Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help schools support pupils experiencing childhood bereavement.

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

It is vital that when a child suffers a bereavement, they are aware of and able to access the support they need. Schools know their pupils best and do an excellent job in supporting them through a range of adverse life experiences, including bereavement. The department is always looking for ways to better support schools in this role.

The relationships, sex and health (RSHE) statutory guidance states that teachers should be aware of common ‘adverse childhood experiences’, including bereavement. The full guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

The department is reviewing the RSHE curriculum and following analysis of consultation responses and further discussion with stakeholders, we will decide on any new content on bereavement.

The government is also committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people, including those who have experienced a bereavement. To achieve this, we have committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school. The department also provides a resource hub for school and college mental health leads, signposting practical tools to embed effective mental health and wellbeing practice. The hub includes resources for schools to support bereaved children.

The department has also published guidance to support pupils whose ability to attend exams has been affected by bereavement, including examples of effective practice. In addition, we have recently made updates to GOV.UK adding links to bereavement support specifically for children and their families. This support is available at: https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death/bereavement-help-and-support?step-by-step-nav=4f1fe77d-f43b-4581-baf9-e2600e2a2b7a.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many breakfast club early adopters there are in (a) rural and (b) urban areas.

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

In order to test and learn about how best to support schools in implementing new free universal breakfast clubs, the department has selected over 750 early adopter schools to deliver from summer term 2025, ahead of national roll out to all schools with primary aged children.

Just under a third of the breakfast club early adopter schools are in rural areas, meaning over two thirds are in urban areas. This is a representative of the split of the overall make-up of state-funded schools with primary aged pupils across England. Schools have been selected to ensure a representative sample, to ensure the early adopter scheme learns from a variety of schools, including schools that are large and small, with high and low levels of deprivation, and in a range of locations.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps to prevent solar panels from being placed on agricultural land.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Planning guidance makes clear that, wherever possible, solar developers should utilise brownfield, industrial, contaminated, or previously developed sites. Where the development of agricultural land is shown to be necessary, lower-quality land should be preferred to higher-quality land.

The total area of land devoted to solar panels is very small. As of the end of September 2024, ground-mount solar PV panels covered an estimated 21,200 hectares (52,000 acres), which is only around 0.1 per cent of the total land area of the UK.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps to identify long-term solutions to (a) potholes and (b) other road defects.

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

The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to enabling local highway authorities to maintain and renew their local highway networks effectively. For this financial year 2025/26 we have already announced a funding uplift of £500 million, compared to the last financial year, for local authorities to spend on highway maintenance. Through our new reporting requirements we are encouraging local authorities to focus on long-term preventative strategies rather than the short-term patching of potholes.

The Department also encourages and supports innovation and best practice in road surface repairs in other ways. It is updating the Code of Practice for Well-Managed Highway Infrastructure, which will contain new advice on matters such as surface treatments. It is also supporting a £30 million research programme which is allowing local authorities to trial innovative low-carbon ways of looking after their networks. One of the projects is allowing novel resurfacing materials to be tested and evaluated.

National Highways is also trialling innovative ways of resurfacing parts of the Strategic Road Network to give longer-lasting and more environmentally friendly results. Their work on projects like the resurfacing of the A64 in Yorkshire could pave the way for industry-wide changes, resulting in significant carbon savings and improved road surfaces for drivers.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will reduce the level of VAT on food and hot beverages in the hospitality sector.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.

The exceptional VAT relief for tourism and hospitality during the Covid-19 pandemic cost over £8 billion. Reintroducing a similar relief would come at a significant further cost.

Delivering on its manifesto pledge, the Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. In the meantime, the Government has prevented RHL relief from ending in April 2025 by extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business and frozen the small business multiplier.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to encourage developers to use design features that provide nesting facilities for endangered birds.

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.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support park home owners.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 39735 on 27 March 2025.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to maintain the level of UK exports.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is committed to supporting UK businesses to export and grow globally. The Export Academy and International Trade Advisers are helping UK SME’s build their capability to export around the world. The International Markets teams in embassies around the world are connecting UK businesses with global buyers and distributors. UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk.

And we are targeting market access barriers in priority markets to open up even more opportunities for UK exporters.

As part of our new trade strategy and small business strategy, we are looking at further proposals to help UK businesses to export more.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on launching a new National Music Education Network.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

On 18 March, the department announced its intention to launch a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education.

We intend to appoint the delivery partner for the Centre through an open, competitive procurement. We will engage with sector stakeholders to refine the details of the Centre ahead of the commercial process later this year. We will set out further detail shortly.

The National Centre will deliver on the manifesto commitment to deliver a Music Education Network. The department’s intention is to launch the National Centre in September 2026.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help veterans access Tax-Free Childcare.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Government is committed to supporting veterans and their families access financial support available to them such as Tax- Free Childcare. Tax-Free Childcare aims to support working parents with the cost of childcare, including veterans, to work, return to work and work more when they want or need to.

To be eligible, a parent and their partner (if they have one) must expect to earn at least the National Minimum or National Living wage for 16 hours a week on average and each earn no more than £100,000 per year. A parent may still be eligible if they are not currently working but their partner is and they are in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, or Severe Disablement Allowance, or Carer’s Allowance or Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance.

HMRC promotes Tax-Free Childcare through a range of channels including GOV.UK and the Childcare Choices website. More information on the scheme is also available on the British Army’s website, through targeted campaigns to childcare providers/parents and by the service charity sector such as Help for Heroes listed in the MoD’s Service Leavers’ Guide. These efforts ensure veterans are signposted to the childcare support available to them after military service.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce food waste.

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

The UK is an international leader on tackling food waste. We are fully committed to meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 target, which seeks to halve global food waste at consumer and retail levels by 2030. Through our new £15 million farm surplus fund, this Government is working with food producers and charities ensure more produce gets to those who need it most.

We know that action is required across the supply chain and in people’s homes. To tackle food waste, we fund the groundbreaking UK Food and Drink Pact, a voluntary agreement with industry managed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). Action through the Pact includes working with businesses to identify and reduce food waste, as well as campaigns aimed at raising public awareness of food waste and the steps we can all take to help reduce it.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support the renovation of (a) village halls and (b) community centres.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Community centres and village halls are important parts of our social fabric in towns and villages across the UK.

Through the English Devolution Bill, we will introduce a new Community Right to Buy to help local people acquire valued community spaces, which will help to bring them back into use and rejuvenate high streets across the country.

We have also announced a further £750,000 as a 1-year extension to the £3 million Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund for 2025/2026. This will support the modernisation or improvement of village hall facilities by providing capital grants between £2000 and £75,000, up to a maximum of 20 per cent of eligible project costs. Since 2022, it has supported 142 large projects (£7,500 to £75,000) and 90 small projects (£2000 to £5000).

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to promote the National Youth Strategy survey in rural areas.

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

Our engagement for the National Youth Survey has proactively involved young people from urban and rural areas, as well as across a number of different demographic considerations.

In order to reach young people in all areas of the country, we developed a communications campaign and worked with a variety of stakeholders who support young people to disseminate information. We developed a toolkit for organisations to run their own consultation workshops with young people to feed in their views. In addition to this, we have run a wide-ranging survey, workshops, focus groups and ‘hacks’ to give young people the opportunity to develop solutions.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of restricting eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments on levels of pensioner poverty in rural areas.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The last Labour Government lifted over one million pensioners out of poverty, and this Government – despite having to make the tough decisions to deal with our dire inheritance remains absolutely committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.

Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or other qualifying means-tested benefits or tax credits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 or over.

The latest Pension Credit applications and awards statistics were published on 27 February and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pension-credit-applications-and-awards-february-2025/pension-credit-applications-and-awards-february-2025

The statistics show that the Department received 235,000 Pension Credit applications in the 30 weeks since the Winter Fuel Payment announcement – an 81% increase on the comparable period in 2023/24 and made 117,800 new Pension Credit awards – a 64% increase or 45,800 extra awards on the comparable period in 2023/24.

We are honouring our commitment to the Triple Lock. In April, the basic and new State Pensions increased by 4.1% and some 12 million pensioners will see an increase of up to £470 over this financial year. Our commitment to the Triple Lock also means that spending on State Pensions is forecast to rise by around £31 billion over this Parliament.

And while the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people, other help is also available for low-income pensioners. This includes Cold Weather Payments in England & Wales; help with energy bills via the Warm Home Discount scheme as well as the Household Support Fund in England which we extended for a further year with funding of £742 million, with corresponding funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help retailers distribute surplus food to local charities.

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

The Government recognises the environmental, economic and social benefits of preventing food waste and redistributing surplus. Defra's Food and Drink Waste Hierarchy encourages food businesses, including retailers, to prioritise redistribution of any surplus should it arise.

Defra funds the groundbreaking UK Food and Drink Pact, a voluntary agreement with industry to tackle food waste, managed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). Through the Pact, we support the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, which helps businesses to identify and measure their surplus and waste and take steps to reduce it. This Target Measure Act approach enables food businesses to get more surplus to redistributors. Defra also engages a working group of supply chain and redistribution sector organisations to develop best practice and overcome barriers to redistribution.

Previous grant opportunities have helped the redistribution sector increase its capability and capacity for getting more surplus from the supply chain. Announced in December, £15 million has now been available to help the sector get more surplus food from farms to those in need.

The total amount of surplus food redistributed in the UK in 2023 was 191,000 tonnes, equating to nearly 456 million meals with a value of around £764 million.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help return inflation to the target rate.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Inflation has fallen from the peak of 11.1%, returning to the 2% target in September 2024, before slightly increasing again to 2.6% in March.

The Bank of England has the responsibility of controlling inflation, and the Government fully supports them as they take action to sustainably return inflation to the 2% target. The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at the Bank of England has cut Bank Rate three times since August as underlying inflationary pressure has eased.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a Minister for Veterans Affairs will be appointed.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Prime Minister gave to Question 124 on 24 July 2024.