Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Child Maintenance Service safeguarding procedures for parents who have experienced domestic abuse; and whether changes have been made to those procedures recently.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) takes the issue of domestic abuse very seriously and is committed to ensuring victims and survivors of abuse get the help and support they need to use the CMS safely.
The CMS has substantially strengthened its procedures and processes to support customers who are experiencing domestic abuse. They will not be complacent and will always look at ways to go even further.
The CMS has refreshed its approach and understanding of domestic abuse to include financial and coercive control and better awareness of how abuse affects all genders.
A programme of refresher training has been underway for all existing CMS colleagues during 2025.
The CMS has access to resources which help caseworkers provide signposting to supporting organisations, and a Domestic Abuse Plan which includes clear steps to follow in order to support customers who are experiencing abuse. The list of resources and Domestic Abuse Plan are regularly reviewed.
As well as the Domestic Abuse Plan, the CMS responds to cases involving domestic abuse in several ways, including by acting as an intermediary in Direct Pay cases, and providing advice on how to set up bank accounts with a centralised sort code to limit the risk of a parent’s location being traced.
There is a specialist team in CMS who deliver targeted support to parents subject to the most challenging and complex domestic abuse.
We have implemented a more efficient process to move a case to collect and pay when the receiving parent reports missed payments.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her letter to the Chair of the Education Select Committee dated 22 October 2025, when she will begin (a) to seek views through listening sessions in every region of the country and (b) fortnightly Ministerial meetings with key parent and expert groups; and if she will provide a list of those groups.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
In early December, the department launched a national conversation on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform, building on extensive engagement over the past year with children, young people, parents and professionals.
We are hosting nine regional face‑to‑face events and five open online conversations focused on the five principles of reform. These began on 2 December and provide thousands of opportunities for families and the sector to share their views. We are also running a wide range of roundtable discussions with young people, parents and practitioners, including sessions with KIDS, Speech and Language UK and the Council for Disabled Children. We are encouraging wider participation through our Citizen Space portal.
The department also convenes a weekly development group of SEND parent organisations and key stakeholders, representing a broad range of voices across the sector. Membership includes:
• Council for Disabled Children
• Disabled Children’s Partnership
• National Network of Parent Carer Forums
• National Association for Special Educational Needs
• The Difference
• Dingley’s Promise
• The Athelstan Trust
• Let Us Learn Too
• The SEND Sanctuary.
Additional organisations will be invited on a rolling basis, aligned with the topics under discussion.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent economic analysis concerning the UK’s inflation outlook and associated risks to economic growth; and how this is being factored into fiscal and economic planning.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Forecasting the UK economy, including the outlook for inflation and economic growth, is the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The government set out how the economic outlook is factored into fiscal and economic planning it its autumn budget published on 26 November. Key points include:
- According to the OBR, inflation is past its peak and measures taken by the government will reduce inflation by 0.4 percentage points in 2026-27, including by lowering energy bills by around £150 from next April for the average household, and freezing regulated rail fares and prescription charges.
- The Chancellor has reaffirmed the Bank of England’s 2% Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) inflation target.
- While the Bank has overall responsibility for returning inflation to target, the government is also fully committed to tackling inflation. The most effective lever to achieve this is through responsible fiscal strategy.
- Stable prices give businesses the confidence to invest and supports the independent BoE Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), who have cut Bank Rate six times since the election.
Asked by: Baroness Goldie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of delaying the publication of the Defence Investment Plan on the defence industry.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
While the Department continues to work flat out to finalise the DIP, delivery continues, for example progressing always-on munitions factories, delivering the Defence Housing Strategy and Defence Industrial Strategy, and securing agreements to export Typhoon Jets to Türkiye and Type 26 Frigates to Norway. In 2025 we secured over £20 billion in defence exports to allies, expected to be the highest since records began over 40 years ago.
The Department has signed more than 1,000 major defence contracts since July 2024, including 86% with British-based businesses, and spent more than £31 billion with UK industry last year – an above inflation increase in spending.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Myanmar military's reported airstrike on a hospital in Mrauk-U, Rakhine State, on the night of 10 December, killing a reported 34 people; and what steps they have taken in response.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Baroness to the answer provided on 12 November in response to Question HL11464, and I would add that the Minister for the Indo-Pacific commented on this airstrike on 11 December, urging an end to attacks on civilians, and that the UK remains determined to ensure that those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law in Myanmar will be held to account.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the (a) funding and (b) accessibility of the Adoption Support Fund, particularly for families with (i) complex or (ii) high risk placements in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This financial year, the department has invested £50 million into the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF). We have approved applications for nearly 14,000 children since April, for both therapy and specialist assessments. We continue to review the impact of the changes to funding made in April 2025. The ASGSF was formed specifically to meet the needs of complex and high-risk placements.
Asked by: Lord Strasburger (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the report of the Review of Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender, published on 19 March, what progress they have made in implementing the Review’s ten recommendations, both generally and specifically regarding The Collection of Client Level Adult Social Care Data (No 3) Directions 2023.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Sullivan Review sets out a number of recommendations in relation to the collection of data on sex and gender identity. We are considering these in light of ongoing related work around data harmonisation standards. As all public bodies, and therefore all public data and statistics, were in scope for the review, it’s important we consider the findings in collaborative way across government.
The Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonisation Programme, a cross-government work programme looking to improve the comparability and coherence of data and statistics, is developing harmonised standards for sex and gender identity.
NHS England is leading work to develop the United Information Standard of Protected Characteristics, which focusses on the Equality Act 2010’s nine protected characteristics, including both sex and gender reassignment.
Through the Health and Care Statistics Leadership Forum, a group convening statistical leaders across health organisations at the national level to ensure statistical collaboration and coherence, there is work ongoing to catalogue, and improve descriptions of how sex and gender data is collected within our statistical publications, and ensure labelling accurately describes the data being collected.
Sex and gender identity are not always the same thing, and it is important for patients that we record both accurately. We are committed to delivering safe and holistic care for both adults and children when it comes to gender, and that also means accurately recording biological sex, not just for research and insight, but also for patient safety.
On 20 March, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care instructed the health service to immediately suspend applications for National Health Service number changes for under 18s, to safeguard children. It was completely wrong that children's NHS numbers can be changed if they change gender. Children's safety must come first.
We remain committed to recording, recognising and respecting people’s gender identity where these differ from their biological sex. General practitioners are currently able to rename a patient and manually input preferred pronouns and expressed gender in free text without affecting the formal marker.
Our guidance to local authorities on the collection of Client Level Data is under review to ensure it adheres to the advice in the Review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender. We are also awaiting guidance from the Government Statistical Service on harmonisations of sex and gender identity data.
The 2023 Directions set out national data requirements and do not necessarily cover all the information that local authorities collect to effectively discharge their statutory obligations.
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: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need (1) to raise awareness of, and (2) to encourage requests by Field Army units for, the rapid trial of small batches of SME-delivered, battlefield-tested equipment through MoD Commercial X, particularly in relation to innovations from Ukraine; and what steps they are taking to clarify the existence of dedicated MoD funding so that such units (1) are confident in their ability to make such requests, and (2) are informed about how those trials are delivered and paid for.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It is vital we utilise defence as an engine for innovation and growth including investing in novel technologies. With further investment from this Government, innovation will thrive in every region and nation of the United Kingdom.
Drones, including unmanned aerial systems, are integral to the modern way of warfighting, exemplified in the lessons learnt from the war in Ukraine. The Strategic Defence Review announced a doubling in autonomy investment in this Parliament, taking total Defence investment in autonomy to circa £4 billion.
Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including on autonomy and drones, will be prioritised appropriately against the threat as part of the Integrated Force.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on expected changes in childcare demand in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency associated with childcare measures in the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
The government’s landmark Child Poverty Strategy sets out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the strategy, including understanding how this varies across the UK and for different groups. From next year, parents claiming Universal Credit who are starting or returning to work (including after parental leave) will be able to have their childcare costs paid before they pay them - removing the need to front the money and claim it back later. Previously, Universal Credit covered childcare costs for up to two children. Under the new policy, families with more than two children will receive support for all their childcare costs.
Although we do not hold this data on a constituency level, there are no reported issues in the South East region.