Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on disabled students, including on educational outcomes and equality, of proposals to restrict funding for specialist assistive software through Disabled Students’ Allowances in favour of free tools.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supporting disabled students to access and succeed in higher education is a government priority. Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) provides support to remove disability-related barriers to learning, enabling students to access academic opportunities. DSA-funded support is designed to meet disability-related needs and promote independence in study through appropriate equipment, assistive software and support.
The department’s consultation on assistive software funded through DSA seeks to gather evidence on how best to modernise the support provided, taking into account the significant advances in technology in recent years.
A key purpose of the consultation is to understand the extent to which advances in mainstream functionality can appropriately meet disability-related needs and where specialist software continues to be required. The intention is to ensure provision is appropriately targeted and represents value for money.
The department has not made a final assessment of the adequacy of free-to-access tools as we are seeking evidence of this through the consultation process.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evidence her Department used to conclude that free university tools can adequately replace specialist assistive technology funded by the Disabled Students Allowance to support disabled students with their studies.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supporting disabled students to access and succeed in higher education is a government priority. Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) provides support to remove disability-related barriers to learning, enabling students to access academic opportunities. DSA-funded support is designed to meet disability-related needs and promote independence in study through appropriate equipment, assistive software and support.
The department’s consultation on assistive software funded through DSA seeks to gather evidence on how best to modernise the support provided, taking into account the significant advances in technology in recent years.
A key purpose of the consultation is to understand the extent to which advances in mainstream functionality can appropriately meet disability-related needs and where specialist software continues to be required. The intention is to ensure provision is appropriately targeted and represents value for money.
The department has not made a final assessment of the adequacy of free-to-access tools as we are seeking evidence of this through the consultation process.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Regional funding to train next generation of construction workers, published on 20 May 2026, whether further regional construction skills funding rounds are planned beyond 2026-27.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Construction Skills Programme, including construction industry placements, is focused on three years of funding and support. There are three elements as detailed below.
For providers in non-devolved areas, we will be refining the formula for allocations each year in light of new learner data and insights from the programme itself. For Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) with an Integrated Settlement, allocations have been decided for the coming years based on proportions of learner numbers in each area. Finally, for MSAs without an Integrated Settlement, allocations have been nominally decided and will be confirmed each year subject to assessment of achievement against grant targets.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2026 to Question 453 on Council Tax, if he will place the new burdens assessment in the Library.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will publish the outcome of this new burdens assessment on GOV.UK as it has done for previous new burdens assessments.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has assessed the potential merits of introducing a permanent exemption from Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations requirements for closed-door school transport services that do not carry members of the general public.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government strongly supports the aims of PSVAR and breaking down the barriers to opportunity. We believe that children and young people should be able to choose to travel to and from school with their classmates if they wish to. However, progress with PSVAR compliance has been slower than hoped in respect of home-to-school services.
Closed door home-to-school services serve pupils whose needs are known in advance. Many disabled pupils also either attend specialist education settings or are provided with door-to-door transport and would struggle to access mainstream services even if they were PSVAR compliant.
As current exemptions were due to cease in July 2026, and following careful consideration, I decided to introduce new four-year special authorisations for paid for, closed door home-to-school services.
On 5 June I wrote to the coach sector informing them of this decision noting that as with the current Medium-Term-Exemptions (MTE’s), exemptions will be offered subject to operators meeting specific conditions which will be laid out in full when eligible operators are invited to apply. The conditions, which place the needs of disabled children and young people at the core, include maintaining a minimum number of PSVAR compliant coaches and providing a compliant coach on request at no extra cost.
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: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department receives from NHS providers on the mental health conditions of prisoners serving a sentence of imprisonment for public protection.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The NHS is responsible for delivering healthcare services, including mental health services, in prisons in England and Wales.
All prisoners, including those serving IPP sentences, have access to integrated mental health services. Healthcare provision is based on assessed clinical need and is not determined by sentence type. Consequently, routine data sets do not generally allow for identification of specific diagnoses across patient groups based on the prisoner’s sentence category. Any detailed or bespoke analysis of clinical conditions among cohorts defined by sentence type would, therefore, need to be led by DHSC and NHS England, who are responsible for the relevant data and its governance.
More broadly, the Government remains determined to support the rehabilitation of IPP prisoners, through the IPP Action Plan, which we published on 17 July 2025. The Plan puts an important emphasis on effective frontline delivery in our prisons and the Probation Service, to ensure that those serving IPP sentences have robust and effective sentence plans and that they are in the location most appropriate to their needs. It also includes a commitment to explore ways to better identify and support IPP prisoners with mental health needs, ensuring they can access appropriate treatment and interventions as part of their sentence progression.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to secure multilateral and bilateral agreements for relaxed cabotage rules for the cultural sector.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is aware of concerns raised by the cultural and creative sectors regarding the impact that cabotage arrangements can have for the cultural sector.
Cabotage terms are governed by international agreements, including the UK‑EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) multilateral permit system, which provides additional but limited access. While there are currently no plans to pursue sector-specific cabotage agreements, the Government engages regularly with international partners to explore opportunities to facilitate transport operations more broadly, including through existing bilateral road haulage agreements where appropriate.
The Government also engages with the EU, EU Member States and wider international partners on barriers affecting cultural exchange, including touring. As part of this engagement, we continue to make the case for practical measures that support the movement of artists, crews, equipment and the specialist services that underpin international exchange, as well as engaging with the cultural and the live touring sector to understand the practical impacts of cultural arrangements, including for organisations that operate ‘own account’ vehicles transporting their own equipment.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 23 April 2026 to Question 124822 on Proof of Identity: Digital Technology, for what reason the People's Panel participants will need to stay in a hotel overnight; if there will be multiple locations or sessions, and what is the timetable.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The People's Panel on Digital ID brings together a diverse group of 120 individuals from across the United Kingdom, selected through a random postcode sortition process to be broadly representative. The Panel will convene over seven workshops, four of which are held in person in Birmingham over two weekends therefore requiring participants to stay overnight. The deliberative workshops are taking place throughout May and June 2026.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason applications for Access to Work from self-employed customers are not being allocated for processing until over 18 months from the date of receipt; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of delays on disabled applicants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Delays in allocating Access to Work applications for self‑employed customers are due to high demand and the additional complexity of these cases, which often require further evidence such as tax and income details.
The Department recognises the impact of these delays, particularly for disabled applicants without employer support. To address this, steps have been taken to recruit additional staff to clear the backlog and improve processing times: Huge recruitment boost to tackle backlog in vital disability work scheme - GOV.UK.
Priority is given to customers starting work within four weeks and to those renewing awards, to minimise disruption to employment.