Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what route will remain available for apprentices to gain the necessary qualifications for relevant posts in the absence of the apprenticeship for small commercial vessel crewmembers; and what alternatives are available to young people who wish to pursue a maritime career in general.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government recognises the importance of maritime apprenticeships in helping employers develop a skilled workforce. Skills England works with employers and sector bodies to develop and maintain a range of maritime apprenticeship standards, ensuring they reflect employer needs.

Skills England is consulting with stakeholders on retiring some occupational standards. This is often due to low levels of new starts or delivery challenges, including limited provider availability. In this context, "retirement" means that the apprenticeship would close to new starts, while existing apprentices would normally be able to complete their training. The consultation is still live and so no final decision has been taken.

Information on the number of apprentices who may be affected in each region of England is not currently available, as no decision has been taken.

Young people wishing to pursue maritime careers can access a range of technical qualifications and employer-led training programmes. For more information please see, Occupational Maps: Skills England.

To further increase apprenticeship opportunities, the Government is introducing a £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for non-levy paying employers who recruit 16 to 24-year-olds as new apprentice employees. In addition, apprenticeship training is now fully funded for all eligible under-25s at employers of all sizes, helping more young people access opportunities in sectors such as maritime.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to encourage the take-up of small commercial vessel crewmember apprenticeships, and other maritime employment programmes.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government recognises the importance of maritime apprenticeships in helping employers develop a skilled workforce. Skills England works with employers and sector bodies to develop and maintain a range of maritime apprenticeship standards, ensuring they reflect employer needs.

Skills England is consulting with stakeholders on retiring some occupational standards. This is often due to low levels of new starts or delivery challenges, including limited provider availability. In this context, "retirement" means that the apprenticeship would close to new starts, while existing apprentices would normally be able to complete their training. The consultation is still live and so no final decision has been taken.

Information on the number of apprentices who may be affected in each region of England is not currently available, as no decision has been taken.

Young people wishing to pursue maritime careers can access a range of technical qualifications and employer-led training programmes. For more information please see, Occupational Maps: Skills England.

To further increase apprenticeship opportunities, the Government is introducing a £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for non-levy paying employers who recruit 16 to 24-year-olds as new apprentice employees. In addition, apprenticeship training is now fully funded for all eligible under-25s at employers of all sizes, helping more young people access opportunities in sectors such as maritime.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government why they are proposing to retire the apprenticeship for small commercial vessel crewmembers; what is meant by "retirement" in this context; and how many apprentices will be affected in each region of England.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government recognises the importance of maritime apprenticeships in helping employers develop a skilled workforce. Skills England works with employers and sector bodies to develop and maintain a range of maritime apprenticeship standards, ensuring they reflect employer needs.

Skills England is consulting with stakeholders on retiring some occupational standards. This is often due to low levels of new starts or delivery challenges, including limited provider availability. In this context, "retirement" means that the apprenticeship would close to new starts, while existing apprentices would normally be able to complete their training. The consultation is still live and so no final decision has been taken.

Information on the number of apprentices who may be affected in each region of England is not currently available, as no decision has been taken.

Young people wishing to pursue maritime careers can access a range of technical qualifications and employer-led training programmes. For more information please see, Occupational Maps: Skills England.

To further increase apprenticeship opportunities, the Government is introducing a £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for non-levy paying employers who recruit 16 to 24-year-olds as new apprentice employees. In addition, apprenticeship training is now fully funded for all eligible under-25s at employers of all sizes, helping more young people access opportunities in sectors such as maritime.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the fiscal devolution roadmap, to be published alongside the Autumn Budget, will include a weighting for rural sparsity and remoteness within the arrangements for the retention of business rates and income tax by strategic authorities; and whether those arrangements will provide for a minimum level of fiscal capacity below which no authority will fall.

Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government is committed to supporting local leaders to drive growth and improve public services.

In the Cabinet Statement on ‘Rewiring the State’ the government committed to replace grants from central government with a share of local income tax for every mayor beginning in 2028, such that where a region grows its tax base, it benefits from the increased receipts. This will sit alongside greater retention of the revenue from business rates for local councils and strategic authorities.

At the Budget, the government will publish a roadmap setting out further detail on the design of fiscal devolution, and we will use the upcoming Spending Review to confirm the detailed arrangements for assigned income tax.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to require strategic authorities with a significant rural population to set out, in their local growth plans and spatial development strategies, how rural communities will benefit from devolved investment; and whether any such requirement would form part of their plan sign-off and annual reporting.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government recognises that local leaders are best placed to understand and respond to the specific characteristics of their area. As such, Local Growth Plans are locally owned, allowing strategic authorities to determine how to use devolved funding and powers to support growth in a way that reflects local challenges and opportunities, and this is reflected in our supporting guidance.

Spatial Development Strategies must contain policies addressing issues of strategic importance across the whole of the strategic planning authority’s area, and they must have regard to the need to be consistent with national policies, which is tested by an independent examiner prior to adoption. The new National Planning Policy Framework includes a number of policies to support rural communities, including by setting out support for rural businesses and services, and setting expectations that development plans allocate sites for housing that will support and enhance the vitality of rural communities and enable villages to grow and thrive.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to set out a time-bound and resourced route by which foundation strategic authorities may progress to the full devolved settlement; and what steps they are taking to ensure that areas without a mayoral strategic authority are not left with materially weaker powers and protections.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Our ambition is that every area in England has, or is in the process of establishing, a Strategic Authority by the end of 2027, with Strategic Authorities in place everywhere by the end of 2028. The Government recently wrote to all areas without a Strategic Authority seeking confirmation of their devolution ambitions, including their preferences regarding mayoral or non-mayoral devolution.

Where an area favours a non-mayoral Foundation Strategic Authority, and for existing Foundation Strategic Authorities, we will work with them on potential future mayoral devolution. The Government will not impose mayors on areas that do not want one, but we do consider that directly accountable mayors represent the strongest form of governance available, and so the suite of powers available to areas with mayors will be commensurately greater. However, we will consider what powers should sit at the Foundation Strategic Authority level, and recently government confirmed that Foundation Strategic Authorities will be able to raise an Overnight Visitor Levy in their area.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide for the appointment of commissioners in rural areas within strategic authorities that meet a defined rural population threshold such as 20 per cent; and what assessment they have made of the powers to be made available for that purpose under the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 enables mayors to appoint commissioners to support delivery within areas of competence set out in the Act. These appointments are discretionary and mayors are not required to appoint commissioners in relation to any specific issue or geography.

The Act includes rural affairs and coastal communities as an area of competence. Where a mayor considers it appropriate, they may appoint a commissioner whose work relates to that area and provide them with a locally appropriate brief reflecting the needs and priorities of their communities. The Government has no plans to require the appointment of commissioners in authorities that meet a specified rural population threshold.