Helen Maguire

Following the general election, the Prime Minister was clear that he wanted national renewal and a return of politics to public service.

The Government is committed to ensuring the public has diverse opportunities to take part in our vibrant democracy. The Government is taking steps to ensure meaningful public involvement in the work of government, including as part of mission-driven government and the broader toolkit for policy development and public engagement.

In addition to regular national and local elections, the public can engage in our political system and the policy-making process through various avenues. These include writing to their MP or to a government department, attending constituency surgeries, signing a petition which may end up the subject of debate in Parliament, taking part in a consultation (see the GOV.UK website for current consultations) or a parliamentary call for evidence, and of course taking part in politics directly by, for example, standing for office. The public are also encouraged to come and visit the UK Parliament to meet with their representatives and see the work of politics in action.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances for every child. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and to prosper.

The Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce will harness all available levers to drive forward action across government to reduce child poverty. More detail on the approach and priorities for the strategy is set out in the publication ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’, which was published on 23 October and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-poverty-developing-our-strategy.

The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will put children and their wellbeing at the centre of the education and children’s social care systems, and make sure every child has a fulfilling childhood, enabling them to achieve and thrive.

Breakfast clubs will remove barriers to opportunity by ensuring primary school children, no matter their circumstance, are well prepared with a supportive start to the school day. This will help to drive improvements in behaviour, attendance and attainment, and provide families with more affordable childcare choices. This will also support families, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

This government sees the early years as central to our mission to give every child the best start in life and in the 2025/26 financial year expect to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, to help even more families access affordable, high quality childcare and early education. We have also announced a new £75 million expansion grant, to be allocated later this year, to support nurseries, childminders and other providers to deliver the 35,000 additional staff and 70,000 places required to meet demand for next September.

High quality early education leads to better outcomes for all children, but is particularly impactful for those from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), where early identification of needs and support can help them to thrive.

Families of 2 year olds in receipt of certain benefits can access 15 hours of early education and care per week, over 38 weeks a year, and all 3 and 4 year olds are eligible for 15 hours of early education. Further support for disadvantaged children is available through Early Years Pupil Premium. This government will also be delivering the largest ever uplift to the Early Years Pupil Premium, increasing rates by over 45% to up to £570 per eligible child per year. This unprecedented increase is an investment in quality early education for those children who need it most, in the areas that need it most.

To respond to parents’ concerns about the cost of school, as committed in the King’s Speech, we will legislate to limit the number of costly branded items of uniform schools can require, ensuring uniforms make children smarter not families poorer.

In addition to free school meals (FSM), schools continue to receive the pupil premium grant, worth over £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, to support the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils. Also this year, all 153 local authorities in England have continued to deliver the Holiday and Activities Food programme during Easter, summer and Christmas holidays. The programme provides heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. It is primarily targeted at children who receive benefits-related FSM, however local authorities also have the flexibility to use some of their funding to target other vulnerable children.

Now that the department has been given its overall budget, we are working through the details of the budget settlement. Departmental budgets for 2025/26 will be confirmed in due course, including the exact funding available to support children, young people and families during the holidays.

It is the department’s ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving the life chances for every child and the work choices for every parent.

From September 2024, eligible working parents of children aged nine months and above can access 15 hours government funded childcare a week over 38 weeks a year. From September 2025, this will be extended so eligible working parents will be able to access 30 hours per week (over 38 weeks a year) for children from the age of 9 months to when they start school.

The government has committed to continue to roll out the expanded childcare entitlements for eligible working parents of children aged from nine months. The department is also growing the provision of wraparound before and after school provision of childcare for primary school children.

In 2024/25, the department expects to provide over £1.7 billion to support local authorities and providers to deliver the childcare expansion. In Surrey, the hourly rate for government funded childcare entitlements for 3 to 4 year olds is £6.77, which is an increase of 5.8%. For two year olds, this figure is £9.61 per hour and for under 2’s, £13.04 per hour.

The government has also committed to upgrading unused space in primary schools to create much needed places in 3,000 nurseries by working in partnership with all parts of the sector and local authorities.

In addition to the entitlements, parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit. Parents can check what childcare support they are entitled to via the Childcare Choices website.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing, including supporting them through its childcare delivery support contract where appropriate.

The government is committed to delivering a modern childcare system from the end of parental leave to the end of primary school, providing every child with a firm foundation which sets them up for life and ensures parents are able to work the jobs and hours they choose to effectively break down the barriers to opportunity for every family.

Surrey had their Ofsted and Care Quality Commission Local Area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspection in September 2023 which identified inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND. The report, published on 24 November 2023, included four areas for improvement.

The department’s regional team has put in place systems to track outcomes against the areas for improvement found by inspectors and the progress made by children and young people with SEND. Surrey County Council are committed to working closely with the department to improve services.

Surrey County Council entered into a Safety Valve agreement with the department in March 2022 with a view to addressing the effectiveness and financial sustainability of the local high needs system.

There are already specific criteria in place to assess the need for a Blue Badge for children under three years old who require the use of bulky mobility aids. The Department has no plans to amend the current eligibility criteria.

Department officials have regular conversations with the operator seeking to improve accessibility across South Western Railway’s fleet. Improvements include the new fleet of Class 701s with fully accessible toilets replacing the Class 455s which do not have toilets, an App with Artificial Intelligence generated British Sign Language and a planned rollout of improved Passenger Information Screens on services between Waterloo and Exeter. South Western Railway also has guards on all of its fleet providing assistance for all passengers who require it.

We have made no such estimate and are not able to do so as we do not collect specific data on veterans over pension age receiving benefits and pensions.

Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 and over.

This means that the Winter Fuel Payment will be better targeted to low-income pensioners who need it. The UK Government wants those eligible for Pension Credit but not currently claiming it to receive the benefits they are entitled to, including their Winter Fuel Payment.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity, and its commitment to raising the healthiest generation of children in history.

The Department is working closely with the Child Poverty Taskforce to develop and deliver an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life. An important part of this will be alleviating the negative experience of living in poverty, through supporting families and enhancing public services.

The National Health Service also makes a central contribution to tackling inequalities, in access to services, patient experience, and healthcare outcomes. For example, the 2024/2025 NHS Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance makes explicit the requirement to address the inequalities of healthcare facing children and young people.

The Home Secretary, alongside others, has received a Prevention of Future Deaths report from the Senior Coroner for Surrey regarding the deaths at Epsom College in February 2023. The Government will be responding to the Coroner’s recommendations in due course.

The Home Secretary, alongside others, has received a Prevention of Future Deaths report from the Senior Coroner for Surrey regarding the deaths at Epsom College in February 2023. The Government will be responding to the Coroner’s recommendations in due course.

The security of firearms is taken very seriously within the Ministry of Defence (MOD), and we have robust procedures in place to deter and prevent loss and theft. All losses and thefts of firearms and ammunition are fully and rigorously investigated.

The below table details firearm losses and thefts from MOD Facilities in 2023 under the previous Government. This includes military establishments, ranges, training areas and on operations.

2023

[1] Weapon subsequently found.

[2] Weapon subsequently found.

3,444 UK Armed Forces personnel had an initial assessment at a Ministry of Defence Department of Community Mental Health centre between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023.

The table below shows the number of computers, laptops, phones and USB sticks which were either lost or stolen in each month in 2023.

We take the security of defence assets very seriously and have robust policies and procedures to prevent losses and thefts. Defence personnel are regularly reminded of their responsibilities to safeguard Defence assets.

Proportionate security controls are used to protect electronic devices according to the classification and nature of the information which the asset can hold.

The information is not held in the format requested.

Information held by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not differentiate between veterans’ charities; charities that generally support the Armed Forces community including veterans; and charities that have a wider remit but include support to veterans.

For the MOD, the majority of grant programmes supporting veterans are administered via the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (AFCFT), and are listed on their website: https://covenantfund.org.uk

During financial year (FY) 2022-23 the AFCFT awarded 134 grants, totalling just over £7 million to 112 different not-for-profit organisations towards projects to support veterans.

During FY 2023-24 the AFCFT awarded 180 grants, totalling £23.8 million to 122 different organisations.

In addition, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA), now part of the MOD, has also funded grant programmes to support veterans, some of which were awarded to charities.

For OVA grants administered by the AFCFT, a total of £12 million has been allocated to the following programmes in FYs 2022-23 and 2023-24, some of which were awarded to charities:

• Veterans’ Capital Housing Fund
• Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme
• Veterans’ Employment Enhancement Programme
• Veterans’ Mobility Fund
• LGBT Support Fund

In addition, during FY 2022-23 and 2023-24 the OVA has directly administered grants to veterans’ charities as detailed in the table below.

The information you have requested is set out in the table below. The figures for financial year 2024-25 will be available once the accounts have been closed and audited. All personnel numbers are as at 1 April of the relevant financial year.

The Government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, including young people. We will consider youth homelessness as we develop our long-term cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country, to get us back on track to ending homelessness.

We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.