Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of introducing legislation that would ensure that all accessible toilets in public places have RADAR key locks on disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made; the RADAR key scheme is not government-led and there are no plans for legislation to make it statutory.
The functional element in Part M of the Building Regulations requires new building works to make reasonable provision for people to access and use a building and its facilities. More broadly, the Equality Act 2010 places a duty on service providers and businesses to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises/buildings and services.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of requests for an Education Health and Care Plan assessment are decided within the 6 week deadline in (a) each of the ten districts of Greater Manchester and (b) England; and how many and what proportion of these requests are approved.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The total number of requests for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment which were decided within six weeks can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025. This has been available since 26 June 2025.
A further breakdown of these figures showing the outcome of requests for an EHC needs assessment, which were decided within six weeks, is shown in the attached table.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2025 to Question 67189Pre-school Education: Accidents and Death, what steps she is taking to ensure that early years foundation stage safeguarding requirements are (a) implemented within early years settings, (b) read by staff on a mandatory basis and (c) communicated (i) consistently and (ii) coherently when changed.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements all early years providers must legally follow to ensure that children have the best start in life and are kept healthy and safe. The framework is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.
Ofsted is responsible for the registration, regulation and inspection of childcare provision in England. Ofsted, as a regulator, has a responsibility to check that providers meet the EYFS requirements.
The EYFS framework states that early years providers must ensure that practitioners are supported and confident to implement the setting’s safeguarding policy and procedures on an ongoing basis.
The safeguarding changes to the EYFS framework in September 2025 were supported by a programme of communications and engagement, including webinars and vodcasts via the Foundation Years website. We worked with the sector and local authorities to ensure they understood the changes being made and how to implement them. The Foundation Years website is available here: https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/2025/07/early-years-foundation-stage-eyfs-safeguarding-reforms-2025/.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support the Community Security Trust in safeguarding (a) synagogues, (b) Jewish schools and (c) other Jewish community locations.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
There is no excuse for violence or abuse driven by antisemitic hatred and discrimination, and we support the police in taking strong action against those who carry out these crimes.
This Government is committed to supporting the protection of Jewish communities against antisemitic attacks and other security threats.
The Jewish Community Protective Security (JCPS) Grant provides protective security measures (such as security personnel services, CCTV and alarm systems) at synagogues, Jewish educational establishments and community sites. It is managed on behalf of the Home Office by the Community Security Trust.
From 2024/25 to 2027/28, the Community Security Trust has been allocated £18 million annually through the JCPS Grant to continue this important work. We continue to work closely with the CST to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities across the UK.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Department is taking to intervene when a multi-academy trust does not investigate serious safeguarding complaints adequately.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Academy trusts must comply with their statutory safeguarding responsibilities set out in the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014. The regulations require trusts to have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ and ‘Working together to safeguard children’ statutory guidance. This includes having robust procedures for managing safeguarding concerns. Each academy within a trust must have a designated safeguarding lead responsible for managing referrals and working with external agencies. Failure to act appropriately can trigger external review or intervention.
The department follows up safeguarding issues, where appropriate, to obtain assurance that trusts are meeting their statutory responsibilities to safeguard all children in its schools. The department can enforce compliance through the trust’s funding agreement and the Academy Trust Handbook, which includes safeguarding obligations. Breaches may lead to formal intervention and regulatory action such as issuing a notice to improve or terminating the agreement.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department collects data on (a) internal and (b) fixed-term exclusions in primary schools, broken down by race.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department does not collect data on circumstances where schools remove a pupil from the classroom, for serious disciplinary reasons, and where they are required to spend a limited time out of the classroom. Some schools call this internal suspension.
The department publishes data on suspensions and permanent exclusions in state-funded schools in England. The most recent full academic year release, covering 2023/24, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/suspensions-and-permanent-exclusions-in-england/2023-24. This has been available since 10 July 2025.
Published data includes numbers and rates of suspensions, by ethnicity, in state-funded primary schools and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f3a89f3f-b18e-46c3-a167-08dde2cf2374.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on the effectiveness of its procedures for ensuring that (a) formal governance processes and (b) approved plans and programmes cannot be undermined by NHS senior leaders.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has regular meetings with NHS England to discuss the effectiveness of procedures to hold healthcare leaders accountable for delivering on the Government’s priorities.
There are clear expectations for National Health Service senior leaders, aligned with the NHS Leadership Compact, the Fit and Proper Person Test Framework, and the Nolan Principles. NHS England addresses concerns about poor behaviours through established human resources and governance channels.
On 21 July 2025, we set out plans to regulate NHS managers via a statutory barring system. We will take forward legislative changes so that the Health and Care Professions Council can operate a barring mechanism for NHS board-level managers and their direct reports within this Parliament.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of British Nationals (Overseas) visa holders on the white paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future. Further details of all measures announced in the Immigration White Paper will be set out in the normal way in due course, and where necessary, will be subject to consultation.
In the meantime, the current rules for settlement under the BN(O) route will continue to apply and guidance is available to applicants to help them make their application.
We regularly engage with representatives of the Hong Kong diaspora in the UK on issues related to the BN(O) visa and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to support British National (Overseas) visa holders who (a) have nearly reached the end of the five-year settlement period and (b) will be subject to the planned ten-year settlement period.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future. Further details of all measures announced in the Immigration White Paper will be set out in the normal way in due course, and where necessary, will be subject to consultation.
In the meantime, the current rules for settlement under the BN(O) route will continue to apply and guidance is available to applicants to help them make their application.
We regularly engage with representatives of the Hong Kong diaspora in the UK on issues related to the BN(O) visa and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Israel on ensuring that food aid reaches people in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the statement made to the House by the former Foreign Secretary on 1 September, and the joint statement on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza made alongside 31 overseas partners on 12 August: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-on-the-humanitarian-situation-in-gaza.