Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help tackle deaths among homeless people caused primarily by drug use.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

People dying whilst homeless is devasting and we must do all we can to prevent avoidable deaths.

The government’s £61.7 million Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment programme funds drug and alcohol treatment services to improve substance misuse and recovery outcomes, reduce the number of people sleeping rough due to substance misuse, and prevent deaths from drug and alcohol poisoning.

We are also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including delivering 1.5 million homes over this Parliament and the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding for a generation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 74930 on Midwives: Recruitment and Training, if he can outlines measures his Department is taking to increase the number of jobs available for newly qualified midwives.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The Graduate Guarantee will ensure that there are enough positions this year for every newly qualified midwife in England. Vacant maternity support worker posts will be temporarily converted to Band 5 midwifery roles, backed by £8 million to create new opportunities specifically for newly qualified midwives and to further ease the recruitment strain.

Furthermore, the Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department has carried out an assessment of the potential merits of providing childcare support for midwives in training.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department for Education provides the primary funding support package for English domiciled students in higher education through the student loans system. Eligible students can also apply for the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance.

The Department of Health and Social Care provides eligible healthcare students, including midwifery students, with supplementary, non-repayable support via the NHS Learning Support Fund. This includes a non-repayable grant of £5,000 per academic year and, for eligible students with childcare responsibilities, an additional £2,000 per academic year for parental support. These funding arrangements are reviewed ahead of the start of each academic year.

Midwifery apprentices can access childcare support schemes available to working parents, subject to meeting the eligibility criteria.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to answer of 24 June 2025 to Question 60160 on Victim Support Schemes: Finance, how much ringfenced funding for Domestic Violence and Domestic Abuse Support will be provided in the (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27 financial year.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Ensuring victims receive the right and timely support is a key part of this Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls.

We provide funding to all 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) which includes ringfenced funding for domestic abuse and sexual violence services. These services are commissioned based on local need.

I have protected dedicated VAWG victims spending in the Department by maintaining 2024-25 funding levels for ringfenced domestic abuse and sexual violence support this year. This includes combined ringfenced funding for PCCs to spend on domestic abuse and sexual violence support services.

As announced on 2 December 2025, Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years of this Spending Review period – the biggest investment in victim support services to date. This includes a 2% uplift year on year for the next two years to funding for PCCs. The breakdown of grant funding is also publicly available on the Government Grants Information System (GGIS), which is released annually in March covering the previous financial period of grant spending.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Andy Slaughter (Chair); Pam Cox; Linsey Farnsworth; Sir Ashley Fox

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Andy Slaughter (Chair); Pam Cox; Linsey Farnsworth; Sir Ashley Fox