Written questions by Charters.

What steps the Government is taking to encourage civil servants to serve as reservists in the Armed Forces.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation

What steps he is taking to ensure that commissioning policies for bilateral cochlear implants for adults take account of individuals who experienced inadequate access to cochlear implantation during childhood.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What steps she is taking to confirm Sports Premium funding for 2026-27.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for York Outer to the answer of 3 March 2026 to Question 115304.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of propranolol in pharmacies; and what steps he is taking to ensure supply.

The Department is aware of supply issues affecting propranolol 80 milligram and 160 milligram modified release (MR) capsules due to ongoing manufacturing issues which are expected to last until at least July 2026.The Department is working with all suppliers to help resolve the issues and improve supplies, including asking that they source stock from other markets. We have also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed imports of propranolol 80 milligram and 160 milligram MR capsules. We have engaged with National Health Service specialist clinicians and issued comprehensive guidance on how to manage patients during this time and to advise on available alternative preparations.The Department continues to work with the supply chain teams and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to mitigate the situation and ensure supplies are available for patients as soon as possible.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of improving access to the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset.

The department recognises the value of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset in supporting high‑quality research and evidence‑based policymaking. LEO already underpins a wide range of official statistics and analytical publications, and independent researchers can access the underlying data securely through the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service.The department works with its partners to improve user experience, streamline access processes, and to expand support materials to assist third party use of LEO data.A further five years of funding to develop LEO access has recently been confirmed for this purpose along with the largest ever increase of funding to the development of LEO.Improvements must balance the potential merits with our obligations to safeguard personal data and the public’s trust. We keep arrangements for data access under regular review to ensure they remain proportionate, secure and in line with data protection requirements.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support available to low‑income families whose children require prolonged inpatient neonatal and paediatric care.

The Government is committed to tackling child poverty and to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. Our Children, Our Future: Tackling Child Poverty was published on 5 December 2025 and set out a goal to reduce and alleviate the impact of child poverty, with urgent action to improve the lives of children in deepest poverty.We recognise the significant financial and practical pressures faced by low-income families when a child with a long-term condition requires hospital care. To support eligible low-income families with the costs associated with repeated or prolonged hospital stays, the NHS Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme provides support with the cost of travelling to hospital appointments.In addition, many hospitals work with charitable partners, such as Ronald McDonald House Charities, to provide free or low-cost accommodation close to specialist children’s hospitals, helping parents stay near their child during treatment.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help improve the affordability of childcare.

We want all children, regardless of background, to have access to high quality early education and childcare. This allows parents to work and supports children’s development as they grow, getting them ready for school and beyond.Through our Best Start in Life strategy we will improve access to early years education and childcare.It is important that government childcare entitlements remain accessible and affordable for families. Earlier this year we updated the existing statutory guidance for local authorities to clarify the section on additional charges and to support transparency and consistency for parents and providers.Local authorities also have duties under section 7 of the 2006 Act and under the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022 to ensure free childcare is available to eligible children in their area (for either 30 or 15 hours per week over 38 weeks per year depending on the entitlement). To do this, local authorities have the key role of managing their local markets to ensure they meet the needs of parents.In 2025/26 alone, this government plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements, increasing to over £9 billion in 2026/27 and we have increased the early years pupil premium by over 45%. On top of this, we have provided further supplementary funding of £75 million for the Early Years Expansion Grant to help providers meet their local demand. The EYNFFs target funding to local authorities where it is needed most, reflecting the relative needs of the children and costs of delivering provision in that area.We increased core funding rates for 2025 to 2026. This increase ensured funding for the entitlement’s forecasts of average earnings and inflation and also reflected the National Living Wage announced at the 2024 Autumn Budget.In addition to childcare entitlements, the Universal Credit childcare offer supports claimants with the costs of childcare, no matter how many hours they work. Claimants may be able to claim up to 85% of eligible childcare costs, for children aged up until the 31 August after their 16th birthday, if they are eligible for Universal Credit and are usually in paid work or starting a job in the next month. Claimants may also be eligible for help with certain costs of childcare if they are on sick leave, or maternity, paternity or adoption leave.Tax-Free Childcare remains available for working parents of children aged 0-11, or up to 17 for eligible disabled children. This can save parents up to £2,000 per year, or up to £4,000 for eligible children with disabilities and has the same income criteria as 30 hours government-funded childcare.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Defence Industrial Strategy 2025 on Northern Ireland.

The defence of the United Kingdom is always the first duty of any Government.As part of our defence industrial strategy, we will invest £250m across five regions for Defence Growth Deals - including one in Northern Ireland which already boasts a booming defence sector - and it looks like it will only get stronger in 2026.

What steps his Department is taking to improve patient safety for people with learning disabilities.

The Government is committed to advancing patient safety and fostering a learning culture across the National Health Service. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will usher in a new era of transparency, a rigorous focus on high-quality care for all and a renewed emphasis on patient and staff voice. The Patient Safety Incident Reporting Framework (PSIRF) is a patient safety approach within the NHS covering all patient groups, including people with a learning disability. It sets standards for how organisations should meaningfully and compassionately engage with those affected by safety events and guides organisations on responding effectively for learning and improvement. PSIRF emphasises the importance of considering inequalities when setting priorities and supports consideration of inequalities throughout the learning response process. Where a person has a learning disability, integrated care boards can also utilise the findings from a Learning from Lives and Deaths Review to understand how services can be improved across their local system to reduce health inequalities for people with a learning disability and autistic people in their area. Additionally, a range of wider action is being taken to improve patient safety for people with a learning disability and autistic people. This includes:The Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Inpatient Quality Transformation programme has been co-produced with key stakeholders from across systems and aims to improve the quality of care in mental health impatient settings. We are also rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism across the health and adult social care workforce. This will help to ensure that staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care.

What steps he is taking to improve patient safety for people with (a) learning disabilities and (b) autism.

The Government is taking a range of actions to improve patient safety for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.We are rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism across the health and adult social care workforce. This will help to ensure that staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care.NHS England’s Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Inpatient Quality Transformation Programme works to tackle the root causes of unsafe and poor-quality inpatient care, supporting the cultural changes needed to create environments where people can flourish.The Mental Health Bill, which is currently in Parliament, will limit the scope to detain people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health hospitals. and put existing NHS England policies on a statutory footing to improve community support. There is funding in integrated care board baselines during 2025/26 to improve community support provision and reduce reliance on inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people, in line with the NHS Operational Planning Guidance.More widely, the Government is committed to advancing patient safety and fostering a learning culture across the National Health Service. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will usher in a new era of transparency, a rigorous focus on high-quality care for all and a renewed emphasis on patient and staff voice.

With reference to the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, what steps his Department is taking to support dispensing general practices.

We recognise that the services of dispensing practices play an important role in meeting the needs of rural communities, by ensuring patients receive their medicines promptly and conveniently.Every year, the Department and NHS England consult with the British Medical Association (BMA) regarding the services general practices will provide, and the funding they will receive in return for these services. This includes the services, and relevant remuneration, of dispensing practices.We have committed to substantive General Practice (GP) contract reform within this Parliament following acceptance of the 2025/26 contract by the England General Practitioners Committee of the BMA. As part of this, we expect to consider a breadth of topics, including dispensing practices.On 3 July 2025, we published the 10-Year Health Plan, which announced the plan to introduce two new contracts, for neighbourhood providers and multi-neighbourhood providers, which will encourage GPs to work over larger geographies. We will begin to make these new contracts available in 2026, and more details will be provided in due course.

With reference to p.15 of the 10 Year Health Plan for England, what his Department's timetable is for publishing further details on the national maternity and neonatal taskforce; and whether that taskforce will focus on multiple pregnancies.

The National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce will be chaired by my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and will take forward the recommendations from the independent investigation into maternity and neonatal care to develop a national plan to drive improvements.The taskforce will be made up of a breadth of independent clinical and international expertise, including those who can speak to the inequalities within maternal health, as well as family and staff representatives, charities and campaigners.Once the independent investigation is underway, my Rt. Hon. Friend will work with families and external partners to set up the taskforce including its terms of reference and membership. These will be published in due course.

What steps her Department is taking to improve technological innovation in Yorkshire and the Humber region.

This Government is committed to supporting technological innovation across the UK.That is why we have earmarked at least £30 million for each of West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire through our new Local Innovation Partnerships Fund. This will empower local leaders to grow high-potential innovation clusters and unlock their innovation potential.This builds on UKRI’s wider investment in the Yorkshire and the Humber region which totals almost £1 billion active projects.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the powers of traffic commissioners.

Traffic Commissioners perform important and independent regulatory, compliance and tribunal roles for the road freight and public transport sectors. A functional review conducted by the Ministry of Justice, published in May 2023, found the function generally effective and offered proposals for improvement. My Department are considering these alongside other reform options.

What progress the Patient Safety Commissioner has made on their work on Sodium Valproate and surgical mesh implants.

The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex area of work, involving several Government departments, and it is important that we get this right. We will be providing an update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report at the earliest opportunity.

What steps she has taken to ensure that Disabled Students’ Allowance funding for completed Non-Medical Help support is paid in the event of a provider’s insolvency.

​In the event of a provider’s insolvency, the Student Loans Company would act in accordance with the instructions issued by the appointed liquidator or administrator in relation to the payment of any outstanding invoices. The department remains fully committed to ensuring that Disabled Students Allowance funding for completed Non-Medical Help support is administered appropriately, and to minimising any potential disruption to students.

What steps she is taking to support regional crime units to tackle (a) fraud and (b) cybercrime.

A new National Fraud Squad (NFS) has been established, consisting of a network of 400 new investigators across the National Crime Agency, City of London Police and Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs). The NFS is transforming the law enforcement response by taking a proactive, intelligence-led approach to identifying and disrupting the most serious fraudsters, domestically and overseas, jointly with government and industry.The Home Office has provided funding to create a coordinated police Fraud Protect Network, made up of local, regional and national law enforcement officers and is designed to reduce the threat of fraud and revictimisation by providing consistent safeguarding advice to the public.The Home Office also funds the Regional Cyber Crime Units (RCCUs) across England and Wales. These regional policing teams investigate and pursue serious cyber offenders, including supporting organisations during live ransomware attacks to get them back online as soon as possible. They also support businesses by providing cyber security support to help them reduce their vulnerability and threat of attack.

What steps her Department is taking to help prevent people under 18 years old from committing anti-social behaviour.

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.The Government has committed to the creation of a new Young Futures Programme, which will establish a network of Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships, to intervene early and ensure this cohort is identified and offered support in a more systematic way, as well as creating more opportunities for young people in their communities.Prevention Partnerships will identify children and young people who are vulnerable to being drawn into crime and violence such as knife crime and ASB and divert them by offering them suitable support in a more systematic way.The Government’s Plan for Change, announced by the Prime Minister on 5 December, sets out our plan to reduce ASB. This will include a dedicated lead officer in every police force across England and Wales working with communities to develop a local ASB action plan. We are also delivering on our commitment to bring back and strengthen neighbourhood policing, ensuring thousands of additional officers are visibly out patrolling in our town centres and communities to make our streets safer.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of improving product labelling on sugar content in food for children under the age of two.

Children’s early years provide an important foundation for their future health and strongly influences many aspects of well-being in later life. Data shows that babies and young children are eating too much sugar, and that some commercial baby foods, particularly finger foods, contain added sugar or high sugar ingredients. This does not align with the recommendations from the independent Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition on the diets of children aged one to five years old.It is vital that we maintain the highest standards for foods consumed by babies and infants, which is why we have regulations in place that set nutritional and compositional standards for commercial baby food. The regulations also set labelling standards to ensure consumers have clear and accurate information about the products they buy. We continue to keep these regulations under review to ensure they reflect the latest scientific and dietary guidelines.

Whether her Department holds data on the number of ransomware attacks against schools and colleges in the last three years.

Educational settings in England are responsible for maintaining their IT systems and cyber security. There is currently no mandatory reporting requirement legislation for schools to report a cyber attack and no central register of cyber attacks exists. However, the department has been notified of 53 ransomware cases across the sector over the last 3 years. The department has a small, dedicated sector cyber security team to support the education sector. The team provides appropriate guidance and advice, via regular targeted and broad communications, to help schools adhere to and maintain good cyber security standards. The department provides guidance for schools and colleges on how to help protect against a cyber incident, which can found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/meeting-digital-and-technology-standards-in-schools-and-colleges/cyber-security-standards-for-schools-and-colleges. The department also works closely with the National Cyber Crime Security Centre (NCSC) and Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) to ensure that up-to-date cyber security guidance is shared with schools, colleges and universities. Further guidance on cyber security for schools can be found at: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/education-skills/cyber-security-schools. The department’s Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) has more than 9,900 member schools, which is 52% of eligible schools in England, and is including cover for cyber incidents as standard from the 2022/23 membership years. In the event of a cyber incident, RPA members have access to a 24/7 Incident Response Service. The department’s dedicated sector cyber security function provides advice in response to cyber security enquiries and incident reports from the sector, liaising with the affected institution following an incident to advise on steps to mitigate the threat and provide guidance on recovery. The department adheres to the NCSC guidance on payment of ransoms and does not encourage, endorse nor condone the payment of ransom demands in response to a ransomware attack. This guidance is outlined at: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/mitigating-malware-and-ransomware-attacks.