Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration she has given to allowing military parents more choice in how their child's Pupil Service Premium is spent.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Service Pupil Premium (SPP) is additional funding for state-funded schools in England with children and young people of service families. It will be paid at a rate of £360 per eligible pupil in the 2026/27 financial year.
Schools can tailor their SPP expenditure to meet the specific pastoral and academic needs of individual service children and help mitigate the impact of matters such as family mobility, separation, or parental deployment. It is the responsibility of each school to decide how to use their SPP funding and to communicate this with parents.
Schools are encouraged to consider best practice in the use of SPP funding, set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-service-pupil-premium/service-pupil-premium-examples-of-best-practice
Guidance for schools, academy trusts and local authorities on supporting service pupils is published jointly by the department and the Ministry Of Defence here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/service-pupils-in-schools-non-statutory-guidance/service-pupils-in-schools-non-statutory-guidance.
This recommends that schools consider recording their use of SPP funding as part of their mandatory pupil premium statement, unless they have reason to believe this will identify individual pupils. An optional field in the template is provided for this purpose.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total amount of Government investment in research into neuroendocrine cancers has been in each of the last ten years; and what specific funding allocations have been made for neuroendocrine cancer within the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government responsibility for delivering cancer research is shared between the Department for Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.
Between financial years 2015/16 and 2024/25, through the NIHR, the Department for Health and Social Care committed approximately £8 million for new research projects, alongside supporting infrastructure, into neuroendocrine cancer. The following table shows a breakdown of the £8 million for new research projects, alongside supporting infrastructure, into neuroendocrine cancer, from 2015/16 to 2024/25:
2015/16 | £882,750.75 |
2016/17 | £1,170,974.89 |
2017/18 | £798,743.56 |
2018/19 | £833,349.43 |
2019/20 | £867,204.19 |
2020/21 | £878,387.61 |
2021/22 | £829,818.37 |
2022/23 | £610,754.01 |
2023/24 | £455,640.58 |
2024/25 | £707,561.31 |
As well as funding research itself, the Department invests significantly in research expertise and capacity, specialist facilities, support services, and collaborations to support and deliver research in England, known as NIHR infrastructure. NIHR infrastructure underpins research. The spend is not directly attributable to specific research studies for the most part, but an estimate is derived based on the number of studies in neuroendocrine cancer against the annual infrastructure spend.
The findings presented are based on point-in-time analysis for 23 March 2026. The data does fluctuate due to changes such as contract variations and updated information regarding financial reconciliations and support activity.
The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including neuroendocrine cancers. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to the public and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to encourage schools to be transparent with how they use Service Pupil Premium funding.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Service Pupil Premium (SPP) is additional funding for state-funded schools in England with children and young people of service families. It will be paid at a rate of £360 per eligible pupil in the 2026/27 financial year.
Schools can tailor their SPP expenditure to meet the specific pastoral and academic needs of individual service children and help mitigate the impact of matters such as family mobility, separation, or parental deployment. It is the responsibility of each school to decide how to use their SPP funding and to communicate this with parents.
Schools are encouraged to consider best practice in the use of SPP funding, set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-service-pupil-premium/service-pupil-premium-examples-of-best-practice
Guidance for schools, academy trusts and local authorities on supporting service pupils is published jointly by the department and the Ministry Of Defence here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/service-pupils-in-schools-non-statutory-guidance/service-pupils-in-schools-non-statutory-guidance.
This recommends that schools consider recording their use of SPP funding as part of their mandatory pupil premium statement, unless they have reason to believe this will identify individual pupils. An optional field in the template is provided for this purpose.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary Ticketmaster controlling a majority share of the UK live music ticketing market on competition and consumer outcomes.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to ensuring markets work well for consumers and businesses. As the UK’s lead consumer and competition authority, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has a statutory duty to promote competition for the benefit of consumers. It is the role of the CMA to examine potential breaches of competition law, including abuse of a dominant position, and investigate markets if it thinks there are competition or consumer problems. As an independent authority, the CMA has discretion to investigate competition matters which, according to its prioritisation principles, it considers most appropriate.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she has taken to ensure UK-based journalists can report on the activities of the Iranian regime without fear of intimidation.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Iran's threats and intimidation toward journalists and their families, both inside Iran and in the UK, are absolutely unacceptable, and we have consistently raised these issues directly with the Iranian government. We were integral to the delivery of the Iran Human Rights Resolution, adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 2025, which called on Iran to halt threats and intimidation against journalists who are critical of the government, and to investigate and prosecute those responsible for reprisals. In the UK, the National Protective Security Authority and Counter Terrorism Policing also continue to provide protective security advice and support to individuals and organisations threatened by the Iranian regime and its criminal proxies.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she has taken to counter disinformation linked to Iran's governing regime.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Iran's threats and intimidation toward journalists and their families, both inside Iran and in the UK, are absolutely unacceptable, and we have consistently raised these issues directly with the Iranian government. We were integral to the delivery of the Iran Human Rights Resolution, adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 2025, which called on Iran to halt threats and intimidation against journalists who are critical of the government, and to investigate and prosecute those responsible for reprisals. In the UK, the National Protective Security Authority and Counter Terrorism Policing also continue to provide protective security advice and support to individuals and organisations threatened by the Iranian regime and its criminal proxies.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to support the establishment of an international criminal court for crimes against children.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a strong supporter of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community and achieving justice for victims. The ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including when committed against children. It also has jurisdiction over specific crimes against children including the forcible transfer of children and the conscription or enlisting of children as soldiers. It is important that we build on work already being done and continue to support the crucial work of the ICC. The UK is committed to achieving justice for those children who have been subject to international crimes.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Adoption Support Fund; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the fund on (a) adoption breakdown rates and (b) mental health outcomes of children placed in permanent care.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department keeps the effectiveness of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) under continual review. The latest evaluation found strong evidence of positive impact: 83% of parents and guardians reported that ASGSF‑funded support was helpful or very helpful, and there were statistically significant improvements by the end of the intervention. Families also reported an average score of seven out of ten six months after support ended. Outcome measurement tools are now strengthening our ability to assess therapeutic progress and longer-term impacts.
Recognising both the positive benefits of the ASGSF and the need to ensure that support for adopted and permanently placed children is as effective as possible, the department launched a public consultation in February 2026, ‘Adoption support that works for all’. This seeks views on how to deliver a more responsive, evidence‑based system of adoption support, including future arrangements for the ASGSF.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what guidance and oversight the Government provides to private postal companies to ensure that agreements with trade unions on pay and conditions are respected; and what steps the Government is taking to support adequate pay and employment standards in the postal sector.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Pay and terms and conditions of employment, provided they are lawful, are, in general, a matter for private businesses to agree with their workforce and their representatives.
The Secretary of State met Dave Ward, General Secretary of the CWU, and Daniel Křetínský, the owner of EP Group, on 16 February and again on 19 March 2026 to facilitate continued discussions on these matters.,
The Plan to Make Work Pay will boost fairness in the workplace, ensure equality of treatment and opportunity, and support low-paid workers.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to ensure charities do not endorse or promote hate crimes or terrorism linked to Iran's governing regime.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As part of the Government’s action plan for social cohesion we have announced that the Charity Commission’s powers to tackle extremist abuse of charities will be extended. This includes automatically disqualifying individuals with a criminal conviction for hate crimes from serving as charity trustees or senior managers, and helping the Charity Commission to disqualify charity trustees who have been excluded from the UK, deprived of British citizenship or are engaged in conduct which promotes violence or hatred. The Charity Commission is not a prosecuting authority, so any allegation or evidence of criminal offences, including terrorism, is referred to the police to investigate.
The Charity Commission has published guidance for charities with links to Iran to be clear that charities must ensure any activity furthers their charity’s purposes and complies with the law and its guidance, or else face regulatory consequences.