Sarah Russell

The Office for Equality and Opportunity is working closely with the Home Office to deliver on our landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.

We are also working with the Department for Business and Trade to progress the Employment Rights Bill. As part of this, we will strengthen protections against harassment and sexual harassment in the course of employment, by introducing three amendments to the Equality Act 2010.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 7 September 2026 in response to Question 27845, which refers to the answer provided on 30 June 2026 in response to Question 11617.

The Government recognises the current system could do more to support the many dads and partners who want to be more actively involved in supporting their partner and take on a more equal role in caring for their children.

We are currently undertaking a Review of the Parental Leave and Pay system. This will conclude in early 2027 with a set of findings which will outline next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.

Current Parental Leave and Pay entitlements and use of those entitlements are in scope of the Review, including Paternity Leave and Pay.

Through the Employment Rights Act, we are making Paternity Leave a ‘day one’ right from 6 April this year. This will bring an extra 32,000 fathers and partners into scope of the entitlement.

The Government also launched the Parental Leave and Pay Review on 1 July 2025, which will consider all existing and upcoming parental leave entitlements, including Paternity Leave and Pay. The Review will conclude in early 2027 with a set of findings in which the Government will outline next steps for taking any reforms forward to implementation.

This Government is dedicated to improving rights for working parents. In April, we are making Unpaid Parental Leave and Paternity Leave day-one rights, as well as introducing Bereaved Partners Paternity Leave.

In 2027, we will further improve protections for pregnant women and those returning from Maternity Leave. These reforms will benefit millions of employees across the country.

We also know that more can be done to support working parents. The ongoing Parental Leave and Pay Review is looking at all parental leave entitlements and will conclude next year, informing our next steps.

The Government is committed to implementing the provisions of the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 as soon as possible. Once in place, up to 12 weeks of paid leave will be available to all eligible parents of babies who are admitted into neonatal care.

The Government is directly investing into the North-West, funding key initiatives such as the Hynet CCUS cluster, projects in our Hydrogen Allocation Rounds, the Green Heat Network Fund and Local Growth Fund.

Great British Energy has funded solar panels at 19 NHS trusts and 3 schools in the region as well as launching the Great British Energy Community Fund, and the National Wealth Fund has recently launched a £500m collaboration with Greater Manchester Combined Authority supporting key growth projects.

These investments will continue to unlock further investment into clean energy in the region.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology recognises the importance of supporting women working in the UK science, technology, engineering and mathematic sectors.

In December 2025, DSIT launched the Women in Tech Taskforce to address the systemic barriers that prevent women from entering, progressing, and leading in the tech sector. In March 2026 DSIT launched a package to get more women into tech, including 300 paid tech placements and support for those returning after a career break. DSIT also announced a TechFirst Girls Competitition and the Women in Tech Taskforce launched a call for evidence on building a more diverse tech sector.

This is on top of major programmes that DSIT supports such as the £187 million TechFirst initiative to support entry into the sector, the CyberFirst Girls annual tech competition, and Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation programme.

Alongside this, DSIT and UKRI are working to improve retention and career outcomes for women in research. On 11^th March, DSIT Secretary of State called on research institutions and funders to do more to support women in research and back a voluntary charter to raise standards and drive culture change. The charter, which will be shaped with employers and funders of researchers, will set a firm expectation that all PhD funders commit to meeting or exceeding UK Research and Innovation’s parental leave offer for doctoral students. It will also agree clear, tangible commitments on other issues like support for those returning to work with caring responsibilities, greater job flexibility and addressing sexual discrimination and harassment.

DSIT have also doubled the government’s support for the Daphne Jackson Trust, who support researchers who have taken a career break, to £4m per year.

The number of England‑domiciled borrowers with a Plan 3 student loan was 603,000, rounded to the nearest thousand, and the total value of those loans was £6.521 billion, rounded to the nearest million, as of 31 March 2025.

Education is a devolved matter, and the Welsh Government is responsible for providing equivalent figures for borrowers in Wales.

In 2024 (the latest year for which figures are available), an estimated 4% of reported personal injury road collisions on rural roads in Great Britain were assigned a contributory road safety factor of ‘poor or defective road surface or deposits on road’. This is based on factors assigned by a reporting police officer based on information available at the scene or within a short time of the collision.

The Department keeps road safety under continual review and recognises that the condition of the road surface is an important factor in maintaining safe rural roads. Local highway authorities are responsible for the maintenance of their roads and for assessing and managing risks, including those arising from potholes, based on local conditions and evidence.

The Government recognises that historic underinvestment has made it difficult for authorities to maintain their roads in the way they would want to. The Government has therefore confirmed a record £7.3 billion for local highways maintenance over the next four years.

There is no plan to assess the potential impact of the Minimum Income Floor specifically for self-employed childminders on Universal Credit.

The department does not systematically collect data about the sector self-employed customers work in. Universal Credit treats all forms and sectors of self-employment in the same way, focusing on the level of the customer’s earnings rather than the sector. There is no link between the sector that a customer works in and the level of their Minimum Income Floor.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 26 October in response to Question 32952.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 26 October in response to Question 32952.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 19 October to Question 32217.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 13 July in response to Question 16185, which sets out the steps the Government is taking to support hospices throughout England.

The Prime Minister and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, have also made clear their commitment to improve the quality and availability of palliative care and end-of-life care through a new Modern Service Framework, as set out in the answer of 14 September to Question 27682.

Such assessments are taking place to inform the preparation of the (a) social care workforce plan, and (b) 10 Year Workforce Plan, that the Government has committed to publish, but for the longer-term projections that the Hon. Member has proposed, it will be one of the roles of Baroness Casey’s commission to analyse long-term demand for social care services and how the provision of social care will need to change to meet that rising demand, including through the dedicated workforce of a National Care Service.

HMRC remains committed to its digital‑first strategy. As part of this, it is delivering a programme to move at least 75% of communications currently issued by paper to digital channels in the current spending review period.

However, HMRC recognises that not all customers will choose to engage digitally on every occasion. Providing viable alternatives, that may in some cases be through paper forms, is a key part of the digital-first strategy.

HMRC will keep the provision of those alternatives under review on an ongoing basis to reflect customer need and customer feedback.

HMRC remains committed to its digital‑first strategy. As part of this, it is delivering a programme to move at least 75% of communications currently issued by paper to digital channels in the current spending review period.

However, HMRC recognises that not all customers will choose to engage digitally on every occasion. Providing viable alternatives, that may in some cases be through paper forms, is a key part of the digital-first strategy.

HMRC will keep the provision of those alternatives under review on an ongoing basis to reflect customer need and customer feedback.

The Government has a strategy to reduce the use of animals in science. The direction of travel is clear: to accelerate replacement, reduction and refinement while maintaining protections for human and animal health and the environment.

The 2.54 million scientific procedures carried out in 2025 represent a reduction of around 3.8% from 2.64 million in 2024 and the lowest annual total recorded under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The Government nevertheless recognises that the figure remains significant. The aggregate total must also be understood alongside the purpose, species and severity of procedures, and the distinction between experimental procedures and the breeding of genetically altered animals.

Under the statutory principles of replacement, reduction and refinement, a scientifically satisfactory non-animal method must be used wherever possible; the number of animals must be reduced to a minimum without compromising the objectives of the programme; and methods must be refined to eliminate or reduce pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm.

In November 2025, the Government published its Replacing Animals in Science strategy, backed by £75 million, to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods and work towards replacing animal use in all but exceptional circumstances. The 2025 figures reinforce the case for sustained delivery of that strategy. Where suitable alternatives do not yet exist, well-justified and appropriately designed animal research may continue under the rigorous requirements of ASPA to protect human and animal health and the environment.

This Government recognises the importance of ensuring support is accessible to all victims of domestic abuse, including disabled victims.

As part of 'Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, work is ongoing across government to improve the support for disabled victims of domestic abuse including:

• Investing in a new specialist helpline and advocacy service for Deaf and Disabled victims of domestic abuse.
• Reforming the commissioning landscape, including through a new cross-government commissioning statement and the forthcoming Duty to Collaborate. Combined, these will improve the consistency, accessibility and effectiveness of support services for victims and work to address gaps in provision for disabled victims.
• Strengthening information on supporting disabled victims in the Domestic Abuse Statutory Guidance and Controlling and Coercive Behaviour Statutory Guidance to improve understanding of the needs and barriers for these victims and how professionals respond.

Every victim of violence against women and girls (VAWG), whether in a city or a rural village, should be able to access the help they need. In the 'Freedom from Violence and Abuse’ Strategy, we committed to developing a new cross-government statement on the commissioning of VAWG services. This statement aims to strengthen the quality of commissioning from local commissioners, and it will support local areas to tailor their provision to their local communities, including rural victims.

Last year (2025/26), the Home Office invested over £6m into specialist helplines to support victims of VAWG and we are expanding our investment into the VAWG helplines this financial year. The helplines are accessible across England and Wales and provide advice and support to victims and assist in signposting and referrals to appropriate local services.

Last year, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) commenced a call for evidence across a network of rural stakeholders to inform our understanding of the availability of support services and effective practice to provide support in rural areas. This research will help to confront the disparities in the provision and inform our future work to address the disparities of provision.

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, up 29% on year up to June 2024, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this.

Everybody has a right to feel safe on the job and this government is committed to taking retail crime seriously.

We will introduce a new specific offence for assaults on shopworkers to protect them from violence and abuse. The scope of the legislation is still under consideration and will be confirmed when legislation is brought forward.

Data relating to the number of wheelchair accessible homes is not collected centrally, although the English Housing Survey collects occasional series on accessibility and adaptations within the home.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals to set clearer expectations for accessible housing to meet the needs of older and disabled people. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide adaptations for people who satisfy a needs assessment, eligibility criteria, and a means test. The Disabled Facilities Grant is provided by government and distributed to local authorities to fund home adaptations for disabled people of all ages and tenures subject to the statutory conditions.

Data relating to the number of wheelchair accessible homes is not collected centrally, although the English Housing Survey collects occasional series on accessibility and adaptations within the home.

Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, the government consulted a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation on the revised Framework, which can be found on gov.uk here, included proposals to set clearer expectations for accessible housing to meet the needs of older and disabled people. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide adaptations for people who satisfy a needs assessment, eligibility criteria, and a means test. The Disabled Facilities Grant is provided by government and distributed to local authorities to fund home adaptations for disabled people of all ages and tenures subject to the statutory conditions.

Information about the number of legal aid providers which submitted a tender for an inquest category of law contract specification is due to be published on 6 November 2026. Once published the information will be accessible here on GOV.UK here: news - News and communications - GOV.UK

The Public Office (Accountability) Bill will provide non-means tested legal aid for bereaved families at inquests where a public authority is an interested person. The cost of the legal aid expansion will be met by public authorities, or their central Government department, where they are an interested person at an inquest.

We intend for this to help foster proportionate participation and spending behaviours amongst interested public authorities, including in the use of their own legal representation, at inquests. We have been working closely with Departments to develop this model.

The Ministry of Justice publishes magistrates’ court data on prosecutions and resulting outcomes for rape offences by age of the defendant. This can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

Although youth courts are not separately identifiable, the published statistics can be filtered to identify cases where the defendant was under the age of 18.