Tony Vaughan

The Government expects the highest standards of conduct throughout public sector supply chains.

The Procurement Act will strengthen the grounds on which unethical suppliers can be excluded and introduce a new debarment list.

Industry traders tell us many factors are considered when travel companies price holidays, including demand at specific times. Demand is cyclical and most businesses trade all year round, with pricing in periods of high demand reflecting this. On the other hand, during periods when the industry is keen to attract and confirm bookings, traders often offer incentives like early booking discounts or free child places.

The Government will continue to engage with the industry; encouraging competitiveness, price transparency and innovation to promote growth and to ensure that consumers can choose the best deals that suit them.

Great British Nuclear (GBN) acquired sites at Wylfa (Ynys Mon/ Anglesey) and Oldbury-on-Severn (Gloucestershire) in 2024, although no decisions have yet been taken on any projects to be deployed at those sites.

In terms of other potentially suitable sites, the government recently published a consultation on a refreshed planning framework for new nuclear reactors (EN-7). The proposed planning framework provides a robust set of siting criteria, and the government would welcome developer interest in identifying potentially suitable sites using the framework as EN-7 moves towards designation later this year.

The UK has an enabling and rigorous energy regulatory regime. The Government is taking steps to reform the planning process and will continue to work with the regulators to understand additional opportunities to streamline the regulation of new nuclear projects.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities or who are in alternative provision, including those receiving education otherwise than in a school (EOTAS), receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

Last year, the department published a consultation titled ‘Strengthening protections in unregistered alternative provision’, which sought views on proposals intended to improve practice and raise standards for children in non-school settings, including those with education, health and care plans that gave them support through EOTAS. We are committed to improving the outcomes for vulnerable children being educated in this way and will set out the government’s response to the consultation and next steps in due course.

The government is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will require every state-funded school with children on roll from reception to year 6 to offer a free breakfast club before the start of each school day. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day. The Autumn Budget 2024 confirmed over £30 million of funding for breakfast clubs for the 2025/26 financial year. This funding will enable the department to fund up to 750 early adopters of the new breakfast clubs. Decisions about future funding for breakfast clubs will be taken as part of the next phase of the spending review.

The department selected up to 750 early adopter schools to ensure a broad range of representation across different school types, sizes, and geographical areas. The aim is to test and learn from a variety of school settings, including those that already work with private, voluntary, and independent providers.

All state-funded schools with primary-aged children were eligible to apply, including primary schools, infant and junior schools, all-through schools, special schools, and alternative provision settings.

The government is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will require every state-funded school with children on roll from reception to year 6 to offer a free breakfast club before the start of each school day. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day. The Autumn Budget 2024 confirmed over £30 million of funding for breakfast clubs for the 2025/26 financial year. This funding will enable the department to fund up to 750 early adopters of the new breakfast clubs. Decisions about future funding for breakfast clubs will be taken as part of the next phase of the spending review.

The department selected up to 750 early adopter schools to ensure a broad range of representation across different school types, sizes, and geographical areas. The aim is to test and learn from a variety of school settings, including those that already work with private, voluntary, and independent providers.

All state-funded schools with primary-aged children were eligible to apply, including primary schools, infant and junior schools, all-through schools, special schools, and alternative provision settings.

This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity and to grow the economy. Too many young people are struggling to access high-quality opportunities, and this government wants to ensure that more young people can undertake apprenticeships.

The department is developing new foundation apprenticeships to give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives whilst supporting the pipeline of new talent that employers will need to drive economic growth. This signals an important step towards realising a Youth Guarantee, which brings together a range of existing and new entitlements and provision so that 18 to 21-year-olds can access training, an apprenticeship, or support to find work in England. The department and the Department for Work and Pensions are developing the Guarantee with mayoral authorities to provide local, tailored support and will work with local areas on future expansion.

The department is promoting apprenticeships to students in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme and targeting young people through the Skills for Life campaign. The department is also transforming career opportunities and advice to increase awareness of the range of high-quality options available to young people, including apprenticeships. The department has committed to improve careers advice and guarantee two weeks’ worth of work experience for every young person, as well as establish a national jobs and careers service to support people into work and help them get on at work.

The government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade. Education has a crucial role to play in tackling harmful behaviour, helping children and young people to develop empathy, boundaries and respect for difference.

Through compulsory relationships education, all pupils will learn how to form positive and respectful relationships and develop an understanding of the concepts and laws around sexual harassment and sexual violence.

​​The department is currently reviewing the statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum for primary and secondary pupils and as part of this review we are looking at how to ensure that the guidance equips pupils, including at primary, to form healthy and respectful relationships. We are analysing consultation responses, talking to stakeholders and considering relevant evidence to determine how this can fully complement our wider actions to tackle violence against women and girls.

In the first week of office, the Secretary of State and I met water companies’ chief executives, including Southern Water, where they signed up to a tough set of initial measures for reform, including on putting customers and the environment at the heart of their businesses.

I have also met with companies that are failing in their environmental performance and made clear to them that we expect change. I will continue to meet with water companies and their boards, including Southern Water, through 2025 to set out the Government’s expectation of improved performance.

This Government has been clear there is no excuse for poor performance, and we will not look the other way while companies routinely fail to meet agreed standards.

In October 2024, the Secretary of State and the Welsh Government launched an independent commission, led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, into the water sector and its regulation, in what is expected to form the largest review of the industry since privatisation. These wide-ranging recommendations will form the basis of further legislation to attract long-term investment and clean up our waters for good.

The Department requires all train operators, including Southeastern, to plan services and timetables designed to meet passenger demand while also ensuring value for money for the taxpayer. Timetables are kept under review and, where appropriate, adjusted to reflect fluctuations in demand.

In December 2024, Southeastern encountered an incident that resulted in damage to one of its highspeed units and as a result it is temporarily operating some of its high speed services between Folkestone and London with fewer carriages. However, Southeastern is continuously monitoring passenger feedback and loading data to ensure it optimises the allocation of carriages to meet demand.

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 remote coastal communities 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.

Rail has an important role in connecting rural communities as part of the wider transport system. The department requires its train operators to plan services and rail timetables that are designed to meet expected passenger demand. These should be resilient and provide value for money for the taxpayer. These timetables are kept under review and, where appropriate, adjusted to reflect fluctuations in demand.

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 Folkestone and Hythe. 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.

We continue to keep the rates used for Housing Benefit subsidy under review and are working closely with MHCLG and the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping to explore the impacts of subsidy rates on local authorities.

The Government will prioritise the best way to achieve its mission and goals within the current challenging fiscal situation at the appropriate fiscal event.

On 27^th February we published Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes up to 23 February 2025. Pension Credit Applications - February 2025

We do not hold data at regional or constituency level for applications made. We do hold Pension Credit caseload data by Parliamentary constituency. You can find the latest available data held on Stat-Xplore - Home which shows Pension Credit caseload data by Parliamentary constituency up to August 2024.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provides support through the social security system for rental costs as well as additional funding to local authorities. DWP provides support with rent and living costs to those who are eligible and living in temporary accommodation through Housing Benefit and Universal Credit. In 23/24, DWP spent £32bn on housing support.

For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) DHPs can be used to help people with a rent deposit, rent in advance, a shortfall in rent or moving costs. This supports people to move out of and can be used to help prevent use of temporary accommodation. For 2025/26, DWP is maintaining DHP funding at £100m for England and Wales. This is in addition to funding local authorities receive from MHCLG, including for the Homelessness Prevention Grant.

DWP also provided funding of £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund in England by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. This will ensure low-income households can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as food, energy and water.

We continue to work with MHCLG on the Long-Term Housing Strategy and the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, supporting the development of a strategy to tackle the root causes of homelessness.

Where local authorities decide to charge for the provision of care and support, they must follow the Care and Support Statutory Guidance, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-act-statutory-guidance/care-and-support-statutory-guidance#Chapter8

This guidance sets out that, where disability-related benefits are taken into account during a financial assessment, the local authority should make an assessment and allow the person to keep enough of their benefit payments to pay for necessary disability-related expenditure, to meet any needs which are not being met by the local authority.

Current arrangements under the provisions in the EU Exit Regulations, known as the ‘standstill’ provisions, ensure that United Kingdom healthcare regulators, including the General Dental Council (GDC), who register domestic and international dentists, continue to automatically recognise relevant European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss healthcare qualifications. In addition, qualifications from countries in the European Free Trade Association and Switzerland are recognised under trade agreements made with those nations. This means dentists with recognised qualifications from EEA countries and Switzerland can continue to practise in the United Kingdom without the need to sit additional professional exams or undergo further assessment by the GDC.

£1.65 billion of additional capital funding has been allocated in the budget for 2025/26 to support National Health Service performance across secondary and emergency care. This investment includes funding for new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners to build capacity for over 30,000 additional procedures and over 1.25 million diagnostic tests as they come online; new beds across the estate to create more treatment space in emergency departments, reduce waiting times, and help shift more care into the community; and £70 million to invest in new radiotherapy machines to improve cancer treatment.

As detailed in the 2025/26 capital guidance, published on 30 January 2025, NHS England has also provided systems with their operational capital envelopes. These allocations are managed locally, with systems prioritising investments in line with their clinical and operational needs. As part of the £1.65 billion of funding, some targeted national programme funding is also available for strategic priorities such as the expansion of community diagnostic centres and the improvement of cancer treatment capacity.

The Department is working with NHS England to finalise the composition of investment across individual schemes that will best support NHS performance, including the completion of business cases. To support this, NHS England is working with local NHS systems to identify the most appropriate locations for investment. Further information will be shared shortly.

Future capital investment beyond 2025/26 will be considered as part of the next Spending Review.

To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.

There are no perfect payment systems and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.

We are continuing to meet the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to discuss how we can best deliver our shared ambition to improve access for NHS dental patients.

Data is not held on what proportion of the emergency dental appointments will be provided at constituency level. Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board, which includes Folkestone and Hythe constituency, is expected to deliver 20,319 additional urgent dental appointments.

The urgent appointments will be available to National Health Service patients experiencing painful oral health issues, such as infections, abscesses, or cracked or broken teeth. Patients can contact their usual dental practice or call NHS 111 if they don’t have a regular dentist or need help out-of-hours.

Tackling Violence Agains Women and Girls (VAWG), including domestic abuse is a top priority for this Government. We will deliver a cross-Government transformative approach, utilising every tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence.

The Home Office has provided £2.025m for the national VAWG Helplines this financial year (24/25), which offer specialist support to victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence, victims of revenge porn, stalking and ‘honour’ based abuse.

On 28th November 2024, the government announced a funding increase of £30 million, meaning a total investment of £160 million in the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Grant in 2025-26.

We have been able to secure decisions on the majority of grants for the next financial year 2025-26. We have sought to protect frontline services and give them certainty, so they can plan for the next financial year ahead of the full budget-decision making process concluding.

Tackling VAWG is a top priority for this Government. We will deliver a cross-Government transformative approach, utilising every tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence. This will be underpinned by a new strategy to be published later this year.

Recent measures have included developing a new package of six measures to tackle stalking and a step-change in approach to the way that policing looks at VAWG crimes, through a new National Policing Centre for VAWG and Public Protection. We are investing £13.1 million pounds next financial year (25/26) to stand up this new Centre from April 2025 and throughout its first year. This funding includes an uplift of nearly £2 million to enable policing to better target these crimes.

Prevention and education are fundamental to our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and that includes supporting our education system to teach children about respectful and healthy relationships and consent.

As part of the Safer Streets Mission, I regularly engage with colleagues across Government including those at the Department for Education.

The Home Office has recently introduced a time limited pilot giving newly recognised refugees 56 days’ notice to move on from asylum accommodation, in order to support local authorities as we seek to clear the asylum backlog and transition to eVisas.

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.

As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services has been increased by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total Homelessness spend to nearly £1 billion in 25/26, a record level of funding.

Homelessness legislation is clear that all temporary accommodation must be suitable, and local authorities should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Where an individual feels that the council has applied their statutory duties incorrectly, they can take action in the courts or bring their concerns to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Guidance sets out that local authorities should avoid placing households out of their borough. However, in some areas where there is a limited supply of suitable accommodation it is sometimes necessary to place households in temporary accommodation outside of the local area. This should be as a last resort. If a local authority places a household into temporary accommodation in another local area, they are required by law to notify the local authority of any placement. We must build more homes in the areas where they are needed so we can reduce the need for out of area placements, which is why we will deliver the biggest increase to social and affordable housing in a generation.

The Government is clear that, in the short-term, we must prioritise eliminating the worst forms of temporary accommodation such as families in Bed and Breakfast (B&B), other than in genuine emergencies. We have also launched Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, backed by £5 million, to work with 20 local councils with the highest use of B&B accommodation for homeless families. This will support LAs to move families into more suitable accommodation.

In addition, the £1.2 billion Local Authority Housing Fund will provide capital funding directly to English councils and is expected to provide up to 7,000 homes by 2026. It will create a lasting asset for UK nationals by building a sustainable stock of affordable housing and better-quality temporary accommodation for local communities.

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.

As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services has been increased by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total Homelessness spend to nearly £1 billion in 25/26, a record level of funding.

Homelessness legislation is clear that all temporary accommodation must be suitable, and local authorities should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Where an individual feels that the council has applied their statutory duties incorrectly, they can take action in the courts or bring their concerns to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Guidance sets out that local authorities should avoid placing households out of their borough. However, in some areas where there is a limited supply of suitable accommodation it is sometimes necessary to place households in temporary accommodation outside of the local area. This should be as a last resort. If a local authority places a household into temporary accommodation in another local area, they are required by law to notify the local authority of any placement. We must build more homes in the areas where they are needed so we can reduce the need for out of area placements, which is why we will deliver the biggest increase to social and affordable housing in a generation.

The Government is clear that, in the short-term, we must prioritise eliminating the worst forms of temporary accommodation such as families in Bed and Breakfast (B&B), other than in genuine emergencies. We have also launched Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, backed by £5 million, to work with 20 local councils with the highest use of B&B accommodation for homeless families. This will support LAs to move families into more suitable accommodation.

In addition, the £1.2 billion Local Authority Housing Fund will provide capital funding directly to English councils and is expected to provide up to 7,000 homes by 2026. It will create a lasting asset for UK nationals by building a sustainable stock of affordable housing and better-quality temporary accommodation for local communities.

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.

As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services has been increased by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total Homelessness spend to nearly £1 billion in 25/26, a record level of funding.

Homelessness legislation is clear that all temporary accommodation must be suitable, and local authorities should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Where an individual feels that the council has applied their statutory duties incorrectly, they can take action in the courts or bring their concerns to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Guidance sets out that local authorities should avoid placing households out of their borough. However, in some areas where there is a limited supply of suitable accommodation it is sometimes necessary to place households in temporary accommodation outside of the local area. This should be as a last resort. If a local authority places a household into temporary accommodation in another local area, they are required by law to notify the local authority of any placement. We must build more homes in the areas where they are needed so we can reduce the need for out of area placements, which is why we will deliver the biggest increase to social and affordable housing in a generation.

The Government is clear that, in the short-term, we must prioritise eliminating the worst forms of temporary accommodation such as families in Bed and Breakfast (B&B), other than in genuine emergencies. We have also launched Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, backed by £5 million, to work with 20 local councils with the highest use of B&B accommodation for homeless families. This will support LAs to move families into more suitable accommodation.

In addition, the £1.2 billion Local Authority Housing Fund will provide capital funding directly to English councils and is expected to provide up to 7,000 homes by 2026. It will create a lasting asset for UK nationals by building a sustainable stock of affordable housing and better-quality temporary accommodation for local communities.

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.

As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services has been increased by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total Homelessness spend to nearly £1 billion in 25/26, a record level of funding.

Homelessness legislation is clear that all temporary accommodation must be suitable, and local authorities should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Where an individual feels that the council has applied their statutory duties incorrectly, they can take action in the courts or bring their concerns to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Guidance sets out that local authorities should avoid placing households out of their borough. However, in some areas where there is a limited supply of suitable accommodation it is sometimes necessary to place households in temporary accommodation outside of the local area. This should be as a last resort. If a local authority places a household into temporary accommodation in another local area, they are required by law to notify the local authority of any placement. We must build more homes in the areas where they are needed so we can reduce the need for out of area placements, which is why we will deliver the biggest increase to social and affordable housing in a generation.

The Government is clear that, in the short-term, we must prioritise eliminating the worst forms of temporary accommodation such as families in Bed and Breakfast (B&B), other than in genuine emergencies. We have also launched Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, backed by £5 million, to work with 20 local councils with the highest use of B&B accommodation for homeless families. This will support LAs to move families into more suitable accommodation.

In addition, the £1.2 billion Local Authority Housing Fund will provide capital funding directly to English councils and is expected to provide up to 7,000 homes by 2026. It will create a lasting asset for UK nationals by building a sustainable stock of affordable housing and better-quality temporary accommodation for local communities.

Yes, the government will provide guidance to help both landlords and tenants understand the new regulations and will maintain ongoing communication with the rental sector to address any concerns.

The Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the next decade. To do so, the Government is committed to better supporting and protecting victims and survivors of VAWG, including stalking.

The Ministry of Justice provides funding for victim and witness support services. This includes community-based domestic abuse and sexual violence services, in addition to the core funding the Ministry of Justice provides to Police and Crime Commissioners to allocate at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need. This can include services specifically for victims of stalking.

On 3 December, the Government announced a raft of new measures to tackle stalking by putting victims first and making sure they can be protected at the earliest opportunity. Through the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government is introducing provisions which, once implemented, would provide for the courts to impose Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) on conviction and acquittal of their own volition. SPOs are an essential tool that are designed to protect victims of stalking at the earliest possible opportunity and address the perpetrator’s behaviours before they become entrenched or escalate in severity.

The Government is also introducing provisions to issue: multi-agency statutory guidance on stalking to set out for the first time a robust framework for how agencies such as the police, local authorities and healthcare should define stalking and work together to pursue perpetrators and support victims; and statutory guidance to set out the process by which the police should release identifying information about online stalking perpetrators to victims so appropriate safeguards can be put in place. In addition, the Government is conducting a review of the stalking legislation to determine whether the law could be changed to support a better understanding and better identification of stalking.