theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support Small and Medium Enterprises in (a) manufacturing and (b) other sectors, as part of the Industrial Strategy. \p Blair McDougall: The Industrial Strategy's Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan sets out this government's plans to support manufacturers to grow and thrive, boosting jobs and increasing prosperity across the UK. SMEs will benefit from a range of policies, including skills, energy, scale-up and innovation, for example directly benefitting from the expansion of Made Smarter Adoption, with up to £99m of funding.

The Industrial Strategy will complement the recently published SME Small Business Plan that will span this Government's whole approach to driving small business growth and productivity - from boosting scale-ups to supporting budding entrepreneurs.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if her Department will publish information on the planned role of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Industrial Strategy Council. \p Blair McDougall: The Industrial Strategy Advisory Council (ISAC) supports the government's objective of delivering a long-term Industrial Strategy. Members have been appointed based on their expertise and wide-ranging experience and there is extensive business experience on the Council across a wide range of sectors and sizes of businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises.

The ISAC will make and publish recommendations on the development and implementation of the Industrial Strategy, including an annual report on its work.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support pubs in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Blair McDougall: The Government recognises the vital role pubs play, including those in Surrey Heath in supporting local economies and fostering community cohesion, as well as the pressures they face.

In April we established the Licensing Taskforce, bringing together representatives from the hospitality sector to help shape reforms. The Government’s response was published on 31 July, setting out a new National Licensing Policy Framework to simplify outdated rules and protect long-standing venues from noise complaints. This forms part of the recently announced Small Business Strategy, which aims to tackle late payments, boost access to finance, and remove red tape to enable small businesses, including pubs, grow and thrive.

Additionally, we’re creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street and supports investment, including permanently lower rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties under £500,000 rateable value. We’ve also launched a Hospitality Support Scheme to co-fund projects aligned with DBT and Hospitality Sector Council priorities such as Pub is The Hub to encourage local investment.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on tackling high industrial electricity costs. \p Blair McDougall: Our modern Industrial Strategy will make British industrial electricity costs cheaper with unprecedented new support.

The British Industry Supercharger reduces electricity costs for energy-intensive businesses by c.£24 – £32/MWh, fully exempting them from certain policy costs and offering 60% compensation for Network Costs through the Network Charging Compensation scheme. We have recently consulted on increasing the level of support available through the NCC scheme to 90% compensation, and the Government will respond shortly.

The Government will also continue support for the Energy-Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme to support energy efficiency, decarbonisation, and technological innovation. The scheme offsets 75% of the indirect costs of carbon emissions from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme and the Carbon Price Support Mechanism.

The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will be implemented from 2027, reducing electricity costs by approximately £35-40/MWh for eligible manufacturing businesses captured by the Industrial Strategy. A consultation on eligibility for the scheme is planned for later this year.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the number of jobs that have been created in the small business sector in Northern Ireland in the period since the inception of the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland. \p Blair McDougall: The £70million Investment Fund for Northern Ireland has been open for applications since November 2023. From inception to May 2025, a total of £18million has been lent or invested in 35 businesses in Northern Ireland; this investment has also led to the crowding in of an additional £12million in private sector funding.

It is not possible at this early stage to estimate the number of jobs that have been created as a result. The benefits generated by the fund for the Northern Ireland economy, including additional Gross Value Added and jobs created, will be assessed by independent evaluations of the fund, likely to take place in 2026 at the earliest.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of costs of (a) energy, (b) water and (c) business rates on the viability of pubs in West Dorset constituency. \p Blair McDougall: The Government recognises the significant pressures facing the hospitality sector, including pubs in West Dorset, due to rising costs and the Government is providing support through various measures to help ease these pressures.

We aim to permanently reduce business rates for RHL properties with a rateable value of less than 500,000 and we have announced a new Zero Carbon Services Hospitality trial which aims for Pubs, cafes, restaurants and hotels to receive free energy and carbon cutting advice to slash their energy bills as part of the government’s Plan for Change.

Additionally, the Department will continue to engage with the sector, including through the Hospitality Sector Council with an aim to co-create solutions to the issues impacting business performance.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on the transition to Connected and Autonomous Mobility. \p Blair McDougall: The Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan committed £150 million R&D grant funding to 2030 to support the transition to connected and automated mobility. £18 million of this funding has already been allocated to support supply chain, passenger and freight projects in Belfast, Sunderland, Cambridge, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, and others. £36.5 million will be open for competition this autumn.

Complementing this work, Department for Transport is implementing the Automated Vehicles Act (2024) by 2027 and has recently closed consultations on Misleading Marketing and Safety Principles with another on Advanced Passenger Services closing 28 September.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increasing support for the Oxford to Cambridge growth corridor on Huntingdon constituency. \p Blair McDougall: The Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan to back our strengths and realise Britain’s potential, targeting government investment towards eight-growth driving sectors (IS-8). There are clusters of the IS-8 sectors across the whole country, and the policy package addresses the biggest constraints to growth highlighted by businesses in these sectors.

To ensure robust and comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of the Industrial Strategy, we have chosen six economic indicators that reflect a range of desirable objectives for the IS-8 and the economy as a whole, which will be tracked at the economy-wide, sector and place level. Monitoring and evaluation of the Strategy will be overseen by the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council who will take a data-led approach.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the mean average length of time from submission to payment for (a) the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (b) the Group Litigation Order Scheme and (c) the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme. \p Blair McDougall: This Government has greatly accelerated redress. The total amount paid to victims has increased fivefold since July 2024. We have begun payments of a £75,000 fixed offer for those postmasters in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) who want to accept it.

For HSS, the average time from claim submission to final settlement payment is 183 working days, inclusive of fixed sum and full assessed claims.

For GLO, the average time from full claim submission to final settlement payment is 64 working days, inclusive of fixed sum and full assessed claims.

For HCRS, it has taken on average 7 working days from claimants submitting their claim to receiving payment, with all settled claims to date being fixed sum settlements.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what steps has he taken to increase support for the Oxford to Cambridge growth corridor. \p Blair McDougall: The Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan to back our strengths and realise Britain’s potential, targeting government investment towards eight-growth driving sectors (IS-8). The strategy sets out how we will deepen our support for the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor and its IS-8 strengths such as Life Sciences and Digitial and Technologies. This includes:
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on creating the new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme. \p Blair McDougall: The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) will be implemented from 2027, reducing electricity costs by approximately £35-40/MWh for eligible businesses in foundational industries and high-growth manufacturing sectors identified in the Industrial Strategy.

The Department for Business and Trade has established a new team dedicated to delivering BICS. Officials have begun meeting with stakeholders and a consultation on eligibility for the scheme is planned for later this year.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, how much of the £350 million Nations and Regions investment fund will be spent in Huntingdon constituency. \p Blair McDougall: The British Business Bank is committing £2.6bn to drive growth of smaller businesses across the UK’s Nations and Regions. This includes £350 million for two new Investment Funds in East and South-East England to address finance gaps outside traditional hotspots and provide targeted equity and debt finance to growing businesses.

The breakdown of finance allocated to these regions has not yet been announced. The Funds do not include constituency-level allocations, but as with other Nations and Regions Funds, deployment targets will be set at sub-regional level to ensure an equitable spread of finance.
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Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had discussions with independent retailers on the development of the New Business Growth Service. \p Blair McDougall: The Department for Business and Trade launched the Business Growth Service (BGS) in July alongside our Plan for Small Business. We will continue iterating the business.gov.uk online offer through continued engagement with SMEs from across all sectors and regions in the UK making BGS the front door to all government business support.

The Department engages routinely with retailers of all types, including independent retailers, through key trade associations. The service will regularly review user feedback to ensure it delivers what businesses need to support their growth and productivity. We continue to engage widely with stakeholders, especially entrepreneurs and small business owners, on the design and implementation of the service with a series of roundtables and consultation events across the country.
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Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the clean energy workforce strategy on UK jobs in critical mineral supply chains. \p Blair McDougall: Critical minerals underpin the UK’s Industrial Strategy and the Government’s clean energy goals. The Office for Clean Energy Jobs will publish a full Clean Energy Workforce Strategy shortly setting out further actions to support delivery of the clean energy workforce and ensure that the jobs created across the country are high quality.

The Department for Business and Trade is working closely with industry and partners such as the Critical Minerals Association to identify and to help address workforce gaps across UK critical mineral supply chains.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what modelling his Department has undertaken on the anticipated economic impact of expanding SME access to growth capital. \p Blair McDougall: The economic impacts of increased access to capital are modelled by the British Business Bank drawing on independent evaluation evidence. The Bank models impact on job creation and economic output in the form of incremental gross value added (GVA).

Over its first decade to 2023/24, the Bank has supported more than 200,000 businesses with an estimated boost to UK economic output of approximately £43 billion over the lifetime of their finance.

The 24,000 businesses newly funded by the Bank in 2024/25 are expected to increase UK economic output by a further £8 billion and create 38,000 jobs over the lifetime of their finance.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans are in place to monitor the geographic distribution of SME lending facilitated by British Business Bank schemes. \p Blair McDougall: Where possible, finance facilitated by the British Business Bank is mapped to a postcode level. Much of this data is published: for instance, the number and value of Start Up Loans data is published on the BBB website every quarter. Geographic data is also used in the evaluations of BBB programmes and on reporting on the BBB’s overall KPI of deployment of finance outside of London.

In addition to publishing data on its own programmes, the BBB also publishes reports which highlight geographic patterns observed in UK small business finance. For example, the BBB's annual Small Business Finance Markets report and the annual Nations and Regions Tracker which is next due to be published in October 2025.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his small business plan of research published by Intuit QuickBooks in August 2025 entitled Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Index. \p Blair McDougall: The Government published its Small Business Plan in July 2025 delivering the most comprehensive package of support for small and medium sized businesses in a generation

The Plan outlines a series of actions, including unlocking access to finance, ending the scourge of late payments and revitalising high streets. It was developed through engagement with businesses and drew on a significant body of evidence and research. The Intuit report referenced was published after the Plan’s launch.

We will continue to monitor delivery of the Small Business Plan and work with businesses as we implement it, alongside the Modern Industrial and Trade Strategies.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether trade envoys are permitted to visit northern Cyprus. \p Blair McDougall: While carrying out official duties Trade Envoys are representatives of Government and are therefore expected to follow Government policy. The Government’s long-standing position of not recognising the self-declared ‘Turkish Republic of North Cyprus’ remains unchanged.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support more women into the manufacturing industry. \p Blair McDougall: The UK Government is aware of the current underrepresentation of women in manufacturing and is committed to advancing diversity within the sector. In the recently published Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan we state our intent to improve the equality profile of the sector through a Make UK-led equalities taskforce and by sponsoring an Equality Charter. This will be co-developed with industry stakeholders, including the aim of achieving 35% representation of women in the UK manufacturing sector by 2035.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Answer of 23 July 2025 to Question 62821 on Manufacturing Industries: Rural Areas, what the evidential basis is for the conclusion that investment in city-based advanced manufacturing zones will produce positive economic spillover effects for rural communities in Wiltshire. \p Blair McDougall: Everywhere will benefit from the Industrial Strategy’s national policy offer – there are clusters of the growth driving sectors across the whole country including in rural areas and our package addresses the biggest constraints to growth highlighted by these businesses.

Our wider Growth Mission supports people and businesses across the country, including those in rural areas, through policies to create the conditions for businesses to invest and employ, and consumers to spend with confidence. This includes interventions in the Small Business Strategy.

We recognise that rural areas offer significant potential for growth and are central to our economy and we are committed to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas.
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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to increase access to venture capital funding for businesses. \p Blair McDougall: UK venture funding appears to be stabilising after the downturn seen during 2021-2022, with dealmaking recovering and job creation increasing. It is important to note company fundraising is proving more resilient than fund fundraising, creating a tougher overall environment for fund managers despite the increase in company rounds completing. The capital gap facing UK scaleups is a pressing concern, making it essential for public finance bodies to act quickly to support fund managers and expand the pools of growth capital available to scaleups.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the press release entitled UK partnership brings new 250-bed Islamabad hospital closer to opening of 24 June 2025, if he will make an estimate of the net impact on the public purse. \p Blair McDougall: While the specific contract value is commercially sensitive, all income generated supports NHS initiatives and trust improvements. Income generated through this International Affiliate Programme is reinvested into the Trust, supporting a range of initiatives aimed at enhancing both NHS and private healthcare services. By leveraging international partnerships such as this one, the Trust not only strengthens its global reputation and reach but also yields domestic and international healthcare benefits.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Oral Statement of 1 September 2025 on Ukraine, Official Report, columns 93-94, whether the conclusions of the armed forces readiness levels review will be broken down by service. \p Al Carns: Defence maintains a continual review of Armed Forces readiness levels which are aligned to NATO, Sovereign defence and crisis response requirements. Improvement of warfighting readiness was a key recommendation of the Strategic Defence Review and is being delivered through prudent sequencing of investment that is part of the new Defence Investment Plan that will be completed in the Autumn. The readiness of all three Services will be taken into account.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will set out a timeline for the Timms review. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We are committed to co-producing the review with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, Members of Parliament and other stakeholders to ensure that a wide range of views and voices are heard.

We have engaged over the summer to consider the process for the work of the review and consider how it can best be co-produced to ensure that expertise from a range of different perspectives is drawn upon. We will share more details on this and how disabled people and other stakeholders will be involved in the review as plans progress.

We are committed to concluding the review by Autumn 2026 and reporting to Parliament.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing waiting times for gynaecology services on women’s ability to return to or remain in work. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Joint Work and Health Directorate is collaborating with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to improve the evidence on the relationship between health and labour market outcomes. The ONS plans to link NHS waiting times data (that they recently acquired access to) to Census, DWP Benefits and HMRC PAYE records to analyse the relationship between waiting time duration (for various health conditions and procedures) and labour market outcomes (such as employment status, gross pay and benefit receipt) in England. This should help identify the potential impact of trends in waiting lists for various healthcare services, including gynaecology services, on the number of people out of work. In the short-term, the ONS is supporting NHS England and HM Treasury to produce estimates of the employment impacts of reducing waiting times for elective hospital treatment.

The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, stated our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. The Plan sets out the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs. Furthermore, it outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications (a) by adults and (b) on behalf of children for Disability Living Allowance benefits are outstanding; and what is the average waiting time for these applications to be resolved. \p Sir Stephen Timms: New claims for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are only open to children under the age of 16. As of August 2025, there are 39,150 new claims for child DLA that are outstanding, with an average actual outstanding time of 33 days.

Points to note:

- Figures above capture the number of outstanding claims that have been registered onto our systems. We do not have figures on the number of outstanding claims that are waiting to be registered.

- Figure related to average actual outstanding time are median averages.

- Figures are for new child DLA claims under normal rules only.
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Kim Leadbeater:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) regulatory oversight and (b) consumer protection for Small Self-Administered Schemes (SSAS); and if she will take steps to (i) improve regulatory oversight of SSAS trustees and (ii) ensure that people who have suffered losses relating to SSAS are able to access compensation. \p Torsten Bell: DWP officials work closely with The Pensions Regulator (TPR) to ensure people’s pension savings are protected and that the regulatory regime remains fit for purpose in a changing pensions landscape.

A Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS) is an occupational pension scheme typically set up by the directors of a business (often a small or family-run business) who want more control over the investment decisions relating to their pension and often the ability to invest in employer-related assets.

The Pensions Regulator regulates those SSAS which are required to register with it (only occupational pension schemes with two or more members must register with TPR). A SSAS with only one member would be exempt and is unlikely to be registered with TPR. In addition, SSASs are excepted from many pensions regulatory requirements because all the members of these schemes, through being trustees, are responsible for the decisions made. SSASs are therefore not usually eligible for Government compensation arrangements.

Unfortunately, in a few cases SSAS appear to have been misused as a means of avoiding the regulatory regime which helps ensure that members’ pensions are secure. Individuals have been encouraged to use a SSAS inappropriately. Any member who has suffered a loss in connection with a SSAS should contact the Pensions Ombudsman in the first instance.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has has local stakeholders in response to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s findings on WASPI women in West Dorset. \p Torsten Bell: No discussions have taken place in West Dorset. After careful consideration of the Ombudsman’s findings, we made our decision which was fair and based on the evidence. There is now live litigation on this matter.
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Katie Lam:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of her Department's suppliers for (a) ICT (b) stationery and (c) office furniture are (i) supplied by UK businesses and (ii) manufactured in the UK. \p Andrew Western: how many and what proportion of her Department's suppliers for:

(a) ICT (i) supplied by UK businesses and (ii) manufactured in the UK

The information requested is not collected centrally. Providing an answer to this element of the question would incur disproportionate cost.

(b) stationery (i) supplied by UK businesses and (ii) manufactured in the UK

DWP’s contract for office products has been procured through the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Office Solutions Framework RM6299; further information can be found here: Office Solutions - CCS

DWP has 1 UK based supplier for all our stationery requirements. There is no specific requirement or metric with which we record the country of manufacture for each individual stationery item procured.

(c) office furniture (i) supplied by UK businesses and (ii) manufactured in the UK

We currently have two furniture suppliers in contract, with DWP Senator Group and Bates Office Services. Both are UK based.

Senator Group fully manufacturer all products within their UK site. Bates office services utilise a combined sourcing approach to manufacturing where in products are partially manufactured in the UK and partially sourced from outside the UK.

The furniture is purchased via procurement from CCS frameworks, and all Office furniture meets the Government hub standards and Includes supply, delivery, and installation.

More broadly, the Government is committed to supporting British businesses and the products they produce, ensuring they have the best opportunities to win UK public contracts and deliver high-quality goods and services.

Cabinet Office are consulting on a package of further reforms to public procurement to support the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to improve the MP hotlines for Members staff. \p Andrew Western: The Department recently streamlined the MP hotline service for Universal Credit, by consolidating multiple telephone numbers into a single national contact number.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her department is taking to reduce the Child Disability Living Allowance claim time. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We have seen unprecedented demand in new claims to the DLA Child service line. Additional resources have been deployed, and cases are cleared in date or to ensure fair customer service. As a result, we are seeing improvements in our processing times.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to help tackle inequalities experienced by young disabled people at work. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The DWP supports young people aged 16-24 to achieve financial security by helping them to move into, stay and succeed in work. Support is delivered nationally and locally, tailored to individual needs, and includes personalised help from Work Coaches in Jobcentres and communities, working with partners such as The King’s Trust, Local Authorities, and the National Careers Service/Career Wales.

Our plan to Get Britain Working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 (including young people with health conditions or disabled young people) to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. Eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers were launched earlier this year, and the insights gained will inform the future design and delivery of the Youth Guarantee.

For young people with complex needs, specialist Youth Employability Coaches (YECs) offer dedicated intensive support in Jobcentres and communities. This includes help with CV, interview preparation, skill development, and accessing opportunities such as Supported Internships, Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes, apprenticeships or traineeships. Support typically lasts six months, with flexibility to extend, and includes six weeks follow on support after young people enter work, education or training. YECs also work closely with Disability Employment Advisers and specialist partner organisations, to provide joined-up, holistic support.

Additional support is also available to help people with health conditions and disabilities of all ages. The WorkWell pilot, currently running in 15 areas across England, provides integrated work and health support to help people get into, stay in, and progress at work. Services include work and health assessments, coaching, physiotherapy, mental health support, and advice on workplace adjustments.

An Access to Work grant can also support people with a health condition or disability, by funding the purchase of specialist equipment, providing a tailored plan to help stay in work or funding access to sessions with a mental health professional. It also covers in-work support for young disabled people undertaking Supported Internships, helping them build confidence, develop skills, and move into paid employment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-12)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of benefit claimants have been subject to sanctions in Lincolnshire in the last 12 months. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Department regularly publishes monthly Universal Credit sanction rate statistics for Great Britain as part of the benefit sanction statistics. The latest statistics to May 2025 are available in table 2.1 of the latest benefit sanction statistics tables.

Users can use the UC Sanction Rates dataset on Stat-Xplore to produce the same information for lower-level geographical breakdowns. After selecting the required geographies, firstly produce a table containing the monthly statistics for the total number of UC claimants in conditionality regimes where sanctions can be applied, i.e. "searching for work", "planning for work" and "preparing for work", and include those people with unknown conditionality regime too. Then produce a separate table containing the monthly statistics for the number of Universal Credit (UC) claimants with a payment that has been reduced due to a sanction using the sanction indicator. Note, the second table should be produced for all people, regardless of conditionality regime.

After retrieving these separate tables from Stat-Xplore, calculate the sanction rate, which is the number of people on UC with a sanction, as a proportion of all people on UC in conditionality regimes where sanctions can be applied, both counted at the same point in time.

Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-12)

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Catherine Fookes:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help support the creation of graduate jobs. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The government is committed to supporting graduates to secure high-quality employmentand develop the skills they need to thrive in the labour market.

The Department for Work and Pensions has an established strong network of partnerships with external training providers, universities, and graduate employment platforms such asMilkround, Gradplus, and Prospects to enhance graduate employment opportunities. These partnerships not only connect graduates with relevant vacancies, training, and careerdevelopment resources, but also help strengthen the availability of suitable jobs.

We are also reforming Jobcentre Plus to create a new, more personalised employment support service across Great Britain. This new service will move away from a one-size-fits-allapproach and recognise that individuals – including graduates – have different needs. It will provide tailored help to find good, meaningful work and support progression in employment,with a stronger focus on skills and careers.

The new Jobs and Careers Service will be universal and designed to work for everyone,including graduates, ensuring they can access the right support to build their careers and contribute to a dynamic and growing economy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-12)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Solicitor General, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the prosecution of people who use AI to create deepfake photos of girls. \p Ellie Reeves: The Government takes the use of artificial intelligence to generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM) extremely seriously. Offences involving AI-generated CSAM – including so-called ‘deepfakes’ – are an increasing concern for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) due to the realism of such images and the speed and scale at which they can be produced.

Creating, possessing, or distributing AI-generated CSAM is already a criminal offence. The Online Safety Act expands upon this by placing a duty on online platforms to proactively identify and remove this type of content. The CPS will prosecute individuals who commit these offences whenever the legal test is met.

The Attorney General’s Office and CPS are working closely with criminal justice partners to identify and address any legislative gaps. The Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a new offence to criminalise AI models that have been optimised to create CSAM. It will also expand existing legislation on ‘paedophile manuals’ to enable the prosecution of individuals who instruct others on how to use AI tools to generate CSAM.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-12)

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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Solicitor General, what the average time taken is from referral to charging decision by the Crown Prosecution Service. \p Ellie Reeves: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) management information shows that in the most recent 12 months ending March 2025 it took a mean average of 46 calendar days from the first time the CPS received a case, either a request for early advice or a referral for a charging decision, to the decision to charge and prosecute.

For the above metric the median average is two calendar days.

The above timeliness data includes cases where the police have submitted a file for early advice as well as those for charging decision. This data includes cases where the police were required to submit further evidence prior to a decision to charge. This generally includes more than one submission and further investigation.

The timeliness of a charging decision is determined by three key factors: whether the case has been sent to the CPS for early advice during the investigative process; how quickly the police can complete the necessary enquiries; and how quickly the CPS can then review the evidence provided by the police and finalise the charging decision.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-12)

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Priti Patel:To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Attorney General has discussed the UK-Mauritius Treaty over the future sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago with Philippe Sands. \p Ellie Reeves: The Attorney General has never engaged in discussion with Philippe Sands on the UK-Mauritius Agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-12)

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Layla Moran:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing an external delivery model to help the teaching of financial education in schools. \p Georgia Gould: I refer the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon to the answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21190.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-12)

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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that teachers receive adequate (a) training and (b) other resources to provide financial education. \p Georgia Gould: I refer the hon. Member for Hazel Grove to the answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21190.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-12)

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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to enhance the teaching of financial education within the Personal, Social, Health and Economic curriculum. \p Georgia Gould: I refer the hon. Member for Hazel Grove to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43513.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-12)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the number of pupils learning languages in school. \p Georgia Gould: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The study of languages is compulsory under the national curriculum at key stages 2 and 3 for all maintained schools, and will become compulsory in academies, subject to the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

The government continues to fund the National Consortium for Languages Education, which is developing a new model of language support for schools and online continuing professional development for teachers that will support high-quality language teaching. This programme is designed to have national reach, ensuring that all schools can benefit regardless of their location.

​To further support languages education, the department is offering a £26,000 tax-free bursary for trainee language teachers starting courses in 2025, or alternatively, a £28,000 tax-free scholarship for those training to teach French, German, or Spanish. Additionally, Oak National Academy is developing modern foreign languages lesson resources for key stages 2 to 4, to be fully released by autumn 2025, helping teachers deliver high-quality lessons and reduce planning time.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-12)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of teaching assistants on the provision of SEND support within schools. \p Georgia Gould: Teaching assistants (TAs) play a vital role in children’s education, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

A departmental survey in 2023, ‘The use of teaching assistants in schools’, found that TAs across all school settings most commonly support pupils with SEND, including those with education, health and care (EHC) plans. Half (50%) spent most of their time delivering interventions for pupils with additional needs.

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has highlighted that research suggests evidence based, structured interventions, delivered by TAs, can have a positive impact on pupil outcomes. The EEF’s guidance report, ‘Deployment of Teaching Assistants’, makes a number of recommendations to help schools make decisions about how to deploy their TAs to ensure they are used effectively.

This government also recognises that the availability of training and career progression opportunities for TAs helps ensure schools have the skilled staff they need to deliver high-quality education.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-12)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Thousands of children with SEND to benefit from assistive tech, published on 27 June 2025, which local authorities will receive that funding. \p Georgia Gould: Digital assistive technology (AT) is an umbrella term that includes any device, software or system used to support individuals with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). When used effectively, AT can play a vital role in supporting pupils with SEND to achieve and thrive in mainstream education.

That is why we are investing over £1.6 million to pilot assistive technology lending libraries through the SEND and alternative provision Change Programme. In participating areas, this will allow up to 3,800 mainstream schools to borrow and trial technology on a temporary basis, to identify the right products to support their pupils.

The local authorities that will be participating in the trial of assistive technology lending libraries are: