Tony Vaughan

The Online Safety Act gives online platforms, including X, new duties to take steps to reduce the risk their services are used to disseminate illegal extremist content. They also need to implement effective systems to remove this content when it does appear. This includes terrorist content and also illegal content which incites hatred. The illegal content duties are now in force. Ofcom is the regulator for the regime and has powers to enforce against platforms where they fail to fulfil their duties.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The department is taking steps to ensure that this additional funding will be spent for its intended purpose to support mainstream inclusion, this includes providing funding such as the Inclusive Mainstream Fund as a separate grant with reporting conditions and guidance to be published to achieve this.

Our special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform consultation document proposes a continuum of support for children’s needs. Support will range from the Universal offer (including high-quality adaptive teaching) to the Targeted layer (such as small group provision) and Targeted Plus support (such as speech and language therapy).

We are providing additional funding to boost the capacity of mainstream settings to meet this continuum of need, before any legislative changes. The department will publish guidance and conditions of grant to ensure that settings and local authorities spend the funding on this purpose.

The Inclusive Mainstream fund provides over £500 million per year for schools, colleges and early years settings so they can improve their inclusive practice. We have published information on £1.8 billion for local authorities over the three years to provide a new Experts at Hand offer, strengthening the capability of mainstream settings to meet SEND needs by providing access to expert support from education and health professionals.

Changes to how support is delivered will be underlined by stronger accountability across local authorities and health and education settings to ensure each layer of support is delivered effectively.

Schools will be required to produce an Inclusion Strategy, drawing on evidence-informed best practice including new National Inclusion Standards, which will help to hold them accountable for practice across layers of support, including targeted plus. Ofsted will be able to draw on the strategy to assess how effectively leaders are planning for, implementing and delivering inclusive practice.

There will also be a legal duty on settings to produce an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for every child or young person receiving targeted plus support, to clearly record the support they are accessing. The use and quality of ISPs will be considered in Ofsted inspections, with clear routes for parents to raise concerns.

As part of our reforms, to clarify and simplify terminology, we will collectively describe provision such as special educational needs (SEN) units, resourced provision and pupil support units as inclusion bases, underpinned by two models:

1. Support bases: commissioned and funded by individual settings and academy trusts.
2. Specialist bases: commissioned and funded by the local authority.

There are many examples of inclusion bases in mainstream settings that offer high quality teaching, bespoke learning environments and flexible access to specialist education or health support, helping children thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. These will continue to play an important role.

As a core component of our £3.7 billion high needs capital settlement we will invest in a transformational expansion of inclusion bases, so they become a core part of every local education offer. They will deliver high quality teaching and support to more children who benefit from provision that bridges the gap between mainstream and specialist.

The department is driving major children’s social care reforms to strengthen and improve early intervention, including in cases of childhood neglect. These reforms are backed by £2.4 billion investment, robust statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’, and support for teachers, social workers and all safeguarding professionals to spot the signs of abuse and neglect more quickly.

Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we will require local authorities and safeguarding partners to establish multi-agency child protection teams, enhance schools’ role in safeguarding partnership arrangements and introduce provisions that empower my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education to introduce a consistent identifier for children.

In addition, our Best Start Family Hubs will provide welcoming spaces that connect families to health, education, housing and parenting support, helping identify those who need more intensive help from family support and multi-agency child protection.

Our plans to establish a Child Protection Authority in England will also bring further focus to children who are experiencing or likely to experience significant harm, including neglect.

Local councils are responsible for keeping their public land clear of fly-tipped waste, including public rural areas. Local councils have powers to take enforcement action against offenders. Anyone caught fly-tipping may be prosecuted which can lead to a significant fine, a community sentence or even imprisonment. Instead of prosecuting, local councils can choose to issue a fixed penalty notice (on-the-spot fine) of up to £1,000 to fly-tippers. Councils also have powers to seize and search vehicles of suspected fly-tippers.

We encourage and support councils to make good use of their enforcement powers. For example, we have recently published best practice guidance and case studies on the website of the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, which will support councils to make better use of their power to seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers.

We are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support councils to consistently, appropriately and effectively exercise these existing powers.

Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders to share good practice on preventing fly-tipping.

We committed in our manifesto to force fly-tippers and vandals to clean up their mess. Defra will consult on giving local councils the powers to issue fly-tippers with conditional cautions, one of a range of pre-court community-based sanctions. These cautions could see offenders complete up to 20 hours of unpaid work, cleaning our streets or parks, and pay back the cost of cleaning up the waste that they have dumped on public land. If an offender admits to the crime, agrees to the caution and complies with the conditions, they will not face prosecution.

We are looking at measures to award penalty points on driving licences for those found guilty of fly-tipping, which could lead to them losing their licences altogether. This would make it harder for offenders to continue dumping illegally if they are disqualified from driving and send a clear warning that fly-tipping is not tolerated.

In addition to that, we recently published the Waste Crime Action Plan which sets out how we will tackle waste crime through prevention, enforcement, and accelerating the clean-up effort. More information can be found on: Waste Crime Action Plan - GOV.UK.

The Government is currently negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement to make agrifood trade with its biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and regulatory barriers for British producers and retailers. These negotiations are ongoing, and transition arrangements remain part of the government’s thinking. The Government continues to work closely with stakeholders to get input on our negotiating priorities.

The Government recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime. That is why the Government collaborated with the National Police Chiefs’ Councils to deliver their renewal of the Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy, which was published in November. The strategy, lasting until 2028, will ensure efforts to reduce crime benefit every community no matter where they live, including rural communities.

Last financial year (2025/26), the Government provided £800,000 of funding to the National Rural Crime Unit and the National Wildlife Crime Unit, and it is providing the same level of funding across 2026/27. These capabilities play key roles in helping police across the UK tackle organised theft and disrupt serious and organised crime groups, which can pose unique challenges for policing in large and isolated rural areas.

The Government was pleased to support the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Act 2025, which came into force on 18 March 2026. It modernised the definitions and scope of the offence, strengthened police powers to collect evidence and prosecute offenders, and increased the maximum penalty from a £1,000 fine to an “unlimited” fine, to act as a deterrent for livestock worrying.

Defra recognises the importance that shearing sheep plays in managing the health and welfare of around 30m sheep in the UK flock, and the continued challenges that the industry faces each year in sourcing sufficient numbers of trained shearers.

The department is also aware of the role that shearers and sheep farmers from countries such as Australia and New Zealand have provided in sharing skills and expertise with UK sheep farmers as well as in supporting the health and welfare of the UK flock.

Defra continues to work closely with the industry in addressing these challenges and recognises the good and extensive work undertaken by British Wool each year to provide training for domestic sheep shearers.

Visa concessions are a matter for the Home Office.

British Wool is the main provider and promoter of training for sheep shearers in the UK. In each of the last five years (2021-2025) they have invested an average of £134,000 net costs in providing shearing training for between 798 and 898 people at skill levels ranging from beginners through to highly proficient commercial shearers. This includes the training of around 100- 200 young farmers a year who also receive a 50% discount on fees.

Defra works closely with British Wool and the wider sheep industry to encourage the continued delivery and where possible, expansion of the sheep shearing training programme. However, Defra recognise the challenges the industry faces in maintaining the number of required shearers who need to possess a high level of skill but can only utilise these skills for a very short period of the year.

On 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. Alongside the strategy, 5 consultations were published, and they will be open until 11 May:

• motoring offences
• introducing a minimum learning period for learner drivers (category B driving licence)
• introducing mandatory eyesight testing for older drivers
• improving moped and motorcycle training, testing and licensing (categories AM, A1, A2 and A driving licence)
• mandating vehicle safety technologies in GB type approval

The Strategy sets ambitious targets to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65%, and 70% for children under 16, by 2035. Five consultations were launched alongside the Strategy addressing vulnerable road users, vehicle safety technologies and motoring offences.

The steps we take to improve road safety will be supported and monitored by a new Road Safety Board which I will chair as the Minister for Local Transport.

Road safety is a shared responsibility, and the new strategy reflects that. It considers action needed by government, local authorities, industry, emergency services and communities to tackle the causes of collisions and save lives. By investing in infrastructure, education, and enforcement, we are taking decisive steps to make our roads safer for everyone.

To reduce missed appointments, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) issues text reminders to learners between 2 and 12 days beforehand to help learners plan for their test. Learners can also get email alerts, check their test details online, and find resources on the GOV.UK website.

Driving examiners will terminate a test on public safety grounds only where it is necessary to manage risk to the learner, the examiner or other road users. Through its "Ready to Pass?" campaign, DVSA encourages learners to make sure that they will be ready and able to take the test they have booked and to change or cancel their appointment in good time if they are not.

To reduce missed appointments, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) issues text reminders to learners between 2 and 12 days beforehand to help learners plan for their test. Learners can also get email alerts, check their test details online, and find resources on the GOV.UK website.

Driving examiners will terminate a test on public safety grounds only where it is necessary to manage risk to the learner, the examiner or other road users. Through its "Ready to Pass?" campaign, DVSA encourages learners to make sure that they will be ready and able to take the test they have booked and to change or cancel their appointment in good time if they are not.

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.

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.