theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Karl Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of out-of-town (a) taxi and (b) private hire vehicle licensing on local authority enforcement capabilities and public safety; and what steps she is taking to support local councils to meet the challenges posed by drivers operating outside the area in which they are licensed. \p Simon Lightwood: Since coming into Government, I have been actively looking at safeguarding in relation to taxis and private hire vehicles. I welcome the work by Baroness Casey in her audit of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse and her report adds valuable evidence to my department’s ongoing work.

The Government will legislate to address the issues raised in the report and there are two outcomes I am clear we must achieve; the first is ensuring we have consistently high safeguarding standards and the second is that there is no unintended reduction in the availability of taxi and private hire vehicle services, which could disproportionately impact women and girls and disabled people, who rely on these services the most. That is why we are considering all options – including out-of-area working, national standards, enforcement and transferring licensing to local transport authorities.

Public safety is an utmost priority, and both the Government and licensing authorities have an important role in the effective regulation of the sector in England.

Legislation passed in 2022 places a requirement on licensing authorities in England to share safeguarding, road safety or equality concerns about drivers with the authority that issued the licence. The authority that issued the licence must then consider whether to suspend or revoke the driver’s licence and must inform the authority that raised the concerns of their decision.

Statutory guidance, published by the Department for Transport in 2020, is clear that licensing authorities should, where the need arises, jointly authorise officers from other authorities so that compliance and enforcement action can be taken against licensees from outside their area. The same guidance also highlights that working in partnership with the police is vital for licensing authorities to share information as quickly as possible.

Best Practice Guidance issued in 2023 highlights how the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme can be used to increase the powers licensing enforcement officers have available. Officers authorised by the chief constables of their local force can be given powers to stop vehicles for inspection, testing and verification of licensing conditions, and the power to demand the name and address of the driver. If a driver fails to stop when directed by a CSAS-trained officer, it is a criminal offence and can be reported to the police for investigation and action.

Licensing authorities can also to carry out joint operations with other authorities and their local police force.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the dates on which the leases for West Midlands Trains' rolling stock expire; and which entity owns those trains. \p Simon Lightwood: West Midlands Trains’ rolling stock leases for the Class 172/0, 172/1, 350/1, 350/3 and 350/4, which are owned by Angel Trains, are set to run until 31 March 2026. The Class 196/0, 196/1, 730/0, 730/1, and 730/2 leases also run until 31st March 2026 and are owned by Corelink. Finally, Porterbrook own the Class 139, 172/2 and 172/3, which expire on 31 March 2026, as well as the Class 350/2 fleet which expire on 30 September 2025.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 57460 on Policy, what her planned timetable is for the revision of the National Policy Statement on airport expansion. \p Mike Kane: The government supports airport expansion and has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow. It expects any proposals to be brought forward by the summer and is clear that any scheme must be delivered in line with the UK’s legal, climate and environmental obligations.

Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow.

The Secretary of State will determine the scope of a review of the ANPS and we cannot speculate on the scope nor the timings of the review at this stage.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what consultation her Department has undertaken with UK-based bus manufacturers on the potential impact of Section 37 of the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords] on future sales of (a) hydrogen-fuel cell and (b) hydrogen combustion engine buses. \p Simon Lightwood: Clause 37 of the Bus Services (No.2) Bill will ultimately end the use of new non-zero emission buses on English bus services. The final date will be set out in later secondary regulations, however, will be no earlier than 1 January 2030.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell electric (HFC) buses, which are used in various parts of the country, are what is commonly meant by 'hydrogen buses'. These are available from UK manufacturers and do not emit any nitrogen oxides. They are zero emission at the tailpipe, so would continue to be usable under these regulations, along with battery electric buses. Hydrogen combustion engine buses are not present in the UK. They would emit nitrogen oxides, which are harmful to human health. They would therefore not be considered to be zero emission buses and would not be usable under these regulations.

My Department has engaged extensively with bus manufacturers as we have developed and then progressed this measure through Parliament.
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Anna Gelderd:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Project Reach will include enhancements to on-train Wi-Fi and mobile signal coverage for passengers travelling to and from Cornwall. \p Simon Lightwood: The Reach solution is focused on improving mobile signal coverage and the list of tunnels interventions includes the following locations in Devon and Cornwall:

Whiteball Tunnel

Marley Tunnel

Polperro Tunnel

Treverin Tunnel

Parsons Tunnel

Wiveliscombe Tunnel

Buckshead Tunnel.
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Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will include the Lakes Line Passing Loop in the next Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline. \p Simon Lightwood: We believe the Local Transport Authority can best determine whether this project meets their local needs. The Department will continue to support development work on this scheme, should local budgets be prioritised.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of passenger rail performance in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and b) Hertfordshire. \p Simon Lightwood: Department officials continuously monitor the performance of train operating companies across a range of measures and meet regularly with senior management to scrutinise and challenge their companies’ performance. The Department will continue to engage with the operators serving the constituency to ensure that they deliver their contractual commitments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to increase railway capacity in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) Hertfordshire. \p Simon Lightwood: Rail services in the Hertfordshire region are supported by requirements on train operators to plan services and design timetables to meet both current and future passenger demand, while also ensuring value for money for the taxpayer. Operators must continually reassess their services to ensure they provide rail timetables that provide sufficient capacity, are fit for the future, and carefully balance cost and performance.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

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Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her Department's planned timetable is for announcing the next Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline. \p Simon Lightwood: The Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) is an essential part of how we are kickstarting economic growth. By building a modern railway network we can make a difference to passengers, taxpayers and communities across the country, and by investing around £2bn in the RNEP portfolio is how we will do that.

I know that stakeholders and industry want to know what is in our pipeline and want more visibility of our forward plans of work. We will continue to announce details of schemes as decisions are taken, just as we did at the Budget for East West Rail and Transpennine Route Upgrade.
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Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken to publish the next Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline on the timescale for future rail investment. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department is taking decisions to progress the schemes that have the greatest potential to unlock growth only once we are confident that they will deliver it. The time taken to undertake this work has no impact on the timescales for future rail investments.

I know that stakeholders and industry want to know what is in our rail investments pipeline and want more visibility of our forward plans of work. I will continue to announce details of schemes as decisions are taken, just as we did at the Budget for East West Rail and Transpennine Route Upgrade.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Number 10 press release entitled UK to deliver on 5% NATO pledge as Government drives greater security for working people, published on 23 June 2025, if she will list her Department's (a) projects and (b) programmes by directorate that will contribute to the resilience and security element of national security spending for each year between 2025-26 and 2034-35 inclusive; and if she will list the amount of spending for each item (a) in real terms (b) as a proportion of concurrent forecast GDP. \p Mike Kane: We will set out detailed plans for meeting this new target at the appropriate time. The government will continue to report to NATO on delivery against the headline investment pledge and the split in line with NATO’s reporting schedule.
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Dr Neil Hudson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has had discussions with the Mayor of London on graffiti on the Central Line. \p Simon Lightwood: Department for Transport Ministers and officials have regular discussions with Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor of London on a range of issues, including London Underground maintenance requirements. Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor and TfL who are responsible for the operation and maintenance of London Underground.
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Euan Stainbank:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel has made an assessment of trends in the level of demand for buses; and whether they have considered the (a) location and (b) type of demand over the next 10 years. \p Simon Lightwood: A key output of the UK Bus Manufacturing Panel will be the publication of a ten-year pipeline of projected bus orders. The aim is to consolidate reliable data from Mayoral Combined Authorities and operators into a single, accessible source for all zero-emission bus stakeholders. High-quality, credible data is essential to building industry confidence, and the pipeline is expected to be published later this year to ensure that projected orders reflect realistic and deliverable commitments.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the press release entitled Government pledges greater growth for the coach sector ahead of National Coach Week, published on 6 May 2025, whether she plans to take steps to support the coach sector in the East of England, in the context of the Universal UK theme park project. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department recognises the important role the coach sector plays in connecting people and supporting economic growth. The UK coach sector was deregulated by the Transport Act 1980 and as such, services are operated on a commercial basis without receiving government funding.

It is for local authorities to review the needs of people and businesses in their area, including where development is planned, and consider how all modes of transport, including coaches, can meet those needs.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that local leaders work across county borders to ensure the (a) development and (b) sustainability of cross-border public transport services. \p Simon Lightwood: With regard to bus services, Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) already work closely together when tendering routes that cross shared boundaries, and in delivering their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP). There are also requirements set out in the Transport Act 2000 for LTAs to take account of the effect of an Enhanced Partnership on neighbouring areas, and for policies on bus services in neighbouring LTA areas to be considered when developing their franchising arrangements.

The government has updated its bus franchising guidance to LTAs to make clear that they should consider cross-boundary services during any franchising assessment process. This includes as part of the commercial case, where they should set out how they intend to facilitate cross-boundary services to deliver relevant BSIP outcomes and targets in both authorities’ areas.

The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December which puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders. This Bill is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England, including services that cross local authority boundaries.

With regard to rail, Great British Rail (GBR) will be organised to work collaboratively with devolved leaders and local stakeholders to ensure rail services meet local needs. All tiers of local government in England will benefit from empowered local GBR business units that are outward-facing and engage with local authorities on their priorities and Local Transport Plans.

Through the government’s devolution agenda, Mayoral Strategic Authorities are increasingly serving rural areas. Mayors will have a role in the design of their local rail services. They will also have the power to create unified and integrated transport systems enabling local leaders to create transport networks that deliver for their areas. A single directing mind is essential to ensuring the railway serves passenger and freight interests nationally. It is also vital that mayors have the power to integrate local railways with other transport modes.

Later this year, we will publish the Integrated National Transport Strategy and set the vision for transport in England, putting people at the heart of how we plan, build and operate transport. The Strategy will aim to make public transport a more attractive option when people choose to travel and equip local leaders to make the right decisions for their areas. We want to address fragmentation and inefficiency across the transport system to ensure that public, private and third sector partners can work together to provide reliable transport services, including for cross-border journeys.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the impact of (a) dynamic pricing and (a) general payments on the (i) working conditions and (ii) pay of private hire drivers. \p Simon Lightwood: Subject to any requirements under relevant legislation, pay and working conditions in the private hire vehicle sector are commercial matters between drivers and operators.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to provide funding for public transport in Leicestershire. \p Simon Lightwood: This Government is committed to supporting public transport across the country. That is why we have confirmed £955 million for 2025/26 to support and improve bus services in England outside London. On our trains, the planned Great British Railways will have a relentless focus on driving up standards for passengers, including simpler fares and ticketing.

The Government is providing £8.1 million to Leicestershire County Council in 2025/26 that the council can use to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities. We are also providing Leicestershire County Council with £12.3 million for 2025/26, and a total of £73.9 million from 2026/27 to 2029/30, in Local Transport Grant, which the council can use for maintenance and enhancements of its local transport network.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of demand responsive travel in rural areas in (a) the UK and (b) Leicestershire. \p Simon Lightwood: The government believes demand responsive transport (DRT) has an important role to play in ensuring communities can access transport services in areas where more traditional, regular stopping services may not be viable.

The Department has funded 17 innovative DRT pilots through the Rural Mobility Fund. Each scheme is taking part in a detailed monitoring and evaluation process. This will provide a strong base of evidence and good practice for DRT and a better understanding of both the role it can play in rural areas and the challenges associated with introducing it. The final process evaluation will be published later in 2025, and an impact and value for money evaluation is underway, with findings available in late 2026.

Some of the Rural Mobility Fund schemes have grown beyond their original pilot areas, including Fox Connect in Leicestershire. This has expanded from serving an area in south west Leicestershire into five zones around Market Harborough and two zones around Melton Mowbray. Three new zones will shortly commence in north west Leicestershire and will connect parts of Hinckley and Bosworth. These zones provide access into the local town centre and also serve train stations and East Midlands Gateway, also served by Nottinghamshire’s DRT service.
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Fred Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps her Department has taken to support disabled people using public transport. \p Simon Lightwood: The government is committed to improving public transport services so they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. On 17 December, the government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill to put the power over local bus services back into the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them, including for disabled people. The Bill includes measures which will make bus travel more accessible and inclusive.

On 1 October 2024, the first phase of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 came into force, meaning that newer vehicles providing local services must provide audible and visible information on stops, destinations and diversions. The majority of services will need to comply by October 2026.

Ensuring the rail network is also accessible is at the heart of our passenger-focused approach to improving rail services. We know that the experience for disabled people when traveling on rail too often falls short of what is expected and what passengers deserve. We are committed to improving the experience for disabled passengers and have committed to publishing an accessibility roadmap to explain the actions we are taking to improve accessibility ahead of Great British Rail.
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Fred Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with local authorities on the variances in the eligibility criteria for disabled bus passes. \p Simon Lightwood: The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six.

The disabled eligibility criteria are set out in section 146 of the Transport Act 2000. To support local authorities, the Department maintains guidance on assessing the eligibility of disabled applicants, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-forlocal-authorities-on-eligibility-for-disabled-people. However, local authorities are responsible for administering disabled concessionary bus passes and the Department plays no role in the assessment of applications.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much bus companies are reimbursed per journey for disabled bus pass holders; and whether this is a fixed rate across regions. \p Simon Lightwood: Reimbursement rates under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) are not typically split between disabled and older passholders. However, the average rate of reimbursement for both statutory and discretionary concessionary journeys in 2023/24 was £1.44 for England outside of London (£1.17 for England) but varies by area.

Bus operators must be reimbursed on a ‘no better and no worse off’ basis for carrying concessionary passholders. The reimbursement rate is not a fixed rate across England as it is dependent on local conditions such as fares and the cost of carrying concessionary passengers for additional journeys made under the scheme.

The Department for Transport issues reimbursement guidance and a calculator to facilitate the reimbursement rates from Local Transport Authorities to operators.
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David Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the safety record of the A1 through North Northumberland, in the context of RIS3 funding. \p Lilian Greenwood: National Highways has considered the safety record of the A1 through North Northumberland, along with other priorities for this section of the route, as part of its London to Scotland (East) Route Strategy. The outputs of this work will be considered as part of final decisions on investment in the third Road Investment Strategy.
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Tom Gordon:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make it her policy to ensure bus fares do not increase above the rate of inflation following the bus fare cap increase. \p Simon Lightwood: On 1 January, the government introduced a £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London until 31 December 2025. As part of the Spending Review, the government announced further funding to extend the £3 cap to March 2027. This will ensure millions of people can continue to access affordable bus fares and better opportunities all over the country.  The current terms and conditions for the £3 cap already require operators to demonstrate that they have not raised fares any higher than inflation.
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Tom Gordon:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the bus fare cap increase on passenger numbers. \p Simon Lightwood: The government is investing over £150 million to deliver the new £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London from 1 January until 31 December 2025 to help keep bus fares affordable, and as part of the Spending Review, we announced further funding to extend the £3 cap to March 2027.

Under the plans of the previous administration, the £2 cap on bus fares had been due to expire on 31 December 2024, and prior to the Budget, there was no further funding available to maintain a cap on bus fares beyond this point.

The final monitoring and evaluation report into the impact of the £2 bus fare cap was published on 12 February. An evaluation of the £3 fare cap is due to be commissioned shortly.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of settlements that do not have a daily bus service in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department for Transport does not readily hold this information, however local bus timetable data is available to download from the Bus Open Data Service: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-and-use-bus-open-data.

The government believes that local transport authorities, working with bus operators, are best placed to determine and design local bus networks in their area. The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December 2024 to put the power over local bus services back into the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of communities that rely on them, including in South Holland and the Deepings constituency and across Lincolnshire.

In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country, of which Lincolnshire County Council has been allocated £11.9 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce improvements to bus services and infrastructure to best meet the needs of passengers in their local area.

The government has reaffirmed its commitment to bus services in this Spending Review by confirming continued funding each year from 26/27 to maintain and improve vital bus services, including taking forward bus franchising pilots, and extending the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027.
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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to lower the age of free bus travel eligibility to 60 in (a) Eastbourne and (b) England. \p Simon Lightwood: The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. The ENCTS costs around £700 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations, would therefore need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability.

However, local authorities in England have the power to offer concessions in addition to their statutory obligations, such as lowering the age of eligibility. Additional local concessions are provided and funded by local authorities from local resources.

The government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. East Sussex County Council have been allocated £10.3 million of this funding. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services for passengers can be used in whichever way they wish. This could include extending the discretionary concessions available.
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Dr Scott Arthur:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what is the average waiting time for a driving test in Currie; and when she expects the backlog to be cleared. \p Lilian Greenwood: The year-to-date average waiting time for a driving test at Edinburgh (Currie) driving test centre (DTC) is 24 weeks.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.

On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain.

DVSA expects to deliver thousands of additional tests this month and is working to increase test availability further over the coming year. Over 630,000 learners across Great Britain now have a test booked. That number will rise as the DVSA increases test availability.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to help tackle pavement parking in Devon. \p Lilian Greenwood: Local authorities can already make use of existing powers to restrict and enforce pavement parking. The Department for Transport has also been carefully considering the responses to the previous government’s pavement parking consultation, including working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. As soon as the Government has decided its preferred way forward, we will announce the next steps and publish our formal response.
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Catherine Fookes:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the availability of (a) HGV driving test slots and (b) HGV driving test examiners. \p Lilian Greenwood: As of 30 June 2025, there were 15,918 vocational practical driving tests booked and 1,216 tests available in the 10-week booking window

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is seeing some of the highest demand for car practical driving tests it has ever seen.

Whilst DVSA are continuing to deploy examiner resource to vocational testing, it needs to ensure this is done in a way which balances all of the demands on DVSA’s examiner resource.
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Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost of a practical driving test was in each year since 1995. \p Lilian Greenwood: The table below shows the cost of a car practical driving test on weekdays (normal hours) and on evenings, weekends and bank holidays (out of hours), from 1 April 1994 to 30 March 2009. The table also shows the cost of an extended car practical driving test for disqualified drivers.

Please note that the cost of a car practical driving test has remained the same since 30 March 2009.

Car Practical Driving Tests - Cost (£)

Driving Test

Extended Test

Date Introduced

Normal Hours

Out of Hours

Normal Hours

Out of Hours

30-Mar-09

62.00

75.00

124.00

150.00

01-Apr-08

56.50

67.00

113.00

134.00

01-Apr-06

48.50

58.00

97.00

116.00

10-Aug-05

45.50

55.00

91.00

110.00

08-Dec-04

42.00

51.00

84.00

102.00

14-Nov-02

39.00

48.00

78.00

96.00

27-Aug-01

38.00

47.00

76.00

94.00

10-Feb-99

36.75

46.00

73.50

92.00

01-Apr-98

32.75

43.00

65.50

86.00

01-Apr-97

31.00

41.00

62.00

82.00

29-May-95

28.50

38.50

57.00

77.50

01-Apr-94

27.50

37.50

55.00

77.50
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-07 conversation_146

Noah Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps with local authorities to that ensure travel distance is taken into account when (a) calculating school catchment zones and (b) offering school places. \p Catherine McKinnell: Admission arrangements are set and applied locally by a school’s admission authority, which for academies is the academy trust and for maintained schools is either the governing body or the local authority.

Admission authorities must determine the criteria that they will use to allocate places if a school receives more applications than it has places available. These must be fair, clear and transparent, and comply with the statutory School Admissions Code.

Admission authorities are already able to prioritise applications on the basis of distance to the school, including through the use of designated catchment areas. In setting such criterion, admission authorities must ensure they are reasonable and clearly defined, including making clear how distance from the child’s home to the school will be measured.

Where a school is not oversubscribed, every applicant must be offered a place.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-07 conversation_147

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve educational outcomes for young people educated at home. \p Stephen Morgan: All children deserve an education that allows them to achieve and thrive, whether they are educated at school or otherwise.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill includes a package of measures to support children not in school, including those who are home educated. Mandatory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England and Wales, will help improve outcomes for home educated children by supporting local authorities to identify all children not in school in their areas. Measures to make the School Attendance Order process more efficient will minimise the length of time that any child may spend receiving an unsuitable education, thus improving outcomes for children where home education is not working.

The Bill also introduces the first ever duty on local authorities to provide support for home educating families on their registers, upon request ensuring those families have access to reliable advice and information on their child’s education.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-07 conversation_148

Sonia Kumar:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for EHCP plans in (a) the UK, (b) the West Midlands and (c) Dudley constituency. \p Catherine McKinnell: ​The department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, following the Autumn Budget 2024. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to over £12 billion.

​Of that total high needs funding, the West Midlands region is being allocated over £1,228 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of over £95 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula. Dudley Council specifically is being allocated over £62 million through the high needs funding block of the DSG, an increase of over £5 million on 2024/25.

​Local authorities allocate this funding to schools, colleges and other settings, to help them with the costs of SEND provision, including for those children and young people with education, health and care plans. The department provides operational guidance for local authorities to support their allocation of high needs funding: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2025-to-2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-07 conversation_149

Sonia Kumar:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of publishing records of incidents and fatalities at nurseries. \p Stephen Morgan: The department’s priority is to grow high-quality, affordable and flexible education and care for children, whilst ensuring their safety, giving every child the best start of life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

The department is responsible for setting the standards which early years settings such as nurseries must follow, these are set out in the early years foundation stage statutory framework. The department has responsibility for policy on inspection and registration but how it is implemented is for Ofsted to decide and to be held to account by Parliament.

Given the sensitivity and quality of the information around incidents, Ofsted do not publish incident data as routine statistics. However, their annual report and accounts include some national level data on notifications that may relate to incidents. The latest is accessible at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e575d987cebda7c4ca4cde/31795_Ofsted_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2023-24_-_Accessible.pdf.

Ofsted can only commit to publishing national headline data about the number of complaints or notifications relating to incidents.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-07 conversation_150

Dr Neil Hudson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has provided an increase in funding to schools for the 2025-26 teachers’ pay award in Essex. \p Catherine McKinnell: ​​The department is providing schools with £615 million in additional funding in financial year 2025/26 to support them with overall costs, including the costs of the 4% schools teacher pay award and the 3.2% local government pay offer in respect of school support staff. This is on top of the funding increases which the government has already provided to support schools and means that the overall Core Schools Budget will total £65.3 billion in 2025/26, compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25.

Through the Dedicated Schools Grant, Essex is receiving £1.25 billion for mainstream schools in 2025/26. This represents an increase of 2.3% per pupil compared to 2024/25. These figures do not include growth funding, falling rolls funding or the additional funding for schools announced alongside the teacher pay award this year. Allocations of that additional funding, at local authority level, will be announced in October 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-07 conversation_151

Andrew Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support young people into sustained employment after education. \p Alison McGovern: As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England which began mobilising the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in April 2025. The eight areas delivering Trailblazers are: the West of England, Tees Valley, East Midlands, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Liverpool City Region, West Midlands and two areas within the Greater London Authority. The trailblazers will run for 12 months, and we will use the learning to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.

This is part of a broader package of reforms, including introduction of a new jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, the development of work, health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open up new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include work experience, training courses or employability programmes.

In addition, DWP provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.

At Jobcentres, young people receive tailored support from youth work coaches. Those facing multiple barriers to employment are assisted by a Youth Employability Coach.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-07 conversation_152

Dr Scott Arthur:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the (a) efficacy of Universal Credit sanctions and (b) potential impact of those sanctions on claimants. \p Alison McGovern: The most relevant work was published by DWP on 6th April 2023 and can be found here: Impact of Benefit Sanctions on Employment Outcomes: draft report.

It is right that there should be conditions and consequences to labour market support. We will continue to ensure that claimants who need support receive it and consider how to best tailor this support to their individual needs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-07 conversation_153

Sir Mel Stride:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it remains her Department's policy to spend an additional £1 billion on employment support for people with health conditions and disabilities by 2029-30 relative to pre-Spring Statement plans, following the changes to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill; how the further £300 million of funded announced on 30 June 2025 is to be allocated across financial years; and what the total planned spending on employment support for people with health conditions and disabilities was in each financial year to 2029-30 (a) before the Spring Statement and (b) as of 2 July 2025. \p Alison McGovern: We will spend an additional £1 billion on employment support for people with health conditions and disabilities by 2029-2030 relative to pre-Spring Statement plans, with no impact following changes made to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill.

Further details were given by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ statement on Welfare Reform given on 30 June.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-07 conversation_154

Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support autistic people into work. \p Alison McGovern: We are committed to supporting neurodivergent people, including autistic people, get into and thrive in work. Our Jobcentres have a range of support available, including Disability Employment Advisors. On 6th March 2025 we announced that we will deploy 1000 work coaches to help people with health conditions and disabled people towards and into work. This will build and expand on existing measures like additional work coach support which delivers personalised support for some customers on the health journey.

In January this year we launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity. The panel will consider the reasons why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate, making their recommendations to government later this summer.

The Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review. While not specific to neurodiversity, this review is considering how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more disabled people and people with health conditions, promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, and how to support more people to stay in or return to work. Sir Charlie Mayfield will deliver his final report in the autumn.

Our voluntary, locally led Supported Employment Programme, Connect to Work, is rolling out across England and Wales, as we agree local delivery plans with lead delivery authorities. The programme will provide specialist employment support to over 300,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment over the five-year duration of the programme. Connect to Work follows the Local Supported Employment programme, where £12.3 million has already been invested into 27 lead Local Authority areas to provide support to autistic, neurodivergent people and people with learning disabilities.

We are also supporting employers to be more inclusive in their workplace practices. Our support to employers includes a digital information service, called Support with Employee Health and Disability, which provides tailored guidance on supporting employees in common workplace scenarios involving health and disability, and the Disability Confident scheme, which as of May this year has 19,000 members employing approximately 12 million paid employees in total.