Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve consular support for British nationals overseas.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Providing consular support is a vital public service, with more than 20,000 British people given tailored assistance each year.
We are continually investing in improvements, including integration of AI to improve efficiency, alongside staff training and crisis exercising to give a better service.
We are determined to reassure families that their voices are heard, which is why Ministers have held well over 20 meetings with the families of Brits detained abroad, and continually raise their cases with foreign governments at the highest levels.
In the last full financial year, the FCDO answered over 400,000 requests for consular support from British nationals overseas, and provided more tailored assistance in over 22,000 cases, including support for the families of more than 6,000 British nationals who had died overseas, and 3,500 who had been hospitalised.
Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what action is being taken to address ongoing illegal tipping a) across the country, and b) in the Forest of Dean constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to tackling waste crime from the fly-tippers who blight our towns and villages to the serious and organised crime groups who are exploiting the waste sector. Defra is making policy and regulatory reforms to close loopholes exploited by criminals and have increased the Environment Agency’s (EA’s) budget for waste crime enforcement by over 50% this year to £15.6 million.
The EA focuses on tackling large-scale waste crime, often linked to organised criminal activity while fly-tipping is managed by local authorities.
The EA is tackling waste crime across the West Midlands region, including the Forest of Dean. All reports are taken seriously, investigating each one and determining the most appropriate intervention, based on the level of risk to communities and the environment. EA Officers use a wide range of prevention and disruption techniques and are not hesitating to use these and to take enforcement action where necessary on any illegal waste sites in the Forest of Dean.
Defra also works with a wide range of interested parties through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG) to promote good practice, including advice on preventing fly-tipping on private land.
Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the eligibility criteria for pupil premium funding so that all children from families receiving Universal Credit are entitled to support.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity so that all our children have the freedom to achieve and thrive in education.
We are providing over £3 billion of pupil premium funding in financial year 2025/26 to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.
Pupil premium is allocated on the basis of economic disadvantage, using free school meals claims, and to support children looked after or previously looked after by their local authority
Pupil premium will continue to be allocated using the current free school meals threshold of £7,400 for financial year 2026/27.
Over the longer term, we are reviewing how we allocate pupil premium and related funding to schools and local authorities to ensure it is targeted to those who need it most, while maintaining the overall amount we spend on these funding streams.
Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of making UK AISI / Thorn's guidance entitled Recommended Practice for AI-G CSEA Prevention, published in December 2025, mandatory for AI developers to prevent the creation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the importance of tackling AI-generated CSAM. Creating, possessing, or distributing CSAM, including AI Generated CSAM, is illegal. The Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove this content. We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise CSAM image generators, and to ensure AI developers can directly test for and address vulnerabilities in their models which enable the production of CSAM.
The AISI / Thorn joint publication guidance (Recommended Practice for AI-G CSEA Prevention) sets out practical steps that AI developers, model hosting services and others in the AI ecosystem can take to reduce the risk that their systems are misused to generate CSAM. This guidance is informed by input from industry and child protection organisations, and many of the world’s leading AI developers (including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta) have signed up to the principles of earlier forms of this guidance.
The Government is clear: no option is off the table when it comes to protecting the online safety of users in the UK.
Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure specialist emotional and practical support is available for parents caring for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the challenges families caring for a seriously ill child face, which is why NHS England have published statutory guidance and service specifications on commissioning children’s palliative care and end of life care. This specifically references access to emotional support and practical advice for parents and loved ones. Local authorities and ICBs jointly commission short‑breaks packages for children with life‑limiting conditions, and provide respite care where necessary. Additionally, from April 2025, the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit increased from £151 a week to £196 to support carers. The Minister for Care also chairs a cross-government meeting with DWP, DBT and DfE ministers to consider how we can provide carers with better recognition and support.Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that schools and teachers are well supported to deliver effective media and digital literacy education in the new curriculum.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Following the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report on 5 November, the department will update the national curriculum to prepare young people for life and work in a changing world, including media and digital literacy. Content will be shaped through expert engagement, with a public consultation on draft proposals next year.
To support schools and teachers, we will provide high quality, free digital resources through Oak National Academy (Oak) and curriculum support through our National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE). Oak will help schools to understand and implement changes, reducing teacher workload.
Currently, media literacy is taught through citizenship, relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) and computing, whilst digital literacy is addressed in computing and RSHE. To support teachers now, Oak provides adaptable resources for computing and citizenship, the Educate Against Hate website offers media literacy materials to counter extremist narratives and the NCCE delivers free courses on digital literacy and artificial intelligence.
Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reducing the lower threshold of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy on (a) business investment decisions in the food and drink manufacturing sector, (b) the growth of that sector and (c) (i) investment and (ii) growth by food and drink manufacturing companies in the South West.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The proposed changes to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy were subject to the ‘Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy’ consultation, which was open from 28 April to 21 July 2025. An assessment of economic and other impacts is included as part of this consultation document. This is available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/strengthening-the-soft-drinks-industry-levy.
The Government is considering the consultation responses, including those providing evidence of the potential impacts on growth and investment, prior to making a decision at Budget. If the Government decides to make changes to the levy, it will publish an updated assessment of the confirmed policy’s impacts.
Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of including (a) clear and (b) deliverable objectives to combat child (i) sexual abuse and (ii) exploitation in the updated Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government recognises the devastating impact of child sexual abuse and exploitation and is committed to tackling these crimes.
The new VAWG Strategy will set the direction for the next decade, driving forward the Government’s bold ambition to halve VAWG within ten years. This is a landmark commitment that demands a truly transformational approach. It’s vital we get it right. We’re working towards publication of the Strategy as soon as possible and I will continue to keep the House updated on its development and forthcoming publication.
Tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation will be clearly reflected in the VAWG Strategy. But we also recognise that tackling these horrendous crimes requires a targeted and child-centred approach. Which is why we are taking forward an ambitious programme of work across Government, including through our response to the Casey Audit and IICSA recommendations.
Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available to GP practices operating from newly built premises that subsequently experience (a) building and (b) maintenance problems not identified at the (i) planning and (ii) construction stage.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision and maintenance of premises are typically the responsibility of general practice (GP) partners, who are either owner-occupiers or tenants of their surgery buildings. This includes addressing any building or maintenance issues identified after the planning and construction phases. The National Health Service reimburses partners for the recurring costs of operating in the property, for instance rent, notional rent, or mortgage costs, and funds services in the GP Contract.
GP owner-occupiers are responsible for all maintenance and repair of their property. For GPs that rent their premises, their lease agreement sets out who is responsible for maintenance. A Full Repairing and Insuring lease requires the practice to handle all repairs, while a Tenant's Internal Repairing lease means the landlord covers external and structural issues.
Commissioners may award improvement grants to GPs to fund extensions, improvements, and enhanced physical access. This can be up to 100% of a project’s value, subject to discretion and the integrated care boards available budget, under provisions of the NHS (General Medical Services) Premises Costs Directions 2024.
The £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund, announced at the 2024 Autumn Budget, is upgrading more than a thousand GP surgeries across England by April 2026.
Where facilities are an issue, it is imperative that GPs work with the local commissioner. There may be capital or revenue solutions to GP premises and facilities’ needs.
Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department has provided to GP practices operating from newly built premises with (a) building and (b) maintenance issues; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of that support in helping to resolve those issues with landlords.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision and maintenance of premises is typically the responsibility of GP partners, who are either owner-occupiers or tenants of their surgery buildings. The National Health Service reimburses partners for the recurring costs of operating in the property (rent, notional rent or mortgage cost) and funds services in the GP contract.
GP owner-occupiers are responsible for all maintenance and repair of their property. For GP practices that rent their premises, their lease agreement sets out who is responsible for maintenance. A ‘Full Repairing and Insuring’ (FRI) lease requires the practice to handle all repairs, while a ‘Tenant’s Internal Repairing’ (TIR) lease means the landlord covers external and structural issues.
Commissioners may award improvement grants to GP practices to fund extensions, improvements, and enhanced physical access. This can be up to 100% of a project’s value, subject to discretion and the integrated care board’s available budget, under provisions of the NHS (General Medical Services) Premises Costs Directions 2024.
The £102 million Primary Care Utilisation & Modernisation Fund, announced at Autumn Budget 2024, is upgrading more than a thousand GP surgeries across England by April 2026.
Where facilities are an issue, it is imperative that General Practices work with the local Commissioner. There may be capital or revenue solutions to general practice premises and facilities’ needs.