Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of when mainstream schools will have the baseline staffing levels required to deliver the universal inclusion expectations set out in the Schools White Paper.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Recruiting and retaining expert teachers is at the heart of the government’s Plan for Change, with good progress already being made: the teaching workforce has grown by 2,346 FTE between 2023/24 and 2024/25, in secondary and special schools; the schools where they are needed most.
We are investing £200 million in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) training to upskill staff in every school, college and nursery over the course of this Parliament. This training will cover children with SEND in their earliest years, through to age 25.
We are providing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), to work together to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer, which will give schools direct access to support, advice, training and specialist expertise from professionals such as speech and language therapists (SaLTs), educational psychologists (EPs) and specialist teachers.
We are investing £15 million to establish new speech and language therapist advanced practitioners in every ICB geographical area, to get more SaLTs working in educational settings.
In addition, we will continue to train at least 200 EPs per year in 2026 and 2027, backed by £26m.
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Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme, what steps they plan to take to mitigate the impact on carers as individuals specifically in relation to the loss of pensions, career damage and loss of family light.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme compensates for the cost of care incurred by someone’s infection in two ways.
A Care award is paid to the infected person as part of their overall compensation claim. A living infected person receiving this compensation can take a decision on whether all or some of this award should be passed to an affected person. An executor of a deceased infected person's estate will be responsible for administering the estate as per the wishes of the infected person.
If someone provided care to an infected person, and is not otherwise eligible for compensation in relation to that person (for example, as their sibling or parent), they may be eligible for compensation as an affected carer. They will need to show that they provided an infected person with care, without reward or remuneration, where the provision of care averaged at least 16.5 hours of care per week over a time period of at least 6 months, after the infection. They will be eligible to receive an injury award and a social impact award.
Whether someone receives part or all of an infected person’s care award, as per the wishes of the infected person, does not affect whether they can apply for the award as a carer, or as any other affected person. The two are not linked, and have no bearing on each other.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on carers, particularly women, of the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme paying awards for past care directly to the estate of the deceased, in particular in relation to Articles 4, 5, 6, 8 and 14 of the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Care award is provided to people making a claim as an infected person or as their estate representative. A living infected person receiving compensation can take a decision on whether all or some of this award should be passed to an affected person. Care awards paid to infected people can therefore be paid directly to affected people on the request of an infected person.
An executor of a deceased infected person's estate will be responsible for administering the estate as per the wishes of the infected person.
The Cabinet Office has carried out analysis under the Public Sector Equality Duty for all regulations made to establish the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. The most recent analysis was published in October and can be viewed here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2025/9780348276077/pdfs/ukdsipes_9780348276077_en_001.pdf.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria or formula they used to determine the awards of £10,000 or £15,000 for injury claims for unethical research under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Additional Autonomy awards are available through the compensation scheme’s supplementary route to recognise the suffering of victims subjected to unethical research practices.
The current values of both Unethical Research awards are in line with the recommendations Sir Robert Francis KC made to the Government in August 2024. The Inquiry, in its Additional Report, made a set of recommendations about the Unethical Research awards, including that the Minister for the Cabinet Office consider whether the award values be increased.
In the consultation, we sought views on what approach the Government could take to determine an appropriate value of the Unethical Research award. The consultation closed on 22nd January, and the Government will respond within 12 weeks of the closing date.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will set out what support his Department and Cabinet colleagues makes available to local authorities to develop community energy schemes, local food production and emergency preparedness plans.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In the recently published Local Power Plan, Government recognises that limited capacity and capability are major barriers for local government to participate in small-scale energy projects. Backed by up to £1 billion and working in partnership with local government, Great British Energy (GBE) has committed to support at least 1000 local and community energy projects by 2030.
The Good Food Cycle recognises the key role that regional and local food systems can play in supporting delivery of the growth, health, sustainability, and food security/ resilience outcomes of the Good Food Cycle. We know the best solutions often come from the ground up. That is why the Good Food Cycle sets the ambition to use local community initiatives to harness a stronger food culture to support our health, sustainability and resilience outcomes.
Improving the food environment will support healthier and more environmentally sustainable food sales, and access to all for safe, affordable, healthy, convenient, and appealing food options. Defra is developing a programme of work to support local, hyper-local and community-based interventions around access to healthy and affordable food in priority locations.
MHCLG and CO run a local capabilities assessment programme which assesses emergency preparedness planning for specific response capabilities across the 38 Local Resilience Forums (LRFs). This work helps inform national government on local preparedness gaps and identify actionable areas for improvement.
The Civil Contingencies Act (2004) places a duty on all local authorities to cooperate with other agencies (e.g. police, fire & rescue, health), operating as a Local Resilience Forum, to prepare and maintain plans for the key risks facing their area. In addition, local authorities are expected to have business continuity plans that will assist them to continue to operate when emergencies impact them directly.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the remit is of the external remediation team at the Building Safety Regulator; and how it is engaging with stakeholders on applications.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The External Remediation team assess building control applications for proposed remediation works to the external envelope of a building, such as cladding, renders, and balconies. Individual team members liaise with the applicant throughout the application lifecycle, updating them on key milestones and offering wider support through regular educational webinars. An Account Manager function was established in March 2026 responsible for proactively identifying and engaging with key stakeholders to support improvements in the quality of applications.
A new Remediation Enforcement Unit (REU) became operational in March 2026. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has identified 650 registered higher-risk buildings that have either combustible Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) or high-pressure laminate as part of their external wall system. The principal accountable persons of buildings with combustible ACM have been directed to apply for a building assessment certificate and are already being assessed via that route.
During April, the REU will contact the remaining buildings to ask for a relevant fire risk assessment and plan, and check that the removal (of cladding) proposal is appropriate to the materials and layout.
The REU is also investigating 83 buildings referred to the BSR by the Cladding Safety Scheme (run by Homes England) with unconfirmed combustible materials. The REU has ruled out 20 of these buildings as not having combustible materials, with the remainder being contacted to provide the necessary fire risk assessments and plans.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress the remediation enforcement unit within the Building Safety Regulator has made on its objectives.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The External Remediation team assess building control applications for proposed remediation works to the external envelope of a building, such as cladding, renders, and balconies. Individual team members liaise with the applicant throughout the application lifecycle, updating them on key milestones and offering wider support through regular educational webinars. An Account Manager function was established in March 2026 responsible for proactively identifying and engaging with key stakeholders to support improvements in the quality of applications.
A new Remediation Enforcement Unit (REU) became operational in March 2026. The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has identified 650 registered higher-risk buildings that have either combustible Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) or high-pressure laminate as part of their external wall system. The principal accountable persons of buildings with combustible ACM have been directed to apply for a building assessment certificate and are already being assessed via that route.
During April, the REU will contact the remaining buildings to ask for a relevant fire risk assessment and plan, and check that the removal (of cladding) proposal is appropriate to the materials and layout.
The REU is also investigating 83 buildings referred to the BSR by the Cladding Safety Scheme (run by Homes England) with unconfirmed combustible materials. The REU has ruled out 20 of these buildings as not having combustible materials, with the remainder being contacted to provide the necessary fire risk assessments and plans.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he is taking steps to help prevent anti-Israeli boycotts and divestment campaigns in local authorities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government strongly opposes boycotts by local authorities except where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the UK Government. Boycotts can be unlawful and lead to penalties against the contracting authority and the Government.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total number of full time permanent employees of the NHS in England; and how many of those employees are (1) UK nationals, and (2) overseas nationals with permission to work in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on the number of overseas nationals with permission to work in the United Kingdom who are employed in the National Health Service in England. The following table shows, for January 2026, the self-reported nationality of staff employed by NHS hospital trusts and integrated care boards in England:
All nationality groups (headcount) | United Kingdom nationality | Non-UK nationalities | Unknown nationality |
1,545,602 | 1,197,793 | 330,982 | 17,119 |
Source: NHS Workforce Statistics, NHS England
Note: total staff number is not equal to the sum of components due to some staff working in more than one role.
Self-reported nationality may sometimes reflect an NHS employee’s heritage rather than their current citizenship.
Asked by: Lord Ravensdale (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement the recommendations of the report by the Royal College of Pathologists, Paediatric and perinatal pathology workforce report 2025, published in November 2025.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The paediatric and perinatal pathology workforce report highlights the extent of the workforce crisis in paediatric and perinatal pathology and the impact this can have on turnaround times and families.
NHS England has launched a national programme to strengthen perinatal and paediatric pathology services and to improve service capacity and resilience.
A £20,000 recruitment incentive for new trainees has been introduced, a fully funded international recruitment campaign has launched, and a new National Training Programme Director has been appointed.
Further initiatives are underway to review the training pathway, develop advanced practitioner roles, and implement a retention strategy for existing staff.