensure that young carers have the best life chances by supporting them in their education. We recognise that absence from school is almost always a symptom of wider needs and barriers that a family are facing and is often also the best early indication of need in a family that may not be in contact with other services.
The department’s expectations of local authorities and schools, as set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, were made statutory on 19 August 2024 and include specific reference to young carers. The ‘support first’ ethos of the attendance guidance is that pupils and families, including young carers, should receive holistic, whole-family support to help them overcome the barriers to attendance they are facing. This includes holding regular meetings with the families of pupils who the school, and/or local authority, consider to be vulnerable to discuss attendance and engagement at school. Schools are expected to recognise that absence is a symptom and that improving pupil’s attendance is part of supporting the pupil’s overall welfare. This ethos is reflected in resources provided to schools on school attendance, and our Attendance Toolkit for Schools includes reference to supporting young carers in its self-assessment tool.
The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.
The toolkit can be accessed via: https://attendancetoolkit.blob.core.windows.net/toolkit-doc/Attendance%20toolkit%20for%20schools.pdf.
The department also publishes daily attendance data fortnightly and will continue to monitor the quality of data on young carers that is collected via the school register for consideration to include in the daily data collection in the future.