Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in light of the findings of the British Dyslexia Association's 2026 report: GCSE attainment: A decade without progress, what steps she is taking to reduce the GSCE attainment gap between those with Specific Learning Differences and those without.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer the hon. Member for Yeovil to the answer of 26 August to Question 17555.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce barriers to good care for (a) autistic people and (b) people with a learning disability in long-term segregation.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to ensuring that people with a learning disability and autistic people receive high-quality, person-centred care and support in the least restrictive setting possible, including reducing the use of long-term segregation in mental health inpatient settings. To support this, the Care Quality Commission is delivering Independent Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (IC(E)TRs). IC(E)TRs are intended to improve the treatment of people with a learning disability or autistic people in long-term segregation and reduce the use of long-term segregation nationally.

As part of implementing the changes to the Mental Health Act 2025, we are publishing a revised Code of Practice which will provide updated guidance on long-term segregation. In the process of drafting this, we will engage with people with lived experience and their families and carers, staff and professional groups, commissioners, and providers. We will run a public consultation to ensure the code is as useful as possible.

In October 2025, NHS England also published the Identifying Restrictive Practice resource for integrated care boards and National Health Service organisations, which supports the reduction of the use of restrictive practices, including long-term segregation. The Identifying Restrictive Practice resource is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/identifying-restrictive-practice/

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the affordability of rented properties in Yeovil constituency for people who rely on Local Housing Allowance.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum financial support available for renters in the private rented sector. LHA rates are not intended to meet all rents in all areas.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed Local Housing Allowance (LHA) at the 2025 Autumn Budget and announced that rates would be maintained at their current levels for 2026/27. A range of factors, such as rent levels across the country were considered against the fiscal context and the level of housing support that Government provides overall.

Renters receiving housing support who face a shortfall in meeting their rent costs can apply for a Crisis and Resilience Fund Housing Payment from local authorities in England.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the findings of the British Dyslexia Association's 9 July 2026 Report: GCSE attainment: A decade without progress.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Effective early identification and intervention is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs (SEND), including those with dyslexia.

To ensure that all teachers, teaching assistants, support staff and leaders across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with dyslexia and other types of SEND, the department is investing £200 million of new funding to upskill staff.

In addition, the department is providing £1.6 billion of additional funding to mainstream settings through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund to help settings identify commonly occurring needs and take meaningful steps to improve everyday support. Settings will also be able to spend the funding to develop targeted support for those who need it, such as group interventions, without formal assessment or diagnosis.

Clear statutory duties for schools will also be introduced, including identifying and meeting needs as early as possible and ensuring that they monitor children and young people’s progress to ensure timely and effective interventions.

We are strengthening inclusivity in mainstream schools by giving teachers better tools to identify and support needs early while ensuring specialist settings meet the needs of pupils with the most complex needs.

We will support schools to respond to pupils’ learning and development needs with evidence‑informed resources, helping make mainstream education more inclusive and improving outcomes.

This aligns with our commitment to deliver a high‑quality, ambitious curriculum for every child, including those with SEND. The department has engaged with a wide variety of organisations as we consider the SEND system, and this has included engagements with representatives of the British Dyslexia Association.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve access to holiday clubs for disabled children in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.

Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to improving access to high-quality holiday provision for school-aged children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Through the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme, the department is spending over £600 million across the three financial years from 2026/27 to provide free holiday club places, healthy meals and enriching activities to eligible children from low-income families during school holidays in England.

Local authorities are responsible for understanding local needs and delivering HAF provision that is inclusive and accessible. They have flexibility to tailor provision for children with SEND who are eligible for free school meals and have discretion to use up to 15% of funding to provide free holiday club places to children who are not eligible but could benefit from HAF, such as those with SEND.

The department is providing local authorities with an additional £12.9 million in 2026/27 to support their capacity to sustain a sufficient school-age childcare system, including ensuring sufficient holiday childcare and childcare for children in England with SEND.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of supporting Avon and Somerset Police to install a police custody suite in the new Horsey Lane police station in Yeovil.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Decisions regarding the police estate, including the provision and location of custody suites, are a matter for Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (or equivalents), who are best placed to determine local requirements based on operational demand, policing priorities and available resources.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the volume of preventable deaths in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) Somerset due to respiratory diseases.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data on the number of deaths due to respiratory disease, as well as which were considered preventable, is available at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/respiratory-disease/data

Data is not available at a Parliamentary constituency level.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the restoration of (a) habitats, (b) species, (c) woodlands and (d) peatlands in Yeovil constituency.

Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government has supported Somerset Council to develop the Somerset Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), which covers Yeovil. The Somerset LNRS will help groups and individuals target action to help nature recover and support locally and nationally important species and habitats, such as woodlands and peatlands.

Within the Yeovil constituency boundary, there are currently 480 live agri-environment agreements. Catchment Sensitive Farming advisers work closely with farmers, providing tailored advice, specialist consultancy and support for capital grants to improve water and air quality, reduce flood risk and enhance farmland habitats.

Woodland restoration is supported through a range of measures, including support for the development of Woodland Management Plans, alongside targeted capital funding for habitat restoration, infrastructure improvements, increased woodland diversity, and measures to address pests, diseases, and other threats to woodland resilience.

Peatland restoration works across England are carried out by local peatland partnerships, such as The Somerset Peatland Partnership, who are involved in managing any peatlands in the Yeovil constituency.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reserving a proportion of driving test appointments for candidates requiring a resit of a test to reduce (a) test waiting lists and (b) costs for learner drivers.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not operate a cancellation service or reserve a proportion of driving test appointments for candidates requiring a resit of their practical driving test. DVSA advises learners to regularly check for new appointments. Test appointments are released on a rolling 24-week basis, and additional appointments are added as soon as they become available.

All learner drivers have their own valid reason for wanting to take their test as soon as they can. Prioritising learners who have not been successful passing their previous practical test over another learner driver would not be fair.

DVSA has published guidance targeted at family and friends of learner drivers, which can be found on GOV.UK at supervise a learner driver. If a learner can access private practice, this might help reduce their learning to drive costs. They can then pick up lessons with their driving instructor prior to their booked test.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to improve the guidance on identifying signs of radicalisation as part of the Prevent Strategy.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

Yes. The Government keeps Prevent guidance and training under review to ensure that frontline professionals are equipped to recognise and respond appropriately to concerns about radicalisation.

In November 2024, the Home Office introduced a detailed, face-to-face Prevent training package to strengthen frontline professionals’ understanding of ideologies and grievances, and their ability to identify signs of radicalisation. In September 2025, we issued updated guidance to clarify referral thresholds for frontline practitioners. In August 2026, we also updated guidance for frontline professionals on how to notice and respond to concerns that someone is becoming radicalised.

The Home Office is also developing a Prevent Practitioner Portal, where guidance and training material relevant to Prevent can be found in one place.

Our guidance makes it clear that there is no single pathway to radicalisation, and it is not necessary for a practitioner to identify a specific ideology before making a referral.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 100106 on Counter-terrorism, when the independent evaluation of Channel will be published.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

The evaluation is expected to report findings by December 2026. We aim to publish the evaluation report in Spring 2027.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of commissioning a review into the effects of the Prevent Strategy on people with autism.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

Prevent conducted an internal strategic review of mental-health and neurodiversity (MHND) in 2025 to strengthen how individuals with mental ill-health, or who are neurodiverse, are supported and managed.

The review was designed to ensure that mental health and neurodiversity, including autism, are considered carefully and responsibly, without stigmatising individuals or implying any direct causal relationship between MHND and radicalisation risk.

Research has generally found no evidence there is a direct causal relationship between mental ill-health or neurodivergence and radicalisation risk in the general population.

In response to the review, operational guidance has been updated, and a new service is being piloted for psychologists to provide tailored advice to practitioners supporting people with mental ill-health or neurodivergence, including autism.

Since 2020, to further support the effective management of autistic individuals on Prevent programmes, the National Autistic Society has provided training to a range of front-line practitioners including all Channel Panel members and Intervention Providers. The course covers a basic introduction to autism, with a further course designed to understand autism in the context of radicalisation/extremism. This training is regularly reviewed and updated as required.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to improve the awareness of autistic characteristics in Prevent safeguarding training.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

Prevent conducted an internal strategic review of mental-health and neurodiversity (MHND) in 2025 to strengthen how individuals with mental ill-health, or who are neurodiverse, are supported and managed.

The review was designed to ensure that mental health and neurodiversity, including autism, are considered carefully and responsibly, without stigmatising individuals or implying any direct causal relationship between MHND and radicalisation risk.

Research has generally found no evidence there is a direct causal relationship between mental ill-health or neurodivergence and radicalisation risk in the general population.

In response to the review, operational guidance has been updated, and a new service is being piloted for psychologists to provide tailored advice to practitioners supporting people with mental ill-health or neurodivergence, including autism.

Since 2020, to further support the effective management of autistic individuals on Prevent programmes, the National Autistic Society has provided training to a range of front-line practitioners including all Channel Panel members and Intervention Providers. The course covers a basic introduction to autism, with a further course designed to understand autism in the context of radicalisation/extremism. This training is regularly reviewed and updated as required.

Celebrating and Supporting Grovelands Care Home (Yeovil)

Health and Remedy named Natural Lifestyle Retailer of the Year

Play days and Yeovil Town Council

Coach Casey Young

Somerset Armed Forces Hub

Contribution of Rotary Clubs

100 years of Yeovil Bowls and Squash Club

Political donations and campaign finance regulation

National Suicide Memorial Day for Health and Care Workers

Second Reading of the Mental Capacity (Duty to Assess) Bill

Support for hospices

Funding of Jodrell Bank Observatory

Cosmetic specifications for fresh produce and national food security

Devon maternity services

George Henry Longley's CHRONOS at Fresh Wharf

Miscarriage care

Smarter Water Catchment Initiative

National strategy for fertility

Maurice the toll booth cat

Furniture poverty and access to essential household goods

Fire ponds

Redress for people impacted by surgical mesh, sodium valproate and Primodos

Job cuts planned at the BBC

Celebration of English traditions

Memorial plaque for Ann Widdecombe