Written questions by Maskell.

What assessment has she made of the contribution of the Holidays and Activities Fund (a) nationally and (b) in York.

Since 2022, the department has invested over £200 million each year in free holiday club places for children from low-income families, through the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme, with all 153 local authorities in England delivering during the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays.The HAF programme supports disadvantaged children and their families with enriching activities, providing them with healthy food, helping them to learn new things and improving socialisation.Since 2022, the HAF programme has provided 15.6 million HAF days to children and young people in this country. Across the 2023/24 academic year, almost five million HAF days were provided during winter, Easter, and summer delivery.Over summer 2024, local authorities reported that over 628,000 children and young people attended the HAF programme. Of these participating children, over 511,000 were funded directly by the HAF programme and over 433,000 were receiving benefits-related free school meals (FSM). The reports showed that over 9,700 clubs, events or organised activities operated across the country over the summer.Over Easter 2024, local authorities reported that over 377,000 children attended the programme, of which over 324,000 were funded directly by the HAF programme and over 276,000 were receiving benefits-related FSM.Based on reporting data published on York local authority’s website, over 4,700 children attended the programme during HAF delivery periods in 2023. New data that will include numbers for Easter, summer and Christmas 2024 should be published by the local authority later this year.

What steps she is taking to provide continuity of the Holdiay and Activities Fund after 31 March 2025.

The government announced over £200 million funding for the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme for 2025/26, as part of the 2024 spending review and set out in the Autumn Budget 2024. The future of the HAF programme beyond 31 March 2026 is subject to the next governmental spending review, which is due to take place later this year.

Whether it is his policy to support nuclear disarmament.

The United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent exists to deter the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life. It will remain essential for as long as the global security threat picture demands it. This Government's commitment to our nuclear deterrent maintained on behalf of the UK and our NATO allies is unshakeable. The UK Government believes that the best way to achieve global nuclear disarmament is through a gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated using a step-by-step approach which takes account of the international security environment and is under the framework of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

If he will make it his policy to send representatives to attend the Third Meeting of States Parties of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as observers.

No officials will attend the Third Meeting of States Parties of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

If he will take steps to review the UK's nuclear weapons policy.

The United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent exists to deter the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life, which cannot be deterred by other means. It will remain essential for as long as the global security environment demands. We continually review our nuclear deterrence posture in light of the international security environment and the actions of potential adversaries, to ensure we can meet the threats facing the UK and our NATO allies.

What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Cobenfy; and whether he is taking steps to licence this medication in the UK.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has not received an application for the Market Authorisation of Cobenfy by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

Whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the response by Integrated Care Boards to long Covid.

NHS England has recently completed a long COVID stocktake, aiming to provide a nationwide overview of service delivery in commissioning and contracting, assessing access, activity, and outcomes. Executive NHS England board members were updated on the current provision of long COVID, noting challenges and significant variation. Discussions where held considered service prioritisation and potential inquiry recommendations. It was agreed that long COVID services are commissioned by integrated care boards, which have responsibility for ensuring coverage for their population.

What steps she is taking to support people who arrive in the UK as a result of being trafficked to apply for asylum.

The Home Office is committed to identifying and safeguarding those who are exploited or vulnerable in the United Kingdom. All operational staff complete the required Home Office Modern Slavery First Responders training. This content was developed by the Home Office Modern Slavery Unit and is also used by a number of First Responder Organisations.The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the process by which people who may have been victims of modern slavery are identified, referred, assessed and supported in the United Kingdom. The aim of the NRM is to be the bridge to recovery, providing victims with a short period of intensive support and specialist care and put people in a position where they can begin to rebuild their lives with increase resilience against future exploitation.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the number of available training positions for qualified graduates to become registered biomedical scientists.

Decisions on the availability of graduate-entry trainee positions to become registered biomedical scientists are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level to ensure they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

What offences would require an asylum seeker to be deported.

All foreign nationals, including asylum seekers and refugees, can and do face prosecution for criminal offences in the same way as any other individual in the UK, and routinely have their immigration status reviewed if convicted.Under existing legislation, an individual convicted of a particularly serious crime, resulting in a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, will be routinely denied asylum and considered for removal from the UK.All asylum claimants are subject to mandatory security checks to establish their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks - including war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism. These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of enabling Ukrainian refugees who are living in the UK to obtain the right to remain.

This Government stands with Ukraine and is committed to providing stability for those we have welcomed to the UK and those who still need our sanctuary.To provide certainty to those who have been provided with temporary sanctuary in the UK under the existing Ukraine schemes, the Government has introduced a bespoke Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme, which opened to applications on 4 February 2025. This scheme allows those with existing sanctuary to apply for a further 18 months' permission to remain in the UK with the same rights and entitlements as they have been given under the existing Ukraine schemes.The Ukrainian Government has been clear about its strong desire for the future return of its citizens to help rebuild Ukraine when it is safe to do so. It is important that our approach respects these wishes.We will, of course, continue to keep the Ukraine schemes under review in line with developments in Ukraine.

If she will publish the safe and legal routes for asylum seekers to enter the UK.

Those individuals who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.Information on the UK’s safe and legal routes is published on gov.uk.

What steps she is taking to ensure that unaccompanied children arriving in the UK are (a) safeguarded by local authorities and (b) placed in appropriate fostering placements.

An unaccompanied child will become looked after by the local authority after having been accommodated under section 20(1) of the Children Act 1989 for 24 hours. This will mean that they will be entitled to the same local authority provision as any other looked after child and their care will be subject to statutory guidance, including care planning guidance. In addition, the 2017 statutory guidance on the 'Care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery' sets out the steps local authorities should take to plan for the support of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC).Upon the arrival of an unaccompanied child in the UK, the Home Office will refer them to a local authority children’s service at the earliest possible opportunity. All local authorities in the UK are expected to play their part in looking after UASC. These children are placed fairly across the UK’s local authorities through the National Transfer Scheme. This is considered to be in the best interest of these children and aims to ensure that UASC receive the support and accommodation they need.Local authorities will assess the needs of unaccompanied children in the same way as any other looked-after child and ensure they are placed in the most suitable accommodation available to meet their needs. All unaccompanied children aged 16 or under are placed in foster care. We are aware that many local authorities struggle to find the right fostering placements for UASC.To help support local authorities increase foster placement sufficiency, £36 million of investment (the largest ever investment in fostering) will deliver 10 local authority regional fostering recruitment and retention hubs covering 64% of local authorities in England.As announced in the policy statement ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’, we are investing an additional £15 million to expand this approach to make sure every local authority has access to this foster carer recruitment and support offer. This contains funding for a communication campaign, including targeted recruitment for carers for UASC.Together with Fosterlink, we have worked with over 90% of all local authorities in England to improve their foster carer recruitment and we continue to build evidence for further investment in supported accommodation to meet the needs of UASC and care leavers.

If she will place a limit on the period of time that someone can remain in a short-term hold facility.

There are already time limits on detention in short-term holding facilities.Section 147 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 defines a short-term holding facility as a place where a detained person may be detained for not more than 7 days, or such other period as may be prescribed.Subparagraph 4 of the Immigration (Places of Detention) Direction 2021 provides that detention in a residential short-term holding facility shall not continue beyond a normal maximum of 5 days unless the person concerned is to be removed from the UK within the next 2 days, in which case their detention at the short term holding facility may continue for no more than a further 2 days, up to an absolute maximum of 7 days.Rule 6 of the Short-term Holding Facility Rules 2018 limits periods of detention in non-residential short-term holding facilities (holding rooms) to a normal maximum of 24 hours, though this is extendable beyond that point in exceptional circumstances.The Short-term Holding Facility (Amendment) Rules 2022 amended the 2018 rules to create as a third category of short-term holding facility, known as a residential holding room. Rule 2 limits detention in a residential holding room to not more than 96 hours unless a longer period is authorised by the Secretary of State.

What the non-criminal reasons are that could be lead to a person claiming asylum being deported.

An asylum seeker whose claim is unsuccessful and has exhausted any appeal rights will be liable for removal where they have no permission to remain in the UK. A person may also be deported on the ground that it is conducive to the public good, which can for example participating in a sham marriage.

What her planned timetable is for announcing funding for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund for financial year 2025-26.

The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how its budget will be allocated for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being made as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible. ASGSF therapy applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. All future funding decisions will be considered as part of the next Spending Review.

What steps she is taking to support families that are seeking therapeutic support via the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund beyond financial year 2025-26.

The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how its budget will be allocated for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being made as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible. ASGSF therapy applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. All future funding decisions will be considered as part of the next Spending Review.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund permanent.

The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how its budget will be allocated for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being made as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible. ASGSF therapy applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. All future funding decisions will be considered as part of the next Spending Review.

Whether she plans to legislate for (a) a ban on the physical chastisement of children and (b) penalties for people who do so.

This government does not condone violence or abuse of children. There are laws in place to protect children against this.Crown Prosecution Service guidance is clear that only the mildest form of physical punishment can be used to justify discipline. Where a defence is unsuccessful, the usual sentencing powers for charges of assault and/or battery would be available for courts to consider.The department is looking closely at changes in Wales and Scotland but has no plans to legislate at this stage.We recognise that parents have different views and approaches to disciplining their children and that we need to consider all those voices, including those that might be disproportionally affected by the removal of the defence, as well as the voice of the child and trusted stakeholders in making any decisions.The government encourages the use of evidence-based parenting programmes. Many such programmes address the issue of managing children’s behaviour and promote positive parenting. This does not include the use of physical punishment. Family support might be available at Family Hubs to help parents with positive parenting and discipline and details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/find-family-hub-local-area.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Saudi counterpart on the (a) policy and (b) scale of capital punishment in that country.

The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as our joint statement with the EU on World Day Against the Death Penalty made clear. The Saudi authorities are well aware of our opposition. As the Minister for the Middle East, I raised Saudi human rights during my recent visit to the Kingdom.