Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will require local authorities to consider the needs of young people as a specific group in their local housing needs assessments.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The National Planning Policy Framework already makes clear that local authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community and plan accordingly. These groups should include, but are not limited to, those who require affordable housing, families with children, looked after children, students, and people who rent their homes.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing ringfenced funding for school counselling services.

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

School-based counselling services can play an important role in supporting pupil mental wellbeing, and many schools already provide access to counselling support.

However, counselling is not suitable for all needs, and many pupils benefit from other in-school support, including from trained pastoral staff, NHS-funded mental health support teams, school nurses, educational psychologists and other professionals. It is important that schools retain the freedom to decide what pastoral support to offer pupils based on their specific needs, making the best use of their funding. School funding increased by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, taking total core school funding to £65.3 billion.

​The government has also committed to provide access to mental health support teams (MHSTs) in every school. ​By April 2026, we estimate that 60% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England will be covered by an MHST, up from 52% in April 2025.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to implement early identification models in schools to (a) identify and (b) help those at risk of homelessness.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

This Government is committed to getting back on track to ending homelessness and is open to innovative solutions to do this.

Preventing homelessness is critical to getting back on track to ending homelessness. Our upcoming cross-Government homelessness strategy will put prevention at its core and set a clear vision for tackling homelessness.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of whether the membership of the Food Strategy Advisory Board includes adequate expertise in (a) public health, (b) nutrition, (c) environmental science, (d) climate policy and (e) sustainable farming.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Food Strategy Advisory Board is a deliberately small group of senior leaders who represent a wealth of experience and important elements within the food system and reflect the diversity of the sector. The Board’s role is to provide independent advice to support the development of the food strategy. Appointments are considered in terms of the collective insight they bring to national food policy. We keep membership under review to ensure representation from throughout the food sector and the necessary expertise.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps the Government is taking to return all future surplus investment returns in the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme to beneficiaries.

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

The Government and the Trustees have discussed the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme Trustees’ proposals for the future of the Scheme. DESNZ will now work with the Treasury to seek to reach an agreement that can be implemented at the next Scheme valuation in September 2026.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it a statutory duty for judges to comply with guidance in the Equal Treatment Bench Book.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

In line with the principle of judicial independence, it is the senior judiciary and not the Government who have statutory responsibility for judicial guidance and training.

It would therefore not be constitutionally appropriate for the Government to seek to prescribe how this responsibility should be discharged.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure safe, transparent and non-discriminatory judicial use of artificial intelligence.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The judiciary are constitutionally independent and have established their own procedures and policies governing the use of artificial intelligence. Guidance for judicial office holders on the appropriate and responsible use of AI has been issued by the judiciary and is publicly available on the judiciary’s website.

Judicial office holders, like civil servants within the Ministry of Justice, have been provided with secure versions of Microsoft Copilot. The deployment of this tool for judicial use has been subject to a data protection impact assessment to ensure compliance with data protection legislation and principles.

The judiciary’s approach to AI is designed to ensure that any use of AI by judicial office holders is safe, transparent, and consistent with the principles of fairness and non-discrimination, while preserving judicial independence.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to require public authority respondents in Judicial Review hearings to confirm compliance with the duty of candour at Permission Stage.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The duty of candour is a well-established principle in judicial review, and its application is clearly set out in the Administrative Court’s Judicial Review Guide.

The duty of candour applies at all stages of judicial review proceedings. This duty requires all parties to ensure that relevant information is put before the Court, whether it supports or undermines their case. There is a particular obligation on public authorities to ensure that this duty is fulfilled given they are engaged in a common enterprise with the Court to fulfil the public interest in upholding the rule of law.

At the permission stage, public authorities are required to identify any material facts, highlight any matters of factual dispute and provide a summary of the reasoning underlying the measures in question. The Court can take into account a lack of candour in deciding whether to grant permission.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to amend the Civil Procedure Rules to make explicit that litigants-in-person are not to be denied procedural safeguards normally afforded to represented parties, including circulation of draft reserved judgments.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Civil court rules governing judgments and orders are set out in Part 40 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and are supplemented by Practice Directions (PD). PD40E provides additional directions in relation to reserved judgments before they are handed down. Paragraph 2.3 of PD40E states that the court will provide a copy of the draft judgment to the parties’ legal representatives, however, paragraph 2.4 goes on to state that a copy of the draft judgment may be supplied to the parties provided that they: 1) do not disclose it or its substance to anyone else; and 2) do not take any action in relation to the judgment until it is handed down. This, therefore, provides for litigants in person to be given an embargoed/draft judgment and to engage with the steps taken before such a judgment is handed down.

It is also important to recognise that Part 1 of the CPR sets out the overriding objective of the rules. These overriding objectives include ensuring that the parties are on an equal footing and can participate fully in proceedings. This is the principal safeguard under pinning how the rules operate in practice.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to improve access to homelessness services for people sleeping rough.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has increased funding for homelessness services by £316 million to a total of more than £1 billion in 2025/26. This includes £255.5 million through the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant for local authorities to tackle rough sleeping. We announced £69.9 million top-up funding for the grant in October 2025.

Residence-based voting rights

Jury trial rights

Armed exports to the United Arab Emirates and the situation in Sudan

Local authority funding (No. 2)

Habitat regulations

Palestine Action hunger strike

Independent Office for Police Conduct findings on Norman Bettison

Israel’s use of cluster munitions

50th anniversary of Franco’s death

Buying community energy locally

New private capital in the NHS in the Autumn Budget

Safe and legal routes for Sudanese people to the UK

Budget 2025 and living standards

50 years of service to the RMT by John Stewart, Leeds RMT Branch Secretary

Local Healthwatch

Independence of Healthwatch England

Cumulative disruption proposals and the right to protest

Fireworks anti-social behaviour and regulation

Two-child limit

Conduct of Samir Zitouni and Stephen Crean on the 18.25 Doncaster to Kings Cross train on 1 November 2025

Found: Nia Griffith; Christine Jardine; Kim Leadbeater; Kevin McKenna; Rebecca Paul; Rachel Taylor; Nadia Whittome

Found: Rebecca Paul (Conservative; Reigate) Rachel Taylor (Labour; North Warwickshire and Bedworth) Nadia Whittome

Found: Nia Griffith; Christine Jardine; Kim Leadbeater; Kevin McKenna; Rebecca Paul; Rachel Taylor; Nadia Whittome

Submit Evidence (by 9 Jan 2026)

This inquiry will examine whether women donating and freezing their eggs do so with sufficient information about the process, health impacts and consequences and whether the current regulatory framework provides sufficient safeguards to people who go through these procedures.

This inquiry examines why and how Black people face disproportionate risks of homelessness. It will also consider what measures the Government should include in its upcoming cross-departmental homelessness and rough sleeping strategy.