Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether safeguards will be introduced to help ensure that Individual Support Plans (ISPs) do not become resource‑led documents due to limited specialist provision.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice sets out that the provision made for pupils with special educational needs should be recorded accurately and kept up to date. As a result, many settings already keep records of the needs and provision required by children or young people with SEND and communicate these with parents.
The department is introducing a duty on settings to produce an individual support plan for every child or young person with SEND, ensuring help keeps pace with their development, prevents challenges from escalating, and reduces the risk of them disengaging from learning.
Additional funding through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund will be provided to early years, schools and colleges to boost the existing core funding for SEND, with over £500 million per year over the next three years. This funding, alongside their existing core funding, will help equip settings to invest in high-quality, adaptive teaching, targeted evidence-based support, inclusive pedagogy and decision-making, and create safe, calm and accessible learning environments for all. On 25 March, we published the guidance ‘Inclusive mainstream fund: best practice for schools’, which provides examples and case studies of how settings can use this funding to enhance support for children with SEND. The guidance is available at:
Our proposed reforms go further to support educators, with easier access to expert advice through Experts at Hand and evidence-based tools and resources through the National Inclusion Standards.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 March (HL15443) and the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 5 March (HL Deb col 585GC), what steps the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has taken in the last year to meet its legal duty to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation that falls within its area of responsibility should be brought into force.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The department regularly reviews its forward secondary legislation programme, including commencement orders for as yet uncommenced legislation.
In the last year the department has undertaken a number of separate exercises to review delivery of secondary legislation and to ensure it is being prioritised in line with our legal requirements and the Government’s priorities.
We will continue to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation relevant to our department’s work should be brought into force.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made representations to the government of Senegal regarding the Senegalese National Assembly’s recent vote to double prison sentences for consensual same-sex intimacy.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK is concerned by the Senegalese National Assembly's vote to increase prison sentences for same-sex sexual acts and criminalise the 'promotion' of homosexuality. If enacted, this would further undermine the human rights and freedoms of those perceived as being members or allies of the LGBT+ community in Senegal. His Majesty's Ambassador to Senegal has raised the issue with the Government of Senegal at the highest levels. We will continue to consider our response as the legislative process progresses.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 6 March (HL15294), whether they plan for ministers to be responsible for approving the NHS Payment Scheme after NHS England is abolished; and if so, whether ministers will be consulted about approval of that scheme in the transition period before new legislation is passed by Parliament to transfer that responsibility to ministers.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Primary legislation is required to enable the transfer of NHS England’s functions, powers and responsibilities formally to the Department or out to the wider system. Primary legislation is subject to the will of Parliament, and the Government welcomes parliamentary scrutiny of these provisions. The bill will be introduced in Parliament when parliamentary time allows.
Currently, NHS England is responsible for publishing the NHS Payment Scheme, with the relevant legislation set out in schedule 10 of the 2022 Health and Care Act. Under NHS England’s Scheme of Delegation, responsibility for approving the NHS Payment Scheme rests with the Chief Executive Officer of NHS England, delegated to the Chief Financial Officer of NHS England.
During development of the NHS Payment Scheme, NHS England engages with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Department. The 2026/27 NHS Payment Scheme was published on 26 March 2026 and incorporates a number of changes following consultation.
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.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent report by NHS Providers Beyond Councils of Governors: rethinking public accountability, published 20 March, for future governance arrangements for NHS Foundation Trusts.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The report will be considered as part of the wider work underway on future engagement models.
The removal of councils of governors from National Health Service foundation trusts forms part of the wider 10-Year Health Plan’s aim to ensure hospitals put patient experiences and outcomes at the heart of their decision-making.
While governors have provided helpful advice and oversight for some foundation trusts, we now need to move to a more dynamic model, drawing on patient, staff, and stakeholder insight.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) number, and (2) percentage, of NHS acute providers (a) have been in deficit in each of the past three years, and (b) are projected to be in deficit at the end of the current financial year.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2022/23, 60 National Health Service acute trusts reported a deficit, which is the equivalent to 49% of acute trusts. In 2023/24, 75 NHS acute trusts reported a deficit, which is the equivalent to 61% of acute trusts. In 2024/25, 74 NHS acute trusts reported a deficit, which is the equivalent to 62% of acute trusts. Looking ahead to 2025/26, at month 11, 61 NHS acute trusts are forecasting a year‑end deficit, which is the equivalent to 51% of acute trusts.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 11 March (HL14898), what assessment they have made of the cost to the public of multi academy trust chief executives pay in comparison to similar roles in the maintained school sector.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The responsibilities of multi-academy trust chief executives are not directly comparable to those of leaders in the maintained sector.
The department is clear that executive pay must be justifiable, transparent, evidence-based and reflect individual responsibility. Trustees should adhere to these principles in setting pay, supported by our guidance and advice. We are taking steps to respond to instances where we see high salaries compared to peers. This includes tightening the academy trust handbook (ATH) by requiring executive pay increases to be proportionate and justified, to prevent excessive increases for individuals carrying out broadly similar roles.
The department reviews trusts’ annual accounts to identify trusts with outlying levels of executive pay and engages with them to ensure compliance with the requirements of the ATH.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the British Armed Forces are equipped to face current and future threats.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence employs a rigorous approach to identify and mitigate risks arising from changes in the threat picture or gaps in defence capability, ensuring the coherent delivery of defence's strategic and operational objectives. The Strategic Defence Review sets out recommendations to enhance the readiness, agility and lethality of our armed forces, which will be implemented through the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan, ensuring our armed forces have the capabilities to tackle current and future threats alongside our allies and partners.