Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what mechanisms are in place for housing providers to report the end of a tenancy where Universal Credit Housing Element is paid directly to landlords; and what steps his Department is taking to prevent and recover overpayments made in such circumstances.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Landlords can report changes of this nature through a range of routes, including by email and via the Department’s Employment and Partnership Manager network. However, Universal Credit is designed around the principle that claimants are responsible for reporting changes of circumstance. For that reason, while information from landlords can trigger checks and investigation, claimants are still required to make a declaration through “report a change”.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of driver training and testing in preparing drivers to undertake safe overtaking of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on (a) rural roads and (b) motorways; what information her Department holds on the involvement of unsafe overtaking manoeuvres in collisions involving HGVs; and whether she plans to change the DVSA (i) theory test, (ii) hazard perception test, and (iii) practical driving test to improve assessment of safe overtaking and lane discipline on multi-lane carriageways.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department publishes several data sets on collisions that can be viewed on GOV.UK. The RAS0503: Vehicle type and manoeuvre report includes figures on the number of vehicles that were overtaking another vehicle at the time of their collision. However, this does not specify what type of vehicle they were overtaking, or if the collision was a result of an unsafe overtaking manoeuvre.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) requires approved driving instructors (ADI) and approved training bodies (ATB) to train learner driver and riders to the National Standards. This includes teaching learners to recognise and manage the additional risks when overtaking HGVs, including on rural roads and motorways. DVSA has no current plans to change how learners are trained or how the agency examines learner drivers and riders on their practical tests.

Both the multiple-choice and hazard perception elements already include questions on safely following, and overtaking, HGVs in a range of situations. DVSA keeps the driving and riding theory and practical test under continuous review.

The agency also encourages ADIs to include motorway driving as part of their instruction to learner drivers.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for Approved Driving Instructor Part 2 and Part 3 practical assessments; what the average waiting time is for these tests in all regions; how many examiners are (a) currently employed and (b) being recruited and trained to increase capacity; what her planned timeline is to reduce Part 2 and Part 3 waiting times to levels that help ensure trainee instructors can complete their qualifications within the two-year window; and what steps she is taking to (i) ensure increased access to assessment slots and (ii) prevent (A) the misuse of and (B) fraudulent bookings.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not hold data on the current waiting time for an approved driving instructor (ADI) part 2 or part 3 test at any of its test centres. ADI examiners are a national team and are not assigned to specific test centres.

There are currently 36 full time equivalent driving examiners employed by the DVSA who can conduct ADI part 2 and part 3 tests. DVSA has ongoing training and recruitment with its next training course starting in May for six new driving examiners, with two further courses planned later in the year.

ADI examiner tests are not booked in the same process as driving tests have been previously. DVSA recommends potential driving instructors use the ‘book-to-hold’ service. By doing this they can advise DVSA when and where they would like to sit tests within their 2-year qualification period. This enables DVSA to deploy examiner resource accordingly. Therefore, test allocation is largely controlled within DVSA. On occasion, short notice cancellations would be open for candidates to book directly. Due to this, DVSA does not have high volumes of test swapping, misuse or fraudulent bookings.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of current what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the absence of mandatory carbohydrate labelling in restaurants on the safety and clinical outcomes of people with Type 1 diabetes.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Legislation requiring large businesses in England, those with 250 or more employees, to display calorie information on non-prepacked food and soft drinks came into force in April 2022.

The Department carefully considered the views of a wide range of experts in response to the public consultations on calorie labelling, including expert advice from organisations such as Diabetes UK. A careful balance needed to be struck between making calorie labels as accessible and informative as possible for consumers while not disproportionately impacting businesses. It was decided that large businesses, who are responsible for nearly half of all food and drink sales, would only be required to display calorie information. This ensures that the regulations deliver the projected health benefits while minimising the risk of disproportionately burdening smaller businesses who might find the new requirement more challenging to implement. It is at the discretion of an individual business if they choose to display additional nutritional information, such as carbohydrates, on their menus.

We continue to evaluate the impact of the Out of Home Calorie Labelling Regulations and will publish a post-implementation review within five years of implementation which will consider the effectiveness and impact of the policy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of current requirements for the provision of carbohydrate and nutritional information in restaurants and other out-of-home food settings for people living with Type 1 diabetes.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Legislation requiring large businesses in England, those with 250 or more employees, to display calorie information on non-prepacked food and soft drinks came into force in April 2022.

The Department carefully considered the views of a wide range of experts in response to the public consultations on calorie labelling, including expert advice from organisations such as Diabetes UK. A careful balance needed to be struck between making calorie labels as accessible and informative as possible for consumers while not disproportionately impacting businesses. It was decided that large businesses, who are responsible for nearly half of all food and drink sales, would only be required to display calorie information. This ensures that the regulations deliver the projected health benefits while minimising the risk of disproportionately burdening smaller businesses who might find the new requirement more challenging to implement. It is at the discretion of an individual business if they choose to display additional nutritional information, such as carbohydrates, on their menus.

We continue to evaluate the impact of the Out of Home Calorie Labelling Regulations and will publish a post-implementation review within five years of implementation which will consider the effectiveness and impact of the policy.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the decision to allocate £126 million to kinship care pilot schemes.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.

The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.

The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.

The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.

While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of kinship care preventing children entering the statutory care system on Bedford Borough Council; and how this informs funding policy for kinship carers.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.

The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.

The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.

The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.

While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's timeline is for national implementation of kinship care financial support; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken on kinship carers in Bedford Borough.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.

The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.

The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.

The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.

While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with Bedford Borough Council on the financial support needs of kinship carers; and whether Bedford has been considered for inclusion in kinship care pilot schemes.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.

The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.

The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.

The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.

While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that kinship carers in Bedford Borough and other local authority areas do not wait for financial reform while kinship care pilot schemes are evaluated.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.

The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.

The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.

The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.

While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that evidence gathered from kinship care pilot areas is representative of kinship carers, including in Bedford Borough and neighbouring local authorities.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.

The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.

The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.

The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.

While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available to kinship carers in (a) Bedford Borough and (b) Bedfordshire not participating in the kinship care pilot programme.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.

The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.

The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.

The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.

While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the development of the Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England; what his planned publication timetable is; and how the proposed framework will help reduce variation in access to palliative and end of life care services across Integrated Care Boards.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

An interim product on the Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care is due in Spring, with full publication planned for Autumn.

The MSF will provide a clinically-led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including narrowing inequality and reducing unwarranted variation. Areas of action will be identified for those commissioning and delivering services with associated performance and outcome metrics to support system accountability.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase the speed at which compensation payments are issued by the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to affected people.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority has paid over £2 billion in compensation payments. As of 1 October 2025, IBCA had asked every living infected person who is registered with a support scheme to come forward and start their claim. IBCA has now opened the service for the first claims from infected people who were never compensated, deceased infected people, and living affected people. This met the Government’s targets for compensation delivery in 2025.

With each new cohort, IBCA are starting small, allowing them to learn what additions to the claim service are needed. This will allow them to open their service to more people as the service is built around specific needs. Whilst the roll out of the scheme is an operational decision for IBCA as an independent body, the Government fully supports its commitment to moving forward as swiftly as possible.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has visited an Integrated Retirement Community; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of modern housing-with-care schemes on older people's health.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the role integrated retirement communities play in providing high quality, safe, and suitable homes which can help people stay independent and healthy for longer and which reduce the need to draw on health and social care provision.

We have not made an assessment on the impact this specific type of housing provision has on older people’s health, but the Government is committed to enhancing the provision and choice for older people in the housing market.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has not undertaken a visit to an integrated retirement community to date.