Jury service is an important civic duty, and the Government is committed to ensuring jurors feel supported throughout their service. All support to jurors is kept under regular review to ensure it remains appropriate and accessible.

Jurors do not receive direct payment for jury service but may claim allowances towards financial loss, travel and subsistence. There has been no separate assessment of the maximum daily rate of the loss of earnings allowance or the financial impact of jury service on lower-paid workers.

We recognise that some individuals may experience financial difficulties serving. Applications for excusal due to exceptional circumstances, such as financial hardship, can be made when summoned. The proportion of those who apply for this is low, as shown by the latest figure below for 2025/2026:

• 7.6% of all excusals were due to financial hardship.

Courts may also be able to arrange to pay expenses during the trial if a juror is facing financial hardship.

The number of jurors who have claimed the loss of earnings allowance each year for the past five years is not routinely available and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

We do not hold comprehensive diversity data for all jurors; therefore, no assessment has been made of the impact of excusals for financial hardship on jury diversity.

We are mindful of the impact that jury service can have on jurors in the context of long running trials, particularly jurors who have financial concerns.

It is, in part, for that reason that we are introducing the option of judge-only trials for highly complex or lengthy fraud and financial cases - where the trials can take months and therefore impose a disproportionate burden on jurors.

Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) and this includes decisions on road schemes which charge users including the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). We work closely with TfL on a range of issues but the operation and management of the ULEZ is a matter solely for them. It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment or intervene in these matters.

Youth Matters outlines an ambitious plan to support young people to learn and get into good jobs, and is backed by over £500 million of funding from DCMS for fun things to do outside of school, support when and where young people need it, more safe spaces and access to trusted adults. This investment in youth services will help young people develop soft skills such as peer connections, relationships, personal development and increase their confidence, and can help young people access the right opportunities for them.

We have committed to launch 50 Young Futures Hubs by the end of this Parliament, bringing mental health and wellbeing support, careers guidance and positive activities into one place to prevent young people from becoming NEET (not in employment, education or training). We have worked closely with the Department for Work and Pensions to develop this programme and link to Youth Hubs services where appropriate, and this complements the broader Youth Guarantee to give every young person the chance to earn or learn.

£10 million also will be invested to expand the access young people have to trusted adults and help young people build the confidence, skills and experience to be ready for work, delivered in partnership with the King’s Trust (subject to a business case), and our Enrichment Expansion Programme will support up to 400 schools to provide a youth-voice led, tailored enrichment offer supporting their development and essential life skills. We will also provide support for the training and employment of 1000 new youth workers to help reduce the risk of unemployment.

The Socio-Economic Duty will not apply to decisions until such time when it has been commenced. A full list of public bodies subject to the SED will be published upon commencement.

We are currently working towards commencement, which includes drafting statutory guidance that will clarify how the duty can be applied effectively.

The department is at an early stage in developing technical education routes from age 14. Rollout is intended to begin in some areas from September 2028. We are working with Mayoral and other Strategic Authorities to co-design a national framework that provides a recognisable national offer, with clear and consistent standards and expectations, while allowing areas to tailor technical routes to local labour market needs and growth priorities.

High-quality technical routes will be supported by the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs. These qualifications will sit alongside existing GCSEs and provide rigorous, vocationally focused learning of equal esteem. Pupils will continue to study the core subjects of English, maths, and science, alongside relevant work experience placements. Through the National Mission on Work Experience, the government is calling on employers to provide an additional 200,000 placements so that all 14-to-16-year-olds across the country gain vital exposure to the workplace.

Technical routes will widen young people’s choices rather than require them to specialise at age 14. Schools are expected, as part of their duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, to offer subject options that meet the aspirations of all pupils. Young people should be supported to choose qualifications and routes that reflect their interests, strengths and aspirations, informed by discussions with parents, carers, schools and colleges, and by high-quality careers guidance. The routes will support coherent progression to a range of academic and technical post-16 options.

Central to our policy is our engagement with Mayoral and Strategic Authorities, schools, colleges, employers, local leaders, young people, parents, and bodies including Ofqual and Ofsted. This engagement and other evidence will inform and support our decisions on delivery arrangements.

The Going Forward into Employment (GFiE) GFiE Stepping into Communications Pathway is accredited to support individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, specifically those from ethnic minority and low socio-economic backgrounds who are underrepresented in the communications profession.

Participants are paid a Civil Service Executive Officer (EO) salary for the duration of their 12-month internship placement. While National EO grade salaries exist, the exact figure will vary depending on the host department and the geographic location of the placement. The median salary of an EO is £30,980.

My officials are arranging to meet LightAware to discuss their concerns.

Everyone in every community should benefit from technology, including access to appropriate software that meets individual needs.

People need high-quality devices with compatible, up to date software, to maximise their use. Through the IT Reuse for Good Charter, and government pilot, our delivery partners refurbished devices with software suited to the recipient’s needs. For future programmes, we are exploring how software provision can be made more sustainable, accessible, and suitable for individual needs.

The Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) sets out 12 immediate priorities for the next three years. This includes systematically identifying risk factors such as atrial fibrillation. For each of the priority actions, the CVD MSF brings together national standards, key metrics, and delivery ambitions over three- and ten-year horizons, to drive improvement and reduce inequalities across the country.

The CVD MSF sets out seven evidence-based principles of equitable implementation to guide local systems to deliver the 12 priorities, taking into account any specific inequalities and challenges faced by their local communities. They are intended to drive improvement that is deliberately focused on areas with the poorest performance, thereby supporting targeted action to close the gap.

Everyone in every community should benefit from technology, but we know some people face real barriers.

That’s why in 2025 we published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan which has helped over a million people get online. We’ve supported people in communities across the UK through the £11.9 million Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, including £267,249 for the Northern Ireland Executive.

The Government is committed to ensuring that people who need in-person banking can continue to access essential services, which is why we commissioned the Review into Access to Banking Services.

It is our ambition that families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving the life chances for every child and the work choices for every parent. As the government builds a stronger economy with sustainable public finances, it is continuing to invest in the early years sector, supporting the successful delivery of the entitlements.

The early years national funding formulae distribute entitlement funding to local authorities, reflecting differences in delivery costs across the country. Funding includes a base rate, additional needs funding based on disadvantage, English as an additional language, and special educational needs and disabilities, plus an area cost adjustment that reflects local staffing and premises costs. The adjustment can only increase funding, ensuring that support is distributed fairly, transparently and where it is needed most.

The department is committed to ensuring the formulae remain reflective of need across the country. We regularly update data where available and appropriate and have consulted on potential updates and changes over the summer. We will publish our response in due course.

​The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tutoring Tools Pioneers Programme aims to identify, shape and enable access to safe, effective and high-quality AI tutoring tools that work alongside teachers to improve attainment, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.

​The programme is currently co-designing generative AI tools for year 9 and 10 pupils. This involves closely supervised user research with around 30 partner schools, to gather feedback on pupils’ and teachers’ needs. Co-design and user research with schools runs until March 2027.

​Tools which meet robust safety and pedagogy tests will progress to trials and evaluation through the department's EdTech Testbed Programme in partnership with the Education Endowment Foundation. This provides independent impact evaluations of education technology products. Study plans for products in the programme will be published and will set out key details, including methodology. Further information is available in the published EdTech Testbed Programme guidance.​

The Government recognises that, when provided responsibly, credit can play an important role in helping people manage unexpected expenses and smooth their cash flow. Access to suitable, affordable credit products can support people’s financial resilience and wellbeing and help them achieve their financial goals. For this reason, improving access to affordable credit is a key area of focus in the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, published last year.

The Strategy sets out an ambitious package of measures to improve access to affordable credit, including a pilot small-sum lending scheme to help encourage the role of mainstream lenders in the provision of affordable credit to underserved groups. The scheme is being ran by Fair4All Finance, with Monzo Bank announced as the first participant in June 2026.

HM Treasury are engaging closely with key delivery partners in relation to the Strategy’s implementation, including Fair4All Finance, to understand progress to date and how we can continue to build on interventions. This includes examining the success of pilots and relevant next steps, which will also be considered as part of the Strategy’s two-year review process.

The Government is committed to improving the experience of children receiving healthcare. The NHS and Starlight's Play Well Toolkit is helping local services to deliver high-quality play provision for children, as set out in the answer provided on 22 April in response to Question 127201.

Decisions on funding services are ultimately for local commissioners, but the toolkit supports those decision makers to establish services that are high quality and effective, and NHS England will continue both to promote its use and stress the importance of child-focused care across National Health Services.