Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary schools do not have a library.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire to the answer of 22 October 2025 to Question 81502.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of library provision in schools in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme, to the answer of 22 October 2025 to Question 81502.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 take steps in the forthcoming Elections Bill to to require submission of all on- and offline advertisements to the Electoral Commission as soon as they are published with data on who has sponsored the advertisement readily available to the public.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Current imprint rules require campaigners to include the name and address of a promoter, any person on whose behalf the material is published, and, for printed material, the printer’s details.
The Government has committed to adding unregistered third-party campaigning organisations to the list of entities who are required to include a digital imprint on their organic digital campaigning material and extend the Electoral Commission’s remit to be the primary enforcer of all imprint rules.
The Government has no plans to introduce a real-time submission system for digital and print advertisements to the Electoral Commission at this time, but welcome the steps taken by social media companies to create “advert libraries”.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of regulations governing online political advertisements.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under existing regulations, campaigners are required to include an imprint with their name and address on printed and digital campaigning material. Imprint rules play an important role in promoting trust in our democratic process by ensuring voters can clearly see who is behind political campaigning material.
The Government is committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections. As part of this, we intend to add unregistered third-party campaigning organisations to the list of entities who are required to include a digital imprint on their organic digital campaigning material and extend the Electoral Commission’s remit to be the primary enforcer of all imprint rules.
The Government has no plans at this time to introduce a public database for online political advertisements, but welcome the steps taken by social media companies to create “advert libraries”.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to introduce a database inclduing all published online political advertisements.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under existing regulations, campaigners are required to include an imprint with their name and address on printed and digital campaigning material. Imprint rules play an important role in promoting trust in our democratic process by ensuring voters can clearly see who is behind political campaigning material.
The Government is committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections. As part of this, we intend to add unregistered third-party campaigning organisations to the list of entities who are required to include a digital imprint on their organic digital campaigning material and extend the Electoral Commission’s remit to be the primary enforcer of all imprint rules.
The Government has no plans at this time to introduce a public database for online political advertisements, but welcome the steps taken by social media companies to create “advert libraries”.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken to ensure that modern foreign language qualifications are set and marked in line with Ofqual requirements and do not unfairly disadvantage particular groups of students.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Ofqual, the independent regulator of examinations and assessments in England, expects awarding organisations to manage risk in line with its General Conditions of Recognition, which are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ofqual-handbook.
The matters raised are for Ofqual to answer. I have, therefore, asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member for Fylde directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with Ofqual regarding the risk management processes used by awarding organisations when introducing new qualifications.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Ofqual, the independent regulator of examinations and assessments in England, expects awarding organisations to manage risk in line with its General Conditions of Recognition, which are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ofqual-handbook.
The matters raised are for Ofqual to answer. I have, therefore, asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member for Fylde directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press notice of 15 December 2025 entitled Ofqual fines Pearson £2 million for rule breaches affecting thousands of students, how many students were affected by each of the three cases for which Ofqual fined Pearson, broken down by qualification and year.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member for Fylde directly, and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the proportion of concert ticketing companies that allow disabled customers who are using accessible seating to have one accompanying person with them.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department does not hold information on the proportion of concert ticketing companies that allow disabled customers who are using accessible seating to have one accompanying person with them.
However this Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of ability or location, can access the creative industries and cultural opportunities. We are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) Supporting Grassroots Music Fund (SGMF), which as well as aiming to bolster the grassroots music ecosystem, aims to promote inclusivity within the sector. For example, through support from the SGMF, a music venue in Bristol has become the first grassroots music venue in the country to secure an Attitude is Everything Gold Award, a widely-coveted Industry award, given only to those that show a significant and ongoing commitment to improving accessibility.
The Government also supports the Arts Councils of each UK nation and Ireland working together with partners, such as the British Film Institute, in launching All In, a free, UK wide arts access scheme. This scheme will help remove barriers for disabled, deaf and neurodivergent people in music venues, festivals, theatres, museums, galleries, libraries and more. This initiative introduces the UK and Ireland’s first set of industry standards to improve access to arts and culture as well as launch new digital tools to support accessible ticket booking.
The Office for Equality and Opportunity has also appointed David Stanley as Disability and Access Ambassador for arts and culture - to drive improvements in the accessibility and quality of services and facilities in the sector for disabled people, helping to ensure businesses are doing all they can to support disabled customers.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has held discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the potential merits of a National Library for Northern Ireland.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Responsibility for libraries in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. My Ministerial colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office and I hold regular meetings with Northern Ireland Executive Ministers, including the Communities Minister, to discuss areas of mutual interest. I welcome discussion about the potential merits of a National Library for Northern Ireland, although thus far no discussions on this topic have been held.