Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many full-time equivalent jobs there were in the low carbon and renewable energy economy in each year since 2015.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 13th May is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total turnover was of the UK's low carbon and renewable energy economy for each year since 2015.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 13th May is attached.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to regularly review the Government’s statutory guidance from 2017 in relation to supporting pupils with allergies at school.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance on ‘Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’ makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.The department will keep the statutory guidance under review as we take forward our commitment to delivering an inclusive mainstream system.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children with an EHCP in Wiltshire are currently placed in educational provision outside of the local authority area.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department publishes local authority level information on cross border movement, which is where pupils attend school in a different local authority to the one where they live, in the following annual accredited official statistics publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2023-24.

As of January 2024, there were 245 pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan living in Wiltshire and attending a primary, secondary or special school outside the local authority. This information does not include cases where the pupil attends an independent, general hospital school or non-maintained special school.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of potential impact of surface water flooding on communities in Wiltshire; and what funding he has provided to help mitigate flooding risks in Wiltshire since 2015.

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

Lead local flood authorities are required to manage local flood risks from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses. Local flood risks should be identified and managed as part of a local flood risk management strategy. The two lead local flood authorities in Wiltshire are Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council.

In the area covered by Wiltshire Council, £38,597,000 of Capital Flood Defence Grant in Aid funding was invested between 2015/16 and 2024/25 by the Environment Agency and other Risk Management Authorities on flood related projects. The most significant of these was the Environment Agency led Salisbury River Park Scheme which spent £35,070,000 to better protect 1,062 properties. These totals exclude maintenance spending, property-level protection schemes, and some projects which cross county borders.

In the area covered by Swindon Borough Council, £2,615,993 was invested between 2015/16 and 2024/25 by the Environment Agency and other Risk Management Authorities on flood related projects.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many tribunal appeals were lodged against decisions made by Wiltshire Council relating to Education, Health and Care Plans in each of the last five years; and in how many cases the appeal was upheld.

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

Information about appeal outcomes to SEND is published at Tribunals statistics quarterly: October to December 2024 - GOV.UK, but is not broken down to the detail requested.

The data requested, academic years September to August, are set out in the table below:

⁽¹⁾ Is the total of cases where the appellant wins the majority of the appeal (i.e. the appellant may be successful in 2 out of the 3 sections they appeal against). It does not include those cases which were withdrawn or conceded before the hearing as the request was for the numbers upheld.

The information provided has been extracted from local management information.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of Bereavement Support Payments in covering the (a) immediate and (b) ongoing costs faced by bereaved families.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

There has been no recent assessment of the adequacy of Bereavement Support Payment covering (a) immediate and (b) on going costs to bereaved families. The Bereavement Support Payment qualitative research published in 2021 explored how the lump sum and the monthly payments were used.

Bereavement Support Payment is intended to help people through the immediate period following a bereavement. Where longer-term financial support is needed, benefits such as Universal Credit have been specifically designed to provide assistance with ongoing living costs. The rate of Bereavement Support Payment is reviewed on a discretionary basis as part of the annual uprating process, but there is no legal requirement to uprate it.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average dispensing time for a prescription in the NHS South West for each month between May 2015 and April 2025.

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

The Department does not hold data on average dispensing time, and it is not routinely collected. Pharmacies are independent businesses who follow their own individual standard operating procedures in dispensing medicines. How they order, receive, and label medicines will vary according to their business model and will depend on if a medicine is a repeat or an acute prescription.

Pharmacies are expected to maintain a reasonable stock holding to meet their legal obligations to dispense all prescriptions with reasonable promptness, recognising that it is not feasible for a pharmacy to maintain stock of every medicine.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria was used to assess the eligibility of schools for the Schools Rebuilding Progamme; and how many schools in Wilshire have been included since 2020. .

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Schools have been prioritised because they met one or more of the following criteria:

• They had buildings of specific construction types that require replacement.
• Their buildings had the highest condition need, identified in data collected in the Condition Data Collection and verified through collecting additional condition information, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-data-collection-programme-information-and-guidance.
• Their buildings had severe and urgent condition need that meant they were a high priority for replacement.
• Their buildings had risks that have the potential to cause significant harm to pupils or staff that meant they were a high priority for replacement.

More information about how the department prioritised schools can be found in the published methodology notes, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.

The number of schools in Wiltshire that have been included in the School Rebuilding Programme is 3.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to use a proportion of the additional funding for defence to improve (a) accommodation and (b) facilities for (i) service personnel and (ii) their families in Wiltshire.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Defence Housing Strategy, planned for publication later this year, will set out a roadmap to deliver a generational renewal of military accommodation. The main objective is to raise the minimum standard of Armed Forces housing across the Ministry of Defence estate, including military housing in Wiltshire.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has reviewed the performance of housing maintenance contracts for military service accommodation in Wiltshire.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation continues to drive for improved performance from the Future Defence Infrastructure Services Accommodation Industry Partners in all regions, including Wiltshire.

Performance is monitored on a monthly basis, including oversight at Chief Executive level, to hold Industry Partners to account.

The performance of housing maintenance contracts for Service Family Accommodation in Wiltshire has not been specifically reviewed since it is part of the contract covering the wider South West accommodation region.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to the Pension Service helpline (a) were not answered, (b) involved the caller being on hold for more than 10 minutes and (c) were terminated by the Pension Service following the caller being on hold for more than 10 minutes in (i) February, (ii) March, and (iii) April 2025.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

DWP does not have a specific enquiry line called the Pension Service Helpline, so I have provided the data from the State Pensions enquiries line.

Over the period 1 February to 30 April 2025 a total of 28,775 calls were not answered due to caller abandonment. A monthly breakdown shows February 6,696; March 16,960 and April 5,119. The percentage of calls answered over these 3 months on average shows Feb 92%, March 84% and April 94%, against an expectation of 90%. A total of 67,736 callers were on hold for more than 10 minutes with the monthly breakdown showing February 9,082, March 51,746, April 6,908. No calls were terminated by DWP.

We do not hold the data before June 2023 and therefore have based our answer on the period from 1st June 2023 to 31st January 2025. In this data, calls not answered were due to caller abandonment. No calls were terminated by DWP.

The information provided here is based on internal management information which is not intended for publication and has not been quality assured to official statistics standards.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to the Pension Service helpline (a) were not answered, (b) involved the caller being on hold for more than 10 minutes and (c) were terminated by the Pension Service following the caller being on hold for more than 10 minutes in each month between January 2015 and January 2024.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

DWP does not have a specific enquiry line called the Pension Service Helpline, so I have provided the data from the State Pensions enquiries line.

Over the period 1 February to 30 April 2025 a total of 28,775 calls were not answered due to caller abandonment. A monthly breakdown shows February 6,696; March 16,960 and April 5,119. The percentage of calls answered over these 3 months on average shows Feb 92%, March 84% and April 94%, against an expectation of 90%. A total of 67,736 callers were on hold for more than 10 minutes with the monthly breakdown showing February 9,082, March 51,746, April 6,908. No calls were terminated by DWP.

We do not hold the data before June 2023 and therefore have based our answer on the period from 1st June 2023 to 31st January 2025. In this data, calls not answered were due to caller abandonment. No calls were terminated by DWP.

The information provided here is based on internal management information which is not intended for publication and has not been quality assured to official statistics standards.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department takes to monitor the effectiveness of (a) respite and (b) support services for young carers in Wiltshire; and what recent assessment she has made of that effectiveness.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not have data on the proportion of young carers in Wiltshire who have received an assessment of their needs in the last 12 months. However, being a young carer was identified as a factor at end of assessment in 253 episodes of need in Wiltshire in the year ending 31 March 2024.

Services for young carers are monitored through the inspection of local authorities. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including those relating to young carers. CQC has published their assessment of Wiltshire Council, rating them Good. It reports that there were no delays in wait times for young unpaid carers needs assessments and that the young unpaid carers offer was well established with robust oversight from senior leaders. Further, Ofsted’s inspection of Wiltshire’s Children’s Services in September 2023 found the overall service to be Outstanding.

The department is aiming to publish national key stage 2 and key stage 4 data for young carers for the first time later this year. Subject to data quality, this will allow comparison of young carers progress and attainment with their peers at local authority level.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a comparative assessment of the (a) educational attainment and (b) progression of young carers with their peers in Wiltshire.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not have data on the proportion of young carers in Wiltshire who have received an assessment of their needs in the last 12 months. However, being a young carer was identified as a factor at end of assessment in 253 episodes of need in Wiltshire in the year ending 31 March 2024.

Services for young carers are monitored through the inspection of local authorities. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including those relating to young carers. CQC has published their assessment of Wiltshire Council, rating them Good. It reports that there were no delays in wait times for young unpaid carers needs assessments and that the young unpaid carers offer was well established with robust oversight from senior leaders. Further, Ofsted’s inspection of Wiltshire’s Children’s Services in September 2023 found the overall service to be Outstanding.

The department is aiming to publish national key stage 2 and key stage 4 data for young carers for the first time later this year. Subject to data quality, this will allow comparison of young carers progress and attainment with their peers at local authority level.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of young carers in Wiltshire have received a formal assessment of their needs in the last 12 months.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not have data on the proportion of young carers in Wiltshire who have received an assessment of their needs in the last 12 months. However, being a young carer was identified as a factor at end of assessment in 253 episodes of need in Wiltshire in the year ending 31 March 2024.

Services for young carers are monitored through the inspection of local authorities. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including those relating to young carers. CQC has published their assessment of Wiltshire Council, rating them Good. It reports that there were no delays in wait times for young unpaid carers needs assessments and that the young unpaid carers offer was well established with robust oversight from senior leaders. Further, Ofsted’s inspection of Wiltshire’s Children’s Services in September 2023 found the overall service to be Outstanding.

The department is aiming to publish national key stage 2 and key stage 4 data for young carers for the first time later this year. Subject to data quality, this will allow comparison of young carers progress and attainment with their peers at local authority level.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of early release schemes on the safety of domestic abuse survivors in Wiltshire.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.

Eligibility under SDS40 is determined by law and we exempted a number of offences from the measure. Unlike the previous Government’s ECSL scheme, we excluded certain offences connected to domestic abuse. SDS40 offence exclusions include specified offences linked to domestic abuse irrespective of sentence length including stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour and non-fatal strangulation. Our exclusions send a very clear message about how seriously domestic abuse is taken by this Government, which was elected on a landmark pledge to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. Tackling domestic abuse is a core part of this mission.

However, there is no one offence for domestic abuse, meaning it was not possible to exempt all domestic abusers.

To safeguard victims and their families, SDS40 was introduced with an eight-week implementation period, clear offence-based exclusions, and extensive coordination across the Criminal Justice System. Offenders released under SDS40 are subject to strict licence conditions and close supervision by probation services. Any breach of these conditions can result in immediate recall to custody. We will also recruit a further 1,300 trainee probation officers by March 2026 to ensure probation has the right resource to supervise high risk offenders and meet the growing demands of our justice system.

We have published SDS40 release data as part of the quarterly Offender Management Statistics, in line with the Lord Chancellor’s commitment to transparency: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who (a) have been convicted of offences related to domestic abuse in Wiltshire and (b) may be eligible for early release; and what steps her Department is taking to safeguard (i) victims and (ii) victims' families when domestic abusers are released early.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.

Eligibility under SDS40 is determined by law and we exempted a number of offences from the measure. Unlike the previous Government’s ECSL scheme, we excluded certain offences connected to domestic abuse. SDS40 offence exclusions include specified offences linked to domestic abuse irrespective of sentence length including stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour and non-fatal strangulation. Our exclusions send a very clear message about how seriously domestic abuse is taken by this Government, which was elected on a landmark pledge to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. Tackling domestic abuse is a core part of this mission.

However, there is no one offence for domestic abuse, meaning it was not possible to exempt all domestic abusers.

To safeguard victims and their families, SDS40 was introduced with an eight-week implementation period, clear offence-based exclusions, and extensive coordination across the Criminal Justice System. Offenders released under SDS40 are subject to strict licence conditions and close supervision by probation services. Any breach of these conditions can result in immediate recall to custody. We will also recruit a further 1,300 trainee probation officers by March 2026 to ensure probation has the right resource to supervise high risk offenders and meet the growing demands of our justice system.

We have published SDS40 release data as part of the quarterly Offender Management Statistics, in line with the Lord Chancellor’s commitment to transparency: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what mechanisms are in place to monitor compliance with (a) licence conditions and (b) restraining orders for early-released offenders in Wiltshire; and what steps she takes to respond to breaches.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.

Eligibility under SDS40 is determined by law and we exempted a number of offences from the measure. Unlike the previous Government’s ECSL scheme, we excluded certain offences connected to domestic abuse. SDS40 offence exclusions include specified offences linked to domestic abuse irrespective of sentence length including stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour and non-fatal strangulation. Our exclusions send a very clear message about how seriously domestic abuse is taken by this Government, which was elected on a landmark pledge to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. Tackling domestic abuse is a core part of this mission.

However, there is no one offence for domestic abuse, meaning it was not possible to exempt all domestic abusers.

To safeguard victims and their families, SDS40 was introduced with an eight-week implementation period, clear offence-based exclusions, and extensive coordination across the Criminal Justice System. Offenders released under SDS40 are subject to strict licence conditions and close supervision by probation services. Any breach of these conditions can result in immediate recall to custody. We will also recruit a further 1,300 trainee probation officers by March 2026 to ensure probation has the right resource to supervise high risk offenders and meet the growing demands of our justice system.

We have published SDS40 release data as part of the quarterly Offender Management Statistics, in line with the Lord Chancellor’s commitment to transparency: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations she has received from disability and passenger rights organisations in Wiltshire on Great Western Railway’s proposed staffing reductions; and if she will publish a summary of those representations.

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

Great Western Railway (GWR) are not proposing any staffing reductions in Wiltshire and we have not had any representations from disability and passenger rights organisations on this subject. GWR have confirmed that they will not be bringing forward any changes to ticket office opening hours at the current time.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's timetable is for publishing (a) a full timeline and (b) funding pathway for achieving the target of spending 2.5% of GDP on defence; and what plans he has for infrastructure upgrades at bases in Wiltshire.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The pathway to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence was set out in the Spring Statement earlier this year and will be reflected in the outcome of the second phase of the Spending Review that is due to be finalised on 11 June 2025.

The Defence Housing Strategy, planned for publication later this year, will set out a roadmap to deliver a generational renewal of military accommodation. The main objective is to raise the minimum standard of Armed Forces housing across the MOD estate, including military housing in Wiltshire.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the proposals in Law Commission’s report entitled Modernising Wills Law, published on 15 May 2025.

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

The Government has welcomed the Law Commission’s comprehensive report on the law of making a will and will be giving the report careful consideration.

This is the first major review of the law on making wills since the Wills Act 1837, and the reforms proposed by the Law Commission are significant and wide ranging. They deserve detailed consideration. The Government recognises that the current law is outdated, and we must embrace change, but the guiding principle in doing so will be to ensure that reform does not compromise existing freedoms or protecting the elderly and vulnerable in society from undue influence.

The Government will make further announcements in due course, once it has given the report the detailed consideration it deserves.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken with police forces to ensure the accurate collection of data on the abuse of older people; and if she will publish the most recent data held by her Department for Wiltshire.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS), who are responsible for the publication of crime statistics in England and Wales has explored the feasibility of extending the Crime Survey for England and Wales, to cover the population resident in care homes and the use of other sources to improve coverage of elder abuse in its crime statistics. A report on this work has been published and can be found here:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/incorporatingdataoncrimesexperiencedbycarehomeresidentsintocrimestatistics/2023-12-01

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the abuse of older people in included in the upcoming violence against women and girls strategy.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

This Government recognises the devastating impact domestic abuse can have on victims and is committed to tackling abuse in all its forms. We know that whilst anyone can experience domestic abuse, for older victims, abuse may be more hidden or compounded by other age-related issues such as mental or physical ill health. The upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy will reflect the varied experiences and needs of different victim cohorts.

We are providing Hourglass, a charity dedicated to addressing the neglect and abuse of older people, with £532,121 in 2025-26. This funding represents a 23% uplift to the previous financial year and will provide helpline and advocacy support for older victims across England and Wales.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the regional differences in the potential impact of reductions to the adoption and special guardian support fund; and what steps she is taking to help tackle any identified disparities.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The criteria for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) will enable as many children and families as possible to access funding, including in Wiltshire. The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. This includes reviewing the equalities impact assessment, which will be made available in the Libraries of both Houses in due course.

Since December 2023, ASGSF applications have required the use of outcomes measurement tools to monitor the impact of ASGSF-funded therapies. Over time, these tools will enable the department and local areas to monitor the long-term impacts of the ASGSF.

The department expects the ASGSF to remain an important source of support for adoptive families across the country, with no regional differences. However, it is not the only source of support. We are funding Adoption England with £8.8 million this year, including to improve adoption support. This includes the establishment of Centres of Excellence as multidisciplinary teams in various regions to provide specialist and therapeutic support to families. We are also making £500 million available to local authorities to roll out Family Help nationally to transform services and transition towards earlier intervention. This will nearly double direct investment in preventative services.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing the therapy funding per adopted child in Wiltshire on the mental health and well-being of these children.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The criteria for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) will enable as many children and families as possible to access funding, including in Wiltshire. The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. This includes reviewing the equalities impact assessment, which will be made available in the Libraries of both Houses in due course.

Since December 2023, ASGSF applications have required the use of outcomes measurement tools to monitor the impact of ASGSF-funded therapies. Over time, these tools will enable the department and local areas to monitor the long-term impacts of the ASGSF.

The department expects the ASGSF to remain an important source of support for adoptive families across the country, with no regional differences. However, it is not the only source of support. We are funding Adoption England with £8.8 million this year, including to improve adoption support. This includes the establishment of Centres of Excellence as multidisciplinary teams in various regions to provide specialist and therapeutic support to families. We are also making £500 million available to local authorities to roll out Family Help nationally to transform services and transition towards earlier intervention. This will nearly double direct investment in preventative services.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate the long-term outcomes of adopted children impacted by the reduction in therapy funding.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The criteria for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) will enable as many children and families as possible to access funding, including in Wiltshire. The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. This includes reviewing the equalities impact assessment, which will be made available in the Libraries of both Houses in due course.

Since December 2023, ASGSF applications have required the use of outcomes measurement tools to monitor the impact of ASGSF-funded therapies. Over time, these tools will enable the department and local areas to monitor the long-term impacts of the ASGSF.

The department expects the ASGSF to remain an important source of support for adoptive families across the country, with no regional differences. However, it is not the only source of support. We are funding Adoption England with £8.8 million this year, including to improve adoption support. This includes the establishment of Centres of Excellence as multidisciplinary teams in various regions to provide specialist and therapeutic support to families. We are also making £500 million available to local authorities to roll out Family Help nationally to transform services and transition towards earlier intervention. This will nearly double direct investment in preventative services.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made on the Government’s progress in implementing the recommendations of the House of Commons Defence Committee's report entitled Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life, published on 25 July 2021.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 March 2025 to Question 34425 to the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley).

Regarding outstanding recommendations from the Report, the new Armed Forces Sexual Harassment Survey has been launched, and the Veterans’ Strategy, to be published later this year, will include a dedicated section on female veterans.

In March I briefed the House of Commons Defence Committee on additional commitments Defence has made: We are improving how the most serious Service Complaints are dealt with quickly, fairly and in a standardised way across the Armed Forces via the establishment of an independent tri-Service team, and we have begun work to develop a Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce to support the broader government agenda on this important subject.

Devon Day 2025

Snares

UK Government recognition of the state of Palestine

Reinstatement of the Winter Fuel Payment

Carers Week 2025

Long covid in children and young people

World Cider Day 2025

Volunteers Week 2025

Dental provision in the South West

Surrey Search and Rescue

Chinese Embassy

Wheelchair-accessible taxis

Opening of Pittyvaich Care Home

Unpaid Care Dashboard

Access to Electric Vehicle charging for social housing residents

20th anniversary of Midsomer Norton and Radstock Dial-a-Ride

National leadership and action on vascular and venous disease

Gaza (No. 2)

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