Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to include physiotherapy graduates in the Graduate Guarantee Scheme.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are currently no plans to expand the Graduate Guarantee to physiotherapy graduates.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the cost and feasibility of undergrounding new electricity transmission infrastructure in rural areas, including Suffolk.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Network developers, not Government, are responsible for assessing the cost and feasibility of construction methods for new electricity transmission infrastructure. This includes consideration of whether construction methods are technically deliverable and an assessment of any environmental impacts.

Undergrounding is significantly more expensive, with the Institution of Engineering and Technology (April 2025) estimating that it costs around four and a half times more than overhead lines. As these costs are ultimately borne by electricity bill payers, overhead lines are the Government’s starting presumption for new transmission infrastructure.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evidential basis her Department is using to promote internal SEND units for pupils with specialist needs in mainstream schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

This government is committed to encouraging schools and local authorities to set up resourced provision and special educational needs (SEN) units to increase capacity in mainstream schools.

The department has carried out wide stakeholder engagement and reviewed the existing evidence base, including academic literature, public datasets and third-party reports.

We know there are many great examples of mainstream schools delivering specialist provision through resourced provision and SEN units. They have an important role to play in a more inclusive mainstream system, enabling children to achieve and thrive in a mainstream school.

We are committed to building the evidence base. For example, the ‘What Works in SEND’ programme is undertaking a research project on SEN units and resourced provision, including a systematic review of existing UK and international literature and research into operational models in primary and secondary schools in England.

The department is also working with the Council for Disabled Children and the National Association for Special Educational Needs to develop guidance to help mainstream settings deliver high quality support for children accessing SEN units, resourced provision, and pupil support units.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made by law enforcement on apprehending those responsible for the Legal Aid Agency cyber attack.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Since April 2025 there has been a net increase to the number of providers contracted to deliver legal aid services. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes data about provider numbers as part of its official statistics (table 9.6). Data for the period April to December 2025 is scheduled for release on 26 March 2026.

The LAA also routinely publishes data about the volume and value of legal aid cases across all legal aid schemes as part of its official statistics. As above, data for the period April to December 2025 is scheduled for release on 26 March 2026.

As set out in my response to PQ 98862, since the serious criminal attack on the LAA’s digital services was identified we have worked closely with relevant law enforcement agencies and Police. As sensitive investigations remain ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment on the nature or detail of this engagement.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to Answer of 22 December 2025 to Question 100065 on Legal Aid Scheme, how many legal aid providers have left the market in total since 23 April 2025.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Since April 2025 there has been a net increase to the number of providers contracted to deliver legal aid services. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes data about provider numbers as part of its official statistics (table 9.6). Data for the period April to December 2025 is scheduled for release on 26 March 2026.

The LAA also routinely publishes data about the volume and value of legal aid cases across all legal aid schemes as part of its official statistics. As above, data for the period April to December 2025 is scheduled for release on 26 March 2026.

As set out in my response to PQ 98862, since the serious criminal attack on the LAA’s digital services was identified we have worked closely with relevant law enforcement agencies and Police. As sensitive investigations remain ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment on the nature or detail of this engagement.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many legal aid cases there were in each month since 23 April 2025.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Since April 2025 there has been a net increase to the number of providers contracted to deliver legal aid services. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes data about provider numbers as part of its official statistics (table 9.6). Data for the period April to December 2025 is scheduled for release on 26 March 2026.

The LAA also routinely publishes data about the volume and value of legal aid cases across all legal aid schemes as part of its official statistics. As above, data for the period April to December 2025 is scheduled for release on 26 March 2026.

As set out in my response to PQ 98862, since the serious criminal attack on the LAA’s digital services was identified we have worked closely with relevant law enforcement agencies and Police. As sensitive investigations remain ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment on the nature or detail of this engagement.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Sharia law courts have operated in the UK in each year since 2010 and broken down by local authority area.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

There are no sharia law courts.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what information his Department holds on the number of people that have been prosecuted for facilitating forced marriages in each year since 2010 and broken down by local authority area.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Offences relating to forced marriages are created by s121 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which came into force in June 2014. Section 121 was further amended in February 2023 when s121(3A) was inserted making it an offence to force a child under the age of 18 into a marriage.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) holds management information from 2015 which shows the number of offences charged by way of s121 (forced marriage) in which a prosecution commenced. Table 1 below shows the number of these offences from 1^st April 2015 to 30^th September 2025.

The figures relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants. It can be the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same complainant. No data are held showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation.

In addition to the offence-based data, management information is held showing the number of defendants flagged with the forced marriage monitoring flag who were prosecuted from 1^st April 2010 to 30^th September 2025. Table 2 shows the number of flagged defendants prosecuted during this period.

The CPS forced marriage monitoring flag applies to any person who commits an offence under the law of England and Wales if he or she (a) uses violence, threats, or any other form of coercion for the purpose of causing another person to enter into a marriage, and (b) believes, or ought reasonably to believe, that the conduct may cause the other person to enter into the marriage without free and full consent.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to establish a development corporation in support of construction related to the Forest City 1 plan to build a city of a million people between Newmarket and Haverhill.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government has no current plans to establish a development corporation in support of construction related to the Forest City 1 proposal.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps Ofcom is taking to help tackle websites that provide instructions on committing suicide.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Online Safety Act requires in-scope services to prevent all users from encountering illegal suicide and self-harm content, and children from legal content encouraging, promoting, or providing instructions for suicide or self-harm.

The independent regulator Ofcom enforces compliance with the Act. Ofcom’s first investigation under the Act targeted a pro-suicide forum. On 6 January, Ofcom confirmed it has informed the forum provider that Ofcom is working towards issuing a provisional notice of contravention in relation to Act breaches.

Ofcom has also established a dedicated small but risky supervision taskforce, focusing on small services posing the most severe risk of harm.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what grounds Border Force might allow (a) sodium nitrate and (b) other toxic materials onward passage to a postal address.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Border Force controls imports and exports of sodium nitrate and other toxic materials in line with legislation. Where appropriate, Border Force uses powers in the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (CEMA), The Police and Crime Evidence Act 1984, The Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, and common law powers to detain or seize such goods, when they are liable to forfeiture under CEMA or evidence of an offence, referring to other law enforcement agencies for actioning as necessary.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what Border Force's policy is on the interception of (a) sodium nitrate and (b) other toxic materials at the border.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Border Force controls imports and exports of sodium nitrate and other toxic materials in line with legislation. Where appropriate, Border Force uses powers in the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (CEMA), The Police and Crime Evidence Act 1984, The Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, and common law powers to detain or seize such goods, when they are liable to forfeiture under CEMA or evidence of an offence, referring to other law enforcement agencies for actioning as necessary.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what information his Department holds on the number of people that have been prosecuted for honour-based offences broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) category of offence in each year since 2010.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The CPS define ‘honour’ based abuse as an incident or crime involving violence, threats of violence, intimidation coercion or abuse (including psychological, physical, sexual, financial, or emotional abuse) which has or may have been committed to protect or defend the honour of an individual, family and/ or community for alleged or perceived breaches of the family and/or community's code of behaviour. These data are accurate only to the extent that the flag is accurately applied.

Management information is available from 2010 which shows the number of prosecuted defendants flagged with the so-called honour-based abuse monitoring flag. The number of prosecuted defendants last year were at their highest level for seven years.

Table 1 (below) shows this information from 1^st April 2010 to 30^th September 2025, and Table 2 provides the same information by the Principal Offence Category allocated to the defendant at the conclusion of the prosecution proceeding.

Table 1 – Prosecuted defendants charged with ‘honour’ based abuse monitoring flag

Table 2 – Prosecuted defendants by principal offence category and flagged with the ‘honour’ based abuse monitoring flag

Data source: CPS Case Management Information System

The CPS collects data to assist in the effective management of its prosecution functions through its Case Management System (CMS). The CPS does not collect data that constitutes official statistics as defined in the Statistics and Registration Act 2007.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the effectiveness of introducing a statutory duty of candour on the military.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Bill will apply to all public authorities, including the military.

Appropriate safeguards for sensitive information will be in place and we are clear that nothing should undermine our national security.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has received from counterparts in Five Eyes countries that do not have a statutory duty of candour.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The sovereign capabilities of our security and intelligence agencies, underpinned by appropriate safeguards and oversight, enable us to keep ahead of our adversaries and provide the lynchpin for our collaboration with our Five Eyes partners.

We work incredibly closely with our allies, particularly our Five Eyes partners, to ensure our collective national security.

We are clear that the duty of candour must not undermine national security.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of introducing a statutory duty of candour on (a) military intelligence and (b) Special Forces.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Bill will apply to all public authorities, including military intelligence and the Special Forces.

We have worked closely with representatives across Government on the policy in this Bill – including the impact that a duty of candour would have on military intelligence and Special Forces.

We are clear that the duty of candour applies to all public authorities, including intelligence services, however, the duty of candour and processes for disclosure may need to apply in a different way to ensure that secure information is handled correctly.

We are clear that nothing should undermine our national security.

We are continuing to work closely across government with families, stakeholders and the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee to bring forward amendments that meet those aims. We will update the House in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many illegal marriages have been recorded in each year since 2010, broken down by local authority area.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice does not hold this data.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many charges were laid under Prison rule 51 relating specifically to aggravation towards a protected characteristic of (a) race, (b) religion and (c) belief in the last year where data exists; and how many of those charges were proven.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Prison Rule 51 sets out the offences of which an adult prisoner can be found guilty, including those which relate to aggravation towards a protected characteristic. The information on the breakdown of which protected characteristics these offences against discipline relate to can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Data on Adjudication outcomes related to these offences can be found in the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK, which are published quarterly.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which faith-based (a) charities and (b) organisations are permitted to visit prisons.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice recognises the vital contribution that charities and wider third sector organisations make to supporting prisoner rehabilitation.

Decisions as to which individuals or organisations may enter, or work in, a prison are taken by the prison governor. These decisions take account of the proposed role, security requirements, and other operational factors.

The Ministry of Justice does not maintain a central database of every organisation contributing to the work of prisons in England and Wales, as there is no operational need to do so.