Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of (a) requiring free-roaming cats to be neutered and (b) supporting animal rescue centres with the costs associated with unneutered cats.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government has no plans to require free-roaming cats to be neutered.

The Government will continue to engage with animal welfare stakeholders including rescues to understand issues and trends in relation to cats.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help tackle regional variations in disabled children’s social care in the context of the publication of the Law Commission’s report on 16 September 2025.

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

The Law Commission published its final report on 16 September 2025 following a department commissioned review in April 2023 of the legal framework for disabled children’s social care.

The report makes 40 recommendations, which we are now considering, with a focus on simplifying and strengthening the system to better support disabled children and their families. In line with the protocol agreed between the Lord Chancellor and the Law Commission, the department must provide an initial response within six months and a full response within one year, setting out which recommendations will be accepted, rejected or modified, and any implementation timeline.

As we prepare our formal response to the Law Commission, we believe the national rollout of Family Help, a seamless, non-stigmatising offer of support delivered by multi-disciplinary, community-based teams, is already beginning to address the intended outcomes of the report and reduce regional variations. This includes special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) trained professionals as leading practitioners. Through Family Help, we are taking steps to remove the stigma from asking for help, with more SEND professionals available in integrated front doors for families to access practical support without judgement unnecessarily burdensome assessments.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to accept the recommendations of the Law Commission’s report on disabled children’s social care, published on 16 September 2025.

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

The Law Commission published its final report on 16 September 2025 following a department commissioned review in April 2023 of the legal framework for disabled children’s social care.

The report makes 40 recommendations, which we are now considering, with a focus on simplifying and strengthening the system to better support disabled children and their families. In line with the protocol agreed between the Lord Chancellor and the Law Commission, the department must provide an initial response within six months and a full response within one year, setting out which recommendations will be accepted, rejected or modified, and any implementation timeline.

As we prepare our formal response to the Law Commission, we believe the national rollout of Family Help, a seamless, non-stigmatising offer of support delivered by multi-disciplinary, community-based teams, is already beginning to address the intended outcomes of the report and reduce regional variations. This includes special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) trained professionals as leading practitioners. Through Family Help, we are taking steps to remove the stigma from asking for help, with more SEND professionals available in integrated front doors for families to access practical support without judgement unnecessarily burdensome assessments.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for children’s palliative care services in Bradford West; and what steps the Modern Service Framework for palliative and end of life care is taking to address funding challenges faced by the sector.

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

The Government recognises the vital role that children’s palliative care services play in supporting children and young people with life-limiting conditions and their families, including in Bradford West.

Integrated care boards (ICBs), including the NHS West Yorkshire ICB, are responsible for assessing and commissioning palliative care and end of life care services that meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services available within the ICB catchment.

Although commissioning decisions are made locally, we continue to support the children’s hospice sector nationally. We are providing £26 million revenue funding to children and young people’s hospices in 2025/26, of which children and young people’s hospices in Bradford West are receiving £1,727,000.

We are also pleased to confirm the continuation of this funding, with approximately £80 million, adjusted for inflation, to be allocated over the next three financial years to children and young people’s hospices, giving them greater stability to plan ahead and focus on delivering high-quality, personalised care.

In addition, eligible hospices are benefitting from the Government’s £125 million capital investment to improve care environments for both adult and children’s hospices across England, of which children and young people’s hospices in Bradford West are receiving £1,278,935.

The Government is also developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England, planned for publication later this year. The MSF will support ICBs, including the NHS West Yorkshire ICB, to commission palliative care and end of life care more strategically by addressing the drivers of variation in access, quality and sustainability. It will help move the sector away from grant and block contract model towards clearer, more sustainable commissioning arrangements, enabling services, including those that support children, to plan with greater certainty.