Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will publish guidance on recruiting impartial school governors.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government’s guidance on the constitution of school governing bodies explains that the most robust governing bodies welcome and thrive on diversity of viewpoints, skills, experiences and backgrounds. This ensures open debate, effective decision-making, and prevents dominance by a single perspective. It promotes inclusivity, strategic challenge, and decisions in the best interests of the school community. As public officeholders, governors must uphold the seven Nolan principles of public life. Additionally, governors must ensure compliance with the law on political impartiality in schools.

Governors, associate members and governance professionals must declare their interests to ensure that transparent strategic decision-making can take place.

Schools should publish governors’ relevant business, financial and pecuniary interests on their website.

There are comparable expectations for academy trusts.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Mobility as a Service (MaaS) apps are in development using public funding; and which locations they cover.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department is aware of several ‘Mobility as a Service’ apps at various stages of development and implementation across the country through regular engagement with local authorities. However, we do not maintain a comprehensive list of these. The geographic scope and funding models of such apps are a matter for local authorities.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the Freeview TV distribution system remains available to all.

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

The Department is leading a project to assess the future of TV distribution and we are committed to maintaining access for all. Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) is protected until at least 2034, safeguarding access for millions of households. Before any decision is made close consideration will be given to how any changes would impact audiences, especially those who rely on DTT as their primary means of watching television.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to reform public procurement.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Since coming into office, this Government has published a new, more ambitious, National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) setting out our vision for public procurement aligned with the priorities in the Plan for Change.

To support the implementation of the NPPS in central government we introduced new measures including an updated and streamlined social value model. This includes new ‘fair work’ criteria to support our Make Work Pay agenda, and measures to support SMEs and VCSEs such as the publication of direct spend targets and regular spot-checks to enforce 30-day payment requirements.

Building on these actions, in Summer 2025, this Government consulted on further procurement reforms that aim to deliver economic growth and support local communities by driving better procurement outcomes, supporting British businesses, and creating good quality jobs. We will set out our response to the consultation in due course.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support AI development in the West of England.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is putting artificial intelligence at the heart of our mission to grow the UK economy. We are backing British researchers and firms and catalysing regional AI clusters so communities across the country, including in the West of England, can benefit.

We are opening a £250m procurement for the next phase of the AI Research Resource, our publicly owned supercomputers which can be used – for free – by UK researchers and business. One of the supercomputers, Isambard-AI, is based in Bristol and is one of the world’s top 10 public supercomputers and the 4th greenest.

The Government will act as a “first customer” for promising UK AI hardware through an advance market commitment of up to £100 million, giving UK companies the opportunity to grow and compete. We are also backing British scale‑ups via a new Sovereign AI Unit, supported by around £500 million, and driving local productivity through targeted skills and business adoption programmes that help SMEs adopt AI and equip workers with essential AI skills.

Together, these measures will place communities such as in the West of England in a strong position to seize the opportunities presented by AI.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support start ups in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22^nd of December 2025 to question UIN 99476.

Found: election, but was defeated in a local party membership ballot by former Labour MP for Wansdyke, Dan Norris