Written questions by Morrison.

With reference to his oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Twickenham during the Oral Statement of 7 July 2025 on Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life, Official Report, column 687, what factors informed her Department’s decision to (a) update inspection standards and (b) increase funding for early years settings.

Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. That is why the Plan for Change set out our ambition for a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn.Ofsted is in the process of delivering changes to the way it works. The decision to update inspection standards is an important element of this work, to ensure that all children receive the best start in life.​​We want to ensure the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver the early years entitlements. The hourly funding rates for the entitlements are published each year in the autumn ahead of the following financial year. The rate covers the core costs of providing 15 or 30 hours of childcare to parents. We take account of cost pressures facing the sector, including forecasts of average earnings and inflation, and the National Living Wage.

What recent assessment she has made of the level of awareness among early years staff of current safe sleep best practice.

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements all early years providers must meet to ensure that children have the best start in life and are kept healthy and safe: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2. The safety of our children is the department’s utmost priority and we continually monitor and review the EYFS safeguarding requirements to ensure children are kept as safe as possible.Within the EYFS there is a requirement for babies to be placed down to sleep in line with the latest government safety guidance, accessible here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids/. The department is currently exploring whether changes are needed to these requirements and are due to meet with various safe sleep experts.The department works closely with Ofsted to analyse data on safety within early years settings, including inspection data and serious incident reports. This informs our ongoing monitoring and review of the EYFS safeguarding requirements and whether any changes are required.The Level 2 Early Years Practitioner criteria, and the Level 3 Early Years Educator criteria, can be found at Annex C and Annex E of the Early Years Requirements and Standards document here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67a4fc4e0e720adbd4f6ae27/Early_years_qualification_requirements-and-standards.pdf. Both criteria contain references to suitable sleep provision, and staff must meet these criteria in order to work within staff:child ratios.

What steps she is taking to introduce statutory safe sleep guidance for registered early years settings.

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements all early years providers must meet to ensure that children have the best start in life and are kept healthy and safe: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2. The safety of our children is the department’s utmost priority and we continually monitor and review the EYFS safeguarding requirements to ensure children are kept as safe as possible.Within the EYFS there is a requirement for babies to be placed down to sleep in line with the latest government safety guidance, accessible here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids/. The department is currently exploring whether changes are needed to these requirements and are due to meet with various safe sleep experts.The department works closely with Ofsted to analyse data on safety within early years settings, including inspection data and serious incident reports. This informs our ongoing monitoring and review of the EYFS safeguarding requirements and whether any changes are required.The Level 2 Early Years Practitioner criteria, and the Level 3 Early Years Educator criteria, can be found at Annex C and Annex E of the Early Years Requirements and Standards document here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67a4fc4e0e720adbd4f6ae27/Early_years_qualification_requirements-and-standards.pdf. Both criteria contain references to suitable sleep provision, and staff must meet these criteria in order to work within staff:child ratios.

If she will work with (a) health authorities and (b) expert charities to co-produce national safe sleep standards for use in early years settings.

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements all early years providers must meet to ensure that children have the best start in life and are kept healthy and safe: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2. The safety of our children is the department’s utmost priority and we continually monitor and review the EYFS safeguarding requirements to ensure children are kept as safe as possible.Within the EYFS there is a requirement for babies to be placed down to sleep in line with the latest government safety guidance, accessible here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids/. The department is currently exploring whether changes are needed to these requirements and are due to meet with various safe sleep experts.The department works closely with Ofsted to analyse data on safety within early years settings, including inspection data and serious incident reports. This informs our ongoing monitoring and review of the EYFS safeguarding requirements and whether any changes are required.The Level 2 Early Years Practitioner criteria, and the Level 3 Early Years Educator criteria, can be found at Annex C and Annex E of the Early Years Requirements and Standards document here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67a4fc4e0e720adbd4f6ae27/Early_years_qualification_requirements-and-standards.pdf. Both criteria contain references to suitable sleep provision, and staff must meet these criteria in order to work within staff:child ratios.

Whether she has had recent discussions with Ofsted on the potential merits of the use of CCTV as a safeguarding tool in early years settings.

The safety of our children is the department’s utmost priority and we continually monitor and review the early years foundation stage (EYFS) safeguarding requirements to ensure children are kept as safe as possible.Currently, the decision to install and use camera surveillance equipment in a nursery is a matter for individual providers to determine based on their own risk assessment and policies.The department works closely with Ofsted in our work monitoring and reviewing the safeguarding requirements within the EYFS. This includes ongoing discussions regarding the merits and concerns regarding the use of CCTV in early years settings.Any proposed changes to EYFS requirements will be informed by engagement with providers, health professionals, sector stakeholders and safeguarding experts.From September 2025, we are strengthening the safeguarding requirements in the EYFS, including:Amendments to promote safer recruitment.Creation of new requirements for providers to follow up if a child is absent for a prolonged period.A new safer eating section.A safeguarding training annex and a requirement for safeguarding training to be repeated every two years.New requirements to support whistleblowing.

Whether safe sleep practices are included in early years qualifications; and whether her Department plans to make this training mandatory.

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements all early years providers must meet to ensure that children have the best start in life and are kept healthy and safe: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2. The safety of our children is the department’s utmost priority and we continually monitor and review the EYFS safeguarding requirements to ensure children are kept as safe as possible.Within the EYFS there is a requirement for babies to be placed down to sleep in line with the latest government safety guidance, accessible here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids/. The department is currently exploring whether changes are needed to these requirements and are due to meet with various safe sleep experts.The department works closely with Ofsted to analyse data on safety within early years settings, including inspection data and serious incident reports. This informs our ongoing monitoring and review of the EYFS safeguarding requirements and whether any changes are required.The Level 2 Early Years Practitioner criteria, and the Level 3 Early Years Educator criteria, can be found at Annex C and Annex E of the Early Years Requirements and Standards document here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67a4fc4e0e720adbd4f6ae27/Early_years_qualification_requirements-and-standards.pdf. Both criteria contain references to suitable sleep provision, and staff must meet these criteria in order to work within staff:child ratios.

What steps hi Department has taken to support GP practices who have taking on patients coming from private healthcare backgrounds.

The National Health Service and general practices (GPs) are free at the point of use, and anyone is entitled to register with an NHS GP regardless of whether they have had private healthcare before.Under the GP Contract, a contractor must not host private paid-for GP services that fall within the scope of NHS funded primary medical services, and must not themselves, or through another person, advertise the provision of private services using the same written or electronic means used to advertise the NHS funded primary medical services they provide.This does not prevent individual GPs from offering purely private GP services to non-registered patients, although these services must be outside the agreed medical services and separate to the services provided to their NHS patient list and on alternative premises which are not NHS-funded. This is intended to safeguard the model of comprehensive NHS primary medical care and ensure that the line between NHS and private practice does not become blurred.The British Medical Association provides guidance to GPs on its website for their responsibility in responding to private health care.

What steps she is taking to improve the (a) accuracy and (b) speed of her Department's decision-making processes for asylum seekers.

The Home Office continues to invest in a programme of transformation and business improvement, including innovative methods to speed up asylum decision making and improve the quality and consistency of our work. The latest quarter saw the second highest three-month period for people receiving initial decisions since comparable records began in 2002, and more than double (+116%) those in the three months before the election (April to June 2024).

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department monitors trends in levels of furniture poverty in (a) England and (b) the UK.

My Department engages actively with registered providers of social housing on all issues facing social housing tenants and with a range of stakeholders on issues facing residents and has engaged with groups such as End Furniture Poverty to understand their research on this issue. On 2 July, we opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It can be found on gov.uk here. People in need may be able to get support from their local authorities via the ‘Household Support Fund’ and other services available locally. The Deputy Prime Minister is also part of the ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce, which is considering the impacts of living in poor quality housing on children.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with social housing providers on the (a) Decent Homes Standard and (b) the provision of furnished tenancies in social housing, in the context of levels of furniture poverty.

My Department engages actively with registered providers of social housing on all issues facing social housing tenants and with a range of stakeholders on issues facing residents and has engaged with groups such as End Furniture Poverty to understand their research on this issue. On 2 July, we opened a consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the social and private rented sectors. It can be found on gov.uk here. People in need may be able to get support from their local authorities via the ‘Household Support Fund’ and other services available locally. The Deputy Prime Minister is also part of the ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce, which is considering the impacts of living in poor quality housing on children.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that regulatory frameworks at (a) Manchester Royal Eye Hospital and (b) other hospitals do not inhibit patients in obtaining (i) prosthetic eyes and (ii) novelty prosthetics through the National Artificial Eye Service.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for the development and implementation of regulations for medical devices placed on the United Kingdom’s market, irrespective of the specific hospital in which they are used. All devices, including prosthetic eyes, must meet the relevant requirements of the UK Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (MDR 2002).The MHRA is developing a future regulatory framework for medical devices that will ensure patients have access to the safe and effective medical devices they need, including prosthetic eyes and other custom-made devices. The first step is the introduction of new Post-Market Surveillance regulations, which came into force in June, putting in place strengthened legal requirements for how manufacturers monitor and report on their devices once they are being used in the real world. We intend to follow this with updates to the MDR 2002, which will enter into force next year, bringing further risk-proportionate improvements to ensure device traceability and patient safety. This will include additional measures that must be taken before a product can be placed on the market, including enhanced requirements for custom-made devices. To support patient access to medical technologies, the MHRA recently consulted on proposals to introduce an international reliance scheme to enable swifter market access for certain devices that have already been approved in a comparable regulator country. The agency will publish a response to that consultation in due course.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of decreases in levels of spending welfare on the capacity of the Household Support Fund.

Social security spending is forecast to increase. We are providing £742 million in England to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. And we secured the first ever multi-year settlement for the HSF – now the Crisis & Resistance Fund - until 2029 to give councils certainty over funding. This will ensure vulnerable households in the most need can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food. We have shared guidance and documentation ahead of the launch of the scheme, arranged and facilitated a series of Delivery Plan Drop-in and LA Knowledge Share sessions, to support LAs with completing Delivery Plans and with planning for the new scheme. No further assessment has been made.

What steps her Department is taking with local authorities to support the integration of refugees that have been granted leave to remain.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 26 June to Question 61436.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase social housing supply.

I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771).

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional support to people on waiting lists for an ADHD diagnosis who show clear symptoms.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including assessments and support for people suspected or confirmed as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service, published September 2024, highlighted that the demand for assessments for ADHD has grown significantly in recent years and that there are severe delays for accessing ADHD assessments.The independent ADHD taskforce, commissioned by NHS England to consider these issues and how to address them, recently published its interim report. The report recommends the need for timely access to needs-based support, including practical help for people showing signs of ADHD, such as coaching, classroom tools, and parenting advice. The taskforce's final report is expected to be published later this year, and we will carefully consider its recommendations.The Government is also supporting earlier intervention for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through the Early Language Support for Every Child and the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programmes. The Government will be investing in support for pupils with SEND more widely, enabling transformation of the SEND system to make mainstream schools more inclusive and to improve outcomes.

What steps his Department is taking to help reduce wait times for (a) assessment and (b) diagnosis of ADHD in Greater Manchester.

NHS England has established an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) taskforce which is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June 2025, with the final report expected to be published later in the year.For the first time, NHS England published management information on ADHD waits at a national level on 29 May 2025 as part of its ADHD data improvement plan. NHS England has also released technical guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) to improve the recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data and publishing more localised data in future. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.The Greater Manchester ICB has recently conducted reviews of both children and young people’s and adult ADHD pathways. The ICB has been working with people with lived experience and has developed new service models which aim to provide earlier, fairer, and more effective ADHD support locally. The ICB expects to begin implementing these pathway changes in the coming months.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that there is a wide range of customisations available to patients at all providers when procuring prosthetic eyes through the National Artificial Eye Service.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning artificial eye services. The National Artificial Eye Service supplies one artificial eye free of charge. Customised bespoke artificial eyes can be provided to patients at the time of the supply of a National Health Service prosthesis at a small cost. Further information, including examples of customisations provided to patients, can be found on the National Artificial Eye Service website, at the following link:https://www.naes.nhs.uk/custom-eyes

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help protect intellectual property rights in the training of AI models.

The Government recently consulted on the use of copyright material in AI model development.The Government is currently analysing responses to that consultation, to help inform policy development. The Government will continue to engage extensively on this issue and proposals will be set out in due course.We have committed to report on progress to Parliament by December.

What steps her Department is taking to review the financial support available to carers whose role ends due to the death of a disabled adult child; and if she will introduce (a) a bereavement payment or (b) extended support for long-term carers in such circumstances.

Entitlement to Carer's Allowance in England and Wales can continue for up to eight weeks following the death of the disabled person who was being cared for. If the carer is in receipt of Universal Credit, entitlement continues for the next two full monthly assessment periods following the assessment period in which the Disabled Person dies (a maximum of 13 weeks). These run-on periods support carers who have recently been bereaved by giving them some time to adapt to their new circumstances. Within DWP there are a range of employment support programmes available to people who are or have been providing care. Support offered can include access to skills provision, referral to Restart careers advice, job search support, volunteering opportunities and access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Israel on hostages in Gaza.

Since day one, this Government has been clear that we need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, better protection of civilians, significantly more aid consistently entering Gaza, and a path to long-term peace and stability. The remaining hostages must be released and the only way to return them safely is through a deal. The UK is playing an active role in coordination with our international partners and continue to urge all parties to re-engage in ceasefire negotiations to get the hostages out and to secure a permanent end to the conflict. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Ministers continue to regularly engage their Israeli counterparts on this issue.