theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much her Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years. \p Simon Lightwood: Sensitivities exist around aspects of this spend which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) role and (b) functions of the Passenger Standards Authority will be. \p Keir Mather: The Passenger Watchdog will have a key role in giving passengers a powerful voice in the railway. It will advocate for all passengers’ interests, offer advice to passengers, the Government and operators, and independently monitor passenger experience, holding operators to account and reporting on its findings publicly and transparently.

It will also be responsible for setting minimum consumer standards, taking action to drive improvements where these are not met, investigate repeated issues with passenger experience, and ensure there is a clear route for passengers to resolve disputes. This means passengers will have an independent voice fighting their corner, placing them back at the heart of our railways once again.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 57535 on Active Travel: Construction, when he plans to publish guidance to support local authorities in the design and delivery of active travel routes. \p Lilian Greenwood: Following extensive consultation with stakeholders, Active Travel England’s Rural Design Guidance is currently in its final development stages and is expected to be published by the end of the year.
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Euan Stainbank:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the recommendations of Project Willow on the HEFA Cap delay. \p Keir Mather: The Government launched Project Willow to find an industrial future for Grangemouth – identifying nine low-carbon and renewable energy business models that could create 800 jobs by 2040.

Government is ready to take these forward as co-investment projects with the private sector. Backed by £200 million from the National Wealth Fund, investment agencies are working to find investors for these proposals and other low carbon and clean energy proposals in the Grangemouth area. So far c.100 enquiries have been received.

HEFA (hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids) is a fuel developed from oils or fats, such as used cooking oil. The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Mandate caps the amount of HEFA that can be used to meet the main obligation under the Mandate to encourage the development of more advanced fuels. The suggested delay to the HEFA cap would undermine this approach and is not being considered.

To ensure the Mandate remains aligned with technological and commercial developments, it will be continuously monitored. Formal reviews will be published at least every five years, with the first scheduled for 2030. These reviews will also ensure continued alignment with broader government policies and strategies.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timetable is for tackling pavement parking. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to electric vehicle charging facilities in the North East. \p Keir Mather: The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of affordable and accessible charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle (EV). Public chargepoint numbers are increasing and, as of 1 November 2025, Government and industry have supported the installation of 86,798 publicly available charging devices, up 22% on this time last year.

The North East region was allocated over £25m through the Government’s Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to leverage significant private investment and increase the number of local public chargepoints across the region.

The £25 million EV Pavement Channel Grant is also available, which is intended to empower local authorities to adopt pavement channels as part of their local charging solutions. The North East was allocated over £1.6m to support the installation of pavement channels alongside public chargepoints.
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Mr Joshua Reynolds:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had recent discussions with his EU counterparts on establishing sector-specific mobility arrangements for UK professional drivers engaged in international (a) freight and (b) passenger transport. \p Keir Mather: There have been no recent discussions with the EU regarding sector-specific mobility arrangements for UK road freight and coach drivers. The Government will continue to listen to concerns raised by sectors affected by existing rules and will advocate for British citizens abroad.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many enforcement actions have been taken against gig economy companies found to have engaged workers without the legal right to work in the United Kingdom since 4 July 2024. \p Mike Tapp: The Home Office does not hold an estimate of the prevalence of illegalworking among people using app-based delivery platforms. The recent jointwork between the Office for National Statistics and the Home Office explainsthe complexities - Measuring illegal migration: our current view - Office forNational Statistics.Through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the Government isintroducing tough new laws to clamp down on illegal working, including in thefood delivery sector. This means that for the very first time, employmentchecks will be extended to cover businesses hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors like food delivery.
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Sarah Hall:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to launch its consultation on the future of the British National (Overseas) 5+1 Indefinite Leave to Remain visa route. \p Mike Tapp: We will be consulting on the new settlement rules later this year.
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Ben Goldsborough:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) operating system and (b) version of that operating system is used at (i) Sevington inland border facility and (ii) other border control posts. \p Mike Tapp: Our Border IT systems have a range of measures in place to ensure they can continue to run critical services in the event of any major service issues. This includes critical incident, crisis and business continuity plans depending on the nature of the issue and what is impacted. It would not be appropriate to document the specific detail of those measures.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish data on the number of (a) criminal penalties issued, (b) prosecutions undertaken and (c) successful convictions secured for illegal working since 4 July 2024. \p Mike Tapp: Statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.
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Sarah Hall:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claims were made by people holding student visas by nationality in the last 12 months; and what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of such claims. \p Mike Tapp: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of people claiming asylum after entering the UK with a visa or other leave, by nationality and type of leave, in the year ending June 2025 is published in table Asy_01e of the ‘Asylum summary tables’. Data for the year ending September 2025 will be published on 27 November 2025.

The UK keeps its visa system under regular review, and the government has been clear that we will do whatever it takes to tackle the issue of visa abuse.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the prevalence of illegal working among people using app-based delivery platforms. \p Mike Tapp: The Home Office does not hold an estimate of the prevalence of illegal working among people using app-based delivery platforms. The recent joint work between the Office for National Statistics and the Home Office explains the complexities - Measuring illegal migration: our current view - Office for National Statistics.

Through the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the Government is introducing tough new laws to clamp down on illegal working, including in the food delivery sector. This means that for the very first time, employment checks will be extended to cover businesses hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors like food delivery.
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Dr Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the guidance entitled Suitability: non-conducive grounds for refusal or cancellation of entry clearance or permission, published on 19 January 2024, whether Elon Musk would meet the criteria of a person not conducive to the public good. \p Mike Tapp: It is longstanding Home Office policy not to comment on individual cases.

Where a foreign national is seeking to enter or stay in the UK, in order to qualify they will be assessed by the Home Office against a range of provisions in the current Immigration Rules relating to criminality and other adverse conduct and character prior to their entry to, and any previous time spent in, the UK. Failure to satisfy these criteria may mean their application for a visa, entry clearance, permission to enter or permission to stay will be refused, depending on the severity of past offences or other factors in their history.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31540 on Entry Clearances: Overseas Students, whether her Department has considered using (a) Programme for International Student Assessment results and (b) other international benchmarking data when determining which applicants are required to take additional English language tests. \p Mike Tapp: We refer the honourable member to our answer of 24 February 2025 to PQ UIN 31540. Our position has not changed.
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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the trial of extending the move on period for refugees from 28 to 56 days on the number of refugees who were rough sleeping during the trial. \p Mike Tapp: On 9 December 2024, the Home Office operationalised a pilot to extend the grace period to 56 days to support local authorities during a period of increased asylum decision making and with the transition to eVisas.

An independent evaluation has been ongoing regarding the impact of this pilot. The evaluation—conducted by NatCen and RSM—has gathered insights from local authorities, devolved governments, service providers, and voluntary sector partners. It is assessing the impact of the extended move-on period, the introduction of eVisas, and associated initiatives such as Asylum Move On Liaison Officers and targeted funding for local authorities.

Evidence from the evaluation of Move On initiatives will inform government decisions around whether to make any changes to the move on period, future funding and resource deployment.  It is important that we take our time to do this, considering overall net costs to taxpayers and impact on the accommodation estate, before making a decision on longer term policy.

From 1 September 2025, the Home Office has taken the decision to pause the 56 day move on period pilot for single adults in receipt of a positive asylum decision, with the exception of individuals who are pregnant, over the age of 65 or have a known/evidence disability, as defined by the 2010 Equality Act. This is to ensure that the asylum system continues to run efficiently, and to enable us to continue taking action both to reduce the overall number of asylum hotels in different communities, and the number of people staying in them.

We closely monitor the impact of all our policies, including the move on period, on the number and occupancy of asylum hotels, the overall costs of the asylum accommodation estate, the wider effect on local communities, and any pressures placed on local authorities and public amenities.

The Home Office has worked, and continues to work, with colleagues at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) to understand rough sleeping and homelessness pressures within local authorities in England. It continues to identify and make efficiencies in supporting newly recognised refugees integrate into society before their support is discontinued to mitigate the risk of homelessness.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average processing time was for work visas for social care staff since July 2024. \p Mike Tapp: The information requested is not currently available from published statistics,and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose ofanswering this question at disproportionate cost.

However, it should be noted that those applying under the Health and Care Visabenefit from faster in-country processing times; are exempt from paying theImmigration Health Surcharge (IHS) and pay a lower fee for visas.
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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department provides support to (a) illegal migrants and (b) asylum seekers to get married. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office does not provide support to illegal migrants or asylum seekers to get married. General guidance for all persons seeking to marry in the UK can be found at this link Marriages and civil partnerships in England and Wales: Check if you can get married or form a civil partnership - GOV.UK and Marriages and civil partnerships in England and Wales: If you or your partner are from outside the UK or Ireland - GOV.UK.
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Calum Miller:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the proposed expansion of the Campsfield Immigration Removal Centre (Phase 2), whether a formal decision has been taken to rely on the Crown Development route under sections 293D to 293E of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office has taken the decision to use the Crown Development route to planning for Phase 2 of the Campsfield Immigration Removal Centre development.

Crown development applications require extensive consultation of the local planning authority, and planning consent will be obtained before we proceed with phase 2 of the development.
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Sir Christopher Chope:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November to Question 88185 on Hadush Kebatu, how many small discretionary payments to prevent the failure of returns were made by the Home Office in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; what was (a) the maximum and (b) the minimum amount paid; and were such payments made under (i) the Voluntary Returns Service, (ii) the Facilitated Returns Scheme or (iii) another scheme. \p Alex Norris: The information requested regarding small discretionary payments to prevent the failure of returns are not available from published statistics.

The Home Office does already publish all available information on returns expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK
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Jerome Mayhew:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Wealden District Council have raised legal objections to the use of Crowborough Training Camp to house asylum seekers. \p Alex Norris: We do not comment on legal matters, however all sites progressed for asylum accommodation will comply with safety, security, health and wellbeing standards. This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well underway, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities across the country.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to review data-sharing systems between the Prison Service and immigration enforcement. \p Alex Norris: We keep all data sharing systems and agreements between the Home Office and MoJ under review. We will be mindful of any recommendations or proposals for improvement that might flow from Dame Lynne Owens' review into the incident at Chelmsford and any wider learning on releases in error.
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Lewis Cocking:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many recorded offences involved individuals with pending asylum applications in the last 12 months. \p Alex Norris: The requested data on offences involving asylum-seekers is not currently published by the Home Office.

As explained in this note published in April, systems for collecting and compiling data related to foreign national offenders in the immigration system are currently undergoing a redesign. The Home Office is currently working towards a release of this data. At this stage, we are not in a position to detail what this will contain or the exact timing of the release.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.
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Warinder Juss:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on the national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs. \p Jess Phillips: We are working urgently to establish the national inquiry and appoint a suitable independent chair.

Baroness Casey is now actively supporting this process. We are also developing the Terms of Reference with partners across government and beyond, informed by early consultation with victims and survivors so that work on the inquiry can begin as soon as possible.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Mayor of London on public consultation on police station front counter closures. \p Sarah Jones: A key part of this Government’s Safer Streets Mission is restoring neighbourhood policing and rebuilding trust and confidence in policing.

This is why, under this government, we will ensure 3,000 more neighbourhood officers will be on the beat by April 2026.

The Metropolitan Police will receive up to £3.8 billion in 2025-26, a £262 million increase in funding through the settlement.
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Lewis Cocking:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of individuals working without the legal right to do so in each of the last five years. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office does not hold an estimate of the number of individuals working without the legal right to do so. Details of Immigration Enforcement activity to tackle illegal employment in the UK can be found in the Home Office’s published transparency data: Illegal working and enforcement activity to the end of September 2025 - GOV.UK
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Andy McDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Crime and Policing Bill on the right to protest. \p Sarah Jones: The right to peaceful protest is an important part of our democratic society. Measures in the Crime and Policing Bill strengthen the police's ability to manage disruptive and dangerous protests and prevent criminality.

They will help prevent intimidation near places of worship, and protect communities affected by repeated disruption, without imposing a blanket restriction on protests.
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Mims Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has issued guidance to local authorities on (a) when and (b) how often they can issue legal stop notices in relation to the housing of asylum seekers in their areas. \p Alex Norris: Planning enforcement action is not a matter for the Home Office.  This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well underway, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities across the country so that the Home Office continues to meet its statutory obligations while also carefully considering the impact on local areas.
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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the use of MOD Garats Hay to house asylum seekers. \p Alex Norris: As part of our commitment to close all asylum hotels, we are working across government to consider a range of more appropriate sites including ex-military sites to reduce the impact on communities.

The Prime Minister has instructed the Home Office and Ministry of Defence to accelerate work on identifying appropriate sites, with results expected in the coming weeks and months.
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Grahame Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Crime and Policing Bill on the right to protest. \p Sarah Jones: The right to peaceful protest is an important part of our democratic society. Measures in the Crime and Policing Bill strengthen the police's ability to manage disruptive and dangerous protests and prevent criminality.

They will help prevent intimidation near places of worship, and protect communities affected by repeated disruption, without imposing a blanket restriction on protests.
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Carla Lockhart:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been relocated to Northern Ireland since January 2024. \p Alex Norris: Northern Ireland is not a dispersal area and asylum seekers are therefore not routed between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Only those claiming asylum in Northern Ireland are accommodated there. Northern Ireland’s asylum population is however, proportionate to its population when compared to the UK.

Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK
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Richard Burgon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of asylum support rates on child poverty among families seeking asylum; and whether she has shared this assessment with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for consideration in the Child Poverty Strategy. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office has a legal obligation to meet the essential living needs of destitute asylum seekers. We meet this obligation by providing accommodation and a weekly allowance. The level of the allowance given is reviewed each year to ensure it remains sufficient in meeting essential living needs.

Additional support is available to pregnant women, young children, and individuals who can show they have exceptional needs. Asylum seeking children are also entitled to access free healthcare and schooling, plus free school meals.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders are awaiting removal to their home countries under the UK Borders Act 2007. \p Alex Norris: The information you have requested is not currently available from published statistics.

Work is underway to improve the quality of information held by the department on foreign national offenders (FNOs). If this work progresses as planned, the Home Office intend to publish more detailed information on FNOs subject to deportation. Further information on this work can be found at: Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system - GOV.UK.

We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit serious crimes will face the full force of the law and be deported at the earliest opportunity.

This government has already removed almost 5,200 foreign national offenders in its first year of office, a 14 per cent increase on the previous twelve months (5 July 2024 to 4 July 2025) and we will continue to crack down on any foreign nationals who come to this country and break our rules.
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Chris Law:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what decisions have been taken on the use of Dundee Workforce Accommodation Alloway (Dundee Digs) DD4 8UA for housing asylum seekers. \p Alex Norris: This Government have committed to close all asylum hotels and to achieve this, we will look at a range of more appropriate sites like disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites so that we can reduce the impact on communities.

For the safety, security and wellbeing of staff and those being accommodated, the Home Office does not disclose information about accommodation sites which may or may not be utilised to the general public.
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Bradley Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure adherence to the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 for the standards of (a) care and (b) accommodation for dogs; and how many times the Animals in Science Regulation Unit has found sites to not be complaint with those standards in the last 12 months. \p Dan Jarvis: The Animals in Science Regulation Unit conduct audits to ensure establishments comply with the terms of their licences, the Code of Practice and with ASPA.

The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides a robust and rigorous regulatory framework that protects animals used in science. All establishments licenced under ASPA are required to comply with the published Code of Practice, which sets out standards for appropriate care and accommodation of animals, including dogs.

All non-compliance cases are published in the Animals in Science Regulation Unit’s Annual Reports which are available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit-annual-reports
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what independent support has been put in place to support victims and survivors of child sexual exploitation ahead of the national inquiry. \p Jess Phillips: We recognise the devastating impacts that child sexual exploitation and abuse can have on victims and survivors and are committed to ensuring that specialist support is provided to help victims and survivors rebuild and move forward with their lives.

It will be up to the national inquiry, once established, to establish its own processes to engage and support victims and survivors.

In the meantime, victims and survivors participating in the inquiry set-up engagement process, coordinated by the National Working Group (NWG) charity, are able to access support, including therapeutic support (via the NWG).

We are also providing £2.59 million in 2025-26 for the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Fund, providing a range of support services with national reach.

The Home Office also launched the invitation-to-tender for the national Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) Service contract in September 2025, which will expand coverage from two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales to all local authorities in England and Wales.

The service provides specialist modern slavery and child exploitation expertise to ensure child victims are protected from further harm, prevent possible repeat victimisation or re-trafficking, and promote the child’s recovery. It supports child victims of sexual exploitation and grooming who have been referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), and the professionals working with them.

The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) provides specialist support to adult victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been identified through the NRM in England and Wales. This includes adults who experienced sexual exploitation as children.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many returns agreements her Department have made to enable the return of foreign nationals in the last 12 months. \p Dan Jarvis: The UK has signed returns related agreements with Vietnam, Algeria, Iraq, Moldova and France in the last 12 months.

This Government is committed to maintaining and improving returns cooperation with all countries to which we are seeking to remove those with no legal basis to remain in the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff in her Department had their probationary period extended in the last 12 months. \p Olivia Bailey: The department’s probation policy and guidance advises managers on the steps to take to assess a new employee’s suitability for the post and provides support to enable them to succeed. It also advises on the steps to take where performance, attendance or conduct are not satisfactory. This can include exiting the employee or extending their probation to provide further evidence for a final decision on their suitability.

The department does not hold complete information on probation outcomes centrally and it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-17 conversation_190

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) single sex and (b) gender neutral bathroom facilities her Department provides in its main Whitehall building. \p Olivia Bailey: The department’s main Whitehall building, Sanctuary Buildings, has 70 single sex cubicles, 16 urinals and 22 non-gendered universal toilets (individual self-contained lockable toilet rooms which contain a toilet, washbasin and hand-drying facilities). This is in addition to 11 wheelchair accessible toilets.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-17 conversation_191

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will list the titles of all the events organised by Civil Service networks in her Department since 2017. \p Olivia Bailey: The department does not hold a comprehensive record of all events organised by Civil Service networks since 2017. However, we are able to provide a list of Civil Service network events that were advertised within the department from 2020 onwards. It is important to note that whilst these events were shared with staff, we cannot confirm whether they were organised by departmental colleagues as part of their participation in cross-Civil Service networks, or whether they were arranged independently by the networks and simply shared with departmental colleagues.

The following events were advertised within the department:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-17 conversation_192

Richard Burgon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the Child Poverty Strategy will integrate with (a) the Child Health Action Plan and (b) other strategic activities; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Strategy on the work undertaken in the devolved nations. \p Olivia Bailey: This government is committed to tackling child poverty, with our ambitious Child Poverty Strategy due to be published in the autumn.

The publication will set out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the strategy from this year and in future years, including understanding how this varies across the UK and for different groups.

As part of the strategy, the Child Poverty Taskforce is prioritising better local services, especially in the early years, for children living in poverty. We have announced close to £1.5 billion over the next three years on improving family services and early years education. Best Start Family Hubs are backed by £500 million of this investment between 2026 and 2029.

Details of how the Child Poverty Strategy interacts with other policies across government will be set out when the strategy is published, including child health.

The Strategy will be UK wide, drawing on devolved and reserved levers and working closely with devolved governments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-17 conversation_193

James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to councils on encouraging the use of kinship care arrangements. \p Josh MacAlister: The department’s statutory guidance on the purpose, principles for practice and expected outcomes of children’s social care that should be achieved so children and young people can grow up to achieve and thrive is in the Children’s Social Care National Framework.

The second outcome of the national framework sets out the expectation that children’s social care “needs to consider how to unlock family networks and identify kinship carers to be a source of support, whenever children and young people need help, protection, or care”.

The support available to help embed the national framework in practice is available in the accompanying advice. Further, the kinship care statutory guidance for local authorities sets out a framework for the provision of support to kinship families, and how family networks can be engaged to support the needs of children throughout the children’s social care system, including those unable to live with their parents.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-17 conversation_194

Richard Burgon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the registration of eligible children for free school meals; and whether she plans to introduce free school meal auto-enrolment in the Child Poverty Strategy. \p Olivia Bailey: We want to ensure that all families who need it are able to claim the support they are eligible for. Creating a new threshold for free school meals will ensure that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit are eligible, making it easier for parents to understand their entitlement.

The government is also taking action to make it quicker and easier for both families and local authorities to get children signed up for free school meals by rolling out improvements to the eligibility checking system used to verify entitlement to free school meals.

The Child Poverty Taskforce will publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. The Taskforce will continue to explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term action across government to reduce child poverty.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-17 conversation_195

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken in the (a) processing and (b) payment of pension lump sums for teachers retiring at the end of the academic year. \p Georgia Gould: Capita, as the Teachers’ Pension Scheme administrator, has confirmed that payments were completed on 1 September 2025, for those teachers who met the 18 August 2025 deadline for submitting their 2024/25 academic year retirement application.

Applications received after the 18 August deadline are being processed as quickly as possible by Capita and should be paid within 10 working days of receiving the application, provided that all information is available to process.

The department has contractual Service Level Agreements for the processing of these payments and continually monitors Capita’s performance to ensure that members’ pension lump sums are paid on time.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-17 conversation_196

Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of further funding for Family Hubs to restore integrated early support for children and families. \p Josh MacAlister: Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive, are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.

The government has committed to provide funding for all local authorities to deliver Best Start Family Hubs, backed by over £500 million, to help families in every part of the country. The rollout will deliver up to 1,000 Best Start Family Hubs nationwide by the end of 2028, reaching an estimated additional 500,000 children.

As of March 2025, there are over 600 Family Hubs across the 88 funded local authorities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-17 conversation_197

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of (a) consultations and (b) reviews conducted by her Department since 4 July 2024. \p Olivia Bailey: The information is not readily available or held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-17 conversation_198

Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the annual budget was for (a) OFSTED, (b) OFQUAL and (c) the Office for Students in each year since 2005. \p Olivia Bailey: Information on the headcount and budgets for Ofsted, Ofqual and the Office for Students’ is publicly available within each organisation’s published Annual Report and Accounts, available at:

This is otherwise a matter for the relevant bodies, and I have asked them to write to the right hon. Member with a summary of their position since 2005 or the date they were established. A copy of the replies will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-17 conversation_199

Sam Rushworth:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools provide mandatory (a) CPR training and (b) defibrillator use; and what systems are in place to monitor implementation across schools. \p Georgia Gould: All state funded schools are required to teach first aid as part of the statutory health education set out in the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. Independent schools are required to cover health education as part of their responsibility to provide personal, social, health and economic education.

The statutory RSHE guidance includes basic first aid for primary school children, for example dealing with common injuries, such as head injuries, and pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid, for example specifically how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators and how to use them.

Schools also have the autonomy to decide how they teach first aid, including teaching additional topical content and which resources to use. Many schools incorporate additional content, which can include how pupils should deal with a first response emergency situation, including how to respond to knife wounds, drug misuse and road traffic injury.

The department’s defibrillator programme completed in 2023 and was the largest rollout of defibrillators across England to date and provided over 20,000 defibrillators to almost 18,000 schools, ensuring that all state-funded schools in England have access to a device.

Defibrillators are designed so they can be used by anyone with no prior training. As part of the department’s roll out, we provided awareness videos to schools showing how simple defibrillators can be to use, and asked schools to share these videos in staff meetings and assemblies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-17 conversation_200

Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that all 16 to 18-year-olds receive political education in schools. \p Georgia Gould: In secondary schools, democracy is currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship, with an optional GCSE available in citizenship studies. Political education is not compulsory post-16, but providers are free to teach it if they wish. When political issues are discussed, schools must offer pupils a balanced presentation of opposing views and should not present materials in a politically biased or one-sided way.

On 5 November, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review published its final report, which includes recommendations for a refreshed curriculum and assessment system in England. The government’s response to the report recognises the importance of developing young people’s understanding of democratic institutions and processes and commits to strengthening citizenship content to improve progression across all key stages.