In May, year 6 children across England sat their end of key stage 2 national curriculum tests—known as SATs. Schools were expecting the results of these tests to be returned to them on Tuesday 7 July, but I am informing the House that there will be a delay until Thursday 16 July.

Pearson Education Ltd was awarded the contract to deliver KS2 tests on behalf of the Standards and Testing Agency in April 2024, and it has responsibility for all test logistics, including delivering and collecting test papers from schools, marking and returning results to schools.

The Government were told on Wednesday 1 July that Pearson was not ready to upload results to the online portal for schools and required additional time to ensure that the system is ready for schools to access.

The Government are very clear that the delay is due to issues with Pearson’s systems and not concerns about the quality of the tests or the results. The test scripts have been marked and quality assured, and the standards maintenance process, which allows us to show comparison with previous cohorts, was completed on schedule on Thursday 2 July 2026. The Standards and Testing Agency is confident that it had sufficient representative data to undertake the standards maintenance process that underpins our ability to compare the expected standard of the tests from year to year.

Pearson has fully apologised for its failure to return results on time, and for the impact on schools, pupils and parents. The inconvenience that this delay will cause to school staff, parents and pupils is unacceptable.

We will use all the provisions in the contract to ensure that Pearson is held to account for its failures in delivery, and will also review all possible options for future delivery, alongside conducting a thorough review into how such a serious failing could have occurred.

[HCWS184]

I am writing to update the House on the impact of the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, and on the action that the Government are taking in response.

On 24 June, two major earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, caused widespread destruction across several states, including the capital, Caracas, and the port town of La Guaira. Millions of Venezuelans have been affected, with current estimates indicating thousands of fatalities and over 16,000 people injured, with these figures likely to continue to rise.

The humanitarian situation in Venezuela is complex, with damage to infrastructure, disruption to health services and constrained humanitarian access compounding the challenges already faced by those affected.

The United Kingdom has responded rapidly to this crisis, working closely with international partners and the Venezuelan authorities to deliver lifesaving assistance and support to those affected. We have mobilised a £5.8 million humanitarian response package, working in co-ordination with partners on the ground to support ongoing humanitarian efforts.

Supported by the Royal Air Force, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office deployed a 68-person UK international search and rescue team with six specialist search dogs. This highly trained team operated alongside international partners in the most affected areas, contributing to search and rescue efforts and helping to locate and assist survivors in extremely challenging conditions. Their work has formed a critical part of the immediate, lifesaving phase of the response.

A UK humanitarian field team is also currently deployed to support the response on the ground, and the UK’s emergency medical team is now deploying with a fully equipped field hospital after being formally invited by the Venezuelan Ministry of Health to help those communities devastated by the two powerful earthquakes. The field hospital will deliver lifesaving primary healthcare, including maternal and paediatric services, with capacity to treat 100 out-patients a day. The deployment follows a rapid assessment by a three-person UK EMT advance team, which concluded that additional international medical support was urgently needed as hospitals struggled to cope with the scale of the disaster.

The UK is also supporting the broader humanitarian system to scale up its response, and we stand ready to support the deployment of humanitarian experts into UN agencies to bolster capacity, co-ordination and delivery of assistance. Through UK-supported funds, rapid financing has already been made available. This includes support channelled through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, enabling trusted partners to deliver food assistance, healthcare, shelter and protection services. These mechanisms allow assistance to reach affected communities quickly and at scale, particularly in areas where access and logistics remain challenging.

As part of the package of humanitarian support, the UK has also supported the generosity of the British public. On 1 July, the Disasters Emergency Committee launched an appeal, and the Government have aid-matched £2 million of public donations pound for pound. The UK aid-match has now been reached, with the appeal raising over £7 million to date. This will help to maximise the impact of public contributions and ensure that additional funding reaches frontline organisations delivering assistance. Should any Members’ constituents wish to assist, the most effective way to help is by donating cash through trusted organisations. There are several trusted charities and organisations providing humanitarian relief on the ground in Venezuela and more information can be found at www.gov.uk .

Alongside our humanitarian response, our consular teams are working hard to support British nationals affected. Travel advice for British nationals is updated regularly to reflect the evolving situation. All staff and dependants in Venezuela also remain safe and accounted for and I would like to thank them for their tireless efforts and dedication over the past week.

The United Kingdom remains committed to supporting the people of Venezuela at this difficult time. We will continue working with our international partners, as well as the Venezuelan authorities, to ensure that critical humanitarian assistance supports those most in need.

[HCWS185]

In February this year at the Munich security conference, the United Kingdom, together with our European partners Sweden, Germany, France and the Netherlands, confirmed that prominent Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a lethal toxin, Epibatidine, while being held in the custody of the Russian state in a Siberian penal colony. He did not survive. Epibatidine is a poison derived from the skin of a toxic dart frog found in the Amazon rainforest, far away from Russia, and only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this.

This is only the latest incident. Russia’s willingness to develop and deploy highly toxic chemicals forms a clear and disturbing pattern. Alexei Navalny survived an earlier poisoning from a Novichok nerve agent in 2020 which he attributed to the Kremlin. In 2018, a Novichok was used in Salisbury in an attempt to assassinate the Skripals which tragically resulted in the death of a British national, Dawn Sturgess.

Following the confirmation that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Epibatidine, the Foreign Secretary said we would

“make use of all policy levers at our disposal to continue to hold Russia to account.”

Today I am updating the House on a new package of sanctions under the UK’s chemical weapons regime, targeting two leading scientific and military Russian institutions and key individuals involved in the research, development and production of the lethal toxin Epibatidine and Novichoks in flagrant violation of Russia’s obligations under the chemical weapons convention and biological and toxin weapons convention.

Our sanctions today send a strong message that the UK will continue to take action by exposing those within Russia’s scientific and military community who are responsible for such egregious actions, deterring others from pursuing similar activity.

This package builds upon prior sanctions for Russia’s use of chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The Russian state has demonstrated time and time again that it is unafraid to use the full range of despicable tools available to it to terrorise people, including its own citizens, and undermine democracy, in brazen defiance of international norms.

It is clear Russia did not destroy all its chemical weapons as claimed in 2017, and that it has not renounced biological weapons, as it is obliged to under the biological and toxin weapons convention. Ahead of tomorrow’s 112th executive council meeting at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons we stand ready with our partners and states parties to impress upon Russia the need to rejoin the consensus of the international community, and to pursue science for peaceful purposes.

[HCWS186]

Today, I would like to inform the House of the publication of the NHS staff standards, which will make staff experience an organisational priority within the NHS.

It is crucial that we look after the people who look after us, not only because it is the right thing to do for our hardworking staff, but because their experience directly impacts staff retention and absenteeism, ultimately affecting quality of patient care and overall organisational performance. That is why the 10-year health plan committed to developing a new set of staff standards, outlining minimum standards for employment across a range of areas in order to improve staff experience. Today’s announcement delivers on that commitment and will ensure that NHS staff feel supported, valued and engaged in a positive work environment.

The new standards will focus on the areas that we know are a priority for staff. These are: supporting line management; improving staff health and wellbeing; promoting flexible working; violence prevention and reduction; tackling racism; and sexual safety.

There has been some good progress improving staff experience, including through the NHS people promise, and there are strong examples across the system where organisations have been prioritising the wellbeing of their staff. However, compliance has not been mandated, meaning the benefits have not been consistently felt across the NHS.

The staff standards aim to provide clarity and consistency, and ensure that all organisations are working to the required level. That is why the standards set out the steps that organisations should take to ensure that meaningful action is taken at board level, with clear metrics to assess performance.

Central to the standards are the accountability measures that underpin them. Implementation of the standards will be compulsory, and organisations will be measured against them in the NHS oversight framework, alongside a range of other assurance mechanisms.

While the standards have been set at a national level, they will be put into practice locally. They have been developed through close engagement with the social partnership forum, and employers and trade union representatives should work together through their local partnership arrangements to apply the standards in a way that fits local services and staff needs.

Launching the staff standards is an important step, but only the start. We will work in partnership with the SPF to refine the standards and the metrics that underpin them, to ensure that the standards remain fit for purpose and drive the changes that we and NHS staff want to see. The accountability and assurance mechanisms, including the NHS oversight framework, will be further refined. We will also implement regular employer-level reporting, in line with the 10-year health plan commitment.

We see every day the dedication and commitment of NHS staff. I am proud to be taking this key step to prioritise staff experience and create workplaces where people want to stay and thrive.

[HCWS189]

I refer hon. Members to the oral statement I will make to the House today, 6 July, on the publication of the police leadership commission report.

The report is available at: www.college.police.uk/police-leadership-commission

[HCWS187]

Today, the Minister for Security, my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle), and I have laid and published the Government’s full response to Philip Rycroft’s independent review into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics, which we jointly commissioned in November 2025. We did so to rigorously test the strength of our current democratic system, and to ensure that we are taking decisive action to stay ahead of a rapidly evolving threat.

We are grateful to Mr Rycroft for his comprehensive and thoughtful work. His review provides a clear assessment of a threat that is changing both in nature and in method and is demanding of a co-ordinated and forward-looking response—a response that we are pleased to bring before this House today.

Protecting the integrity of our precious democracy is a fundamental responsibility of Government. The UK already has a strong framework in place to detect, deter and disrupt foreign interference. It will be underpinned by a comprehensive programme of work to reform and modernise our elections, as well as a sustained cross-Government effort to protect our democracy and those who participate in it.

This work is supported by the defending democracy taskforce, which brings together expertise from across Government—the security, intelligence and policy communities—and beyond to co-ordinate the UK’s response to hostile state activity and wider threats to our democratic processes. Through this approach, we are ensuring that risks relating to political finance are addressed as part of a broader and integrated strategy to protect our democracy and those who participate in it.

The Government’s response sets out a wide-ranging programme of work to strengthen resilience across the political system. This includes measures to enhance transparency in political finance, strengthen enforcement and address vulnerabilities in emerging channels and technologies. Our approach will also ensure that those engaged in political activity are better equipped to identify and mitigate risks. For those who continue to disrupt and divide, the penalties will be very clear.

A number of these measures are being taken forward through the Representation of the People Bill currently before Parliament, reflecting the Government’s commitment to acting at pace where legislative change is required. Other elements will be progressed through continued engagement, such as with the Electoral Commission, political parties and the wider electoral community, so that approaches are effective and proportionate as threats evolve. We will ensure that any measures introduced are practical and accessible, and avoid unnecessary administrative burdens while maintaining robust safeguards against abuse.

We have already announced some critical action in response to the review’s findings, including addressing risks associated with overseas donations and crypto assets. We are now accepting the full set of recommendations and will continue to work closely with all our partners to determine the most effective means of implementation in areas where further development is required.

Philip Rycroft’s review and this response represent an important step in strengthening the UK’s resilience to foreign interference. The Government will continue to act with determination to protect the integrity of our democratic system, ensuring that it is the true voice of the British people, and their voice alone, that determines the future of our country.

[HCWS188]

Development of ports in England, as in other parts of the United Kingdom, is essential for supporting growth, energy resilience and energy transition. It is equally important that this development should take place with consideration for the environment, and that port facilities should be well designed with both those ends in mind.

The national policy statement for ports, which applies to England, and in Wales, to the reserved trust port, Milford Haven, sets the policy framework for decisions on nationally significant infrastructure in the sector. It continues the long-standing policy of enabling our competitive ports sector to respond in an agile manner to rapidly evolving market demands, using the Department’s port freight demand forecasts—which we published alongside our consultation—as a yardstick but not as a constraint on local commercial judgments. It also updates the policy in detail to reflect the wider present institutional and regulatory framework, and the Government’s priorities.

I am grateful to everyone who responded to the consultation on earlier drafts, and to the Transport Committee for its thorough scrutiny of the proposals. Following that consultation and scrutiny, I am today, pursuant to section 9(5) of Planning Act 2008, presenting a response to the Transport Committee’s report (HC 1028) on its scrutiny and to the consultation, and pursuant to section 9(8), laying before Parliament the final proposed text of the amended national policy statement for the prescribed consideration period of 21 sitting days.

Copies of these documents will be made available in the Library of each House and on the Department’s website, where a post-adoption statement will also be published in due course.

[HCWS183]

The Government are committed to improving victims’ confidence in the criminal justice system and ensuring that victims’ voices are heard throughout the prosecution process.

Today, I am pleased to announce that, following successful testing in four Crown Prosecution Service areas since summer 2025, this new, early review—called the “early victims’ right to review”—will be extended across England and Wales from 13 July 2026 for victims of rape and serious sexual offences.

Under the current victims’ right to review scheme, victims may request a review of certain CPS decisions after a case has concluded. However, where a prosecutor formally offers no evidence and proceedings are brought to an end, the prosecution cannot be restarted, even if a reviewing prosecutor subsequently reaches a different conclusion.

To address this, the CPS is piloting a new approach in RASSO cases. Where a prosecutor proposes to offer no evidence, victims will be notified before the decision becomes final and given the opportunity to request a review at that stage. If the reviewing prosecutor reaches a different conclusion, the prosecution will be able to continue. This provides an important opportunity that is not available once proceedings have formally ended under the current arrangements.

Once a victim has been told by a prosecutor about a proposed decision to end their case, the victim can decide if they want a further review by an independent prosecutor. To ensure certainty for victims and defendants, requests must be made within five working days of the victim being notified of the proposed decision, or sooner in urgent cases. The CPS will aim to complete reviews within 20 working days, although reviews may be completed more quickly where forthcoming trial dates require a faster response.

If the victim does not request a review within the specified period, the proposed decision will proceed through the usual approval process and, if approved, no evidence will be offered. In all cases which are stopped victims will continue to have access to the existing victims’ right to review scheme in the usual way. Information on how to exercise that right will be provided when the CPS confirms its final decision.

This new process represents a significant step towards strengthening victims’ rights and ensuring that victims of rape and serious sexual offences have an earlier opportunity to challenge a proposed decision that would otherwise bring proceedings to an end.

The pilot will be available in all CPS areas across England and Wales. Its operation and impact will be monitored and evaluated.

[HCWS182]