Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential for Family Hubs to act as neighbourhood anchors bringing together childcare, parenting support, early years education and wider community services.

Answered by Olivia Bailey

The government is determined to remove barriers to opportunity and raise the healthiest generation of children ever. Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies are central to that ambition, bringing together childcare, health, parenting support and early years services in one place.

The Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies programme guidance makes clear that Hubs should act as neighbourhood anchors, supporting families through a connected local network of parenting support, early years education, health and wider community services. We are investing over £900 million in Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies to create up to 1,000 hubs and 2,000 network sites across England by the end of 2028.

The Hubs will connect families to wider services including housing and cost-of-living support across the 0 to 19 age range (25 for children with special educational needs and disabilities). Network sites will extend into places families already use, including early years settings, schools, libraries and community venues, helping families access support close to home.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of childcare on meeting the needs of parents working irregular hours, shift patterns or in insecure employment.

Answered by Olivia Bailey

The department is investing over £1 billion more in the early years entitlements this year compared to 2025/26 and an above inflation increase to entitlements funding rates. In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements. In addition to funding increases, we will consult on changes to how early years funding is allocated and distributed as part of the ongoing review of childcare provision and regulation.

Local authorities must, so far as is reasonably practicable, secure sufficient childcare for working parents in their area. The department’s statutory guidance states that they should assess the childcare needs of parents and ensure there is provision that supports participation in work and training. When assessing sufficiency, local authorities should consider families who may have difficulty accessing childcare, including those working outside standard hours or with changing work patterns.

By allowing funded hours to be stretched across the year, deducting closures from calculations, and enabling mixed‑provider models, the system is designed to work alongside all‑year childcare businesses, managing funding and fees transparently and within national limits, broadening parental choice.

We continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places; the key measure being the supply of available places is sufficient to meet requirements.

Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006 states that local authorities are responsible for ensuring the provision of childcare is sufficient in their area.

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 economic impact of coastal communities on the national economy; and whether she plans to publish a strategy for supporting economic growth in coastal towns.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is the lead for coastal communities across Government. Many coastal communities are also rural, and Defra is the lead department for rural communities. Rural areas contributed over £259 billion (12%) to the economy in England in 2023. Further information and analysis on the contribution of rural areas to the economy can be found in the Statistical Digest of Rural England - GOV.UK.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing dedicated funding mechanisms for coastal and former industrial towns not directly impacted by growth in nearby city regions.

Answered by Nesil Caliskan

Growth is this Governments’ number one priority, and our city regions are identified as a key driver of this. Backing our major city regions is about creating strong growth for their whole areas, not just city centres, so that communities in the surrounding towns within commuting reach can benefit.

Growth priorities achieved through MSA Local Growth Plans will be beneficial for all places, boosting overall regional productivity while also reducing inequalities within regions. Everywhere has an important role to play in driving local growth, with many local authorities having or developing local economic strategies

We are supporting places across the country with our Pride in Place programme, which empowers communities to decide how they would like to shape their area and will provide up to £5.8bn funding and support over 10 years to 284 areas, including many coastal and former industrial areas.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of devolution settlements for coastal towns located on the periphery of combined authority areas.

Answered by Nesil Caliskan

The Government believes that all communities can benefit from devolution, which places powers in the hands of local leaders who understand the opportunities and challenges facing their areas.

Strategic Authorities can play an important role in addressing the distinct challenges often associated with coastal communities, including economic development, transport connectivity, regeneration and skills.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 explicitly recognises coastal communities within the areas of competence for Strategic Authorities. This provides a clear basis for mayors and Strategic Authorities to consider the interests of coastal communities when exercising their functions and developing local priorities.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance NHS England provides to GP practices on responding to covert recording of consultations by patients.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

NHS England has not produced guidance specifically for general practices on the covert recording of consultations. NHS England has published guidance on the use of mobile devices by patients in hospitals, which signposts to the British Medical Association guidance on managing covert recordings. Both of these guidance documents are available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/information-governance/guidance/use-of-mobile-devices-by-patients-in-hospitals#guidance-for-health-and-care-professionals

https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/ethics/confidentiality-and-health-records/patients-recording-consultations

There is also advice available from the Medical Defence Union and from local medical committees to assist general practices in developing policies for their own practices.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of development corporations on accelerating the conversion of vacant upper floors in town centres into residential accommodation.

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

My Department has made no specific assessment on the potential impact of Development Corporations in accelerating the conversion of vacant upper floors in town centres into residential accommodation.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 included measures to create a clearer, more flexible, and robust framework for development corporations.

The government intends to bring forward further legislation in due course to provide for locally led urban Development Corporations, enabling more coastal communities to establish them, where appropriate.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to establish new powers for development corporations in coastal communities.

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

My Department has made no specific assessment on the potential impact of Development Corporations in accelerating the conversion of vacant upper floors in town centres into residential accommodation.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 included measures to create a clearer, more flexible, and robust framework for development corporations.

The government intends to bring forward further legislation in due course to provide for locally led urban Development Corporations, enabling more coastal communities to establish them, where appropriate.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to tackle online conspiracy belief, misinformation and disinformation in the classroom.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department will strengthen media literacy education and skills for young people to critically engage with and assess information from a range of sources in the national curriculum, following the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report. This will help pupils learn how to spot misinformation and disinformation, including AI-generated content, and to develop critical thinking skills.

The department is engaging with sector experts to determine how to reflect this in the updated curriculum and training requirements for teachers. Following public consultation from September, the new curriculum will be taught from September 2028.

Updated relationships, sex and health education guidance, to be implemented from September 2026, includes strengthened content on staying safe online and online wellbeing. Secondary pupils will learn how advertising and information is targeted at them and how to be a discerning consumer of information online, understanding the prevalence of misinformation and disinformation online, including conspiracy theories.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Commission into Countering Online Conspiracies in Schools' 2026 Research Insights, published in March 2026, what steps she is taking to improve access to training for school staff on responding to misinformation and conspiracy theories, in the context of the finding that 35 per cent of school staff have received no such training.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department will strengthen media literacy education and skills for young people to critically engage with and assess information from a range of sources in the national curriculum, following the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report. This will help pupils learn how to spot misinformation and disinformation, including AI-generated content, and to develop critical thinking skills.

The department is engaging with sector experts to determine how to reflect this in the updated curriculum and training requirements for teachers. Following public consultation from September, the new curriculum will be taught from September 2028.

Updated relationships, sex and health education guidance, to be implemented from September 2026, includes strengthened content on staying safe online and online wellbeing. Secondary pupils will learn how advertising and information is targeted at them and how to be a discerning consumer of information online, understanding the prevalence of misinformation and disinformation online, including conspiracy theories.

Found: Leicestershire) Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat; Torbay) Damien Egan (Labour; Bristol North East) Patrick Hurley

Found: Leicestershire) Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat; Torbay) Damien Egan (Labour; Bristol North East) Patrick Hurley

Found: present: Debbie Abrahams (Chair); Lee Barron; Mr Peter Bedford; Steve Darling; Damien Egan; Patrick Hurley

Found: present (Standing Order No. 137A): Debbie Abrahams, David Baines, Steve Darling, Damien Egan, Patrick Hurley

Found: Leicestershire) Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat; Torbay) Damien Egan (Labour; Bristol North East) Patrick Hurley

Found: Leicestershire) Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat; Torbay) Damien Egan (Labour; Bristol North East) Patrick Hurley

Submit Evidence (by 31 Aug 2026)

The government wants to get Britain working again, including by reducing rates of economic inactivity, especially among young people and disabled people. To this end, it is investing £3.5 billion in employment support and devolving more power over this policy area to Strategic Authorities.