Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this government. This is why we have made it our mission to halve levels of VAWG in a decade, using every lever available to us. Information sharing can help to safeguard victims or potential victims against domestic abuse.

The UK has well-established mechanisms for the mutual exchange of information on convicted criminals with foreign partners on a case-by-case basis, including via multilateral and bilateral agreements, such as INTERPOL and the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

The police have common law powers which enable them to proactively share information where it is necessary to protect individuals from harm. UK’s data protection legislation allows for personal data to be processed to pursue legitimate aims. Chief officers are responsible for determining how these powers are applied locally, in line with guidance from the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council, and must ensure that any disclosures comply with UK GDPR, the Human Rights Act 1998 and other relevant legislation.

In the 2026/27 financial year, 11% (£5.6 billion) of the schools national funding formula (NFF) has been allocated through deprivation factors, and 18.1% (£9.2 billion) has been allocated for additional needs overall.

The total amount of funding allocated through the deprivation factors, and the proportion this represents of the overall schools NFF for 2026/27, can be found here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69417d442d5e7e863253755a/The_national_funding_formula_for_schools_and_high_needs_-_2026_to_2027.pdf.

In addition to the funding provided through the schools NFF, pupil premium rates are increasing by 2.2% in 2026/27. This will take total pupil premium funding to around £3.2 billion in 2026/27, which will improve attainment and wider outcomes of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Pupil premium is not ring-fenced by type of need, and schools determine how it is used. Therefore, the department does not allocate funding to be spent on specific forms of additional support. Guidance for school leaders on how to use pupil premium, including the menu of approaches on which schools can spend their funding, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/using-pupil-premium-guidance-for-school-leaders#the-menu-of-approaches.

The national funding formula (NFF) for school pupils up to age 16 reflects additional needs of pupils, including economic disadvantage, low prior attainment, English as an additional language and pupil mobility. In the 2026/27 academic year, £5.6 billion (11.0%) of the NFF has been allocated according to “deprivation” factors reflecting economic disadvantage and £9.2 billion (18.1%) has been allocated for additional needs overall. In addition to funding through the NFF, schools also receive pupil premium funding for disadvantaged pupils.

Disadvantage funding for 16 to 19 year-old students is provided linked to students’ economic deprivation and low prior attainment. We also allocate English and maths funding to support students aged 16 to 19 who have not achieved a GCSE grade 4 or above in English and maths. In total, 16 to 19 disadvantage and English and maths funding came to £1 billion in the 2025/26 academic year allocations, or 12% of total programme funding.

The number of pupils eligible for free school meals is published annually in the Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics accredited official statistics here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2024-25. The table in the attachment shows the number of pupils in year 10 in England who were eligible for free school meals in the 2024/25 academic year, by parliamentary constituency.

Ofcom considers age assurance to be highly effective when it meets particular criteria for technical accuracy, robustness, reliability and fairness, and has set out guidance on which methods meet that criteria. Ofcom will publish reports on age assurance and the use of app stores by children by July 2026 and January 2027 respectively.

Age assurance under the OSA takes place at platform level. While age assurance at other levels may offer benefits, we must allow time to assess the Act’s effectiveness before introducing further measures. The public consultation on protecting children online will seek views on strengthening age assurance measures.

The Department engages regularly with Ofcom on implementation of the Online Safety Act, including Ofcom’s statutory report on the use of app stores by children due to be published in January 2027. The Government has ensured Ofcom is sufficiently resourced and has agreed a significant uplift to Ofcom’s online safety funding in 2025/26 in recognition of Ofcom’s increased duties as implementation of the Act progresses.

The Act allows the Secretary of State to bring app store providers into scope following Ofcom’s report. Our consultation on children’s technology use will also gather evidence on several measures, including strengthened age assurance.

The Department engages regularly with Ofcom on implementation of the Online Safety Act, including Ofcom’s statutory report on the use of app stores by children due to be published in January 2027. The Government has ensured Ofcom is sufficiently resourced and has agreed a significant uplift to Ofcom’s online safety funding in 2025/26 in recognition of Ofcom’s increased duties as implementation of the Act progresses.

The Act allows the Secretary of State to bring app store providers into scope following Ofcom’s report. Our consultation on children’s technology use will also gather evidence on several measures, including strengthened age assurance.

The Department’s data collection is focussed on height thresholds as this is the current determinant of programme eligibility. We expect buildings of 20 to 25 storeys to make up a very small proportion of those requiring remediation.

Based on the reported remediation start and completion dates, and storey information provided for the 24 buildings known to be 20 to 25 storeys, which have completed remediation and for which start and end dates have been reported, the average time taken to complete remediation on site is 24 months.

The Department does not work to an assumption on the time take to complete remediation of buildings of this height group (20 to 25 storeys) - and does not currently publish information on the time taken to complete remediation.

This Government is dedicated to improving the lives of young people; that is why we launched the National Youth Strategy and the Young Futures Hubs programme - to ensure they have safe spaces to go and meaningful things to do. Our eight early adopter areas, which will be operational by March 2026, will allow us to capture best practice before we roll out 50 hubs across the country by 2029. I am working closely with colleagues across departments to ensure we build on collective expertise and deliver a joined-up service for young people.

Local authorities do hold limited enforcement responsibilities, primarily through Environmental Health functions, for example, under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 in relation to certain industrial processes, and powers relating to flooding from ordinary watercourses. However, these are distinct from the regulation of water company discharges.

Enforcement against pollution from water companies is the responsibility of the Environment Agency, which issues discharge permits, monitors compliance, and takes civil or criminal enforcement action where offences occur. Defra sets the overall legislative and policy framework for this system, including recent reforms under the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, which strengthens the ability of regulators to take faster and tougher action, including new criminal liability for company executives.

We have set an ambitious but essential target: to halve knife crime over this decade. We are already seeing results. Knife crime is falling.

Since the start of this Parliament, knife crime has fallen by 8% and knife homicides are down by 27%.

We have banned ninja swords and zombie style machetes, we have taken nearly 60,000 knives off our streets and we have established new Young Futures Panels.

Sympathies to you, Mr Speaker, on your recent injury. If you require a WorkWell appointment with a health practitioner, we recently had a national roll-out, and I am sure that we can arrange that for you.

We believe that work is good for people. That is why we are expanding youth hubs to more than 350 areas, ensuring that every 16 to 24-year-old, including those not on benefits, can access the support needed to earn or learn. That is part of our effort to take jobcentre support out of the jobcentres and meet young people where they are. It comes on top of the strengthening of our youth guarantee, backed by £820 million of investment to offer training, work experience and subsidised employment to young people who are out of work.

DWP pays local authorities a Housing Benefit subsidy for Temporary Accommodation cases. There are restrictions on the amount paid, including a subsidy cap which is the lowest of £500 per week in certain areas of London or £375 elsewhere, 90% of 2011 LHA rates, or the claimant’s Housing Benefit entitlement. These arrangements are designed to incentivise local authorities to ensure Temporary Accommodation is good quality and value for money.

We recognise the financial pressures that local authorities are experiencing. This Government has invested £1bn in homelessness and rough sleeping services this year (2025/26), a £316m increase on the previous year.

We want to encourage better investment into Temporary Accommodation stock up-front to minimise costs to local authorities and £950m was announced in the latest round of the Local Authority Housing Fund. This coupled with measures to strengthen local authorities’ financial position such as a new £39 billion Affordable Homes Programme and a 10-year rental settlement at Consumer Price Index + 1, will support local authorities in England to increase the supply of good quality Temporary Accommodation and drive down the use of costly bed and breakfasts and hotels.

We will continue to work with MHCLG as part of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Inter Ministerial Group.

The NHS online hospital will connect patients with clinicians anywhere in England through the NHS app. It will deliver up to 8.5 million appointments in its first three years—four times more than the average NHS trust—finally bringing the NHS into the digital age. We are cutting waiting times and providing patients with more choice and convenience.

The Government confirmed over £92 billion of capital investment in transport infrastructure at the spending review to drive economic growth and put more money in people’s pockets. That includes £24 billion to improve roads, £15 billion in long-term funding for our largest city regions and £2 billion for local transport, boosting growth in towns, cities and regions across the country.