Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress her Department has made on the implementation of a GCSE in British Sign Language.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The new British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE is a key feature of our commitment to enhancing the status of BSL in education and society.
The department published subject content for the BSL GCSE in December 2023.
As is the usual process for introducing a qualification, the independent qualifications regulator, Ofqual, is currently running a public consultation on its proposed assessment arrangements and expects to confirm its decision on the qualification rules in autumn 2025. At this point, any exam board that chooses to offer the GCSE will be able to start developing specifications.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to introduce traceable labels on nitrous oxide canisters to identify the point of sale.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given by the Home Office on 9 May 2025 to PQ 49048.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he plans to take to help make it easier for (a) tenants and (b) leaseholders to install heat pumps.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Warm Homes Plan will help upgrade homes across the country, including those occupied by tenants and leaseholders, by making them cleaner and cheaper to run, from installing new insulation to rolling out solar and heat pumps.
The Government is helping make heat pumps more efficient and easier to install, through increasing funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to £295 million for this financial year, ensuring more families can benefit from £7,500 off the cost of a heat pump. The Government has also allowed heat pumps to be installed within 1m of the property boundary without applying for planning permission.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with (a) Adoption UK and (b) other representative organisations to discuss the adoption and special guardianship support fund.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In my role as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, I have recently met with Adoption UK and other representative organisations to discuss the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) and other issues during the adoption sector roundtable on 21 May 2025.
I also met with adopters at the Adoption Reference Group meeting on 6 May 2025, which again discussed the ASGSF, as well as other adoption support issues.
The department is intending further engagement with sector bodies on the approach to managing the ASGSF in future years.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the adoption and special guardianship support fund permanent.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the member for Warrington North, to my written statement of 22 April 2025, which is available here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-04-22/hcws589.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average price quoted was for court transcripts for victims in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Management information held about transcript requests is limited, and the information requested is not held centrally.
Victims usually request the judge’s sentencing remarks, which summarise the case against the defendant made at trial, the impact on victims and families and outline how the judge has come to a conclusion about the sentence handed down. This typically costs around £45 to £50.
However, bereaved families of victims of murder, manslaughter and fatal road offences can request a free transcript of the judge’s sentencing remarks. On 22 May we announced that, following the conclusion of a one-year pilot at the end of May, we are continuing the scheme that enables victims of rape and other sexual offences to apply for a free copy of the judge’s sentencing remarks.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress her Department is making on reducing the (a) cost and (b) time to taken to produce court transcripts for victims who request them.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Bereaved families of victims of murder, manslaughter and fatal road offences can request a free transcript of the judge’s sentencing remarks. On 22 May we announced that, following the conclusion of a one-year pilot at the end of May, we are continuing the scheme that enables victims of rape and other sexual offences to apply for a free copy of the judge’s sentencing remarks.
More widely, we are actively considering how to make court transcripts more accessible, and we continue to explore the potential for using AI to produce transcripts more quickly and cost effectively.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much income her Department has received from the sale of court transcripts to victims in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service receives no income from the sale of court transcripts to victims. The service is provided under contract and suppliers provide court transcripts for a fee.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to require the introduction of traceable labels on nitrous oxide canisters to track the point of sale.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the updated response issued to PQ 49048.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to introduce traceable labels on nitrous oxide canisters to allow the authorities to know the point of sale.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
With apologies for the previous answer, nitrous oxide is controlled as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and it is an offence to produce, supply, offer to supply, possess, possess with intent to supply, import and export nitrous oxide, where the intention is for it to be used for its psychoactive effects.
The Home Office is not responsible for labelling or tracking nitrous oxide in the many contexts in which its use is legitimate. This would fall to government departments and regulators for the relevant sectors.