Asked by: Steve Yemm (Labour - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what interventions under the East Midlands RISE programme will be directed at improving educational attainment for pupils in Mansfield.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) is the department’s school improvement programme. It provides universal support for all schools and targeted support for those facing the greatest challenges.
All Mansfield schools can access universal support, which connects leaders with effective practice, expert advice and opportunities to learn from other schools. This includes English and maths hubs, attendance and behaviour hubs, Reception-year networks, professional development and regional conferences. Further programmes will help schools strengthen literacy, key stage 2 and key stage 3 education, and support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, with details announced shortly.
In Mansfield, three schools are receiving targeted RISE support through RISE advisers, improvement partners and funding to secure sustainable improvement and pupils outcomes. Further details of RISE support in the East Midlands can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rise-east-midlands/rise-east-midlands.
Asked by: Steve Yemm (Labour - Mansfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure NHS England's guidance on single-sex accommodation, wards and intimate care is brought into line with the Supreme Court judgment and the updated EHRC Code.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 2 June in response to Question 2036.
Asked by: Steve Yemm (Labour - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the role that desalination plants may need to play in ensuring the long-term resilience and security of public water supplies in England; and whether she plans to set out the circumstances in which the Government considers additional desalination capacity necessary.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies set out how they plan to continue to supply water to their customers through statutory Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs). Within their plans, water companies must consider all options, including demand management and new water resources infrastructure, such as desalination.
Each type of water resources infrastructure comes with challenges, whether that is land-take for reservoirs, or treatment and pumping costs for transfers or desalination. Water company WRMPs process is where such questions are considered. The Environment Agency’s summary of the WRMPs sets out the desalination plants proposed by water companies in England (see table 8): Appendix C: Revised draft water resources management plans supply options - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Steve Yemm (Labour - Mansfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the detection and diagnosis of cancer in children and young people.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Children and young people with cancer face unique challenges. Our National Cancer Plan is the first to contain a specific section on children and young people. Its 17 actions include better access to diagnostic services, and evidence-based support tools for GPs. Alongside this, young patients and their families will face less stress as a result of our free travel scheme.
Asked by: Steve Yemm (Labour - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, (a) what support her Department is providing for grassroots theatre and community production groups; and (b) what assessment she has made of the potential impact of participation in grassroots theatre and community productions on the mental health and wellbeing of participants.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the vital role that the performing arts, including grassroots and community theatre, play in the lives of people and communities across the country, which the government supports primarily through funding via Arts Council England (ACE).
Through the National Portfolio Investment Programme, between 2024/25 and 2026/27, ACE will provide almost £100 million to theatre per year. This supports the work of a number of grassroots organisations, including Unanima, a theatre company based in Mansfield that receives £232,000 per year to help provide creative opportunities for learning disabled and autistic people. Similarly, ACE invests almost £45 million each year in theatre via National Lottery Project Grants, an open-access fund supporting projects at all levels. In February 2026, Julie Bagshaw received a £35,400 project grant for development costs for a community theatre project in Mansfield.
Community and grassroots theatre organisations also benefit from government support through Theatre Tax Relief; and in January, the Secretary of State announced the £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere Fund, to support venues that provide creative and welcoming spaces for communities to come together and celebrate what makes their area special.
In 2024, DCMS research showed that active arts engagement has a positive impact on health and wellbeing. Mental health benefits of attending cultural venues, including the theatre, was shown to have saved the NHS £260 million per year for adults over 50, delivering a total benefit of over £3 billion. Engagement in the arts was similarly shown to have had significant benefits on young people’s mental health, delivering a total benefit of around £800 million for young adults (aged 18-29) each year.
Asked by: Steve Yemm (Labour - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that primary school children are educated about the Holocaust.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Government is deeply committed to ensuring pupils receive Holocaust education. It is the only compulsory topic in Key Stage 3 History. Primary schools learn about the Holocaust in events such as Holocaust Memorial Day.
Alongside this, the Government is investing significantly in support for schools and teachers. We fund programmes to strengthen teaching quality, including the University College London Centre for Holocaust Education’s professional development work and the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz programme.
In the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024, we also committed a further £2 million for Holocaust remembrance and education to help ensure that every young person can access recorded survivor testimony. This sits alongside £4.8 million of wider departmental funding between 2024 and 2027, including £2.3 million for Lessons from Auschwitz, £500,000 for the Centre for Holocaust Education, and £2 million for our Supporting Holocaust Survivor Testimony in Teaching programme across 2025-26 and 2026-27.
Together, this ensures that pupils develop a meaningful and age-appropriate understanding of the Holocaust, supported by high-quality teaching and powerful survivor testimony.
Asked by: Steve Yemm (Labour - Mansfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the transformation of liver services programme led by the NHS England Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Clinical Reference Group will include a specific workstream to help address the unmet clinical need in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The transformation of liver services programme includes a number of workstreams including patient pathways relating to metabolic associated steatotic liver disease and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
NHS England is actively preparing to support the potential introduction of new treatments for MASH, including fatty liver disease with fibrosis, alongside the ongoing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence appraisal process.
Asked by: Steve Yemm (Labour - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, further to the meeting Ministers in his Department had with the Trustees of the Mineworkers Pension Scheme on Thursday 30th April 2026, if he will provide an update on progress to resolve the outstanding issues within the scheme.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is keen to reach agreement with the MPS Trustees on changes to the arrangements to benefit scheme members. The meeting on 30 April involved a constructive discussion of the proposals and how they might be taken forward. The government is mindful of the need to resolve this issue as swiftly as possible, and will make an announcement once agreement has been reached.
Asked by: Steve Yemm (Labour - Mansfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the liver transformation programme led by the Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Clinical Reference Group will include a specific work stream to help address the unmet clinical need in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Steve Yemm (Labour - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps to include air ambulance charities within national fuel resilience and prioritisation planning, including consideration alongside Category 1 responders.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK benefits from a diverse and resilient fuel supply chain and remains well supplied across all fuel types. The Government regularly reviews which organisations provide essential services within the context of the National Emergency Plan for Fuel. This includes consideration of air ambulance charities, recognising the vital role they play in emergency response and patient care.
A summary of the National Emergency Plan for Fuel is published on gov.uk and sets out measures to respond to fuel supply and distribution disruption. In the unlikely event of a sustained disruption, these arrangements enable fuel to be prioritised for essential services and critical supply chains.
The Government does not assess that the current situation warrants, or is approaching, the threshold for the use of emergency powers.