Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor about the trends in youth unemployment since July 2024.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government will not leave an entire generation of young people behind. For many years our young people have not had the opportunity and support they deserve. Under the last government, between 2021 and 2024, the number of young people not in education, employment or training increased by 250,000.
This Government’s ambition is to transform young people’s prospects, by ensuring every one of them has the chance to earn or learn through the Youth Guarantee. That is why the Government is investing £2.5 billion over the next three years into the Youth Guarantee and additional investment to the Growth and Skills Levy to back young people. This investment will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.
This includes the delivery of eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in England, expansion of Youth Hubs to more than 360 areas across Great Britain and introduction of a new Youth Guarantee Gateway in Jobcentres. The Gateway will provide 16-24-year-olds on Universal Credit a dedicated session and follow-up support to help them move into work, training or education.
This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training, including up to 150,000 work experience placements and up to 145,000 employer-designed training opportunities, such as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes, which offer participants a guaranteed job interview at the end.
In addition, the Government is taking action to support employers to recruit and train young people, helping to unlock up to 200,000 more employment and apprenticeship opportunities. This includes a new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant for employers who hire 18–24-year-olds who have been on Universal Credit for over six months, a new £2,000 apprenticeship incentive for small and medium sized employers hiring 16–24-year-old, and the Jobs Guarantee scheme, providing long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds with a fully funded six month job.
The Government will also prioritise prevention, building on measures announced in the Skills White Paper. The Government will improve support in schools, monitor attendance, increase access to work experience and work with local authorities to pilot auto-enrolling young people in further education, if needed.
Finally, the Government is considering how we might go further. The Right Honourable Alan Milburn is leading on an investigation of the rise in youth inactivity with a particular focus on the impact of mental health conditions and disability and expected to report in Summer 2026.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what was the total value of non-contractual severance payments across the department in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 19 March in response to Question 120757.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of immigration since July 2024 on social cohesion in the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office will increase existing English language requirements for economic migrants and introduce new English language requirements for dependants of those coming under economic routes.
These measures support the integration of those coming here to work here (and their families) into UK communities, as well; as ensuring that those coming to work here are less vulnerable to abuse and exploitation in the workplace.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of small boat migrants that will enter the UK in 2026.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not make a single estimate of this kind. A range of scenarios are considered for operational planning purposes.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide the latest data her department possesses on the asylum claim acceptance rate for cases that were decided by Home Office immigration caseworkers that are British nationals.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide the latest data her department possesses on the asylum claim acceptance rate for cases that were decided by Home Office immigration caseworkers that are foreign nationals.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what was the total value of non-contractual severance payments across the department in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The total value of severance payments is set out in the department’s Annual Report and Accounts, which are available for the last three years.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how are musculoskeletal conditions being prioritised within the neighbourhood health framework.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Neighbourhood Health Framework is designed to provide clarity and consistency to integrated care boards (ICBs), local authorities, and their partners, in developing and scaling neighbourhood health.
The framework outlines the national minimum aims and objectives of Neighbourhood Health Services. This includes improving health outcomes with specific focus on high-priority cohorts, including people with frailty. Whilst frailty and musculoskeletal overlap, we recognise that many people with conditions affecting their joints, bones, and muscles across their life course are not frail.
It is important that reforms are locally led, as ICBs and local authorities are best placed to design services that make sense for their local populations. Local systems can choose to go further than the minimum aims set out in the framework, and this could include musculoskeletal services.
We know there are areas where we need to go further. Delivering a Neighbourhood Health Service will be an incremental process as local understanding develops and national reforms progress.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 make an assessment of the adequacy of the accessibility of public consultations for local government reorganisation for people without access to the internet.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is keen that all interested parties, including local residents, can have their say on the future of local government in their area. Members of the public who wish to engage can submit responses online or in writing by email or post, in line with the consultation arrangements. There are no plans to carry out a separate assessment of consultation accessibility.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what work is being done to investigate the use of body mass index thresholds as a means of determining eligibility for joint replacement surgery.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Rushcliffe on 20 November 2025 to Question 89688.