Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the pay gap between Further Education lecturers and school teachers; and whether she is taking steps support FE colleges in recruiting and retaining skilled teachers to deliver technical education.

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

The statutory requirements for maintained schoolteachers' pay are set nationally subject to recommendations from the School Teachers’ Review Body. In 2023/24, the median FTE salary for teachers in secondary schools was £47,666.

Further education (FE) colleges have statutory autonomy over the pay of their staff. Colleges should have the freedom to meet local technical skills needs within their own local circumstances, and the government does not set college teacher pay. In 2023/24, the median FTE average salary for teachers on permanent or fixed term contracts in FE colleges was £36,316 and £47,133 in sixth form colleges.

FE teachers are central to delivering high-quality technical education. Last year, we announced an additional £190 million broadly equivalent to the pay award in schools for colleges and other 16 to 19 providers to help them address the recruitment and retention of specialist FE teachers. Our targeted retention incentive offer is designed to retain eligible FE teachers in technical subjects with payments of up to £6,000 after tax. In its first year, nearly 6,000 teachers received a payment.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what support is being provided to regional innovation clusters, to i) support UK Research & Development in clean tech ii) promote the export of high-value research and development.

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

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is supporting regional innovation clusters by working with priority city regions to connect universities, Catapult centres and innovative firms, aligning place-based R&D with the UK’s Industrial Strategy and net zero objectives alongside partners such as UK Research and Innovation, ensuring clean tech research is developed, commercialised and scaled across the country.

DBT provides targeted export support, trade missions, clean tech showcases and investor engagement. We help high value, research-intensive firms reach global markets, boosting productivity, attracting knowledge intensive investment that complements local R&D ecosystems and creating skilled jobs in every region of the UK.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what support is available for UK-based research and development companies in the solar industry.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government supports UK solar research and development companies in various ways.

There is funding available for innovation companies looking to grow, including through UK Research and Innovation.

Moreover, the Solar Roadmap included several actions to support R&D companies in the UK, including working with the National Physical Laboratory to explore the establishment of a PV innovation and infrastructure platform. We recently worked with Solar Energy UK to produce a practical guide for companies in the solar supply chain, including R&D firms. It is available here: https://solarenergyuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Growing-the-UK-Solar-Supply-Chain-A-practical-guide-for-businesses.pdf.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent by NHS England on (a) each Section 7A service, (b) immunisation programmes within Section 7A services, (c) childhood immunisations within Section 7A services and (d) school-age immunisations within Section 7A services under the National Health Service Act 2006 in each financial year since 2019-20.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Funding for public health functions delegated by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to NHS England, known as section 7A services, is allocated as part of NHS England’s mandate funding total. The following table shows the spend for section 7A services by NHS England for the financial years 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24:

Source: NHS England.

Notes:

1. the above section 7A expenditure is as reported by NHS England regions from 2019/20 to 2023/24. These figures relate to deployment costs for commissioning individual services to patients;
2. in 2020/21 and 2021/22, some capacity normally dedicated to public health programmes was redeployed to support the response to the pandemic. As a result, funding for section 7A services was not ring-fenced, and has not since been ring-fenced, and the costs of delivering section 7A services could not be quantified accurately;
3. from 2020/21, COVID-19 immunisation expenditure represents a material amount of the immunisations total and the section 7A expenditure total. Section 7A expenditure on vaccinations increased in 2022/23, driven by post-pandemic catch up activity;
4. flu vaccination expenditure figures include drugs and activity reimbursement;
5. all figures for public health in secure and detained settings and sexual assault referral centres are based on data collection done in arrears;
6. 2019/20 expenditure for public health in secure and detained settings are an estimate. The first data collection was in 2020/21; and
7. the costs listed for sexual assault referral centres includes minor costs from the wider sexual assault and abuse services pathway, for instance services related to supporting victims of sexual assault and abuse that sit outside of a SARC.

Expenditure for 2024/25 and 2025/26 is not yet published.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the answer of 18 September 2025 to Question UIN 76304, what progress has been made since that date towards to help enable the commencement of passenger services on each phase of East West Rail; what delivery milestones and indicative dates is her Department is working to; and when she expects to be in a position to publish a final timetable for the project.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department continues to work closely with Chiltern and other partners to confirm a start date for the first stage of services. For passenger services to commence, trains will need to have been modified and fully tested, and driver training will need to have been completed. East West Rail Company published its consultation on the remaining stages of the scheme on 14th April 2026 as part of preparations for its application for a development consent order in 2027. The consultation sets out timelines for delivery of services along the route.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what functions set out in the May 2025 Model ICB document are being transferred out of ICBs in 2026-27; and if he will publish the updated NHS England document entitled Model ICB functions.

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

Under the Health and Care Act 2022, integrated care boards (ICBs) have flexibility to delegate their statutory functions, their duties and powers, to other statutory bodies, subject to secondary legislation and NHS England’s guidance. While ICBs can delegate responsibility for discharge of the statutory function, accountability remains with them. Currently, the focus of ICBs is realising the administrative efficiencies required of them, rather than delegating their statutory functions. No changes have been made to the existing statutory responsibilities which ICBs must continue to meet.

There is a consultation underway on restructuring the NHS England regional teams which will confirm those additional activities previously undertaken by some ICBs. This includes, for example, oversight of National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts against the national oversight framework. We have no current plans to publish additional guidance on this currently.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to meet that the commitment set out in the Post 16 Skills White Paper to maintain 16–18 funding per student in real terms.

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

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

UK arms sales to Israel

Issuing defence bonds to help restore Britain’s military

Two-state solution in Israel and Palestine

Holding Iran’s regime to account and proscribing the IRGC

EU Entry/Exit System and border delays for British travellers

Supporting Ukraine and seizing Russia’s frozen assets

Approval for China’s new embassy

Protections for Hong Kongers

Proportional representation for general elections

A UK-EU customs union to help tackle the cost-of-living crisis

Mental Health Awareness Week

Upland farmers and common land

Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday

Mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence law

UK arms export licensing and conflict in Sudan

President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

Found: of State for Public Health and Prevention 39 Victoria Street London SW1H 0EU Layla Moran

Found: of State for Public Health and Prevention 39 Victoria Street London SW1H 0EU Layla Moran

Found: for Health Innovation and Safety 39 Victoria Street London SW1H 0EU 19th March 2026 Layla Moran

Found: Layla Moran MP Chair, Health and Social Care Select Committee By email : hsccom@parliament.uk

Found: 17 April 2026 Layla Moran MP Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee

Found: 10 South Colonnade Canary Wharf London E14 4PU United Kingdom gov.uk/mhra Layla Moran MP Chair

Found: Helen Hayes MP Chair of the Education Committee House of Commons London SW1A 0AA CC: Layla Moran

Found: London SW1A 0AA XXX@parliament.uk +44 (0)20 XXXX XXXX Social: @houseofcommons parliament.uk Layla Moran

Found: OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Dame Chi Onwurah MP Chair, Science, Innovation and Technology Committee Layla Moran

Found: Minister of State for Care 39 Victoria Street London SW1H 0EU 18 March 2026 Layla Moran

Found: Yours sincerely House of Commons Palace of Westminster London SW1A 0AA Layla Moran,

Found: Correspondence from the Secretary of State to Layla Moran - maternity task force letter to HSCC Correspondence