Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring Disclosure and Barring Service checks for tattoo artists as part of the local authority licensing process.

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

No assessment has been made by the Department of the potential merits of requiring Disclosure and Barring Service checks for tattoo artists as part of existing local authority registration and licensing processes. On 7 August we announced our plans to introduce a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England. There are no current plans to include tattooing as part of this scheme, as registration and licensing schemes already exist for tattooing under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of recognising Deaflympic athletes as elite athletes eligible for (a) UK Sport and (b) National Lottery funding.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including deaf people.

Through our arm's length body, Sport England, we have provided £1.2 million to support the work of UK Deaf Sport.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to (a) schools and (b) local authorities on food (i) procurement and (ii) supply chain transparency.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Schools are responsible for providing meals and meeting the School Food Standards. They may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. Our guidance on the School Food Standards, available on GOV.UK, includes practical advice to support schools in areas such as menu planning and procurement.

The department has published guidance for schools participating in the Early Adopter Breakfast Clubs Programme, which sets out what support is available in relation to food procurement, including the ‘buying for schools service’.

The department’s ‘Get help buying for schools’ has a range of approved frameworks that can help schools to buy food with peace of mind that they are getting good value, in terms of cost, quality and time. These resources are accessible at: https://get-help-buying-for-schools.education.gov.uk/categories/catering.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 73868 on Boilers and Heat Pumps: Sales, whether he has made an assessment of the potential commercial sensitivities associated with the publication of sales figures collected for the purposes of the administration of the Clean Heat Market Mechanism.

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

The Department will receive independently verified sales data after the conclusion of the first scheme year, in summer 2026, and data on the full compliance cycle for that scheme year in late 2026.

The government is continuing to assess the options for publishing certain Clean Heat Market Mechanism scheme data, for instance aggregate verified annual data, taking into account the commercial sensitivities of different approaches.

Small Business Saturday and support for SME apprenticeships

Movember

Thanking postal workers

International Day of People with Disabilities

Future of the BBC