theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of improving (a) traceability and (b) transparency in dog breeding through strengthened (i) regulation and (ii) microchipping requirements. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra completed a Post-Implementation Review of the Licensing of Activities Involving Animals Regulations 2018, which regulate dog breeding. The Government is considering the findings and will be outlining more detail on next steps in due course.

Compulsory dog microchipping was introduced in England in 2016. All dogs over 8 weeks must be microchipped and relevant information including breeder details recorded with a Defra-compliant database operator, which helps support traceability.
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Jenny Riddell-Carpenter:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to provide (a) guidance and (b) support to farmers on water efficiency measures to help protect future food supply. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra works closely with the Environment Agency on water resourcing and smart farming.

The Environment Agency’s recently published National Framework for Water Resources sets out how water efficiency is being promoted in collaboration with farmers and growers. Smart farming makes use of technology to help to make better use of water when it is available and better protect the environment when it is not. By using technology to understand where and when water is needed, to ensure every drop can be made to count.
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Tim Roca:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of mandatory animal welfare method-of-production labelling on animal welfare standards. \p Dame Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Manchester Rusholme, Afzal Khan, on 20 October 2025, PQ UIN 78476.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to provide resources to implementation groups responsible for the delivery of Fisheries Management Plans. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra is committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders in delivering Fisheries Management Plans (FMP). Defra resources and manages a number of FMP implementation groups, and funds Seafish to convene and support two further implementation groups. Defra and the Marine Management Organisation also organise ad hoc stakeholder meetings to further delivery as required.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help meet the National Benefit objective of the Fisheries Act 2020. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The UK requires that vessels fishing against UK quota demonstrate a tangible economic contribution to the UK.

This is primarily achieved through the economic link licence condition, embedded in fishing licences. As part of the Quota Application Mechanism trial in England, we score applicants based on environmental commitments but also on delivered social and economic benefits.

We have begun independently evaluating new fishing opportunities to ensure they are realising the social and economic benefits intended. For instance, two recent reports show that bluefin tuna fisheries provide multiple social and economic benefits for coastal communities.

To ensure social and economic benefits in the national interest can be assessed, we have inaugurated a new Fishing Industry Social Survey to complement the existing economic fleet Survey. Over 400 fishermen responded this year, and results of the survey will be published in the near future.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with fisheries authorities on the effectiveness of the steps they are taking to tackle (a) illegal, (b) unreported and (c) unregulated fishing in UK waters. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Whilst it is for each of the Devolved Administrations to assess how best to control its waters, Defra, the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and Northern Ireland Executive work closely together. This cooperation includes discussions and review of appropriate policies and regulations at a UK level as well as regularly sharing and reviewing intelligence to deliver a robust approach to monitoring, compliance and enforcement across our waters to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
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Jenny Riddell-Carpenter:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with farming representatives on the potential impact of water security on domestic food supply. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Environment Agency’s recently published National Framework for Water Resources sets out the pressures on each of the water using sectors, including the food industry. It sets out how we are engaging with the sector and promotes actions to support the sector as it adapts to growing pressure on water resources. This includes establishing collaborative Water Abstractor Groups, helping to identify options to improve water supply resilience and the promotion of smart farming.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to tackle known limitations of fisheries stock assessments since 2020; and whether she plans to allocate additional funding to help improve data collection in fisheries. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Department has invested significantly in research and development with an aim to improve fisheries stock assessments since 2020. Additionally, the Department has run a Fisheries and Science Partnership scheme, which provided grant funding to fishing industry and academia partnerships to undertake fishery science projects.

Fisheries Management Plans published by the Department include the identification and delivery of evidence to support known gaps. This financial year alone the Department has invested £2.5 million in filling these evidence gaps. The Department is also reforming the fisheries data collection programme to ensure its fit for purpose and further help to address these evidence gaps.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) adequacy of the her Department's support for farmers and (b) effectiveness of the work of the Rural Payments Agency since 5 September 2025. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Government is backing British farming, prioritising investment that supports the Government’s Plan for Change and building on the Secretary of State’s work to reform Defra to drive growth while maintaining a steadfast commitment to farming, food security, and nature’s recovery.

We are investing more than £2.7bn a year in farming and nature recovery, with funding for the Environmental Land Management Schemes paid to farmers increasing by 150% from £800m in 2023/24 to £2bn by 2028/29.

The effectiveness of the RPA is a priority. Since 5 September the RPA has opened the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier Scheme and supported the recent announcement regarding extensions to Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreements, which the RPA will now operationalise. I have met the interim CEO and the newly appointed permanent CEO of the RPA and will ensure there is regular and effective Ministerial oversight of the Agency’s performance.
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Ian Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s policies of allowing the practice of carrying chickens by their legs. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 resolved a discrepancy by bringing the legislation in-line with long-standing statutory guidance. The regulations reinforce the guidance that one-leg catching is unacceptable, by specifically prohibiting one-leg catching, and allow for two-leg catching of laying hens, meat chickens, and turkeys weighing 5kg or less. This does not lower animal welfare standards in practice as the GB poultry industries catch chickens by the legs and not upright by the body.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to tackle (a) bycatch and (b) illegal discarding by vessels in the last year. \p Dame Angela Eagle: We continue our effort to minimise and, where possible, eliminate the bycatch of sensitive species. Working in partnership with industry and eNGOs we have a range of activities in place including: continuation of the long-standing Bycatch Monitoring Programme (BMP) which reports annually on bycatch rates analysed by gear type; the Cetacean Stranding Investigation Programme (CSIP) that closely monitors UK-wide cetacean strandings and conducts post-mortems on stranded marine mammals; the Clean Catch programme which recently launched a bycatch monitoring and mitigation trial; a comprehensive evidence review analysing bycatch across sensitive marine species (cetaceans, seabirds, seals, elasmobranchs); and developing a seabird bycatch mitigation action plan for England.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) monitors discards and catches from all commercially licensed vessels in England. MMO collects this data alongside undertaking regular inspections of vessels. The Landing Obligation, introduced under the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, has not met its goals; illegal discarding still happens, and discard patterns in the English fleet haven’t changed. To improve discards management and move away from the landing obligation in England, Defra and the MMO are conducting a paper trial of ‘catch accounting’. This is a new approach that accounts for the total removal of stock compared to the current system which only logs landings.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding the Marine Management Organisation has received in each of the last five years; what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the funding on the enforcement of fishing regulations; and what assessment she has made of the value for money of this funding for taxpayers. \p Dame Angela Eagle: As set out in the Annual Report and Accounts of the Marine Management Organisation, total expenditure was £36.1 million in FY20/21, £42 million in FY21/22, £42.7 million in FY22/23, and £54 million in FY23/24.

Defra works closely with the Marine Management Organisation and other organisations to make sure the appropriate arrangements to enforce fisheries regulations are in place to protect our waters. This funding enables the organisation to operate an enforcement regime of fishing regulations amongst their other duties and is provided in line with the principles of managing public money, including the Accounting Officer’s duty to ensure spending decisions represent good value for money through the accountability and assurance processes Defra has in place.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of food consumed in the UK that is produced domestically. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The food production to supply ratio compares all domestic food production to supply, including food that the UK exports instead of consuming. In 2024, the production to supply ratio was 65%. When food exports are taken into account, Defra estimates that in 2024 57% of food consumed in the United Kingdom was domestically produced. Defra publishes both of these figures annually, in its Agriculture in the UK publication.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with farmers in (a) Yeovil constituency (b) Somerset and (c) the UK to help increase the UK's food security. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Food security is national security. We need a resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports British farmers, fishers and food producers. As part of the Government’s Plan for Change we are delivering on the Government’s New Deal for Farmers which includes a raft of new policies and major investment to boost profits for farmers.

We have allocated a record of £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production in England over this parliament. This includes funding for Environmental Land Management schemes, which amongst others, will deliver improvements to sustainable food production and the environment, in Somerset and across the country.

Furthermore, UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the recent appointments to the Food Strategy Advisory Board on (a) farmers and (b) animal welfare in Devon. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Members of the Food Strategy Advisory Board are senior leaders, appointed for their individual experience and leadership to ensure a broad range of expertise and perspectives across the food system. They do not represent their business interests, specific sectors or geographic areas. The Board’s role is to provide independent advice to support the development of the food strategy. As such, the impact of appointments is considered in terms of the collective insight they bring to national food policy, rather than on specific stakeholder groups or regions.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on (a) horseracing, (b) the equine sector and (c) the rural economy. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra regularly engages with other Departments including The Treasury to ensure our interests, including in rural areas, are not overlooked. The Spending Review settlement outlined the Government’s support for the rural economy and to protect the countryside. Defra will confirm detailed allocations for other programmes through this round of business planning.

We know that rural areas offer significant potential for growth and are central to our economy, contributing over £259 billion a year to England alone. This Government is committed to improving quality of life for people in rural areas, to realise the full potential of rural business and communities.

Defra recognises the importance of the equine sector to the economy. Defra engages with the industry on protecting public health, managing disease outbreak, and ensuring welfare and biosecurity, and works across Government on broader issues, such as domestic business and international trade.

DCMS lead on engagement with the Treasury on support for the horseracing sector. Horseracing is the only sport in receipt of a direct Government-mandated levy which helps to drive improvements in the sport. This year’s levy yield is set to be around £108 million which, if confirmed, exceeds the previous year's figure of £105 million.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to remove incentives for plastic waste collectors to export rather than process waste domestically. \p Mary Creagh: We are currently considering the role of exports in dealing with the UK’s plastic waste and how they can compliment domestic recycling.

Defra is committed to building a circular economy that enhances industry competition and capitalises on the UK’s potential in plastic recycling and reprocessing, whilst realising our environmental objectives. The Government’s collection and packaging reforms will help to stimulate investment in the UK reprocessing infrastructure so we can reduce our dependency on plastic waste exports.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing Thames Water into special administration. \p Emma Hardy: There is a high bar for the use of a Special Administration Regime (SAR). The current law states that Special Administration can only be initiated if the company becomes insolvent, can no longer fulfil its statutory duties or breaches an enforcement order.

The company remains financially stable. However, the Government is closely monitoring the situation and stands ready for all eventualities – including being ready to apply for a SAR if necessary.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that reviews to biodiversity net gain requirements for small housing developments maintain (a) local democratic oversight and (b) environmental protection standards in Surrey. \p Mary Creagh: The Government has recently consulted on improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium, and brownfield development. The consultation closed on 24 July, and responses received are being considered. A full Government response will be published in due course.

Biodiversity net gain requirements will continue to be assessed and approved by local planning authorities before commencement of the developments in their areas, including those in Surrey.
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Robin Swann:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 84511 on Business: Northern Ireland, of the £235 million ring-fenced transformation funding (a) how much has been allocated to each Northern Ireland Department and (b) what is the time scale for future allocations before the funding is withdrawn. \p Hilary Benn: A full breakdown of the funds allocated through the Transformation Fund is available via the Department of Finance’s website:

Annual Profiling of Transformation Projects

The Public Sector Transformation Board is currently considering further transformation bids from departments with the aim of making recommendations to the Northern Ireland Executive on the allocation of remaining funds in the months ahead.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 82702 on Terrorism: Northern Ireland, what information he holds on the nine cases that will be able to be resumed. \p Hilary Benn: Clause 84(3) of the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill sets out the criteria for resumption of inquests that had started and were halted by the Legacy Act. It is only right that these are discussed with the affected families in the first instance.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Solicitor General, what discussions she has had the Crown Prosecution Service on the adequacy of the number of prosecutions in relation to promoting terrorism. \p Ellie Reeves: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has a strong record of bringing successful prosecutions in terrorism cases and works very closely with Counter Terrorism policing and partners to help build strong cases.

Cases are prosecuted by the specialist CPS Counter Terrorism Division. Recently published Home Office statistics confirmed that in the year ending 30 June 2025, of the 83 persons who were tried for all terrorism-related offences, 80 were convicted (96%).

There are several offences that can be used to prosecute those who promote terrorism, including offences of disseminating terrorist publications, encouraging terrorism, and for the preparation of acts of terrorism or to assist others in preparation of acts of terrorism.
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Euan Stainbank:To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what progress his Department has made on securing the £200 million National Wealth Fund allocation for Grangemouth. \p Kirsty McNeill: The UK Government is working with our investment agencies and the Scottish Government to both proactively drive project development at Grangemouth and to assess all the enquiries we have received, to help ensure that they are suitable for National Wealth Fund investment at the earliest opportunity.

On 21 October, Minister Shanks and the Secretary of State for Scotland met with the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and the National Wealth Fund as part of the Grangemouth Investment Taskforce to discuss what actions we can take to progress investible propositions at Grangemouth. We continue to work at pace to ensure that this investment materialises as soon as possible.
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David Chadwick:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and (b) representatives of the Welsh steel industry on the potential impact of proposed EU steel import quotas on (i) steel production and (ii) employment in Wales. \p Jo Stevens: I met with the Minister for Industry to discuss the potential impact of proposed EU steel proposals and continue to work closely with cabinet colleagues as Government responds to protect our domestic steel industry. I remain in close contact with all Welsh steelmakers and have had numerous discussions with Tata Steel UK and steel unions to understand the potential impact on individual businesses. As Chair of the Port Talbot Transition Board, I also discussed this with members at the October meeting.

We recognise that global trading conditions remain challenging for the steel industry as global overcapacity, trade diversion and weak demand continue to put downward pressure on prices. To address these conditions, the Government intervened earlier this year to strengthen the current steel safeguard measures. This Government will continue to review stronger trade measures to protect steel producers in South Wales and across the UK.

We are actively engaging at all levels with the European Commission, and key Member States, with the aim of securing a positive outcome for the UK. We will always defend our critical steel industry, which is vital for the UK.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that critical services continue to run in the event of a major internet outage. \p Jo Stevens: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provides IT services, including cyber security to my Department.

The government has a robust set of policies in place to ensure there are well-defined and tested incident management processes in place, and to ensure continuity of essential functions in the event of system or service failure.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will publish the Government Cyber Action Plan this Winter, which will set out a clear approach for the Government and the Wider Public Sector to manage cyber security and resilience incidents.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria are used for Ministers to fly on RAF Envoy for domestic flights. \p Luke Pollard: Defence Ministers working within the Ministry of Defence (MOD) are counted alongside entitled military personnel for Envoy use, thereafter the Secretary of State for Defence authorises Senior Ministers occasional use of the RAF CSAT aircraft, in fulfilment of their duties, when those aircraft are not committed to MOD tasks.

User priority decisions are made in coordination with Air Command and the MOD Defence Single Tasking Authority as required.
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David Chadwick:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes in the UK's steelmaking capacity on the UK's (a) defence and (b) critical infrastructure. \p Luke Pollard: The UK steel sector provides vital support to the UK’s defence capabilities including specialist cast and forged steel components for a range of UK defence programmes such as submarines, surface vessels and artillery barrels.

An initial assessment of the impact of changes in UK Steelmaking capacity on the UK’s (a) defence and (b) critical infrastructure is deemed low. Steel used in our major Defence programmes is sourced by our prime contractors from a range of UK and international suppliers, as programmes may often have requirements for specialist steel which cannot be sourced in the UK.

The amount and origins of steel procured for Defence programmes is included in the Department for Business and Trade’s annual Steel Public Procurement report which can be found on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/steel-public-procurement

This Government is producing a steel strategy that will consider implications for Defence and Critical infrastructure and create the right conditions in the UK for a competitive and sustainable steel industry.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) audit and (b) traceability checks are conducted to verify halal (i) certification and (ii) segregation in the Defence Academy catering supply chain; and how often compliance is reviewed. \p Luke Pollard: There is no requirement in law to inform customers of specific slaughter methods, and this practice is not commonplace within the Ministry of Defence (MOD). At the Defence Academy catering outlets, all halal-certified meat is explicitly labelled at the point of sale as ‘Halal Friendly’. Catering staff are also trained to provide dietary information upon request.

Halal meat is not supplied by default across Defence contracts. The unit price, supply chain and wastage of supplying halal-certified or any other meat at the Defence Academy is not held by the MOD, as this is a matter for our contractors. Information on the audit and traceability checks undertaken to verify Halal certification is also the responsibility of the providing contractor.

All halal meat supplied to the Defence Academy must comply with UK animal welfare legislation, including the requirement for pre-slaughter stunning. Certification bodies are not centrally mandated, but suppliers must meet MOD food safety and assurance standards.
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Robin Swann:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 83992 on Defence: Northern Ireland, did the officials in the Northern Ireland Executive include (a) the Northern Ireland Economy Minister and (b) officials from the Department of the Economy in Northern Ireland. \p Luke Pollard: Ministry of Defence officials have engaged several stakeholders in Northern Ireland regarding the proposed Defence Growth Deal that was announced in the Defence Industrial Strategy. This has included officials in the Department for Economy and the Executive Office.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft will be delivered to Turkey in each year from 2030. \p Luke Pollard: Information about the number of aircraft delivered on an annual basis is commercially and military sensitive information, and it would not be appropriate for us to disclose this on behalf of our Turkish partners.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 79413 on Nuclear Installations: Safety, what criteria define each classification of nuclear site event. \p Luke Pollard: Categorisation is based on an independent assessment of the incident against the Nuclear Regulatory guidance of both the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator; the relevant regulations including the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 and any appropriate Relevant Good Practise. Events are reported to Nuclear regulators as required in accordance with standing arrangements.
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Stephen Gethins:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to provide stable family homes for children of serving military personnel whose parents have separated. \p Louise Sandher-Jones: Defence recognises the needs of separating families and provides specific policy on accommodation to meet the needs of entitled Service personnel and their spouse in these circumstances. The Ministry of Defence remains committed to widening entitlement to family accommodation to support personnel with non-resident children. The Modernised Accommodation Offer remains under review and we expect to be able to communicate future policy changes in the near future.
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Stephen Gethins:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support provided for families of serving personnel separating from their spouses. \p Louise Sandher-Jones: Defence recognises the unique challenges faced by families of Serving personnel during separations. Families of Serving personnel are provided with access to a wide range of support, which includes housing assistance and guidance, emotional support, financial and legal signposting to charities and organisations. The support provided is designed to assist families through the emotional and logistical difficulties of relationship breakdowns.

Joint Service Publication (JSP) 770 ‘Armed Forces Welfare Support Policy’ contains a chapter focussing on matters of separation and divorce and which provides a link to an online guide ‘Separation and divorce guide for military personnel spouses and partners’ which contains a wealth of support and guidance. JSP 770 also includes an annex ‘The Welfare HARDFACTS Handrail’ which is used by the chain of command and Service welfare teams to guide how they support affected personnel.

The ‘Separation and divorce guide for military personnel spouses and partners’ can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/separation-and-divorce-guide-for-military-personnel-spouses-and-partners/separation-and-divorce-guide-for-military-personnel-spouses-and-partners
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Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking enable veterans who were dismissed from the Armed Forces on the basis of their sexuality to have their service records amended to reflect their treatment. \p Louise Sandher-Jones: Service personnel who were dismissed from the Armed Forces on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, can apply to have their discharge qualified. This qualification of administrative discharge will set right the records of Veterans who were administratively discharged under the ban in place between 1967 and 2000, as well as those discharged prior to 1967 due to historic law.

The qualification of administrative discharge addresses recommendation 26 of Lord Etherton’s Independent Review and serves to remove any dishonour from their Service files and recognises that their discharge was wrong. Personnel who were administratively discharged following conviction/s for same-sex sexual offences will first need to apply for a disregard of their conviction/s through the Home Office’s Disregard and Pardon scheme. More information about the qualification of administrative discharge can be found on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/lgbt-veterans-support-and-next-steps
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-30 conversation_298

Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to help ensure that military families looking to foster a child have adequate housing to meet the criteria required by fostering organisations. \p Luke Pollard: Defence continually reviews its accommodation policies to ensure they are suitable for modern families. All Service personnel who are active foster carers are entitled to accommodation as necessary to support them fostering children. Families wanting to foster a child for the first time are eligible to apply for suitable accommodation where it is available.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation is committed to providing personnel and their families with high quality, modern and well-maintained accommodation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-09 conversation_1

Neil O'Brien:To ask the Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what the weekly attendance was for (a) children, (b) adults and (c) all ages for (i) weekly, (ii) Sunday and (iii) school services in each year since 2003. \p Marsha De Cordova: An excel spreadsheet is attached that gives weekly attendance for (a) children, (b) adults, and (c) all ages, for (i) weekly, (ii) Sunday and (iii) school services in each year since 2003.

The 2024 figures are preliminary and may change as further information is received and further data checks are carried out.

Attendance at services for schools has only been collected since October 2013.

The Church of England publishes statistical data annually on its website. The most recent (2023) Statistics for Mission document is available here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/statisticsformission2023.pdf

45816ChurchofEnglandattendance2003to2004 (xlsx, 13.9KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-09 conversation_2

Luke Murphy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the extent to which unmet support needs related to Special Educational Needs and Disability are considered in assessments of parenting capacity during child protection and pre-proceeding processes. \p Janet Daby: As a child-centred government, we are taking forward significant reform of children’s social care to rebalance the system towards earlier intervention and ensure that children and families get access to the right help, at the point of need. Our Families First Partnership programme, backed by over £500 million in 2025/26, emphasises the importance of a whole family approach throughout the system of help, support and protection.

The department’s statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ encourages local authorities to consider appointing a Designated Social Care Officer who can help strengthen the links between social care services and the special educational needs and disabilities system, and co-ordinate children’s educational, health and care needs assessments with other social care assessments. The guidance is also clear that practitioners should consider the needs of parents when assessing whether a child is in need of protection. In pre-proceedings, the local authority should work in partnership with families and, where possible, any extra support or services needed to support the family should be identified and put in place.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-09 conversation_3

Andrew Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the (a) level of use of AI by students to complete assessments in (i) secondary, (ii) further and (iii) higher education and (b) the potential impact of use on the validity of academic qualifications. \p Stephen Morgan: The department policy paper on generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education sets out some of the opportunities and risks education establishments should be aware of when considering generative AI technologies, including use of AI in assessments. The policy paper can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/generative-artificial-intelligence-in-education/generative-artificial-intelligence-ai-in-education.

The department is working to ensure teachers are equipped and supported to promote safe and appropriate use of AI.

Schools, colleges and awarding organisations need to continue taking reasonable steps, where applicable, to prevent malpractice involving the use of generative AI. Teachers know their pupils best and are experienced in identifying their individual pupils’ work.

A new departmental group will advise on digital, AI and technology to prepare children and young people for an AI and tech-enabled world, as well as promoting the use of AI and Edtech for better teaching and learning. Expert and evidence-informed recommendations will be produced.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has published guidance on AI use in assessments. This guidance provides teachers and exam centres with information to help them prevent and identify potential malpractice involving the misuse of AI. The JCQ guidance can be found here: https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/malpractice/artificial-intelligence/.

Ofsted and Ofqual both published policy papers in April 2024 outlining their approach to AI and Ofsted are currently updating their AI Strategy. The Office for Students will be including actions relating to AI in its upcoming 2025 to 2028 Strategy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-09 conversation_4

Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure staff in school-based nursery settings are adequately trained to care for infants under two years old. \p Stephen Morgan: The early years workforce is at the heart of the government’s mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver our Plan for Change.

The department is providing a range of high-quality support and training for early years educators and leaders, building a stronger, more expert workforce, to enable nursery settings to deliver quality early education, including our online early years child development training, online support available through the ‘Help for early years providers’ and ‘Foundation years’ services, and a range of non-statutory guidance to support effective curriculum and assessment, including ‘Development Matters’. We have also extended funding of the Stronger Practice Hubs until March 2026 to continue support for early years educators to improve practice.

Our online child development training in particular is designed to help early years educators build and strengthen their knowledge, in response to user research which identified a specific need from educators working with the zero to four age group for practical easily accessible information to support implementation of the early years foundation stage (EYFS). The training includes a specific module on understanding child development and the importance of early childhood education and care, including how to implement strategies to provide a positive approach in a setting, the importance of child development knowledge, the various factors that impact on children’s development and how to effectively deliver the EYFS.

Last year, in collaboration with The Lullaby Trust the department produced safer sleep guidance which is available on the Foundation Years website. This covers a variety of areas including sleeping products which are not suitable for babies, suitable sleeping surfaces for babies and safe use of blankets.

The department has also produced guidance with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children on supporting distressed babies and the importance of positive interactions on baby brain development. These support providers with developing enriching relationships with the babies in their settings, by recognising their social cues and responding appropriately.

Later this year the department will publish a strategy to reform early years education, including the workforce. We will work in partnership with the sector, reforming training and support for the workforce to drive up standards and offer sustained professional development. We will work in partnership with those inside and outside of government to test new approaches and drive progress towards a common goal of giving every child the best start in life.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-09 conversation_5

Alex Sobel:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the period product scheme will continue within schools in the year 2025-26. \p Stephen Morgan: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Leeds and Central Headingley to the answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 30133.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-09 conversation_6

Terry Jermy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance she has provided to (a) local authorities and (b) families on the special assessments section of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. \p Janet Daby: Detailed guidance has been provided to local authorities and regional adoption agencies about the recent changes to the adoption and special guardianship support fund, including regarding specialist assessments. Similar information has been shared with stakeholder organisations representing families. The GOV.UK website has also been updated with information to explain the recent changes. This information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adoption-support-fund-asf#funding-eligibility.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-09)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-09 conversation_7

Mike Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the rule change preventing nurseries and preschools from charging for additional hours on the financial viability of early years providers; and what steps she is taking to support childcare providers with operational costs. \p Stephen Morgan: It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

The department does not prevent early education and childcare providers from charging parents for hours that are additional to any government funded early education place to which they are entitled. These are a private transaction between parents and their provider.

However, where providers agree to offer early education entitlements places that are funded by the taxpayer, it is a statutory requirement that those places must be available free of charge to parents. This means that mandatory charges associated with entitlements places are not permitted, and this was confirmed by the High Court in February this year. However, as departmental statutory guidance sets out, providers may offer and charge parents for food and extras, such as nappies, on an optional basis.

Next year alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements. This is a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25.

The government is delivering the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% to up to £570 per eligible child per year.

The department has confirmed funding rates for 2025/26 and announced a new £75 million expansion grant to support providers to deliver the additional staff and places required for next September.

A further £37 million of capital funding has been allocated to create or expand 300 school-based nurseries.