Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking following the closure of NHS Commissioning Support Units to (a) support staff affected, and (b) ensure that functions previously delivered by those units continue to be provided safely and effectively.

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

As integrated care boards (ICBs) develop their strategic commissioning role and skills, commissioning support functions will be rationalised. This will result in commissioning support units (CSUs) being closed.

Given wider changes in the system, including the larger geographical area of ICBs and the move to a more simplified operating model, for the National Health Service a whole, it is logical to integrate the work undertaken by CSUs into the other organisations that will make up the more streamlined, efficient NHS in future. The closure of CSUs will simplify the landscape and create efficiencies, and will strengthen the strategic commissioning skills in ICBs by giving them the freedom to develop these.

A plan has been developed to ensure all services provided by CSUs and all CSU staff are mapped and destinations clarified, where function will continue, and workshops have been held with NHS England Regions to understand ICB intentions and timelines for the transfer of functions and staff and with the Department and NHS England on functions that may form part of the new Department. Governance arrangements are in place across NHS England and the CSUs to oversee the transition of functions and the safe closure of CSUs.

Staff are being supported through this transition. The CSU Leadership Team hold regular all staff briefings where information on the abolition is cascaded. The CSUs are actively involving the trade unions. A voluntary redundancy scheme has been launched within the CSUs that mirrors that within NHS England. Staff are being actively informed about the scheme through the all-staff briefings.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of asylum seekers who have received a positive asylum decision have been granted access to Universal Credit during the current Parliament.

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

The Department publishes Universal Credit (UC) immigration status and nationality statistics as part of the Universal Credit statistics publication. ‘Table 1’ in the latest Universal Credit immigration status and nationality data tables provides information on the number of people with refugee status on Universal Credit for each month from April 2022 to October 2025.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance is issued to police forces on the investigation of suspicious animal deaths; and what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of investigative standards in such cases.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Police forces investigate suspicious animal deaths under the statutory powers provided in the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which enables officers to act where there is evidence that an animal has suffered, or is likely to suffer, harm. These powers apply to circumstances involving the unexplained or potentially unlawful death of an animal.

Decisions on how such investigations are carried out are matters for individual Chief Constables, who hold operational independence and are responsible for determining the investigative approach taken by their forces. Police forces may also draw on wider investigative frameworks developed by the College of Policing, which support officers in handling cases that may involve criminal harm to animals.

Defra has not undertaken any recent formal assessment of investigative standards in relation to suspicious animal deaths.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) monitoring and (b) enforcement action his Department undertakes to ensure that temporary accommodation in Leicester meets minimum health, safety and hygiene standards.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Housing authorities must, as a minimum, ensure that all temporary accommodation is free of Category 1 hazards as identified by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Households may request a review of their accommodation if they feel it is unsuitable.

If an applicant is not satisfied with how the council has handled their case, they may complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or take legal action through the courts.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of diesel operation on the Midland Main Line north of Leicester on emissions and air quality in a) Leicester and b) the East Midlands.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Prior to the decision being made to pause the Midland Main Line Electrification programme as part of Spending Review 2025, the benefits of the scheme were being assessed. The benefits of fully electrifying the Midland Main Line (MML) are predominately those that would deliver greener transport, such as reducing carbon and improving local air quality, particularly at stations, through trains using electric traction rather than diesel.

Whilst not as clean as fully electric trains, the new intercity bi-mode trains currently being introduced by East Midland’s Railway are much cleaner and will contribute to improving air quality on the route.

Station managers in areas with poor air quality are required to develop and implement Air Quality Improvement Plans (AQIPs) which should outline feasible measures to improve air quality. The AQIPs for Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, and Sheffield stations on the MML have been developed and must be reviewed and updated annually.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria were applied in the Spending Review for assessing proposed rail infrastructure projects.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Rail infrastructure projects are carefully considered to assess their value for money. This includes consideration of strategic, economic, social and environmental factors, the local context and regional distribution of projects, as well as affordability and the government’s wider fiscal position.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department considers the level of rail infrastructure investment in (a) Leicester and (b) the East Midlands to be proportionate to its population.

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

Decisions made by the Government on investment in rail infrastructure are taken to ensure that the railways are funded to operate safely and efficiently and in line with our strategic goals.

The funding identified for rail infrastructure enhancements as part of Spending Review 2025 was not apportioned regionally. Schemes were prioritised for funding on a value for money basis and we needed to make difficult decisions to reach an affordable and sustainable position.

In addition to funding for rail enhancements, the Office of Rail and Roads’ periodic review process determines Network Rail’s funding allocation for the Operation, Support, Maintenance and Renewal (OSMR) of the network. The periodic review process is undertaken on a regional basis. Funding for Network Rail to operate, maintain and renew the railway in the East Midlands during Control Period 7 (from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2029) is included in their £9.6bn settlement for the Eastern region.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department has provided to Leicester City Council to support the provision of temporary accommodation for rough sleepers in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

In each of the last three years the government has allocated councils funding through the Homelessness Prevention Grant, which can be used flexibly according to local need, including for temporary accommodation costs. Over this time the government has also provided specific funding to support people at risk of and experiencing rough sleeping, including through the provision of accommodation.

You can find local authority level allocations for homelessness funding through gov.uk here.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of teachers in England.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The latest school workforce census reported that the workforce has grown by 2,346 FTE between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools. This year has one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,700 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector and more teachers returning to state schools than at any point in the last ten years. The latest data showed 17,274 teachers returned to the classroom.

This government agreed a 5.5% pay award for 2024/25 and a 4% pay award for 2025/26, meaning teachers and leaders will see an increase in their pay of almost 10% over two years. In 2024/25, we also confirmed targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for teachers in the first five years of teaching in maths, physics, chemistry and computing in the most disadvantaged schools.

The government manages Teaching Vacancies, a website where schools can list their teaching, leadership and support vacancies. The service helps schools save money by removing advertising costs for their recruitment activities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to review its policy on access to UK e-gates by foreign nationals; and whether consideration has been given to limiting access to nationals of countries that do not offer equivalent facilities to UK passport holders.

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

The Government operates the UK border solely in the best interests of the UK, not the principle of reciprocity as this could undermine our security and ability to respond to emerging border pressures or threats.

We recommend all eligible nationals make use of eGates where possible, as they provide a safe, secure and efficient method of entering the UK, however, we continue to keep eGate eligibility under review to ensure we are balancing border security and passenger flow

In May 2025, we published the Immigration White Paper, which stated we are moving to the next phase of our vision to transform the UK border, by using technology to increase the use of automation and make visible changes to security, flow and the passenger experience.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the use of UK e-gates by nationals of countries that do not offer reciprocal access to UK passport holders; and what assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing reciprocity requirements.

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

The Government operates the UK border solely in the best interests of the UK, not the principle of reciprocity as this could undermine our security and ability to respond to emerging border pressures or threats.

We recommend all eligible nationals make use of eGates where possible, as they provide a safe, secure and efficient method of entering the UK, however, we continue to keep eGate eligibility under review to ensure we are balancing border security and passenger flow

In May 2025, we published the Immigration White Paper, which stated we are moving to the next phase of our vision to transform the UK border, by using technology to increase the use of automation and make visible changes to security, flow and the passenger experience.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on how much local authorities spent on providing temporary accommodation to households containing at least one non-UK national in the last 12 months.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government publishes data on local authority revenue expenditure, including total expenditure on temporary accommodation, which is available here.

We also publish data on the nationality of main applicants for households assessed as owed prevention and relief duties. This is available in Table A9 in detailed local authority level files published alongside our annual release here.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of households on local authority housing waiting lists include at least one non-UK national.

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

Information on the nationality of all members of a household currently on local authority social housing waiting lists is not collected centrally. As such, it is not possible to determine the proportion of households on local authority social housing waiting lists containing at least one non-UK national.

Limited information on the nationality of lead tenants is collected on a voluntary basis and is presented and contextualised for data quality in Section 6.7 of the Social housing lettings in England, tenants: April 2024 to March 2025 statistical publication, which can be found on gov.uk here.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has considered requiring state-funded schools with defibrillators to make those devices publicly accessible where it is safe and practicable to do so.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department’s defibrillator programme provided over 20,000 defibrillators to state-funded schools in England, ensuring that all schools have access to a device.

Schools are best placed to make decisions on community access based on their individual circumstances. The primary concern should be locating defibrillators where they will best meet the needs of the school, and community access will not be suitable in all circumstances.

The department’s defibrillator guidance advises schools on the factors they should consider when deciding whether to allow community access. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automated-external-defibrillators-aeds-in-schools.

The department encourages all schools to register their defibrillators on the national defibrillator network, The Circuit. This ensures that local ambulance services know where defibrillators are kept, meaning they can be called upon in an emergency to help save a life. More information, including how to register, can be found here: https://www.thecircuit.uk/.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle youth knife crime and serious violence in (a) Leicester and (b) the East Midlands.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

We are already making clear progress against our ambition to halve knife crime. In our first year in Government, police-recorded knife crime offences fell by 5%.

We have banned zombie knives and ninja swords and are holding online sellers criminally responsible removing almost 60,000 knives from streets in England and Wales. We are taking a range of action in the Crime and Policing Bill to strengthen legislation on knives.

New crime mapping tools are already allowing us to identify highly specific knife crime concentrations and focus police and community safety resources where they are needed most. Further investment in cutting-edge capabilities, such as knife detection technology, improved data platforms, and live facial recognition will further enhance our ability to target knife crime.

Preventing young people from getting involved in crime is crucial to achieving our ambition. As part of the Young Futures programme, we are piloting new Young Futures Panels. These pilots proactively identify and refer children who may be falling through the gaps, to a range of different support services much earlier. More than 50 panels went operational in October and November, including in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

This financial year (2025/26), we have also allocated £47m to the network of 20 Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) across England and Wales to support their valuable work. VRUs bring together partners to understand and tackle the drivers of serious violence in their area. This includes over £1m in VRU grant funding to Leicestershire specifically. We have also allocated £194k to Leicestershire and £1.9m across the East Midlands in grant funding to continue the implementation of the Serious Violence Duty.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of levels of unemployment and underemployment among qualified teachers; and what steps she is taking to help improve increase retention and re-entry levels.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

In the government’s Plan for Change, the department committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 expert teachers across secondary and special schools, and our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.

Delivery is already underway: retaining more skilled teachers is key to delivering our pledge and our ‘Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service, developed alongside school leaders, provides a range of resources for schools to review and reduce workload, and improve staff wellbeing. We are also providing targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for early career teachers in key subjects. These incentives are available alongside trainee bursaries worth up to £31,000 tax-free to improve recruitment, and a pay rise of nearly 10% over two years.

We are already seeing improvement. The workforce has grown by 2,346 Full Time Equivalent between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools. This year has one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,700 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector, and more teachers are returning to state schools than at any point in the last ten years. The latest data showed 17,274 teachers returned to the classroom.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve ambulance response times in (a) Leicester and (b) the East Midlands.

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

The Government recognises that in recent years ambulance response times have not met the high standards patients should expect.

We are determined to turn things around. Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/26, is backed by almost £450 million of capital investment, and commits to reducing category 2 ambulance response times to 30 minutes on average this year. The East Midlands Ambulance Service is investing over £4 million for additional clinicians in its control rooms to help patients with urgent care needs who call 999 to get signposted to the right care at the right time in the right place.

The latest data from December 2025 for ambulance response times for East Midlands Ambulance Service shows progress, with category 2 incidents responded to in 44 minutes 19 seconds on average, which is 21 minutes and 56 seconds faster than the same period last year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the Department has made of the potential impact of reducing NHS-funded activity delivered by independent sector providers on local waiting times in (a) Leicester, (b) The East Midlands and (c) England.

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

Reducing waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and we are committed to putting patients first by ensuring that they are seen on time and that they have the best possible experience of care. Since the Government came into office, the waiting list for routine appointments, operations, and procedures in England has now been cut by 312,369. This is despite 30.1 million referrals onto the waiting list.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to expand or reform teacher training programmes to help improve access to the teaching profession.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

This government is committed to putting education back at the forefront of national life. The aim is to deliver better life chances for all, through a system which works for all.

In September 2025 we introduced the early career teacher entitlement (ECTE). The ECTE revised and improved the delivery of what we formerly referred to as the early career framework programme, maintaining the grounding in evidence, to ensure the highest standards of professional development for new teachers.

The department recognises that continuous improvement is essential in order to transform the training and support for all new teachers, and we have committed to a full review of the delivery of the ECTE, including the content of the initial teacher training and early career framework in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for ECTs based on the most up to date evidence. This review will focus on increasing support for mentors, as well as for teaching pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support her Department provides to increase participation in grassroots sport in (a) Leicester and (b) Leicestershire.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

That is why we provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million of National Lottery and exchequer funding. The City of Leicester received a total of £971,350 of Sport England funding in 2024/25. The County of Leicestershire received a total of £1,937,467 million of Sport England funding in 2024/25.

In addition, on 27 January, the Government announced that £85 million of the £400 million package for grassroots sport facilities will be invested in during 2026/27, funding the continuation of the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme. This funding is designed to increase participation opportunities and benefit the areas most in need, with 50% investment going to the 30% most deprived areas in the UK.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance her department provides on ensuring that sports facilities and stadia in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) the UK are safe and welcoming environments for women and girls.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all sports facilities and stadia are welcoming and safe for women and girls.

We’ve launched the Women’s Sport Taskforce to tackle challenges and barriers facing women and girls in sport, from grassroots to elite, and are harnessing the power of hosting major sporting events, such as investing £6.7 million into the Impact 25’ programme for the Women’s Rugby World Cup to make facilities more accessible for women.

We are also investing £80.3 million in high-quality grassroots sports facilities through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities (MSGF) Programme in England in 2025/26, and will also invest £68.35 million in 26/27. We will more than double priority access to grassroots football pitches for women and girls over the next four years. MSGF funded facilities should reserve at least 20% of priority use slots for women and girls teams. Our delivery partner in England, the Football Foundation, has recently announced the Lionesses HERe to Play Fund which will help to ensure grassroots sports facilities across England are welcoming, safe and accessible for a new generation of women and girls.

Our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign has also worked with ukactive, CIMSPA and Women’s Aid to publish new guidance to help fitness and leisure facilities continue to create safer spaces for women and girls to be active.

In addition, the safety of all those who attend sporting fixtures is a priority for the Government. The Government funds the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) whose purpose is to ensure sports grounds are safe for everyone, including women and girls. The SGSA continues to support world class standards of physical supporter safety for all attendees.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) Leicester and (b) the East Midlands benefit from national investment in emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.

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

The Government is putting technology at the heart of our mission to grow the UK economy.

We are launching a £250 million procurement to expand the AI Research Resource, giving UK researchers and businesses free access to cutting‑edge compute so every region can benefit from nationwide innovation.

The Government is also expanding access to free AI skills training, available to all adults across the UK, that aims to equip 10 million workers with practical AI skills by 2030, ensuring people and businesses in every region can take advantage of new technologies.

Alone, Leicester City Council received £35,391.97 from the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund for its ‘Let’s Get Digital’ project, which will help 150 peoples, this will build digital confidence for social inclusion, reducing service dependency and improving economic outcomes.

The Government is also supporting UK medicine and med‑tech manufacturing through the £520 million Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, bringing high‑value jobs to regions like the East Midlands, strengthening supply chains, and securing over £30 million of new investment.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that estate agents comply with existing consumer protection law; to help support effective enforcement action against rogue operators who mislead consumers; and to help ensure regulations on responsible businesses are not burdensome.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), protects consumers from unfair trading practices and prohibits traders, including estate agents, from omitting (or providing unclear, untimely or obscure) material information to consumers in any ‘invitation to purchase’.

The DMCCA strengthens consumer law enforcement by giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) new administrative powers, and the CMA and courts the ability to impose significant monetary penalties of up to 10% of turnover.

The CMA has published updated guidance on price transparency and unfair commercial practices to help businesses comply.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has any plans to make (a) Universal Credit, (b) Employment and Support Allowance, and (c) Housing Benefit taxable state benefits.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Means-tested benefits that are designed to meet specific costs, such as Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit, are not taxable, and the government has no current plans to alter this.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many individuals convicted of sexual offences have been sentenced to immediate custody during the current Parliament; and what percentage of all individuals convicted of sexual offences received an immediate custodial sentence during that same period.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions and sentences for a variety of offences, including sexual offences, in the Outcomes by Offences data tool. The tool can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK. The data can be filtered by ‘month’ and ‘year’.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department is taking steps to help reduce the rate of Air Passenger Duty for (a) domestic flights and (b) flights to European destinations.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government is committed to securing the long-term future of the aviation sector in the UK and recognises the benefits of the connectivity it creates between the UK and the rest of the world.

The rate of Air Passenger Duty (APD) in part depends on destination. There are four destination bands, including a domestic band (for destinations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), and Band A (which includes all destinations in the EU and EEA and other European destinations). From 1 April 2026, the reduced rates for domestic and Band A flights will be £8 and £15 respectively. This compares with rates of £102 and £106 for Bands B and C respectively (which apply to destinations further away from London).

Following recent increases to APD rates to account for higher-than-expected levels of inflation, at Budget 2025, the government announced it will uprate APD rates in line with RPI from 1 April 2027 and round to the nearest penny. This constitutes a real terms freeze.

This will ensure that airlines continue to make a fair contribution to the public finances, particularly given that tickets are VAT free and aviation fuel incurs no duty.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what was the evidential basis for the decision to freeze the student loan repayment threshold for graduates; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of this on graduates' disposable incomes.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The fiscal situation this government inherited means we’ve had to make tough but fair choices, including on student loan repayment threshold freezes.

Student loan borrowers repay a portion of their income (typically 9%) above the repayment threshold. A Plan 2 graduate earning £30,000 will repay only around £4 a month in FY2026–27. The student finance system is heavily subsidised by government, and lower-earning graduates will always be protected, with any outstanding loan and interest cancelled at the end of the repayment term. It is right that those who are able to repay do so.

The Department for Education has published analysis of the impact of the repayment threshold freeze on total repayments here.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of SEND transport contracts on local authority spending; and whether she plans to introduce annual cost caps.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

We know challenges in the SEND system are creating pressures on home-to-school travel. We will reform the SEND system to enable more children to thrive in local mainstream settings. This will mean fewer children need to travel long distances to access education, reducing the burden on local authorities. The reforms will be set out in the Schools White Paper.

Local councils decide how to arrange travel for eligible children. They use a mix of in-house services, public transport passes and contracts with private operators. Contracts are a matter for the council and operator. We encourage councils to have robust arrangements. Many are reviewing and improving their procurement practices.

We are supporting councils through a new home-to-school travel data collection to support benchmarking, publishing guidance to support joined-up decision-making, and creating a bespoke home-to-school travel funding formula within the local government finance settlement. We have no current plans to introduce a price cap.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people who leave higher education having completed their course and subsequently claim out-of-work benefits within (a) three months, (b) six months and (c) one year of leaving university.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

This information is not held.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people who leave higher education without completing their course and subsequently claim out-of-work benefits within (a) three months, (b) six months and (c) one year of leaving university.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

This information is not held.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the level of digital exclusion in Leicester; and what steps she is taking to improve the level of digital skills and access.

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

Everyone should be able to benefit from the digital world – helping families save money, get a better job, and access services like the NHS more easily.

But we know some people face real barriers. Data from 2025 shows that 18% adults in the UK labour force lack essential digital skills for work, while 7% of households in the East Midlands do not have access to the internet.

That’s why we published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan, and why we’re now delivering the foundations: better connectivity, more devices reaching people who need them, and support to build skills and confidence in communities across the UK.

This has included launching the £11.9 million Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, with £35,391.97 going to Leicester City Council and £90,625 to Wesley Hall Community Centre, helping more people across the UK get the access, skills and confidence to get online.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what percentage of NHS patients in a) Leicester b) Leicestershire and c) the East Midlands were referred to private health providers for treatment in the last twelve months.

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

Independent sector providers have a role to play in supporting the National Health Service as trusted partners to recover elective services by using additional capacity to tackle the backlog whilst delivering value for money.

Data for NHS referrals into the independent sector is broken down by NHS commissioning regions. We are therefore unable to reliably calculate the percentage of NHS referrals into the independent sector at the levels requested.

Between January 2025 and December 2025, latest available data, there were a total of 3,637,634 new patient pathways for elective care in the Midlands region. Of these, 5.70%, or 207,268, were at independent sector providers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to provide additional funding to a) Leicester and b) Leicestershire to reduce NHS waiting lists.

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

National Health Service funding for local services, including in Leicester and Leicestershire, is allocated to integrated care boards using NHS England’s Fair Share model and the NHS resource allocation formula.

This formula is designed to support equal opportunity of access for equal need, taking into account factors such as demography, morbidity, levels of deprivation, and the unavoidable costs of providing services in different areas. It is based on independent academic research and overseen by the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation, which provides advice to my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the Chief Executive of NHS England.

Through the 2025 Spending Review, announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in June 2025, the Government has prioritised health with a record investment in the health and social care system. The Government is providing £29 billion more day-to-day funding in real terms by 2028/29 than in 2023/24, alongside the largest ever health capital budget, with a £2.3 billion real-terms increase in capital spending over the Spending Review period.

This will support delivery of our commitment that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, including patients in Leicester and Leicestershire.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his department plans to issue guidance on the potential risks of genetic defects in children born from consanguineous relationships.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has published training modules about close relative marriage and genetic risk for midwives and health visitors. The training modules have been published for health professionals to access and there are no plans to publish them more widely. There are no plans to issue public facing guidance.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the relationship between housing supply and economic growth in a) Leicester b) Leicestershire and c) the East Midlands.

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

Investment in housing and infrastructure in all parts of the country, including Leicester, Leicestershire and the East Midlands, drives future economic growth and higher living standards.

Sinking of SS Tilawa