Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Availability, Accessibility, Acceptability and Quality framework will ensure that scene-based competencies including scene management, evidence recovery, contamination control, forensic photography are (a) delivered and (b) assessed at Level 3.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 20 October 2025, alongside the publication of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, the department published a consultation on Post-16 level 3 and below pathways, which closed on the 12 January. The reforms set out in the consultation simplify the level 3 qualifications landscape into 3 pathways: T Levels, V Levels and A levels. They also reform the level 2 landscape so that it better supports students to progress to level 3 or into employment.
V Levels will focus on core knowledge and skills linked with occupational standards, enabling progression to higher education, apprenticeships, or employment. T Levels combine sector-specific core content with a specialist component that develops competence in an occupation.
As part of our consultation, we have been engaging with the sector on transition arrangements. We will set out our response to the consultation in due course.
The department is working with awarding organisations, training providers, Skills England and sector representative organisations to develop these new qualifications, which will go through a series of checks for their quality and appropriateness for learners before being approved for funding.
The UNICEF Availability, Accessibility, Acceptability and Quality framework is used primarily in humanitarian, healthcare, gender-based violence, and child protection settings to assess barriers to service access, rather than qualification content design. As with all new policies the department needs to meet the Public Sector Equality Duty, and the consultation included an equality and diversity impact assessment.
The information requested on participation and regional access is not held centrally.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Cabinet Office Government Procurement Card spend over £500 data for October 2025, published on 27 November 2025, what was the purpose of the expenditure for a photography course in London; which officials attended; and what was the full name of the specific supplier.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This transaction was used for specialist digital training for four members of staff at a cost of £170 each. This was provided at a discounted rate following a search for the cheapest available supplier.
With the move to digital communications, it is important that we produce usable images from relevant government events and announcements.
Training existing staff to take photographs presents a cost saving compared to the use of external photographers.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) coastal modelling, (b) geomorphical studies and (c) monitoring programmes the Environment Agency has commissioned in relation to Hemsby since 2020.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency was a partner in the development and publication of the Shoreline Management Plan for northeast Norfolk: Kelling Hard to Lowestoft SMP6 | Shoreline Management Plans. In 2018/19, the Environment Agency worked with the Anglian Regional Flood and Coastal Committee to provide local levy funding to Great Yarmouth Borough Council to undertake a high-level study of options for the Hemsby coastal erosion issues. The Environment Agency’s Anglian Coastal Monitoring Programme (ACMP) undertakes detailed coastal monitoring of the coastline which began in 1991. The ACMP team works closely with Risk Management Authorities, including Great Yarmouth Borough Council staff, to refine monitoring to meet their local needs.
In January 2025 the Environment Agency published an update to the National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping online. The new mapping includes data from the National Coastal Monitoring Programme (NCMP), which includes coastal assets, beach profiles, bathymetry, aerial photography, LiDAR and coastal habitats. All coastal monitoring data, reports and analysis are available as open data on the coastal monitoring website ( Programmes - Welcome).
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, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2025 to Question 23864 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Photography, what the length of the fixed term loan of the Secretary of State's photographer; and whether he plans to keep such a role in post.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG does not currently employ a photographer on a part or full-time basis and has no plans to. We do not comment on individual staffing matters.
Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the findings of the Children's Commissioner's report ‘A lot of it is actually just abuse' - Young people and pornography, published in January 2023, what progress they have made in reducing the harms to adolescents and children caused by violent photography, including non-fatal strangulation and incest in pornography.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
The Independent Pornography Review was a thorough assessment of a complicated and multi-faceted set of issues. Government departments are undertaking detailed work to consider how best to tackle the important set of issues raised.
The Government has recently announced that pornography depicting acts of strangulation will be made illegal through Crime and Policing Bill. The Online Safety Act will prevent children from accessing pornography, with duties requiring highly effective age assurance in force from 25 July.
Ofcom's draft guidance summarises measures for platforms to tackle the abuse that women and girls disproportionately face online. The finalised guidance will be published by the end of the year.
Asked by: Kirith Entwistle (Labour - Bolton North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2025 to Question 52388 on Teachers: Religion, what the first degree subjects the 80 percent of entrants to RE Initial Teacher Training who did not have their first degree in Theology and Religious Studies were.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The following table shows the subject for the first degree of new entrants to religious education initial teacher training (ITT) in the 2024/25 academic year. Subject is as specified in the Higher Education Statistics Agency’s Common Aggregation Hierarchy. Trainees with unknown first degree subject are excluded. Where trainees have more than one first degree subject, they are listed as “joint honours”. Note that some degree subjects, such as philosophy that are not included within theology and religious studies, may contain relevant content for religious education. It is the responsibility of the accredited ITT provider to determine the suitability of a candidate applying for ITT. The department publishes the ITT criteria which sets out the minimum requirements that a candidate must meet to be eligible for ITT.
Degree subject | Number of trainees | Percentage of trainees |
Theology and religious studies | 89 | 20% |
Philosophy | 82 | 18% |
Sociology | 52 | 12% |
Joint honours | 47 | 11% |
History | 30 | 7% |
Law | 29 | 7% |
Psychology (non-specific) | 23 | 5% |
Education | 18 | 4% |
Politics | 14 | 3% |
Anthropology | 5 | 1% |
Childhood and youth studies | 5 | 1% |
Others in psychology | 5 | 1% |
Liberal arts (non-specific) | 4 | 1% |
Classics | 3 | 1% |
Media studies | 3 | 1% |
Social work | 3 | 1% |
Cinematics and photography | 2 | <1% |
Health studies | 2 | <1% |
Literature in English | 2 | <1% |
Management studies | 2 | <1% |
Music | 2 | <1% |
Social sciences (non-specific) | 2 | <1% |
Sport and exercise sciences | 2 | <1% |
American and Australasian studies | 1 | <1% |
Art | 1 | <1% |
Business and management (non-specific) | 1 | <1% |
Combined, general or negotiated studies | 1 | <1% |
Counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapy | 1 | <1% |
Creative writing | 1 | <1% |
Development studies | 1 | <1% |
Developmental psychology | 1 | <1% |
Drama | 1 | <1% |
Economics | 1 | <1% |
English language | 1 | <1% |
Forensic and archaeological sciences | 1 | <1% |
Geography (non-specific) | 1 | <1% |
Health sciences (non-specific) | 1 | <1% |
Nursing (non-specific) | 1 | <1% |
Polymers and textiles | 1 | <1% |
Social policy | 1 | <1% |
Tourism, transport and travel | 1 | <1% |
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information the Environment Agency has received from the Oceanographic School at Southampton University on hightide levels at Lymington harbour.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) has used a range of information from the Channel Coastal Observatory (CCO) based at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, the majority of this information is freely available from the CCO website (https://coastalmonitoring.org/southeast/).
The information received includes water levels, tide gauge, wind and wave data, as well as land and sea-bed profiles and aerial photography.
The information from two historic storm events has also been received which provides details about the most powerful waves experienced in the area. Past events do not necessarily represent the upper limits of what may occur in the future. Therefore, the EA has also received further analysis from the CCO that adjusts historic events to show what storms of greater severity may be like in the future.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the value of the film industry to the UK economy, and what proportion of this figure can be attributed to companies that are headquartered in the USA.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In 2023 the film, TV, video, radio and photography industry had a GVA of £21.2 billion.
In 2024 production spend on film and high-end TV reached £5.6 billion, of which £4.8 billion was inward investment, the majority of which came from US studios. The value and success of our film industry is owed to a collaborative mix of inward investment and our domestic industry. Inward investment projects stimulate growth, good jobs and training across our nations and regions.
The deep ties between the US and UK film industries provide mutual benefits to both countries. Productions are by their very nature international partnerships, which are often developed and created across different countries and locations. The UK and the US both benefit when the likes of Star Wars and Mission Impossible are partly filmed in the UK, just as we both benefit from the close working relationship between our producers, talent and crew.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Departments hire official photographers as staff members.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on how many departments hire official photographers as staff members is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.
The Cabinet Office Communications team employs two Digital Media Officers who support government work in Departments and undertake photography as a small part of their duties.
There are also 2 full time, dedicated photographers in the No10 team. Although they are funded by the Cabinet Office, their work is managed by No10.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many photographers are employed by Government Departments.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Departments may employ photographers in order to support government’s priorities, enable effective operation of public services and improve people’s lives.
The Cabinet Office Communications team employs two Digital Media Officers who support government work in Departments and undertake photography as a small part of their duties.
There are also 2 full time, dedicated photographers in the No10 team. Although they are funded by the Cabinet Office, their work is managed by No10.