Written questions by Khan.

Whether he has had discussions with representatives from (a) the cycle manufacturing industry and (b) cycle manufacturing industries outside the UK on anti-dumping duties on (i) e-bikes, (ii) bicycles and (iii) bicycle components from China.

On 6 February, the Secretary of State extended anti-dumping and countervailing measures on Chinese folding e-bikes and removed non-folding e-bikes from the measures. This followed evidence-based transition reviews from the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA). This continues the necessary protection for UK folding e-bikes producers, whilst limiting the impact on our consumers and importers. A transition review of the anti-dumping measure on Chinese bicycles and certain bicycle parts is currently underway by the TRA. The Secretary of State met with UK manufacturer Brompton Bicycle on 7 March during his visit to Japan.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of the graduate route in promoting the UK as an international study destination.

The UK has a world-class higher education sector, with four universities in the world university rankings top 10 and 15 in the top 100, alongside a wide array of leading institutions which can offer a fulfilling and enjoyable experience to international students from around the world.There are many factors that influence international students when they choose to study abroad. These include the range and quality of available courses, the visa rules that apply in countries they are considering, and the appeal of living and studying in those countries.The graduate route enables international students who have successfully completed an eligible qualification to stay in the UK for two years, or three years for doctoral students. Former students who are on the graduate route may switch to another route, for example the skilled worker route, if the relevant requirements are met.This government has made clear its approach to international students. We welcome international students who enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK.

Whether he has conducted a risk assessment on the potential impact of (a) future pandemics and (b) geopolitical disruption to the UK's blood stocks; and what contingency plans are in place for these scenarios.

There are four blood services within the United Kingdom, namely the Welsh Blood Service, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, the Northern Ireland Blood Service, and NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). In England, NHSBT moves blood around the country to balance blood stocks in all areas, and works closely with the other UK blood services.The risks and impacts posed by pandemic disease is closely monitored by NHSBT through a risk assessment and a pandemic disease contingency plan. NHSBT is largely self-sufficient in the supply of whole blood to hospitals in England, and isn't reliant on supplies from other countries. Beyond its ability to move blood stocks to where they are needed across the country, NHSBT mitigates geopolitical risks to blood stocks through commercial arrangements with suppliers of vital consumables from overseas, for instance by sourcing blood bags from multiple supply regions and flexing stock holdings.

What steps his Department is taking to invest in new technologies and innovations to enhance the efficiency and resilience of the UK’s blood supply chain.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood services in England. The baseline price charged by NHSBT to hospitals for the blood they use is negotiated annually between NHSBT, NHS England, and the Department. This reflects the investments that NHSBT has made in blood supply in the previous year.The Department provided seed-funding to support NHSBT’s work to increase collection capacity and resilience, including the new Brixton Donor Centre which opened in December 2024. A further donor centre will open in Brighton later this year, and NHSBT is developing business cases for additional mobile capacity across the West Midlands and North London. Plasma is collected as part of whole blood collection, as well as through dedicated plasma collection centres. Therefore, plasma collection will also be supported by this resilience work.NHSBT, the Department, and NHS England are working together to ensure that hospitals are practicing effective stock management and resilience in order to respond to incidents through the Joint Blood Stocks Working Group. NHSBT plans to improve the efficiency of donor collection processes via the development of a Donor Session Platform, as this technology will improve the ability to “on board” donors and reduce deferrals.

What funding his Department has made available to improve the UK's whole blood processing and plasma collection capacities.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood services in England. The baseline price charged by NHSBT to hospitals for the blood they use is negotiated annually between NHSBT, NHS England, and the Department. This reflects the investments that NHSBT has made in blood supply in the previous year.The Department provided seed-funding to support NHSBT’s work to increase collection capacity and resilience, including the new Brixton Donor Centre which opened in December 2024. A further donor centre will open in Brighton later this year, and NHSBT is developing business cases for additional mobile capacity across the West Midlands and North London. Plasma is collected as part of whole blood collection, as well as through dedicated plasma collection centres. Therefore, plasma collection will also be supported by this resilience work.NHSBT, the Department, and NHS England are working together to ensure that hospitals are practicing effective stock management and resilience in order to respond to incidents through the Joint Blood Stocks Working Group. NHSBT plans to improve the efficiency of donor collection processes via the development of a Donor Session Platform, as this technology will improve the ability to “on board” donors and reduce deferrals.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing extended producer responsibility collection targets for glass bottles to 90%.

Collection targets are not a feature of the extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging (pEPR). However, the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, which implement pEPR, set challenging, but achievable, recycling targets for all glass packaging which rise year on year to 85% by 2030.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on aligning the UK-wide bottle return scheme with the planned scheme for Wales.

The Government is committed to deliver a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in England in October 2027 and to realise its benefits of reducing litter, increasing recycling, and creating high quality recyclate that will support the transition to a circular economy. Following a period of joint development of DRS across all four nations, the Welsh Government made the decision to withdraw from this approach in November 2024. Defra Ministers remain in close contact with Welsh Government counterparts through bilateral meetings, calls, and written correspondence. Officials remain in close working partnership with the Welsh Government as they take the decisions regarding a DRS in Wales. The UK Government is keen to keep the door open to provide as much interoperability of schemes across the UK as possible.

What her Department's planned timetable is for the completion of the migration of casework operations to the new ATLAS system.

Since mid-2024, Atlas has been the primary caseworking system for operational teams across Migration & Borders with the legacy CID (Case Information Database) caseworking system only being used for very small volume case types. Work to migrate legacy CID ‘work in progress’ cases across to Atlas has been in progress since late 2024, and the capability to handle those small volume case types is due to be completed by the end of April 2025, when it is currently scheduled to decommission CID.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the total cost to the public purse of local authorities providing crisis support to families affected by No Recourse to Public Funds conditions.

The majority of funding in the local government finance settlement is unringfenced, recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities. It is at the discretion of each local authority as to how much is allocated to the packages of support they provide to families in crisis, including those impacted by No Recourse to Public Funds conditions.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on local authority budgets of providing crisis support to families impacted by No Recourse to Public Funds conditions.

The majority of funding in the local government finance settlement is unringfenced, recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities. It is at the discretion of each local authority as to how much is allocated to the packages of support they provide to families in crisis, including those impacted by No Recourse to Public Funds conditions.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the work produced by the University of Manchester’s Unit M initiative.

Officials from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have met the University of Manchester to understand how its new Unit M functions, and intends to help the university to support the region’s innovation economy. We look forward to learning from its insights as it delivers its activities.This is an example of how universities are working collaboratively within their regions to deliver economic growth, supporting the government’s mission to kickstart the economy. The importance of developing regional innovation ecosystems in this way is why we have extended the Innovation Accelerator pilot programme into 2025/26.

Whether her Department is taking steps to make (a) blood, (b) plasma, (c) platelet, (d) organ, (e) stem cell and (f) tissue donation a mandatory part of the curriculum for primary and secondary school children.

The teaching of blood, tissue and organs is covered in the biology national curriculum at key stage 3, so is taught to pupils aged 11 to 14. While organ donation is not specifically mentioned, schools may choose to cover it here.At primary level, schools can talk about blood and organ donation more generally, in an age-appropriate way, as part of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum, which includes content on physical health and mental wellbeing. Blood and organ donation can be covered in more detail in secondary RSHE, within the context of healthy lifestyles and the choices that individuals make in adulthood.The Oak National Academy, an arm's length public body responsible for creating free curriculum resources, has produced a lesson that can be taught to pupils between the ages of 7 and 11 (key stage 2). This includes a section on organs, the transplant waiting list and the relevant legislation.The department is currently reviewing the statutory RSHE curriculum, which includes considering whether any additional content is needed. Separately, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will consider how RSHE fits into the wider curriculum.

If he will promote the use of (a) sustainable and (b) reusable medical garments in the NHS.

The National Health Service has committed to reaching net zero by 2045 for the emissions it influences through the goods and services it buys from its partners and suppliers. This includes a greater focus on procuring and using sustainable and reusable medical garments where this is safe and effective, such as reusable sterile gowns.NHS England is working with NHS organisations to share best practice and evidence-based approaches, understand operational challenges, for example requirements for laundry infrastructure, and support the inclusion of lots to procure reusable medical textile services within relevant procurement frameworks. NHS England supported the Royal Surgical Colleges to develop and promote the Green Theatre Checklist to encourage sustainable theatre approaches, including medical garments. The checklist is available at the following link:https://www.rcsed.ac.uk/professional-support-development-resources/environmental-sustainability-and-surgery/green-theatre-checklistNHS England is also supporting innovation through the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare programme, which has funded a project to support reuse of surgical textiles, more information about which can be found at the following link:https://sbrihealthcare.co.uk/impact-case-studies/case-studies/revolution-zero

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) France, (b) Germany and (c) Sweden on reducing plastic waste.

The Secretary of State has not held discussions on plastic waste with his counterparts in France, Germany, and Sweden. However, officials have had discussions with their counterparts in other countries to learn lessons on tackling waste, including plastic waste. For instance, officials have had discussions with the German Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) administrator to assist in developing the DRS in the UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to provide financial incentives for businesses engaged in (a) upcycling and (b) the sustainable production of textiles.

The Secretary of State has asked his department to convene a taskforce of experts from across the Government, industry, academia and relevant non-governmental organisations. The Taskforce will help to develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England and a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the Government will make on a sector-by-sector basis. The Taskforce will consider the evidence for action right across the economy, and as such the Taskforce will evaluate what interventions, including financial incentives, may need to be made in the textiles sector as it helps to develop the Circular Economy Strategy. Financial incentives are primarily a matter for the Treasury, and Treasury Ministers will be part of a Small Ministerial Group on the Circular Economy, which is also being convened, along with Ministers from Defra, the Department for Business and Trade, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Transport and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This group will govern, join up and drive work to promote a Circular Economy across the Government. supporting the Government’s Missions to kickstart economic growth and make Britain a clean energy superpower.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing teachers in sixth form colleges with the same pay increases as those agreed with school teachers.

The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE), including in sixth form colleges. The pay and conditions of FE staff remains the responsibility of individual colleges and providers who are free to implement pay arrangements in line with their local needs.The department recognises the vital role that teachers in sixth form colleges, as well as other FE colleges, play in developing the skills needed to drive the government’s missions to improve opportunity and economic growth. That is why the department is investing around £600 million across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas, including in sixth form colleges. The department also continues to support recruitment and retention with teacher training bursaries worth up to £30,000 tax-free in certain key subject areas, and with support for industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through the Taking Teaching Further programme.My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a Budget on 30 October to be followed by a multi-year spending review in the spring of next year. Decisions about future post-16 funding and capital programmes will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.

When she plans to announce whether her Department will provide funding for (a) BTEC and (b) Alternative Technical Qualification courses in the (i) 2025-26 and (ii) 2026-27 academic year.

In July 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced a short pause to the defunding of qualifications to enable a review of post-16 qualification reforms at Level 3 and below. This was followed by a Written Ministerial Statement by my noble Friend, the Minister for Skills on 25 July. This statement can be accessed here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-07-25/hlws20.Additional details about the principles of the review were published in an FE Week article on 30 September 2024, which can be accessed here: https://feweek.co.uk/how-well-go-about-reforming-the-level-3-landscape.The department is working to review the defunding due to take place in 2025 and will publish the outcomes of this review before the end of the year.The department has not announced any defunding for 2026.