First elected: 4th July 2024
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Ban immediately the use of dogs in scientific and regulatory procedures
Sign this petition Gov Responded - 5 Mar 2025 Debated on - 28 Apr 2025 View Steve Darling's petition debate contributionsAs a first step to end animal testing, we want an immediate ban for dogs. They are commercially bred in what we see as bleak and inhumane factory-like conditions. We believe there is evidence suggesting that dogs are left being unattended for extended periods in a Government-licenced establishment.
These initiatives were driven by Steve Darling, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Steve Darling has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Steve Darling has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Elections (Accessibility for Blind Voters) Bill 2024-26
Sponsor - Julie Minns (Lab)
Pavement Parking Bill 2024-26
Sponsor - Marsha De Cordova (Lab)
Equality and opportunity for all are at the heart of the Government’s programme of national renewal and the UK has a strong history of protecting against direct and indirect discrimination. The Equality Act 2010 has protections that enable people to challenge age discrimination across a range of fields, including in the provision of services, employment and recruitment processes. Where age discrimination cannot be objectively justified and is unlawful, individuals can seek redress in the courts or, where relevant, at an employment tribunal.
It is crucial that we ensure everyone is treated fairly when accessing services, so that they can thrive and reach their full potential, including people with disabilities.
We believe that the Equality Act 2010 is effective in ensuring service providers make anticipatory reasonable adjustments to facilitate access for people with disabilities and where they do not, it offers a means of redress. The way it operates is kept under review, and the EHRC’s Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations, is under consultation currently.
This Government is strongly committed to making our communications accessible and inclusive, and to reducing the barriers Deaf people face in their everyday lives.
Since we have come into power, we have endeavoured to ensure as many of the Prime Minister's speeches as possible have BSL interpretation in vision during live streams. This can be found on the Prime Minister’s social media channels - X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. Where speeches do not have political content, the interpretation is also made available afterwards on gov.uk.
I pay tribute to the outstanding work of the Government’s BSL Advisory Board. We will continue to work with them, and with other members of the Deaf community, on how we can improve further the accessibility of our communications.
The government is committed to ensuring that the Civil Service workforce operates across the country, including in the South West, to improve policy making and outcomes for UK citizens.
This Government will continue to support the advanced manufacturing sector, including SMEs, through our forthcoming Industrial Strategy, where advanced manufacturing has been selected as one of eight growth-driving sectors.
Support is available through our Made Smarter Programme where manufacturing SMEs will be able to adopt industrial digital technologies like robotics and autonomous systems to boost their productivity and competitiveness.
Later this year the government will publish its Small Business Strategy, including policies on creating thriving high streets, accessing finance, opening up overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment.
This Government will continue to support the advanced manufacturing sector, including SMEs, through our forthcoming Industrial Strategy, where advanced manufacturing has been selected as one of eight growth-driving sectors.
Support is available through our Made Smarter Programme where manufacturing SMEs will be able to adopt industrial digital technologies like robotics and autonomous systems to boost their productivity and competitiveness.
Later this year the government will publish its Small Business Strategy, including policies on creating thriving high streets, accessing finance, opening up overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment.
This Government will continue to support the advanced manufacturing sector, including SMEs, through our forthcoming Industrial Strategy, where advanced manufacturing has been selected as one of eight growth-driving sectors.
Support is available through our Made Smarter Programme where manufacturing SMEs will be able to adopt industrial digital technologies like robotics and autonomous systems to boost their productivity and competitiveness.
Later this year the government will publish its Small Business Strategy, including policies on creating thriving high streets, accessing finance, opening up overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment.
Our October 2024 call for evidence on access to finance for small advanced manufacturing firms sought views and evidence on the challenges faced in this area. Since that time, the Government has been considering how best to support more advanced manufacturing scale-ups to access the capital they need. Further details will be contained in the forthcoming Industrial Strategy and the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan within it.
Hospitality businesses are at the heart of our communities and play a vital role in supporting economic growth and social cohension across the UK.
We recently launched a licensing taskforce to reduce red tape and barriers that too often hold businesses back. In addition, the Government intends to introduce permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a rateable value less than £500,000
We have also recently announced a £1.5 million Hospitality Support Scheme to co-fund projects that align with Department of Business & Trade and Hospitality Sector Council Priorities. I am working with Council Members to maximise the benefits of this funding.
The department launched an initial package of three public consultations last October covering: the application of zero hours contracts measures to agency workers; creating a modern framework for industrial relations; and, strengthening remedies against abuse of rules on collective redundancy and fire and rehire. These consultations closed in December and the department will publish responses in due course. The department does not routinely collate information on the specific cost of running such consultations.
We have committed to full consultation on the implementation of this legislation, and expect this to begin this year, ensuring reforms work for employers and workers alike.
Hospitality businesses are at the heart of our communities and are vital for economic growth.
This is why the Government is creating a fairer business rate system, reducing alcohol duty on qualifying draught products and transforming the apprenticeship levy to support business and boost opportunities. This work will be supported by the publication of The Small Business Strategy Command Paper which will be published later this year.
Through the Hospitality Sector Council, we are addressing strategic issues for the sector related to high street regeneration, skills, sustainability, and productivity.
Post Office continues to provide vital banking services through the Banking Framework to communities and businesses alike and protect access to cash for those who choose to use it. Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all. Customers can pay in cash, pay cheques, make cash deposits, withdraw money and check their balance at all branches as well as at Banking Hubs operated by the Post Office. Government has committed to work closely with banks to roll out at least 350 banking hubs, which will provide individuals and businesses across the country with critical cash and banking services.
The Government recognises the challenges and worry facing parents whose babies are admitted to neonatal care; we will set out more information on our plans in this area shortly.
The Government is committed to reviewing the parental leave system so that it best supports working families.
The Government greatly values kinship carers who care for children who cannot live with their parents. The Government has committed in the Plan to Make Work Pay to review the system of parental leave to ensure that it best supports all working families. We will set out more information in due course
In relation to legal safeguarding, the Law Commission will carry out a review into the legal statuses and orders for kinship carers, to ensure that the legislative framework is fair, modern, and meets the needs of its users.
The UK has worked closely with international partners to constrain Russian oil revenues while maintaining energy market security. The Government does not speculate on future sanctions measures as to do so could reduce their impact. We continue to monitor the effectiveness of our sanctions.
The Government has no current plans to change the approach to Daylight Savings.
Neither the Secretary of State nor I will be commenting on the specifics of individual projects such as Rosebank and Jackdaw in order to avoid potentially prejudicing any future regulatory decisions the Secretary of State is required to make in relation to these projects.
There is a robust framework governing the fire safety of lithium-ion battery storage.
The Health and Safety Executive regulates commercial batteries within a framework which requires industry to act at all stages of the battery’s deployment to ensure safety. Of particular relevance, the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (2002) set out requirements to protect workers and others from fire risks.
Domestic-scale batteries for consumers are covered under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, making producers responsible for ensuring product safety. The Office for Product Safety and Standards and Local Authority Trading Standards have powers to remove unsafe batteries from sale.
Impacts of proposed offshore wind developments on affected stakeholders, including fishers, is considered during the development consent process. The Government encourages offshore wind developers and the fishing industry to discuss potential impacts at an early stage.
In cases where there have been monetary settlements for disruption or displacement, these have been agreed on an individual project basis between the offshore wind developer and the affected fishers.
This government recognises the strategic importance of semiconductors as a critical technology and a significant enabler of our growth and clean energy missions. We recently secured a £250 million investment from one of the world’s largest manufacturers of semiconductors - Vishay Technologies – into the UK’s largest semiconductor facility, supported by the government’s Automotive Transformation Fund.
The forthcoming Industrial Strategy will provide further clarity on how government will boost investment in growth-driving sectors, including by mobilising capital to ensure businesses have sufficient access to finance, such as through the National Wealth Fund.
Making innovation support accessible and agile is a key goal for Innovate UK, and they will continue to experiment with new ways to improve their product offering for businesses. They deliver technology funding awards through grants, contracts, and loans. Eligible costs depend on the innovation objectives of the specific programme a business is applying for, but most technology grants allow for the recovery of equipment costs directly related to the project the grant is supporting.
They have reduced the time taken from competition close to grant award by 32% between FY 22/23 and FY 24/25. Innovate UK programmes such as New Innovators and Launchpads also allow for a significant portion of the payment upfront to support SME innovation projects.
Making innovation support accessible and agile is a key goal for Innovate UK, and they will continue to experiment with new ways to improve their product offering for businesses. They deliver technology funding awards through grants, contracts, and loans. Eligible costs depend on the innovation objectives of the specific programme a business is applying for, but most technology grants allow for the recovery of equipment costs directly related to the project the grant is supporting.
They have reduced the time taken from competition close to grant award by 32% between FY 22/23 and FY 24/25. Innovate UK programmes such as New Innovators and Launchpads also allow for a significant portion of the payment upfront to support SME innovation projects.
Digital inclusion is a priority for this Government and we have already set up a Digital Inclusion and Skills Unit to ensure that everyone has the access, skills, support and confidence to engage in our modern digital society, whatever their circumstances.
This country has been without a digital inclusion strategy for 10 years, and during that time other countries have leapt ahead of us. This Government is determined that that will no longer be the case. I hope to say more on this soon.
The government has commenced the second phase of digital development for the short-term lets registration scheme legislated for in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. During this phase, DCMS will test the user interface with a small number of users to ensure our systems and processes are effective, with public testing planned to start within the next 9 months.
We are working closely with the music industry to tackle the challenges facing UK musicians and their support staff when touring in the EU. We remain in open and constructive dialogue with the EU, with a view to improve arrangements across the European continent without seeing a return to free movement. Most recently, on 7 April, I attended the Informal Meeting for EU Culture Ministers in Warsaw as a guest of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. This is the first time a UK minister has been invited since Brexit. Our aim is to identify practical solutions to ensure that UK artists can continue to perform across Europe with minimal barriers while respecting the regulatory frameworks on both sides.
The Government’s approach to a future City of Culture competition will be announced in due course.
The current application guidance for the UK City of Culture competition already allows towns to enter. We keep under review our competition criteria feeding in lessons from previous rounds to provide the best support to each bidding place.
Towns have great potential to benefit from culture driven development.
The Government’s approach to a future City of Culture competition will be announced in due course.
The current application guidance for the UK City of Culture competition already allows towns to enter. We keep under review our competition criteria feeding in lessons from previous rounds to provide the best support to each bidding place.
Towns have great potential to benefit from culture driven development.
The Government’s approach to a future City of Culture competition will be announced in due course.
The current application guidance for the UK City of Culture competition already allows towns to enter. We keep under review our competition criteria feeding in lessons from previous rounds to provide the best support to each bidding place.
Towns have great potential to benefit from culture driven development.
Four, plus a percentage of time from senior colleagues who provide oversight, and from analytical, legal, and digital specialists.
Parliament legislated for a registration scheme for short-term lets in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, and we are committed to introducing such a scheme as soon as possible.
We will soon publish the government’s response to the 2023 consultation on how the scheme will work and on the legislative process that will bring the scheme to life.
Volunteering is critical to a vibrant and resilient civil society; it benefits volunteers and the organisations involving them and has transformational impacts on local communities. Government undertakes a range of policy work to enable as many people to volunteer as possible, from developing the wider volunteering ecosystem to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to take part, to supporting the sustainability of the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector.
This Government recognises the vital role that civil society plays in supporting volunteering, and is committed to resetting the relationship with civil society. Government understands the need to treat civil society as an equal, expert partner who is integral to the delivery of the Government’s vision for national renewal. The first step in rebuilding that relationship is going to be the co-creation of the recently announced Civil Society Covenant.
We currently support people to volunteer nationally through a range of programmes. These include the Know Your Neighbourhood (KYN) Fund, an up to £30 million funding package running until March 2025, designed to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas across England.
We also provide funding to the #iwill Fund, a £66 million joint investment between DCMS and the National Lottery Community Fund, running since 2016, which supports the creation of new opportunities to engage young people in volunteering and community engagement in their local areas.
The Department does not allocate funds to Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) directly, but has allocated £7.15 million in core funding to its arm’s-length body VisitEngland, plus £1.35 million for destination management organisations; and VisitEngland has accredited Devon and partners which can apply for VisitBritain/VisitEngland grant funding programmes.
Short-term lets are an integral part of what the UK has to offer visitors. They can bring a range of benefits to local and national economies, but communities in tourism
destinations, particularly coastal and rural communities, must be able to reap the benefit of thriving tourism without losing the spirit of their community when the holiday season ends.
Parliament legislated for a registration scheme for short-term lets in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 and we are working on precisely how to implement that statutory
requirement.
The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life.
Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their personal education plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.
The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements. The department is also investing £2 billion over this parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.
These measures will provide greater placement availability, stability and ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they are placed closer to home.
The department recognises the need to improve the data available about children’s social care, including making it more relevant to the experience of children and young people during periods of change.
A core part of this work includes understanding the data needs of the children’s social care sector as a whole and scoping ways in which data gaps may be addressed over time. This year the department has published new statistics on stability measures for children looked after, providing further insight on school, placement and social worker stability for these children, here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/stability-measures-for-children-looked-after-in-england/2024.
Existing statutory data is collected for children missing education, school attendance, and children in care. However, it is not yet possible to accurately link these datasets to obtain the information requested, as the children missing education data is collected at a local authority level, while data for children looked after, and school attendance is collected at a child level. Addressing data gaps in children’s social care will be a long-term endeavour due to the need to agree data standards and definitions, as well as redesign local authority and departmental systems before rolling out nationally.
The relationship between the department and Eat that Frog, as with all providers, is through the funding of learners through an agreed, published funding methodology. The department does not fund institutions/providers core costs, as the funding is driven by the learner funding methodology. In this case, as a Specialist Post-16 Institution (SPI), Eat that Frog is funded through the high needs funding methodology which is a combination of funding directly from the department and funding from the learners’ local authority, through their dedicated schools grant.
Some of the programmes and support provided through Eat that Frog is outside the scope of departmental funding, for example employment support, and therefore their remit is much wider than that of the department.
As the relevant local authority, Torbay Council is responsible for keeping provision for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) in their area under review. They are also responsible for determining how many high needs places, funded at £10,000 per place, should be available at special schools in their area.
Torbay Council concluded that there is less need for special school places for children with moderate learning difficulties and asked for the number of high needs places in Combe Pafford School to be reduced for the 2025/26 academic year.
Local authorities should undertake detailed work to forecast the number of places they and neighbouring authorities will need in the forthcoming academic year. They should consult with their schools and colleges to plan where new placements will be needed, although this is not mandatory. The department understands that such consultations with Combe Pafford School commenced in January 2024.
The response to Written Parliamentary Question 58706 was published on 20 June 2025.
There are separate processes for removing special educational needs (SEN) units or resourced provision at academies and maintained schools, which we expect the relevant accountable bodies to follow.
In maintained schools, such as Spires College, where a local authority decides to remove a SEN unit or resourced provision at a foundation school, they must follow the statutory prescribed alterations process. The statutory guidance on this topic is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-organisation-maintained-schools.
In academies, SEN units and resourced provision are formally recognised in a funding agreement. Closing a SEN unit or resourced provision at an academy would be a significant change and would therefore require the funding agreement between my right hon. Friend, Secretary of State for Education and the academy trust to be amended. More information on significant changes is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-significant-changes-to-an-existing-academy.
In this instance, the responsible bodies are St Margeret’s Academy and Torbay local authority.
Local authorities are responsible for managing the sufficiency of school places in their area, including the provision for children with SEN. The department expects local authorities to work in collaboration with parents, schools, academy trusts and other local partners to balance the supply and demand of school places to ensure a sustainable and viable educational offer.
Where it has been identified that a unit for SEN is no longer needed at a school, the processes set out above and a consultation with local stakeholders are required for removing this provision.
The responses to Written Parliamentary Questions 56436 and 56437 were published on 20 June 2025.
Special schools receive £10,000 per place, alongside high needs top-up funding, which is paid directly by local authorities to the schools in which their placements are made. It is the top-up funding which is intended to reflect the cost of special educational provision in excess of the place funding, and the department’s guidance to local authorities is that top-up funding levels should be kept under review to reflect changes in costs, such as those incurred through overall levels of inflation and changes in provision.
High needs funding for children and young people with complex needs will be £1 billion higher this financial year than last year. This £1 billion increase, and the additional funding for special schools to help with staff-related costs, will bring total high needs funding to well over £12 billion in 2025/26.
We are aiming to enter contract later this year and are currently on track. The current planned timescale is for pupils to be in the permanent accommodation from September 2026. This is also on track, but we will need to continue to monitor this as normal throughout the build period.
We are aiming to enter contract later this year and are currently on track. The current planned timescale is for pupils to be in the permanent accommodation from September 2026. This is also on track, but we will need to continue to monitor this as normal throughout the build period.
The department wants all children and young people to be able to receive the right support to succeed in their education and we recognise that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) often require access to additional support.
The department also provides continuing professional development to the school and further education workforce through the Universal SEND Services programme, led by the National Association for Special Educational Needs (NASEN). From April 2025, NASEN are developing a new autism specific online training offer to support the workforce’s understanding of autism, which will include ‘train the trainer' packages and webinars to support teachers and leaders to deliver autism training in their settings.
The department has also invested in the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme, which is a national programme backed by £22 million of investment.
PINS deploys specialists from both health and education workforces to build teacher and staff capacity to identify and better meet the needs of neurodivergent children including pupils with autism.
The department wants all children and young people to be able to receive the right support to succeed in their education and we recognise that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) often require access to additional support.
The department also provides continuing professional development to the school and further education workforce through the Universal SEND Services programme, led by the National Association for Special Educational Needs (NASEN). From April 2025, NASEN are developing a new autism specific online training offer to support the workforce’s understanding of autism, which will include ‘train the trainer' packages and webinars to support teachers and leaders to deliver autism training in their settings.
The department has also invested in the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme, which is a national programme backed by £22 million of investment.
PINS deploys specialists from both health and education workforces to build teacher and staff capacity to identify and better meet the needs of neurodivergent children including pupils with autism.
Further education (FE) colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating pay within colleges. Colleges are not bound by the national pay and conditions framework for school teachers but are free to implement their own pay arrangements in line with their own local circumstances.
On 22 May, the department announced an investment of £160 million for colleges and other 16-19 providers in the 2025/26 financial year. This funding will boost opportunities for learners across the country and drive forward delivery of the critical skills needed to grow our economy.
Additional funding of over £30 million will also be included within 16-19 allocations. This funding comes from within the overall funding envelope of £615 million for 2025/26, announced alongside the 2025/26 school teachers’ pay award. Together, this means that a total additional sum of over £190 million will be available for 16-19 funding in the 2025/26 financial year.
Care leavers up to age 25 are entitled to a personal advisor who works with them to develop a pathway plan. This includes advice and guidance to support career aspirations and further education, training or employment.
As part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department will require local authorities to provide ‘Staying Close’ support to care leavers, helping them to find and keep safe and stable accommodation, alongside targeted, intensive support around education, training, wellbeing and living independently.
Care leavers who take up an apprenticeship can claim a £3,000 bursary.
We fund the Care Leaver Covenant, an offer of support from private, public or third sector organisations to care leavers. Over 600 organisations have signed the Covenant, offering pre-employment training, job opportunities and practical support.
The cross-government Civil Service Internship Scheme for care leavers has benefitted around 1,000 young people to date.
Care leavers will benefit from our new Youth Guarantee, which will provide tailored support to young people aged 18 to 21 to help them access high-quality education, training and employment opportunities. £45 million has been allocated to test the guarantee in eight locations.