Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many higher education institutions in England offer courses in (1) mathematics, (2) music and (3) both.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), now part of the Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc), collects and publishes data on student enrolments across all UK higher education (HE) providers. This includes data on full person equivalents enrolled in different subject areas, categorised using the HE coding of subjects system. Counts of enrolments across all subjects from 2019/20 to 2022/23 are published in Table 49 of HESA’s Student Data, which can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-49.
Table 49 can be used to determine that in the 2022/23 academic year, there were 31,030 HE enrolments in ‘mathematics’ across 75 English HE providers and 31,405 HE enrolments in ‘music’ across 106 English HE providers. There were 58 HE providers in England that had enrolments in both ‘mathematics’ and ‘music’ in 2022/23.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many pupils sat A level examinations in music in 2015 and 2023.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The numbers of entries in A level music in the 2014/15 and 2022/23 academic years are published by the department in the ‘A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release. There were 6,709 A level music entries in 2014/15 and 4,911 A level music entries in 2022/23
These numbers include all A level entries by students aged 16 to 18 in England in that academic year.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the volume and value of trade between the UK and Argentina.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Trade between the UK and Argentina was worth £2 billion in the 12 months to June 2024 with our top goods exports including beverages, pharmaceuticals and manufactured goods. In October, the Secretary of State met his Argentine counterpart, the first trade-related bilateral ministerial meeting between both governments since 2019. They agreed to work together to strengthen our trade relationship further including in areas such as services, customs, and education. This will build on our existing cooperation this year which saw the largest delegation from Argentina in 20 years to London’s Metal Exchange Week in September.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken since 4 July to reduce the number of people sleeping rough in cities in England.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government recognises that homelessness levels are far too high and this can have a devastating impact on those affected. We will consider all these issues as we develop our long-term cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country, to get us back on track to ending homelessness.
We are already taking the first steps to get back on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26.
This is on top of a £10 million fund announced in November to protect people sleeping rough from cold weather this winter.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they are giving to prosecuting authorities, and via court sentencing guidelines, to minimise the number of women sentenced to imprisonment for any reason other than the protection of the public.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Charging decisions, and guidance are made by the Crown Prosecution Service, and sentencing is determined by independent courts. The Sentencing Council for England and Wales issues guidelines for sentencing that apply to all offenders and operates independently from Government.
It is right that we have a gender-neutral sentencing framework that recognises the specific circumstances of individual offenders.
Whilst there will always be women who do need to be in custody, we must ensure they are given the best chance possible to tackle the drivers of their offending and to contribute meaningfully to society.
This Government has delivered on a manifesto commitment by launching an Independent Review of Sentencing, chaired by former Lord Chancellor, David Gauke. The Review will assess whether the sentencing framework appropriately considers the specific needs or vulnerabilities of women. Additionally, we will establish a Women’s Justice Board with a clear ambition to reduce the number of women in prison and address their distinct needs within the Criminal Justice System.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of flats in London which are (1) unoccupied, or (2) occupied by owners or other residents at less than 40 per cent of available capacity.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
While the Department publishes data through the English Housing Survey (EHS) on whether dwellings are underoccupied (according to the bedroom standard) or vacant, its sample size means it does not have reliable estimates for flats in London. The department also publishes statistics on vacant dwellings, as reported for the purposes of council tax, but does not disaggregate by type of property.
More information on the EHS can be found at English Housing Survey - GOV.UK., while statistics on vacant dwellings can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/council-taxbase-statistics.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the change in the volume of freight shipped through Holyhead between 2015 and 2023.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport publishes maritime freight statistics for all of UK’s major and minor ports, including the Port of Holyhead, as part of the annual Port Freight Statistics Publication.
Table 1 shows the maritime freight volume through the Port of Holyhead across the period 2015 to 2023. The freight volume has increased by 7% across this period.
Table 1: Maritime freight volume through the Port of Holyhead from 2015 until 2023
Year | Tonnage (million tonnes) |
2015 | 4.45 |
2016 | 4.94 |
2017 | 5.24 |
2018 | 5.22 |
2019 | 5.33 |
2020 | 5.86 |
2021 | 3.76 |
2022 | 4.10 |
2023 | 4.78 |
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to maintain the frequency, reliability and journey times of passenger trains between Cardiff and London during the construction of HS2.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Old Oak Common is a crucial enabler for the Government’s growth mission. During construction there will be periods of full line closures and some periods – generally weekends – when the closure of some lines means fewer services will operate. During full closures, some services from Cardiff to London are expected to divert into London Euston, maintaining direct access into Central London. Government is working with industry to ensure disruption for passengers is kept to a minimum.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have received since 4 July requesting a review of the funding formula which finances the Senedd’s current and capital expenditure.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Secretary of State for Wales regularly meets with the First Minister to discuss a variety of issues. We have recognised that Wales’s Fiscal Framework is out of date and will be working with Welsh Government to update it. We remain committed to working in partnership to ensure the smooth delivery of the funding settlement.
Autumn Budget delivered the largest settlement for Wales in real terms since devolution at £21 billion. This includes an additional £1.7 billion through the Barnett Formula.
Since 4 July, we have received one piece of correspondence asking for a review of the Barnett Formula.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to reversing the UK’s decision to end participation in the EU’s Erasmus plus programme.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
Following their meeting in Brussels on 2 October, the President of the European Commission and my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, have agreed to strengthen the relationship between the EU and UK, putting it on a more solid, stable footing.
My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission met again on 7 November at the European Political Community summit in Budapest, where they discussed the strength of the UK-EU partnership and the need to work together to tackle the challenges facing Europe.
The department is working with the higher education sector to ensure our world leading universities continue to attract the best and brightest and support our economy, however we have no plans for rejoining the Erasmus scheme.