Written questions by Blundell.

What steps she is taking to help encourage reading in early years settings.

The statutory guidance 'early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework' sets education requirements that early years settings must follow to ensure that every child aged 0 to 5 has the best start in life. The EYFS recognises that it is crucial for young children to begin to develop a life-long love of reading and requires practitioners to read frequently to children, and actively engage them in a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems. The framework can be found in full at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2The department provides a range of online resources which support settings to deliver the statutory EYFS requirements well for all children, including the ‘Development Matters’ guidance, the department’s reading framework, and the National Year of Reading website. The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign aiming to tackle long-term declines in reading enjoyment, with early years being one of the priority groups. It includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year.

What steps he is taking to help ensure the NHS supports staff with endometriosis.

The Government acknowledges the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives, their relationships, and their participation in education and the workforce.In terms of supporting National Health Service staff with endometriosis, NHS trusts are expected to have local policies and procedures in place to support staff who have long-term health conditions and should be taking a proactive approach to supporting them. NHS England has made tools and resources available to support line managers to hold meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their emotional and psychological health and wellbeing.Staff in need of additional support can also access their employer's occupational health service or employee support programme.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking with local authorities to improve the quality of local housing stock.

Everyone deserves to live in a decent, warm, and comfortable home.The government recently consulted on both the content and implementation of a new, modernised Decent Homes Standard. The consultation outcome can be found on gov.uk here and the impact assessment on gov.uk here.We also consulted on new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for both the social rented and private rented sectors. The social rented sector consultation outcome can be found on gov.uk here and the private rented sector consultation outcome here.The first phase of Awaab’s Law came into force for the social rented sector on 27 October. Awaab’s Law is vital legislation that will empower social tenants to hold their landlords to account using the full force of the law if they fail to investigate and fix hazards within their homes within set timescales. It will also allow tenants to access the Housing Ombudsman if their landlord does not adhere to strict timelines for action.The government has also committed itself to bring forward new regulations this summer to bring the conclusions of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) review into force. The HHSRS is the cornerstone of housing standards, and the forthcoming regulations will make it more efficient and accessible for experts to use, and easier to understand for landlords and tenants.We are also acting to ensure private tenants have safe, warm, and decent homes including strengthening local authority enforcement in respect of unremedied hazards and applying Awaab’s Law Act to the PRS through the relevant provisions in the Renters’ Rights Act.The government is also supporting improvements to existing homes through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, which has allocated £1.29 billion over 2025-28 to support social landlords to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes.Over £1 billion of building safety funding will also be available between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to accelerate remediation of social housing. These targeted funds are in addition to the 10-year social housing rent settlement that will improve providers’ financial capacity to invest in new and existing homes.The government is also supporting estate regeneration schemes to transform neighbourhoods and deliver well designed housing and a better quality of life for tenants. The new Social and Affordable Homes Programme will also support regeneration schemes that provide a net increase in affordable homes.

What steps he is taking to improve the enforcement processes of the Child Maintenance Service.

The Child Maintenance Service has a range of strong enforcement powers that are designed to get money flowing quickly, prevent the build-up of arrears and ensure children get the financial support they deserve. These powers include the ability to deduct directly from the paying parent’s earnings or bank accounts and disqualifications from holding or obtaining driving licenses and passports. The Government has announced our intention to reform the Child Maintenance when parliamentary time allows system. We will remove Direct Pay and move to a single, strengthened Collect and Pay system which will allow the CMS to monitor all payments, identify missed or partial payments immediately, and take faster enforcement action. Ahead of this change, the CMS is already moving non-compliant parents more quickly from Direct Pay to Collect and Pay. In March 2025, CMS established a process to manage high- and medium-risk cases using predictive analytics, resulting in earlier identification of at-risk cases and enabling caseworker intervention at the earliest opportunity where indicators of non-compliance are identified. To further improve arrears collection, the CMS will introduce administrative liability orders to replace the current court-based process. This will streamline enforcement, reduce delays, and help the CMS act more quickly against parents who avoid their responsibilities. Work with HM Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Government is underway, and regulations will be brought to Parliament as soon as possible.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing the enforcement processes of the Child Maintenance Service.

The Child Maintenance Service has a range of strong enforcement powers that are designed to get money flowing quickly, prevent the build-up of arrears and ensure children get the financial support they deserve. These powers include the ability to deduct directly from the paying parent’s earnings or bank accounts and disqualifications from holding or obtaining driving licenses and passports. The Government has announced our intention to reform the Child Maintenance when parliamentary time allows system. We will remove Direct Pay and move to a single, strengthened Collect and Pay system which will allow the CMS to monitor all payments, identify missed or partial payments immediately, and take faster enforcement action. Ahead of this change, the CMS is already moving non-compliant parents more quickly from Direct Pay to Collect and Pay. In March 2025, CMS established a process to manage high- and medium-risk cases using predictive analytics, resulting in earlier identification of at-risk cases and enabling caseworker intervention at the earliest opportunity where indicators of non-compliance are identified. To further improve arrears collection, the CMS will introduce administrative liability orders to replace the current court-based process. This will streamline enforcement, reduce delays, and help the CMS act more quickly against parents who avoid their responsibilities. Work with HM Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Government is underway, and regulations will be brought to Parliament as soon as possible.

What steps he is taking to help ensure the provision of endometriosis care in deprived communities.

This Government is committed to building a fairer Britain, to ensure people can live well for longer, and spend less time in ill health. Our reimagined National Health Service will tackle inequalities in both access and outcomes, as well as give everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, the means to engage with the NHS on their own terms.As per the 10-Year Health plan, bringing care from hospitals to communities, care and support will be shaped with local communities in mind. Women’s health hubs and neighbourhood delivery of care aim to address gaps in provision and long waiting times, specifically for those from low socio-economic background or those who are from minority ethnic backgrounds.We are also renewing the Women’s Health Strategy, to assess the progress that has been made so far on women’s health, and to continue progressing delivery.The renewed strategy will update on the delivery of the 2022 Women’s Health Strategy and set out how the Government is taking further steps to improve women’s health as we deliver the 10-Year Health Plan. It will also address gaps from the 2022 strategy and drive further change on enduring challenges such as creating a system that listens to women and tackling health inequalities, including through conditions such as endometriosis.

Whether she is taking steps to provide financial support to families to support reading among children.

Our ‘Giving every child the best start in life’ strategy outlines how we will invest in supporting children’s language and literacy, including continued funding for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention and the introduction of specialist early language leads in local areas from the 2026/27 academic year.The national rollout of Best Start Family Hubs, underpinned by £500 million of government investment to help families in every part of the country. This includes increased investment in home learning and parenting support in the early years, enhancing support for families through integrated advice, targeted outreach and partnerships to empower more parents and carers to chat, play, and read with their children every day to nurture early reading skills and language development from birth.Our National Year of Reading 2026 aims to address long-term decline in reading enjoyment and is focused particularly on priority groups including boys aged 10 to 16, parents from disadvantaged communities, and early years children and their caregivers.This government is providing £5 million of funding for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading for pleasure, and over £10 million to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this Parliament.

What steps she is taking to ensure schools are promoting reading as a substitute to social media use.

We know that reading for pleasure is hugely important and brings a range of benefits. However, we also know that just one in three children aged 8 to 18 read in their free time, and a recent Omnibus Survey by the department found that 31% of parents of primary-aged children and 40% of parents of secondary-aged children said their child prefers spending time online or playing video games, citing this as a barrier to encouraging reading in their free time. We have launched the National Year of Reading 2026, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, to address long-term declines in reading enjoyment through engaging new audiences, reshaping public attitudes and building the systems needed to embed lasting, meaningful change. The National Year of Reading encourages everyone to see how reading, in all forms, can unlock more of our existing passions and interests, from reading a story in a print book or on an e-reader, to reading a magazine article or an online blog, to listening to an audio book on a phone or tablet. With this in mind, digital technology is not incompatible with the National Year of Reading. The national rollout of Best Start Family Hubs is underpinned by £500 million of government investment to help families in every part of the country. This includes increased investment in home learning and parenting support in the early years, enhancing support for families through integrated advice, targeted outreach and partnerships to empower more parents and carers to chat, play, and read with their children every day to nurture early reading skills and language development from birth. This government is also providing £5 million of funding for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading for pleasure, as well as committing over £10 million in funding to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this Parliament.

What steps she is taking to (a) help improve safety in Heywood and Middleton North constituency and (b) reduce crime.

Anti-Social Behaviour causes misery in towns and communities across the country, often hitting the most vulnerable hardest.A key aim of our police reforms is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they can focus on tackling local issues, like addressing anti-social behaviour.Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee is already making a difference. For too long, people have not seen police patrolling their streets. We will have 3,000 additional neighbourhood officers in place by March this year, and our Summer Initiative and Winter of Action have seen police forces and local authorities in town centres, including Heywood and Middleton increase town centre patrols, accelerate enforcement, and make greater use of ASB powers.We have also delivered on our manifesto pledge: every police force in England and Wales now has a dedicated lead officer for anti-social behaviour, who will work with communities to develop an action plan to tackle ASB. We are also strengthening the powers to tackle ASB. Our new Respect Orders will give local agencies stronger enforcement capability to tackle the most relentless ASB offenders.Together with the police, we are sending a message: crime and anti-social behaviour will be punished.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department made an assessment of the potential impact of using the Gov.uk One Login to verify identity on people who (a) do not have photo ID and (b) are visually impaired.

Inclusion is at the heart of GOV.UK One Login. The service provides multiple ways for users to prove their identity, including a no photo ID route which involves answering security questions.GDS regularly tests designs with disabled users, including visually impaired users, where tests are performed with assistive technology.Our accessibility statement is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/govuk-one-login-app-accessibility-statement.We have a Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) assessment, which examines the impacts of the service on the different protected characteristics and establishes mitigations where necessary.

What steps he is taking to protect women and girls from violent offenders who have been released.

This Government was elected with a landmark mission: to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. The ‘Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy’ sets out stronger perpetrator management, including the commitment to nationally rollout Domestic Abuse Protection Orders across all police forces in England and Wales, which is critical in meeting this government ambition.The Probation Service robustly manages offenders released from custody with a range of tools in the community and can respond to any breaches of licence with recall to prison where appropriate. The Sentencing Bill strengthens this by giving new powers to Probation to prohibit offenders from driving, attending public events and entering pubs, clubs and bars. It also introduces restriction zones, which will limit the movements of serious sexual and violent offenders to a specific geographical area, where appropriate, giving victims the peace of mind they deserve.Further, regarding Electronic Monitoring (EM), the Domestic Abuse Perpetrators on Licence (DAPOL) pilot operates across eight probation regions, allowing Probation Practitioners to impose electronically monitored licence conditions on eligible prison leavers at the point of release from custody where necessary and proportionate. Conditions may include curfews, exclusion zones, required attendance at specified appointments, and GPS trail monitoring, with multiple applied risk assessments support it. DAPOL can also run alongside Alcohol Monitoring on Licence (AML) where alcohol misuse is linked to risk. Evaluation findings indicate that DAPOL provides reassurance to victims, with Victim Liaison Officers reporting that the ability to evidence breaches quickly helps reduce victim anxiety and strengthens confidence in the justice system.

What steps she is taking to help improve the working conditions of PHV drivers working for large national operators such as Uber.

Department for Transport Ministers and officials engage with operators, trade representation groups, and trade unions on the regulation of the taxi and private hire vehicle sector. Thanks to the Government’s Employment Rights Act, over 18 million workers are set to benefit from greater fairness and security at work. Our reforms will also strengthen the voices of people in the workplace.

What steps she is taking to engage with PHV drivers employed by large national operators on their terms and working conditions.

Department for Transport Ministers and officials engage with operators, trade representation groups, and trade unions on the regulation of the taxi and private hire vehicle sector. Thanks to the Government’s Employment Rights Act, over 18 million workers are set to benefit from greater fairness and security at work. Our reforms will also strengthen the voices of people in the workplace.

What discussions she is having with the Ministry of Justice on expanding the Unduly Lenient Sentencing Scheme to include victims of technology-assisted child sexual abuse.

The Protection of Children Act 1978 already includes ‘pseudo’ images of children within the definition of indecent images. Therefore, any sexualised images of children produced by AI will already be covered by the legislation surrounding indecent images, and consequently already fall within ULS scheme.

Whether she plans to take steps to regulate the service fee charges (commission) charged by large national PHV operators that they draw from their drivers' journeys.

Subject to any obligations under employment law, the commercial terms under which drivers and operators contract are a matter for those parties.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps are being taken to strengthen European support for Ukraine.

I refer the Hon Member to my opening statement in the general debate on Ukraine held on 14 January.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of UK sanctions related to illegal settlements in the West Bank.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 17 September 2025 to Question 74580.

What steps he is taking to ensure that an increasing number of hospitals and healthcare settings are equipped to diagnose endometriosis swiftly.

The Government is committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis.Patients waiting for an endometriosis diagnosis may receive diagnostic tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound, though the only definitive way to diagnose endometriosis is by a laparoscopic procedure. The laparoscopy is also used to treat endometriosis.We are taking steps to support the National Health Service to increase diagnostic capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services, including for MRI and ultrasound. This includes expanding existing community diagnostic centres (CDCs) which, as of January 2026, are now operating at 170 sites across the country. 103 CDCs now offer out of hours service, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, delivering more same-day tests and consultations. We are taking action to ensure that individuals with endometriosis not only receive a timely diagnosis but also receive timely and effective treatment.NHS surgical hubs, funded by the Targeted Investment Fund, are specifically designed to deliver high-volume, low-complexity elective surgeries, including gynaecological procedures. These explicitly include operative laparoscopies, endometrial ablation, hysteroscopies, and laparoscopic hysterectomies. As of November 2025, over half of the 123 operational elective surgical hubs in England provide gynaecology services, and laparoscopies are a key part of this offering.

What steps he is taking to reform the National Energy Security Operator.

On 1 October 2024, the Secretary of State established the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to support the energy transition including a more strategically planned approach to the energy system. NESO, a public corporation, was designed to operate independently of commercial energy interests and day-to-day Government control.NESO is an expert adviser to Government and Ofgem and a partner in delivering the UK’s energy ambitions. Ofgem regulates NESO, approves its business plan and monitors value for money and performance. Since its establishment just over a year ago, the Government has been working closely and constructively with NESO and there are no plans to reform NESO

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what guidance has been issued to UK companies regarding involvement in settlement-related construction and infrastructure projects.

Guidance for businesses can be found on the Overseas Business Risk page for Palestine: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-business-risk-palestine/overseas-business-risk-the-occupied-palestinian-territories. There are clear risks related to economic and financial activities in the settlements, and we do not encourage or offer support to such activity.