Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recent announcement by the International Energy Agency that the UK's domestic energy costs are significantly higher than those of comparable nations.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

High UK energy costs have been driven by our dependence on global fossil fuel markets. The Government’s clean energy mission is the best way to break this dependence and protect billpayers permanently. The Government also acted at Budget to take an average £150 of costs off domestic bills in Great Britain from April, and it continues to work with the NI Executive on measures to bring down energy costs for households in Northern Ireland.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has set incremental targets for its overall housebuilding target in this Parliament.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government has not set incremental targets in respect of its Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament. Progress will be measured through the number of net additional dwellings and we will update Parliament in the usual manner.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many applications were approved under the Music Export Growth Scheme from Northern Ireland in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Four.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the change was in the level of Student Loan debt between (a) 2020 and (b) 2025.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The total nominal outstanding balance of income contingent student loan balances for England-domiciled borrowers and how this has changed over time can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2024-to-2025/student-loans-in-england-financial-year-2024-25#income-contingent-icr-student-loan-balance.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what comparative assessment he has made of levels of long term sickness absence in the Civil Service between (a) 2020 and (b) 2025.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Civil Service sickness absence data was published on 16 December 2025 and includes trends in long term absences in the Civil Service between 2020 and 2025.

(Source: Civil Service sickness absence data published on 16 December 2025)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his planned timetable is for Release on Temporary Licence pilot scheme to be completed.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

As set out in the Government’s IPP Action Plan (2025/26), we are progressing work to expand opportunities for IPP sentence progression, including piloting Release on Temporary Licence in Progression Regime Prisons. This work is ongoing, and further details on implementation will be set out in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to support people who have requested help and information on detransitioning.

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

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether independent assessment processes exist to monitor the changing costs for local authorities' expenditure on taxi provision to schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Local authorities are responsible for arranging home-to-school travel for eligible children and use a mix of in-house services, passes for free travel on public transport and contracts with private transport operators. Such contracts are a matter for the council and the operator. We encourage councils to have robust arrangements in place. We would expect single-occupancy taxis to be used only when no other solution is appropriate. We are supporting councils through a new home-to-school travel data collection to support benchmarking and publishing guidance to support joined-up decision-making.

We have committed to reform the special educational needs and disabilities system to enable more children to thrive in local mainstream settings. This will mean fewer children will need to travel long distances to access education, reducing the burden on local authorities. These reforms are set out in the Schools White Paper, published on 23 February.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will hold discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on how people using the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers scheme in England can find employment in Northern Ireland.

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

Skills and employment support policies are fully transferred to the Northern Ireland Executive, and the nature and scope of support for young people is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive to determine. Senior officials from the DWP and Northern Ireland Executive are already working together to share learning and best practices whilst ensuring effective integration of reserved and devolved provision.

In England, the eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers are testing approaches to identify and deliver localised support to young people who are or at risk of not being in employment, education or training. This includes strengthening local coordination through local leadership and outreach with partners including third sector organisations, employers and colleges to better connect young people with education, employment and training opportunities.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers, the Department for Work and Pensions has commissioned an evaluation, which is expected to build evidence on the effectiveness of the initiative. This will focus on improving employment outcomes, reducing economic inactivity, enhancing health and well-being, increasing participation in education and training, and strengthening systems integration. We expect to publish interim findings during the next two years and will develop the value for money assessment once longer term impacts have developed.

We will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive on the important issue of youth unemployment across the UK.

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International Epilepsy Day 2026

Found: Capita for her ill-health retirement pension; it was paid almost immediately after her MP, Gregory Campbell