Written questions by Whittome.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the 2024 report by the Youth Endowment Fund entitled Children, violence and vulnerability.

The Home Office works closely with the Youth Endowment Fund to ensure that their findings on what works to reduce violence amongst young people are carefully considered to positively influence the development of youth services.We will carefully consider the findings from this report as part of the Government's Plan for Change and the Safer Streets Mission which includes an ambition to halve knife crime and violence against women and girls; and actions to build confidence in policing and the criminal justice system.The Young Futures Programme is a key part of this and will establish a network of Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships, to intervene earlier to offer support for Young People in a more systematic way, as well as creating more opportunities for them in their communities.

Whether the increase to employers' National Insurance contributions will be covered in full for schools.

The government has agreed that public sector employers will receive compensation in recognition of the increase in their National Insurance contributions (NICs). That compensation will be additional to the £2.3 billion increase to the core schools budget for the 2025/26 financial year announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. Due to timing constraints, it will be provided as a separate grant, alongside the dedicated schools grant, in 2025/26. Further arrangements for this will be shared with schools as soon as is practicable.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of supporting the expansion of (a) local authority supply pools and (b) not-for-profit supply provision on (i) supply teachers and (ii) schools.

Supply teachers perform a valuable role and the department is grateful for their important contribution to schools across the country. Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers. Local authority supply pools are one of the approaches to providing supply teachers and local authorities have the autonomy to decide whether to operate these supply teacher pools. Supply teachers employed directly by a state-maintained school or local authority must be paid in accordance with the statutory arrangements for teachers laid down in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document. The department, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, has established the agency supply deal, which supports schools in obtaining value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. Details of this can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.

What assessment she has made of the (a) impact of the proposed pay rise for teachers on school budgets and (b) potential merits of providing additional funding to cover such a pay rise.

On 10 December 2024, the department published its written evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body, to inform their recommendations for school teachers’ pay in the next academic year. This included a proposed pay award of 2.8% for teachers for the 2025/26 academic year. In the context of the challenging national economic picture, a 2.8% award would be appropriate, ensuring teachers’ pay remains competitive and continues to reflect the vital contribution they make to children’s life chances. The whole public sector, including schools, is being expected to drive better value from existing budgets to help rebuild public services. Schools will be expected to fund the 2025 pay award from the additional investment provided at the Budget, alongside their existing funds. The department will support schools to use their funding as efficiently as possible with a suite of new productivity initiatives. The department will soon publish a national affordability estimate for schools in the School Cost Technical Note. This estimate will be equivalent to the position of an average school. Final decisions on the teacher’s pay award for 2025/26 will be made following recommendations from the independent pay review body process, which is on-going. The government will consider its response to the Pay Review Body’s recommendations with regard to the overall financial position. The written evidence sets out the department’s expectations about what schools will want to consider in their budget plans.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of time limits to bring discrimination cases under the Equality Act 2010.

The time limit to bring discrimination cases to a tribunal is being extended from 3 to 6 months through the Employment Rights Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament. This measure will allow certain claims to be made that currently are eit...

What steps her Department is taking to improve access to Legal Aid for discrimination claims in the Employment Tribunal.

Legal aid is available for legal advice and assistance in relation to discrimination cases which fall under the Equality Act 2010 or previous discrimination legislation, subject to passing the means and merits tests. Legal aid for other employment matters...

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a standalone employment right to disability-related leave.

The Government is invested in protecting and enhancing the rights of vulnerable groups in the workplace. The Equality Act 2010 requires employers to accommodate the needs of disabled em-ployees through reasonable adjustments. This is likely to include pro...

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing national restrictions on pavement parking on pedestrians with a visual impairment.

In 2020, the Department undertook a public consultation on options for changing the way pavement parking is managed outside London. The consultation asked specific questions about impacts on people with protected characteristics and we will use the inform...

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of financial support provided to medical students through the NHS bursary.

The NHS Bursary funding arrangements are reviewed annually ahead of the start of each academic year.We have applied an uplift of 2% to all NHS Bursary maintenance grants and allowances for the academic year 2024/25. This is the first time the maintenance ...

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's regional office closures on (a) staff who are unable to relocate and (b) all staff.

The department is consulting staff and Trade Unions on the decision to close six offices over the next two years. This consultation will consider the impact on the individuals affected with a view to putting in place measures to mitigate that impact and e...

What steps he is taking to ensure that vehicle recycling sites are established across the country; and what steps he is taking to publicise incentives to ensure participation in scrappage sch

Under the End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005, vehicle manufacturers and importers have a responsibility to establish free collection systems.The regulations require that by weight, at least 85% of the materials from end-of-lif...

If she will publish the terms of reference for the ongoing rapid review into extremism.

The Home Secretary will report on the Government’s plans to tackle extremism in due course, including setting out the scope and findings of the rapid review carried out in this area.

Whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of supporting leaseholders in receipt of Universal Credit to pay service charge costs when they take up (a) part-time, (b) sho

The Department has not recently assessed the potential merits of supporting leaseholders in receipt of Universal Credit (UC) to pay service charge costs when they take up a) part time, b) short-term and c) seasonal work.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the imprisonment of (a) Yasin Malik and (b) other political prisoners under the Public Safety Act in India

HM Government has made no specific assessments related to the case of Yasmin Malik or others detained in India under the Public Safety Act. It is not for the UK to comment on an independent judicial process in another country. However, we encourage all st...

When she plans to publish guidance on cross-pavement EV charging solutions.

This Government is committed to accelerating the roll out of charge points for electric vehicles. Guidance for local authorities to develop policies on the safe use of cross-pavement solutions will be published in due course.

Whether his Department plans to take steps to (a) protect consumers who receive inaccurate bills from utility companies and (b) prevent utility companies from enforcing high usage bills witho

As a priority, the Government will support Ofgem to review the rules around billing accuracy and supplier billing practices to understand where improvement is needed and whether compliance action is required. Ofgem is also considering new rules to improve...

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring the installation and retrofitting of sprinklers in (a) all buildings regularly used by vulnerable people and (b)

Building owners are required to ensure that existing care home buildings or warehouses have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. As part of this process, some owners may choose to retrofit sprinklers as part of their overall fire strategy, whil...

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle digital exclusion among Arab women in the UK.

Digital inclusion is a priority for Government. It means ensuring everyone has the access, skills, support and confidence to engage in our modern digital society, whatever their circumstances. Digital exclusion disproportionately impacts certain demograph...

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing a list of LGBTQ+ friendly travel destinations in travel guidance to British citizens.

FCDO travel advice provides information to help British nationals, including those who are LGBT+, make informed decisions about their foreign travel.No travel is completely safe. We try to make objective judgements and we will advise against travel when w...

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing English National Concessionary Travel Scheme bus passes to be used before 9.30 am.

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. Local authorities in England have the power to go beyond their statutory ob...