Allison Gardner

Most people use fireworks in a responsible, safe, and appropriate manner and there are laws in place to address situations where fireworks are misused. The current regulatory framework is designed to support people to enjoy fireworks whilst lowering the risk of dangers and disruption to people, pets, and property.

No assessment has been made of the potential impact of further restricting a) use and b) sale of fireworks on animal welfare and wildlife. To inform any future decisions the Government intends to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities to gather evidence on the issues and impacts of fireworks.

Under the Online Safety Act, companies must act against illegal mis- and disinformation or hateful content, including illegal content that stirs up racial or religious hatred, and direct incitement to violence. The illegal content duty Codes of Practice are currently being scrutinised by Parliament, and Ofcom is anticipated to begin enforcing them in the Spring.

Social media platforms are responsible for ensuring that those seeking to spread hate online are not facilitated by their service. DSIT engages constructively with social media platforms, whilst being clear about that responsibility. DSIT also engages with major platforms on their responses to emerging risks relating to national security and public safety.

I set out in my previous answer to the Honourable Member for Stafford, that we are investing £29.8 million in research and innovation projects in Staffordshire.

For example, through the Strength in Places Fund, we are investing £18 million in the Midlands Advanced Ceramics for Industry 4.0 project. This is a consortium of researchers, manufacturers and end-users led by the Lucideon Group, which has sites in Stoke-on-Trent and Stone. It will develop streamlined processes for proving and bringing new advanced ceramics technologies to market faster, with less energy usage and lower carbon emissions.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. ​The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with Local Area Partnerships, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

To support this, the department has brought together a group of leading neurodiversity experts in a new Neurodiversity Task and Finish Group, led independently by Professor Karen Guldberg from the University of Birmingham, to work closely with the department to help improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream settings in a way that works for neurodivergent children and young people.

Additionally, the department’s Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme brings together Integrated Care Boards (ICB), local authorities, and schools, working in partnership with parents and carers to support schools to better meet the needs of neurodiverse children and their families and enable an inclusive school environment. PINS deploys specialists from both health and education workforces into 10% of mainstream primary school settings, which is approximately 1680 schools. PINS is building teacher and staff capacity to identify and meet the needs of neurodiverse children, including those with speech and language needs, through whole-school interventions. The programme is being evaluated, and the learning will inform future policy development around how schools support neurodiverse children.

The department’s Universal SEND Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuing professional development and support for the school and further education workforce. The programme aims to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those with autism. As part of the contract, the Autism Education Trust (AET) provides a range of training and support for staff on autism. Since the contract began in May 2022, over 200,000 professionals have received training from AET training partners.

Following the last Ofsted SEND inspection in January 2024, officials have been working with Stoke-on-Trent City Council to closely monitor progress against the areas for improvement identified by inspectors.

The areas were:

1. Improve the timeliness of the identification, assessment, and implementation of support to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.
2. Improve the visibility and engagement of children and young people with SEND within their communities while in education and their broader life experiences.
3. Develop the timeliness and quality of education, health and care plans so they always accurately identify needs and clearly articulate the provision needed for the child and young person.
4. Develop systems and processes to ensure that the voice of children and young people with SEND is heard and acted upon at an individual and strategic level.
5. Improve the oversight of children and young people attending and quality assurance of alternative provisions and out-of-county placements, including residential settings.

The government recognises that care leavers have some of the worst outcomes in society and is committed to ensuring that children leaving care have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships and are engaged in education, employment and training (EET).

To address the challenges care leavers face, the department has established a care leaver Ministerial Board, chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Deputy Prime Minister, which brings together Ministers from key departments to improve support for care leavers across government. We have also introduced the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to drive forward our commitments on children’s social care, including placing new duties on local authorities to provide ‘Staying Close’ support to care leavers up to the age of 25, where their welfare requires it, and requiring each local authority to publish information about the arrangements it has in place to support care leavers in their transition to adulthood and independent living.

To support care leavers to engage in EET, those who start an apprenticeship are entitled to a £3,000 bursary. Further, local authorities must provide a £2,000 bursary for care leavers who go to university, and care leavers are a priority group for the 16 to 19 bursary if they are studying in further education.

To help care leavers secure and maintain safe and affordable housing, the department is funding local authorities to support care leavers who wish to stay living with their foster families up to the age of 21, and have increased support for young people leaving residential care, with move-on accommodation and ongoing support from a keyworker provided through the ‘Staying Close’ programme.

The department knows that a stable support network and loving relationships are crucial to supporting care leavers to thrive. We are funding family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes across 45 local authority areas, including Stoke-on-Trent, to help care leavers to identify and reconnect with important people in their lives and create safe, stable, loving relationships.

To enable better access to mental health services, the department committed to recruit 8,500 new mental health staff and we are also updating the statutory guidance on promoting the health and wellbeing of children in care and care leavers.

The department’s home to school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home to school travel for children of compulsory school age, 5 to 16, who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. There are extended rights to free travel for children from low-income families.

The department is aware that challenges within the wider special educational needs and disabilities system are creating pressure on home to school travel. The government is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, with specialist provision supporting children with the most complex needs, so fewer children need to travel long distances to a school that can meet their needs. This will reduce the pressure on home to school travel. I am keen to understand how well home to school transport supports children to access educational opportunity and will be working with departmental officials on this.

Apprenticeships are jobs and the department expects employers to provide apprentices with the support, tools and resources they need for a high quality experience.

​Where additional costs are anticipated, the department provides employers and apprenticeship providers with additional funding to support more apprenticeship opportunities. The department provides two payments of £500 to employers and providers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, and up to age 24 for apprentices with an education, health and care plan or who have been in local authority care. These payments are used in many cases to support costs such as work equipment, uniforms or travel.

Apprentices may also be eligible for local discounted travel schemes. For example, apprentices over 18, living in a London borough and in the first year of an apprenticeship can get discounted travel with an Oyster photocard. Apprentices aged under 25 who have been in local authority care may be eligible for a £3,000 bursary, as well as wages from their employer. The bursary is not subject to tax and is not treated as income for benefits purposes.

As the department implements the Growth and Skills Levy to expand the range of in-work training available, we will ensure that people from low-income backgrounds are supported to access all opportunities.

Apprenticeships are jobs and the department expects employers to provide apprentices with the support, tools and resources they need for a high quality experience.

​Where additional costs are anticipated, the department provides employers and apprenticeship providers with additional funding to support more apprenticeship opportunities. The department provides two payments of £500 to employers and providers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, and up to age 24 for apprentices with an education, health and care plan or who have been in local authority care. These payments are used in many cases to support costs such as work equipment, uniforms or travel.

Apprentices may also be eligible for local discounted travel schemes. For example, apprentices over 18, living in a London borough and in the first year of an apprenticeship can get discounted travel with an Oyster photocard. Apprentices aged under 25 who have been in local authority care may be eligible for a £3,000 bursary, as well as wages from their employer. The bursary is not subject to tax and is not treated as income for benefits purposes.

As the department implements the Growth and Skills Levy to expand the range of in-work training available, we will ensure that people from low-income backgrounds are supported to access all opportunities.

The Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation and will bring forward plans in due course. Ministers will be considering available evidence around the use of hand-controlled e-collars and their effects on the welfare of animals.

On 30 August, the Government announced the start of work on a comprehensive new strategy to drive down bovine TB rates to save cattle and farmers’ livelihoods and end the badger cull by the end of this parliament.

The Government will work with farmers, vets, scientists and conservationists to rapidly strengthen and deploy a range of disease control measures.

A key part of the strategy is the ongoing development of a cattle vaccine, which is at the forefront of innovative solutions to help eradicate this disease. Planning is advanced on the next stage of field trials which will assess cattleBCG vaccination and the companion DIVA skin test on a broader cohort of herds to further inform our collective planning for delivery. We are continuing to work at pace but will only deploy the vaccine and companion DIVA skin test when we have all the right steps in place.

The new strategy will mark a significant step-change in approach to tackling this devastating disease. It will consider a range of further measures including boosting cattle testing, reducing the spread of disease through cattle movements, and deploying badger vaccination on a wider, landscape scale. This will build on Professor Sir Charles Godfray’s 2018 independent strategy review.

Work to underpin the policy with robust science has begun immediately and includes a survey of the badger population for the first time in a decade, a wildlife surveillance programme, the launch of a Badger Vaccinator Field Force and a badger vaccination study to increase badger vaccination at pace to drive down TB rates and protect badgers.

This is a devolved matter with regard to Scotland and Northern Ireland; hunting with dogs is a reserved matter with respect to Wales and therefore, the information provided relates to England and Wales only.

The Government made a manifesto commitment to ban Trail Hunting as part of a set of measures to improve animal welfare. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing. Further announcements will be made in due course.

This is a devolved matter with regard to Scotland and Northern Ireland; hunting with dogs is a reserved matter with respect to Wales and therefore, the information provided relates to England and Wales only.

The Government made a manifesto commitment to ban Trail Hunting as part of a set of measures to improve animal welfare. Work to determine the best approach for doing so is ongoing. Further announcements will be made in due course.

Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities. The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England, including in rural areas. The government has committed to increasing accountability by including a measure on socially necessary services so that local authorities and bus operators have to have regard for alternatives to changing or cancelling services.

In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.

The government is committed to improving public transport services so they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. On 1st October 2024, the first phase of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 came into force, meaning that newer vehicles providing local services must provide audible and visible information on stops, destinations and diversions. The majority of services will need to comply by October 2026.

On 17th December, the government introduced a new Bus Services Bill that will give local leaders the freedom to take decisions to deliver their local transport priorities and ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them, including for disabled people. The Bill includes measures which will make bus travel more accessible and inclusive.

This Government takes road safety very seriously and reducing those killed and injured on our roads is a key priority. We do recognise that the majority of road fatalities (according to the latest statistics) occurred on rural roads (60%) with fewer fatalities on urban roads (35%) and motorways (5%).

The Department’s Safer Roads Fund has awarded local authorities £185.8 million of funding between 2017 and 2024 to improve the safety of England's most high risk 'A' roads. To date, it has funded 445.3 miles of safety improvements on rural roads, making up 62.4% of all funded routes.

The safety of our roads is an absolute priority for this Government.

The Highway Code was updated in 2022 to improve road safety for cyclists and pedestrians, by strengthening pedestrian priority on pavements and at crossings and introducing the Hierarchy of Road Users, which places those road users most at risk in the event of a collision, including children, at the top of the hierarchy. The Highway Code makes it clear that those in charge of vehicles that can cause the greatest harm in the event of a collision bear the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger they pose to others, and highlights the need to take care and be particularly aware of young cyclists and pedestrians near schools.

Local authorities have a range of traffic management measures available to them to help improve safety outside schools. These include 20mph speed limits, traffic calming, and introduction of a School Street where appropriate. Local authorities have the power to set speed limits on their roads. Authorities are also enabled to place advisory part-time 20mph speed limits signs in the vicinity of schools without the need for Government approval. It is for local authorities to determine what measures are appropriate in individual cases. They have the local knowledge so are the best placed to do so.

The Gear Change plan for walking and cycling (2020) included a number of steps which will support and increase safety of active travel to school, including increasing the number of School Streets (a timed restriction of motorised traffic at the start and end of the school day).

This Government understands the challenges a criminal record can bring to finding a job and also recognises that employment significantly reduces the risk of reoffending.

The recently published Get Britain Working White Paper sets out Government’s proposals to reform employment, health and skills support to tackle economic inactivity. This includes support for people with a criminal conviction.

DWP provides a range of support to help ex-offenders find employment. This includes around 200 prison work coaches based in prisons across Great Britain who provide employment, training, and benefit support before release. Upon release, our jobcentre work coaches can offer individually tailored employment and training support, including access to DWP employment programmes such as Restart and Sector-based Work Academies.

DWP’s Strategic Relationship Team works with around 300 national employers and partners, and 80 trade associations across a wide range of labour market sectors to generate employment opportunities for claimants including ex-offenders. The Civil Service wide Social Mobility Recruitment Schemes such as Going Forward into Employment provide fixed-term appointment opportunities within the Civil Service for people who face barriers to work, including ex-offenders.

The National Partnership Agreement between MoJ, DWP and the HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) sets out how we are jointly driving rehabilitation and reducing reoffending. This includes DWP working alongside HMPPS’s New Futures Network, which brokers partnerships between prisons and employers in developing local agreements to enhance joined-up working for continuity of support on release. I refer the Hon. Member to the previous parliamentary question response 18064 on 9 December from Sir Nicholas Dakin.

A criminal record should not be a barrier to finding stable employment and having a positive future. Employers are encouraged to delay disclosure of convictions during job applications through the ‘Ban the Box’ scheme to give people with a criminal record a better chance to show their suitability and commitment to a job role. DWP is a proud member of the scheme.

Universal Credit customers can claim up to 3 months of future childcare costs at a time with these costs reimbursed month by month.

Universal Credit childcare element, when claimed together with upfront childcare costs, means that customers receive up to 185% of the first month of childcare costs to ease them into the Universal Credit childcare costs payment cycle.

The Department have introduced an online claim process, providing customers with a convenient alternative claim route, alongside the existing telephony and paper application methods. As the Department continues to modernise the Pension Credit service, we continue to review the user experience, balancing simplification of application with capturing the right information to ensure accuracy of award.

The Government recognises the pressures on the National Health Service during the winter period and the impact this is having on ambulance response times, including in Stoke-on-Trent.

We are committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution but must be clear that there are no quick fixes.

However, we are determined to turn things around through investment and reform. The Chancellor announced £25.6 billion of additional healthcare funding over the next two years, and we will set out a 10-Year Health Plan to radically reform the NHS and build a health service that is fit for the future.

Stoke-on-Trent is one of 75 local authorities that is receiving funding to provide bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme.

However, more is needed. Access to these services varies across the country and too many people with mental health issues, including mothers in the 24 months postpartum, are not getting the support or care they need. NHS England is working to ensure that services are accessible to all women who need them.

The Department is working with NHS England to deliver interventions to improve outcomes for those with pancreatic cancer across England, including Stoke-on-Trent.

As the first step to ensure faster diagnosis and treatment, we will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week.

Early diagnosis is imperative to improving outcomes for all types of cancer, especially pancreatic cancer due to the non-specific nature of its symptoms. NHS England is providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk to identify lesions before they develop into cancer. NHS England is additionally creating pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms and is increasing direct access for general practitioners to diagnostic tests.

NHS England is also funding a new audit into pancreatic cancer, aiming to provide regular and timely evidence to cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, to increase the consistency of access to treatments and to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients.

The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need, and we recognise the need for evidenced-based, high-quality treatment. In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department provides additional funding to support drug and alcohol services. In 2024/25, a total of £4,670,913 was allocated to Stoke-on-Trent. This included £2,906,020 for the Supplementary Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Grant, £939,906 for the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant, £589,429 for the Housing Support Grant, £165,719 for the Individual Placement and Support Grant (employment support), and £69,839 for the Inpatient Detoxification Grant. Future targeted funding for drug and alcohol treatment services beyond 2025 will be announced very shortly.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) provides monitoring, data, guidance, and targeted support to help local authorities, such as Stoke-on-Trent, to support improvement of drug and alcohol treatment. For Stoke-on-Trent, this support includes regular meetings with the Director of Public Health, commissioners, and providers to discuss treatment and recovery delivery, site visits by OHID, and engagement in improvement support programmes, for example introducing innovation into treatment services to improve access and retention for people who use opiates.

Additionally, OHID has published guidance for local authorities to support them in commissioning effective alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services in their areas, with more information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commissioning-quality-standard-alcohol-and-drug-services

The Department continues to work with all local areas to address unmet need and drug misuse deaths and to drive improvements in continuity of care. This includes the Unmet Need Toolkit which can be used by local areas to assess gaps in referral pathways. The toolkit also contains guidance on good practice to reduce the level of unmet need and target priority or underserved groups.

The standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. The GMC has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for professional practice.  

The curriculum for general practitioner (GP) specialty training is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners and must meet the standards set by the GMC and be formally approved by them.  Whilst the curriculum may not necessarily highlight a specific condition, it instead emphasises the skills and approaches a GP must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. This is assessed by the MRCGP Examination.  

Health Education England, now part of NHS England, published a reform of GP Specialty Training, and this includes enhancing mental health training for all.

The Government is committed to tackling those who spread views that promote violence and hatred against individuals and communities in our society, and that radicalise others into terrorism. To understand such threats, we maintain expertise and capabilities to understand terrorist and extremist online communications, in order to produce rapid, high-quality assessments designed to support the Prevent programme.

The Prevent programme tackles the ideological causes of terrorism and provides early intervention for people at risk of radicalisation. The programme deals with all forms of terrorist ideology, including Islamist, Extreme Right-Wing, other threats.

We work closely with law enforcement and multi-agency partners to respond to any such activity which may pose a threat.

Firefighters play a vital role in keeping the public safe and we are grateful for the work undertaken by fire and rescue services across the country in support of their local communities.

The Government is committed to ensuring fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work. Overall, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.87 billion during 2024/25. Standalone FRAs will see an increase in core spending power of £95.4m during 2024/25. This is an increase of 5.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2023/24.

Individual fire and rescue authorities are responsible for ensuring that fire and rescue services are meeting the needs of their local community and will direct resources where they are needed most.

This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are closely working with the automotive industry and police to ensure our response to vehicle crime is as strong as it can be.

We continue to work with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group, to take forward a programme of work to drive down vehicle crime. We are focusing on prevention and deterrence of theft of and from vehicles; this includes training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles.

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of ‘Aggravated vehicle taking’ and ‘Theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicle’ offences recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis. This information is available at the Police Force Area and Community Safety Partnership area level including ‘Stoke-on-Trent Community Safety Partnership Area’. Information at the constituency level is not held centrally.

Data for year ending March 2024 shows there were 714 ‘Aggravated vehicle taking’ and ‘Theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicle’ offences recorded by Stoke-on-Trent Community Partnership Area, a rise of 1% compared with the previous year. There was a small fall (1%) across England and Wales for the same period.

The Government recognises that effective multi-agency working is crucial to reducing anti-social behaviour and ensuring safer communities. We will continue to work with police, local authorities and the voluntary sector to identify and share best practice.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. We will put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities and crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets by introducing tougher powers including new Respect Orders to tackle repeat offending.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drug’s review on synthetic cathinones is scheduled for publication by December 2024.

Social landlords, including local councils, already have a range of powers and enforcement tools to tackle anti-social behaviour including powers to evict perpetrators. We expect landlords to use those powers promptly and proportionately, putting the needs of victims at the heart of their response. The government is strengthening these powers through the Renters’ Rights Bill for private registered providers.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. We will crack down on those making neighbourhoods feel unsafe and unwelcoming by introducing the new Respect Order, which local authorities will be able to apply for and which will carry tough sanctions and penalties for persistent adult offenders. The police, local authorities and social landlords may already apply for a Civil Injunction under Section 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to prevent behaviour that is causing housing-related nuisance and annoyance.

This Government is fully committed to rejuvenating our high streets and supporting the businesses and communities that make our town centres successful. This means addressing anti-social behaviour and crime, working with the banking industry to roll out 350 banking hubs, stamping out late payments, empowering communities to make the most of the vacant properties, strengthening the Post Office network, reforming the apprenticeship levy, and business rates.

Furthermore, the Government is investing in local growth with local allocations for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2025-26 now announced, which places may choose to invest in regenerating town centres. Stoke-on-Trent has been allocated £4,476,723. Stoke-on-Trent has additionally received funding from the Levelling Up Fund and Levelling Up Partnerships, which will also support local growth.

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected.

We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Government is looking at these issues carefully and will develop a new cross government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.

We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. In December, MHCLG announced that £633.2 million will be provided to councils in England in the 25/26 financial year through the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG), of which £1,747,686 has been allocated to Stoke-on-Trent. These figures represent an additional £635,096 in funding for over 24/25 allocations, a 57.1% uplift, and will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping.

This brings total spend on homelessness services to nearly £1 billion in 25/26, a record level of funding.

More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including: delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament; and abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.

In addition, MHCLG’s dedicated team of homelessness advisers work regularly with local authorities, including Stoke-on-Trent, to support them in delivering their statutory duties.

This is a government of service committed to ensuring our veterans have access to the housing support they need.

As announced at the Budget, £633.2 million will be provided to councils in England in the financial year 2025 to 2026 through the Homelessness Prevention Grant, to support them to deliver services to tackle and prevent homelessness, including veteran homelessness. This includes an uplift of £192.9 million compared to 2024 to 2025. Stoke-on-Trent City Council is receiving a total of £1,747,686 over 2025-26. All Homelessness Prevention Grant allocations for 2025-26 can be found here.

On 8 November the Government committed a further £3.5 million to the Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme from March 2025, including Op FORTITUDE, the homelessness pathway for homeless veterans, including those rough sleeping. This is in addition to £8.55 million of funding made available to support veterans into housing over 2023-25.

Rough Sleeping levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. We will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us back on track to ending homelessness, and have announced at the Spending Review that funding for homelessness and rough sleeping is increasing by £233 million next year compared to 2024/25.

From April 2022 to March 2025 Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been allocated over £3.5 million as part of £547 million Rough Sleeping Initiative funding to tackle rough sleeping across England.

We are committed to ensuring pre-release plans are created for those leaving custody, to ensure their needs are identified early and individual robust plans are in place to address these.

We are working closely with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and other Departments on the development of a new cross-government strategy to put us back on track to ending homelessness, as well as delivering our temporary accommodation service (CAS3), so all offenders leaving prison at risk of homelessness who are supervised by probation are offered up to 12 weeks of accommodation to provide a stable base on release.

We are also working with prisons to improve offenders’ access to purposeful activity, including learning, to improve prisoners’ reading, numeracy and vocational training so that more prisoners are prepared for work on release. In addition, we have launched regional Employment Councils, which for the first time will bring businesses together with probation and the Department of Work and Pensions to support offenders in the community.

To support prison leavers with a drug or alcohol need, over 50 Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators nationwide are improving links between prison, probation and treatment providers, and we have secure laptops to enable prisoners to meet with community treatment providers virtually, prior to release.

Juries are a vital part of our criminal justice system and undertake an important civic duty. The support provided to jurors includes measures to assist those who may suffer financial hardship. People who are not paid by their employer whilst they are on jury service can claim a loss of earnings allowance from the court, and jurors can apply for a deferral or excusal based upon financial hardship.

This Government is committed to reducing reoffending by giving prison leavers, including those released early on licence, the tools they need to turn their backs on crime. To do that, we will increase prisoners’ access to purposeful activity, such as education, deliver pre-release plans for all those leaving custody and ensure that people leave prison with a job and the skills needed to lead law abiding lives.

We are determined to help ensure our hard-working probation staff can continue to deliver high-quality supervision, including to those released on licence, and focus their time on those cases which need most attention. We need to increase the size of the workforce and are committed to bringing in at least 1,000 new trainee probation officers across the 2024/25 financial year.