Manuela Perteghella

The Government recognises that care leavers have some of the worst long-term life outcomes in society. We are therefore committed to ensuring children leaving care have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships and are engaged in education, employment and training. Through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill we will be driving forward our commitments on children’s social care, including improved support for care leavers. We have also established a care leaver Ministerial Board, which brings together Ministers from key Departments, to improve support for care leavers across Government.

We are determined to tackle stigma and discrimination faced by care-experienced young people. We want to create a culture where all those who play a role in the lives of children in care and care leavers are ambitious for them to reach their full potential. While we do not have plans to make care-experience a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010, we are committed to extending corporate parenting responsibilities to government departments and relevant public bodies to ensure that services and support to children in care and care leavers better take account of the challenges they face.

There are multiple targeted schemes to deliver energy efficiency measures to low-income and fuel poor households. The Warm Home Discount schemes also provide a £150 rebate off bills to eligible low-income households across Great Britain.

The Government has kickstarted delivery of the Warm Homes Plan, including an initial £1.8 billion to support fuel poverty schemes over the next 3 years, helping around 225,000 households reduce their energy bills by around £200.

We will consult shortly on proposals for privately rented homes to achieve Energy Performance Certificate C or equivalent by 2030. We are also reviewing the 2021 fuel poverty strategy.

AI generated content will infringe copyright in the UK if it reproduces a substantial part of a protected work unless a copyright exception applies.

The Government’s consultation on Copyright and AI, which closed on 25^th February, covered a range of topics including copyright enforcement for infringing AI outputs.

Our priority now is to review the evidence from the consultation which will inform the Government response

The Government’s consultation on Copyright and AI, which sought views on proposals for a new regulatory model for text and data mining, has closed. Our priority now is to review the evidence from the consultation which will inform the Government response.

Copying material protected by copyright in the UK remains an infringement unless it is licensed or an exception to copyright applies.

The government remains committed to delivering economic growth across all regions of the UK. We are working with local leaders in the West Midlands to develop their local growth plans, through which we will seek to make research and innovation the foundation of future growth in the region.

DSIT’s Innovation Accelerator programme is empowering local businesses, universities, and civic leaders in the West Midlands to work together to catalyse innovation-led local growth, supported by around £33 million of public funding that is supporting projects in health and clean technology such as the Biochar Clean Tech Accelerator.

We are committed to giving British creators increased security at work and providing the creative industries with a regulatory and fiscal environment where their imagination and innovation can flourish.

A significant proportion (28%) of the creative industries workforce is self-employed. As outlined in the Plan to Make Work Pay, we will support and champion self-employed workers by strengthening rights and protections to help them thrive. This includes the right to a written contract; action to tackle late payments; and extending health and safety and blacklisting protections to self-employed workers. Self-employed workers will also benefit from our plans to strengthen trade union rights. We will also explore how to implement the targeted and specific manifesto commitments to enhance protections for self-employed workers through consultation.

We are working with creative industry stakeholders to consider the recommendations of the Good Work Review, a sectoral deep dive funded by DCMS into job quality and working practice. This sets out a number of priorities, including developing dedicated support and guidance for self-employed creators. We are working closely with the sector as it responds to these recommendations.

DCMS and its public bodies, including Arts Council England and the British Film Institute, are taking proactive steps to support self-employed workers in the creative industries with Arts Council England supporting more than 1,200 individual practitioners through National Lottery Project Grants totalling almost £30 million, and more than 1,200 individuals through the £14.5 million Developing Your Creative Practice Programme.

This Government is working collaboratively across departments to look at how best to help touring artists, and improve arrangements for musicians, performing artists and their support staff being able to tour across the EU.

The Government provides support for UK artists through initiatives such as the Music Export Growth Scheme, co-funded by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and the International Showcase Fund, which is funded by the DBT. These schemes are designed to help artists access international markets, expand their reach, and promote the UK’s creative talent globally.

We will engage with the new European Commission and EU Member States, seeking improved arrangements across the European continent without a return to free movement. Our priority remains ensuring that UK artists can continue to thrive on the global stage.

The department recognises the importance of recruiting individuals with a range of skills, knowledge and lived experiences into child protection roles. While formal qualifications and specialist training are essential for safeguarding children effectively, we acknowledge that personal experience of raising children can offer valuable insights into the challenges children and families face.

Through initiatives such as the Step Up to Social Work and Approach Social Work programmes, as well as apprenticeships, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, the department aims to attract talented individuals from diverse backgrounds and with a range of life experience into the social work profession.

Local authorities and social work employers have flexibility in their recruitment approaches and may consider a candidate’s personal experience as a complement to their professional expertise.

The statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children 2023’ sets out clear multi-agency child protection practice standards and expectations for all practitioners working to help, protect and promote the welfare of children, whatever their personal and professional backgrounds.

Provision of continuous professional development for employed social workers is a matter for their employer. The regulator for the social work profession, Social Work England, sets the professional standards which all social workers must meet. These include recognising the risk indicators of different forms of abuse and neglect and their impact on people, their families and their support networks. Social workers complete initial education and training courses which are approved by the regulator against the education and training standards. Course providers must update and design their courses as a result of developments in research, legislation, government policy and best practice.

This government is committed to strengthening the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system for all children and young people to ensure they receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

Parents have struggled to get their children the support they need and deserve, particularly through long and difficult education, health and care (EHC) plan processes.

The department wants to ensure that EHC needs assessments are progressed promptly and plans are issued quickly in order to provide children and young people with the support they need to help them achieve positive outcomes.

The department continues to monitor and work closely with local authorities that have issues with EHC plan timeliness. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, we help the local authority to identify the barriers and put in place an effective plan to improve delivery. This includes, where needed, securing specialist SEND adviser support to help identify the barriers to EHC plan process timeliness and put in place practical plans for recovery.

The department is working closely with experts on reform, including a Strategic Advisor for SEND, who will play a key role in convening and engaging with the sector, including leaders, practitioners, children and families as we consider next steps.

The department has also listened to parents, local authority colleagues, and partners across education, health and social care and is considering carefully how to address and improve the experience of the EHC plan process for families and reflecting on what practice could or should be made consistent nationally.

The below tables show the number of candidates who received a religious education (RE) subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) grant in each month since October 2022.

The previous government took the decision to cut funding for RE SKEs from April 2024 alongside four other subjects. The department currently offers SKE support in five secondary subjects: chemistry, computing, mathematics, modern languages and physics. The department will continue to explore our options for delivery of SKE training in future academic years to ensure that our funding supports courses in the subjects where these courses are most needed.

SKE courses in RE by month

Initial teacher training (ITT) census data shows there were 269 new entrants to postgraduate ITT courses in RE in the 2023/24 academic year. Therefore, the department estimates 32% of all new postgraduate entrants in RE in the 2023/24 academic year undertook a SKE prior to commencing ITT.

ITT census data shows there were 462 new entrants to postgraduate ITT courses in RE in the 2024/25 academic year. We therefore estimate 27% of all new postgraduate entrants in RE in the 2024/25 academic year undertook a SKE prior to commencing ITT.

This government inherited a system with critical shortages of teachers, with numbers not keeping pace with demographic changes. Financial incentives are one of the most effective ways to increase teacher supply, which is why the department has announced an initial teacher training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle worth £233 million, which is a £37 million increase on the last cycle. This includes the reintroduction of a £10,000 tax free bursary to encourage prospective trainees to teach RE.

​​The department has also expanded its ‘School Teacher Recruitment’ marketing campaign which inspires and attracts candidates to consider a career in teaching, including RE. It promotes the profession and directs people to the ‘Get Into Teaching’ service, which exists to make teaching a career of choice and supports candidates to apply for teacher training in the most effective and efficient way possible.

The below tables show the number of candidates who received a religious education (RE) subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) grant in each month since October 2022.

The previous government took the decision to cut funding for RE SKEs from April 2024 alongside four other subjects. The department currently offers SKE support in five secondary subjects: chemistry, computing, mathematics, modern languages and physics. The department will continue to explore our options for delivery of SKE training in future academic years to ensure that our funding supports courses in the subjects where these courses are most needed.

SKE courses in RE by month

Initial teacher training (ITT) census data shows there were 269 new entrants to postgraduate ITT courses in RE in the 2023/24 academic year. Therefore, the department estimates 32% of all new postgraduate entrants in RE in the 2023/24 academic year undertook a SKE prior to commencing ITT.

ITT census data shows there were 462 new entrants to postgraduate ITT courses in RE in the 2024/25 academic year. We therefore estimate 27% of all new postgraduate entrants in RE in the 2024/25 academic year undertook a SKE prior to commencing ITT.

This government inherited a system with critical shortages of teachers, with numbers not keeping pace with demographic changes. Financial incentives are one of the most effective ways to increase teacher supply, which is why the department has announced an initial teacher training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle worth £233 million, which is a £37 million increase on the last cycle. This includes the reintroduction of a £10,000 tax free bursary to encourage prospective trainees to teach RE.

​​The department has also expanded its ‘School Teacher Recruitment’ marketing campaign which inspires and attracts candidates to consider a career in teaching, including RE. It promotes the profession and directs people to the ‘Get Into Teaching’ service, which exists to make teaching a career of choice and supports candidates to apply for teacher training in the most effective and efficient way possible.

Defra continues to monitor and review the impact of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), including the Border Control Post at Sevington. We are working closely with industry, trade partners and enforcement agencies to minimise disruption and costs to trade, while continuing to protect our biosecurity. The effectiveness of the import controls has been demonstrated throughout September and October by the interception at Sevington of 34 consignments of plants infested with Pochazia Shantungensis, a fruit tree pest native to China but now present in mainland Europe. The consignments were destroyed, preventing the potential for a damaging outbreak for UK fruit growers.

The BTOM is designed to assure the biosecurity of commercial imports. Illegal imports of products of animal origin are dealt with through intelligence led checks, conducted at the border by Border Force, in Border Force facilities, with the assistance of Port Health Authorities.

An enhanced risk-based approach is already undertaken at the UK border, where regulated plants and plant products have been categorised into high, medium, and low risk categories. The principle of risk-based controls, as previously applied under the EU regime, remains unchanged, but the GB regime now focuses on risks to Great Britain, rather than risks to the EU. Controls are then appropriately weighted against the risks posed – so the higher the risk category of a plant or plant product, the more biosecurity assurances we need, in the form of import controls. There are also plants and plant products which are not regulated at all, and those that are prohibited entirely.

We undertake systematic, proactive screening of plant health risks. Risks are reviewed monthly by an expert group and Ministers, and prioritised for actions such as surveillance, enhanced inspection, regulation, national measures, import controls, research and awareness raising.

Ensuring the most appropriate risk categorisation and rate of inspection is important, from a biosecurity perspective, but also to avoid unnecessary disruption to our critical supply chains and ports. Risk categorisation will remain dynamic and Defra will monitor import and interception data and Inspection rates may change in response to changes in risk, for example, an upsurge of interceptions of pests or a new threat emerging.

The Government has taken immediate and substantial action to address water companies who are not performing for the environment or their customers. In July, we announced swift action to begin resetting the water sector, including ringfencing vital funding for infrastructure investment and placing customers and the environment at the heart of water company objectives.

In September, the Government introduced the Water (Special Measures) Bill to give regulators new powers to take tougher and faster action to crack down on water companies damaging the environment and failing their customers. These are the first critical steps in enabling a long-term and transformative reset of the entire water sector.

I would also refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by the Secretary of State on 18 July, HCWS3.

The Animal Welfare Committee’s updated Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing was published last year. A GB-wide farmed trout joint Government and industry working group is now examining the issues raised in the report to explore the potential options for more detailed welfare at killing requirements. The Scottish Government are also working closely with the salmon industry.

In line with the Fisheries Act 2020 the Government is making progress delivering Fisheries Management Plans which maintain or restore fish stocks to sustainable levels. Through fisheries negotiations with coastal states our objective is to set Total Allowable Catches in line with the best scientific advice to make sure that stocks are managed over the long term within sustainable limits whilst ensuring stock-building initiatives account for socio-economic considerations.

The previous Government weakened the regulators and failed to hold water companies to account.

The new Government’s water (Special Measures) Bill will give Ofwat tough new powers to hold water companies to account where they do not deliver for customers and the environment.

This Bill is just the start of the fundamental and much broader transformation that the Government will lead for the water industry.

The Government will carry out a review to shape further legislation that will fundamentally transform how our water system works and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.

Whilst we are not considering Graduated Driving Licences, the Government treats road safety with the utmost seriousness, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. We absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads, and we are considering measures and their potential impacts to tackle the root causes of this without unfairly penalising young drivers.

We recognise the role small airfields play in General Aviation as a gateway for individuals to develop their career aspirations in the aviation sector. Ministers do not routinely intervene in local planning and any consideration of directions to modify local plans including the closure of airfields will be made by the local planning authority in accordance with relevant legislation.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the independent aviation safety regulator and as part of their role oversee the approval of training organisations who may operate from small training airfields. In circumstances where a flying training organisation ceases operation, the CAA would work with affected trainees to find new training solutions for each of them where required.

The Government is responsible for setting the regulatory structure within which licensing authorities in England administer the taxi and private hire vehicle licensing regime. Under this system licensing authorities have the flexibility to set standards they consider appropriate.

The Department for Transport has however issued statutory and best practice guidance to assist licensing authorities with this function, to promote safe and accessible services through proportionate regulation. This should increase consistency in requirements and policies for taxis and private hire vehicles.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests, often at significant profit. The agency encourages all customers to book a test through the official channel on GOV.UK where customers can book, change and cancel tests. The agency does not license any service to resell test slots.

DVSA is deploying enhanced bot protection on its public facing booking system to stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing and DVSA continues to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system.

DVSA has had a number of external reviews of its bot mitigation methodology and approach. To date, none of the reviews have indicated any improvement was necessary or suggested changes in approach.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests, often at significant profit. The agency encourages all customers to book a test through the official channel on GOV.UK where customers can book, change and cancel tests. The agency does not license any service to resell test slots.

DVSA is deploying enhanced bot protection on its public facing booking system to stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing and DVSA continues to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system.

DVSA has had a number of external reviews of its bot mitigation methodology and approach. To date, none of the reviews have indicated any improvement was necessary or suggested changes in approach.

Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy which will deliver lasting change.

The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across Government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, create 3,000 additional nurseries, and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers.

The Secretary of State and I have regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues on a range of issues affecting those receiving social security benefits, including those which may bring with them an entitlement to additional support from other Departments, and how such services can be delivered more effectively.

We are absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.

It is not possible to make direct, like for like comparisons between State Pension amounts received under the pre 2016 State Pension system and the new State Pension. Under both systems, the amount people are entitled to varies according to their National Insurance record. It is not the case that everyone in the new system receives more than everyone in the pre 2016 system.

As not all new UC customers require the same level of immediate support, replacing every new customer’s advance with a UC grant would lead to significantly increased expenditure and the potential for increased fraud and error in the social security system.

We are committed to reviewing Universal Credit, to make sure it is doing the job we want it to. We will set out the details of this in due course.

The Secretary of State has an obligation to protect public funds and to ensure that, wherever possible, an overpayment is recovered. It is our policy to recover all debt where it is reasonable and cost effective to do so. Debts should be recovered as quickly and cost effectively as possible without causing undue financial hardship.

There are no plans to write off overpayments made in error.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were restored to the 30th percentile of local market rents from April 2024 for one year.

Decisions on LHA for future years will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, housing priorities, and the fiscal context.