Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to support victims of stalking through the criminal justice system.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

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.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to work with Local Authorities to improve the teaching quality of Education otherwise than in a school packages.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

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.

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 ensure that disability related expenditure assessments are being undertaken by local authorities.

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

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many additional pensioners have claimed Pension Credit in Folkestone and Hythe constituency since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

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.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department used to decide which schools would access Round 1 of funding for the Free Breakfast Club scheme.

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

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.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether schools in Folkestone and Hythe can apply for the second round of funding for the Free School Breakfast Club program.

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

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.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits regulating the price of family holidays during school holidays.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of uprating temporary accommodation subsidy rates on local authorities.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to provide financial support to people in temporary accommodation.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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.

Found: Kevin Bonavia, Irene Campbell, Ben Goldsborough, Robbie Moore, Dave Robertson, Dr Roz Savage and Tony Vaughan

Found: Apsana Begum Dr Simon Opher Jo White Rachel Gilmour Robin Swann Chris Webb Charlotte Nichols Tony Vaughan

Found: Apsana Begum Dr Simon Opher Jo White Rachel Gilmour Robin Swann Chris Webb Charlotte Nichols Tony Vaughan

Found: Apsana Begum Dr Simon Opher Jo White Rachel Gilmour Robin Swann Chris Webb Charlotte Nichols Tony Vaughan