Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a home education register.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to the introduction of statutory children not in school registers, maintained by each local authority in England. These registers will include those children who are being educated at home, and parents will have a duty to provide information about their children and where and how they are receiving their education. These measures are part of the recently announced Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on Tuesday 17 December. As part of that Bill, we are also taking steps to require parents of some of our most vulnerable children to obtain local authority consent before they can move to home education. This will apply to children who are subject to ongoing enquiries under section 47 of the Children Act 2004, children who have a child protection plan, and children who are attending a special school. Where those children are already being educated at home, local authorities will be able to consider whether that is in their best interests and to assess the suitability of their home learning environment. If that leads to a determination that home education is not in the child’s best interests, the local authority will be able to issue a school attendance order.
Local authorities currently maintain voluntary registers of home educated children in their area. This will be made a legal requirement and authorities also required to share data from their registers with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. This will allow us to develop a stronger understanding of home education numbers and drivers at local and national levels and determine policy responses where home education has been chosen for reasons other than the provision of suitable education to a child.
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, if he will make an assessment of the the adequacy of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) continues to process a significant number of claims, with 11,251 claims related to COVID-19, adult flu, and other diseases processed between 1 November 2021 and 13 December 2024.
The Department is working with the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the scheme, to take steps to improve the VDPS by modernising operations, improving claimants’ experiences, and processing claims at a faster rate.
Ministers have also met with the families of those who have suffered harm following COVID-19 vaccination, many of whom raised the need for reform of the VDPS. Whilst any changes to the VDPS may need to be a cross-Government decision, ministers have agreed to look closely at the issues raised.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what recent steps she has taken to help ensure the effective prosecution of (a) wildlife, (b) heritage, (c) rural and (d) waste crime in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
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.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average staff to student ratio was in secondary schools in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire in each year since 2010.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce, including the pupil to adult and pupil to teacher ratios at national, regional, local authority and individual school level, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
In the 2023/24 academic year, which is the latest data available, the ratio of pupils to teachers (qualified and unqualified) was 16:8 in state-funded secondary schools in England, the same as the previous year.
The attached table provides the pupil to adult ratio and the pupil to teacher ratio for state-funded secondary schools in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency, Staffordshire local authority and England for the 2010/11 to 2023/24 academic years.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of closing the gender pay gap on women who (a) live, (b) learn and (c) work in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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."
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of a cross-Government strategy to close the gender pay gap.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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."
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of science and innovation on job creation in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Science and innovation are vital to our mission to kickstart economic growth and create jobs in every part of the country.
For example, Research England invested £5 million into the HyDEX programme, which Keele University leads on behalf of the Midlands-based Energy Research Accelerator. This is helping build a Midlands hydrogen economy by working with established national businesses and accelerating local SMEs’ work.
Through the Strength in Places Fund, UKRI invested £18.3 million in the “Midlands Advanced Ceramics for Industry 4.0” programme led by Staffordshire company Lucideon. This led the Applied Materials Research, Innovation, & Commercialisation Company to be established.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the role of science and innovation in the defence sector.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Cutting-edge science, innovation and technology are central to modern defence and UK national security. DSIT is working closely with MOD to input into its Strategic Defence Review, to help MOD leverage the strengths of the UK S&T ecosystem to achieve its ambitions. This includes investments in future research breakthroughs and innovation to grow our technology sector, which also supports future defence needs. DSIT’s teams regularly engage with cross-Government colleagues including Defence on the opportunities and risks of new technologies and are integrated into the relevant board structures for defence-related R&D. DSIT's Secretary of State speaks frequently to cabinet colleagues on issues of mutual importance.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of science and innovation on regional inequalities.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Increasing productivity right across the UK is fundamental to our mission to kickstart economic growth. We know businesses grow faster because of science and innovation. In the 6 years after receiving their first R&D grant funding, the average business increases employment by 21% and turnover by 23%. The Government will continue to support regional growth through the industrial strategy. As set out in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper, research, development, and innovation are essential to developing the UK’s growth-driving sectors. The Government will explore how to build on existing place-based initiatives to support high-potential clusters.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with the devolved Administrations on (a) science and innovation and (b) research and development.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State met with each of his ministerial counterparts in the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive.
These discussions have been highly constructive, in keeping with the Prime Minister’s reset in relations with the Devolved Governments, and have revealed a number of areas of shared interest and scope for collaboration across the science, innovation and research portfolio.
The Secretary of State has also undertaken official visits to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, including to Queen’s University Belfast and the Smart Nano NI consortium in September.