Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of children living in temporary accommodation in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Government has inherited record levels of homelessness, and we recognise the cost pressures this has put on councils. That is why we have increased funding for homelessness services in 2025/26 by £233 million to nearly £1 billion, alongside a local government finance settlement for 2025/26 which makes available over £69bn for local government, a 6.8% cash terms increase on 2024/25.
The Homelessness Prevention Grant is allocated to councils across England based on local homelessness pressures. In 2025/26 the Homelessness Prevention Grant provided £451,899 to Newcastle-under-Lyme, £538,531 to East Staffordshire, £219,530 to South Staffordshire and £240,569 to Staffordshire Moorlands.
In 2025/26 LAs are required to spend 49% of their funding on prevention, relief and staffing activity. This has been introduced, to support areas maintain their homelessness prevention and relief services.
Allocations for the Homelessness Prevention Grant can be found here: Homelessness Prevention Grant allocations: 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with local government representatives on mandating the use of British made bricks in house building programmes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is working with industry to ensure the housebuilding sector has access to the construction materials needed to build 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this parliament.
We expect suppliers to increase capacity to meet demand, and we have seen deliveries of bricks in England, Scotland and Wales increase by 10% in the year to April 2025.
Added to that, construction materials prices are stable, rising only 1% between January 2024 and January 2025, far below the rate of inflation for the wider UK economy.
We are engaging with the wider sector to support the use of British-made bricks, but there are currently no plans to mandate their use.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to increase the use of British made bricks in house building projects using government finance in whole or in part.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is working with industry to ensure the housebuilding sector has access to the construction materials needed to build 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this parliament.
We expect suppliers to increase capacity to meet demand, and we have seen deliveries of bricks in England, Scotland and Wales increase by 10% in the year to April 2025.
Added to that, construction materials prices are stable, rising only 1% between January 2024 and January 2025, far below the rate of inflation for the wider UK economy.
We are engaging with the wider sector to support the use of British-made bricks, but there are currently no plans to mandate their use.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people with dementia in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England in the next five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific estimate has been made for the number of people with dementia in the next five years.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the steps necessary to protect communities from any potential increase in the likelihood of wildfires taking place in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England as a result of a warming planet.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government recognises that the impact of climate change is likely to increase and intensify fire incidents in England and Wales - further impacting fire and rescue service’s (FRS) resources, capacity, and strategical response.
As the lead government department for wildfire, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) maintains regular engagement with other government departments including the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and Cabinet Office on this national risk. This is alongside the department’s work with national bodies including the National Fire Chiefs Council and England and Wales Wildfire Forum to monitor and review sector led improvements and mitigations.
Since 2024 we have also funded a National Resilience Wildfire Advisor to assess what additional wildfire national capabilities might be needed to increase resilience to the wildfire risk and to ensure coordination of approaches across the sector.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has not had recent discussions with the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC). However, the Government works closely with the CWEIC by, for example, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office providing funding to the CWEIC in recent years for the biennial Commonwealth Business Forum, which is held on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase access to capital for businesses based in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to ensuring that businesses across the UK, including in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire, can access the capital they need to grow. Working with the British Business Bank (BBB), we are delivering a range of targeted interventions, including through loan guarantee programmes and equity investments, designed to address regional funding gaps and unlock investment opportunities.
Businesses in Staffordshire and Newcastle-under-Lyme are already benefitting from the £400 million Midlands Engine Investment Fund II (MEIF). It is increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses across the Midlands and providing funds to businesses that might otherwise not receive investment and helping to break down barriers in access to finance.
In addition, as announced this week, the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme has now provided over £60 million in lending in the North East. The Bank will also host a ‘Meet the Investor’ event in partnership with Tech UK in Newcastle on 11 November to help connect SMEs with potential investors.
Businesses in these areas also benefit from national programmes such as the Regional Angels Programme, Future Fund: Breakthrough and British Patient Capital. The recent Spending Review increased the Bank’s total capacity to £25.6 billion, which supports a broad range of regional and growth programmes and will enable annual investments of around £2.5bn to support more high-growth and innovative UK SMEs up and down the UK.