theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken to raise awareness in schools of the potential impact of vapes on health. \p Georgia Gould: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department has included a specific reference to the dangers of vaping in the amended relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance, which was published in July. This includes the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks of vaping, the risks of illicit vapes containing drugs, and the facts about vaping, including the harms posed to young people.

To support schools to deliver this content effectively, the department’s existing suite of teacher training modules includes one on drugs, alcohol and tobacco, which makes specific reference to e-cigarettes. In addition, Oak National Academy has developed materials across the updated curriculum.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2025 to question 93149, whether RISE advisors will be dismissed if they do not meet the Programme-level Key Performance Indicators. \p Georgia Gould: RISE advisers are managed in line with the Civil Service performance management framework. Any issues or concerns, including whether performance objectives are being met, will be addressed through the established Civil Service performance management process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve education on (a) sexual consent and (b) relationships in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Georgia Gould: The department published updated relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance in July 2025. It includes a focus on building healthy relationships skills from the start of primary school and sets out that secondary schools should cover the role of consent, including how to recognise, respect and communicate consent and boundaries in both platonic and romantic relationships.

Pupils should be taught the law about the age of consent, that they have a choice about whether to have sex, and their capacity to give, withhold or remove consent at any time, even if initially given. They should also be taught that that there are a range of strategies for identifying, resisting and understanding pressure in relationships from peers or others, including in relation to sex, and how to avoid putting pressure on others.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help increase levels of attainment in schools in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Georgia Gould: All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed.

Through the government’s Plan for Change, the department is giving every child the best start in life and has set a milestone of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn. This is backed by an investment close to £1.5 billion over the next three years on improving family services and early years education.

Building on this work, the department is driving high and rising standards in every school to strengthen attainment and outcomes for all children.

This includes regional improvement for standards and excellence teams, recruiting an additional 6,500 teachers across secondary and special schools, and colleges, and a refreshed high quality curriculum and assessment system.

Alongside this, we are working to address barriers to learning, including rolling out free breakfast clubs and tackling school absence in all schools, including in Surrey Heath, as well as tackling child poverty through our historic Child Poverty Strategy that will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030.

We know there is further work to do, which is why our upcoming Schools White Paper will set out our vision for a school system that drives educational excellence for every child, no matter their background or circumstances.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the factors causing increased numbers of Education, Health and Care Plans to be issued, including in Oldham. \p Georgia Gould: There are a range of views as to why demand for education, health and care (EHC) plans has increased. This is why the department is continuing an extensive programme of engagement to gather insight and evidence that allows us to shape a proposed reform programme that prioritises early intervention, fairness and effective evidence-based support.

As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education outlined in her letter to the Chair of the Education Select Committee, we must move towards a system where high quality support is provided as soon as a need is identified, rather than only once an EHC plan is in place. Every school should be resourced and able to meet common and predictable needs, including as they change over time, without parents having to fight for support.

As part of our Plan for Change, we are determined to make changes to the special educational needs and disabilities system, restore the trust of parents by ensuring early years, schools and colleges have the tools to better identify need early, and support children and young people before issues escalate. We will share more information on plans for reform in a full Schools White Paper in the new year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Vicky Foxcroft:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2025 to Question 91415 on Citizenship: Teachers, what steps she is taking to train and support teachers to teach citizenship as a national curriculum subject at Key Stages 1 and 2; and if she plans to fund additional training routes to help meet this need. \p Georgia Gould: Work is underway to deliver a new curriculum and assessment system, including Programmes of Study for citizenship at key stages 1 and 2. Working closely with the sector, we are working towards a first teaching of the new curriculum from September 2028.

Proposals will be consulted on from 2026 to ensure that we are capturing the important views from those most impacted. This will inform decisions about teacher training to support implementation. We will provide time for familiarisation and high quality digital resources through Oak National Academy (Oak).

Oak draws expertise from the best in the sector and shares it with teachers. Its curriculum partners include high performing school trusts, subject associations, education charities, publishers and universities. All resources are openly licensed and free for anyone to use and adapt.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of staff in her Department in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year. \p Olivia Bailey: The department does not currently operate a performance management system that includes ratings. However, it is in the process of introducing ratings for its Senior Civil Servants, with ratings for the 2025/26 performance year due to be determined in spring 2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve child protection services in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency. \p Josh MacAlister: The department is working closely with local authorities and their partners to improve multi-agency child protection and safeguarding. Officials meet regularly with Surrey County Council, including to discuss local child protection delivery.

We are providing £2.4 billion over the next three years for the Families First Partnership programme to support local areas to embed reforms across Family Help, multi-agency child protection, and family group decision-making. Effective multi-agency child protection arrangements are vital to prevent children from slipping through the cracks.

These teams will bring multi-agency expertise and a clear focus to identify and respond decisively to all forms of significant harm from inside and outside the home and online.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will deliver the biggest overhaul of children’s social care in a generation. It puts multi-agency child protection teams on a statutory footing, improves information sharing within and across agencies, and ensures education and childcare settings are part of local safeguarding arrangements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. \p Josh MacAlister: This financial year, the department has invested £50 million into the adoption and special guardianship support fund. We have approved applications for nearly 14,000 children since April, for both therapy and specialist assessments. We continue to review the impact of the changes to funding made in April 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Oliver Ryan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Clause 4 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, if she will set out (a) what safeguards will be put in place to protect information shared under this clause against unauthorized access, misuse, or hacking; (b) how she will define the scope of relevant information, (c) which identifier will be used as the consistent identifier, (d) whether she has taken any independent advice on the strength of oversight procedures, and (e) what steps her Department will take to ensure that marginalized or vulnerable children and families are not disproportionately affected by this data-sharing duty. \p Josh MacAlister: Information sharing governance is crucial to Clause 4, and existing data protection requirements will apply. As is the case now, misuse of personally identifiable information is guarded against via governance processes that are the responsibility of data controllers and processors, who use systems to store sensitive children's data and follow the relevant security and processes. Consistent identifier piloting will consider what measures are needed for the number to be used securely and effectively.   “Relevant information” will be set out in statutory guidance, which relevant agencies must have regard to

The NHS number is being piloted as the consistent identifier, we will mandate the consistent identifier via regulations only when confident in the benefits, cost, security and governance

The department is working closely with the Information Commissioner’s Office for both the consistent identifier and the information sharing duty to develop our approach.   Impact and equalities assessments will ensure vulnerable families are not disproportionately affected.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support families to read with children before they start (a) nursery and (b) school in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Olivia Bailey: The government is investing £500 million in the national rollout of Best Start Family Hubs, which will be available in every local authority by 2028. These hubs bring together services for families with children aged 0 to 19, with a particular focus on support in the early years, recognising the Plan for Change’s ambition to give every child the best start in life and improve child outcomes by age 5.

A key priority is strengthening the home learning environment, because what happens at home makes the biggest difference. The services provided by Best Start Family Hubs will help families to build simple, everyday routines to chat, play and read more with their children, such as sharing stories at bedtime and visiting local libraries.

We also work with trusted voluntary and community partners, including the National Literacy Trust, to provide books, resources and activities that make reading fun and accessible. Alongside this, the National Year of Reading will launch in January, offering practical resources to help parents read with their children before nursery and school.
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Liam Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the policy papers entitled Spending Review 2025, published on 30 June 2025, and Budget 2025, published on 28 November 2025, what their Department’s capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be in each year of the Spending Review period; how much capital funding has been allocated to each of their Department’s programmes; and how much and what proportion of the capital DEL allocation remains unallocated in each year. \p Olivia Bailey: The Budget 2025 confirmed capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) plans for 2025/26 to 2029/30; £6.8 billion in 2025/26, £8.3 billion in 2026/27, and £7.7 billion in 2027/28 to 2029/30.

A proportion is allocated to improving condition of the school and college estate by increasing the annual capital maintenance investment in line with inflation, rising to around £2.6 billion in 2029/30. The settlement also commits around £2.4 billion capital funding per annum over the next four years to continue the School Rebuilding Programme of over 500 schools.

We have committed over £560 million to reform the children’s social care system and support the refurbishment and expansion of children’s homes and foster care placements, and around £370 million for school-based nurseries.

Yearly allocation will be determined through the department’s internal processes to balance these commitments with operational needs. This will be presented to parliament and published annually at Mains Estimates. All capital DEL allocations are fully allocated towards departmental capital priorities.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making mandatory directions to schools in England to ban mobile phones in the classroom. \p Olivia Bailey: Mobile phones have no place in school and school leaders already have the power to ban them.

The department’s guidance on mobile phones in schools, published in February 2024, is clear that schools should prohibit the use of devices with smart technology throughout the school day, including during lessons, transitions and breaks.

We expect all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning. If pupils fail to follow those rules, schools have the power to confiscate devices.

Research from the Children’s Commissioner published in April 2025, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools (99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools) already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the number of (a) suspensions and (b) exclusions among pupils with SEND in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Olivia Bailey: The department trusts headteachers to use their professional judgement, based on the individual circumstances of the case, when issuing a sanction and in the most serious cases exclusion may be necessary.

The department regularly analyses and publishes pupil suspension and permanent exclusion data to address disproportionate impacts and remains committed to providing earlier intervention in mainstream schools, focusing on pupils most at risk of exclusion to ensure every child can achieve and thrive.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to (a) affordable and (b) flexible childcare provision through childminders in (i) Surrey and (ii) Surrey Heath constituency. \p Olivia Bailey: It is our 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 has implemented new flexibilities for childminders that will help them to join and stay in the profession, giving them the flexibility to work with more people and spend more time working from non-domestic premises if they prefer.

Childminders can contribute to the delivery of the expanded entitlements and may also benefit from an expected increase in demand for places. While we do not retain constituency level data, the hourly funding rates for Surrey are £12.89, £9.01 and £6.25 for children under two years old, aged two, and aged three to four respectively. We will work with local authorities and others to ensure that childminders and other early years providers are paid monthly for the funded hours they provide, making their income more stable. We will also keep working with Jobcentre Plus to encourage more people to become childminders.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in the past twelve months, how many disciplinary cases were concluded against civil servants in (a) her Department and (b) its agencies broken down by (i) outcome and (ii) whether the primary allegation related to (A) performance and (B) conduct. \p Olivia Bailey: The requested information is available in the table below:

Disciplinary Cases Concluded

Totals

Department of Education

Agencies

32

<5

Outcomes

Alternative role

<5

<5

Dismissal

<5

<5

Final Written

<5

<5

Final Written - 24 months

<5

<5

First Written

<5

<5

Informal

8

<5

No Action

5

<5

No Outcome Provided

5

<5

Allegations

Performance

*

*

Conduct

29

<5

Other

<5

<5

*Footnote – cases relating to performance are managed separately through the department’s performance management policy and are excluded from the above table
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average number of working days lost to sickness absence per full-time equivalent member of staff was in (a) the Department and (b) its executive agencies in the last year; and how many formal performance warnings were issued to staff. \p Olivia Bailey: Sickness absence data for the Civil Service, including departmental breakdowns, is published annually. The data is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence.

The next update will be for the year ending 31 March 2025.

In the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, 13 formal performance warnings were issued to staff.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate has been made of the volume, proportion and value of food waste in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) colleges and (d) universities. \p Olivia Bailey: Schools, colleges and universities are responsible for their day-to-day running, including their meals service and waste management. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has engaged closely with the department and representative organisations from the education sector to raise awareness of the requirements and provide guidance and resources to support compliance.
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Zöe Franklin:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of uniform changes proposed in the Children and Wellbeing Bill on parents who wish to buy branded uniform items for convenience. \p Olivia Bailey: Whilst uniforms play a valuable role in creating a sense of common identity among pupils and reducing visible inequalities, too many schools still require high numbers of branded items. This is why we have introduced legislation to limit the number of branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require, giving parents more choice in where to purchase uniform and allowing them the flexibility to make the spending decisions that suit their circumstances.

Schools may continue to offer optional branded items, provided these are kept to a minimum and a generic alternative is available.

Parents should have choice over where they shop, so they can control the cost of uniforms. Our data suggest that where parents can buy items from a range of suppliers the average cost of uniform is significantly lower.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2025 to Question 95260 on Home Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure any training delivered to local authorities is holistic and trauma informed. \p Josh MacAlister: The department is engaging with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the Data Protection Impact Assessment for the Children Not in School registers to ensure that all data protection risks have been identified and mitigated before any processing of data begins.

The department has also held discussions with both Women’s Aid and the NSPCC, and other domestic abuse organisations, such as SafeLives, on the Children Not in School registers. We recognise the importance of protecting survivors of abuse and have worked with these partners to understand the implications of the Children Not in School measures and how concerns about access to data and identification can be resolved. We will continue this engagement ahead of implementation, including to inform our statutory guidance.

We will also commission and deliver training for all local authorities on the Children Not in School requirements and how they interact effectively with home education and alternative education approaches. This will be co-developed and co-delivered by home education representatives, and we will engage with relevant stakeholders, including safeguarding and domestic abuse organisations, as appropriate.

Funding will be provided to support local authorities to fulfil their new duties under the Children Not in School measures.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of vocational qualifications for post-16 learners in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency. \p Josh MacAlister: The Post-16 education and skills white paper, published on 20 October, set out our vision for a world-leading skills system which breaks down barriers to opportunity, meets student and employers’ needs; widens access to high-quality education and training; supports innovation, research, and development; and improves people’s lives.

The department has set out our plans to introduce V Levels, which will sit alongside A levels and T Levels, and will become the only pathway for vocational qualifications at level 3 for 16 to 19-year-olds. We will also introduce two clear post-16 pathways at level 2 for further study and for occupations. We have launched a consultation on these measures, which will close on 12 January 2026.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department will consider introducing discretionary provisions within home tuition fee eligibility criteria for British nationals living abroad who can demonstrate genuine and ongoing connections to the UK but were unable to relocate prior to their children commencing university. \p Josh MacAlister: To qualify for automatic home fee status and higher education student support, students must normally be settled in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for at least three years before their course begins. However, if a student has spent time overseas due to their own or a specified family member’s temporary employment abroad, this does not interrupt their ordinary residence in the UK, providing flexibility for those who have not made a long-term decision to live outside the UK. Decisions on whether a student meets the criteria for home fee status rest with higher education providers, which are independent and autonomous bodies. Student Finance England makes decisions about eligibility for student finance.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to address the difference in home fee status eligibility for siblings who are both British nationals where one child benefits from Withdrawal Agreement protections and another does not due to the timing of their university entry after 2028. \p Josh MacAlister: UK nationals and their children living in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, who wish to study in the UK, will be eligible for automatic home fee status and student support for courses starting up to seven years from the end of the transition period.

The seven-year period ensures that eligible UK nationals and their children, whose normal place of residence is in the EEA or Switzerland but wish to undertake higher education in England, will still be able to access home fee status and student financial support immediately on their return to the UK during this time.

From 1 January 2028, UK nationals and their children must normally have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for at least three years immediately before the start of their course to qualify for automatic home fee status and student support.
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Anneliese Midgley:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with HM Treasury on the potential merits of ringfencing funding received from fines levied on tech platforms by Ofcom under the Online Safety Act to fund specialist violence against women and girls support services, specifically for ‘by and for’ led services. \p Kanishka Narayan: Under the Online Safety Act, any fines collected by Ofcom must be paid into the Consolidated Fund and any subsequent allocation of funds would then be a matter for HM Treasury. It is worth noting that fine income is inherently unpredictable and therefore may not be an appropriate or sustainable way to directly fund initiatives.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the growth in the availability of open source Chinese AI platforms on the UK. \p Kanishka Narayan: The Government continues to monitor global developments in AI, including open-source platforms. Open-sourcing AI models decentralises control, enabling more developers to innovate, experiment and deploy systems for diverse purposes.

This approach can deliver significant benefits by fostering innovation, competition and transparency. However, decentralisation also introduces security risks. Open model releases may allow malicious actors to remove safeguards and fine-tune models for harmful purposes.

Consumers and businesses should choose the AI system most suitable for their purpose, considering whether they trust the organisation hosting the model and handling of potentially sensitive queries. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has published guidance to help individuals use AI tools safely, including advice on understanding how personal information is processed and shared.

As part of its research to understand the capabilities and impacts of advanced AI and develop and test risk-mitigations, the AI Security Institute (AISI) takes a leading role in safety-testing open and closed AI models wherever they come from.
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Juliet Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she is taking steps to improve reliability of broadband connection in the Bramcote area. \p Kanishka Narayan: The government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit coverage by 2032. Full-fibre technology will provide consumers with a faster but also more stable and reliable connection. People in the Bramcote area rightly expect to have the broadband connectivity they need to participate in the modern digital economy.

All communication providers, including those who operate in Bramcote, are subject to statutory obligations to ensure their networks and services remain available. They must take appropriate and proportionate measures to prepare for and reduce the risks of disruption occurring and report significant incidents to Ofcom, who have powers to investigate, enforce remedial measures and fine communications providers.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help prevent discrimination against women in digital spaces. \p Kanishka Narayan: Making the online environment a safer and fairer place for women and girls is a priority for this government.

The Online Safety Act has placed a requirement on tech platforms to proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls, including harassment and intimate image abuse.

Ofcom recently published guidance outlining further steps services can take to make their platforms safer for women and girls online. We will be monitoring platforms’ progress closely and working with Ofcom to hold them to account.

The government is developing its wider strategy to tackle violence against women and girls and will publish it in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Virgin Media’s PSTN switchover on the safety of vulnerable and telecare-reliant customers. \p Kanishka Narayan: Virgin Media has been fined £23.8m following the conclusion of Ofcom’s investigation started in 2023 into Virgin Media’s breach of their General Conditions.

We take people’s safety during this switchover very seriously. In November 2024, the Government secured further commitments from the telecoms industry, including Virgin Media, to protect vulnerable customers via the non-voluntary migrations checklist. This includes telecare-reliant customers.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate she has made of the number of vulnerable customers impacted by ongoing PSTN switchover programmes. \p Kanishka Narayan: There are an estimated 2 million telecare users in the UK, and many customers may be identified as vulnerable for other reasons, such as landline-dependency. The government does not hold data on the specific number affected by the industry led PSTN migration.

The Government is committed to keeping vulnerable people safe during the PSTN migration. In November 2024, the Government secured further commitments from the telecoms industry to protect vulnerable customers via the non-voluntary migrations checklist.
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Steve Witherden:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he has taken to make sure that digital ID can not be made a requirement for accessing a wide range of public and private services. \p Ian Murray: Digital ID will only be mandatory for a person who is going through a right to work check. There will be no other mandatory requirement to have the ID.

The Government is not mandating the use of digital ID to access other public or private services. People can still prove their identity using physical documents and non-digital alternatives outside of right-to-work checks if they prefer.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_99

Liam Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy papers entitled Spending Review 2025, published on 30 June 2025, and Budget 2025, published on 28 November 2025, what their Department’s capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be in each year of the Spending Review period; how much capital funding has been allocated to each of their Department’s programmes; and how much and what proportion of the capital DEL allocation remains unallocated in each year. \p Ian Murray: The Department’s capital Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) for 2026-27 to 2029-30 have not changed materially since they were published on the gov.uk following Spending Review 2025. Please find those documents and DELs: Spending Review 2025 document - GOV.UK

DSIT has recently published how it is allocating the majority of its R&D budget over this period. Here is the link to this: DSIT Research and Development (R&D) plans to 2029/2030 - GOV.UK. We intend to publish a further breakdown of our R&D spend later this financial year. Allocations for the non-R&D elements of DSIT’s CDEL budget are still being determined.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_100

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps are being taken to ensure there are safeguards when facial recognition is being used for children. \p Ian Murray: The UK’s data protection framework is technology-neutral, with principles such as transparency, accountability and fairness applying to all technologies using personal data. In practice, organisations must be clear with people about how and why their data is being processed, only processing it where there are legitimate grounds to do so, and ensuring that any data held is accurate and up to date.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published a range of guidance, including the use of biometric recognition technologies, and the use of video surveillance, including facial recognition technology used for children. These require organisations to carry out an impact assessment when processing activities involving technologies such as LFRT are likely to result in a high risk to individuals’ rights and freedoms.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_101

Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many seizures of illegal pork imports have been recorded at UK ports and airports in the last 12 months. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra does not record this information. Border Force, supported by port health and local authorities, is responsible for seizing illegal imports of pork at UK ports and airports.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_102

Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the risk of African Swine Fever entering the UK. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Defra’s latest assessment for African Swine Fever (ASF) dated 1 December 2025, considers that the risk of the virus entering the UK remains at medium.

We have strict measures in place to mitigate this risk. These include the listing of countries and regions eligible to export pigs and porcine products to Great Britain commercially, prohibitions on importing pigs, fresh pig meat, porcine semen and untreated porcine meat products from areas with ASF, veterinary health certification, and import checks at the border. Personal imports of pork and pork products are not permitted. It is also illegal to feed catering waste to livestock.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_103

Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what biosecurity procedures are in place for (a) detained and (b) uncollected meat consignments at UK border control posts to prevent the transmission of African Swine Fever. \p Dame Angela Eagle: All consignments of pork and pork products are checked at bio-secure border control posts to ensure that they have been effectively treated to mitigate the risk of African Swine Fever or they originate from a region declared free of the disease. Border Force with the support of Port Health Authorities carry out checks at the border to identify, seize and destroy illegally smuggled meat.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_104

Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many consignments of pork meat and associated products originating from Spain have been seized at UK borders since 28 November 2025. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The seizure data for detained consignments associated with a specific disease outbreak is recorded locally by Port Health Authorities. Defra does not record this information centrally.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_105

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether, following the Government’s decision to abolish the Valuation Office Agency and transfer its functions into HM Revenue and Customs, she plans to maintain the current Valuation Office Agency methodology for assessing business-rates valuations. \p Dan Tomlinson: At Budget 2025, the government published a Call for Evidence on Business Rates and Investment which will explore concerns raised by a small number of ratepayers whose properties are valued on the ‘Receipts & Expenditure’ methodology and options to improve predictability and stability.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_106

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the Air Passenger Duty in the Autumn Budget 2025 on the competitiveness of the UK aviation sector compared to other European countries. \p Dan Tomlinson: The government is committed to the long-term future of the aviation sector in the UK and recognises the benefits of the connectivity it creates between the UK and the rest of the world. The government remains committed to maintaining a competitive and dynamic aviation sector that supports jobs, skills, and innovation across the UK.

Following previous increases to Air Passenger Duty (APD) rates to account for below inflation rates, the government will uprate APD rates in line with RPI from 1 April 2027 and rounded to the nearest penny. This constitutes a real terms freeze.

This will continue to ensure that airlines make a fair contribution to the public finances, particularly given that tickets are VAT free, and aviation fuel incurs no duty.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_107

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what engagement she undertook with the pub and hospitality sector ahead of the 2025 Budget, particularly in the context of Business Rates. \p Dan Tomlinson: Treasury Ministers and officials engaged with a wide range of stakeholders across the pub and hospitality sector ahead of the Budget to discuss business rates.

We continue to engage with the hospitality sector to understand the pressures they face.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_108

Jess Brown-Fuller:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she is considering additional fiscal support for (a) small business and (b) hospitality. \p Dan Tomlinson: The hospitality sector and small businesses make significant contributions to the exchequer, the UK economy, and society.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties, including those in the hospitality sector as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

Furthermore, we have worked with the hospitality sector to announce the first National Licensing Policy Framework which sets a new strategic direction for licensing authorities and encourages them to have more regard to growth when reviewing licensing applications and decisions. Responding to sector asks, we will also explore further planning reforms to make it easier for hospitality and high-street businesses to expand and grow. To help drive these reforms, we will appoint a new Retail and Hospitality Envoy to champion these sectors across government.

This is on top of measures we have already announced, such as:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_109

Wendy Morton:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the average increase in annual tax paid by households earning between £25,000 and £50,000 following the Autumn Budget 2025. \p Dan Tomlinson: HM Treasury’s ‘Impact on households’ publication, produced alongside Budget 2025, shows that the impact of government tax, welfare and public service spending decisions from Autumn Budget 2024 onwards are progressive and benefit households in the lowest income deciles the most, on average, with increases in tax concentrated on the highest income households. On average, all but the richest 10% of households will benefit from policy decisions in 2028-29.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-12 conversation_110

Wendy Morton:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of raising taxes on property income on the private rented sector, including supply and rent levels. \p Dan Tomlinson: The independent Office for Budget Responsibility does not expect that the reform to property income tax will have a significant impact on rental prices.