Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support employer engagement with the apprenticeship programme in SMEs in Milton Keynes.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Buckingham and Bletchley to the answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37179.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the Foreign Secretary has met Chagossian groups and representatives since 5 July 2024, and on what dates.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK Government regularly meets Chagossian groups and representatives at both official and Ministerial levels, with the Minister for the Overseas Territories the Ministerial lead for Chagossian interests and outreach. The Foreign Secretary and the Minister of State for Europe, North America & UK Overseas Territories have had one meeting with Chagossian groups since 5 July 2024, on 22 May 2025.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the forthcoming consultation on the implementation of the White Paper entitled Restoring Control over the Immigration System, published on 12 May 2025, will include consultation on the potential impact of changes to English language proficiency requirements on people applying for refugee family reunion.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office regularly engages with a wide range of experts and stakeholders when developing policy or consulting on proposals.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to consult people with prior experience of applying for refugee family reunion in the forthcoming consultation on the implementation of the White Paper entitled Restoring Control over the Immigration System, published on 12 May 2025.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office regularly engages with a wide range of experts and stakeholders when developing policy or consulting on proposals.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government from which departmental budget payments to Mauritius regarding the Chagos Islands will be paid.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The costs associated with the deal will be split between the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK Government complies with its Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons obligations.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is compliant with and remains committed to its obligations across all three pillars of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In line with its commitment under Article VI, the UK continues to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to nuclear disarmament, and to the long-term goal of achieving a world without nuclear weapons. Whilst the current security environment poses significant challenges to this goal, the UK continues to work with partners to make progress on mechanisms that will ensure disarmament can be verified, transparent and irreversible when the security environment allows. The UK is also proud to play its part in strengthening non-proliferation through active participation in export controls, and championing the highest standards of nuclear safety, security and safeguards as key enablers of nuclear trade. The UK has also provided financial support to both the Sustained Dialogue on Peaceful Uses and the International Atomic Energy Agency's Technical Cooperation Programme to improve developing states' access to the benefits of peaceful nuclear technologies. The UK will publish a National Report on its NPT progress at the NPT 2026 Review Conference which will provide further details on this work.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to increase the level of support available to help schools meet the needs of pupils with learning disabilities in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the essential role that small, rural schools play in their communities. The national funding formula (NFF) accounts for the particular challenges, including those of providing for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), faced by small schools in rural areas through the lump sum and sparsity factors. The NFF lump sum for the 2025/26 financial year is set at £145,100 and provides a fixed amount of funding that is unrelated to the number of pupils in a school. In addition, eligible small, rural primary schools attract up to £57,400, and eligible secondary or all-through schools attract up to £83,400, in sparsity funding in 2025/26 through the NFF.
Where the cost of additional support for a pupil with SEN exceeds £6,000 per annum, the local authority provides the school with extra funding from its high needs budget. The department is providing £1 billion more for high needs budgets in 2025/26, bringing total high needs funding to over £12 billion, to help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting their pupils with complex needs. Of that total, Dorset County Council is being allocated over £60 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £4.1 million on the 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs NFF.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to increase levels of support to help schools in rural constituencies meet the needs of pupils with learning disabilities.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the essential role that small, rural schools play in their communities. The national funding formula (NFF) accounts for the particular challenges, including those of providing for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), faced by small schools in rural areas through the lump sum and sparsity factors. The NFF lump sum for the 2025/26 financial year is set at £145,100 and provides a fixed amount of funding that is unrelated to the number of pupils in a school. In addition, eligible small, rural primary schools attract up to £57,400, and eligible secondary or all-through schools attract up to £83,400, in sparsity funding in 2025/26 through the NFF.
Where the cost of additional support for a pupil with SEN exceeds £6,000 per annum, the local authority provides the school with extra funding from its high needs budget. The department is providing £1 billion more for high needs budgets in 2025/26, bringing total high needs funding to over £12 billion, to help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting their pupils with complex needs. Of that total, Dorset County Council is being allocated over £60 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £4.1 million on the 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs NFF.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to allocate new funding to help schools improve support for pupils with learning disabilities.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the essential role that small, rural schools play in their communities. The national funding formula (NFF) accounts for the particular challenges, including those of providing for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), faced by small schools in rural areas through the lump sum and sparsity factors. The NFF lump sum for the 2025/26 financial year is set at £145,100 and provides a fixed amount of funding that is unrelated to the number of pupils in a school. In addition, eligible small, rural primary schools attract up to £57,400, and eligible secondary or all-through schools attract up to £83,400, in sparsity funding in 2025/26 through the NFF.
Where the cost of additional support for a pupil with SEN exceeds £6,000 per annum, the local authority provides the school with extra funding from its high needs budget. The department is providing £1 billion more for high needs budgets in 2025/26, bringing total high needs funding to over £12 billion, to help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting their pupils with complex needs. Of that total, Dorset County Council is being allocated over £60 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £4.1 million on the 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs NFF.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to take steps to help reduce variations in fuel prices between regions.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government will implement Fuel Finder, a statutory open data scheme for fuel prices, to increase price transparency and help drivers make more informed decisions on where to buy petrol and diesel. This will increase pressure on retailers to compete strongly to attract consumers by lowering prices. Subject to legislation and Parliamentary time, we aim to launch Fuel Finder by the end of 2025.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) received statutory information gathering powers on 1 January 2025 through the Digital Markets, Competition & Consumer Act 2024 so it can monitor and scrutinise fuel prices. Once launched, Fuel Finder will provide the CMA with the appropriate data to adequately consider issues such as regional pricing variations.