Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of a potential link between children going missing and the risk of exploitation, including child criminal exploitation and child sexual exploitation.

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

We recognise that missing episodes, especially repeat missing episodes, however brief, can often be a red flag for a number of harms including child sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation.

Each missing child case represents a vulnerable young person at risk, often with complex underlying causes that need to be understood and addressed. We are working to support the NPCC and its rollout of its ‘Children who go Missing from Care’ Framework as another vital tool when tackling head-on the underlying vulnerabilities in children that often lead to missing episodes and further strengthening frontline response.

In addition, the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP) launched in April 2025 to improve the response to violence against women and girls and child sexual abuse. The Home Office has already invested £13.1 million into the Centre in 2025-25 and will provide a further £13.9m funding this financial year. The NCVPP will improve the response to missing children by driving up standards; developing best practices and delivering training to officers across a range of vulnerabilities.

We will continue to work closely across Government Departments, with the police and other safeguarding partners, to improve the whole system response to missing children.

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 support those suffering from primary progressive aphasia.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include speech and language therapy. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

The Government is committed to improving care for everyone with dementia, including those with Primary Progressive Aphasia, which is why we have funded the work of the Dementia 100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for busy system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.

A number of experts, including those with expertise in speech and language therapy and dementia care, provided independent, desktop analysis of the tool, and this invaluable feedback was integrated into the tool. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool can be found at the following link:

https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/improving-care/nccmh/service-design-and-development/dementia-100-pathway-assessment-tool

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available for those suffering from primary progressive aphasia.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include speech and language therapy. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

The Government is committed to improving care for everyone with dementia, including those with Primary Progressive Aphasia, which is why we have funded the work of the Dementia 100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for busy system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.

A number of experts, including those with expertise in speech and language therapy and dementia care, provided independent, desktop analysis of the tool, and this invaluable feedback was integrated into the tool. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool can be found at the following link:

https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/improving-care/nccmh/service-design-and-development/dementia-100-pathway-assessment-tool

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, a) what steps he is taking to support parents to have 3 cycles of free NHS IVF in all areas of the country b) what steps he is taking to help reduce financial barriers to becoming a parent and c) what steps he is taking to combat the disease of infertility as categorised by the WHO.

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

Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. We expect these organisations to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, to support equitable access to fertility treatment across England.

We expect ICBs to take account of the updated NICE guidance, published 31 March, in their commissioning decisions. The guidance recommends that women under 40 years old, who meet the clinical eligibility criteria, should be offered up to three full cycles of in vitro fertilisation and sets out new and updated recommendations for diagnosing and treating health related fertility problems with the aim of improving how they are investigated and managed. We expect all ICBs to consider and reflect the updated NICE fertility guideline in their commissioning decisions and we are working with NHS England to better understand the offer around National Health Service funded fertility services and support more consistent provision. Reducing unwarranted variation in access to NHS-funded fertility services will help to reduce the financial barriers faced by patients in becoming parents.

We also recognise that there are areas where the fertility evidence base could be strengthened, and we will consider how best to support further research and data collection as work progresses.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the recent decision that all Greater Manchester boroughs offer 1 cycle of free NHS IVF, in the context of the NICE guideline advising 3+ cycles and some boroughs such as Stockport previously offering 2 or 3 cycles.

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

No assessment has been made by the Department. Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population.

On 31 March, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its updated fertility guideline, which recommends that women under 40 years old who meet the clinical eligibility criteria should be offered up to three full cycles of in vitro fertilisation.

We expect all ICBs to consider and reflect the updated NICE fertility guideline in their commissioning decisions, and we are working with NHS England to support greater consistency in provision. 

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to help prevent delays to spinal operations including where infrastructure such as operating room seals are broken leading to operations being cancelled and delayed.

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

The Government recognises the significant impact that delays to spinal surgery can have on patients and is taking action to reduce waiting times and minimise cancellations.

As set out in the Elective Reform Plan, we are increasing elective capacity and improving productivity across the National Health Service, including through the expansion of dedicated surgical hubs. These hubs use ringfenced staff and facilities to protect planned operations from urgent and emergency pressures.

NHS England also provides targeted national and regional support to trusts with the greatest waiting list pressures, including through the clinically led Getting It Right First Time programme and their Further Faster programme for spinal services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of delayed and cancelled spinal operations on patients' lives and b) what support is available to patients awaiting spinal operations for months or years.

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

The Government recognises the significant impact that delays to spinal surgery can have on patients and is taking action to reduce waiting times and minimise cancellations.

As set out in the Elective Reform Plan, we are increasing elective capacity and improving productivity across the National Health Service, including through the expansion of dedicated surgical hubs. These hubs use ringfenced staff and facilities to protect planned operations from urgent and emergency pressures.

NHS England also provides targeted national and regional support to trusts with the greatest waiting list pressures, including through the clinically led Getting It Right First Time programme and their Further Faster programme for spinal services.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of removing the 4% collection fees for receiving parents using the child maintenance service.

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

Following a public consultation on wider reforms to consolidate the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) into a single service type where the CMS collects and transfers payments, the Government published its response setting out plans to reform the CMS. This includes plans to reduce fees to 2% for both receiving parents and compliant paying parents, maintaining the 20% rate for non-compliant paying parents on top of their calculated maintenance amount.

The reformed service is expected to improve CMS’s ability to re-establish compliance more efficiently when payments break down. Retaining fees at this substantially reduced level will balance the interests of customers with the need to offset the cost of the service and provide the investment needed to make the reforms, reducing the burden on the taxpayer.

Our intention is to implement these changes as soon as parliamentary time allows.

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 help ensure that delays to spinal operations are mitigated against and minimised.

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

The Government recognises the significant impact that delays to spinal surgery can have on patients and is taking action to reduce waiting times and minimise cancellations.

As set out in the Elective Reform Plan, we are increasing elective capacity and improving productivity across the National Health Service, including through the expansion of dedicated surgical hubs. These hubs use ringfenced staff and facilities to protect planned operations from urgent and emergency pressures.

NHS England also provides targeted national and regional support to trusts with the greatest waiting list pressures, including through the clinically led Getting It Right First Time programme and their Further Faster programme for spinal services.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve data sharing between schools, local authorities and safeguarding agencies to support the identification of children at risk of going missing.

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

The government takes the issue of any child going missing, from home or care, extremely seriously and has provided clear guidance about responsibilities for all children who go missing. When a child is found, they must be offered an independent Return Home Interview and local authorities, police and voluntary services should also work together to understand why the child went missing and what support they may need, including with their mental health, in the future to prevent them from going missing again.

The department has announced a £7 million funding boost to early support hubs across England providing drop-in mental health support for young people aged 11 to 25. Alongside this, we are investing an extra £688 million in mental health services this year and are recruiting 8,500 additional mental health workers across children’s and adult services.

Measures from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Crime and Policing Bill, reforms being delivered through the Families First Partnership Programme, supported by £2.4 billion, updates to the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance, and oversight from the Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will ensure that we better respond when children go missing and intervene earlier to tackle the underlying drivers.

Measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aim to put an end to misconceptions about legal barriers to sharing information, through introducing an Information Sharing Duty and making provision for a Single Unique Identifier to improve information sharing between agencies.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of mental health support available to children who are at risk of going missing.

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

The government takes the issue of any child going missing, from home or care, extremely seriously and has provided clear guidance about responsibilities for all children who go missing. When a child is found, they must be offered an independent Return Home Interview and local authorities, police and voluntary services should also work together to understand why the child went missing and what support they may need, including with their mental health, in the future to prevent them from going missing again.

The department has announced a £7 million funding boost to early support hubs across England providing drop-in mental health support for young people aged 11 to 25. Alongside this, we are investing an extra £688 million in mental health services this year and are recruiting 8,500 additional mental health workers across children’s and adult services.

Measures from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Crime and Policing Bill, reforms being delivered through the Families First Partnership Programme, supported by £2.4 billion, updates to the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance, and oversight from the Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will ensure that we better respond when children go missing and intervene earlier to tackle the underlying drivers.

Measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aim to put an end to misconceptions about legal barriers to sharing information, through introducing an Information Sharing Duty and making provision for a Single Unique Identifier to improve information sharing between agencies.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve standards in relation to bailiffs.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government is committed to strengthening the regulation of the private enforcement (bailiff) sector and establishing an independent regulatory framework as soon as parliamentary time allows. Last year, we consulted on how to do so in a way that ensures that regulation is targeted, proportionate, as well as ensuring fair treatment for everyone, including people in vulnerable circumstances. This will build on the excellent work that the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) is already doing on a voluntary basis to improve standards in the sector. This includes the recent publication in March 2026 of Vulnerability and Ability to Pay Standards, strengthening expectations on the identification of vulnerability, affordability assessments and the use of sustainable repayment arrangements.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is currently taking to improve the training of staff and quality of service for users of the child maintenance service.

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

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to improving customer experience and are taking significant steps to enhance service quality for customers.

All CMS caseworkers receive extensive technical and soft skills training to ensure they are fully equipped to meet the needs of customers. We are investing in developing, reviewing, and improving new entrant and caseworker training materials and delivery across CMS in order to ensure greater consistency in customer interactions. Our transformed caseworker Smart Instructions ensure guidance is clearer, easier to follow, and more consistent, enabling caseworkers to access up to date instructions more quickly and reliably during customer interactions.

CMS proactively use quality assurance checks, call listening, customer insight from complaints and feedback to identify where caseworkers may need additional coaching or support to deliver a consistent and confident telephony service.

Through our Service Modernisation Programme, we are expanding digital channels and self-service options providing greater choice and flexibility and a faster and more responsive service to our customers. We have enhanced customer communications by increasing the use of SMS text and email and simplifying letters to make them clearer and easier to understand. Our online service My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC), allows parents to access advice and manage their case 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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 support research into myalgic encephalomyelitis.

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

UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Medical Research Council (MRC) has prioritised research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) for many years, investing over £4.65 million since 2020.

MRC is working with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to deliver on agreed actions from the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan. This includes funding strategic initiatives to increase research capacity and hosting engagement events to bring together research funders, commercial and academic researchers and patient representatives.

In November 2025, DHSC, NIHR and UKRI, co-hosted a research showcase to discuss and explore the ongoing research in the fields of ME/CFS and long COVID. MRC continues to liaise with the ME/CFS research community to support future applicants.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the child maintenance service a) minimises and mitigates administrative or otherwise errors and b) that parents using the child maintenance service are not incorrectly moved onto a non-enforced payment method despite a history of missed payments.

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

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has a range of controls in place to minimise administrative and other errors.

CMS uses verified income information from HM Revenue and Customs and other government systems and applies statutory calculation rules in assessing maintenance liabilities. Caseworkers are supported by detailed operational instructions, the Child Maintenance Decision Makers’ Guide, and child maintenance legislation to ensure decisions are made accurately and consistently. Quality assurance activity is used to identify, mitigate, and address errors, including through case sampling, call listening, and management oversight.

Decisions on whether a case is managed under a non‑enforced or enforced payment method are based on an assessment of a paying parent’s payment history, likelihood of compliance in line with policy guidance and statutory regulations. Caseworkers are required to record decision making for changes in payment method, and these decisions are subject to team leader and quality assurance checks as part of the Department’s Quality Assurance Framework.

Parents are provided with written explanations of calculations and decisions and have access to mandatory reconsideration and independent appeal routes where they believe a decision is incorrect.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will consider the potential merits of introducing a national duty of care for bailiffs.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government is committed to strengthening the regulation of the private enforcement (bailiff) sector and establishing an independent regulatory framework as soon as parliamentary time allows. Last year, we consulted on how to do so in a way that ensures that regulation is targeted, proportionate, as well as ensuring fair treatment for everyone, including people in vulnerable circumstances. This will build on the excellent work that the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) is already doing on a voluntary basis to improve standards in the sector. This includes the recent publication in March 2026 of Vulnerability and Ability to Pay Standards, strengthening expectations on the identification of vulnerability, affordability assessments and the use of sustainable repayment arrangements.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues is taking to improve outcomes for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who go missing from care.

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

The government takes the issue of any child going missing, either from home or from local authority care, extremely seriously. An unaccompanied child is entitled to the same support as any other looked after child, regardless of their immigration status.

We expect local authorities and their safeguarding partners to work together to reduce the chances of children going missing, to respond effectively when they do, and understand why. We have provided clear guidance about responsibilities towards all children who go missing. This includes the appropriate response from the relevant police force and expectations for the settings where children live, to ensure children have access to the services they need.

Measures from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Crime and Policing Bill, reforms being delivered through the Families First Partnership Programme (supported by £2.4 billion), updates to the ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ statutory guidance and oversight from the Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will ensure that we better respond when children go missing and intervene earlier to tackle the problems children and their families face.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has considered the potential merits of providing funding for speech therapy for those suffering from primary progressive aphasia.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include speech and language therapy. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the police and safeguarding partners on reducing the number of repeat missing episodes among children aged 12 to 17 years.

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

We recognise that missing episodes, especially repeat missing episodes, however brief, can often be a red flag for a number of harms including child sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation.

Each missing child case represents a vulnerable young person at risk, often with complex underlying causes that need to be understood and addressed. We are working to support the NPCC and its rollout of its ‘Children who go Missing from Care’ Framework as another vital tool when tackling head-on the underlying vulnerabilities in children that often lead to missing episodes and further strengthening frontline response.

In addition, the new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection (NCVPP) launched in April 2025 to improve the response to violence against women and girls and child sexual abuse. The Home Office has already invested £13.1 million into the Centre in 2025-25 and will provide a further £13.9m funding this financial year. The NCVPP will improve the response to missing children by driving up standards; developing best practices and delivering training to officers across a range of vulnerabilities.

We will continue to work closely across Government Departments, with the police and other safeguarding partners, to improve the whole system response to missing children.

School libraries and librarians and the National Year of Reading 2026

Protection and restoration of ancient woodland

Found: Singh Josan (Labour; Smethwick) John Lamont (Conservative; Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) Tom Morrison