Written questions by Anderson.

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the national safeguarding guidelines for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.

Schools and colleges have a critical role to play in protecting children and keeping them safe. The department publishes statutory safeguarding guidance Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) which all schools and colleges must have regard to when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. KCSIE is subject to regular review to ensure it is kept up to date and relevant. We are proposing to make changes to KCSIE 2026 and plan to launch a public consultation very soon.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce homelessness in (a) Ashfield constituency and (b) Nottinghamshire.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 99477 on 19 December 2025.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to review the suitability of Turkey as a recipient of foreign aid.

Decisions on allocations of Official Development Assistance for the next three years are currently under consideration, and will be announced in the usual way.

What steps the UK is taking to combat international drug trafficking networks.

Drugs have a devastating impact on the health of individuals and communities.The Home Office and UK Law Enforcement, particularly Border Force and the National Crime Agency, delivers a significant amount of operational activity to detect and seize illicit drugs being trafficked to the UK and to secure our border. Our strategy focuses on working closely with law enforcement partners upstream to stop drug trafficking at source and across the supply chain, targeting the gangs responsible, and bringing them to justice.In the year ending March 2025, Border Force seized over 150 tonnes of illegal drugs from overseas; the highest amount on record and a 40% increase on the amount seized in the year ending March 2024.Serious criminals are constantly developing their approaches to traffic drugs into the UK in response to our efforts at the border and we recognise that we must continue to adapt our approach.

If he will make it his policy to reopen local magistrate courts that have been closed to help clear the court case backlog.

50% of magistrates’ courts were closed under previous Governments between 2010 and 2020.Estate capacity is not a limiting factor to sitting the funded days in the magistrates courts. In other words, we are investing in more court staff, legal aid and judge time so that magistrates can hear more cases - up to £450 million in additional courts funding per year. There is therefore a difference between system capacity and physical capacity of courtrooms. Running courtrooms requires not just available courtrooms, but judicial time, and sufficient numbers of legal professionals.We continue to keep the court estate under review to ensure it meets operational priorities. Projects to boost court capacity across the country include a new Magistrate’s Court in Blackpool and an additional 18 court rooms in the City of London.

What steps her Department is taking to encourage outdoors learning in schools.

The department believes all children and young people should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum and a variety of enrichment opportunities at school. The value of nature for outdoor learning and for learners’ wellbeing is fundamentalto the department Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy and it is woven throughout initiatives such as the National Education Nature Park. Delivered by the Natural History Museum, it provides curriculum aligned resources and encourages children and young people to get outside and take action to improve the biodiversity of their school grounds. It also supports the development of physical and mental wellbeing through active, hands-on engagement with the natural world. The value of outdoor learning is being recognised and promoted through our upcoming Enrichment Framework, which includes 'Nature, outdoors and adventure' as one of five categories that schools and colleges should seek to cover in a broad and well-rounded enrichment offer.

What data her Department holds on the reliability of bus services in England.

The Department for Transport publishes data on bus reliability and punctuality in England. This can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus-statistics-data-tables#bus-reliability-and-punctuality-bus09.

What steps her Department is taking to help improve reliability on the railways.

Improving performance is one of this Government’s strategic priorities for transport, we are determined to enhance services for passengers and deliver better value for money for the taxpayer. In response to our challenge to improve performance, the rail industry has set out a Performance Restoration Framework, with five clear areas of focus to recover performance to acceptable levels, including timetable resilience, staffing and how to keep trains moving during disruptive events. The Department has been clear with operators and Network Rail about its expectations on performance, and how operators and Network Rail will deliver for passengers and meet their needs - this includes cancellations. The Department expects train operators to mitigate disruption and provide reliable services for passengers wherever possible. To improve reliability and reduce traincrew related cancellations, we have developed a seven-point plan for traincrew, which we have built into business plan requirements. Operators have provided a concise, data-driven and evidence-based plan for how they will deliver the seven-point plan as part of their Business Plan responses, which were submitted in early December. These plans cover staffing levels, recruitment, training, overtime and planning efficiency to improve reliability. The Rail Minister is continuing to meet with the Managing Directors of all train operators and their Network Rail counterparts, to address poor performance and demand immediate action to raise standards.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of banning of petrol and diesel car sales after 2030 on the attractiveness of the UK as a destination for investment.

In 2024, the UK exported 77% of the cars it produced, and non zero emissions cars can continue to be sold internationally beyond 2030.

What steps he is taking to ensure that imported electrical products meet British safety standards.

UK product safety regulations require that all consumer products placed on the market must be safe. The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 place responsibilities on importers of electrical products to ensure their safety and compliance with the law. The Office for Product Safety and Standards and Local Authority Trading Standards enforce these laws and can require the removal of non-compliant or unsafe products from supply. While standards can be designated by Government as a voluntary route for businesses to demonstrate compliance with the law, businesses remain responsible for ensuring products comply with the full regulatory requirements.

What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the banning of petrol and diesel car sales after 2030 on the British automobile manufacturing industry.

The Government remains committed to the transition to Zero Emission Vehicles, and to making sure the transition works for industry. That is why we introduced significant changes to the ZEV Mandate last year, allowing for greater flexibility in meeting the targets. We have also committed £4 billion in funding for DRIVE35, which is the biggest government investment in our automotive sector in decades. In addition, we are investing an additional £1.3 billion in the Electric Car Grant.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the national curriculum in teaching British values.

All schools are expected to actively promote fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs.Schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas, and materials in their curriculum.Following the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government will make citizenship statutory at key stages 1 and 2. Content at primary and secondary will include media literacy, law and rights, democracy and government, to enable children to be informed and active participants in society. Covering these issues in citizenship will ensure we continue to focus on schools’ role in developing fundamental British values, including mutual tolerance and respect.Proposals will be consulted on from 2026 and we are working towards a first teaching of the new curriculum from September 2028.

What steps his Department is taking to strengthen the resilience of the military from potential cyber attack.

Defence prioritises cyber security of its systems and implements a range of measures, including security and monitoring tools, to support cyber resilience and protect as far as possible from attack. Details of the measures are not shared publicly for security reasons. In autumn 2025 we established Defence Cyber & Electromagnetic Force (DCEMF) to unify and advance previously fragmented and nascent capabilities, while empowering leadership to deliver operational advantage across the domain. This is in recognition of the critical importance of Cyber and Electromagnetic operations and capabilities in an increasingly complex and uncertain geopolitical environment. The DCEMF plays a central role in ensuring the UK remains competitive against peer adversaries in cyberspace and electromagnetic operations, driving the development of a technologically advanced Integrated Force capable of outthinking, outmanoeuvring, and outpacing its opponents.

What recent assessment he has made about the readiness of the NHS to tackle co-ordinated cyber attacks.

In the past year, we have invested £37.6 million across health and social care, building on the £338 million invested since 2017. Through our ambitious Cyber Improvement Programme, we are tackling the changing cyber risk head-on, expanding protection and services to better protect the health and care system.NHS England’s Cyber Operations team provides 24/7 monitoring and expert support to National Health Service organisations who have been impacted by cyber-attacks. This includes specialist, on the ground, certified incident response services free of charge to NHS organisations who have been severely impacted by cyber incidents as well as technical and operational support to contain, investigate, and remediate incidents. Furthermore, we have developed guidance for leaders involved in cyber incidents to ensure there is a clear policy and process for how to respond across all elements of incidents.We have a process in place to identify lessons and implement improvements following cyber incidents. Following the Synnovis cyber-attack in 2024, the Department and NHS England have made improvements to critical communications processes, added additional measures to improve resilience in the supply chain, and have set out clearer roles and responsibilities in incident management.In 2023, a Health and Care Cyber Security Strategy was launched. Pillar 5 of the strategy focuses on exemplary response and recovery, as set out in the strategy health and care organisations should run annual cyber exercises to ensure there is a well-practiced and rapid response when incidents do occur.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) prevention (b) diagnosis and (c) treatment of Ocular Melanoma.

The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for patients with cancer, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately driving up this country’s cancer survival rates. This will benefit all cancer patients, including ocular melanoma patients.Early diagnosis of cancers, including ocular melanoma, is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan. We are committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the National Health Service to increase diagnostic capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity. The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with rare cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the NHS will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.

What steps she is taking to ensure schools adequately respond to accusations of political bias.

School leaders and staff have a responsibility to ensure that they act in accordance with their duties on political impartiality. When political issues are discussed, schools must offer pupils a balanced presentation of opposing views and should not present materials in a politically biased or one-sided way.The department has published clear and comprehensive guidance to help those working with and in schools to understand their legal duties on political impartiality and how to meet them, both in teaching about political issues and beyond the classroom. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.The guidance includes advice on how schools can deal with complaints about political impartiality through appropriate local processes. Where parents and carers remain dissatisfied, they can raise a formal complaint in line with school complaints procedures.

What steps her Department is taking to monitor schools to ensure they are remaining politically neutral.

School leaders and staff have a responsibility to ensure that they act in accordance with their duties on political impartiality. When political issues are discussed, schools must offer pupils a balanced presentation of opposing views and should not present materials in a politically biased or one-sided way.The department has published clear and comprehensive guidance to help those working with and in schools to understand their legal duties on political impartiality and how to meet them, both in teaching about political issues and beyond the classroom. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.The guidance includes advice on how schools can deal with complaints about political impartiality through appropriate local processes. Where parents and carers remain dissatisfied, they can raise a formal complaint in line with school complaints procedures.

What recent steps his Department is taking to improve research into (a) Ocular Melanoma and (b) other rare cancers.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and in 2024/25 spent £141.6 million on cancer research, signalling its high priority. One example of a recent investment into rare cancers is the NIHR’s investment of £13.7 million in December 2025 to support ground-breaking research to develop novel brain tumour treatments in the United Kingdom, with significant further funding announcements expected shortly. Research specifically on Ocular Melanoma includes a study completed in 2022 to develop AI Techniques to Predict Eye Cancer Using Big Longitudinal Data. The NIHR is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with rare cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments, by working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future, including for rare cancers The Government also supports the Rare Cancers Private Members Bill. The bill will make it easier for clinical trials on rare cancers to take place in England, by ensuring the patient population can be more easily contacted by researchers The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into less common cancers, including ocular cancer. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

What guidelines the Government provides for schools when they are responding to alleged cases of political bias in the classroom.

School leaders and staff have a responsibility to ensure that they act in accordance with their duties on political impartiality. When political issues are discussed, schools must offer pupils a balanced presentation of opposing views and should not present materials in a politically biased or one-sided way.The department has published clear and comprehensive guidance to help those working with and in schools to understand their legal duties on political impartiality and how to meet them, both in teaching about political issues and beyond the classroom. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.The guidance includes advice on how schools can deal with complaints about political impartiality through appropriate local processes. Where parents and carers remain dissatisfied, they can raise a formal complaint in line with school complaints procedures.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of guidance on political neutrality in schools.

School leaders and staff have a responsibility to ensure that they act in accordance with their duties on political impartiality. When political issues are discussed, schools must offer pupils a balanced presentation of opposing views and should not present materials in a politically biased or one-sided way.The department has published clear and comprehensive guidance to help those working with and in schools to understand their legal duties on political impartiality and how to meet them, both in teaching about political issues and beyond the classroom. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.The guidance includes advice on how schools can deal with complaints about political impartiality through appropriate local processes. Where parents and carers remain dissatisfied, they can raise a formal complaint in line with school complaints procedures.