Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of pathways for children with autism and severe learning disabilities to access specialist safety equipment where this is required to prevent self-injury or other serious harm.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This government recognises the importance of specialist safety equipment in meeting the needs of children and young people, including in mainstream settings. We are investing at least £3.7 billion in high needs capital funding between 2025/2026 and 2029/2030, to support local authorities to provide suitable places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. This includes investment in the physical environment, such as purchasing specialist safety equipment to support children and young people with autism and severe learning disabilities.
Our new, dedicated inclusive education estates guidance supports the sector in improving the inclusivity and accessibility of the estate in schools, colleges, and nurseries. It recognises that well-chosen furniture and equipment can assist children and young people to regulate, focus and safely participate in learning. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-education-estates.
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy and affordability of childcare provision during school holidays; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that childcare costs do not prevent parents, particularly women, from remaining in employment.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Improving the cost and availability of childcare is a priority for this government. Families can receive support with costs through Tax-Free Childcare, Universal Credit Childcare and the Flexible Support Fund.
The government has committed over £600 million to the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme from 2026/27, providing children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with free meals and enriching activities during school holidays. In a recent survey of 20,000 parents and carers, more that 90% said HAF helped them worry less about money during the holidays and made it easier for them to work.
The department has not assessed the cost of holiday childcare. This year, we are providing £12.9 million to support local authorities with school-age childcare. To monitor this, we are collecting termly data to provide us with a broad picture of the availability of holiday childcare.
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure continuous support for landfill gas generation and methane abatement assets immediately following the end of the Renewables Obligation in April 2027 and while his Department is exploring implementation of a long-term methane capture scheme.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Samantha Niblett) on 2nd July 2026 to Question 14090.
As set out in the Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan, the government is exploring the possibility of a long-term methane capture scheme alongside suitable transitional arrangements. DESNZ will shortly consult on proposals for a possible transitional scheme, including an anticipated delivery timetable.
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department provides to NHS and local authority professionals on responsibility for commissioning specialist night-time safety equipment for children with complex developmental disabilities.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that education, health, and social care services must work together to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population, and responsibility for providing equipment to disabled people typically falls to the National Health Service and local authorities (LAs).
We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022, NICE published guidance on Disabled children and young people up to 25 with severe complex needs, which is available at the following link:
This guidance encourages education, health, and social care services to work together and provide more coordinated support to children and young people.
In May 2023, NHS England issued statutory guidance setting out the requirement for ICBs to have an executive lead for SEND, who will lead on supporting the chief executive and the board to ensure the ICB performs its functions effectively in the interests of children and young people with SEND.
LAs in England have a statutory duty under various legislations, including the Care Act 2014, and the Children and Families Act 2014, to make arrangements for the provision of disability aids and community equipment, and to meet the assessed eligible needs of individuals who are resident in their area. Types of support include equipment to enable people to live more independently, such as grab rails, walking aids, and wheelchairs for short-term use.
Some LAs deliver this themselves but a significant number have external contracts for integrated community equipment services. Responsibility for managing the market for these services, including commissioning and oversight of delivery, rests with LAs.
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of migraine on levels of employment, absenteeism and economic inactivity in sufferers.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
No assessment has been made of the potential impact of migraine on employment and economic inactivity. This information isn’t available as the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the primary source for data on labour market participation and economic inactivity, only reports figures by long‑term health condition and does not include a category for migraines.
However, LFS data shows that working-age people with a long-term health condition are less likely to be in employment than those without a long-term health condition, at 64.1% compared with 81.6%, and are around twice as likely to be economically inactive, at 31.5% compared with 14.6%. The data is available at the following link:
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to collect or publish data on the number of people whose work capability is affected by migraine or related headache disorders.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Office for National Statistics collects information on health conditions through the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is based on interviews with people resident in households in the United Kingdom. The LFS covers this in two relevant ways. It asks respondents about their general health, including any specific conditions and whether these are long-term conditions that limit their ability to work. It also asks about periods of absence from work on health grounds, including which health condition caused that absence.
The general health section of the survey contains a range of impairment categories, informed by the Government Statistical Service (GSS) Impairment harmonised standard. However, this list does not currently identify headache or migraine-related disorders as a separate category. Such conditions would most likely be categorised as “other health problems or disabilities”. Under the current survey design, it is therefore not possible to identify people whose long-term work-limiting illness is specifically related to headaches or migraines. The GSS Harmonisation team is currently reviewing the disability and impairment standards, including the review of disability data harmonised standards, which is available at the following link:
Any recommendations from that review would be considered when assessing future updates to the impairment categories collected through the LFS.
Meanwhile, the section about periods of absence from work on health grounds includes an option for headaches and migraines. Analysis using this classification is published regularly as part of an article on Sickness absence in the UK labour market, which is available at the following link:
As the question is linked to specific periods of absence, it cannot be used to estimate the number of people who may be affected by migraine or headache related disorders. Instead, it looks at the number of days lost from work through different reasons for sickness absence, including headaches and migraines, along with the number of occurrences of sickness absence.
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2026 to Question 123626 on Aviation: Crew, if she will provide the number of commercial airline pilots registered with the Civil Aviation Authority who (a) reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 in each of the past five calendar years and (b) will reach the mandatory retirement age of 65 in each of the next 10 calendar years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The data below accounts for all relevant commercial licence types and relates to pilots who reached the age of 65 during the relevant report year and held a valid commercial licence and valid medical certificate as of 1 January of that year.
Date | Number of Pilots aged 65 |
1st January 2022 | 43 |
1st January 2023 | 51 |
1st January 2024 | 54 |
1st January 2025 | 61 |
1st January 2026 | 72 |
The number of pilots that will reach the mandatory age of 65 in the next 10 calendar years can be found on the Civil Aviation Authority’s published data on pilot licence holders by age and sex, which can be found here: https://www.caa.co.uk/data-and-analysis/approved-persons-and-organisations/personnel-licensing-statistics/pilot-licence-holders-by-age-and-sex/ . The data for 2025 will be published in the next few months.
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many commercial airline pilots joined the Civil Aviation Authority register in each of the past five calendar years.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows the number of pilots that received their first UK commercial pilot licence from the Civil Aviation Authority by year of issue and includes all relevant commercial licence types.
Year of Issue | Initial issues (Commercial Pilots) |
2021 | 625 |
2022 | 1374 |
2023 | 1771 |
2024 | 796 |
2025 | 961 |
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on cross-government support for people whose ability to work is affected by migraine.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Government is committed to working collaboratively to support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people affected by migraine. The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions’ Joint Work and Health Directorate was established to co-ordinate Government activity to help disabled people and people with health conditions get good work, get on in that work, and to return to work as quickly as possible if they leave it.
The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions have a range of specialist initiatives, including those joining up health and employment support around the individual through programmes such as Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and WorkWell, as well as support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants. Ministers and officials have regular conversations with regard to employment support for people whose ability to work is affected by a health condition.
The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, published in July 2025, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration. The plan outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health, and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work and deliver holistic care that leads to better employment outcomes for all.
Employers are also crucial in enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, such as migraines, to thrive in the workforce. To encourage employers to create disability inclusive workplaces, the Government continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme. This provides resources such as the Disability Confident Manager’s Guide, which includes guidance on flexible working and workplace adjustments, and which is available at the following link:
The Government’s offer to employers also comprises tailored guidance on supporting disabled people and people with health conditions in the workplace through its Support with Employee Health and Disability service. This includes guidance on disclosures and having conversations about health and disabilities, plus guidance on legal obligations and making reasonable adjustments. Further information on the Support with Employee Health and Disability service is available at the following link:
Additionally, in November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published the Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to reshape how the Government works with employers to improve work and health outcomes through creating healthier, more inclusive workplaces. The Government is now working with volunteer employers, providers, and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches to help disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions, including people affected by migraine, receive the support they need to remain and thrive in employment. Alongside the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Department for Business and Trade, National Health Service organisations are already participating in the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase to design a healthy working lifecycle standard and the accompanying Workplace Health Provision.
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage employers to provide reasonable workplace support for employees affected by migraine.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Government is committed to working collaboratively to support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people affected by migraine. The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions’ Joint Work and Health Directorate was established to co-ordinate Government activity to help disabled people and people with health conditions get good work, get on in that work, and to return to work as quickly as possible if they leave it.
The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions have a range of specialist initiatives, including those joining up health and employment support around the individual through programmes such as Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and WorkWell, as well as support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants. Ministers and officials have regular conversations with regard to employment support for people whose ability to work is affected by a health condition.
The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, published in July 2025, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration. The plan outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health, and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work and deliver holistic care that leads to better employment outcomes for all.
Employers are also crucial in enhancing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, such as migraines, to thrive in the workforce. To encourage employers to create disability inclusive workplaces, the Government continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme. This provides resources such as the Disability Confident Manager’s Guide, which includes guidance on flexible working and workplace adjustments, and which is available at the following link:
The Government’s offer to employers also comprises tailored guidance on supporting disabled people and people with health conditions in the workplace through its Support with Employee Health and Disability service. This includes guidance on disclosures and having conversations about health and disabilities, plus guidance on legal obligations and making reasonable adjustments. Further information on the Support with Employee Health and Disability service is available at the following link:
Additionally, in November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield published the Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to reshape how the Government works with employers to improve work and health outcomes through creating healthier, more inclusive workplaces. The Government is now working with volunteer employers, providers, and regions through a Vanguard Phase to test and refine approaches to help disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions, including people affected by migraine, receive the support they need to remain and thrive in employment. Alongside the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Department for Business and Trade, National Health Service organisations are already participating in the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase to design a healthy working lifecycle standard and the accompanying Workplace Health Provision.