Munira Wilson

We have already begun working to reset the UK-EU relationship. The Prime Minister has had positive early calls and meetings, including with Ursula von der Leyen, and key leaders in Member States. The Minister for the Cabinet Office has visited Brussels twice in the first two weeks of the new Government and met with his counterpart, Executive Vice President Maroš Šefčovič.

We want to improve the trading relationship with the EU, including on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and we look forward to exploring this further with our European partners.

We have already begun working to reset the UK-EU relationship. The Prime Minister has had positive early calls and meetings, including with Ursula von der Leyen, and key leaders in Member States. The Minister for the Cabinet Office has visited Brussels twice in the first two weeks of the new Government and met with his counterpart, Executive Vice President Maroš Šefčovič.

We want to improve the trading relationship with the EU, including on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and we look forward to exploring this further with our European partners.

The Government greatly values kinship carers who come forward to care for children who cannot live with their parents.

The Government has committed in the Plan to Make Work Pay to review the system of parental leave to ensure that it better supports working families.

It is a long established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place at Cabinet and its committees is not normally made public.

This Government is committed to restoring the UK’s global leadership on climate and nature. We are honouring the existing commitment on our pledge to spend £11.6bn in International Climate Finance between April 2021 and March 2026 including at least £3bn on nature, from which £1.5bn will be dedicated to protecting and restoring forests. In doing so, we can encourage member states at COP29 to follow our example. Public finance will continue to be key, but we cannot act alone. A concerted and sustained global effort to boost finance from all sources is necessary.

The Government is actively coordinating its efforts to ensure a just transition, enabling workers to benefit from the economic opportunities arising from our shift to net zero. To support this, it has established the Office for Clean Energy Jobs, which aims to assist workers and communities at risk of economic displacement by focusing on skill development and training in the clean energy and net zero sectors. The Government’s primary goal is to create quality jobs in Britain’s industrial heartlands, ensuring a fair transition for industries based in the North Sea.

We know that to achieve net zero, we must look at how we can accelerate the potential of all low carbon technologies including geothermal. The Government understands that geothermal can play a role in our decarbonisation ambitions particularly as a low carbon source for heat via heat networks. We have commissioned research into the potential costs of geothermal heat in the UK and will use this to understand how the government can support the sector to achieve its potential.

The government wants to see remuneration arrangements that create the right conditions for sparking and driving innovation and investment, whilst rewarding creators for their work.

The governments response to the CMS Committee’s report on Creator Remuneration acknowledges the challenges facing creatives. In responding, the government has committed to exploring the case for a Freelance Commissioner and highlights the new provisions in the Employment Rights Bill. The government is also committed to finding the right balance between fostering innovation in artificial intelligence and ensuring protection for creators and investment in the creative industries. We intend to proceed carefully but with a degree of urgency in this area and hope to announce next steps soon.

On music streaming specifically, the government believes all artists and creators should be appropriately remunerated for the use of their works, as this is what allows them to invest their time, effort, and money into creating music. That is why this government is engaging with music stakeholders, including through a working group to pursue industry-led actions on remuneration from music streaming. We will continue to bring industry and creator representatives together to address issues and find solutions.

This government is committed to providing support for care leavers to ensure they have the practical and emotional support they need as they move towards independence. The department is currently providing £23 million this financial year for 47 local authorities and three charities to deliver Staying Close. My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced the overall settlement for the department for the 2025/26 financial year. The department is working internally to confirm the detail of 2025/26 budgets and future funding plans as soon as possible.

As announced in the Oral Statement in the House of Commons on 18 November, it is this government’s intention to make the Staying Close programme a national offer to all former relevant children up to the age of 25, when parliamentary time allows.

This will set the clear expectation that the local authority must assess whether provision of Staying Close support to the former relevant child is required, in the interests of that person’s welfare.

This government is committed to providing support for care leavers to ensure they have the practical and emotional support they need as they move towards independence. The department is currently providing £23 million this financial year for 47 local authorities and three charities to deliver Staying Close. My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced the overall settlement for the department for the 2025/26 financial year. The department is working internally to confirm the detail of 2025/26 budgets and future funding plans as soon as possible.

As announced in the Oral Statement in the House of Commons on 18 November, it is this government’s intention to make the Staying Close programme a national offer to all former relevant children up to the age of 25, when parliamentary time allows.

This will set the clear expectation that the local authority must assess whether provision of Staying Close support to the former relevant child is required, in the interests of that person’s welfare.

Within the 2022/23 to 2024/25 financial years, the department is providing £53 million to 47 local authorities and three private providers to deliver the Staying Close programme. The programme supports care leavers to find and maintain move-on accommodation, and provides practical and emotional support from someone they know and trust, to young people leaving residential and other care placements.

The independent evaluations of the initial pilots showed Staying Close found promising evidence that this programme can support better outcomes for care leavers including a 20% improvement in mental health outcomes, a 13% reduction in the number of young people who were not in education, employment or training and a 21% reduction in anti-social behaviour.

The evaluations reported that Staying Close supported young people to develop and build the skills needed to prepare for independent living. Feedback showed that young people’s life skills had improved after six months of participating in the project and that they felt happier in themselves. They also showed increased participation in activities, whether education, employment or getting involved with other activities in the project.

The department continues to look at the impact of Staying Close and have commissioned the Centre for Homelessness Impact (CHI) to undertake further evaluation. This is due to report in early 2025.

The within-school and -college factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s outcome is high quality teaching, but there are shortages of qualified teachers across the country. This is why this government will work with the sector to deliver its pledge to recruit 6,500 additional teachers across schools and colleges over the course of this parliament, to raise standards for children and young people, and deliver its mission to break down the barriers to opportunity at every stage. The department’s measures will include getting more teachers into shortage subjects, supporting areas that face recruitment challenges and tackling retention issues. Further details will be shared in due course.

The department has already made good, early progress towards this pledge by ensuring teaching is once again an attractive and respected profession. The department has accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools, which is effective from September. The department is also removing the requirement for performance related pay.

Alongside this the department is also supporting teachers to improve their workload and wellbeing, including opportunities for greater flexible working. Teachers are now allowed to undertake planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time remotely and the department is also delivering a programme focused on embedding flexible working in schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs). This includes the delivery of supportive webinars and peer support provided by flexible working ambassador schools and MATs. ​Additionally, the department has made available a range of resources to help address teacher workload and wellbeing, including its improve workload and wellbeing for school staff service and the education staff wellbeing charter.

The department has also expanded the school teacher recruitment campaign 'Every Lesson Shapes a Life' and the further education teacher recruitment campaign 'Share your Skills'.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a Budget on 30 October to be followed by a multi-year spending review in the spring of next year. Decisions about future funding will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.

The department is dedicated to working in partnership with the sector to re-establish teaching as an attractive profession, and one that existing teachers want to remain in, former teachers want to return to, and new graduates and industry professionals wish to join.

The within-school and -college factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s outcome is high quality teaching, but there are shortages of qualified teachers across the country. This is why this government will work with the sector to deliver its pledge to recruit 6,500 additional teachers across schools and colleges over the course of this parliament, to raise standards for children and young people, and deliver its mission to break down the barriers to opportunity at every stage. The department’s measures will include getting more teachers into shortage subjects, supporting areas that face recruitment challenges and tackling retention issues. Further details will be shared in due course.

The department has already made good, early progress towards this pledge by ensuring teaching is once again an attractive and respected profession. The department has accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools, which is effective from September. The department is also removing the requirement for performance related pay.

Alongside this the department is also supporting teachers to improve their workload and wellbeing, including opportunities for greater flexible working. Teachers are now allowed to undertake planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time remotely and the department is also delivering a programme focused on embedding flexible working in schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs). This includes the delivery of supportive webinars and peer support provided by flexible working ambassador schools and MATs. ​Additionally, the department has made available a range of resources to help address teacher workload and wellbeing, including its improve workload and wellbeing for school staff service and the education staff wellbeing charter.

The department has also expanded the school teacher recruitment campaign 'Every Lesson Shapes a Life' and the further education teacher recruitment campaign 'Share your Skills'.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a Budget on 30 October to be followed by a multi-year spending review in the spring of next year. Decisions about future funding will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.

The department is dedicated to working in partnership with the sector to re-establish teaching as an attractive profession, and one that existing teachers want to remain in, former teachers want to return to, and new graduates and industry professionals wish to join.

The Government has been clear that the UK’s trading relationship with the EU can be improved in several areas. The Department continues to engage with the European Union (EU) Commission on areas where future cooperation or recognition could support UK interests. Any further details will be provided in due course, as engagement progresses.

This Government is committed to securing the long-term future of the aviation sector in the UK and recognises the benefits of the connectivity it creates between the UK and the rest of the world.

We have been clear that any expansion proposals at Heathrow Airport would need to demonstrate that they contribute to country-wide economic growth, are compatible with the UK’s legally binding climate change commitments and meet strict environmental standards on air quality and noise pollution.

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is delivered through HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), rather than the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). We do not hold information on SMP cases per constituency, however a breakdown by region, supplied by HMRC, is below.

Notes:

1. Figures for Statutory Maternity Pay are rounded to the nearest hundred.

1. Figures for Statutory Maternity Pay were collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and were extracted in August 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates. The location of the claim is based on the taxpayers’ residential address as recorded on RTI.
2. Figures are the number of individuals in receipt of SMP in a given financial year. A significant number of cases will be active across two financial years, and therefore counted in both. As the 2024-25 financial year is still ongoing, figures are correct up until May 2024.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for York Central on 14 October 2024 to Question 7797.

The information requested is not held centrally. We have commissioned NHS England for this information and will provide an update once we receive the reply.

The National Disease Registration Service publishes cancer registration statistics annually, as Accredited Official Statistics. The information requested is therefore available at the following link:

https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/incidence_and_mortality

The interactive dashboard provides the most recent data available to 2020 which represents completed disease registration. The data is broken down by age and types of cervical cancer.

There are currently no plans to make an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of extending the age of the National Health Service’s cervical screening programme beyond 65 years old. The UK National Screening Committee reviewed the evidence to screen women over 65 years old for cervical cancer in 2019, and due to the lack of evidence, no recommendation was made on changing the age at which women exit the programme.

People over the age of 65 years old who have not had a positive human papillomavirus (HPV) cervical screening result recently are not invited back for screening. Evidence suggests that it is very unlikely that they will develop cervical cancer over the age of 65 years old if they are HPV negative.

Anyone aged 65 years old or older continues to be screened within the NHS cervical screening programme if one of the last three screening tests was abnormal. In addition, people aged over 65 years old who have never had cervical screening, or who have not had a screening since they turned 50 years old, are able to request a cervical screening test through their general practice.

There are currently no plans to make an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of extending the age of the National Health Service’s cervical screening programme beyond 65 years old. The UK National Screening Committee reviewed the evidence to screen women over 65 years old for cervical cancer in 2019, and due to the lack of evidence, no recommendation was made on changing the age at which women exit the programme.

People over the age of 65 years old who have not had a positive human papillomavirus (HPV) cervical screening result recently are not invited back for screening. Evidence suggests that it is very unlikely that they will develop cervical cancer over the age of 65 years old if they are HPV negative.

Anyone aged 65 years old or older continues to be screened within the NHS cervical screening programme if one of the last three screening tests was abnormal. In addition, people aged over 65 years old who have never had cervical screening, or who have not had a screening since they turned 50 years old, are able to request a cervical screening test through their general practice.