Mark Hendrick

The UK and EU are working together to support the development of clean energy technologies; the Electricity Agreement will cover the promotion of renewables, and the May 2025 Common Understanding welcomed continued technical and regulatory exchanges on new energy technologies.

The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and GOV.UK.

We are making Capita work to restore, to contractual levels, administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme following its failed transition in December last year. Capita committed to restoring the service by the end of June. The Government is now undertaking a comprehensive assessment of the latest data provided by Capita post the end of June commitment.

We remain committed to holding Capita accountable. Should underperformance occur and the agreed firm end of June deadline not be met, the Government will not hesitate to take firm action, all commercial levers will be used and all options will be considered.

I can confirm that when the scheme administrator receives an application from a member suffering from serious ill health, they should be prioritising these cases as a matter of urgency and look to resolve them.

Capita were initially instructed to prioritise and clear the most urgent cases such as Death in Service and Ill-Health during February and March. While Capita previously assured us that performance standards for Death in Service and Ill-Health were being met by mid-March, recent information continues to demonstrate unacceptable delays in some ill-health retirement and death-in-service cases. We have urgently escalated this to Capita, who are actively investigating the underlying data and reasons for these continued delays.

The European Partnership Bill will provide the necessary powers to deliver treaties with the European Union now and in the future. Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise the Bill when it is introduced to Parliament in the usual way.

The European Partnership Bill will provide the necessary powers to deliver treaties with the European Union now and in the future. Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise the Bill when it is introduced to Parliament in the usual way.

The next phase of Places for Growth will move thousands more roles out of London to bring the Civil Service closer to the communities it serves. Preston will continue to have a thriving Civil Service community as part of the North West Digital and Cyber Security corridor. Government departments can also continue to build on the existing Civil Service presence there if it aligns with their business needs.

Biomass electricity generators receiving support must comply with strict sustainability criteria covering supply chain greenhouse gas emissions. The government is developing a cross-sector biomass sustainability framework to further strengthen these requirements and enable consistency between government supported sectors.

Waste incineration facilities are regulated through the relevant environmental permitting regime, which sets emissions limits and monitoring requirements. The government is committed to expanding the scope of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to waste incineration. This will price emissions from the sector and incentivise decarbonisation. The UK ETS Authority will set out final policy design in due course.

UK heat pump sales hit a record high in 2025, and the government expects to see continued growth over the coming years.

Manufacturers of a range of heating technologies, including fossil fuel boilers, are among the leading players in this growing market.

The government will continue to keep developments in the market under close review as heat pump uptake in existing and new homes continues to gather pace.

In October 2025, the Government published the Clean Energy Jobs Plan (CEJP). The CEJP sets out the workforce needed to deliver our clean energy superpower mission, and how the government will work in partnership with industry and trade unions to deliver it.

This month we have announced 5 new Clean Energy Technical Excellence Colleges to support delivery of this workforce. We have also committed to implement a Fair Work Charter alongside the Clean Industry Bonus, to help ensure that clean energy jobs are good jobs.

Government works continuously with industry to improve and maintain the resilience and security of energy infrastructure to a range of evolving risks and future system changes. In 2026, DESNZ will publish an Energy Resilience Strategy to set out Government’s long-term priorities to maintain energy resilience now and in the future.

The UK benefits from diverse gas supply sources. This limits our reliance on any one type of infrastructure - in winter 24/25, gas storage provided ~8% of GB’s total gas use. We are confident this diverse portfolio will continue to meet GB’s energy needs. However, Government recognises the energy transition may change future infrastructure requirements. We recently consulted on options to safeguard gas security of supply, including measures to encourage investment in additional storage capacity if needed. A response will follow in due course.

The Government is making is easier for households to install heat pumps. This includes increasing the budget for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and amending Permitted Development Rights in England to give households greater flexibility to install a heat pump.

Our schemes such as the Warm Homes: Local Grant, Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Energy Company Obligation provide support for energy efficiency measures and low carbon technologies like heat pumps.

The Warm Homes Plan (WHP) will focus on ensuring homes are more comfortable to live in and cheaper to heat. In many cases, that will mean improvements to the fabric of the building in order to maximise the bill savings and thermal comfort, alongside switching to low carbon heat. Further detail on the WHP will be announced by October.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the new social media restrictions are effective in practice and deliver meaningful protections for children. Through the ‘Growing up in the Online World’ consultation, the government sought views and evidence on circumvention and the measures that could be used to address it.

The Government is carefully considering the consultation responses and will set out its approach to addressing circumvention in its full response shortly.

Most AI systems are already regulated at the point of use by our existing expert regulators. The ICO has recently closed a consultation on their draft guidance about automated decision-making, including profiling.

Government has previously published Responsible AI in Recruitment guidance which sets out good practice procuring and deploying AI systems for HR and recruitment. This guidance highlights the mechanisms that can be used to ensure the safe and trustworthy use of AI in recruitment.

We have also recently launched the Early Careers Jobs Alliance to bring together employers, trade unions and young people to look at how to ensure there continues to be high quality routes into work in sectors highly exposed to AI. The Alliance will start with a focus on the Digital and Technologies sector and will be co-chaired by Prospect’s General Secretary Mike Clancy and the government’s AI Champion for the Digital and Technologies sector, Katie Gallagher OBE.

Child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) is an abhorrent and serious crime and tackling it online is an absolute priority for this Government. The Online Safety Act places its strongest protections around children, imposing robust legal duties on online services to prevent their platforms from being used to groom, exploit and sexually abuse children.

Ofcom has set out measures in its codes of practice, including automated detection, moderation, and anti‑grooming safeguards. These duties have been in force since March last year. Ofcom keeps its approach under review, is consulting on further measures and has already carried out enforcement with a particular focus on CSEA.

The government considers ransomware a serious threat to the UK’s national security and economic prosperity. The Home Office recently consulted on a package of proposals to reduce the threat ransomware poses to the UK economy and will continue to develop these measures in collaboration with industry. Due to under-reporting there is no single authoritative estimate of ransomware payment rates. Recent industry reports suggest that payment rates are declining. The government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey finds around half of businesses (52%) have a rule or policy to not pay ransomware demands.

Improving cyber security across industry sectors is critical to national security and the resilience of our wider economy. The government has developed a wide range of free tools, guidance, training and standards to help organisations of all sizes implement cyber security measures. The government's highly effective Cyber Essentials scheme helps organisations implement critical cyber security controls and protect against the most common cyber attacks. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will boost UK cyber defences and protect our essential and digital services. In October government ministers and senior security officials wrote an open letter to the UK’s leading companies urging them to take three specific actions to improve their cyber resilience: use the government’s Cyber Governance Code of Practice, register for the National Cyber Security Centre’s Early Warning System, and adopt Cyber Essentials in their supply chains. In 2026 the Government will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan that will set out how we will respond to the growing cyber threat and work with industry to raise cyber resilience levels across the economy.

We are focused on continuing to create the right conditions for investment in the UK’s AI and data centre infrastructure.

Through the AI Energy Council, we are already bringing together energy system bodies and leading technology companies, including NESO, EDF, Microsoft and Google, to address the energy implications of AI growth and ensure the system is ready to support future demand.

Alongside this, the Government is bringing forward a consultation on discounting data centres' energy costs for eligible projects in areas with excess electricity supply, including Scotland, Cumbria and the North East.

Since April 2024, the Gambling Commission has significantly increased its disruption activity and has focused on finding innovative ways to tackle the illegal market. The Crime and Policing Bill, once passed, will give the Gambling Commission greater powers to more quickly take down illegal websites. At the budget the Gambling Commission received £26 million across three years to increase investment, resources and capacity to tackle the illegal market. We have also set up an Illegal Gambling Taskforce with key stakeholders, which considers how to tackle illegal payments, advertising, and maximising cross-agency collaboration.

We announced in February 2026, an intention to consult on cracking down on unlicensed sponsors in sport. This will ban unlicensed gambling operators from sponsoring sports in Great Britain.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. This means delivering a range of facilities across the country based on what each local community needs.

On 17 September, the Government confirmed £5 million investment in 2026/27 towards both indoor and outdoor basketball and basketball-led multi-sport facilities in England in 2026/27. This dedicated funding for basketball will be matched by the NBA, who will invest £5 million in grassroots programmes through to 2028.

We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment of £12.6 million to Basketball England between 2022 and 2029 to support grassroots basketball.

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. The Government has invested £98 million through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme across the UK in 2025/26, funding projects such as new and upgraded grass pitches, pitch maintenance equipment and floodlights. Following the Spending Review we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans.

We are committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, are able to participate in sport and physical activity. We will more than double priority access to grassroots football pitches for women and girls in England over the next five years as part of a series of plans to honour the success of the Lionesses following the team’s victory at Euro 2025, as well as dedicating flagship sites and pitches to the Lionesses.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport in England through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.

Typically, DCMS does not directly fund local authorities, nor their arts and cultural organisations, which are commonly funded by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Arts Council England.

In last month’s spending review, the government committed to providing an additional £3.4 billion of grant funding to local government in 2028‑29 compared to 2024‑25. This equates to an average annual real terms increase in overall local authority core spending power of 3.1% across the spending review period.

Whilst individual decisions on how to invest departmental resources will be determined in due course, there will be significant investment into Arts and Culture over the spending review period, including to Arts Council England (ACE) which will continue to support local arts programmes and projects across the country.

In the 2024-25 financial year, ACE provided over £450k of funding to arts projects in Preston, and almost £6.5 million to arts organisations and projects across Lancashire. Details of this funding can be found on the ACE website here https://culture.localinsight.org/#/map

Local authorities hold the statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. Local Authorities fund youth services from their Local Government Finance Settlement in line with local need.

This Spending Review provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years for local services that communities rely on. This includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29.

We recognise the disproportionate impact repeated, preventable exclusion can have on pupils’ education and life chances. The findings published by ADR UK in April 2026 underline the importance of tackling repeat suspensions and ensuring vulnerable pupils receive the support they need to remain engaged in education.

To reduce lost learning, improve behaviour and strengthen inclusion, the Every Child Achieving and Thriving Schools White Paper, published February 2026, committed to reforming the exclusion system. We will consult on a new national framework for internal suspension, the introduction of Reintegration Support Partnerships and a requirement for schools to set schoolwork during the first five days of exclusion.

Revenue funding through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for Lancashire in 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years are presented in the table below. Funding for 2027/28 will be confirmed later this year.

Lancashire School Funding

*Mainstream funding includes premises and excludes growth.

Local authorities meet the costs of special school places in their area through their high needs block funding in the DSG, with the total high needs funding for Lancashire set out above.

The methodology for the Inclusive Mainstream Fund was published on 25 March. This details distribution of the £400 million schools will receive in 2026/27 to prepare and deliver improved inclusion practice.

We have announced over £82 million of Basic Need capital grant funding to support Lancashire in creating mainstream school places needed due to forecasted growth in pupil numbers between May 2024 and September 2028. The £82 million will be paid across the 2023/24 to 2027/28 financial years.

In financial years 2025/26 and 2026/27, Lancashire has been allocated just under £19.7 million and just over £23.8 million respectively through High Needs Provision Capital Allocations.

The department publishes data on free school meals (FSM) in the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication. The total number of pupils eligible for FSM in the Lancashire local authority and North West region can be seen the following table: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/597f72a3-5fc8-4b48-c6a0-08ddaa184212.

To find FSM data for Preston constituency, refer to the file titled ‘School level underlying data 2025 (CSV, 22 MB)’ under the ‘Additional supporting files’ section.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.

Providing over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day will also lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.

For 2024/25, the department’s data on FSM can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2024-25. To find the total number of pupils in the Preston constituency, see the ‘School level underlying data 2025 (csv, 22 Mb)’ under ‘additional supporting files’.

For 2025/26, the department has published data on the number of children who could benefit from expanded provision by constituency/region/local authority. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-school-meals-expansion-impact-on-poverty-levels.

The government has agreed to work towards association to the Erasmus+ programme on much better financial terms for the UK. We will ensure that any agreement reflects a fair balance between the UK financial contribution and the number of UK participants who receive funding from it.

Participation in Erasmus+ on acceptable terms for both sides would be of mutual benefit, providing opportunities for collaboration and cultural exchange across education, youth and sport.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Defra is committed to delivering legally binding biodiversity targets including halting the decline in species abundance by 2030, reversing declines by at least 10% by 2042 compared with 2030, and reducing risk of national species extinction by 2042. The composite indicator we use to measure progress towards our species abundance targets includes over 400 moth species.

The Environmental Improvement Plan sets out actions we are taking to deliver these targets, including delivering a refreshed Pollinator Action Plan, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-improvement-plan-2025/environmental-improvement-plan-eip-2025 which will set out key actions for pollinators, including moths, in England.

Natural England is working with partners such as Butterly Conservation to take specific action for threatened moth species, including specific grazing and cutting regimes in chalk grassland areas for Black-Veined and Straw Belle moths in Kent, and translocations such as the Rosy Marsh moth in Cumbria.

We are providing farmers and land managers with the support needed to help restore nature, which is vital to safeguard our long-term food security and build resilience to climate change. There are currently record numbers of farmers taking part in farming schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive. As of April 2025, these schemes supported 885,000 hectares of arable land being farmed without insecticides; 330,000 hectares of low input grassland being managed sustainably; and 85,000 kilometres of hedgerows being protected and restored.

In the recent spending review, we allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament, the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history.

This means:

• Funding for the Environmental Land Management Schemes paid to farmers will increase by 150% from £800 million in 2023/24 to £2 billion by 2028/29.

• Overall farmers and land managers will benefit from an average of £2.3 billion a year through the Farming and Countryside Programme.

• And up to £400 million from additional nature schemes, including those for tree planting and peatland restoration.

We are investing up to £400 million each year for nature schemes. Defra recently conducted and published a review into how ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees are protected by the National Planning Policy Framework. This revealed that the policy is not being consistently implemented and in collaboration with MHCLG, we are looking at how this can be improved. We continue to update the Ancient Woodland Inventory. It was most recently updated on 2 June 2025 and has recorded over 52,000 ancient woodland sites in England.

Natural England (NE) updated the Ancient Woodland Inventory for Lancashire, published earlier this year. This ensures all mapped areas are now protected from negative development impacts under the National Planning Policy Framework. NE has been supporting the responsible authority in Lancashire to prioritise ancient woodlands in the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, including a key measure for the restoration, protection, and expansion of ancient woodlands.

Working proactively with ‘Our Future Coast’ project, NE is supporting natural coastal protection for communities. It is working in partnership with coastal groups to raise awareness of more natural solutions, whilst providing pre-consultation and statutory advice on flood schemes and development along the coast to protect the unique natural environment and birds.

NE is supporting wetter farming in Lancashire through an EU funded partnership research project called Pallus Demos. It is also working with Rivers Trusts and United Utilities to create more wetlands and reedbeds in the area through Natural Flood Management. Farming schemes are an essential tool and the Brock and Calder Landscape Recovery Project will provide landscape scale improvements in the Wyre Catchment. NE continues to provide statutory advice to protect existing protected habitats, and species.

Defra recently announced grant funding of £13.6 million in 2025/26 to increase the capacity and capability of 12 charities to redistribute surplus food from farms into charitable networks. Applications were open to not-for-profit organisations redistributing surplus food including local charities and community organisations.

The longevity of the projects formed part of the selection criteria for funding, so we expect the funding to support the redistribution of farm surplus for many years to come.

Network Rail uses a combination of proactive monitoring and investment in smart technologies to protect critical infrastructure and keep the railway running during periods of hot weather.

For safety reasons, during periods of extreme weather, trains operate at reduced speeds and to amended timetables, meaning journeys will take longer and be at risk of potential delays, cancellations, and last-minute alterations. Departmental officials, Network Rail and the wider rail industry worked together to assess and manage the impacts of the extreme heat and, as a result of the rail industry’s preparedness, approximately 82 per cent of planned services ran between 24-26 June.

Passengers who hold a valid ticket and are delayed because of disruption are entitled to claim Delay Repay from their train operator up to 28 days after their journey. Train operators are responsible for ensuring that information on disruption and compensation is communicated clearly and in a timely manner.

On 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. Rule 60 of The Highway Code states that cycles must be fitted with a rear reflector and must have front and rear lights lit at night. Cycling without proper lights is an offence and enforcement is a matter for the police.

Rule 59 of the Highway Code recommends that cyclists should wear light-coloured or fluorescent clothing to help other road users to see them in daylight and poor light, with reflective clothing and/or accessories in the dark. This advice was made clearer in the updated version of The Highway Code that was published in January 2022.

Government understands the value of car sharing as a sustainable travel option that can offer a flexible, cost effective alternative to private car ownership for drivers. Alongside our actions to deliver excellent public transport, promote active travel and our support for electric vehicles, car clubs can help people get where they need to go, whilst easing congestion. Car clubs often feature newer vehicles, which are more likely to be electric or have lower emissions than many private cars, which helps reduce carbon emissions and air pollution.

The government is committed to improving transport services so they are more inclusive and enable people with sight loss 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, particularly. 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.

Safety is National Highways’ top priority and it regularly reviews the safety performance of routes in the North West region. National Highways will be undertaking a route safety study for the M6 this financial year, which it expects to complete by March 2026.

The information requested on killed and seriously injured rates is not readily available as National Highways does not routinely undertake this analysis at specific junctions.

The primary goal of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is to ensure that children receive the financial support they are entitled to. To achieve this, the CMS collaborates with HMRC and Benefit systems to accurately calculate maintenance payments. This collaboration helps prevent paying parents from misrepresenting their income. Parents can make a request to the CMS to have other forms of income not previously considered included in the maintenance calculation.

To tackle fraudulent reporting of earnings, if there is a suspicion of income misrepresentation, the Financial Investigations Unit (FIU) will conduct a thorough investigation. Complex income and cases where a paying parent may be responsible for declaring their own income can also be investigated by the FIU. This specialist team can request information from financial institutions to check the accuracy of information the CMS is given. When an investigation identifies evidence of criminal offences, the FIU will submit their findings to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider prosecution on offences contrary to the Child Support Act 1991.

Building on the December Youth Guarantee and Growth and Skills Levy announcement, the Government has committed a further £1 billion investment in young people, taking total additional investment into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy to £2.5 billion over the next three years. This investment will support almost one million young people, and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.

This includes the delivery of eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in England, the expansion of Youth Hubs to more than 360 areas across Great Britain, and the introduction of a new Youth Guarantee Gateway in Jobcentres, providing more intensive support to 16-24 year olds.

This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training. It will also help unlock up to 200,000 more employment opportunities, through £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant for employers who hire 18–24-year-olds who have been on Universal Credit for over six months, a new £2,000 apprenticeship incentive for small and medium sized employers hiring 16–24-year-olds and the Jobs Guarantee scheme, providing long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds with a fully funded six month job.

Together these measures demonstrate the Government’s commitment to backing young people, supporting employers, and working with partners across Great Britain to create clear pathways into employment and education for young people.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to ensuring that individuals with Parkinson’s disease and other health conditions receive high-quality, objective, and accurate assessments. To uphold this commitment, DWP has established clear competency standards for health professionals (HPs), as outlined in its official guidance and regulatory framework.

DWP recognises the importance of ensuring HPs conducting assessments possess the necessary experience, skills, and training. To uphold this standard, DWP has established clear competency requirements, outlined in both guidance and regulations. Assessment suppliers must demonstrate that their HPs meet these standards before they are authorised to carry out assessments on behalf of the department.

DWP does not require HPs to be specialists in the specific medical conditions or impairments of the individuals they assess. Instead, the emphasis is on ensuring HPs are experts in disability analysis, focusing on how a person’s condition affects their daily life and functional abilities.

All HPs receive thorough training in disability analysis, which includes evaluating the impact of a wide range of health conditions on everyday activities. To support this, DWP provides suppliers with core training material and guidance on conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease. These contain clinical and functional information relevant to the condition and is quality assured to ensure its accuracy from both a clinical and policy perspective.

The Government is committed to improving access to mental health services for children and young people, and to ensuring a system that is simpler, faster, and stronger at every stage. Access to support is expanding, but services remain under pressure, and poor mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions can affect young people's education, training, and employment outcomes. We recognise the pressures on services, including long waits and variation in access, but we are taking action to strengthen the whole pathway, from early support in schools and communities through to specialist services for those with the most complex needs.

In April to June 2025 there were 374,000 people aged 16 to 64 years old with depression, bad nerves, or anxiety as a main health condition who were economically inactive due to long-term sickness. For autism and severe or specific learning difficulties, there were 178,000 and 68,000 people, respectively. There were 727,000 people who were economically inactive due to long-term sickness with a mental health condition, of which 216,000, or 30%, were aged 16 to 34 years old.

The Young People and Work: Interim Report is clear that this is a long-term, structural challenge rather than the result of any one recent change. It reflects a combination of factors, including weaker transitions into work, rising health-related inactivity, and a system that has too often failed to intervene early enough. That is why the Government is taking a cross-Government approach, acting across employment, education, skills, and health. In parallel, the Department has commissioned an independent review of the prevalence and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism, which will inform a new cross-Government Mental Health Strategy for England.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli on 26 May 2026 to Question 1677.