theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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David Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will estimate the number of vehicles under the jurisdiction of his Department coming to their end of life; and if he will make an assessment with the Secretary of State for Defence of the potential merits of making those vehicles available to the Ukrainian military. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Environment Agency, through its strategic asset management programme, would be selling 193 commercial vehicle assets before the end of the current financial year.

The granting of weapons and equipment to Ukraine is made in response to official requests made by the Ukrainian Government.

We continue to liaise closely with Ukraine to deliver the capabilities they require to resist Russian aggression.

The UK has provided over 240 armoured and protected mobility vehicles, alongside hundreds of support vehicles to Ukraine this year.

The UK and partners will continue to ensure we equip Ukraine as best we can to defend its sovereign territory and ensure it is in a position of strength for any peace negotiations. This Government has stepped up support for Ukraine, with a record £4.5 billion of support this year alone. The Prime Minister has committed to £3 billion a year of military support for Ukraine for as long as needed.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been (a) fined and (b) received criminal records for breaking laws on log burning in each of the last five years. \p Emma Hardy: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs does not hold a centralised record of fines or criminal records related to burning solid fuels, including wood.
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Anna Gelderd:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help support seagrass restoration programmes to scale-up. \p Emma Hardy: Defra is supporting the scaling up of seagrass restoration programmes by identifying and overcoming barriers.

The Environment Agency with partners is working to restore 15% of saltmarsh, seagrass and native oyster reef in England by 2043 through the Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) programme. Defra have boosted the capacity of ReMeMaRe by funding a programme office, which is supporting a pipeline of practical restoration projects.

The annual ReMeMaRe Conference gives partners from across the country an opportunity to engage with and learn from each other. ReMeMaRe has also worked with partners to produce restoration guidance and map restoration opportunities. It is also funding the development of an estuarine and coastal restoration platform, which will enhance collaboration opportunities for partners, aiming to scale up restoration activity on the ground.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of custodial sentences for perpetrators of (a) animal abuse and (b) animal neglect. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra regularly meets the RSPCA and other stakeholders to discuss animal welfare issues affecting the sector including any trends in animal welfare offences.

Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal is an offence under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. In 2021, the maximum sentence for this offence was increased to five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

Sentencing decisions in individual cases are entirely a matter for our independent courts. The Sentencing Council have issued guidelines on animal cruelty which are available on its website at: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/crown-court/item/animal-cruelty/.
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Dame Harriett Baldwin:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that livestock can move freely between land in England and Wales. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra works closely with the Devolved Governments with the aim of providing, where possible, a consistent and coordinated response across the UK. A key forum for this is the Animal Disease Policy Group, which is a UK-wide policy decision making group. Defra and the Devolved Governments also engage closely with industry to inform policy development and implementation through the Livestock Core Group.

Nevertheless, disease control is a devolved matter, and it is for the Devolved Governments to assess the disease risks and impacts in relation to their national herds, alongside the impacts of controls, and respond accordingly.

From 1 July 2025 the restricted zone (RZ) for bluetongue will be extended to include all areas of England and the current movement restrictions for live animals within England will be lifted. Given the availability now of safe and effective BTV-3 vaccines, low prevalence of severe clinical signs in affected domestic animals, and the impact of restrictions, sustaining or increasing controls on BTV-3 into the future is neither sustainable nor proportionate.

The Welsh Government will allow livestock to be moved from England to Wales subject to licences, qualifying vaccination and pre-movement tests at the keeper's expense. Farmers will need to make commercial decisions regarding the costs associated with this.
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James MacCleary:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the remedies available to people who are experiencing noise disturbances. \p Emma Hardy: Local authorities are responsible for investigating noise disturbances brought to their attention under Section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act, 1990. If they agree that a statutory nuisance is happening, has happened or will happen in the future, councils must serve an abatement notice.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what mechanisms have been agreed with the United States to monitor compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary standards under paragraph 2(a) of the General Terms. \p Daniel Zeichner: On 8 May, the UK Government announced a landmark economic deal with the United States, making the UK the first country to reach an agreement with President Trump. This delivers on the commitment by the Prime Minister and the President on 27 February to agree an economic deal in our respective national interests.

All food imports into the UK, including those via the new reciprocal quotas for beef agreed with the US, must comply with all of the UK’s import requirements, including sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) rules. That means that hormone-treated beef will remain banned in the UK and will not be permitted under the economic deal with the US.

The UK has effective systems and checks in place to monitor compliance with our SPS rules. Nothing has changed in this agreement with regards to how the UK controls the safety of food imported from the US. Each consignment of beef must have an export health certificate, certified by a veterinarian as compliant with British legislation, including the ban on hormone-treated beef. There are also regular checks at the UK border, including taking samples of products to look for any contaminants and drug residues.

We have always been clear that this Government will protect British farmers, secure our food security and uphold our high food, animal welfare and environmental standards in trade deals. That is exactly what we have done and will continue to do. Any agricultural imports coming into the UK will have to meet our high SPS standards.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on issuing guidance to local planning authorities on giving further weight to food production in rural planning decisions. \p Mary Creagh: The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) safeguards the best and most versatile agricultural land. Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be preferred to those of higher quality. Defra is working with MHCLG on policy and guidance to ensure that planning decisions made by local planning authorities are informed by the impacts on food production.

Later this year, the Government will publish a Land Use Framework for England, which will set out the evidence, data and tools needed to support development that safeguards our most productive agricultural land.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of exempting agricultural development from Biodiversity Net Gain requirements. \p Mary Creagh: We are currently consulting on improving the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for minor, medium and brownfield development. This includes a range of options looking at how threshold exemptions are used which will cover some agricultural developments.
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Kevin Bonavia:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the merits of introducing a national register of breeders to improve safeguards against animal abuse. \p Daniel Zeichner: In relation to dogs, under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the Regulations), commercial and high-volume dog breeders must hold a licence issued by their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences.

The department has completed a review of the Regulations which can be found here. The department is considering the review’s findings and will outline any next steps in due course.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve management of flood risk in high-risk areas of Ashfield constituency. \p Emma Hardy: Ashfield constituency suffered flooding to 58 properties in Storm Babet, October 2023 and to six properties in Storm Henk, January 2024.

Much of the flooding risk in Ashfield is from ‘ordinary watercourses’ or surface water run-off, both of which are the responsibility of Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs). Ashfield LLFA Nottinghamshire County Council can be contacted on xxx@xxx.xx.

The LLFA published Section 19 investigation reports following the 2023/24 winter storms. These reports cover areas in Ashfield such as Pleasley, Kirkby in Ashfield, and Sutton in Ashfield, and can be accessed on the council’s website: : The Council's role | Nottinghamshire County Council

The Environment Agency contributed to the Section 19 investigations where relevant, for example in Pleasley, where we have a role in incident response, issuing flood warnings and supporting recovery efforts: 26. Appendix Y. Pleasley S19 Storm Babet Oct 2023

The Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for managing flood risk from the River Meden that flows through Pleasley and a small stretch of the River Erewash headwaters.
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Dan Norris:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help mitigate flood risks in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency. \p Emma Hardy: As a category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act the Environment Agency has supported Bath and North East Somerset Council at various events to develop resilient communities in North East Somerset and Hanham.

As a responding agency, the Environment Agency (EA) has been involved with protecting residents from various weather events such as Storm Bert in 2024. This included operation of ea assets, warning and informing residents and coordinating responses and recovery with their professional partners.

The ea is working to create a River Avon vision with partners for the Netham to Twerton Corridor to support the Government’s sustainable growth agenda and enable the restoration of nature and resilient communities faced with flooding and climate change.

The EA has a successful programme of Property Flood Resilience (PFR) for isolated properties at risk of flooding. In North East Somerset and Hanham installation of PFR at properties in Swinford, Hanham and Chew Magna has been completed.

In addition, the EA has an ongoing project to understand flood risk in the Siston and Warmley catchment. As part of their asset management role, they have just completed urgent tunnel lining repairs to the Siston flood relief tunnel.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of air quality levels in Ashfield constituency. \p Emma Hardy: Local authorities review and assess air quality in their areas and publish an annual report on their actions to improve local air quality including local monitoring data which is assessed by Defra. In their most recent report, the Council indicated they were monitoring NO2 levels at 25 locations and recorded continued reductions in concentrations in recent years. Ashfield District Council have no declared Air Quality Management Areas due to having recorded no exceedances of the Air Quality Objectives set by Defra.
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Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ban trail hunting. \p Daniel Zeichner: As per our manifesto, this Government will ban trail hunting. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing and further announcements will be made in due course.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of moving civil servants to Cheltenham on his Departments staffing costs. \p Georgia Gould: The 2025 Spending Review confirmed £244 million investment supporting the relocation of roles out of Whitehall to complete the development of new hubs in the regions.

Cheltenham will continue to be a vibrant Civil Service location and home to one of GCHQs strategic hubs. The Government Property Agency continues to work closely with departments based in Cheltenham.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the political balance of the Parliamentary and Political Service honours committee across (a) independent members who hold a party political whip in the House of Lords and (b) official members. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee (PPS Committee) is one of ten specialist honours committees which assess honours nominations put forward by members of the public, government departments and professional bodies.

Honours committees are made up of individuals with considerable experience of the area covered by the committee. The PPS Committee considers candidates for honours from the UK Parliament, the Devolved Legislatures, the staff of Westminster and other Assemblies, the staff of bodies which report to them, Party workers, councillors and others working for local government.

The current membership of the PPS Committee comprises four independent members, appointed through a public appointments process, and three official members who are the incumbent chief whips from the three largest political parties in the House of Commons. The process to appoint the new independent Chair of the PPS Committee is ongoing and an announcement will be made in due course. The full composition of each honours committee can be found on gov.uk.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) proposed start date, (b) proposed completion date and (c) allocated budget is for the national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II in St James's Park. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The final winning design for the National Memorial to Queen Elizabeth II, in St. James’s Park, will be unveiled in 2026, to coincide with what would have been Her late Majesty’s Centenary year. Construction will begin subject to approval of the winning design from The Prime Minister and The King and further information will be shared at the time.

The provisional construction budget for the National Memorial in St. James’s Park has been confirmed by HM Government as within the range of £23m-46m excluding VAT. The final budget for the project will depend on the detail of the final design following its formal submission and once it has obtained planning permission, so cannot be given at this stage.

Achieving value for money is a priority objective of the project and will be monitored closely throughout design development and the construction of the memorial.
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James Wild:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 59412 on Government Departments: Reviews, if his Department will publish the line by line review of its spending conducted for the Spending Review 2025. \p Georgia Gould: The Cabinet Office is committed to delivering the 5% savings and efficiency target, with Spending Review funding allocations agreed on this basis.

These funding allocations – informed by the findings of the Zero Based Review – are the first step in a wider plan to finalise budgets for different projects and programmes, with any necessary savings decided through that process. The savings taken forward will be subject to the normal rigorous business planning processes, and in-year financial management.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 53546 on House of Lords Appointments Commission, whether the recruitment campaign to appoint the two independent members was re-opened after it originally closed. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The campaign to appoint new Independent Members to the House of Lords Appointments Commission was launched earlier this year and remains active. It has not been re-opened.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure timely responses to ministerial correspondence. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: We are committed to providing timely and high-quality responses to ministerial correspondence. We regularly review our departmental performance and adjust internal processes accordingly. Departmental performance in responding to Ministerial correspondence is published annually on GOV.UK.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what services are provided to the Deputy Prime Minister without charge in relation to her official residence. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Deputy Prime Minister’s flat does not receive any dedicated services without charge. Costs are discharged in the usual way as has been the case for successive governments.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Spending Review 2025 on the National Youth Strategy. \p Stephanie Peacock: This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential. The funding commitments within the National Youth Strategy will depend on departmental business planning processes, now underway following the recent spending review. The detail and scale of the funding commitments included in the strategy will also be shaped by engagement with young people and the youth sector.The Government will publish the strategy this autumn.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Spending Review 2025 on the Park Tennis Courts Programme. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

On 20 June, my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, committed £400 million to continued investment in local sport facilities on 20 June, following the recent Spending Review. We will work closely with sporting bodies - including the Lawn Tennis Association - and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.

The Park Tennis Court Programme was a joint investment between the UK Government and LTA that started in 2022 and concluded in 2024.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has approved a funding application for Basement Films Company in the last 12 months. \p Chris Bryant: No. DCMS does not directly approve individual funding applications for film and television content. Our partners, including the British Film Institute (BFI), are responsible for implementing specific funding programmes. The BFI has advised they have no record of funding being awarded to this production company.
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Mary Glindon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of levels of funding in the higher education sector on the performance of British universities in the QS World University Rankings 2026, published on 19 June 2025. \p Janet Daby: To maintain the UK higher education (HE) sector's world-leading status, universities need a stable financial footing. This government is committed to securing our universities’ future, which is why we have acted quickly to address the sector’s financial challenges.

The Office for Students (OfS) continues to dedicate significant resources to ensure the sector's financial sustainability. The department has appointed Professor Edward Peck as OfS Chair, where he will play a key role in strengthening this commitment. Additionally, we made the difficult decision to uplift tuition fee limits by 3.1% (in line with inflation) from the 2025/26 academic year. The department will publish its plans for HE reform as part of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper this summer.

We also recognise that research funding is integral to universities’ financial sustainability. This government has committed to record funding of research and development (R&D). The Department for Science, Technology and Innovation’s (DSIT) R&D budget has increased in real terms by 8.5% from 2024/25 to 2025/26, and DSIT's allocation to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is £8.8 billion, sustaining unprecedented levels of investment to support the UK’s R&D ambitions.

This government is determined to work with the sector to transition to sustainable research funding models, including by increasing research grant cost recovery, as announced by UKRI in March.
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Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that young people consider social care as a potential future career. \p Janet Daby: High-quality, careers information, advice and guidance (CIAG) is key to helping young people make informed decisions about their future. The department funds person-centred, impartial careers information and advice across all employment sectors, including social care.​

Through The Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC), we fund Careers Hubs which lead partnerships including secondary schools, colleges, employers and strategic and local authorities to connect young people to local skills and economic needs through a responsive careers education programme. ​The Health Sector Advisory Group, in partnership with CEC, is exploring solutions to address workforce and skills challenges and inspire young people to take up careers in health and social care. Their recent report, Examining the Skills Gap, showcases effective local initiatives that give young people real-world insight into social care careers and can be found here: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/evidence-and-reports/examining-the-skills-gap-inspiring-young-people-to-take-up-careers-in-health-and-social-care/.

The National Careers Service is a free, government-funded careers information and guidance service. Its website gives access to digital tools and resources’ covering over 130 industry areas and 800 job profiles including several social care roles.

The government has introduced measures to raise awareness, boost access, and improve the quality of training available in the healthcare sector, including the ‘Next Generation’ campaign promoting technical education pathways inspiring pupils to pursue careers in sectors like social care.
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Andrew George:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take with the Office for Students to ensure that universities provide prospective students with transparent data (a) in general and (b) on what proportion of courses are delivered online. \p Janet Daby: Higher education providers must be transparent in how they advertise and deliver their courses. The Competition and Market Authority has published advice for providers on complying with consumer law, including informing students about the quantity and type of contact hours. All registered providers must pay due regard to this guidance as part of their registration conditions with the Office for Students (OfS).

Online learning offers significant benefits to students, but it must support the quality of a student's learning experience. The OfS’s Blended Learning Review urges providers to clearly communicate course expectations and assess students’ blended learning experiences. Students dissatisfied with their university’s service should use their provider’s complaints process. If a provider is not meeting the OfS’s registration requirements, this can be raised to the OfS by submitting a notification.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the publication entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, if she will publish the full specification of the research commissioned from Thomas Coram Foundation. \p Janet Daby: The Thomas Coram Foundation research contract was commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as part of the Supporting Families programme in 2023. When the programme moved to the Department for Education (DfE) as part of a machinery of government change in 2024 the management of, and funding for, the research contract moved to DfE. The contract continues to be held in MHCLG for commercial reasons.

The research contract aims to test whether systemic practice is an effective way to work with families to achieve positive outcomes. It is a randomised control trial working with 12 local authorities. The contract ends in March 2026.

Further information is available in the Supporting Families annual report, which was published on 9 June 2025 and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-families-programme-annual-report-2024-to-2025.

As per research protocol, DfE will publish relevant documents and findings associated with the contract at appropriate points in the research.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the structural issues in The Corbet School in Shropshire. \p Stephen Morgan: The government has increased capital funding to £2.1 billion for school maintenance in the 2025/26 financial year, almost £300 million more than in 2024/25. As part of this, the department announced on 30 May that the £470 million Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) will support 789 essential projects at 656 eligible schools and sixth form colleges.

The appeals round for unsuccessful applicants to CIF 2025/26 opened on 2 June and closed at 12 noon on 23 June. We aim to announce the results of appeals in August, and do not comment on individual cases beforehand in order to be fair to all applicants.

Schools and sixth-form colleges eligible for CIF, including The Corbet School, may apply for Urgent Capital Support (UCS) at any time, where they have evidence of serious and urgent issues that threaten the operation of the school and which cannot be managed independently or wait for a future funding round. Further details on UCS can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund#urgent-capital-support.
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Claire Hanna:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the document entitled UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy, CP 1344, published on 19 June 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of childcare provision on the delivery of that strategy. \p Stephen Morgan: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Investment in childcare provision is an essential part of the government’s 10 Year Strategy, which is why it sets out an investment of almost £370 million to deliver tens of thousands of new early education and childcare places by opening or expanding school-based nurseries in England. School-based nurseries are a key part of this government’s Opportunity Mission, delivering on our Plan for Change by expanding the high-quality early education across England that supports children’s lifelong learning and success.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of ending transitional protections for free school meals on levels of school funding. \p Stephen Morgan: This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. It will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.

Providing over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day will also lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.

Transitional protections have been in place since 2018 to ensure no one who gained FSM eligibility would lose it while Universal Credit was rolled out. Following our expansion of eligibility from September 2026, it is our intention to end all protections.

Schools will receive an increase in funding as a result of the change in FSM policy. We have set aside over £1 billion in funding over the multiyear spending review period to cover the cost of additional free meals, after taking into account the removal of protections.

There will be no impact of the removal of FSM protections on the pupil premium or related disadvantage funding during the spending review period. Pupils that are currently protected will remain so for 6 years after they receive FSM under the "FSM6" categorisation.

Over the longer term, we are reviewing how we allocate pupil premium and related funding to schools and local authorities to ensure it is targeted to those who need it most, while maintaining the overall amount we spend on these funding streams.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with schools on a potential strategy to dissuade antisocial behaviour by children. \p Stephen Morgan: The department regularly engages with teachers and headteachers and their representative bodies on a range of issues, including pupil behaviour.

As part of the Safer Streets Summer Initiative, we are setting up a working group of 16 local authorities specifically looking at preventing antisocial behaviour through our holiday activities and food (HAF) programme. The working group will strengthen collaboration among local authorities and be an opportunity for local authorities to buddy up, share best practice and improve outcomes.

The department’s existing ‘Behaviour in schools’ guidance states that schools should make clear to pupils that good behaviour does not end at the school gates.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-26 conversation_231

Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the rollout of defibrillators in schools. \p Stephen Morgan: The department’s defibrillator programme has provided over 20,000 devices to schools, the largest rollout of defibrillators across England to date.

The department is working with the British Heart Foundation to understand the impact the programme is having. Since the rollout, the number of school defibrillators registered on the British Heart Foundation’s national defibrillator database, The Circuit, has risen by 252%, with 66% of all schools in England now having registered at least one device. Our evaluation shows that defibrillators provided by the department have been available for use and deployed in over 12,000 emergency situations, where there has been a suspected cardiac arrest.

In January 2025, the British Heart Foundation published Barry’s story. Barry’s life was saved by a school defibrillator provided by the department. More information can be found at: https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/defibrillators/stories/barry-on-being-saved-by-local-school#:~:text=Barry%20had%20popped%20into%20his,road%2C%20his%20life%20was%20saved.

We continue to work with the British Heart Foundation to evaluate and understand the impact of the department’s programme and support schools in registering their defibrillators on The Circuit.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-26 conversation_232

Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish the delivery model for Young Futures Hubs. \p Janet Daby: This government is taking a collaborative approach to the design of Young Futures Hubs, meeting regularly with a variety of relevant stakeholders including children and young people, charities, local authorities and experts.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the government will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. This will inform the longer-term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located.

The government will set out more details on this in due course, including confirming funding allocation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-26 conversation_233

Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to promote reading through (a) digital formats and (b) media platforms commonly used by young people. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department wants children to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information, and teachers should encourage pupils to develop reading habits by listening to, discussing, and reading a wide range of literature. Departmental officials are working with the sector and other departments to consider how we can encourage reading for pleasure across a variety of formats and support children to develop a lifelong love of reading.

The National Literacy Trust's 2025 annual literacy survey shows that more children who enjoyed reading engaged with a variety of formats, both on paper and on screen. It showed that paper remained the most popular format for reading among children and young people in 2025, but some types of content were preferred on screen, such as song lyrics and news articles.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-26 conversation_234

Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools in rural areas. \p Catherine McKinnell: The government recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities, many of which are in rural areas. The schools national funding formula (NFF) distributes core funding for mainstream schools. It accounts for the particular challenges faced by small rural schools through the sparsity factor. This recognises that some schools are necessarily small because they are remote and do not have the same opportunities to grow or make efficiency savings as other schools.

In the 2025/26 financial year, primary schools eligible for sparsity funding attract up to £57,400, and all other schools eligible for sparsity funding attract up to £83,400.

Small schools have also benefited from the increase to core factors in the NFF in the 2025/26 financial year, including the NFF lump sum set at £145,100. The lump sum provides a fixed amount of funding that is unrelated to pupil-led factors. It is therefore particularly beneficial to small schools that are more reliant on an element of funding that is not driven by pupil numbers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-26 conversation_235

Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of access to books in low-income households on reading outcomes among children eligible for free school meals. \p Catherine McKinnell: I refer the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted to the answer of 20 June 2025 to Question ​​59345​.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-26 conversation_236

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available to ensure that children with Down syndrome receive (a) inclusive and (b) appropriate education in mainstream schools in (i) Fylde constituency and (ii) Lancashire. \p Catherine McKinnell: Improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools is a key part of our ambition to ensure that all children and young people receive the support they need, in the most appropriate setting.

High-quality teaching is central to ensuring that all pupils, including those with Down’s Syndrome or other types of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), are given the best possible opportunity to achieve. To support all teachers, the department is implementing a range of teacher training reforms to ensure teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed.

On 1 September 2024, the government introduced a new mandatory leadership level qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs) in mainstream schools. The qualification will play a key role in improving outcomes for pupils with SEND, including Down’s Syndrome, by ensuring SENCOs consistently receive high-quality, evidence-based training on how best to support children with SEND.

We are also strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve inclusive practice in mainstream settings. We have commissioned evidence reviews from Newcastle University and University College London. These will help to drive inclusive practices by highlighting what the best available evidence suggests are the most effective tools, strategies and approaches for teachers and other relevant staff in mainstream settings to identify and support children and young people with different types of needs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-26 conversation_237

Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) school and (b) college funding per pupil in Wiltshire in 2024–25. \p Catherine McKinnell: Through the dedicated schools grant (DSG), Wiltshire received £364.5 million for mainstream schools in the 2024/25 financial year. This represented an increase of 2.3% per pupil compared to 2023/24, excluding growth funding. On top of that, they received £20.9 million in additional grant funding to support teacher and support staff pay rises as well as increases in teachers’ pension employer contribution rates.

Funding for 16 to 19-year-olds uses the same funding formula regardless of whether the student is studying at a school sixth form, general further education college, or other provider type for their study programme or T Level.

The department publishes details of 16 to 19 Total Programme Funding allocations by academic year, with academic year 2024 to 2025 available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-allocation-data-2024-to-2025. This can be filtered by local authority to identify the funding for Wiltshire.

Allocations for the Adult Skills Fund, formerly the Adult Education Budget, are also published annually and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adult-education-and-skills-funding-allocations#published-allocations. Whilst they cannot be filtered by local authority, they can be filtered by individual provider.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-26 conversation_238

Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to increase (a) school and (b) college funding per pupil above the rate of inflation in each financial year until 2029. \p Catherine McKinnell: Across the spending review, core schools funding, including special educational needs and disabilities investment, will increase from £65.3 billion in the 2025/26 financial year (including the additional funding announced in May 2025) to £69.5 billion by the 2028/29 financial year. Taken together, this grows per-pupil spending over this spending review period by 2.7% in real terms.

This government is making a substantial investment in skills, with over £1 billion of additional funding by the 2028/29 financial year, on top of the phase 1 settlement for the 2025/26 financial year. This funding protects opportunity, delivers the workforce needed for the Plan for Change, and fuels future growth. It includes funding to support 1.3 million 16 to 19-year-olds, including 65,000 additional learners by financial year 2028/29.