Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) police officers and (b) public-facing police staff participating in mandatory autism awareness and sensitivity training.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Training on mental ill health and autism is already integrated throughout the initial police learning programme which all new recruits must complete.

Policing is operationally independent, and it is a matter for the chief constables of each force to decide which additional training their officers should undertake.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council has produced an e-learning course on neurodiversity, which are available to all police officers.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ensuring that all public-facing transport staff participate in mandatory autism awareness and sensitivity training.

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

This Government wants to focus on how transport can be designed, built and operated to better serve the people who use it – delivering on our pledge to put people at the heart of what we do on transport and enabling them to live healthy, fulfilling lives without barriers to opportunity.

The Government is committed to delivering a transport network which allows disabled people, including those with less visible impairments, such as autism, to travel easily and confidently, with dignity and without extra cost.

Having clear accountability and appropriately trained staff acting to support passengers, whether disabled or not, to make the journeys they want and need to make is essential. To support this, many staff working on our public transport network already undertake disability awareness training.

The Government expects Local Authorities and Transport Operators to lead this process and we want to empower them to do this. That is why we are bringing forward the Bus Services (No.2) Bill, and undertaking wider reform on our railway, including the establishment of Great British Railways with a customer-focused culture.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of ensuring that adults aged over 60 with pre-existing conditions are included in the respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programme.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) keeps all vaccine programmes under review and will continue to update its advice as new evidence emerges. In October 2024, the JCVI agreed that it would need to formally review, in detail, the evidence for a potential extension to the programme for the very elderly and risk groups in those aged less than 75 years old. This review would be undertaken by the JCVI respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) sub-committee.

The Department will consider any future JCVI advice on who should be offered an RSV immunisation. Once published, minutes of JCVI meetings are available on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation#sub-committee-membership-and-minutes

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 21357 on Large Goods Vehicles: Concrete, what her Department's planned timetable is for publishing its findings.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department will publish its findings shortly.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with local authorities on the implications of developers failing to meet their commitments in planning agreements under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

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

The government is clear that developers must deliver on their planning obligations. Section 106 planning obligations are legal agreements, and a local planning authority may take enforcement action in respect of any breach of the obligations contained within them. Enforcement is at the discretion of the local planning authority, and therefore it is for the local planning authority to decide whether enforcement action is appropriate in each case.

The government is committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the criteria for the eligibility of the Winter Fuel allowance to include pensioners who have received a terminal diagnosis.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Linking Winter Fuel eligibility to Pension Credit and other means tested benefits for pensioners, ensures the least well-off pensioners still receive the help they need; this includes people with a terminal illness who are eligible. There are no plans to change the eligibility criteria.

The Department supports people nearing the end of life through the Special Rules for End of Life. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment or serve waiting periods. In most cases they receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, the Special Rules have applied to people who have six months or less to live and have now been changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had recent discussions with the Highways Agency on increasing the height of the railings on the A28 overbridge over the M20 between junctions 9 and 10.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

There have not been recent discussions between the Secretary of State and National Highways on increasing the height of the railings on the A28 overbridge over the M20 between junctions 9 and 10. Both the Department and National Highways take the issue of safety very seriously and are committed to improving the Strategic Road Network (SRN) to provide a safer network. The raising of bridge parapets (safety barriers/railings along the edge of bridges) is not always a straightforward piece of work and can typically require complete replacement of the bridge structure. National Highways usually undertakes this type of work on a priority basis across the whole of the SRN.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ensuring that public-facing (a) leisure and (b) sports staff participate in mandatory autism awareness and sensitivity training.

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

As set out in the cross-government autism strategy (2021-2026), we want to improve understanding and acceptance of autism, and for public sector services to become more autism-inclusive.

Under the Equality Act 2010, public sector organisations are required to make changes in their approach or provision to ensure that services are accessible to disabled people as well as to everybody else.

The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) is the professional development body for the UK’s sport and physical activity sector. It is committed to supporting, developing and enabling professionals and organisations to inspire our nation to become more active.

CIMSPA provides access to many resources and training programmes which explore how people with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) can be supported in sport and physical activity.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) teachers and (b) other teaching staff participating in mandatory autism awareness and sensitivity training.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

As set out in the cross-government autism strategy (2021 to 2026), the government wants to improve understanding and acceptance of autism and for public sector services to become more autism-inclusive.

Under the Equality Act 2010, public sector organisations, including schools, are required to make changes in their approach or provision to ensure that services are accessible to disabled people as well as to everybody else.

There is work underway in the department to improve autism awareness. High quality, evidence-based teaching is critical in ensuring that the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are met effectively.

The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND. The department funds the £12 million Universal Services Programme, which helps the school and further education workforce to identify the needs of pupils with SEND earlier and more effectively. The programme includes autism training, delivered by Autism Education Trust training partners, to over 200,000 education professionals so far.

Also, following the recent review, the initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF), which was published in January 2024, contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND.

The department is committing to a full review of the delivery of the early career teacher (ECT) entitlement, including the content of the ITTECF, 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 SEND.

In education settings, school staff can access a range of training as appropriate to their career stage. Training to support pupils with autism should include information on how to access health and social care as necessary.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve the provision of bus services in (a) Ashford constituency and (b) Kent.

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

The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England, including in Kent. The government has committed to increasing accountability by including a measure on socially necessary services so that local authorities and bus operators have to have regard for alternatives to changing or cancelling services.

In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Kent County Council has been allocated over £23 million of this funding. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.

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