theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Priti Patel:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 45603 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Redundancy, what estimate he has made of the annual salary cost savings of the 500 exits. \p Catherine West: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has estimated that the Voluntary Exit Scheme could result in annual savings of £35-40 million. The Scheme is still in progress, with exits taking place by the end of this Financial Year. We do not yet know how many staff will accept Voluntary Exit, or the profile of the staff who will leave, which will have an impact on the savings achieved.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Lincoln Jopp:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of Chinese citizens deployed by Russia in the war on Ukraine. \p Stephen Doughty: Russia's increasing recruitment of foreign nationals to fight in its illegal invasion of Ukraine demonstrates its underlying weakness. We have noted recent reports of Chinese citizens deployed by Russia in Ukraine. We have seen no evidence of state sponsorship in relation to these recent reports, but we continue to monitor the situation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with EU member states on securing new bilateral voting rights agreements. \p Stephen Doughty: Prior to the UK's departure from the EU, in December 2018, the UK wrote to all 27 EU Member States signalling willingness to enter into bilateral agreements to ensure continuity of local election voting and candidacy rights (VCR) for each other's citizens.

Some EU countries already grant local voting rights to UK nationals, and we have bilateral agreements with other EU Member States.

A number of EU Member States have constitutional barriers which prevent them from entering into bilateral agreements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Mr Mark Francois:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 48367, what his Department's timeline is for implementing that robust mechanism review process; what steps his Department is taking to implement it; and which bodies will oversee its implementation. \p Stephen Doughty: Once the treaty is signed it will be put before both Houses for scrutiny before ratification in the usual way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Katie Lam:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Overseas Development Assistance funding has contributed to the (a) establishment and (b) ongoing operation of foreign abattoirs since July 2024. \p Stephen Doughty: The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office deploys Official Development Assistance (ODA) to fund a range of organisations and programmes which address the productivity of farmers and small-medium enterprises in agri-food value chains in developing countries.

Figures for the UK 2024 ODA are due to be published in Autumn 2025 through the Statistics on International Development report. ODA is an international measure and is collected and reported on a calendar year basis.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Priti Patel:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, on what dates Mauritian negotiators have met with officials to discuss the future sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory since July 2024. \p Stephen Doughty: Discussions between the UK and Mauritius on securing the vital base on Diego Garcia and on the future exercise of sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory remain ongoing. It is not appropriate to provide a running commentary on engagement between UK and Mauritian officials. We will continue to work closely with Mauritius to conclude a deal that is in both sides' shared interests.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Priti Patel:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 given to Question 48885 on British Indian Ocean Territory: Development Aid, whether (a) British Chagossians will be represented in the governance structures of the proposed Chagossian Trust Fund and (b) provisions on the proposed Chagossian Trust Fund will be included as binding provisions within the proposed Treaty with Mauritius; and how long the proposed Chagossian Trust Fund will be in operation for. \p Stephen Doughty: I refer the Rt Hon Member to the response given to her previous Question 32980 on the details of the Treaty.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how the Governor of Saint Helena’s special responsibility for finance differs from the role of the Finance Minister. \p Stephen Doughty: Each Overseas Territory has a unique constitution. St Helena introduced a ministerial form of government in 2021 and the updated constitution provides that St Helena ministers have responsibility departments and shall exercise general direction and policy control of that department. The St Helena Treasury was one of the departments transferred to a minister. Part 8 of the Constitution, together with the Public Finance Ordinance 2010, sets out roles and responsibilities in how public finances are managed. Under Section 44(1)(f) of the constitution, the Governor has a special responsibility for finance. In practice, day to day responsibility is exercised through Executive Council and as prescribed by subordinate ordinance.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Priti Patel:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate he has made of the costs of diplomatic engagement with Mauritius since 5 July 2024. \p Stephen Doughty: We are unable to provide an estimate of the overall costs of diplomatic engagement with any single country. Diplomatic engagement takes place through a range of different activities and forums, and may include bilateral in-person engagement, virtual meetings, or visits; activities in multilateral forums or public events; or the operations of UK embassies and High Commissions. It may also include a wide range of timescales, geographic locations, interlocutors, and government departments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools in deprived areas offer A-level physics courses to pupils. \p Catherine McKinnell: High and rising school standards are central to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and provide every child with the best start in life. Whilst it is ultimately for individual schools to decide which A level courses to offer their students, the best way of supporting schools to offer A level physics courses, including those in deprived areas, is to ensure high quality physics teaching at all levels by helping schools to recruit and retain good teachers.

For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is offering a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for physics teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in schools in disadvantaged areas. This is double the payments that were previously offered.

For those training to teach in the 2025/26 academic year, there is a bursary worth £29,000 tax-free or a prestigious scholarship worth £31,000 tax-free to train to teach physics.

There were 688 new entrants to physics postgraduate initial teacher training (PGITT) in the 2024/25 academic year, a 48% increase on the number of 2023/24 entrants.

Recruitment is on track to improve even further for the cohort set to start training in the 2025/26 academic year. As of April 2025, 962 candidates have accepted offers for PGITT courses in physics, an increase of around 47% compared to the same point last year.

Subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses support recruitment to initial teacher training in hard-to-recruit subjects, such as physics. SKE participants benefit from blended courses tailored to their individual needs to meet the minimum knowledge required to train to teach their chosen subject, which leads to the award of qualified teacher status.

The department also funds the Subject Knowledge for Physics Teaching programme. This is a series of blended learning courses, with modules available each term to support non-specialist teachers of key stage 3 and 4 physics to enhance their subject knowledge.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of student loan debt on young people’s ability to (a) save for a home and (b) contribute to the economy. \p Janet Daby: UK higher education (HE) creates opportunity, is an engine for growth in our economy and supports local communities. The department is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university, regardless of their background, where they live and their personal circumstances.

It is reasonable to ask graduates who benefit financially from HE to contribute towards the cost of their studies. Graduates can expect, on average, to earn around £100,000 more in their lifetime than someone who does not attend HE. The government is determined that the HE funding system should deliver for our economy, for universities and for students.

Student loans have very different terms and conditions to commercial loans and carry significant protections for borrowers. For lower earners who will not repay much of their loan, any outstanding debt, including interest built up, is written off at the end of the loan term (or in case of death or disability) with no detriment to the borrower. This government subsidy of student loans is a deliberate investment in our young people and the economy.

Student loans are subject to interest, set with reference to inflation, to ensure that those who can afford to do so contribute to the full cost of their degree. Interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by student loan borrowers. Regular repayments are based on earnings above the repayment threshold, not on amount borrowed or interest rates. As an additional borrower protection, interest rates on loans taken out after 2012 are automatically capped by the prevailing market rate for comparable unsecured personal loans. This cap was triggered and protected borrowers during the recent spikes in inflation. Interest rates for undergraduate loans taken out before 2012 are also capped at the retail price index or the Bank of England base rate plus 1%, whichever is lower.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to protect academic and student freedom of speech in schools and universities. \p Janet Daby: This government is absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom in schools, universities and beyond. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, confirmed to Parliament on 15 January the government’s plans for future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, which will create a more proportionate, balanced and less burdensome approach to protecting academic freedom and freedom of speech.

On 28 April, the Secretary of State signed commencement regulations, bringing the following provisions into force from 1 August 2025:

Schools have a statutory duty to ensure a balanced presentation of political issues, but older pupils can engage with the political issues provided activity is conducted sensitively and not targeted at others. The promotion of fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs is considered by Ofsted in their inspections.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve (a) early intervention and (b) post-adoption support for (i) adoptive parents and (ii) local authorities. \p Janet Daby: The government’s goal is to ensure all adoptive families receive ongoing support from the moment the child is placed with them and throughout their childhood, delivering on the government’s mission to provide all children with the best start in life and breaking down barriers to opportunity.

The department has recently announced funding of £8.8 million for Adoption England to improve adoption services, including adoption support. This includes supporting regional adoption agencies (RAAs) to provide an early support core offer for all families in the first 12 to 18 months after an adoption placement, as well as providing families with a new adoption support plan to give them information and guidance, including how they can access help.

Adoption England will be supporting RAAs to develop and make sustainable Centres of Excellence with local health partners, so families receive holistic assessment and packages of support.

They will also be supporting RAAs to put in place services that can respond quickly and more effectively to adoptive families in crisis.

The government will be providing therapeutic support to adoptive children via the £50 million adoption and special guardianship support fund. Local authorities and RAAs can apply for funding of up to £3,000 per child.

Adoptive families can also receive help from local authority Family Help services. The government is doubling investment in these services to over £500 million in the 2025/26 financial year.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund are on hold as a result of the delay caused in announcing the funding for the current financial year. \p Janet Daby: Since the pause on accepting applications to the adoption and special guardianship support fund ended on 14 April, there are no applications on hold. Many of the applications received for funding which started in the previous financial year have continued into this year, and applications for this financial year are now being processed and approved.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the risk of adoption and special guardianship disruption as a result of the delay in funding for therapeutic support via the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. \p Janet Daby: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues over a range of important matters.

Local authorities exercise their statutory duty to children previously in care and adopted children through regional adoption agencies (RAAs).

The department has recently announced funding of £8.8 million for Adoption England to improve adoption services, including adoption support. This includes supporting RAAs to provide an early support core offer for all families in the first 12 to 18 months after an adoption placement, as well as providing families with a new adoption support plan to give them information and guidance, including how they can access help.

Adoption England will be supporting RAAs to develop and make sustainable Centres of Excellence with local health partners, so families receive holistic assessment and packages of support.

They will also be supporting RAAs to put in place services that can respond quickly and more effectively to adoptive families in crisis. Currently, RAAs and local authorities can back-date applications to cover costs of therapies which begin in this financial year, even before the application is approved. This allows continuation of support for the most vulnerable families.

Adoptive families can also receive help from local authority Family Help services. The government is doubling investment in these services to over £500 million in the 2025/26 financial year.
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James MacCleary:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that breakfasts provided through the National School Breakfast Programme are nutritious. \p Stephen Morgan: The National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP), introduced by the last government, funds only school food standards-compliant breakfast food and delivery costs. Schools receive a 75% subsidy from the government and must themselves cover the costs of the remaining 25%. This does not go far enough to support hard-working families and tackle disadvantage.

This is why the department is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every school with primary-aged children, with schools receiving funding to cover food, delivery and staffing costs. Our new breakfast clubs are about more than the food. They provide opportunities for children to play and socialise before the start of the school day, supporting children's attendance and attainment and enabling them to thrive academically and socially.

From April 2025, free breakfast clubs are available in up to 750 early adopter schools, as part of a test and learn phase. This goes far beyond the reach of the NSBP in all, and importantly, the most disadvantaged areas. The new breakfast club offer, once rolled out nationally, will be available to every state-funded school with primary-aged children.
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Satvir Kaur:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the level of emotional based school avoidance in (a) Southampton Test constituency and (b) England. \p Stephen Morgan: The absence crisis is one of the government's most challenging inheritances. By working alongside school staff and parents, the department is getting absence moving in the right direction with children attending over 3 million more days of school this year compared to last, and over 100,000 fewer children persistently absent.

However, some pupils face complex barriers to attendance, such as those who have mental health conditions, or who have special educational needs and disabilities.

The department knows that pupils and learners with a strong sense of belonging, accomplishment, autonomy and good health are more likely to attend school. New research has shown, for the first time, the link between mental health and school absence. Pupils with mental health problems are seven times more likely to miss more than 15 days of school than their peers. This research can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/681b676c9ef97b58cce3e518/The_relationship_between_mental_ill_health_and_absence_in_students_aged_13_to_16.pdf.

To tackle these issues, the government has made statutory the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which sets out a ‘support first’ approach. The department has published specific guidance for schools on mental health and attendance, accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-issues-affecting-a-pupils-attendance-guidance-for-schools. We are also committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school through expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs). As of April 2025, NHS-funded MHSTs cover 52%, or 5 million, of pupils and learners. An additional 900,000 pupils and learners are expected to be covered by April 2026.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints were (a) received and (b) upheld against Mott MacDonald in its role administering the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. \p Janet Daby: The department has received no complaints regarding Mott MacDonald’s administration of the adoption and special guardianship support fund.
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Melanie Onn:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund were awarded where (a) local authorities and (b) regional adoption agencies were required to match-fund the application due to an exceptional case involving urgent need for higher-cost support exceeding the fair access limit in the financial year 2024–25 by (i) whether the child has been adopted, (ii) whether the child is subject to a (A) special guardianship and (B) child arrangements order and (iii) region. \p Janet Daby: The available information is detailed in the tables below.

Number of applications* approved in the 2024/25 financial year with therapy service costs totalled by placement type:

Placement type

Less than £3,000

Between £3,000 and £5,000

i. Adoption (Domestic and Inter Country)

8,369

7,091

iii. Special Guardianship Order

2,179

1,895

iv. Child Arrangements Order/ Residency Order

34

27

*The data presented is the number of approved applications with therapy service costs. Please note that an individual application could have multiple recipients with multiple placement types and access the Fair Access Limit from multiple years.

** No data for ‘(ii) children waiting to be adopted’ as adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) doesn’t include this as a placement type.

There were 3069 approved applications and 3319 funded recipients for Specialist Assessments in the 2024/25 financial year.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the level of bullying towards neurodiverse students in schools in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset, and (c) England. \p Stephen Morgan: The department is clear that schools must take a strong stand against all forms of bullying and should tackle bullying at the earliest opportunity to prevent it from escalating. All schools must have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying, including the bullying of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The department does not collect data on specific incidents of bullying in schools. We expect schools to develop their own approaches for monitoring bullying and exercise their own judgement as to what will work best for their pupils.

We monitor young people’s perceptions of bullying at a high level, through surveys, which indicate that a higher level of children and young people with SEND, including neurodivergence, report that they have been bullied, than children without SEND. The latest survey can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6628dd9bdb4b9f0448a7e584/National_behaviour_survey_academic_year_2022_to_2023.pdf.

​The department has published advice to support schools with addressing incidents of bullying, which can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/625ee64cd3bf7f6004339db8/Preventing_and_tackling_bullying_advice.pdf, as well as a practical tool to help schools, which can be found on the Educate Against Hate website here: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in England had a majority of pupils without English as a first language in (a) the most recent year for which figures are available and (b) 2005. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department publishes school-level data on the number and percentage of pupils who have English as an additional language in state-funded schools. This information is available in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication, based on the January school census. The latest figures can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2023-24.

School-level data for 2005 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-pupil-and-their-characteristics-2002-to-2009-data.

English as an additional language does not mean a pupil’s first language is a language other than English, but that they are exposed to another language in the home.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of SEND support recipients were children of non-UK nationals in the latest year for which data is available. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department does not hold information on the nationality of parents of children with special educational needs.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support pupils undertaking exams when experiencing (a) health issues and (b) bereavement. \p Catherine McKinnell: There are existing arrangements in place to support students who may experience disruption at the time of their exams and assessments known as special consideration.

Special consideration is any adjustment given to a student who has temporarily experienced an illness, injury, or other event outside of their control, including bereavement, at the time of the examination or assessment which significantly affects their ability to either take an assessment or fully demonstrate what they can do within it.

Students must have been fully prepared for the assessment and have covered the whole course to be eligible for special consideration.

More information about special consideration and the eligibility criteria can be found here: https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/JCQ-A-guide-to-the-special-consideration-process-24-25_FINAL_accessible.pdf.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average cost per pupil was of providing English as an Additional Language support in state schools in the most recent academic year. \p Catherine McKinnell: Each year, schools receive core funding from the department to cover their expenditures, which includes teacher salaries, support staff, school resources, and other expenses. The funding schools receive is not ringfenced for any specific form of expenditure and it is for each school to determine how this money will be best used to support their individual children.

The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.2 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total over £64.8 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to review (a) Plan 2 and (b) Plan 5 student loan repayment terms, in the context of decreases in levels of inflation. \p Janet Daby: It is important that we have a sustainable higher education (HE) funding system that provides opportunities for all, supports students, and maintains the world-leading status of our universities. This government keeps the student finance system under continuous review to ensure that it delivers good value for both students and taxpayers. We are determined that the HE funding system should deliver for our economy, for universities and for students, and the government is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university. We will set out this government’s longer term plan for HE reform by summer 2025.

Interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by student loan borrowers. Regular repayments are based on a fixed percentage of earnings above the applicable student loan repayment threshold, not on amount borrowed or the rate of interest. If a borrower’s income drops, so does the amount they repay. If income is below the relevant student loan repayment threshold, or a borrower is not earning, repayments stop.

Any outstanding debt, including interest built up, is written off after the loan term ends at no detriment to the borrower. This protects lower and lower-middle earners in particular. This government subsidy of student loans is a deliberate investment in our young people and the economy.

A detailed impact assessment for the current student loan system is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.

To consider both students and taxpayers, and ensure the real value of the loans over the repayment term, interest rates on student loans are linked to inflation by being set in reference to the Retail Price Index (RPI), from the previous March, and applied annually on 1 September until 31 August. The next annual update will be based on the RPI from March 2025 and will apply from 1 September 2025.

As an additional borrower protection, interest rates on post-2012 loans are automatically capped by the prevailing market rate for comparable unsecured personal loans.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a publicly funded model of higher education with reduced reliance on individual debt financing. \p Janet Daby: The higher education (HE) sector needs a secure financial footing. After seven years of frozen fee caps under the previous government, the government took the difficult decision to increase maximum tuition fee limits for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%, in line with the forecast rate of inflation.  We also recognise the impact that the cost-of-living crisis has had on students, and are increasing maximum maintenance loans for living costs for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%, in line with the forecast rate of inflation.

Student loans have significant protections for borrowers and are subsidised by the government. For lower earners, who will not repay much of their loan, any outstanding loan balance, including interest built up, will be written off at the end of the loan term. This write-off is the government’s subsidy, and it is a deliberate investment in our people and the economy.

The government also provides funding for HE through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) to support teaching and students in HE, including expensive-to-deliver subjects, students at risk of discontinuing their studies, and world-leading specialist providers. The total recurrent SPG funding to be distributed by the Office for Students for the 2024/25 academic year is £1,426 million.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps with dental schools to develop apprenticeship programmes to help expand the dental workforce. \p Janet Daby: There are a number of apprenticeship standards available to support the development of the dental workforce, including Level 3 Dental Nurse, Level 4 Dental Practice Manager and Level 4 Orthodontic Therapist.

NHS England has been supporting dental schools to encourage delivery of the Level 6 Dental Hygienist apprenticeship standard, and the department continues to make it easier for providers to offer and deliver apprenticeships, including cutting red tape through reforms to the payment system.
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Tessa Munt:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, which chemicals will be used in the Advanced Research and Invention Agency's geoengineering program. \p Feryal Clark: ARIA is an independent research body and they are conducting cautious, controlled research aimed at improving understanding of its Climate Cooling Programme’s risks and impacts. This will produce important information for decisions on climate cooling approaches around the world.

The government supports ARIA’s mission to fund transformational research programmes with long-term benefits. A select number of controlled, small-scale projects will explore spraying seawater as a potential way to enhance cloud reflectivity. Another project involves a study on how milligram quantities of mineral dusts age in the stratosphere. The project has specified that none of these materials will be released into the atmosphere in this experiment, and all the materials will be returned to the ground for recovery and analysis by scientists.

Details of all of ARIA’s funded projects within its ‘Climate Cooling Programme’ can be found on their website
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what comparative assessment he has made of the regulatory approach by (a) the UK and (b) other advanced digital economies on enforcing a minimum age for the use of encrypted messaging services. \p Feryal Clark: End-to-end encryption is a vital part of our digital world, and the government supports its responsible use. However, encryption should not allow tech companies to forego their responsibilities around keeping their users safe.

The Online Safety Act includes some of the strongest protections globally to ensure children are protected in encrypted environments. Section 121 gives Ofcom the power to issue tech notices to regulated services to deal with CSEA content, even if this is communicated within an encrypted environment.

The government continues to monitor international developments in this space.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing an integrated digital strategy in West Berkshire. \p Feryal Clark: We are committed to supporting public service productivity in all regions of the UK, and that includes helping unlock the benefits of digital transformation. The Blueprint for modern digital government launched in January sets out a six-point plan for public sector digital transformation. Government Digital Service has been engaging with local digital practitioners from across the UK, including West Berkshire specifically, as part of the local government collaboration sprint. Work across local government includes expanding GOV.UK One Login and other common components; supporting innovation and reforms in the local government technology market and enabling greater access to data through the National Data Library.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Dr Scott Arthur:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to encourage academic research collaboration between UK and Ukrainian universities. \p Feryal Clark: The UK-Ukraine 100 Year Partnership sets out how the UK and Ukraine build long-term military, economic and cultural ties. This includes through science, technology and innovation collaboration – both to drive mutual growth and support Ukraine’s R&D sector. Since 2022, we have supported over 100 pairs of UK and Ukrainian universities through the University Twinning Programme, providing over £5 million of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Research England funding to work together. We also support UK and Ukrainian Innovators to work together through the UK-Ukraine Techbridge and over 170 Ukrainian researchers to continue their research at UK universities through the Researchers at Risk Programme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Chris McDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to protect critical undersea infrastructure. \p Luke Pollard: Cables and pipelines are as vital for our economy as factories and power stations.

This Government is increasing defence spending to keep Britain safe at home and secure abroad. And that includes investing in RFA Proteus to protect our undersea cables.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Sir Jeremy Hunt:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to increase support for Ukraine. \p Luke Pollard: This year the UK will give more military support to Ukraine than ever before, with a £4.5 billion boost.

At the 27th Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting, we announced a rapid surge in support, valued at around £450 million. This follows the £2.26 billion loan agreement with Ukraine earmarked for military spending.

We are absolutely committed to securing a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Luke Myer:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase procurement from UK businesses. \p Maria Eagle: Our new Defence Industrial Strategy will make sure national security and a high-growth economy are aligned to deliver the change we promised: cracking down on waste, building resilient supply chains and boosting Britain's defence industry.

By strengthening our relationship with industry, innovators and investors we will make it easier and more attractive to do business in Defence than ever before.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications for war pensions which were denied were subsequently overturned on appeal in each of the last three years. \p Luke Pollard: The number of overturned War Pension entitlement appeals from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2024:

Financial Year

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

Allowed

130

125

110

Sources: War Pensions Computer System (WPCS)

Figures include both first claims to pension and further condition claims.

By financial year the tribunal decision was made.

Numbers rounded to the nearest 5 in line with the WPS Accredited Official Statistic.

Data for financial year 2024/25 is scheduled for release on 3 July 2025.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of not replacing Challenger 2 tanks. \p Maria Eagle: The Challenger 3 Main Battle Tank (MBT) upgrade has been developed to deliver multiple improvements to the existing Challenger 2 platform. Challenger 3 MBT will upgrade and replace 148 Challenger 2 platforms from 2027.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2025 to Question 39874 on Firing Ranges: Northumberland, for what reason his Department do not record time lost due to incursions on Ministry of Defence Ranges. \p Maria Eagle: Training time lost due to incursions on Ministry of Defence ranges is not recorded as the Defence Infrastructure Organisation has not been requested to do so.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to increase the weight of drone that armed forces personnel are permitted to pilot during training. \p Luke Pollard: There is no maximum weight of an Uncrewed Aerial System which an operator can use during military training.

UK Service personnel are routinely training with uncrewed systems that range in weight from grammes to tonnes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many jobs will be supported in defence rotary contracts during this Parliament. \p Maria Eagle: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support the (a) development and (b) deployment of drone technologies by Ukraine. \p Luke Pollard: The UK is co-leading the Drone Capability Coalition (DCC) with Latvia, which will increase the quality and quantity of drones provided to Ukraine, including through a recent order of 30,000 drones.

Nationally, in the 2024-25 financial year, the UK delivered drones worth over £325 million to Ukraine, which included collaboration between UK and Ukrainian drone companies. This includes the co-development of drone technologies, for example; radios, alternative navigation methods, electronic warfare resistant GPS antennas.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of delays in GPs providing medical records on armed forces recruitment. \p Luke Pollard: The current Government inherited a crisis in recruitment and retention from the last administration, and this Government is focused upon improving Armed Forces recruitment, modernising and refining our policies and processes to attract the best possible talent. Defence is committed to reducing the time taken for candidates to pass through Armed Forces recruitment processes and enter service. Access to medical records is one of the main frictions in current Armed Forces recruitment processes, adding time into candidates’ progress through their application journey. To reduce this friction we are actively taking steps to optimise relevant processes working with the Department for Health and Social Care. This is already delivering results with shorter wait times.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Jenny Riddell-Carpenter:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of military accommodation units are unoccupied in Suffolk Coastal constituency; and whether his Department plans to bring them back into use. \p Luke Pollard: The Defence Housing Strategy includes an extensive review of our entire Service Family Accommodation (SFA) portfolio to determine how we will utilise our properties. I expect we will be able to provide details of our future intentions when the review is completed.

There are 225 SFA properties located in the Suffolk Coastal constituency of which, 60 (27%) are currently unoccupied. 41 of these SFA are ready to be occupied by families and 19 require improvement works before they can be allocated to Service families.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-19)

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Jenny Riddell-Carpenter:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual running costs were for Army sites located in Suffolk Coastal constituency in each of the last five financial years; and how much funding his Department plans to provide for those sites in the next five financial years. \p Luke Pollard: The data requested for the previous five financial years can be found below. These costs relate to MOD Woodbridge (Rock Barracks and Woodbridge Airfield), as the only Army owned site within the hon. Member’s constituency:

Year

£ million

FY2024-25

4.416

FY2023-24

4.528

FY2022-23

4.723

FY2021-22

3.799

FY2020-21

3.768

Note: These figures represent the total actual costs for the Hard and Soft Facilities Management of the establishment.

Funds are allocated appropriately to deliver strategic objectives. In advance of the conclusions of the Strategic Defence Review , I hope the hon. Member will understand that I cannot anticipate future budgetary allocations.
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Mr Mark Francois:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much was spent on the First Sea Lord's Sea Power Conference 2025. \p Luke Pollard: The Royal Navy allocated £38,000 of funding for the First Sea Lord's Sea Power Conference 2025. This money has not been spent and will be utilised when the conference is re-scheduled.