Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department plans to promote the National Year of Reading within early years policy and strategy.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign aiming to tackle long-term declines in reading enjoyment.
Reading together is one of the most powerful ways to build a child’s language and communication skills, strengthen early bonds, and spark a lifelong love of reading. This is why early years is one of the priority groups for the National Year of Reading.
The ‘Go All In’ campaign positions reading as a powerful way for parents and families to increase quality time with their children and explore shared interests further, rather than reading being seen as a parental obligation.
The National Year of Reading includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year.
The government is also investing around £500 million in the national rollout of the Best Start Family Hubs, which includes simple, practical tips to help parents feel confident in sharing stories, songs and books.
Early years settings and all interested parties are encouraged to sign up to www.goallin.org.uk for more information and to receive regular updates.
Asked by: Lorraine Beavers (Labour - Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department plans to promote the National Year of Reading within early years policy and strategy.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign aiming to tackle long-term declines in reading enjoyment.
Reading together is one of the most powerful ways to build a child’s language and communication skills, strengthen early bonds, and spark a lifelong love of reading. This is why early years is one of the priority groups for the National Year of Reading.
The ‘Go All In’ campaign positions reading as a powerful way for parents and families to increase quality time with their children and explore shared interests further, rather than reading being seen as a parental obligation.
The National Year of Reading includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year.
The government is also investing around £500 million in the national rollout of the Best Start Family Hubs, which includes simple, practical tips to help parents feel confident in sharing stories, songs and books.
Early years settings and all interested parties are encouraged to sign up to www.goallin.org.uk for more information and to receive regular updates.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the risk of harm, including financial hardship, distress, or loss of income, which may arise from the Universal Credit migration process.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to ensuring that the transition to Universal Credit works as smoothly and safely as possible for all individuals, including for disabled people.
Customers moving from DWP legacy benefits or Housing Benefit continue to receive their legacy benefits for two weeks following their move to Universal Credit to smooth the transition from fortnightly to monthly payments. Customers who under Universal Credit are entitled to a lower amount of benefit will have their current cash award transitionally protected at the higher award.
To support customers to make a claim to Universal Credit, we have put in place additional support arrangements for customers that face additional challenges. This includes:
These measures are part of our broader commitment to equality and inclusion, ensuring that no one is disadvantaged in accessing the support they are entitled to.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what protections are in place for claimants with disabilities during the Universal Credit migration process.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to ensuring that the transition to Universal Credit works as smoothly and safely as possible for all individuals, including for disabled people.
Customers moving from DWP legacy benefits or Housing Benefit continue to receive their legacy benefits for two weeks following their move to Universal Credit to smooth the transition from fortnightly to monthly payments. Customers who under Universal Credit are entitled to a lower amount of benefit will have their current cash award transitionally protected at the higher award.
To support customers to make a claim to Universal Credit, we have put in place additional support arrangements for customers that face additional challenges. This includes:
These measures are part of our broader commitment to equality and inclusion, ensuring that no one is disadvantaged in accessing the support they are entitled to.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2025 to question 91075, how much has been spent on the display of (1) on-screen human interpreters and (2) artificial intelligence creations of British Sign Language at railway stations.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department and its public bodies have not yet directly taken steps to develop or use artificial intelligence (AI) approaches to British Sign Language. However, as described in both our Transport artificial intelligence action plan - GOV.UK and our DfT science, innovation and technology plan 2025 - GOV.UK, the Department has used its First of a Kind funding programme to support innovative AI projects like Signapse Ltd’s mobile app that uses AI to turn timetable and station information into British Sign Language for deaf customers.
The Department’s Transport Research and Innovation Grants (TRIG) programme provides early‑stage funding for proof‑of‑concept transport innovations. To date, only one TRIG project has focused specifically on British Sign Language and passenger communications: the 2022 Luna Personal Sign Language Avatar Assistant, which developed a prototype enabling passengers to access wayfinding and journey information in BSL on their own devices. This project received a £30,000 grant from the Department.
The Department does not hold information on the amounts spent by train operating companies or other station operators on these systems. Network Rail have advised that they currently use pre‑recorded British Sign Language (BSL) videos rather than AI‑generated signing, following feedback from the Deaf community. Network Rail has also indicated that it has invested in providing BSL content in stations; however, the Department does not hold verified figures for this expenditure.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2026 to Question 103826 on BSL Assurance Suppliers, which Deaf-led agencies and language service providers are available to engage through Crown Commercial Service's digital purchasing frameworks.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Deaf-led BSL suppliers play an important role in supporting Deaf communities right across the country.
Customers can access BSL services through agreements RM1557.14 G-Cloud 14 and RM6302 Language Services.
CCS has approved funding to support an ‘AI for BSL’ project, led by the Royal National Institute of the Deaf (RNID) partnership with ScienceWise. The initiative ensures that Deaf communities can directly influence the development of future tools to guarantee their safe and effective application.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2025 to Question 91062, what projects involving the use of AI to create accessible content with regards to British Sign Language have been approved at what level of funding by (a) UK Research & Innovation, (b) Innovate UK, (c) British Technology Investments and (d) the Government Office for Science.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), including Innovate UK, has a portfolio of over £1 billion in AI research and innovation, with a further £1.6 billion allocated across 2026/27 to 2029/30. UKRI’s AI investments build broad, foundational technologies that could extend to BSL applications even when not explicitly stated.
Details of UKRI investments in AI technologies that could be used to create accessible content with regards to British Sign Language (BSL) can be found on GTR, which provides information on all UKRI-funded research and innovation projects. These include an £8.45m investment in SignGPT, which aims to build the first generative predictive transformer for sign language and has direct involvement from Deaf organisations and community partners.
There are currently no projects approved by British Technology Investments and the Government Office for Science.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025 to question 91065, for what identified needs is she considering whether Artificial Intelligence approaches to British Sign Language might form a solution.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is currently assessing what artificial intelligence tools have been developed in this space. Once we have assessed the landscape, we will reach out to relevant stakeholders to discuss whether the tools we have identified can solve those problems.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025 to question 91065, what engagement she has undertaken with BSL signers regarding Artificial Intelligence approaches to British Sign Language.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We are currently researching the artificial intelligence tools that are available on the market and what they can provide for users. Once this research has concluded, we will engage with British Sign Language signers which will help inform next steps.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2025 to question 91186, what steps he will take to engage with BSL signers to assess the suitability of products which use Artificial Intelligence approaches to British Sign Language.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is aware of a number of emerging products that use artificial intelligence (AI) to support translation into British Sign Language (BSL). While the Department and its arm’s‑length bodies are not currently developing or deploying such tools, any AI‑enabled BSL product proposed for use in the National Health Service would be subject to the medical device regulatory framework and will be assessed to determine whether it falls with the scope of regulations. These regulations are underpinned by rigorous standards established by bodies including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Health Research Authority, and the Care Quality Commission. These agencies ensure that AI technologies are safe, effective, and cost-effective within healthcare settings.
For any BSL products that use AI, meaningful engagement with BSL signers and Deaf communities is critical. This includes ensuring that proposed products provide a high quality service, meet communication needs identified through the Accessible Information Standard, and reflect the lived experience of BSL users. NHS England continues to work with stakeholders, including BSL users, providers, and representative groups, to improve accessibility and to understand where emerging technologies may safely and effectively support communication.