Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects his Department to respond to the UK REACH Alternative Transitional Registration model (ATRm) consultation, which closed on 25 July 2024.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is currently considering the best approach to chemicals regulation, including UK REACH. We will publish the Government response to the ATRm consultation in 2025.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on developing a UK Chemicals Strategy.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Improvement Plan (EIP) 2023 included the commitment to publish a UK Chemicals Strategy. The EIP has been under review and a revised EIP will be published in 2025. The revised EIP will include the Government’s approach to managing chemicals.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) industry, (b) NGOs and (c) other stakeholders on the future of UK REACH.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government is committed to protecting human health and the environment from the risks posed by chemicals. We regularly engage with a range of stakeholders, including industry representatives, NGOs, academic organisations and other Government departments, in order to seek their input, harness their expertise and provide updates of Defra policy developments.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many individual representations her Department has received from Staffordshire County Council in relation to SEND provision in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) North Staffordshire in each of the last five years.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with local area partnerships, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

Following the last Ofsted/Care Quality Commission visit, departmental officials have been working with Staffordshire County Council and hold regular discussions to closely monitor progress against the areas for improvement identified by inspectors. An Accelerated Progress Plan is in place and progress is monitored regularly.

The areas for improvement were:

• Area 1: Co-production was weak. Parents felt that the local area did not listen to them or their child. The ‘tell it once’ approach was not embedded. The area’s relationships with schools and families were fragile.
• Area 2: The quality of education, health and care (EHC) plans was poor. Health and care workers did not contribute to the process effectively. The targets and outcomes in plans were not aspirational enough. The annual reviews of EHC plans were often not completed on time or did not contribute effectively to the review of the children and young people’s needs or the support and help they received.

The department has appointed a SEND Advisor along with a bespoke package of support from the Research and Improvement for SEND Excellence Consortium to support and work alongside the Local Area Partnership.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) the industrial strategy and (b) skills policies provide green skills across sectors.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The government is working hard to ensure that the current and future skills system supports the low carbon economy. We will support workers in high-carbon industry by creating good green jobs in our country’s industrial heartlands – enabling people to move into low-carbon roles by drawing upon their wealth of skills and experience. Skills England will work closely with the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council to understand the skills needs of high-growth sectors, including Clean Energy Industries, and will bring together key partners to better meet these needs.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many individual representations her Department has received from Staffordshire County Council in relation to potholes in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) North Staffordshire in each of the last five years.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department receives regular correspondence from many local highway authorities on the topic of local highway maintenance, including potholes. Over the last five years, the Department’s records suggest that Staffordshire County Council has made formal representations to the Department four times on highway maintenance and other funding issues. The Department’s officials are in regular informal contact with officers from Staffordshire County Council on local highway maintenance issues.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had the Secretary of State for Education on the provision of green skills for a circular economy.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. We have convened a Circular Economy Taskforce, comprising experts from industry, academia, and civil society, to help develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. The strategy will map our transition to a circular economy, supported by a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis.

The importance of green jobs is evidenced by the UK’s existing circular industries delivering £67 billion to the economy, growing from £44 billion in 2008.This is an annual real growth rate of around 2.9%, more than double the 1.2% growth rate of the wider UK economy over this period. Existing UK circular industries provide 827,300 jobs, as of 2022.

Defra recognises that fostering green skills is a fundamental tenet of any circular economy, and a successful transition aims to deliver on strengthening our current green workforce as well as developing the new green skills we will need for the future. We will consider the evidence for appropriate action right across the economy as we develop the strategy.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will publish the report of the Green Jobs Delivery Group on skills for the green energy sector.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

We are building on the progress that the Green Jobs Delivery Group previously made by setting up the Office for Clean Energy Jobs (OCEJ). The OCEJ has been created to ensure that clean energy jobs are abundant, high quality, paid fairly, and have favourable terms and good working conditions. We published our analysis on the future of the clean energy workforce as part of the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan in December 2024, including the accompanying 'Assessment of the Clean Energy Skills Challenge' annex.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire have received notices of finance from Staffordshire County Council.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Staffordshire County Council reported that 13 maintained schools were subject to a notice of financial concern during the 2023/24 financial year.

The department does not hold details of which schools these were, nor does it hold details at a level lower than County Council.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many individual representations her Department has received from Staffordshire County Council on the (a) funding and (b) quality of SEND provision in North Staffordshire in each of the last five years.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with local area partnerships, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

To support this, high needs funding will increase by £1 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, compared to the 2024/25 financial year. This will bring total high needs funding to over £12 billion.

Of that total, Staffordshire County Council is being allocated over £143 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £10.4 million on this year’s DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 8.7% increase per head of their 2 to 18 year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 financial year NFF allocation.

In addition to the DSG, local authorities will also receive a separate core schools budget grant (CSBG) in the 2025/26 financial year. This CSBG continues the separate grants payable in the 2024/25 financial year, which are to help special schools and alternative provision with the costs of teachers’ pay and pension increases and other staff pay increases, as well as the additional funding in respect of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions. The department plans to publish individual local authorities’ allocations of this funding for the 2025/26 financial year in May 2025.

Following the last Ofsted/Care Quality Commission visit, departmental officials have been working with Staffordshire County Council to closely monitor progress against the areas for improvement identified by inspectors. An Accelerated Progress Plan is in place and progress is monitored regularly.

The areas for improvement were:

• Area 1: Co-production was weak. Parents felt that the local area did not listen to them or their child. The ‘tell it once’ approach was not embedded. The area’s relationships with schools and families were fragile.
• Area 2: The quality of education, health and care (EHC) plans was poor. Health and care workers did not contribute to the process effectively. The targets and outcomes in plans were not aspirational enough. The annual reviews of EHC plans were often not completed on time or did not contribute effectively to the review of the children and young people’s needs or the support and help they received.

The department has appointed a SEND Advisor, along with a bespoke package of support from the Research and Improvement for SEND Excellence Consortium, to support and work alongside the Local Area Partnership.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many individual representations her Department has received from Staffordshire County Council on the (a) adequacy and (b) reliability of public transport in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (ii) North Staffordshire in each of the last five years.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Although we have had representations from Staffordshire County Council on a range of transport matters, we have not, over the last five years, received correspondence from Staffordshire County Council specifically on the adequacy or reliability of public transport in Newcastle-Under-Lyme or North Staffordshire.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that Skills England helps create green skills in all decarbonising sectors.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is working to ensure that learners and businesses can access the skills needed to deliver the green economy.

Skills England will play a key role, using up-to-date analysis to identify skills gaps in the green and wider economy, and ensuring there is a comprehensive suite of training and education to meet those skills. It will identify the training that can be accessed through the Growth and Skills Offer and prioritise the eight growth-driving sectors, which includes the clean energy industries. The government will ensure workers in high-carbon sectors are supported during the transition to net zero, for instance through targeted reskilling initiatives such as the Energy Skills Passport and localised skills interventions.

Collaborating with industry, regional partners and trade unions, we are creating clear pathways into secure, well-paid, and high quality clean energy jobs. An example of this is Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), where there is a statutory requirement for LSIPs to consider the skills, capabilities or expertise required in relation to jobs that directly or indirectly support net zero targets, climate change and other environmental goals. The LSIPs process will be overseen by Skills England.

ANZAC Day 2025

International Day of the Midwife

Found: Belfast South and Mid Down) Simon Hoare (Conservative; North Dorset) Leigh Ingham (Labour; Stafford) Adam Jogee

Found: Derek Twigg Marsha De Cordova Monica Harding Juliet Campbell Patricia Ferguson Simon Hoare Adam Jogee

Found: Reid Euan Stainbank Jo White Johanna Baxter Jonathan Hinder Dr Scott Arthur Maureen Burke Adam Jogee

Found: Derek Twigg Marsha De Cordova Monica Harding Juliet Campbell Patricia Ferguson Simon Hoare Adam Jogee

Found: Reid Euan Stainbank Jo White Johanna Baxter Jonathan Hinder Dr Scott Arthur Maureen Burke Adam Jogee

Found: Margaret Mullane Derek Twigg Marsha De Cordova Monica Harding Patricia Ferguson Simon Hoare Adam Jogee

Found: Reid Euan Stainbank Jo White Johanna Baxter Jonathan Hinder Dr Scott Arthur Maureen Burke Adam Jogee

Found: Marie Rimmer Margaret Mullane Derek Twigg Marsha De Cordova Patricia Ferguson Simon Hoare Adam Jogee

Found: Reid Euan Stainbank Jo White Johanna Baxter Jonathan Hinder Dr Scott Arthur Maureen Burke Adam Jogee

Found: Marie Rimmer Margaret Mullane Derek Twigg Marsha De Cordova Patricia Ferguson Simon Hoare Adam Jogee

Found: Reid Euan Stainbank Jo White Johanna Baxter Jonathan Hinder Dr Scott Arthur Maureen Burke Adam Jogee

Found: Swayne John Glen John Lamont Lillian Jones Ms Marie Rimmer Patricia Ferguson Simon Hoare Adam Jogee

Found: Reid Euan Stainbank Jo White Johanna Baxter Jonathan Hinder Dr Scott Arthur Maureen Burke Adam Jogee

Found: Reid Euan Stainbank Jo White Johanna Baxter Jonathan Hinder Dr Scott Arthur Maureen Burke Adam Jogee

Found: Reid Euan Stainbank Jo White Johanna Baxter Jonathan Hinder Dr Scott Arthur Maureen Burke Adam Jogee

Found: Reid Euan Stainbank Jo White Johanna Baxter Jonathan Hinder Dr Scott Arthur Maureen Burke Adam Jogee