Written questions by Anderson.

What data his Department holds on the adequacy of mental health support in (a) Ashfield constituency and (b) Nottinghamshire.

The Department does not hold specific assessments of the adequacy of mental health support in Ashfield constituency. Mental health services across Nottinghamshire, including Ashfield, are delivered by the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation. The Care Quality Commission’s most recent inspections at the trust found no services rated inadequate and noted strengthened governance and safer care. However, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has made clear that care has fallen short at the trust and expects to see improvements. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been closely monitoring the implementation of the recommendations from previous Care Quality Commission reports and has committed to meeting the new leadership of the trust once in place.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of incorrect information in AI (a) learning resources and (b) tutoring on children’s educational attainment.

The department recognises the importance of ensuring that artificial intelligence (AI) used in education is safe, evidence-based and supports genuine learning.In January 2026, to complement work on the safe and effective use of AI, including our 5-point plan for AI in education, benchmarking, and the AI Education Content Store, the department announced that it was updating its generative AI product safety standards. Through programmes such as the EdTech testbeds and AI tutoring trials, we are generating robust evidence on the impact of AI on attainment, ensuring schools can make informed choices and that tools genuinely enhance teaching and learning.Following the recommendations of the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, we are strengthening digital education, with topics such as AI being incorporated within the revised computing curriculum. Alongside this, updated relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance, required from September 2026, includes additional content on online safety, including identification of deepfakes and other misinformation.

What steps her Department is taking to reduce regional inequalities in the ability to access private tutoring.

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper sets out plans to build on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience to ensure every child has what they need to get on in life.We know that many schools use their pupil premium to fund tuition. Schools can use their pupil premium to provide peer tutoring and one-to-one or small group tuition when choosing support that will most improve progress, using the department’s ‘menu of approaches’, which is informed by evidence of how best to improve disadvantaged pupils’ attainment.Through our AI Tutoring Tools Programme, we will be co‑creating and trialling curriculum‑aligned, safe‑by‑design AI tutoring tools with teachers, pupils and experts. This will support teaching, build evidence of impact on attainment and inclusion to ensure pupils, including those who often cannot access private tuition, benefit from high quality individual learning support.

What support her Department offers to state schools to ensure the provision of adequate tutoring for pupils.

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper sets out plans to build on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience to ensure every child has what they need to get on in life.We know that many schools use their pupil premium to fund tuition. Schools can use their pupil premium to provide peer tutoring and one-to-one or small group tuition when choosing support that will most improve progress, using the department’s ‘menu of approaches’, which is informed by evidence of how best to improve disadvantaged pupils’ attainment.Through our AI Tutoring Tools Programme, we will be co‑creating and trialling curriculum‑aligned, safe‑by‑design AI tutoring tools with teachers, pupils and experts. This will support teaching, build evidence of impact on attainment and inclusion to ensure pupils, including those who often cannot access private tuition, benefit from high quality individual learning support.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure children from disadvantaged backgrounds can access private tutoring.

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper sets out plans to build on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience to ensure every child has what they need to get on in life.We know that many schools use their pupil premium to fund tuition. Schools can use their pupil premium to provide peer tutoring and one-to-one or small group tuition when choosing support that will most improve progress, using the department’s ‘menu of approaches’, which is informed by evidence of how best to improve disadvantaged pupils’ attainment.Through our AI Tutoring Tools Programme, we will be co‑creating and trialling curriculum‑aligned, safe‑by‑design AI tutoring tools with teachers, pupils and experts. This will support teaching, build evidence of impact on attainment and inclusion to ensure pupils, including those who often cannot access private tuition, benefit from high quality individual learning support.

What steps she is taking to ensure foster carers receive adequate (a) financial and (b) mental support.

The department is taking wide‑ranging action to strengthen foster care and ensure that children receive the support they need to thrive.We have launched an ambitious fostering reform programme that aims to create 10,000 additional foster placements during this Parliament. These reforms are designed to reverse the long‑term decline in fostering capacity, expand the number of suitable homes, and rebuild the system so children can grow up in loving, local family settings with carers who feel trusted and valued. To achieve this, we are improving regional coordination so local authorities can work more effectively together, and we are re-writing the rule book to prioritise stable, trusted relationships.Foster carers must be thoroughly assessed before approval. All prospective carers undergo rigorous checks and training, and our updated standards will help services ensure assessments are robust, consistent, and focused on the skills needed to provide high quality care.To support long‑term retention, our reforms will ensure stronger wraparound support, so foster carers receive the practical and emotional help they need. This includes use of carers’ wider support networks, peer support and training. These measures aim to improve the experience of current carers and to encourage more people to come forward.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that new foster carers are adequately vetted.

The department is taking wide‑ranging action to strengthen foster care and ensure that children receive the support they need to thrive.We have launched an ambitious fostering reform programme that aims to create 10,000 additional foster placements during this Parliament. These reforms are designed to reverse the long‑term decline in fostering capacity, expand the number of suitable homes, and rebuild the system so children can grow up in loving, local family settings with carers who feel trusted and valued. To achieve this, we are improving regional coordination so local authorities can work more effectively together, and we are re-writing the rule book to prioritise stable, trusted relationships.Foster carers must be thoroughly assessed before approval. All prospective carers undergo rigorous checks and training, and our updated standards will help services ensure assessments are robust, consistent, and focused on the skills needed to provide high quality care.To support long‑term retention, our reforms will ensure stronger wraparound support, so foster carers receive the practical and emotional help they need. This includes use of carers’ wider support networks, peer support and training. These measures aim to improve the experience of current carers and to encourage more people to come forward.

What steps her Department is taking to increase long term retention rates for foster carers.

The department is taking wide‑ranging action to strengthen foster care and ensure that children receive the support they need to thrive.We have launched an ambitious fostering reform programme that aims to create 10,000 additional foster placements during this Parliament. These reforms are designed to reverse the long‑term decline in fostering capacity, expand the number of suitable homes, and rebuild the system so children can grow up in loving, local family settings with carers who feel trusted and valued. To achieve this, we are improving regional coordination so local authorities can work more effectively together, and we are re-writing the rule book to prioritise stable, trusted relationships.Foster carers must be thoroughly assessed before approval. All prospective carers undergo rigorous checks and training, and our updated standards will help services ensure assessments are robust, consistent, and focused on the skills needed to provide high quality care.To support long‑term retention, our reforms will ensure stronger wraparound support, so foster carers receive the practical and emotional help they need. This includes use of carers’ wider support networks, peer support and training. These measures aim to improve the experience of current carers and to encourage more people to come forward.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure children in the foster care system are able to access suitable foster carers in their local area.

The department is committed to ensuring that children can access suitable foster placements close to home. Our fostering reforms will expand national capacity and strengthen regional collaboration, improve recruitment and matching processes, and assist local authorities to maintain stable local options.In the East Midlands specifically, the Foster for East Midlands regional fostering hub is helping increase recruitment by providing a single, streamlined point of entry for enquiries across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. The hub offers clear information, specialist advice and consistent, high quality support to prospective carers, and has already generated strong interest since launch. It also incorporates initiatives such as Mockingbird constellations, which demonstrate the supportive networks available to carers and help increase the appeal of fostering by reducing isolation and enabling a strong community ethos.

What steps her department is taking to increase the number of approved foster carers in Nottinghamshire.

The department is committed to ensuring that children can access suitable foster placements close to home. Our fostering reforms will expand national capacity and strengthen regional collaboration, improve recruitment and matching processes, and assist local authorities to maintain stable local options.In the East Midlands specifically, the Foster for East Midlands regional fostering hub is helping increase recruitment by providing a single, streamlined point of entry for enquiries across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. The hub offers clear information, specialist advice and consistent, high quality support to prospective carers, and has already generated strong interest since launch. It also incorporates initiatives such as Mockingbird constellations, which demonstrate the supportive networks available to carers and help increase the appeal of fostering by reducing isolation and enabling a strong community ethos.

What steps she is taking to ensure children in foster care are sufficiently supported in the mainstream education system.

Every local authority in England must appoint a Virtual School Head to promote the educational attainment of the children they look after, including children in foster care, wherever they live or are educated. All schools must also appoint a designated teacher with expertise in the needs of looked-after children. These children attract pupil premium plus funding of £2,630 per child up to the age of 16, managed by the Virtual School Head, to support meeting objectives in each child’s individual Personal Education Plan. We also provide post‑16 funding to help young people progress into further and higher education, training or employment. The full offer for children in care is set out in in the ‘Promoting the education of looked-after and previously looked-after children’ statutory guidance, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-the-education-of-looked-after-children.Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are extending the Virtual School Head’s duties to include promoting the educational achievement of all children with a social worker and children in kinship care.

What steps her department is taking to ensure children in foster care receive adequate mental support.

The government is committed to ensuring children in foster care receive appropriate emotional and mental health support. Regulations require every looked-after child to have their emotional and mental health assessed by a medical practitioner. Local authorities must ensure this happens. Integrated care boards and NHS England must cooperate with requests for services. Joint statutory guidance sets clear expectations that local authorities and health partners should promote wellbeing, act early on signs of difficulty, and ensure assessors have the right skills. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-looked-after-children--2.We are working with the Department of Health and Social Care to strengthen mental health support for care‑experienced children. Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, new corporate parenting responsibilities will be placed on government departments and relevant public bodies, ensuring they consider the needs of looked-after children and care leavers when designing and delivering health services. In December 2025, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and I announced a three year pilot to ensure children in care have access to the support they need sooner. This will build on existing work across the country, bringing social workers and NHS professionals together to provide direct mental health support to children and families when they need it most.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the costs to local authorities of providing social care and related services to asylum seekers.

Ministers and officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government engage regularly with counterparts in the Home Office on a range of issues, including on matters relating to local government. The Home Office has overall responsibility for asylum policy, and continues to work closely with local authorities to understand the pressures arising from the provision of asylum seeker services including the impact on wider local authority obligations and plans. For more information about social care spend on asylum seekers, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 111400 on 5 February 2026. As has been the case under successive administrations, government does not normally disclose details of internal discussions.

What steps her Department is taking to improve standards in schools.

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper sets a clear path to ensuring every child can achieve and thrive, from tackling the scourge of child poverty to securing the highest school standards for all young people.When children born under this government finish secondary school, it is our ambition that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap will be halved. We will take children’s education experience from narrow to broad. This includes a renewed curriculum, setting children up to thrive in the modern world. Our reformed curriculum will deliver high standards for all, delivering strong foundations in oracy, reading, writing and maths, and offering a triple science entitlement for all pupils. This is alongside improving transitions and providing an enrichment entitlement for every child.We will ensure children who for too long have been sidelined are included, raising standards and providing stretch and challenge for all no matter their starting point, targeting deprivation funding to boost outcomes for the most disadvantaged children and launching two place-focused missions to provide a blueprint for national change. Our ambitious special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms will ensure children and young people with SEND get the support they need. The government consultation on SEND is ongoing until 18 May 2026.We will move children and communities from withdrawn to engaging with education. We will introduce a new pupil engagement framework, support schools to improve behaviour, attendance and parental engagement, and give parents a clearer view of their child’s education.To deliver this change, we will strengthen the foundations of our education system. We will invest in high quality staff, promote school collaboration, drive standards through new Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence teams and realise opportunities from data, artificial intelligence and technology.

What steps she is taking to support (a) entrepreneurs and (b) new business starters.

At Autumn Budget 2025, the Government published the Entrepreneurship in the UK Prospectus which emphasises the Government’s commitment to supporting start‑ups and scaling firms through improved access to capital, R&D support, regulatory reform, and procurement changes. The Government also conducted a Call for Evidence on Tax Support for Entrepreneurs, which closed recently.

What data his Department holds on the total cost to the public purse of universal credit payments for foreign nationals in the last 5 years.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

What steps she is taking to help SMEs to increase employment opportunities.

We are helping SMEs grow and employ more people through our largest ever injection of capital into the British Business Bank. Over the next five years, the British Business Bank will increase annual deployment by two-thirds, aiming to unlock around £26 billion of private capital alongside £13 billion in public funding, and enable up to an additional £10 billion in small business lending through guarantees. The Government protected the smallest businesses from the changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this tax year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.At Autumn Budget 2025, we announced that we are supporting SMEs by changing the rules to fully fund SME apprenticeships training costs for eligible people under the age of 25.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help improve access to public tennis courts.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That has to mean delivering a range of facilities across the country based on what each local community needs.We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding into grassroots sport across England, including providing support for the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).In 2026/27, £15 million will be invested into innovative facilities in England to help improve access to the sports that people wish to participate in.We are working closely with the sport sector - including the LTA - and local leaders to develop plans for funding for a range of sports across the country. This will ensure that our investment in community grassroots sports facilities reaches as many people as possible to reduce inactivity levels.

If his Department will make an assessment on the adequacy of domestic steel production in the context of global (a) conflict and (b) economic challenges.

As part of the forthcoming Steel Strategy, we have commissioned an analysis of future UK steel demand and domestic production capabilities over the next 25 years. This analysis will form part of the evidence base for the Steel Strategy and will be published soon.Furthermore, the 2025 Defence Industrial Strategy and associated Strategic Defence Review committed Government to introducing Defence Readiness legislation this Parliament. This legislation aims to provide the Government with more robust powers to strengthen supply chain resilience, protect critical national infrastructure (including nuclear), and support the rapid mobilisation of defence industry. The role of domestic steel production in the context of a conflict scenario, alongside other parts of the industrial base, will be assessed as this legislation develops.

What steps his Department is taking to support high street businesses.

Our Small Business Plan sets out how government will support high street businesses in the everyday economy. Later this year, MHCLG will publish a new High Streets Strategy setting out how we can support high streets to thrive.This will build upon MHCLG's £5 billion Pride in Place Programme to renew our neighbourhoods and high streets. Kirkby-in-Ashfield was announced in the first 75 places to receive up to £20 million over the next decade as part of the Pride in Place programme and Ashfield will be in receipt of £1.5 million as part of the Pride in Place Impact Fund.