Mary Glindon

The entitlement to time off for public duties helps to ensure that unpaid roles within our public services attract a broad range of people, including those who are in work, while breaking down a barrier to participation in civic life for people who need to work full time.

The initial legislation that introduced this entitlement is over 50 years old. I have asked my officials to consider how we can ensure this legislation remains effective.

Labour productivity in the UK has stagnated over the past fourteen years. It is essential that we act decisively to change this in all nations and regions, including in the North East of England.

We are currently working closely with both the North East and Tees Valley Combined Authorities as they develop their Local Growth Plans, to identify their highest-potential sectors and growth priorities.

This will enable a focus on the North East's economic strengths, make the most of mayoral leadership and help create the best conditions for lasting change, driving up labour productivity and growth.

Growth is the government’s central economic mission and we are currently developing an Industrial Strategy which aims to drive growth across the UK through investment in key sectors and regions. We are also hosting the International Investment Summit in October, to bring together global investors and regional leaders to advance opportunities for investment and growth across the country. Additional measures to improve the business environment and increase investment into the UK will be announced at the summit.

For the North East specifically, we will support delivery of the North East Mayoral Combined Authority’s Local Growth Plan. We will continue showcasing investment opportunities across the North East to potential investors, and provide account management services for investors already in the region to help them build and scale.

The Government made a commitment to review carer’s leave in the Plan to Make Work Pay. We will provide an update on progress in this area in due course.

The Plan to Make Work Pay also includes a number of measures which will help unpaid carers workers to enter, remain and progress in work - including making flexible working the default and introducing a right to switch off.

As set out in our Plan to Make Work Pay, we will consult on a simpler two-tier employment status framework that differentiates between workers and the genuinely self-employed. We will confirm plans for this in due course.

I pay tribute to the vital efforts of foster carers, who carry out a challenging role that requires skill, dedication and love. This government will ensure more children can receive loving care in foster families.

We will work with councils and fostering services to ensure foster carers receive the support they need and deserve, but there are no plans to give worker status to foster carers.

As outlined in our Plan to Make Work Pay, we will end exploitative zero hours contracts by giving workers the right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work. We will also introduce a new right to reasonable notice of shifts, with compensation for shifts cancelled or curtailed at short notice.

We appreciate that zero hours contracts work well for some people. Those who are offered guaranteed hours will be able to remain on zero hours contracts if they wish. However we are committed to ending one-sided flexibility, and ensuring that if workers are not benefitting from the flexibility these contracts offer, they have a right to an alternative.

The Minister for Gambling met with representatives of Bacta, a trade association which represents the adult gaming centre sector, at the Bingo Association Annual General Meeting on 1 May 2025, where she also met with other representatives from the land-based gambling sector. A further meeting between the Minister for Gambling and Bacta is scheduled in May 2025. The Minister has held several other meetings with representatives from the land-based gambling sector.

The Government recognises the contributions that adult gaming centres and bingo clubs make to communities, including providing local employment and spaces where people can have fun and socialise. We will continue to work with the land-based gambling sector to mitigate the risks of gambling-related harm and strengthen player protections in venues.

The Minister for Gambling met with representatives of Bacta, a trade association which represents the adult gaming centre sector, at the Bingo Association Annual General Meeting on 1 May 2025, where she also met with other representatives from the land-based gambling sector. A further meeting between the Minister for Gambling and Bacta is scheduled in May 2025. The Minister has held several other meetings with representatives from the land-based gambling sector.

The Government recognises the contributions that adult gaming centres and bingo clubs make to communities, including providing local employment and spaces where people can have fun and socialise. We will continue to work with the land-based gambling sector to mitigate the risks of gambling-related harm and strengthen player protections in venues.

Since 1 January 2020, operators have been required to direct their annual financial contribution for gambling research, prevention and treatment as required by Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) SR code 3.1.1 to one or more of the organisations on a list maintained by the Gambling Commission. The purpose of this list is to demonstrate to operators how to be compliant with the LCCP requirement. Once the levy system is in force, it is likely that the LCCP RET will be no longer relevant or needed. The Commission has consulted on this and will publish their response in due course.

It is a priority for levy funding to be directed where it is needed most. This is why we have appointed statutory bodies to lead on research, prevention and treatment which will be led by the evidence of what works to improve and expand efforts to understand, tackle and treat gambling-related harm. We will also put in place robust governance arrangements to ensure that levy funding is spent in line with our objectives.

Official statistics from a range of sources provide the Government with insights into the economic contribution of the betting and gaming industry as a whole. The latest headline statistics show that the gambling sector contributed £4.9bn to Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2022, accounting for 0.2% of UK GVA. In the financial year 2023/24, the gambling sector employed around 94,000 people in Britain (provisional), accounting for 0.2% of UK jobs and paid approximately £3.4bn in betting and gaming duty. We do not hold official statistics on GVA, employment or tax revenue for adult gaming centres specifically.

The Gambling Commission’s industry statistics show that between April 2022 and March 2023, gross gambling yield for adult gaming centres was £533m. This represented c. 11% of gross gambling yield generated by non-remote casinos, arcades, betting and bingo.

Official statistics from a range of sources provide the Government with insights into the economic contribution of the betting and gaming industry as a whole. The latest headline statistics show that the gambling sector contributed £4.9bn to Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2022, accounting for 0.2% of UK GVA. In the financial year 2023/24, the gambling sector employed around 94,000 people in Britain (provisional), accounting for 0.2% of UK jobs and paid approximately £3.4bn in betting and gaming duty. We do not hold official statistics on GVA, employment or tax revenue for adult gaming centres specifically.

The Gambling Commission’s industry statistics show that between April 2022 and March 2023, gross gambling yield for adult gaming centres was £533m. This represented c. 11% of gross gambling yield generated by non-remote casinos, arcades, betting and bingo.

This government is committed to strengthening the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system for all children and young people to ensure they receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

The department is working closely with experts on reform, including a Strategic Advisor for SEND, who will play a key role in convening and engaging with the sector, including leaders, practitioners, children and families, as we consider next steps.

An education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment must identify a child or young person’s special educational needs, together with any relevant health or social care needs. If a needs assessment determines that it is necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person, the local authority must prepare an EHC plan.

Local authorities have seen an increase in EHC needs assessment requests. Latest data shows that there are 576,000 children and young people with EHC plans, as of January 2024.

The department knows that parents have struggled to get their children the support they need and deserve, through long and difficult EHC plan processes.

We have listened to parents, local authority colleagues and partners across education, health and social care and are considering carefully how to improve access to support for children with SEND. We are also reflecting on what practice could or should be made consistent nationally.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

There is a growing number of children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans due to their social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs. Currently, 15.5% of those with an EHC plan who are attending school have SEMH recorded as their primary need.

While no recent assessment has been made specifically on the impact of EHC plans on mental health, we are responding to this increase by significantly expanding access to specialist mental health professionals and early support. This includes the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools, the recruitment of 8,500 additional mental health professionals, and the launch of Young Futures hubs to provide accessible, community-based mental health services.

Improving the SEND system is a key priority for this government. We are working with families, schools, local authorities and wider partners to deliver reforms that improve support for children and parents and provide consistency across the country.

All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter who they are or where they are from. However, the department knows that disadvantaged pupils are more likely to face unacceptable barriers that hold them back, which is why the Opportunity Mission will break the unfair link between background and success.

High and rising standards are the key to unlocking stronger outcomes for every child and young person, reducing gaps and ensuring they can achieve and thrive.

To drive standards in reading and writing, the government has committed £27.7 million in the 2025/26 financial year. This includes new training and resources for secondary school staff to support reading in key stage 3, with a specific focus on readers who are at risk of falling behind.

The department also funds a national network of Maths Hubs, supported by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. This includes the Great North Maths Hub, which covers the Newcastle Upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency. The network aims to raise the standard of mathematics teaching from reception to age 18, preventing and reducing attainment gaps.

On 6 May 2025, the department announced a further £8.2 million for the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme, which includes funding to support 400 schools with high-attaining disadvantaged students to progress to higher grades at GCSE and into level 3 mathematics.

Alongside this, we are providing pupil premium funding of over £3 billion in the 2025/26 financial year to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

Through our work to deliver the Opportunity Mission, the department will break the link between young people’s backgrounds and their future success by tackling the underlying barriers that disadvantaged children face across the country, including in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend.

Ensuring all children get the best start in life is how we make the biggest difference to their outcomes. That is why the first goal we have set out in our Plan for Change is for a record proportion of children to be starting school ready to learn. We will deliver this through boosting early family support and increasing access to high quality early years education and childcare for children and families.

The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for children, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. That is why, as one of our first steps for change, the department has committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our secondary and special schools and in our colleges over the course of this Parliament.

Alongside this, the department is providing over £3 billion of pupil premium funding this year to help raise the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils, supporting them so they can achieve and thrive in education.

The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme supports disadvantaged children and their families during the school holidays, offering enriching activities and healthy food to support their health, development and wellbeing. The department was very pleased to be able to make available more than £200 million for the HAF programme in 2025/26. Delivery across England has already taken place at Easter, with the summer and Christmas holidays to come.

HAF Plus has been adopted by several local authorities as a model for older children, following successful pilots. Through the department’s annual guidance to local authorities who coordinate the programme across England, we encourage flexibility to offer suitable models to older children, with careful consideration given to a different model of food and activity provision. We also strongly encourage consideration of the role that older children can have in supporting, designing and leading sessions for their peers or for younger children, in order to help them to socialise and develop leadership skills, which can be crucial for those in year 9 to 11.

The department works closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) on a wide range of matters to ensure the education system is supporting healthcare students, including student funding.

The government needs to ensure that the student funding system is financially sustainable, and funding arrangements are reviewed each year. We will continue to engage with DHSC to consider the financial support that medical students receive.

Students attending the fifth and sixth years of undergraduate medical courses and years 2 to 4 of graduate entry medical courses qualify for NHS bursaries. The government has announced an increase to all NHS bursary maintenance grants and allowances for the 2025/26 academic year by forecast inflation, 3.1%, based on the Retail Price Index Excluding Mortgage Interest (RPIX) inflation index.

Medical students qualifying for NHS bursary support also qualify for non-means tested loans for living costs from the department. The government has announced that maximum loans for living costs for the 2025/26 academic year, including reduced rate non-means tested loans for students undertaking NHS bursary years, will also increase by 3.1%.

The department works closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) on a wide range of matters to ensure the education system is supporting healthcare students, including student funding.

The government needs to ensure that the student funding system is financially sustainable, and funding arrangements are reviewed each year. We will continue to engage with DHSC to consider the financial support that medical students receive.

Students attending the fifth and sixth years of undergraduate medical courses and years 2 to 4 of graduate entry medical courses qualify for NHS bursaries. The government has announced an increase to all NHS bursary maintenance grants and allowances for the 2025/26 academic year by forecast inflation, 3.1%, based on the Retail Price Index Excluding Mortgage Interest (RPIX) inflation index.

Medical students qualifying for NHS bursary support also qualify for non-means tested loans for living costs from the department. The government has announced that maximum loans for living costs for the 2025/26 academic year, including reduced rate non-means tested loans for students undertaking NHS bursary years, will also increase by 3.1%.

The department recognises the vital role played by free school meals (FSM) and encourages all eligible families to take their entitlement up. There are currently around 2.1 million pupils eligible for and claiming FSM.

The department provides the Eligibility Checking System, allowing local authorities to quickly verify eligibility for FSM and ensure FSM are easily received.

The department is aware of a range of measures aimed at maximising take up of FSM, including through approaches being trialled by local authorities. We are supportive of local authorities taking action to ensure government support reaches families, subject to them meeting legal and data protection requirements.

The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty by tackling the root causes and giving every child the best start at life. To support this, a new ministerial taskforce has been set up to develop a Child Poverty Strategy, which will be published in spring 2025. The taskforce will consider a range of policies, assessing what will have the greatest impact in driving down rates of child poverty.

As with all government programmes, the department will keep its approach to FSM under continued review.

The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE) as this remains the responsibility of individual colleges who are free to implement pay arrangements in line with their local needs. There are no current plans to introduce binding sectoral bargaining in FE.

The department is investing around £600 million across in FE in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas, including in sixth form colleges. We also continue to support recruitment and retention with teacher training bursaries worth up to £30,000 tax-free in certain key subject areas, and with support for industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through the Taking Teaching Further programme. The department will also work with the FE sector to recruit 6,500 additional teachers across schools and colleges to raise standards for children and young people.

The department recognises the vital role that FE teachers play in developing the skills needed to drive our missions to improve opportunity and economic growth.

The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE), and the FE sector does not have a Pay Review Body. Colleges are not bound by the national pay and conditions framework for school teachers and are free to implement their own pay arrangements.

We are investing around £600 million across the financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26, including extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. We also continue to support recruitment and retention with teacher training bursaries worth up to £30,000 tax-free in certain key subject areas, and with support for industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through our Taking Teaching Further programme.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced a Budget on 30 October, which will be followed by a multi-year spending review in the spring of next year. Decisions about future post-16 funding and capital programmes will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.