Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the article by the University of Manchester entitled Making headlines: Young people’s social media use and navigating media narratives, published on 9 June 2025.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

As the lead department for media literacy, DSIT is committed to improving media literacy through coordinated cross-government work. The Government aims to improve media literacy through cross-government collaboration, educational initiatives and collaboration with Ofcom, civil society, and online platforms.

DCMS has recently funded the National Youth Agency to develop Digital Youth Work Standards to promote the adoption of best practice in digital youth work across the sector. This includes training sessions on digital literacy for youth workers.

We are developing a National Youth Strategy which will set out a new long-term vision for young people, and an action plan for delivering this. We will publish the Strategy later this year.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is partnering with youth organisations to develop media literacy resources.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

As the lead department for media literacy, DSIT is committed to improving media literacy through coordinated cross-government work. The Government aims to improve media literacy through cross-government collaboration, educational initiatives and collaboration with Ofcom, civil society, and online platforms.

DCMS has recently funded the National Youth Agency to develop Digital Youth Work Standards to promote the adoption of best practice in digital youth work across the sector. This includes training sessions on digital literacy for youth workers.

We are developing a National Youth Strategy which will set out a new long-term vision for young people, and an action plan for delivering this. We will publish the Strategy later this year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the risk of modern slavery in hand car washes.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery across all sectors, including hand car washes.

The Home Office funds the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), which operates a national licensing scheme in certain high-risk sectors to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation. The GLAA has specially trained officers with police-style powers to prevent, detect, and investigate serious labour exploitation across the entire economy in England and Wales.

The Government is improving the enforcement of employment rights by establishing the Fair Work Agency (FWA) through the Employment Rights Bill. The FWA will bring together the GLAA, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, and HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Team. This will ensure a more cohesive and streamlined response to exploitation.

The FWA will have strong powers to investigate and take action against a range of labour market abuses, including serious exploitation and modern slavery. This includes new powers to investigate under the Fraud Act 2006.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Competition and Markets Authority's report on Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Market Study, publish on 14 February 2025, what steps his Department is taking to improve the regulation of the powdered baby milk industry.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government remains committed to giving every child the best start in life. Whilst breastfeeding has significant health benefits, we recognise that for those families that cannot or choose not to breastfeed, it is vital that they have access to infant formula that is affordable and high quality.

The infant formula regulations set robust nutritional and compositional standards which mean that all infant formula for sale in the United Kingdom are suitable for meeting the nutritional requirements of babies regardless of the price or brand. The regulations restrict the inappropriate marketing and promotion of infant formula that can mislead consumers and may discourage breastfeeding.

The Government welcomes the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study into the UK’s infant formula and follow-on formula market. We have been working closely with the devolved administrations to consider its recommendations. We will respond in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the affordability of powdered milk in relation to Healthy Start vouchers.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The funding for Healthy Start can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fresh, frozen, or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried, and tinned pulses, and milk. It can also be put towards the cost of infant formula.

The Healthy Start scheme is kept under review and in April 2026 the value of the weekly payments will increase by 10%.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to the parties to the conflict in Sudan on the operation of checkpoints hindering internally displaced persons’ access to safety (a) between El Fasher and Tawila and (b) elsewhere in Sudan.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to the statement on Sudan made to the House by the Foreign Secretary on 18 November.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that the BBC collaborates with independent local journalists to tackle misinformation and serve communities through the Charter review process.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government is currently developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the vital importance of local journalism and its role in countering misinformation at local level. As part of this we are exploring the role of the BBC in the local news market. During her oral statement to the House of Commons on BBC Leadership, the Secretary of State confirmed that the government is looking at how we can help to support and defend local news through the BBC’s work as a part of the Charter renewal process. More will be announced on the Local Media Strategy in due course.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what work her Department is undertaking on atrocity prevention assessments for Sudan, including on Tawila, Kadugli and Bara.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the statement made by the Foreign Secretary to the House on 18 November 2025. As the Foreign Secretary said, there is a need for "concerted action to pull the warring parties back from the brink, halt the RSF advances, and ensure a humanitarian truce that is at least long enough to get humanitarian aid in and civilians out."

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has had recent discussions with Thames Valley Police on tackling number plate thefts in Oxford East.

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

Everyone should have confidence in the law and should feel protected. That is why the Home Office works closely with the police, industry, and other government departments to ensure we are collectively doing everything we can to cut crime and prevent it from happening in the first place.

We work closely with the National Police Chiefs Council to find solutions to all types of vehicle theft. We do this via the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, which focus on the prevention and deterrence of theft of vehicles.

Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities, and we expect them to take all forms of crime seriously. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues.

This will be supported by the delivery of up to an additional 3000 officers into neighbourhood teams by spring next year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) on tackling the theft of number plates.

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

Everyone should have confidence in the law and should feel protected. That is why the Home Office works closely with the police, industry, and other government departments to ensure we are collectively doing everything we can to cut crime and prevent it from happening in the first place.

We work closely with the National Police Chiefs Council to find solutions to all types of vehicle theft. We do this via the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, which focus on the prevention and deterrence of theft of vehicles.

Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities, and we expect them to take all forms of crime seriously. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues.

This will be supported by the delivery of up to an additional 3000 officers into neighbourhood teams by spring next year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) on combatting the theft of number plates.

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

Everyone should have confidence in the law and should feel protected. That is why the Home Office works closely with the police, industry, and other government departments to ensure we are collectively doing everything we can to cut crime and prevent it from happening in the first place.

We work closely with the National Police Chiefs Council to find solutions to all types of vehicle theft. We do this via the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, which focus on the prevention and deterrence of theft of vehicles.

Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities, and we expect them to take all forms of crime seriously. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues.

This will be supported by the delivery of up to an additional 3000 officers into neighbourhood teams by spring next year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle number plate theft.

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

Everyone should have confidence in the law and should feel protected. That is why the Home Office works closely with the police, industry, and other government departments to ensure we are collectively doing everything we can to cut crime and prevent it from happening in the first place.

We work closely with the National Police Chiefs Council to find solutions to all types of vehicle theft. We do this via the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, which focus on the prevention and deterrence of theft of vehicles.

Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities, and we expect them to take all forms of crime seriously. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues.

This will be supported by the delivery of up to an additional 3000 officers into neighbourhood teams by spring next year.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he has made on increasing capacity of English as a Second Language Provision (ESOL) in line with the Government’s White Paper on Immigration.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), the Department for Work and Pensions supports adults aged 19+ in England who speak English as a second or additional language to access English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision. ASF co-funds or fully-funds ESOL provision subject to the eligibility requirements laid out in the ASF rules. ESOL allows learners to develop the English language skills they need for everyday life, work or further learning. Overall, we are allocating £1.4 billion for a wide range of adult skills provision through the ASF in the 2025/26 academic year.

Currently, approximately 68% of the ASF is devolved to 12 Strategic Authorities and the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of ASF-funded adult education for their residents, the allocation of the ASF to learning providers, and deciding how the ASF best meets the needs of their local economy. By honouring our commitments to combine and further devolve adult skills funding, we give those with local knowledge the power they need to make decisions that are best for their areas.

The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for the remaining ASF in non-devolved areas, where colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their ASF allocations from the department to meet the needs of their communities. Where ASF funded provision is not available the Flexible Support Fund is sometimes used to procure ESOL provision that enables individuals to move into sustained employment, increase their earnings whilst in work, or move closer to the labour market.

Government publishes statistics on participation in ESOL provision through its Further Education and Skills publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/084d1d31-4477-488e-b95b-08de28d609b2