Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department provides to local authorities and other commissioners on ensuring that commissioning processes recognise the specialist expertise and needs of Black and minoritised ‘by and for’ VAWG organisations.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice provides over £130 million a year to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) across England and Wales to commission local therapeutic, emotional and practical support services (including ‘by and for’ services) for victims and survivors of crime in their area; and over £21 million a year to specialist sexual violence organisations through the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF). To support local commissioning decisions, we have also published the Victims Funding Strategy (2022) and the Victim Services Commissioning Guidance (2024) which set out what commissioners are expected to consider when procuring services. All commissioners of victim support services, including local authorities, are encouraged to review these documents when carrying out procurement exercises.
The Victim Services Commissioning Guidance has a specific chapter on commissioning services for victims from marginalised groups. It states that local commissioners should engage meaningfully with specialist and ‘by and for’ organisations to ensure that services for marginalised groups are sufficiently tailored and fit for purpose. This includes consideration of the resource constraints of those organisations, the expertise they can provide in designing services, and ensuring funding applications and grant processes are proportionate, fair and accessible.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that funding and commissioning processes for violence against women and girls services do not disadvantage smaller, specialist ‘by and for’ organisations.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice provides over £130 million a year to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) across England and Wales to commission local therapeutic, emotional and practical support services (including ‘by and for’ services) for victims and survivors of crime in their area; and over £21 million a year to specialist sexual violence organisations through the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF). To support local commissioning decisions, we have also published the Victims Funding Strategy (2022) and the Victim Services Commissioning Guidance (2024) which set out what commissioners are expected to consider when procuring services. All commissioners of victim support services, including local authorities, are encouraged to review these documents when carrying out procurement exercises.
The Victim Services Commissioning Guidance has a specific chapter on commissioning services for victims from marginalised groups. It states that local commissioners should engage meaningfully with specialist and ‘by and for’ organisations to ensure that services for marginalised groups are sufficiently tailored and fit for purpose. This includes consideration of the resource constraints of those organisations, the expertise they can provide in designing services, and ensuring funding applications and grant processes are proportionate, fair and accessible.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding will be available to Integrated Care Boards to commission women's health services through Women's Integrated Neighbourhood Services; and whether her Department will monitor local expenditure on women's health services.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) will be responsible for commissioning Women's Integrated Neighbourhood Services (WINS) through their core commissioning arrangements. Previously, the £25 million investment provided between 2023 and 2025 for Women's Health Hubs was non-recurrent pump-priming funding. NHS England will support implementation of WINS by sharing learning from existing hubs, providing clear expectations for delivery, and supporting monitoring through a neighbourhood framework, women's health dashboard, and associated metrics. Decisions on local expenditure remain a matter for individual ICBs, reflecting local population needs and priorities.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the gender impact of the eligibility criteria for the Jobs Guarantee; and what steps he is taking to ensure young women who are economically inactive because of caring responsibilities can access the Youth Guarantee.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Between April and June 2026, of the total number of young people who were NEET, 530,000 were young men and 451,000 were young women. The Department draws on a range of data to understand the reason young people are NEET, including economic inactivity due to caring responsibilities. However, the available data does not provide a complete breakdown by sex of all reasons why young people are NEET.
We recognise that caring responsibilities can affect young people's ability to participate in education, training and employment. Alan Milburn’s interim report also clearly laid out that young carers are one of the least visible groups in the NEET conversation and one of the most systematically miscounted. We recognise the challenge that Alan Milburn’s interim report has highlighted and will continue to use emerging evidence to inform our reforms. We look forward to considering his final recommendations in the Autumn.
Young people with caring responsibilities can access support through the Youth Guarantee. The government is investing an additional £2.5 billion by 2029 into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy, supporting almost one million young people and creating up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.
This includes through an expanded network of Youth Hubs, earlier intensive support in Jobcentres through a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, additional work experience and training opportunities, a £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant and a £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for employers.
Young people, including young carers and those with caring responsibilities, can also be supported through the Jobs Guarantee. This will provide eligible unemployed 18 to 24 year olds who have been claiming Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months a guaranteed, fully funded six month paid job. Participants will receive tailored support throughout their time on the Jobs Guarantee to help them succeed and transition into sustained employment. This may include support for participants with childcare or caring responsibilities where these present a barrier to employment.
The government has also taken wider action to support parents with childcare responsibilities to take up work. The recent expansion of free childcare also means that eligible working parents of children aged 9 months and above can now access 30 hours a week (over 38 weeks a year) from the term following their child turning 9 months to when they start school. Parents may also be eligible for support with up to 100% of the first month’s upfront childcare costs through the Flexible Support Fund, where they are starting work.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the reasons young women and young men are NEET, broken down by sex, including economic inactivity because of caring responsibilities; and what steps he is taking to ensure that data informs the design of youth employment policy.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Between April and June 2026, of the total number of young people who were NEET, 530,000 were young men and 451,000 were young women. The Department draws on a range of data to understand the reason young people are NEET, including economic inactivity due to caring responsibilities. However, the available data does not provide a complete breakdown by sex of all reasons why young people are NEET.
We recognise that caring responsibilities can affect young people's ability to participate in education, training and employment. Alan Milburn’s interim report also clearly laid out that young carers are one of the least visible groups in the NEET conversation and one of the most systematically miscounted. We recognise the challenge that Alan Milburn’s interim report has highlighted and will continue to use emerging evidence to inform our reforms. We look forward to considering his final recommendations in the Autumn.
Young people with caring responsibilities can access support through the Youth Guarantee. The government is investing an additional £2.5 billion by 2029 into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy, supporting almost one million young people and creating up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.
This includes through an expanded network of Youth Hubs, earlier intensive support in Jobcentres through a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, additional work experience and training opportunities, a £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant and a £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for employers.
Young people, including young carers and those with caring responsibilities, can also be supported through the Jobs Guarantee. This will provide eligible unemployed 18 to 24 year olds who have been claiming Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months a guaranteed, fully funded six month paid job. Participants will receive tailored support throughout their time on the Jobs Guarantee to help them succeed and transition into sustained employment. This may include support for participants with childcare or caring responsibilities where these present a barrier to employment.
The government has also taken wider action to support parents with childcare responsibilities to take up work. The recent expansion of free childcare also means that eligible working parents of children aged 9 months and above can now access 30 hours a week (over 38 weeks a year) from the term following their child turning 9 months to when they start school. Parents may also be eligible for support with up to 100% of the first month’s upfront childcare costs through the Flexible Support Fund, where they are starting work.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government is taking measures to ensure the financial flow in football from the £3.2bn annual broadcast deal helps football foundations and grassroots football.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of financial flow for the wider health of the game across the whole of the football pyramid - including the vital work that club foundations do for young people and communities. The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) released its long-awaited State of the Game report last week, and we echo their calls for a new financial distributions deal to be agreed between the Premier League and lower leagues. If the football industry cannot reach a deal independently, the legislative provisions underpinning the IFR grant it targeted backstop powers to enforce a revenue redistribution deal.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) NHS England workforce reductions and (b) the transfer of its functions to the Department on the clinical expertise and capacity required to deliver women's health services, including the development of Women's Integrated Neighbourhood Services.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the detailed plans set out in Written Statement HCWS1051, made on 12 November 2025, and to the impact assessment that has been laid before the House, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-bill-abolishing-nhs-england-impact-assessment
We will provide further updates on staffing matters on an ongoing basis as the plans we have set out are delivered.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, a) what plans her Department has to expand community response services for older people who experience falls in their home to enable prompt assessment and treatment and (b) what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the loss of specialist falls services, including in Nottingham East.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her department is taking to strengthen guidance and enforcement to ensure that wheelchair users can travel with confidence on buses.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to ensuring disabled people, including wheelchair users, can travel safely and with confidence on local bus services.
The Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 require buses and coaches used on local and scheduled services to include accessibility features such as wheelchair spaces and boarding equipment suitable for passengers using a standard “reference wheelchair”. Existing regulations also require drivers to provide assistance to disabled passengers upon request.
The Bus Services Act 2025 strengthens this framework by requiring drivers and other customer-facing staff to complete disability awareness and assistance training at least every five years. The Act also requires local authorities to publish Bus Network Accessibility Plans and strengthens consideration of accessibility within local bus service planning.
In addition, the Department is developing an Accessible Travel Charter which will help establish clear, unified principles for disabled passengers and assist operators and enforcement bodies in upholding accessibility standards.
The Charter will set out cross-cutting commitments and practical pledges, with organisations signing up to go beyond the legislative minimum and work towards a barrier-free transport system.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the processing times of indefinite leave to remain applications for Syrian nationals.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Applications for indefinite leave to remain are considered within 6 months of their submission where possible in accordance with published customer service standards, which are available here Settlement: customer service standards - GOV.UK
If an application is assessed to be complex and will take longer, for example supporting documents need to be verified, an individual needs to attend an interview or because of an individual’s personal circumstances, the individual will be contacted and notified of this.
Additional resource has been deployed to focus on these applications, and the Home Office is working at pace to ensure that the number of outstanding applications and waiting times decrease.