theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to provide additional funding to mainstream schools that are accommodating higher numbers of SEND pupils due to shortages in specialist placements. \p Georgia Gould: The government has been clear that a more inclusive education system is needed to provide children and young people with the opportunities they need to achieve and thrive.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, sits with local authorities. To support local authorities with this duty, the department has published allocations for £740 million high needs capital in 2025/26. Of this funding, Thurrock council has been allocated just under £2 million.

This funding is intended to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs. It is ultimately up to local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their high needs capital funding to address local priorities.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her department plans to provide Local Authorities with extra funding to support training of social workers and council workers to improve understanding of home education. \p Josh MacAlister: The department ran a public consultation on the proposed duties and measures for Children Not in School in 2019. The consultation was open to all to contribute, including academic experts in educational pedagogy, and the department responded in 2022. We have continued to engage with home education experts since then as part of development of the measures for inclusion in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and on plans for implementation of these post-Royal Assent.

Funding and training will be provided to support local authorities to fulfil their new duties under the Children Not in School measures.
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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote agricultural (a) careers and (b) skills development among young people in rural constituencies. \p Josh MacAlister: In October, the department published the Post-16 education and skills white paper, setting out a strategy to build a world-class skills system aligned with student and employer needs. Central to these reforms is Skills England, which provides expert insight into current and future skills needs.

The department funds the Careers & Enterprise Company to increase young people’s exposure to industry. They work with sector bodies, such as the Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture to embed employer insight within careers education.

Through a network of careers hubs, the Careers & Enterprise Company connects careers provision in schools and colleges to the needs of local economies through strategic partnerships with local government. Several careers hubs covering rural constituencies work in line with local skills improvement plans by supporting young people’s career readiness and delivering application and interview support.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of new fee paying and charity run religious schools on community cohesion and social mixing among young people from different religious and ethnic backgrounds. \p Josh MacAlister: Faith schools have played a longstanding role in, and remain an important element of, our education system. However, we are not expecting an increase in the number of new faith schools. In the current context of falling rolls, we expect there to be less demand for new school places and fewer new schools overall.

Departmental guidance on establishing new state funded schools sets out expectations on considering the impact of new schools on community cohesion. Where proposals for new independent schools are submitted, approvals are needed from the department and Ofsted

All schools have a vital role in promoting cohesion and are required to actively promote fundamental British values, which include mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs, essential for building a strong, cohesive society.
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Claire Hazelgrove:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy and availability of therapeutic support for adoptive families; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy and effectiveness of signposting to support services available for adoptive families. \p Josh MacAlister: This financial year, the department has invested £50 million into the adoption and special guardianship support fund. 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 department continues to work closely with stakeholders to ensure clear and effective communication. This commitment is reflected in the fund’s growth, with applications increasing by around 10% annually since its inception and over 55,000 individual children supported to date.

Regional adoption agencies serve as central hubs for advice, connecting families to local services, training opportunities, peer support groups, and providing direct referrals to specialist services.

In addition, we work in collaboration with Adoption England to identify and promote best practice across the sector.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the provision of non-partisan political and democratic education in schools prior to the introduction of the forthcoming Elections Bill. \p Georgia Gould: Teaching about democracy and elections already forms a central part of the secondary national curriculum for citizenship and can be taught as a non-statutory topic in primary schools.

Education is a vital part of implementing the government's commitment to extend the right to vote to 16 and 17 years olds. The government takes empowering and equipping young people with the knowledge and skills they need seriously, and wants to break down barriers and drive participation in our democracy.

Following the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review recommendations, the department has committed to make citizenship compulsory in primary schools and to publish revised programmes of study to ensure that all pupils receive an essential grounding in a range of topics including democracy, government and law. We will consult on programmes of study next year and the new national curriculum will be published in 2027 for first teaching in 2028.

The department’s guidance on political impartiality supports schools with teaching about political issues in line with their statutory duties.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many child refugees have attended (a) primary, (b) secondary, and (c) post-16 schools in England since 2015, broken down by (i) local authority, and (ii) year. \p Georgia Gould: The law requires children of compulsory school age living in England, including foreign nationals, to receive a suitable full-time education.

If a school has concerns about an individual’s age and lack documentation, they should refer this to the local authority, which may conduct an assessment. Age assessment is the responsibility of local authorities and the Home Office. The local authority may liaise with the Home Office age dispute team and may also seek support from the National Age Assessment Board.

The department does not hold the data requested.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage more young men into education. \p Josh MacAlister: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department recognises that participation statistics indicate females generally have lower not in employment, education or training (NEET) rates than males in most years.

In the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, we set out a comprehensive NEET prevention package to reduce NEET numbers.

Local authorities are required to offer all young people aged 16–19 support to encourage, enable or assist them to effectively participate in education or training.

The government has introduced a new Youth Guarantee to ensure that every young person has a clear pathway into education, training, or work. We have allocated £45 million for Trailblazers in the 2025/26 financial year, with a further £45 million in 2026/27, to develop and test innovative ways to bring together local leadership and support.

The department will support the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university, regardless of their background and personal characteristics.
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Melanie Onn:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a Technical Excellence College in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes constituency. \p Josh MacAlister: The department is introducing Technical Excellence Colleges (TECs) to specialise in training skilled workforces which industry needs in growth-driving priority sectors.

The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper confirmed that the government is expanding the TEC programme to a further four sectors: clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, and defence. These new TECs, backed by £175 million, will secure the pipeline of skilled workers into these areas.

The selection process for these TECs will start by the end of 2025, with delivery planned to begin from April 2026. Exact locations are yet to be determined, and colleges will be appointed through a fair and transparent application process. Further details will be published in due course.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential (a) merits of calculating maintenance loans through net rather than gross household income and (b) impact of that change on single parental income households. \p Josh MacAlister: Entitlement to partially means-tested undergraduate loans for living costs is based on the income of the student’s household.

The income used is the total income on which a person is charged income tax at step 1 of the calculation in Section 23 of the Income Tax Act 2007, before the deductions made by HMRC from step 2 onwards of Section 23.

The use of income charged to tax in the household income assessment applies a standard measure of income to calculate a student’s entitlement to living costs support and allows all students to be assessed consistently and fairly. It also ensures that the most support is paid to students from the lowest income families, including those with single parents, who need it most and who are historically under-represented in higher education. It is not intended to be an exact calculation of disposable income for each household.

Information on income is available from HMRC and allows around 1.3 million assessments a year to be carried out quickly and efficiently each year by Student Finance England.

Maximum grants and loans for living and other costs for the 2025/26 academic year have been increased by forecast inflation, 3.1%, based on the RPIX inflation index.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of self service check outs at supermarkets and convenience stores on the number of jobs in those sectors since 2015. \p Kate Dearden: The Department for Business and Trade has no plans to assess the impact of self-service checkouts on employment levels in the retail sector since 2015.

Decisions about in-store services in supermarkets, including provision of staffed and self-checkout tills are rightly a matter for individual retailers. The Government recognises that the retail sector continues to be an important employer in the UK economy and while technological changes may alter the nature of some roles within the sector, they can also create new opportunities and job types across the retail industry.   The Government continues to engage with the industry, including through the Retail Sector Council, which brings together employers, unions and other stakeholders to address challenges and opportunities.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many staff in their Department have been on mental health leave for six months or more; and for what reason. \p Kate Dearden: Civil Service sickness absence reports (which provide statistics for sickness absence by organisation and sickness reason, including Mental Ill-Health) are publicly available at: [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence]. The next release of data is likely to be on Thursday 18th December 2025.
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Amanda Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) document entitled Improving Trader recommendation platforms: consumer law compliance advice for businesses, published on 12 November 2024, if he will list the enforcement actions the CMA has taken since the publication of that guidance; and what steps the CMA is taking to monitor compliance with the guidance. \p Kate Dearden: The Competition and Markets Authority's decision-making is independent of government. Each parliament the government issues a Strategic Steer to the CMA setting out its priorities for the CMA and the wider policy objectives to which it should have regard. Information about the CMA's enforcement activities is available on its website.

Under the Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Act 2024, trader recommendation platforms must take reasonable steps to ensure consumer reviews on their sites are genuine. The CMA has published separate guidance for businesses that publish reviews to help meet their legal obligations.
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Amanda Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to encourage enforcement action by the Competition and Markets Authority on consumer protection. \p Kate Dearden: The Competition and Markets Authority's decision-making is independent of government. Each parliament the government issues a Strategic Steer to the CMA setting out its priorities. Earlier this year the government encouraged the CMA to use its range of tools, including consumer enforcement, “to grow the economy through promoting consumer trust and confidence, while deterring poor corporate practices.”

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which we brought into force in April of this year, strengthened consumer law enforcement by giving the CMA new administrative powers, and empowering the CMA and courts to impose significant monetary penalties of up to 10% of turnover.
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Anna Gelderd:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to review the (a) definition of micro-entity and (b) level of support available to mico-entities. \p Blair McDougall: The Government uplifted the monetary thresholds for determining a company is a micro-entity, for the purposes of audit and accounts by 50% in legislation that came into force in April this year. The Department does not plan to revisit this definition.

As part of "Backing Your Business - our Plan for SMEs", the Government is making thriving micro, small, medium-sized businesses a reality through a package of legislative reforms to: tackle late payments; unblock billions in finance to support investment; remove unnecessary red tape; revitalise High Streets; and deliver support for digital and AI adoption through a new Business Growth Service.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to finance for pubs in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Kate Dearden: The Government recognises the significant pressures facing pubs, including those in Surrey Heath, and the Government is providing support through various measures to help ease these pressures.

We are supporting pubs by expanding Start-up Loans to offer 69,000 new businesses the chance of finance and mentoring, boosting access to finance by committing to the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme for the longer term, and expanding the capacity of the ENABLE programme by £3 billion to £5 billion helping lenders unlock more finance options for small businesses.

We are also offering £340m to help boost the availability of early-stage equity finance for innovative businesses across the UK, and working with private lenders on the appropriate use of Personal Guarantees, including a mandatory Code of Conduct for loans issued under the Growth Guarantee Scheme, to ensure their use is fair and transparent.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to meet with fireworks industry stakeholders, such as Fireworks Impact Coalition, to discuss the potential merits of a comprehensive review of current fireworks legislation. \p Kate Dearden: The Government has made no assessment to determine if the 120 dB noise limit is sufficiently protecting animals and vulnerable people from harm. The Government is continuing to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities, including those supporting animals and vulnerable people, to gather evidence on the issues with and impacts of fireworks to inform any future action and review into the current fireworks legislation.
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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will review the dates set out in the Employment Rights Bill Implementation Roadmap to account for the time taken for the Bill's passage. \p Kate Dearden: There will be several phases of delivery following Royal Assent of the Employment Rights Bill. For many measures, Government will consult on the detail of policy and implementation. As set out in the Implementation Roadmap, we will provide more detail on these policies and our timelines for implementation following consultation, with a clear commitment that we aim to work at pace to deliver these benefits to millions of working people.
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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department's publication entitled DBT: Workforce management information October 2025, for what purpose the Department's non-payroll staff consultancy costs increased to £4,345,742.86 for October 2025. \p Kate Dearden: Spend on Consultancy does vary month to month dependent upon which projects are underway through the year. An even spread is not expected. While consultancy costs for October 2025 are broadly in line with July and August 2025, they do appear as being significantly above those in September 2025. However, in September 2025, a correction exercise was undertaken whereby costs were removed and correctly reclassified having the effect of artificially lowering the September consultancy costs.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many sub postmasters have had claims (a) settled and (b) not settled related to the Horizon issue. \p Blair McDougall: As of 31 October 2025, around 9,300 claims have been settled across the Horizon redress schemes, with around 3,000 claims received not yet settled.

The total number of settled claims includes 71 full and final settlements made under the former Overturned Convictions scheme prior to its closure on 2 June 2025. The 40 Overturned Convictions claims not fully settled are now being administered through the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS).

The table below illustrates the progress to date across the schemes and is available on GOV.UK. The Department only reports on claims received, as there is not a fixed cohort of claims across these schemes.

Scheme

Full & Final Claims received

Full & Final Offers made

Full & Final Offers accepted

Full & Final claims paid

Horizon Shortfall Scheme: eligible claims before deadline

2,417

2,417

2,129

2,129

Horizon Shortfall Scheme: eligible late claims

8,823

6,919

6,236

6,192

Group Litigation Order Scheme

476

473

400

396

Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme

462

460

447

445
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration offenders were released on bail and not detained in each of the last ten years. \p Alex Norris: We do not routinely publish the information you have requested. We are unable to provide this information, as it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the proportion of legal migrants to the UK who are net contributors to the UK's public finances. \p Alex Norris: The net impact on fiscal balances will vary across different migrant cohorts, influenced by factors such as employment rate, income level, age, and their propensity to use different types of public services.

The Government publishes estimates of the fiscal impact of groups of migrants in impact assessments accompanying changes to Immigration Rules. Home Office Impact Assessments and wider analysis can be found here: Migration analysis at the Home Office - GOV.UK

Immigration rules changes published in October 2025, included an Impact Assessment which set out the estimated per head net fiscal impacts of migrants by visa route.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her department’s policy paper entitled Restoring order and control: a statement on the Government’s asylum and returns policy, published on 17 November 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed legislation on the duty for public bodies to prioritise vulnerable children, as set out in the Children Act 1989. \p Alex Norris: In developing our policies, we will take full account of the specific needs and vulnerabilities of children and ensure these considerations inform policy development and relevant impact assessments. This will include consideration of our duties under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act and how this relates to local authorities duties under the Children Act 1989.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce protections to ensure asylum seekers under the duress of criminal gangs are not punished for failing to disclose they are being influenced. \p Alex Norris: We recognise that that all asylum seekers are potentially vulnerable, and during the asylum decision making process, we aim to ensure that particularly vulnerable claimants are identified, the particular difficulties they may face in disclosing their experiences are given due consideration when assessing their credibility, and that they are given help in accessing appropriate services.

As the Home Secretary said in her statement of 17 November, we are committed to ensuring that victims of modern slavery are quickly identified and can access the necessary support through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which is the UK’s framework for identifying and supporting victims of exploitation and human trafficking. However, we are also determined to pursue and tackle any abuse of the system to ensure it is working effectively for victims.

NRM decision-makers are trained to recognise conditions which may cause delays or inconsistencies in an individual’s account, including trauma, barriers to disclosure, and a reluctance on the part of potential victim to self-identify themselves as such. Timing of disclosure is also a relevant factor in assessing a potential victim’s modern slavery case. We will strengthen this further to ensure that it is a key consideration when deciding on the credibility of a case, whilst bearing in mind the impact that trauma has on victims of these crimes.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proportion of Bangladeshi asylum seekers that have arrived via a) visas or b) other leave in the year to June 2025 on the asylum system. \p Alex Norris: This government has already taken action to stem the surge in asylum claims from visa holders, including record numbers of credibility interviews and mandating a genuine study requirement for short term student routes. The number of student visa holders claiming asylum has reduced every quarter since this government took office.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in their Department have been on mental health leave for six months or more; and for what reason. \p Sarah Jones: Civil Service sickness absence reports, which provide statistics for sickness absence by organisation and sickness reason, including Mental Ill-Health.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence
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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Emergency Services Network will be fully operational, including phone-based location tracking capabilities for emergency responders. \p Sarah Jones: The programme’s priority is to achieve the right balance between credible plans that have user confidence and the need to deliver ESN as quickly and safely as possible to enable the shutdown of Airwave.

The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) has successfully concluded two major re-procurements. In November 2024, the Mobile Services contract was awarded to BT/EE, followed by the award of the User Services contract to IBM in December 2024. With these committed delivery partners firmly on board, ESMCP has made excellent progress into full delivery mode.

The programme has finalised a revised Programme Business Case, which has been endorsed by the Senior Users of the three Emergency Services and representatives from the devolved nations. The Business Case is expected to complete departmental and HM Treasury approvals in early 2026. Our user community remains actively engaged in planning the deployment and rollout of the Emergency Services Network (ESN) and ensuring a safe transition from Airwave. Early adoption of a service-ready solution is on track for early 2028, with full transition from Airwave targeted for completion by the end of 2029.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions took place between (a) ministers and (b) officials in her Department and (i) West Midlands Police and (ii) Birmingham City Council regarding (A) intelligence information received from Dutch authorities and (B) risk assessments presented to the Safety Advisory Group. \p Sarah Jones: The police are operationally independent of Government. Officials routinely engage with operational partners to support public safety and effective policing.

The Home Office does not publish operational intelligence or risk assessments produced by police forces or overseas law enforcement agencies. Doing so could compromise public safety, ongoing investigations, and relationships with international partners.

I am aware that the Honourable Member has, since tabling these questions, placed in the public domain reports by the West Midlands Police inputting into the local Safety Advisory Group, and the Netherlands Inspectorate of Justice and Security.

I also gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 1 December on this issue which is available at: 1 December 2025 - Football Policing - Oral evidence - Committees - UK Parliament
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Bob Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs review of cannabis-based products for medicinal use is expected to be completed and published. \p Sarah Jones: Cannabis-based products for medicinal use (‘CBPMs’) were placed in Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 in 2018, making them available for prescribing.

The Government has commissioned the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (‘ACMD’) to review the evidence on CBPMs and assess whether the legislative change in 2018 has had the desired effect and whether there have been any unintended consequences.

The ACMD is an independent scientific advisory body and determines its own procedures. However, the three-year Ministerial commission for 2025 – 2028 flagged the CBPM commission as a priority.

The Government will consider the advice carefully before deciding what action to take. The response will be published on gov.uk.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring police forces to record thefts (a) from and (b) of light commercial vehicles as distinct crime categories to enable accurate national monitoring of van-related offending. \p Sarah Jones: The Home Office has access to a monthly extract of data from the Police National Computer (PNC) which provides additional intelligence information on the type of vehicles stolen in England and Wales. Such data already enables the monitoring of offences involving the theft of light commercial vehicles and so no additional crime code is needed to identify such thefts.

When collecting data for national monitoring purposes there is always a tension between seeking to capture more detail to identify emerging threats, which are hidden within existing broad offence groupings, and adding to recording complexity and burden on the police.

The Theft Act covers a wide range of criminality, and the Home Office currently require the police to record such offences under some fairly broad groups such as Theft from a motor vehicle, aggravated vehicle taking, and Theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the transition costs to the public purse of the proposed abolition of Police and Crime Commissioners. \p Sarah Jones: There will be a small programme team in the Home Office to oversee the transition of police governance functions from Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to Strategic Authority Mayors or, where that is not possible, new Policing and Crime Boards. This will be resourced through the reprioritisation of existing resources.

The Home Office will work with Offices of PCCs and local authorities to assess local transition costs ahead of implementation in 2028. Following the approach taken for previous transfers of police governance in mayoral areas, costs are expected to be met locally through existing budgets.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) arrested and (b) convicted in relation to the sale of illegal vape products in each of the last five years. \p Sarah Jones: The data requested is not held by the Home Office.

The Home Office collect and publishes data on arrests as part of the Police Powers and Procedures statistical series, available here: Stop and search, arrests, and mental health detentions, March 2025 - GOV.UK

However, data is collected by broader offence group and for notifiable offences only, therefore data on arrests for the sale of illegal vapes is not available.

Convictions is a matter for the Ministry of Justice.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offenders awaiting (a) trial (b) sentencing were removed from the UK under a voluntary agreement prior to the completion of the legal process annually since 2015. \p Sarah Jones: The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

The Home Office publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’. Data on returns by return type can be found in Ret_01 of the ‘Returns summary tables’. This data covers the period 2010 to September 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-03 conversation_229

Robbie Moore:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether, as part of Recommendation 2 of the Casey Audit, the Cabinet Office has yet issued a formal instruction or preservation notice requiring the retention of records relevant to child sexual exploitation by grooming gangs. \p Jess Phillips: In her Audit, Baroness Casey made clear that local authorities, police forces and other relevant agencies should be required not to destroy any relevant records, and we expect this to be the case. The Home Office has made the requirement clear to departments across government with responsibility for relevant agencies. The Terms of Reference for the inquiry, once established and agreed with the Chair, will set the scope of the inquiry in more detail, at which point a more detailed request for the retention of records can be made.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-03 conversation_230

Anneliese Dodds:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the financial capacity of regional organised crime units to investigate modern slavery. \p Jess Phillips: The Government is committed to ensuring that law enforcement has there sources it needs to tackle crime effectively. Regional Organised Crime Units(ROCUs) are collaborations between three or more police forces and help support forces and partners to tackle serious and organised crime (SOC),including modern slavery.The Home Office provides c.30% of funding to supports the ROCUs intackling SOC, with the remaining c.70% coming from Police and Crime Commissioners in 2025-26. To improve the response to modern slavery, the Home Office also provides funding through the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit, for regional coordinators, based in theROCUs that act as a bridge between the ROCU and forces to provide specialist advice and support on investigations. In addition to this, the Home Office-funded Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) Programme is anintelligence capability that is increasing law enforcements capability to respond to organised exploitation, including modern slavery. As the spending review and subsequent allocations process is ongoing, funding for future years cannot be confirmed at this time.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-03 conversation_231

James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her will can provide (a) an update on the progress of the grooming gangs inquiry and (b) a timeline for the commencement of the different stages of the inquiry. \p Jess Phillips: We are working urgently to establish the inquiry and Baroness Casey of Blackstock is supporting this process.Our immediate priority is appointing a Chair with the credibility and experience to lead the inquiry, ensuring a trauma-informed approach to engaging victims and survivors throughout - from its design to reporting. We aim to announce a Chair as soon as possible.Once a Chair is appointed, in line with the requirements of the Inquiries Act 2005, the Chair will play a central role in shaping the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference and will consult on a draft of these before they are finalised. It is the Terms of Reference that will determine the scope of the inquiry. Once inpost the Chair will set out an inquiry timeline based on the requirements of the Terms of Reference.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-03 conversation_232

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to help reduce instances of matricide. \p Jess Phillips: The scale of violence against women and girls (VAWG) is intolerable, and this Government has set out a mission to halve these crimes over the next decade.The Home Office is working to develop the evidence base on domestic abuse related deaths by funding the Domestic Homicide Project, which captures information all domestic abuse related deaths, including matricides, from all 43 police forces in England and Wales. The objective of this project is to improve our understanding of these cases and identify how the response to them can be improved. Further information about this research can be found at the following link: https://www.vkpp.org.uk/vkpp-work/domestic-homicide-project/. In addition, Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) offer a vital opportunity fornational and local agencies, local communities and society as a whole to learn lessons from domestic abuse related deaths, including cases of matricide. We are currently reforming the DHR process to ensure learning is effectively identified and implemented to improve systems and ultimately, prevent future deaths.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-03 conversation_233

Mims Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2025 to Question 90289 on Offences against Children: Wales, if she will publish the correspondence with the First Minister of Wales. \p Jess Phillips: As noted in PQ 90290, the National Inquiry into Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse will cover England and Wales. The Home Secretary has written to the First Minister to confirm this. As the Hon Member will appreciate correspondence between the Home Secretary and the First Minister of Wales is confidential and I will not be publishing the letter.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-03 conversation_234

Sir Christopher Chope:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the application for a mandatory reversal of the decision of the NHS Business Services Authority with reference VAD20662 will be actioned; and for what reason it has not yet been actioned. \p Ashley Dalton: The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) is administered by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). It would not be appropriate to comment on the status of an individual claim to the VDPS, which is a matter for NHSBSA
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-03 conversation_235

Luke Akehurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve glioblastoma survival rates. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is committed to supporting an innovative clinical research ecosystem in the United Kingdom so that patients in this country can be among the first to benefit as we make the National Health Service fit for the future.

The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, such as glioblastomas, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the NHS will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.

Early next year, the Government will publish a National Cancer Plan which will set out targeted actions to reduce the lives lost to cancers and improve the experience of patients, including rarer cancers such as glioblastomas.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-03 conversation_236

Sir Christopher Chope:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beds at University Hospitals Dorset were occupied on (a) 1 April and (b) 1 October 2025 by patients with no criteria to reside. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Information about how many beds are occupied by patients with no criteria to reside by trust is published by NHS England, and this information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/discharge-delays/acute-discharge-situation-report/

The following table shows how many beds at University Hospitals Dorset were occupied by patients with no criteria to reside for 1 April 2025 and 1 October 2025:

Date

Number of patients remaining in hospital who no longer meet the criteria to reside

1 April 2025

186

1 October 2025

194

Source: NHS England

To support trusts to reduce the number of beds occupied by patients with no criteria to reside, the Government published a new policy framework in January 2025 for the £9 billion Better Care Fund. This holds the National Health Service and local authorities accountable for setting and achieving joint goals for reducing discharge delays and preventing avoidable emergency admissions. Some challenged systems are also receiving a programme of improvement support.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-03 conversation_237

Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the final report of the Cass Review, published in April 2024, what steps he is taking to help ensure the data linkage study is completed. \p Karin Smyth: A children and young people’s gender research programme, jointly led by NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is in place to underpin the design and delivery of the new model of National Health Service specialist gender care in England.

NHS England is responsible for delivery of the Data Linkage Study. It is a retrospective study based on an analysis of data collected historically for a cohort of adults who, as children, were cared for under a former model of NHS gender care, the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). This study requires no active patient participation and instead relies on an analysis of the available digital information held within health records and other nationally held databases. The analysis will look for potential linkages or associations that do not prove ‘cause and effect’ but nonetheless may provide useful insights on the experience and outcomes of former GIDS patients.

NHS England has taken time to undertake due diligence work on the data sources critical to the study, and to work with organisations to refine the planned approach to data sharing. Study approvals are currently in progress. As with usual research practice, the data linkage study protocol will be made available in the public domain once independent research and ethical approvals have been appropriately secured, at which point the analytical work can begin.