Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support parents with recent trends in the cost of daycare facilities.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

It is the department’s ambition that parents have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and childcare.

Next year alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, which is a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements, so eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 30 hours of funded childcare.

From the start of September 2024, eligible working parents have been entitled to 15 hours a week of early education and care from the term after their child turns nine months. So far, over 320,000 additional parents are now accessing a place. Going further, from September 2025, eligible working parents will be able to access 30 hours of early education and childcare a week, over 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their child turns nine months until they start school. The department has also taken action to protect parents from reported instances of very high additional charges on top of their entitlement, ensuring the funded hours remain accessible and affordable for parents. We have updated our statutory guidance, confirming that whilst providers can charge for some extras, these charges must not be mandatory.

Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare.

The department also wants to ensure that parents are aware of and accessing all government funded childcare support they are eligible for. We are raising awareness of the government-funded childcare support available via the Childcare Choices website to stimulate increased take-up by eligible families, because this could make a significant financial difference to families.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there will be Barnett consequentials from the £3.25bn Transformation Fund announced in the Spring Statement.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Transformation Fund will be allocated to UK Government departments through the Spending Review process. The Barnett formula will apply in the normal way, as per the Statement of Funding Policy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support the devolved Administrations to (a) increase the children’s palliative care workforce and (b) improve access to specialist services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Healthcare funding and administration, including in relation to palliative and end of life care services, is a devolved matter across the four nations of the United Kingdom, and, therefore, is the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

In England, we have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, and a central part of the plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients, including children with palliative and end of life care needs, across our communities. This summer, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again. We will ensure the NHS in England has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when and where they need it, including for children with palliative and end of life care needs.

In England, palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, including specialist services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and a service specification for children and young people.

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices in England for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inspectors his Department has trained to (a) inspect and (b) assess the health of (i) bees and (ii) their hives.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit has 50 trained inspectors which includes the National Bee Inspector and 8 Regional Bee Inspectors. All of these inspectors are trained to inspect and assess the health of bees and the hives in England and Wales.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of funding allocated to the (a) National Rural Crime Unit and (b) National Wildlife Crime Unit will be for (i) operations and (ii) activities in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities; these decisions will inform the support that they request and receive from the units in question.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the abolition of NHS England will impact the (a) role and (b) structure of the Getting It Right First Time programme.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Ministers and senior Departmental officials will work with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation.

As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds and will work collaboratively to put plans in place to ensure continuity of care and that there are no risks to patient safety.

Comments made by Kneecap

Incitement of violence against political representatives

Injury on Duty Award Scheme

Omagh Bomb Inquiry

St George’s Day 2025

Securing habitat for endangered swifts and other cavity nesting birds

International Day of the Midwife

100th anniversary of East Belfast District Scouts

Found: Agency will work with public health organisations to ensure that that works in practice”.66 Robin Swann

Found: Agency will work with public health organisations to ensure that that works in practice”.66 Robin Swann

Found: Letter dated 01/04/2025 from Heidi Alexander MP to Robin Swann MP regarding whether the National Energy