Helen Hayes

The total cost of special payments for the Cabinet Office, which includes - but is not limited to - any out of court settlements for Employment Tribunals is provided in the department’s annual report and accounts each year, which is published on gov.uk.

The Government will consult shortly on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation will include proposals for rented homes to achieve Energy Performance Certificate C or equivalent by 2030.

As part of the Warm Homes Plan, the Government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency, with £1 billion of this allocated to next year. Additional funding will be considered in Phase 2 of the Spending Review, as the Warm Homes Plan is further developed.

In addition, the Government is exploring the role of incentives and private finance for households to support homeowners with the upfront costs of energy efficiency improvements and low carbon heating. This includes the Green Home Finance Accelerator Programme which has made £20 million available to support in developing green finance products.

Community energy will play an essential role in meeting our mission for clean power by 2030.

Great British Energy will provide support to deliver the Local Power Plan, putting communities at the heart of restructuring our energy economy. Through partnering with and providing funding and support to Community Energy Groups, the Local Power Plan will roll out small and medium‑scale renewable energy projects, using established technologies to develop up to 8GW of cheaper, cleaner power. This will include shared ownership projects in partnership with private developers.

Some suppliers already offer local tariffs, and other products and services are available that provide community benefits. Small-scale generation sites can benefit from an exemption, which means that they do not require a licence from Ofgem to generate electricity or to supply to local customers. Ofgem has further flexibility to award supply licences to generation sites that are above the exemptions threshold when they are restricted to specified local area.

Information on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were not in school is not collected or held by the department. Data collected by the department on children not in school does not indicate whether children are asylum seekers.

The department published a response to the public call for evidence, ‘Improving support for children missing education’, in December 2024. This response outlines current best practice approaches and next steps for how local authorities, schools and others can be empowered to go further to identify and support children missing education (CME) and to tackle the pattern of children falling through the cracks. The response can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749c6faebabe47136b3a25b/Children_missing_education_-_call_for_evidence_response.pdf.

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, includes proposals for compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, to enable authorities to better identify all children not in school in their areas and, where these children are not receiving a safe, suitable education, to take action to support them. The department is also committed to introducing a single child identifier, so all children can get the right support from education, health and care services.

The department’s annual published children looked after data shows that only 4% of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are girls and that 89% of all UASC are aged 16 and over.

All UASC will be looked after by their local authority. All state-funded schools are required to give relevant looked after and previously looked after children top priority for admission once their corporate parent, the local authority, applies for a place.

As looked after children, local authorities have the same duties to UASC as all other looked after children, which includes support received in school.

The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to an excellent education. Where children are not on a school roll or receiving suitable education elsewhere, the department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outlining their duty to make arrangements to identify and support into education all CME. The guidance specifically references that children of new migrant families may be at particular risk of missing education. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf57a4dcb0757928e5bd39/Children_missing_education_guidance_-_August_2024.pdf.

Information on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were not in school is not collected or held by the department. Data collected by the department on children not in school does not indicate whether children are asylum seekers.

The department published a response to the public call for evidence, ‘Improving support for children missing education’, in December 2024. This response outlines current best practice approaches and next steps for how local authorities, schools and others can be empowered to go further to identify and support children missing education (CME) and to tackle the pattern of children falling through the cracks. The response can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749c6faebabe47136b3a25b/Children_missing_education_-_call_for_evidence_response.pdf.

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, includes proposals for compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, to enable authorities to better identify all children not in school in their areas and, where these children are not receiving a safe, suitable education, to take action to support them. The department is also committed to introducing a single child identifier, so all children can get the right support from education, health and care services.

The department’s annual published children looked after data shows that only 4% of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are girls and that 89% of all UASC are aged 16 and over.

All UASC will be looked after by their local authority. All state-funded schools are required to give relevant looked after and previously looked after children top priority for admission once their corporate parent, the local authority, applies for a place.

As looked after children, local authorities have the same duties to UASC as all other looked after children, which includes support received in school.

The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to an excellent education. Where children are not on a school roll or receiving suitable education elsewhere, the department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outlining their duty to make arrangements to identify and support into education all CME. The guidance specifically references that children of new migrant families may be at particular risk of missing education. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf57a4dcb0757928e5bd39/Children_missing_education_guidance_-_August_2024.pdf.

Information on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were not in school is not collected or held by the department. Data collected by the department on children not in school does not indicate whether children are asylum seekers.

The department published a response to the public call for evidence, ‘Improving support for children missing education’, in December 2024. This response outlines current best practice approaches and next steps for how local authorities, schools and others can be empowered to go further to identify and support children missing education (CME) and to tackle the pattern of children falling through the cracks. The response can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749c6faebabe47136b3a25b/Children_missing_education_-_call_for_evidence_response.pdf.

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, includes proposals for compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, to enable authorities to better identify all children not in school in their areas and, where these children are not receiving a safe, suitable education, to take action to support them. The department is also committed to introducing a single child identifier, so all children can get the right support from education, health and care services.

The department’s annual published children looked after data shows that only 4% of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are girls and that 89% of all UASC are aged 16 and over.

All UASC will be looked after by their local authority. All state-funded schools are required to give relevant looked after and previously looked after children top priority for admission once their corporate parent, the local authority, applies for a place.

As looked after children, local authorities have the same duties to UASC as all other looked after children, which includes support received in school.

The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to an excellent education. Where children are not on a school roll or receiving suitable education elsewhere, the department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outlining their duty to make arrangements to identify and support into education all CME. The guidance specifically references that children of new migrant families may be at particular risk of missing education. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf57a4dcb0757928e5bd39/Children_missing_education_guidance_-_August_2024.pdf.

The requirement for all schools to publish Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Information Reports was introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014. Information Reports must contain details of a school’s provision for pupils with SEND and must be reviewed annually.

As part of the department’s work on long-term options for improving the SEND system, we will explore the role of SEND Information Reports.

On 9 May, the department published the consultation ‘Strengthening Protections in Unregistered Alternative Provision (AP)’ which sought views on proposals intended to improve practice and raise standards in unregistered AP. The consultation closed on 5 July.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities or who are in AP, including those in unregistered AP, receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

Departmental officials are currently analysing the responses of the consultation, and the department will set out the next steps in due course.

Officials are currently evaluating a number of options to reduce emissions of air pollutants, in particular fine particulate matter, from domestic burning, which I anticipate will be completed in spring this year. The Government launched a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) to revise our plan for significantly improving the environment and deliver legally binding targets including for Air Quality and PM2.5. The Government concluded the review of the EIP at the end of last year and will publish a summary of findings in early 2025. This will be followed by publication of a revised EIP.

This government recognises the importance of supporting care leavers, and is keeping public transport affordable having announced a new £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London throughout the entirety of 2025.

Any change to the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) would require careful consideration for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability. However, local authorities in England have implemented a wide range of their own local fares initiatives, including some discount schemes for care leavers, utilising alternative funding, such as Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding. On 17 November, the government confirmed £712 million funding for local authorities in 2025/26 to deliver their BSIPs and protect services, as part of an over £1 billion investment in buses confirmed at the Budget.

The decision at Autumn Budget to maintain Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates at current levels for 2025/26 considered a range of factors such as rental data,the Government’s missions and wider fiscal context.

LHA rates were last increased in April 2024 at a cost of £7bn over 5 years. The national maximum caps, which apply in London, were also increased. These caps protect taxpayer costs for exceptionally high rental prices.

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities for those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and need further support.

We recognise the challenges care leavers face as they move out of the care system and are working closely with Department for Education to ensure care leavers can access the right skills, opportunities, and wider support, to move towards sustained employment and career progression.

Under the new Youth Guarantee, all young people between 18-21 years will be able to access support to enter employment, education and training opportunities. This includes Care Leavers who we know are more likely than their peers to not be in education, employment or training and may benefit from more tailored support to support their transition as they leave the care provided by their Local Authority.

We are working closely with the Department for Education on the design of the Youth Guarantee, which is in the early stages of development. The Autumn Budget announced that we will establish eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazer areas to test new ways of supporting young people into employment, education or training, by bringing together and enhancing existing programmes in partnership with local areas. Further details will be set out in the up-coming ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper.

Meanwhile, care leavers who are in receipt of Universal Credit and available for work will continue to be supported by the DWP Youth Offer. This provides individually tailored work coach support to young people aged 16-24 who are in the Universal Credit Intensive Work Search group and can include access to specialist work coaches, for example the Youth Employability Coaches, which help address complex barriers to work, as well as the partnership led Youth Hub network.

We have also taken steps to improve the career opportunities of care leavers through government recruitment schemes such as the Civil Service Care Leaver Internship, the Social Mobility Apprenticeship Scheme and our ongoing partnership with Movement to Work. These are all designed to consider challenges disadvantaged young people face as they take their first steps on the career ladder.

The Government published the 2025/26 Public Health Grant allocations to local authorities on 7 February. Further details are available on the GOV.UK website.

NHS England has published a suite of national service specifications and standards for Paediatric Cardiac Services, which define the standards of care expected from organisations funded by NHS England, to support and improve the diagnosis and treatment of congenital cardiac problems in young people, with congenital heart disease constituting the bulk of paediatric cardiac cases. The specifications and standards cover all Paediatric Cardiac activity, including surgery and cardiology, taking place in the Specialist Children’s Surgical Centres, Specialist Children’s Cardiology Centres, and Local Children's Cardiac Centres, including activity undertaken by the Specialist Centres on an outreach basis where it is delivered as part of a provider network, with the aim of ensuring all patient care is of a consistent high quality.

NHS England has also published a national service specification for Inherited Cardiac Conditions (ICC), which covers young adults. The aim of ICC services is to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcome of patients with inherited cardiac conditions. NHS England is currently reviewing this service specification, working with a broad range of stakeholders as part of the review, including clinical experts in the National Health Service, the Association of Inherited Cardiac Conditions, Cardiomyopathy UK, Heart Valve Voice and the British Heart Foundation.

The Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme also sets out standards for antenatal screening by ultrasound of serious congenital abnormalities, including which abnormalities should be screened for and expected detection rates, with 68% of serious abnormalities detected antenatally.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) last reviewed screening for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in people under 39 years old in 2019 and concluded that screening should not be offered. More information on the review is available at the following link:

https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/sudden-cardiac-death/

Research showed that current tests are not accurate enough to use in young people without symptoms, and that treatments and interventions were not based on good scientific evidence to prevent SCD.

To stop SCDs in young people, the current consensus is to focus on rapid identification and care of people who are likely to be at risk of SCD due to a family link or because they have had symptoms, and to train people to carry out cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and to use defibrillators.

NHS England has published guidance for inherited cardiac conditions which requires services to investigate patients with previously undiagnosed cardiac disease, suggestive symptoms or from families with sudden unexplained deaths. Where a genetic variation is identified, cascade testing is offered to relatives based on risk.

We are aware that the UK NSC has received a submission via its annual call process to consider SCD screening in young people aged between 14 and 35 years old engaging in sport. The UK NSC is currently reviewing all annual call proposals. More information on the annual call process is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-annual-call-submitting-a-screening-proposal/uk-nsc-annual-call-how-to-submit-a-proposal

No assessment has been made of the adequacy of the availability of early pregnancy services in accident and emergency departments. It is vital that women seeking support, including in early pregnancy, get the care they need. We will continue to work with NHS England to improve the Early Pregnancy Assessment Units’ (EPAUs) services, where the Pregnancy Loss Review found variation in the availability of EPAUs.

We encourage all women who have concerns about their pregnancy to seek help from a healthcare professional. Accident and emergency departments are 24-hour services, so a person presenting with concerns related to early pregnancy would initially be assessed by an emergency medicine clinician. Where further specialist care is needed, the person would be supported in an Early Pregnancy Assessment Clinic, or through the attendance of an obstetrician at the accident and emergency.

The Government is determined to make sure all women and babies receive safe, personalised, and compassionate care, particularly when things go wrong.

We will continue to work with NHS England to ensure that we listen to women and their families, and learn lessons from recent inquiries and investigations, including recommendations from the pregnancy loss review.

The Lifetime ISA (LISA) property price cap supports most first-time buyers across the UK while targeting households that might find it most difficult to get on the property ladder. Data from the latest UK House Price Index shows that while the average price paid by first-time buyers has increased, it is still below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for London, where the average price paid is affected by boroughs with very high property values.

Any unauthorised withdrawals are subject to a 25% withdrawal charge. This recoups the Government bonus, any interest or growth arising from it, and a proportion of the individual’s initial savings.

The Government keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review.

The Lifetime ISA (LISA) property price cap supports most first-time buyers across the UK while targeting households that might find it most difficult to get on the property ladder. Data from the latest UK House Price Index shows that while the average price paid by first-time buyers has increased, it is still below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for London, where the average price paid is affected by boroughs with very high property values.

Any unauthorised withdrawals are subject to a 25% withdrawal charge. This recoups the Government bonus, any interest or growth arising from it, and a proportion of the individual’s initial savings.

The Government keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review.

The Chancellor and I know the loan charge is a very important matter for many members and their constituents. We have been considering this matter since taking office and will provide an update in due course.

The Government recognises the importance of a bank account for day-to-day life and understands the frustration of UK citizens living in the EU who have had their accounts closed.

The Government does not hold statistics on account closures for UK citizens living abroad. UK banks take these decisions on closures according to a variety of factors including the local law and regulation in individual countries, an assessment of profitability, or other commercial drivers.

Some UK banks offer specific accounts aimed at citizens living abroad, which may provide an alternative option. People who have had their accounts closed may also wish to refer to MoneyHelper - which offers free, impartial guidance on financial decisions - for further advice on their options.

The Government recognises the importance of a bank account for day-to-day life and understands the frustration of UK citizens living in the EU who have had their accounts closed.

The Government does not hold statistics on account closures for UK citizens living abroad. UK banks take these decisions on closures according to a variety of factors including the local law and regulation in individual countries, an assessment of profitability, or other commercial drivers.

Some UK banks offer specific accounts aimed at citizens living abroad, which may provide an alternative option. People who have had their accounts closed may also wish to refer to MoneyHelper - which offers free, impartial guidance on financial decisions - for further advice on their options.

We recognise the valuable work and significant progress that Violence Reductions Units (VRUs), including the London Violence Reduction Unit, have made in understanding and preventing serious violence.

All decisions on funding post March 2025 will be subject to the spending review.

This government is committed to improving service delivery of the Asylum Accommodation Support Contracts (AASC).

The Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC) Statement of Requirements below gives a detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by our accommodation providers and the standards expected. Details can be found at:

AASC_-_Schedule_2_- _Statement_of_Requirements.pdf (parliament.uk)(opens in a new tab).

Since 2020, the Home Office accommodation providers are required to visit each property at least monthly, and assurance that contractual requirements are met is tested by the Home Office Contract Assurance Team, which inspects properties and undertakes other assurance activities on an intelligence-led basis. Formal governance mechanisms are in place, to oversee performance and delivery against contractual requirements.

The Home Office has published the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) regime covering the contractual obligations accommodation providers and others working in the asylum sector are required to deliver. This has been done since April 2020. The most recent data is available at:

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

This government is committed to improving service delivery of the Asylum Accommodation Support Contracts (AASC).

The Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC) Statement of Requirements below gives a detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by our accommodation providers and the standards expected. Details can be found at:

AASC_-_Schedule_2_- _Statement_of_Requirements.pdf (parliament.uk)(opens in a new tab).

Since 2020, the Home Office accommodation providers are required to visit each property at least monthly, and assurance that contractual requirements are met is tested by the Home Office Contract Assurance Team, which inspects properties and undertakes other assurance activities on an intelligence-led basis. Formal governance mechanisms are in place, to oversee performance and delivery against contractual requirements.

The Home Office has published the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) regime covering the contractual obligations accommodation providers and others working in the asylum sector are required to deliver. This has been done since April 2020. The most recent data is available at:

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Ensuring that all children are effectively safeguarded is a key priority for this Government including those who are looked after, and in whatever type of placement they may be.

The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will put children and their wellbeing at the centre of the education and social care systems, and make changes so they are safe, healthy, happy and treated fairly.

The police have a range of powers to investigate allegations of criminal offences. This includes the power to apply for search warrants to search and seize relevant evidence and to enter properties without a warrant to arrest suspects for indictable offences.

Yes, the Home Office plans to review the list of material sub-contractors.