Written questions by Raja.

What recent steps her Department has taken to support school leavers to access (a) further education opportunities and (b) work placements; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of those steps in delivering long-term employment outcomes.

The department is taking a range of steps to support school leavers to access further education (FE) opportunities and work placements.The government is improving careers advice in schools so that all young people understand the full range of pathways available to them, including FE, apprenticeships and employment, and feel confident navigating a changing labour market.We are also committed to guaranteeing every young person access to two weeks’ worth of high‑quality work experience during secondary education. This more flexible model provides multiple, meaningful workplace experiences across key stages 3 and 4, helping pupils develop employer‑valued skills and supporting successful transitions into FE and work.In 2024/25, a pilot flexible work‑experience model reached over 2,500 pupils across 66 schools and is being scaled in 2025/26, with enhanced support for up to 750 disadvantaged schools. From 2026/27, additional support will expand provision in alternative provision schools.Effectiveness is monitored through the Future Skills Questionnaire, which shows rising career readiness, pathway awareness and confidence, all of which are associated with improved long‑term employment outcomes.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to provide (a) financial or (b) planning support to help local authorities bring closed private car parks back into operation.

As administrator for National Car Parks Limited, PricewaterhouseCoopers is seeking to make the business viable and to avoid closures or job losses wherever possible. However, some sites that the administrator considered were not commercially viable have closed as part of the administration process. More information on the administrator’s plans for the relevant companies can be found on its website. The government recognises that a number of these closures are in Leicester. Under the Traffic Management Act 2004, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there is sufficient parking provision to support local communities and the prosperity of their town centres. Through the Local Government Finance Settlement, the government has made available up to £555.2 million in core spending power for Leicester City Council by 2028‑29, the majority of which is unringfenced and may be used at the authority’s discretion to meet local priorities. The government is not responsible for local parking provision and has no current plans to provide additional financial or planning support to reopen closed private car parks, but will continue to monitor developments.

What steps she is taking to support neurodivergent and SEND pupils with their studies in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of driving test appointment capacity in (a) Leicester, (b) Leicestershire and (c) the East Midlands; and what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for practical driving tests in those areas.

The table below shows the March 2026 average waiting time for a car practical driving test. This data is based on the national average waiting time metric of when a minimum of 10% of test slots are available. The table also shows the number of tests booked and available at the driving test centres (DTCs) serving the East Midlands as of 20 April 2026. Driving test centre (DTC)March 2026 average car practical driving test waiting time in weeksBooked tests (as of 20 April 2026)Tests available in 24 week booking window (as of 20 April 2026)Ashfield242,828182Boston23.81,58868Buxton241,41579Chesterfield242,518151Derby (Alvaston)242,62090Grantham (Somerby)243,210182Hinckley241,437102Kettering20.62,47799Leicester (Cannock Street)243,665186Leicester (Wigston)245,220237Lincoln241,83589Loughborough2491751Louth122687Melton Mowbray249865Northampton245,11433Nottingham (Chilwell)242,498109Nottingham (Colwick)244,288200Skegness209389Wellingborough245563Worksop19.22,961185Great Britain (National)22.1653,26952,578 Between June 2025 – March 2026, at the DTCs above, DVSA conducted 10,036 additional car practical driving tests in overtime, when compared to the equivalent overtime scheme between June 2024 – March 2025. This increase can largely be attributed to the additional test allowance scheme the agency introduced in June 2025.

What steps her Department is taking to raise attainment levels for disadvantaged students in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England.

The ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ White Paper establishes our plan to improve the outcomes of all children, building on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience. 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. This equates to 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.We are driving standards through new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams, a refreshed high quality curriculum and assessment system and recruiting 6,500 additional teachers, as well as taking action to address barriers to learning.Alongside this, schools continue to receive the pupil premium grant. In the 2026/27 financial year we will be providing £3.2 billion of pupil premium funding across all state-funded schools in England, an increase of 2.2% per pupil from the 2025/26 financial year. In the 2025/26 financial year Leicester received £23,112,193 of pupil premium funding, and the East Midlands received £260,716,608.

What assessment he has made of trends in the number of carers who are in poverty because they have accrued National Insurance credits through caring responsibilities but are not eligible for contributory working-age benefits.

Support for unpaid carers on low incomes is primarily provided through Universal Credit and Pension Credit, which include carer amounts in addition to the standard allowance or Standard Minimum Guarantee. These additions are worth up to £2,500 a year. In England and Wales, support is also available through Carer’s Allowance. For those who are able to balance paid work with their caring responsibilities, this is also a means of increasing household income. It also contributes to the wellbeing of the carer, and to the skills available to employers. The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 gives employees a right to time off to provide care, and the Government will be consulting on further changes to care leave. The Employment Rights Act 2025 contains provisions to support improved work‑life balance, including measures to strengthen access to flexible working. Unpaid carers receiving Carer’s Allowance receive a Class 1 National Insurance Credit which helps protect entitlement to the State Pension and contributory working-age benefits. Those receiving Universal Credit or a Carer’s Credit receive a Class 3 National Insurance Credit which helps protect entitlement to the State Pension. In all cases other contributions and entitlement conditions for the benefits or pension concerned would also need to be satisfied.

Media and Sport, what guidance is available to businesses in the physical activity sector to support compliance with the law pending publication of the Code of Practice.

The Government acknowledges the importance of providing clarity to the physical activity sector regarding the forthcoming Code of Practice. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) delivered the updated draft of the Code to the Government on 13 April. We will be working with our partners across the physical activity sector on how best to support compliance with the Code once it is published.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of bail conditions in reducing reoffending and protecting the public in cases involving persons under the age of 18 accused of violent offences.

The Government is clear that when the courts are considering bail for children charged with violent offences, public protection should always be the foremost priority, alongside reducing the risk of offending. For children, there is the option of imposing Bail Intensive Support and Supervision which includes high levels of contact, monitoring, structured activity and in some cases electronic tags.While evidence specifically on the effectiveness of different bail conditions on reducing offending or protection of the public is limited, there is evidence on the factors that reduce the chances of a child offending. The key principles of lowering the risk of offending include therapeutic rather than punitive responses, and family-based interventions that draw on community support and address wider needs, such as education and health. A strong and robust bail package is expected to address these key principles to ensure public safety.

What steps the Government is taking to protect vulnerable and elderly people from violent street crime.

The central aim of our police reform agenda is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities off local forces, so they focus on tackling local issues.The Government has already taken steps to boost the neighbourhood policing response, ensuring that every neighbourhood has named, contactable officers dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour locally, and forces have increased patrols in town centres and other key locations based on local demand and intelligence.By the end of February 2026, forces had delivered more than 3,100 additional police officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood roles since March 2025, strengthening neighbourhood teams as part of our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee to deliver 13,000 more by the end of this Parliament.In order to drive reductions in violent crime and protect communities across the country, on April 7th the Government launched its plan to halve knife crime within a decade. Titled “Protecting Lives, Building Hope: A Plan to Halve Knife Crime’, it will save lives, transform the futures of young people, stop those at risk from turning to knife crime and police our streets to catch and punish perpetrators.

What recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of violent robbery offences committed by persons under the age of 18; and what steps she is taking to tackle those trends.

This Government established a Knife-Enabled Robbery Taskforce in October 2024 to respond to surges of 14% of this violent form of robbery in the year before the General Election, a significant proportion of which involves young people. We brought together Chief Constables and policing partners from the seven areas which collectively accounted for approximately 70% of the national problem.The Taskforce scrutinised police performance in real time and identified common solutions to shared operational challenges, including a specific focus on under-18 knife-enabled robbery along school routes and transport hubs.The Knife-Enabled Robbery Group now continues this relentless effort, achieving promising results, with knife robberies now down by 15% overall across these seven areas (Oct 2025 vs year to June 2024). Knife robberies are also down nationally by 10%. These results demonstrate the impact of our targeted and evidence-led approach.Our new Plan to Halve Knife Crime ‘Protecting Lives, Building Hope’ sets out how we will support young people and stop those at risk from turning to crime. This includes the roll out of over 50 Young Futures Panel pilots across England and Wales to identify thousands of children at high risk of knife crime who were falling through the gaps.

What steps her Department is taking to enforce age restrictions on the (a) online and (b) offline sale of knives to persons under the age of 18.

On 7 April 2026 the Government published ‘Protecting Lives, Building Hope: A Plan to Halve Knife Crime’, which sets out how the Government is aiming to halve knife crime in the decade to 2034. We have been taking action in the Crime and Policing Bill, which is now in its final stages in Parliament, by increasing the penalty for sale of knives to those under 18 to a maximum of two years imprisonment and we have brought forward a number of new legislative measures to toughen our controls on the online sale of knives. They include introducing a new two-step age verification process for online sale and delivery of knives. This process stipulates the acceptable forms of identification to verify age at point of sale and on delivery and that parcels containing knives can only be delivered to the hands of the person who placed the order and they will have to show proof of age and identity on delivery.The Government also launched a public consultation on 16 December 2025 to gather views on proposals to introduce a licensing scheme for those who sell knives, including importers, retailers and private sellers, making them subject to stronger regulations and conditions. Following the close of the consultation on 24 February 2026, the responses received are currently being considered and the Government response will be published in due course.

How many (a) short-notice and (b) late cancellations of driving tests there have been since 4 July 2024; what proportion of available test slots were unused in each month; and what the overall utilisation rate of driving test appointments was in each month.

From 8 April 2025, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) required learner drivers to give 10 full working days’ notice to change or cancel their car driving test without losing the test fee. The attached spreadsheet (WPQ-00066786) shows how many car practical driving tests were cancelled by learners within 10 days or fewer and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency within 3 days or fewer since 4 July 2024, including what proportion of available test slots were utilised in each month.

Food and Rural Affairs, on what date her Department first became aware of written representations from private sector companies alleging procedural irregularities in the BNG metric digitisation procurement; what steps her Department has taken in response to those representations; and whether her Department has sought advice from the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The statutory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) metric is a Government‑owned tool and is currently only available to users in spreadsheet format. The existing tool has well‑recognised issues relating to accessibility, usability, and data integrity, which the Government's digitisation project will address. Contract C24064 is for Application Development Services and provides digital specialist support and programme delivery capability. The Discovery phase of the BNG metric digitisation project explored a wide range of user needs and potential options and does not represent a delivery commitment. Discovery reports are not routinely published but can be made available on request. Defra first became aware of written representations from private sector companies alleging procedural irregularities in the BNG metric digitisation procurement on 4 March 2026. Checks were undertaken to make sure the work is following due process. User research activities conducted during the Discovery phase were reviewed and found to be compliant with Government standards for research, and therefore further advice has not been sought. We are keen to work with private sector BNG technology providers to ensure digitisation of the BNG metric is a success.

What steps he is taking to ensure that defence manufacturers receive business support to (a) promote job growth and (b) enhance defence capabilities.

The Government is committed to supporting defence manufacturers through targeted business support programmes, including funding, innovation grants, and skills development initiatives. We will work closely with industry partners to promote job growth and ensure the UK’s defence capabilities remain cutting-edge and resilient. This involves fostering collaboration between manufacturers to sustain a strong, competitive defence sector.

With reference to the flights listed to the British Virgin Islands in WPQ 120039, a) what the purpose was of each such visit; b) which Ministers or senior officials approved each visit; c) how many officials travelled on each occasion and at what grade; d) what the total cost was of each visit; and e) what assessment was made of whether those engagements could be conducted remotely or combined with other travel.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has a statutory requirement under the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code to monitor port security in the British Overseas Territories. Both visits in 2025 were security assessments of 13 port facilities undertaken within five days on each visit. Meetings were also conducted, including with the Governor’s Office, the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force and with port security officials. DfT officials additionally delivered capability‑building training during the April visit, supporting enhanced security delivery at port facilitiesThe April visit involved three officials – two Senior Executive Officers (SEOs) and one Higher Executive Officer (HEO). The November visit involved one SEO and one HEO. No Ministers or Senior Officials attended. The total cost of the April visit was £11,581.19. November was £12,706.58. Both visits were approved by a Deputy Director (Senior Civil Servant) in DfT’s Transport Security Division in line with departmental policy. The majority of DfT’s port security engagement with the Overseas Territories is undertaken online, however an effective assessment on whether a port is delivering on its security requirements is best completed by an onsite visit.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2026 to Question 122594, when she expects trains for the first EWR services between Oxford and Milton Keynes to have been sufficiently fully tested for passenger services to commence.

Chiltern subleases the trains that will be used on East West Rail from West Midlands Trains. The operator continues to work jointly with the train owner and the industry supply chain on the schedule for the final modifications which are expected to be delivered and tested imminently.

Whether the Department intends to review transparency requirements for nationally operating police-associated units funded by private industry bodies.

Transparency requirements, including in relation to funding, for national policing units is the responsibility of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, or relevant agency which has responsibility for oversight and governance of that unit.

What steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to improve the (a) accessibility and (b) affordability of at home EV charging.

The Government continues to offer grant funding for those living in flats and rented accommodation, with up to £500 per charge point socket.The Government is also continuing to support drivers to access cheaper, flexible charging tariffs, both at home and in public. The Government set out a range of steps to support this as part of its Clean Flexibility Roadmap 2025.

What support is available to businesses affected by disruption arising from maintenance works on the strategic road network.

National Highways has a duty to maintain highways under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980. It is a publicly funded body and is not obliged or required to pay compensation for disruption, inconvenience, costs or loss of business caused by roadworks. National Highways recognises the importance of minimising impacts on businesses during maintenance works. It engages with businesses, local authorities and other stakeholders, to plan and communicate works and diversion routes, with the aim of reducing impacts as far as possible.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2026 to Question 122543, what assessment the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has made of the adequacy of conversion rates from application to appointment for driving examiner roles by recruitment channel.

As with any recruitment in the Civil Service, all applications must be made through Civil Service Jobs. There are several stages candidates must progress through before being offered employment, and consequently there will be candidates unsuccessful at various stages of the process. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) must ensure appointments are made based on merit following fair and open competition. As well as parts of the application process common to other Civil Service roles – eligibility checks, application forms, interviews, DBS checks - there are elements that are unique to the recruitment process for driving examiners (DE) when compared to other roles. Upholding road safety standards underpins everything DVSA does, and the recruitment process has to ensure those employed as DEs can determine if a candidate is ready and safe to take to the road alone. Candidates successful at interview will undertake an assessment of their driving ability, which they must pass. Further details of what this assessment entails can be found on GOV.UK. Candidates who successfully pass recruitment and are offered employment must undertake and pass a training programme before conducting tests.