Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that young people with care-experience have equal access to support services promoting wellbeing, opportunity and inclusion.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Ministerial Board on Care Leavers, chaired by the Secretary of State for Education, works to identify how each department can respond to the unique challenges that care leavers face across all aspects of their lives – opening up, for example, a world of employment opportunities by adding care leavers to social value requirements for government procurement.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many water bodies are classified as failing to meet good ecological status for which the latest data is available; and what steps she is taking to help improve the quality of water in water bodies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The last full classification update was produced in 2019 when 3893 water bodies of a total of 4651 were failing to meet good ecological status in 2019.
The Independent Water Commission, tasked by the Government to produce recommendations to transform how our water system works, delivered its final report 21 July 2025. This included recommendations intended to restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health for future generations.
The Government will respond to the recommendations in full via a White Paper and will introduce a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that water companies are penalised for (a) repeated illegal sewage discharges and (b) other repeated breaches of environmental regulations.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, the Environment Agency will not hesitate to hold companies to account.
The Water (Special Measures) Act provides the most significant increase in enforcement powers to the regulators in a decade, giving regulators the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies. These include new powers to enable the Environment Agency to recover costs associated with their enforcement of the water industry.
A consultation has been launched to expand and strengthen the current range of financial penalties available to the Environment Agency in a bid to clamp down on more offences. Water companies who commit environmental offences could face quicker penalties of up to £500,000, under changes being considered by the government.
The Environment Agency has also increased water company inspections to 10,000 per year from April 2025 as part of the Government’s wider focus to hold companies accountable and improve our water environment.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on SMEs in Stratford-on-Avon constituency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy, including on businesses. The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from the changes to employer NICs by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing simplified guidance for (a) parents and (b) schools on how requests for (i) deferred entry and (ii) out-of-cohort progression are handled.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department keeps its guidance for schools and parents about requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group under review and updates it as required.
The guidance for schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-advice-for-admission-authorities(opens in a new tab).
The guidance for parents is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission(opens in a new tab).
The guidance is clear that it is rarely in a child’s best interests to miss a year of their education by being admitted to primary school in year 1 rather than reception, or to secondary school in year 8 rather than year 7. Therefore, if a parent requests their summer born child start their reception year aged 5, it should be rare for such a request to be refused.
The department conducts regular surveys of local authorities and parents to keep this issue under review. These show that only a small proportion of parents of summer born children request that they are admitted out of their normal age group, and the vast majority of such requests are agreed. The findings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/summer-born-children-research-and-guidance(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with (a) local authorities and (b) academy trusts on ensuring a consistent national approach to the admission of summer-born children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department keeps its guidance for schools and parents about requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group under review and updates it as required.
The guidance for schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-advice-for-admission-authorities(opens in a new tab).
The guidance for parents is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission(opens in a new tab).
The guidance is clear that it is rarely in a child’s best interests to miss a year of their education by being admitted to primary school in year 1 rather than reception, or to secondary school in year 8 rather than year 7. Therefore, if a parent requests their summer born child start their reception year aged 5, it should be rare for such a request to be refused.
The department conducts regular surveys of local authorities and parents to keep this issue under review. These show that only a small proportion of parents of summer born children request that they are admitted out of their normal age group, and the vast majority of such requests are agreed. The findings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/summer-born-children-research-and-guidance(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that guidance on the progression of summer-born children from primary to secondary education is applied (a) clearly and (b) consistently across all schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department keeps its guidance for schools and parents about requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group under review and updates it as required.
The guidance for schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-advice-for-admission-authorities.
The guidance for parents is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission.
The guidance is clear that it is rarely in a child’s best interests to miss a year of their education by being admitted to primary school in year 1 rather than reception, or to secondary school in year 8 rather than year 7. Therefore, if a parent requests their summer born child start their reception year aged 5, it should be rare for such a request to be refused.
The department conducts regular surveys of local authorities and parents to keep this issue under review. These show that only a small proportion of parents of summer born children request that they are admitted out of their normal age group, and the vast majority of such requests are agreed. The findings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/summer-born-children-research-and-guidance.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with international partners on the implementation of the International Court of Justice ruling of January 2024 on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 2 June 2025 to Question 52416.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government plans to publish the findings and response to the consultation on the National Day for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism, which closed on 11 June 2025.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This Government is committed to supporting victims and survivors of terrorism and understands that recognition is an important part of their recovery.
That is why, from 19 March 2025 to 11 June, the Government held a public consultation on a National Day for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism to explore how the country could honour those whose lives have been lost or forever changed by terrorism.
The consultation has considered the ways a National Day could be implemented and any consequences that may result from the proposals.
We are now reviewing all responses and will publicly update on the consultation’s outcomes and our next steps in due course.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to make a decision on the establishment and format of a National Day for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism; and if she will commit to establishing the National Day in line with recommendations from victims’ groups.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This Government is committed to supporting victims and survivors of terrorism and understands that recognition is an important part of their recovery.
That is why, from 19 March 2025 to 11 June, the Government held a public consultation on a National Day for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism to explore how the country could honour those whose lives have been lost or forever changed by terrorism.
The consultation has considered the ways a National Day could be implemented and any consequences that may result from the proposals.
We are now reviewing all responses and will publicly update on the consultation’s outcomes and our next steps in due course.