Adam Jogee

The Speaker's Committee has made no formal recomendations to the Electoral Commission since 12 December 2019.

The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission is a statutory body established in part to examine performance and to review and approve the Electoral Commission's annual estimates, and five-year plan. The Committee also recommends the appointments of the Chair of the Electoral Commission and Electoral Commissioners.

As part of this statutory role, the Committee has reported on Commissioner appointments and the Commission's annual estimates.

The Committee does not have the power to direct or intervene in the Commission's operational work, but there is regular engagement to keep the Committee informed about ongoing activity.

According to the most recent ONS assessment, the median gender pay gap for all UK employees is 13.1% in April 2024. We are committed to going further and faster to close the gender pay gap. There are a number of measures within our landmark Employment Rights Bill which will support us in this ambition, and which will have a positive impact on women across the country.

In relation to my Hon. Friend’s constituency, the most recent ONS assessment states that the median gender pay gap for all employees who live in the constituency in April 2024 is 9.4%, down from 19.8 last year*, and significantly lower than the national figure.

*ONS recommend comparing GPG figures over the longer term. ONS publish GPG data back to 1997 however, the home parliamentary constituency table was published later. Given the small number of people in any parliamentary constituency included in the GPG calculations, ONS also produces a rating of the quality of this data. 2004 was the earliest that Newcastle-under-Lyme's GPG data was published and considered of "reasonable quality."

According to the most recent ONS assessment, the median gender pay gap for all UK employees is 13.1% in April 2024. We are committed to going further and faster to close the gender pay gap. There are a number of measures within our landmark Employment Rights Bill which will support us in this ambition, and which will have a positive impact on women across the country.

In relation to my Hon. Friend’s constituency, the most recent ONS assessment states that the median gender pay gap for all employees who live in the constituency in April 2024 is 9.4%, down from 19.8 last year*, and significantly lower than the national figure.

*ONS recommend comparing GPG figures over the longer term. ONS publish GPG data back to 1997 however, the home parliamentary constituency table was published later. Given the small number of people in any parliamentary constituency included in the GPG calculations, ONS also produces a rating of the quality of this data. 2004 was the earliest that Newcastle-under-Lyme's GPG data was published and considered of "reasonable quality."

My responsibilities relate to the work of the seven National Church Institutions, and I can give best-practice advice about diocesan and parish activity. I would be happy to meet with the Hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme to discuss his constituency and any specific concerns he may have. However, he may find a discussion with the Bishop of Lichfield and the team in the Diocese of Lichfield, who are responsible for the condition of the church estate in Newcastle-under-Lyme, more productive. I will write to him to arrange an introduction.

This Government is committed to working with the police and other partners to address the blight of rural crime – broadly classified as any crime and anti-social behaviour occurring in rural areas. We are introducing tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, stronger neighbourhood policing, and robust laws to prevent farm theft and fly-tippers.

We are recruiting 13,000 more neighbourhood police and police community support officers across England and Wales.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025 provides a framework through which policing, and partner bodies, can work together to tackle the most prevalent threats and emerging issues which predominantly affect rural communities. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutors work closely with local police officers to tackle farm equipment theft and other rural crime, alongside officers from the National Wildlife Crime Unit to tackle wildlife offences. Fly-tipping can be investigated by police but is usually prosecuted by the local authority rather than the CPS.

The CPS provides legal guidance on Wildlife, Rural and Heritage Crime which is available to all its prosecutors, to assist them in dealing with these cases. That guidance is available here: Wildlife, Rural and Heritage Crime | The Crown Prosecution Service. The CPS also provides specialist training to ensure that its prosecutors have the expert knowledge needed to prosecute these crimes.

West Midlands CPS, within which Newcastle-under-Lyme falls, has a dedicated prosecutor to lead on wildlife, heritage, and rural crime.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 8th October is attached.

The first meeting of the Council of Nations and Regions took place on Friday 11 September, convening regional Mayors from across England and the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales and the First and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland.

This first Council focused on investment and growth, ahead of the International Investment Summit. It was a key step in forging new partnerships across all levels of government, to ensure that all parts of the UK can secure, and benefit from, long term investment. This investment will increase economic growth and raise standards of living across the UK.

Reinvigorating the UK’s relationship with our European partners is a priority for this Government.

The Prime Minister met with his Greek counterpart in December, when both underlined the importance of the bilateral relationship, and agreed that there were opportunities to deliver further trade and investment for both countries. HM Trade Commissioner for Europe’s visit to Athens in October 2024 also served to strengthen engagement with industry stakeholders.

My officials continue to work to identify opportunities for UK businesses and address barriers to trade with Greece.

Reinvigorating the UK’s relationship with our European partners is a top priority for this Government.

Germany is already the UK’s largest trading partner within the EU. Last summer, we launched negotiations for a bilateral treaty that will aim to strengthen bilateral cooperation on economic growth, and in a range of sectors including energy, defence and technology. Negotiations will resume after the forthcoming elections in Germany.

Reinvigorating the UK’s relationship with our European partners is a top priority for this Government.

My officials regularly engage with counterparts in the French Government to identify opportunities to increase bilateral trade and investment, including the annual dialogue between DBT and France’s DG Entreprises, which last took place in November 2024. The Secretary of State met his counterpart at the G20 Trade Ministerial Meeting in October, to discuss improving bilateral trade flows and collaboration. My honourable friend, the Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports will also be travelling to France to support UK exporters later this month.

Reinvigorating the UK’s relationship with our European partners is a top priority for this Government.

As the Prime Minister has made clear, we are committed to building an ever stronger relationship with Ireland. The UK-Ireland Summit in March offers the opportunity to take forward key areas of mutual cooperation with Ireland, including increasing bilateral trade and investment in areas such as renewables, infrastructure and supporting small business. This will build on the meeting with Irish business leaders the Prime Minister and Taoiseach held in Dublin on 7 September, and my own visit to Dublin for bilateral talks with my counterpart and to speak at the British Irish Chamber of Commerce Annual Conference in October.

The Department for Business and Trade is supporting UK firms to access opportunities in Jamaica across a variety of sectors, including critical infrastructure. In November 2024, the UK hosted Senator Aubyn Hill, the Jamaican Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, to discuss opportunities for deeper commercial collaboration following the first UK-Jamaica trade mission in September 2024. Later this month, the UK will meet Jamaica for the Trade and Development Council under the CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement to discuss further opportunities to grow trade.

The Government’s ambitious Warm Homes Plan will upgrade millions of homes across the country, including in Newcastle-under-Lyme. The plan will make homes cleaner and cheaper to run, from installing new insulation to rolling out solar and heat pumps.

We will partner with combined authorities and local and devolved governments to roll out the Warm Homes Plan. Full details will be announced in due course.

Pursuant to my answer to PQ UIN 5215 of 18 September 2024, our Manifesto committed to reviewing the surplus sharing arrangements and transferring the Investment Reserve back to scheme members. We are committed to ending the injustice of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme and work on delivering these commitments is already underway.

The Warm Home Discount Scheme in England and Wales was reformed in 2022 to provide more rebates automatically. It currently focusses support towards those on lowest incomes who receive means-tested benefits and living in a property estimated to be relatively high cost to heat. The eligibility criteria are set to make best use of the data available to identify households at greatest risk of fuel poverty.

In winter 2023/24 the WHD scheme delivered rebates to 3.14 million households in Great Britain. This represents an increase of around 646,000 households receiving rebates and an increase of around £97 million of support, compared to 2022/23. Since the scheme began in 2011, over £4 billion in support has been provided to households.

This winter’s scheme was launched today, 14 October, and we expect it again to support over three million households. We are exploring options to improve the design of the scheme beyond the current regulations which expire in 2026.

This winter’s scheme was launched today, 14 October, and we expect it again to support over three million households. We are exploring options to improve the design of the scheme beyond the current regulations which expire in 2026.

The most recent published statistics on Warm Home Discount can be found here: Warm Home Discount statistics, 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Table 5 shows that 4,992 households in Newcastle-under-Lyme received Warm Home Discount in the 2023-24 scheme year, making up approximately 12.1% of the overall number of households in the constituency (boundary as defined prior to the 2024 General Election).