Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative assessment he has made between prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection and those serving determinate sentences of levels of access to (a) education, (b) employment training programmes and (c) resettlement services.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Government is committed to ensuring that all prisoners, including those serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences, have access to appropriate rehabilitative support. Access to education, employment training and resettlement services is provided to all prisoners regardless of sentence type.
Prisoners serving IPP sentences are eligible to access the same educational offer as those serving determinate sentences, including literacy, numeracy, English for Speakers of Additional Languages, digital skills and library services, in line with Prison Rule 32. They may also participate in vocational training and work-related activity subject to operational availability. Each prison is responsible for determining an education offer that meets the needs of their cohort. The Department has not made a comparative assessment between IPP and determinate sentence prisoners in respect of access to these services and this could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Resettlement services are likewise available to people serving IPP sentences, delivered according to individual need and sentence plans. The Government’s IPP Action Plan published in July 2025, places a strong emphasis on effective sentence planning, frontline delivery and ensures prisoners are located in establishments where they can access the services required to support progression towards a safe and sustainable release.
Asked by: Jonathan Hinder (Labour - Pendle and Clitheroe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure the government's industrial strategy supports industry in Lancashire.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is ensuring its Industrial Strategy supports industry in Lancashire by aligning national priorities with local strengths in advanced manufacturing, defence, digital and clean energy sectors. This includes targeted investment in skills, innovation and infrastructure, alongside support for business growth and exports through the Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) integrated Business Growth Service. DBT is working with local partners to deliver the Lancashire Growth Plan, strengthen connectivity to city regions and support high-growth firms, including midsized businesses, complemented by programmes like Made Smarter helping SMEs adopt advanced digital technologies and improving productivity, competitiveness and long term regional growth outcomes.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will have conversations with colleagues in the [i] Department for Culture and Media and Sport and [ii] Department for Science and Technology about the impact of social media content on the use of IPEDs and SARMs amongst young people.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the mental and physical health risks of young people taking steroids. This Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and to exploring options, through the cross-government National Youth Strategy, to improve young people’s access to accurate health information, both online and offline.
While no assessment has currently been made about the reasons for the use of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) and selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) amongst young people. Treatment for IPED or steroid use within drug and alcohol treatment services is available, depending on local commissioning arrangements. The Government also runs Talk to FRANK, a drug and alcohol information and advice service for young people, parents and others concerned about drug use. The website includes information on the mental and physical health risks of steroid use and is updated regularly. More information is available at the following link:
The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on its consultation, ‘Growing up in the online world’, which closes on 26 May 2026. This consultation will help inform future policy to better protect children’s health and wellbeing and ensure that digital platforms play their part in promoting safe and healthy online experiences.
We are also taking a range of actions to improve men’s health literacy, as set out in the Men’s Health Strategy. These include:
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will discuss with [i] UKAD and [ii] other relevant bodies about the use of [i] IPEDs and [ii] SARMS amongst young people in the context of the aims of the Men's Health Strategy.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the mental and physical health risks of young people taking steroids. This Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and to exploring options, through the cross-government National Youth Strategy, to improve young people’s access to accurate health information, both online and offline.
While no assessment has currently been made about the reasons for the use of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) and selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) amongst young people. Treatment for IPED or steroid use within drug and alcohol treatment services is available, depending on local commissioning arrangements. The Government also runs Talk to FRANK, a drug and alcohol information and advice service for young people, parents and others concerned about drug use. The website includes information on the mental and physical health risks of steroid use and is updated regularly. More information is available at the following link:
The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on its consultation, ‘Growing up in the online world’, which closes on 26 May 2026. This consultation will help inform future policy to better protect children’s health and wellbeing and ensure that digital platforms play their part in promoting safe and healthy online experiences.
We are also taking a range of actions to improve men’s health literacy, as set out in the Men’s Health Strategy. These include:
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made about the reasons for the use of [i] IPEDs and [ii] SARMs amongst young people.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the mental and physical health risks of young people taking steroids. This Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and to exploring options, through the cross-government National Youth Strategy, to improve young people’s access to accurate health information, both online and offline.
While no assessment has currently been made about the reasons for the use of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) and selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) amongst young people. Treatment for IPED or steroid use within drug and alcohol treatment services is available, depending on local commissioning arrangements. The Government also runs Talk to FRANK, a drug and alcohol information and advice service for young people, parents and others concerned about drug use. The website includes information on the mental and physical health risks of steroid use and is updated regularly. More information is available at the following link:
The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on its consultation, ‘Growing up in the online world’, which closes on 26 May 2026. This consultation will help inform future policy to better protect children’s health and wellbeing and ensure that digital platforms play their part in promoting safe and healthy online experiences.
We are also taking a range of actions to improve men’s health literacy, as set out in the Men’s Health Strategy. These include:
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure that the training of Armed Forces personnel keeps pace with technological development in systems.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Defence Training and Education policy, set out in JSP 822, embeds Training, Education and Learning (TEL) and digital capability as core enablers of modern training. This is currently under review and an updated version is expected to be published in the autumn of 2026.
Through the Defence Learning Management Capability (DLMC) programme, the Department is delivering a more coherent and integrated digital learning ecosystem. This programme is progressing the consolidation of legacy training systems into a more unified set of approved TEL capabilities, improving interoperability, scalability, and the pace at which training can adapt to new technologies, including AI where the Department has also introduced formal policy direction on the use of Artificial Intelligence in Defence training.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the decline in job vacancies to the lowest level in five years; which regions and sectors have experienced the largest falls in vacancies over the last 12 months; and whether the Government plans to expand employment support, retraining schemes or apprenticeships in response to the weakening labour market.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The independent Office of National Statistics (ONS) publishes vacancies over time by sector which can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/datasets/vacanciesbyindustryvacs02
The ONS official statistics shows that the decline in vacancies in the UK is a long-term trend that began in summer 2022 under the previous Government. Every sector of the economy has seen declines in vacancies since summer 2022.
The Department of Work and Pensions is committed to supporting people into employment. We are transforming our Jobcentres into a modern Jobs and Careers Service; where appropriate, Work Coaches identify skills gaps and signpost jobseekers to relevant training and provision, including Skills Bootcamps, apprenticeships, sector‑based work academy programmes (SWAPs), and free courses for jobs, as well as essential English, maths and digital skills.
We are delivering our flagship Youth Guarantee, ensuring support for young people through investing £2.5 billion over the next three years. Further, we are empowering local areas to explore new ways to reduce economic inactivity through youth and inactivity trailblazers. We are also developing tailored support for those with health conditions and disabilities through our Pathways to Work, which is backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade.
This Government is transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy in England, backed by £1 billion of additional investment, which will support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships over the next three years. We are also expanding opportunities through new foundation apprenticeships in hospitality and retail, launching a level 2 Administrative Assistant apprenticeship from August 2026, and introducing a £2,000 hiring payment for non-levy paying employers (typically SMEs) that recruit 16-24-year-old apprentices.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to businesses in the hospitality sector to deploy artificial intelligence tools for improving inventory management, reducing food waste and increasing efficiency.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are committed to ensuring the UK is the leading adopter of AI in the G7, and the Government will look at how regulation, data and access to finance can support adoption including by working closely with sectoral AI Champions to identify new solutions.
The Government works closely with the Hospitality Sector Council, bringing together industry leaders to address key challenges and opportunities, and to drive improvements in productivity and resilience across the sector. Through the Small Business Plan, we are also supporting businesses to make greater use of digital and AI technologies, alongside building the skills needed to adopt them effectively, helping hospitality businesses modernise their operations and grow.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £340 million pharmacy funding package will be allocated specifically to (a) workforce training, (b) digital infrastructure and (c) direct service delivery.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
From autumn 2026, a national NHS Independent Prescribing (IP) offer will be introduced in community pharmacy following the conclusion of the 2026/27 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework consultation with Community Pharmacy England.
Funding to support the introduction of IP will be provided to pharmacy contractors via a one-off £500 set up fee, a £525 monthly infrastructure fee, and through the existing consultation fees and fixed payments related to Pharmacy First and the Pharmacy Contraception Service. The services will be optional to pharmacy contractors with access to an independent prescriber.
In 2025, there were 3,154 community pharmacists reported as currently holding independent prescribing qualifications in England. From September 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers from the day of registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council. In addition, NHS England provides funding for more than 3,000 places for post-registration independent prescribing training each year, at a cost of more than £6 million annually. This will increase the number of IPs in the workforce and the coverage of services that make full use of their clinical skills.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department has taken to improve accessibility to online banking for blind and partially sighted people.
Answered by Rachel Blake - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone can access and use financial services.
Financial services providers are bound under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, where necessary, in the way they deliver their services. UK banks’ and building societies’ treatment of their customers is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which requires firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all customers.
The FCA’s Consumer Duty seeks to raise the standard expected from firms for all customers. It aims to ensure firms deliver products and services that offer fair value and are designed to meet customers’ needs, and that they are increasingly focused on delivering good outcomes and preventing harm.
For example, from a financial inclusion perspective, the Consumer Duty seeks to prevent consumers with characteristics of vulnerability from being unable to access and use a product because the customer support is not accessible to them.
In practice, firms are expected to consider how they provide services to customers who are unable to use specific processes, such as biometric or digital identity verification, and to ensure that appropriate alternative approaches are available where needed.
More widely, the Government published its Financial Inclusion Strategy last year which sets out a range of ambitious measures for government and industry to improve financial inclusion for underserved groups across the UK. This includes a focus on access to banking and accessibility, with interventions to make it easier for blind and partially sighted people to pay by card and to make financial products more accessible through an inclusive design working group.
The Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) also published their Digital Inclusion Action Plan last year, which sets out Government’s first steps towards our ambition of delivering digital inclusion for everyone across the UK. This seeks to address wider digital barriers, including improving digital skills and confidence, widening access to devices and connectivity, and providing support through local communities.