Written questions by Hinds.

What recent discussions she has had with Police and Crime Commissioners on tackling vehicle nuisance in residential areas.

Any form of anti-social, dangerous or inconsiderate behaviour involving vehicles is a serious issue.Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for the Government, and a key part of the Safer Streets Mission.On 25 February 2025, the Crime and Policing Bill was introduced to Parliament. The Bill includes proposals to give the police greater powers to clamp down on vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles.This will strengthen the law and send a clear message that antisocial vehicles will not be tolerated.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 May to Question HL6929 on Roads: Cameras, if she will issue guidance to (a) police and (b) local authorities on how roadside noise cameras may be used to tackle noise-related anti-social behaviour.

The Department for Transport does not currently have plans to produce further guidance on noise cameras but is keeping up to date with any advancements in this technology. It is ultimately for local authorities and the police to consider what the most appropriate enforcement routes may be for addressing issues with excessive vehicle noise within their area. The use of noise camera technology has already been taken forward by some local authorities.

What steps she is taking to give powers to the police to tackle illegally modified exhausts for (a) cars and (b) motorcycles.

Any form of anti-social, dangerous or inconsiderate behaviour involving vehicles is a serious issue.Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for the Government, and a key part of the Safer Streets Mission.On 25 February 2025, the Crime and Policing Bill was introduced to Parliament. The Bill includes proposals to give the police greater powers to clamp down on vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles.This will strengthen the law and send a clear message that antisocial vehicles will not be tolerated.

How much (a) set up, (b) other one-off, (c) food, (d) staffing and (e) other operating cost funding has been allocated to schools for school breakfast pilots in total; and what estimate she has made of the (i) number of eligible children and (ii) average number of breakfasts to be taken per eligible child over the period.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government tripled its investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million in the 2025/26 financial year to help ensure children are ready to learn at the start of the school day.From the start of the 2025 summer term, the first 750 free breakfast clubs with early adopter schools are opening in towns and cities across the country.Allocated funding covers early adopter food, delivery and staffing costs. It is based on previous breakfast club schemes, and discussions with schools who run breakfast clubs, and standard school staffing rates. All schools have received £500 to cover initial set-up costs and will receive a lump sum of at least £1,000 a term, regardless of how many pupils will be in attendance. Schools will then receive an arrears payment based on the number of pupils who accessed the club, the characteristics of the pupils with and with an additional daily rate for FSM6 pupils at the school. For special schools, there is a daily rate of £3.23 per day per child who attends the club. An average primary school, with 50% take-up, will receive over £23,000 for a full year for an early adopter Breakfast Club more than £21,000 above what was provided to schools under the previous government’s National School Breakfast Programme which failed to cover all food or staffing costs.One function of the early adopters is to test how schools utilise the funding and how many pupils access the offer. The department has a robust strategy to capture and analyse this data.

With reference to the Written Statement of 22 May 2025 on Childhood Obesity, HCWS652, whether the output of TV channels not viewed as live broadcast TV will count as (a) TV and (b) online.

The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.Advertising restrictions for less healthy food or drink will be determined by whether a television channel or video-on-demand service is regulated by Ofcom. All Ofcom-regulated services, whether broadcast or delivered over the internet, will be subject to a 9:00pm watershed. All other internet-delivered television services will be subject to the 24-hour restriction. We announced in a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 22 May that the Government will set out in legislation an explicit brand exemption from the advertising restrictions for brand advertising that does not identify a less healthy food or drink product. This will provide legal clarification on this aspect of the existing policy as it was understood and agreed by Parliament during the passage of the Health and Care Bill, following extensive consultation.

With reference to the Written Statement of 22 May 2025 on Childhood Obesity, HCWS652, what his distinction is between a product and a brand.

The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.Advertising restrictions for less healthy food or drink will be determined by whether a television channel or video-on-demand service is regulated by Ofcom. All Ofcom-regulated services, whether broadcast or delivered over the internet, will be subject to a 9:00pm watershed. All other internet-delivered television services will be subject to the 24-hour restriction. We announced in a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 22 May that the Government will set out in legislation an explicit brand exemption from the advertising restrictions for brand advertising that does not identify a less healthy food or drink product. This will provide legal clarification on this aspect of the existing policy as it was understood and agreed by Parliament during the passage of the Health and Care Bill, following extensive consultation.

What recent estimate she has made of the proportion of school costs that is directly related to the number of pupils.

Every year the department publishes the schools’ costs technical note to help the sector to understand school costs and funding. Our analysis considers pupil demographic changes alongside other factors.The department allocates most mainstream funding through the schools national funding formula (NFF). In the 2025/26 financial year, 92% of total schools NFF funding is being distributed through “pupil led” factors, which are based on pupil numbers and pupil characteristics, such as eligibility for pupil premium and special educational needs and disabilities.Real terms per pupil comparisons are only one way in which the department communicates funding changes, and schools and local authorities can also see their funding as total cash amounts. The total size of the core schools budget in the 2025/26 financial year is £65.3 billion, a £3.7 billion increase over 2024/25. This represents a 6.0% rise in cash terms, or 3.3% increase in real terms.

What recent estimate she has made of the proportion of school funding that is directly related to the number of pupils.

Every year the department publishes the schools’ costs technical note to help the sector to understand school costs and funding. Our analysis considers pupil demographic changes alongside other factors.The department allocates most mainstream funding through the schools national funding formula (NFF). In the 2025/26 financial year, 92% of total schools NFF funding is being distributed through “pupil led” factors, which are based on pupil numbers and pupil characteristics, such as eligibility for pupil premium and special educational needs and disabilities.Real terms per pupil comparisons are only one way in which the department communicates funding changes, and schools and local authorities can also see their funding as total cash amounts. The total size of the core schools budget in the 2025/26 financial year is £65.3 billion, a £3.7 billion increase over 2024/25. This represents a 6.0% rise in cash terms, or 3.3% increase in real terms.

What representations she has received on the effectiveness of the change in the real terms per pupil funding measure as an indicator of growth or otherwise in school budgets when pupil numbers are declining.

Every year the department publishes the schools’ costs technical note to help the sector to understand school costs and funding. Our analysis considers pupil demographic changes alongside other factors.The department allocates most mainstream funding through the schools national funding formula (NFF). In the 2025/26 financial year, 92% of total schools NFF funding is being distributed through “pupil led” factors, which are based on pupil numbers and pupil characteristics, such as eligibility for pupil premium and special educational needs and disabilities.Real terms per pupil comparisons are only one way in which the department communicates funding changes, and schools and local authorities can also see their funding as total cash amounts. The total size of the core schools budget in the 2025/26 financial year is £65.3 billion, a £3.7 billion increase over 2024/25. This represents a 6.0% rise in cash terms, or 3.3% increase in real terms.

What estimate she has made of the contribution from the apprenticeship levy to level 7 apprenticeships provided by (a) schools, (b) other bodies in the education sector and (c) bodies in the children’s social care sector to apprentices (i) under 21 (ii) over 21 in (A) 2023/24 (B) 2024/25 (C) 2025/26 and (D) 2026/27.

The apprenticeship levy is collected by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from all UK employers with a pay bill above £3 million. HMRC publish overall levy receipts at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk.The department is responsible for apprenticeships in England only. The funding for apprenticeship training comes from the annual protected apprenticeship budget agreed at Spending Reviews. Although closely linked, this is distinct from the total levy income collected and the funds in employer accounts.The department is therefore not able to provide information about how individual levy contributions link to the amount of the budget that is spent supporting level 7 apprenticeships in specific bodies.The department publishes official statistics on apprenticeships that include information on apprenticeship starts by sector, level, standard and age at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2024-25.Details of apprenticeship standards by route at level 7 can be found at: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeships/?levels=7&includeApprovedForDelivery=true.

What estimate she has made of the contribution from the apprenticeship levy to level 7 apprenticeships provided by (a) the NHS and (b) other bodies in the health and social care sector to apprentices (i) under 21 (ii) over 21 in (A) 2023/24 (B) 2024/25 (C) 2025/26 and (D) 2026/27.

The apprenticeship levy is collected by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from all UK employers with a pay bill above £3 million. HMRC publish overall levy receipts at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk.The department is responsible for apprenticeships in England only. The funding for apprenticeship training comes from the annual protected apprenticeship budget agreed at Spending Reviews. Although closely linked, this is distinct from the total levy income collected and the funds in employer accounts.The department is therefore not able to provide information about how individual levy contributions link to the amount of the budget that is spent supporting level 7 apprenticeships in specific bodies.The department publishes official statistics on apprenticeships that include information on apprenticeship starts by sector, level, standard and age at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2024-25.Details of apprenticeship standards by route at level 7 can be found at: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeships/?levels=7&includeApprovedForDelivery=true.

Whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of internet filtering systems used in schools.

All schools and colleges must have regard to ‘Keeping children safe in education’, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2. This guidance already makes clear that schools and colleges should ensure appropriate filtering and monitoring systems are in place and that their effectiveness is regularly reviewed.The department developed the filtering and monitoring standards to help schools and colleges to understand what they should be doing to keep children safe online. These standards offer support to schools, who can use South-West Grid for Learning’s testing tool to check that, as a minimum, their filtering system is blocking access to illegal child abuse material, unlawful terrorist content, and adult content.The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) provide lists of illegal websites that filtering providers can block as part of their service, known as blocklists. Schools and colleges must make sure these blocklists are included with their filtering solutions.To further support schools, the department has launched ‘Plan technology for your school’ which allows schools to self-assess their filtering and monitoring provision against the standards and make strategic decisions about how to improve their provision. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/plan-technology-for-your-school.The department will continue to work with the providers, including filtering and monitoring providers, and the wider sector, to understand how we can best support them.

What steps she is taking to help ensure that internet filtering systems used in education settings are independently accredited.

All schools and colleges must have regard to ‘Keeping children safe in education’, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2. This guidance already makes clear that schools and colleges should ensure appropriate filtering and monitoring systems are in place and that their effectiveness is regularly reviewed.The department developed the filtering and monitoring standards to help schools and colleges to understand what they should be doing to keep children safe online. These standards offer support to schools, who can use South-West Grid for Learning’s testing tool to check that, as a minimum, their filtering system is blocking access to illegal child abuse material, unlawful terrorist content, and adult content.The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) provide lists of illegal websites that filtering providers can block as part of their service, known as blocklists. Schools and colleges must make sure these blocklists are included with their filtering solutions.To further support schools, the department has launched ‘Plan technology for your school’ which allows schools to self-assess their filtering and monitoring provision against the standards and make strategic decisions about how to improve their provision. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/plan-technology-for-your-school.The department will continue to work with the providers, including filtering and monitoring providers, and the wider sector, to understand how we can best support them.

Pursuant to his Answer of 19 May 2025 to Question 52225 on Hospitals: Basingstoke, what is the timescale for the short form business case for the purchase of land near Junction 7 of the M3.

The New Hospital Programme (NHP) has confirmed the budget allocation for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s land purchase in this financial year. This does include a budget cap which is based on an estimate of what is expected to be required to complete the land acquisition. The actual funding amount will only be confirmed once the short form business case is approved as per the business case process set out in HM Treasury Green Book.The trust is currently in the process of developing their short form business case in relation to the purchase of land near Junction 7 of the M3 with support from the NHP.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2025 to Question 52225, whether there is a (a) budget cap, (b) indicative range and (c) best estimate of the money allocated in this financial year's capital budget for the purchase of land near Junction 7 of the M3.

The New Hospital Programme (NHP) has confirmed the budget allocation for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s land purchase in this financial year. This does include a budget cap which is based on an estimate of what is expected to be required to complete the land acquisition. The actual funding amount will only be confirmed once the short form business case is approved as per the business case process set out in HM Treasury Green Book.The trust is currently in the process of developing their short form business case in relation to the purchase of land near Junction 7 of the M3 with support from the NHP.

How many apprenticeship starts there were in the hair and beauty sector in (a) 2023-4 and (b) 2024-5; and what estimate she has made of the number of apprenticeship starts expected in the hair and beauty sector in 2025-6.

The number of hair and beauty related apprenticeship starts in England is published in the apprenticeship accredited official statistics publication, which can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aab773ca-8918-4c57-2ec9-08dd9836fa33.These were last published in March 2025 and include full year figures for the 2023/24 academic year and year to date figures for the 2024/25 academic year (August 2024 to January 2025).Apprenticeships are jobs and starts are dependent on employers choosing to offer apprenticeship opportunities, as well as individuals choosing to undertake them.

How the recruitment of 6,500 new expert teachers in key subjects will be split across (a) mainstream schools (b) special schools and (c) other educational settings.

High quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child and young person’s outcome in schools and colleges. Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child.This is why, in its Plan for Change, the government is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament, and we will be continuing to monitor this.Delivery is already under way. Upon entering government we moved quickly to expand our Get Into Teaching marketing campaign and, in July 2024, announced a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools. In 2024/25, we drove forward teacher recruitment and retention, backed by investment of around £700 million across schools and further education (FE). This includes announcing a £233 million initial teacher training financial incentives package, confirming targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax, and taking steps to improve teachers’ workload and wellbeing. Building on this, on 22 May 2025, we also announced a 4% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools in England from September 2025, ensuring teaching remains an attractive graduate profession.The government’s Plan for Change is starting to deliver, with over 2,000 more people training to become secondary school teachers this year and recruitment on track to improve even further for the cohort set to start training in 2025/26, with 1,070 more acceptances to postgraduate and teacher degree apprenticeship initial teacher training courses in secondary subjects by the end of April 2025, compared to the same time last year. Additionally, over 2,500 more teachers are expected to stay in the profession over the next three years.

Whether the School workforce in England figures, published in June 2024 will be the baseline against which she will measure progress towards recruiting 6,500 new expert teachers in key subjects.

High quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child and young person’s outcome in schools and colleges. Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child.This is why, in its Plan for Change, the government is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament, and we will be continuing to monitor this.Delivery is already under way. Upon entering government we moved quickly to expand our Get Into Teaching marketing campaign and, in July 2024, announced a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools. In 2024/25, we drove forward teacher recruitment and retention, backed by investment of around £700 million across schools and further education (FE). This includes announcing a £233 million initial teacher training financial incentives package, confirming targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax, and taking steps to improve teachers’ workload and wellbeing. Building on this, on 22 May 2025, we also announced a 4% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools in England from September 2025, ensuring teaching remains an attractive graduate profession.The government’s Plan for Change is starting to deliver, with over 2,000 more people training to become secondary school teachers this year and recruitment on track to improve even further for the cohort set to start training in 2025/26, with 1,070 more acceptances to postgraduate and teacher degree apprenticeship initial teacher training courses in secondary subjects by the end of April 2025, compared to the same time last year. Additionally, over 2,500 more teachers are expected to stay in the profession over the next three years.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Almost million more pupils get access to mental health support, published on 16 May 2025, whether the next phase of the implementation schedule for mental health support teams in schools differs from that of the previous Government.

Almost one million more young people will have access to mental health support in school this year. Previous plans to expand mental health support in schools were unfunded. By confirming this new investment, six in 10 pupils will have access to a mental health support team by March 2026. All pupils will have access to mental health support in school by 2029/30.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the (a) scope, (b) function and (c) remit of the proposed advisory committee on disinformation and misinformation in Section 152 of the Online Safety Act (2023).

The Online Safety Act provides clear requirements for the Committee’s responsibilities: advising Ofcom on how providers should address mis- and disinformation, and how Ofcom should exercise their transparency powers and fulfil their statutory duty to promote media literacy in relation to mis- and disinformation.How Ofcom approaches the design of the committee, providing that it is compliant with these legislative requirements, is for it to decide as an independent regulator. The terms of reference for the new Online Information Advisory Committee have now been published and confirm that these duties remain at the heart of its function.