Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which programmes have been cancelled or delayed in order to fund the Department's contributions to the Defence Investment Plan.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Around 1% of the department’s capital budget has been contributed each year between 2026/27 to 2029/30 to support the Defence Investment Plan. This contribution has now been reflected in the department's capital settlement, and we will continue to manage budgets through standard business planning and prioritisation processes.
Our core capital priorities remain unchanged, including rebuilding over 750 schools through the School Rebuilding Programme, investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance for schools and colleges, and £3.7 billion towards special educational needs provision in the Spending Review period. Furthermore, our commitment to permanently removing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in schools and colleges remain unchanged. By 2029, every school and college in England that is not being fully or substantially rebuilt will be RAAC free, and every school needing to be rebuilt through the School Rebuilding Programme will be in delivery.
The department’s contribution to funding the Defence Investment Plan through the c.1% top slice in capital budgets is set out below:
Financial Year | 2026/27 | 2027/28 | 2028/29 | 2029/30 |
Department Contribution | £82 million | £76 million | £76 million | £76 million |
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department will contribute per year from its capital budget towards funding the Defence Investment Plan.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Around 1% of the department’s capital budget has been contributed each year between 2026/27 to 2029/30 to support the Defence Investment Plan. This contribution has now been reflected in the department's capital settlement, and we will continue to manage budgets through standard business planning and prioritisation processes.
Our core capital priorities remain unchanged, including rebuilding over 750 schools through the School Rebuilding Programme, investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance for schools and colleges, and £3.7 billion towards special educational needs provision in the Spending Review period. Furthermore, our commitment to permanently removing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in schools and colleges remain unchanged. By 2029, every school and college in England that is not being fully or substantially rebuilt will be RAAC free, and every school needing to be rebuilt through the School Rebuilding Programme will be in delivery.
The department’s contribution to funding the Defence Investment Plan through the c.1% top slice in capital budgets is set out below:
Financial Year | 2026/27 | 2027/28 | 2028/29 | 2029/30 |
Department Contribution | £82 million | £76 million | £76 million | £76 million |
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what training her Department provides on AI; and (a) how many hours and (b) what topics and skills are covered by such training.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department provides AI training through a combination of cross-government Civil Service Learning modules and internally delivered workshops. In addition, the department also offers learning resources associated with One Big Thing, an annual initiative that drives upskilling through collective action on a single shared priority across the civil service, which in 2025 focused on AI Essentials. This is a separate offer from the training listed above.
This training is designed to build general AI awareness, support responsible and effective use of AI tools, and develop more advanced technical and leadership capability where relevant to staff roles.
The table below sets out the training available, including the topics covered and the indicative duration of each course or workshop.
Civil Service Learning Modules | |
Course Topics | Hours |
Artificial Intelligence: Machine Learning and Deep Learning | 4 days, 3 hours,15 minutes |
Artificial Intelligence: The Business Value of AI | 1 day, 5 hours, 47 minutes |
Artificial Intelligence: Working with Large Language Models | 2 days, 3 hours, 42 minutes |
Artificial Intelligence: Fundamentals | 1 day 5 hours, 23 minutes |
Artificial Intelligence: Generative AI Tools and Applications | 2 days, 5 hours, 3 minutes |
Artificial Intelligence: Technical Curriculum | 21 days, 40 minutes |
Artificial Intelligence: Computer Vision | 1day, 1 hour,12 minutes |
Artificial Intelligence: Understanding AI Ethics | 7hours, 42minutes |
Artificial Intelligence: Natural Language Processing and Speech Recognition | 1 day, 7 hours,17 minutes |
One Big Thing | |
DfT AI Essentials | 30 minutes |
AI for all: An introduction to Artificial Intelligence in the Civil Service | 1hour, 30 minutes |
AI Leadership Lab Workshop | |
AI Transform Leadership Labs focus on training leaders to embrace AI within their teams | 4 hours |
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what artificial intelligence services and tools are used by her Department; and whether her Department has a contract with providers for those services.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to adopting artificial intelligence in a way that is transparent, responsible and accountable to the public.
Information about algorithmic and AI tools used by government departments to support decisions that affect members of the public, or that have a significant influence on a decision-making process with public effect, is published through the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS). The ATRS has been mandatory for central government departments since 2024, and records are published on GOV.UK.
The Department for Transport uses a range of artificial intelligence tools and services to support its work. This includes Microsoft Copilot, which is made available to the wider workforce to support tasks such as drafting, summarisation and information retrieval.
The Department also undertakes more specialised use of artificial intelligence technologies through Google Cloud platforms using Google Gemini models and associated AI services. These capabilities may be used to support the development and testing of departmental tools and services for specific business purposes. Access to these capabilities is limited to trained individuals and specific projects, in line with departmental governance arrangements.
AI services and tools are accessed across government through a range of commercial routes. Departments may contract directly with AI providers, access AI products via intermediated routes such as reseller arrangements where the contractual relationship sits with a partner rather than the underlying provider or use AI capabilities delivered as features within existing enterprise software and platform contracts (for example productivity, HR or service management tools).
The Department is committed to ensuring that AI is used responsibly and proportionately, with appropriate governance, training and oversight in place to support efficiency, productivity and value for money.
In line with public procurement transparency requirements, contractual information for AI services and tools is published on Contracts Finder and, where above the relevant threshold, on https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will list all organisations that were consulted on the Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has engaged with a range of stakeholders in line with its published Statement of Approach throughout the Airports National Policy Statement review process. The draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement was published on 18 June for public consultation, providing an opportunity for organisations, communities and individuals to comment on the proposals. Responses to the consultation will be considered before any final designation decision is taken, alongside scrutiny by the nominated Parliamentary Select Committee.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the level of public funding needed to improve surface access to Heathrow Airport in the context of the proposed expansion.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has been clear that any expansion at Heathrow must be affordable, delivered in the best interests of passengers and privately financed, including the surface access improvements required.
The draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement, published last week, requires any promoter of expansion to meet the full cost of associated works to the strategic and local road network, and to develop a surface access strategy setting out how transport improvements, including any rail schemes needed to support the proposed mode share targets, will be funded.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of potential impact for his Department's policies of Kinship's policy paper entitled Designing a new right to paid leave for kinship carers.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
For both UIN 10721 and UIN 10720, I refer the Member to the answer I gave to UIN 9441 on 16 June 2026.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential economic impact of introducing paid leave for kinship carers.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
For both UIN 10721 and UIN 10720, I refer the Member to the answer I gave to UIN 9441 on 16 June 2026.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to correspondence from the Honourable Member for Twickenham referenced MW65580, sent on the 18th March 2026.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I can confirm that a response to the letter of 18 March 2026 from the hon. Member for Twickenham was sent on 18 June 2026.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with NICE on developing a fast track approval process for covid-19 treatments for the immuno-compromised.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to ask the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to establish a fast-track approval process for COVID-19 treatments. NICE evaluates all new licensed medicines, including COVID-19 treatments, and aims wherever possible to issue guidance close to the time of licensing to ensure that National Health Service patients can benefit from rapid access to safe and effective medicines. The aligned pathway between NICE and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency launched on 1 April 2026 and allows decisions on licensing and value to be published in parallel, with the aim of bringing clinically and cost-effective new medicines to patients three to six months sooner.