Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she taking to ensure that children receive sex and relationship education.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
It is compulsory for schools to teach relationships education for primary school pupils, relationships and sex education for secondary school pupils, and health education for all pupils in state-funded schools, in line with the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance, which has been in place since September 2020.
Oak National Academy are developing new resources to support schools with the delivery of RSHE, which will start to become available later this year.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support the mental health of girls in schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is key to breaking down barriers to opportunity, helping all pupils to achieve and thrive in education.
The government will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person, regardless of their sex, has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. NHS-funded Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) continue to roll out in schools and colleges and are expected to cover at least 50% of pupils by April 2025.
The department also provides a range of guidance and practical resources for schools on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. These include a resources hub for mental health leads, a toolkit to help choose evidence-based early support and guidance on effective whole-school approaches to pupil mental health and wellbeing. This guidance encourages schools to consider groups that are at greater risk of experiencing poor mental health when planning their approach. This might include consideration that girls in some age ranges have been shown to have higher levels of probable mental disorder than boys, or that girls may be more likely to experience certain mental health conditions.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help tackle misogyny against girls and young women.
Answered by Nia Griffith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
There is no place for misogyny in our society, which too often leads to violence. Tackling this is a top priority for this Government, with a mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. We will deliver a cross-Government transformative approach, underpinned by a new strategy to be published in the summer.
Education has an important role to play in reducing misogyny. The Department for Education is reviewing the RSHE guidance to ensure that it supports schools to tackle harmful behaviour, as this Government is determined to ensure that misogyny and sexual violence is stamped out and not allowed to proliferate in schools, or elsewhere.
The Government is also taking steps to tackle misogyny online through the Online Safety Act, as large social media providers are required to have systems in place to remove illegal and harmful content such as misogyny. Ofcom is currently consulting on draft guidance which sets out nine areas where technology firms should do more to improve women and girls’ safety by taking responsibility.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help tackle misogyny in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Edinburgh South West, to the answer of 1 April 2025 to Question 40591.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of trends in the level of students not reclaiming overpaid income tax.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The amount of income tax a student pays depends upon their total taxable income, including employment income. The standard income tax personal allowance for the 2025 to 2026 tax year is £12,570, which means that most students do not pay tax on the first £12,570 of their total taxable income.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold data in its income tax accounting systems that identifies students.
Students pay income tax through the PAYE system or through a Self Assessment tax return. After the end of the tax year, HMRC carry out an end of year reconciliation on all customers in PAYE in order to identify any overpayments or underpayments. Where tax has been overpaid, this will be automatically repaid to individuals, including students.
For individuals, including students, who submit a Self Assessment tax return, HMRC will process the return and any overpaid tax will automatically be repaid to the individual. Where an individual files their Self Assessment return online, they can request a repayment through their HMRC online account.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of increases in benefit in kind rates for used electric vehicle leasing via salary sacrifice schemes on levels of electric vehicle sales.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Budget, the Government announced new Company Car Tax rates for the years 2028-29 and 2029-30, which increase for both electric vehicles (EVs) and petrol/diesel vehicles, while still maintaining generous incentives to support EV take-up.
The Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published alongside Budget set out the expected economic, equalities and other impacts, and highlighted that overall the measure was expected to encourage the take-up of zero emission vehicles.
The Government recognises that the Company Car Tax regime and the salary sacrifice exemption for ultra-low and zero emission vehicles continues to play an important role in the EV transition. The Government needs to balance these incentives against responsible management of public finances to ensure we have sufficient revenue to fund essential public services. A company car is a valuable benefit and therefore needs to be taxed appropriately.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the benefit in kind rates for new electric vehicles on sales of new electric vehicles.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Budget, the Government announced new Company Car Tax rates for the years 2028-29 and 2029-30, which increase for both electric vehicles (EVs) and petrol/diesel vehicles, while still maintaining generous incentives to support EV take-up.
The Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published alongside Budget set out the expected economic, equalities and other impacts, and highlighted that overall the measure was expected to encourage the take-up of zero emission vehicles.
The Government recognises that the Company Car Tax regime and the salary sacrifice exemption for ultra-low and zero emission vehicles continues to play an important role in the EV transition. The Government needs to balance these incentives against responsible management of public finances to ensure we have sufficient revenue to fund essential public services. A company car is a valuable benefit and therefore needs to be taxed appropriately.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to provide urban nesting habitats for small birds within housebuilding targets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 22080 on 15 January 2025.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that an adequate number of speciality training posts are available to ensure that NHS needs are met.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.
We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.
To reform the NHS and make it fit for the future, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan as part of the Government’s five long-term missions. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. We will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure the safety of girls and young women in public places.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Ensuring the safety of women and girls in public spaces is a top priority for this Government. We have set out an unprecedented mission to halve the level of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. That means working to tackle threats to women’s safety in all areas of their lives, including in public places.
Through our Safer Streets Mission, we are driving action across Government to achieve this. We are spearheading a cross-Government approach to preventing and tackling VAWG through the Safer Streets Mission Board, and this includes looking at what action we can take to make public spaces safer for women and girls.
We know that public sexual harassment often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women and girls, feeling unsafe on our streets. That is why tackling it is an important part of our mission and will be addressed in the forthcoming cross-government VAWG strategy.