Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) organisations delivering commercial flooring apprenticeships and (b) other independent specialist training providers can access funding and opportunities at parity with large further education colleges delivering for trades.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The funding band of each apprenticeship standard sets out the maximum amount that the government will contribute to the costs of apprenticeship training and assessment. This is irrespective of the type or size of funding provider.
New training providers can enter the apprenticeship training market under one of the three entry routes in place: where there is a legitimate gap in provision that is generated by unmet employer demand, where a levy paying employer wants to become an employer-provider to train its own workforce, or where the provider is in an area we want to grow or where we identify a capacity issue.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help expand the pipeline of qualified floor layers to deliver (a) public housing, (b) hospitals, (c) schools and (d) other infrastructure projects.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government is investing £625 million in construction skills over this Parliament. This includes Foundation Apprenticeships, expanded Skills Bootcamps, and the launch of Construction Technical Excellence Colleges. These measures aim to deliver up to 60,000 additional skilled workers and support employers to invest in training.
The industry-led Construction Skills Mission Board is working to create construction job opportunities to meet the government's announced 159 infrastructure and built environment (1.5 million homes and retrofitting 5 million existing homes) commitments.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the assessment of the value for money of Government funding for universities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has commissioned the Institute for Fiscal Studies to update their 2020 research report on the impact of undergraduate degrees on lifetime earnings, and this will be published in early 2026.
The 2020 research suggests that higher education (HE) yields a positive financial return to both the graduate and the exchequer for the majority of graduates over their lifetime. Previous graduates are estimated to be over £100,000 better off on average in real terms by going to university after taxes, student loan repayments and foregone earnings are considered.
Whilst the department recognises not all HE qualifications are associated with high salaries, we want all HE providers to equip their students with the skills they need to progress to good jobs they find rewarding.
The government will continue to work with the Office for Students, empowering it to hold HE providers to account for the quality of students’ experiences and the outcomes they achieve.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed higher multiplier for business rates on (a) The Underworld, (b) Soul Mama and (c) other grassroots music venues with a rateable value of over £500,000.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000, including grassroots music venues, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government is sustainably funding this by introducing a higher multiplier on properties with RVs of £500,000 and above.
The final design, including the rates, for the new business rates multipliers will be announced at Budget 2025, so that the Government can factor the revaluation outcomes, as well as the broader economic and fiscal context into decision-making. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help prevent ill health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10 Year Health Plan announced ambitious measures to prevent ill health by making the healthy choice the easy choice. This includes a moonshot to end the obesity epidemic through mandatory healthy food sales reporting and introducing business targets to increase the healthiness of sales in all communities. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will deliver a smoke-free UK by gradually ending the sale of tobacco products.Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will review the maximum value of fixed penalty notices for breach of permit conditions, relating to offences under the New Roads and Street Works Act to provide a stronger deterrent to utilities companies against breach of those conditions.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is taking decisive action to reduce unnecessary disruption caused by street works by increasing the value of Fixed Penalty Notices. For certain offences, such as undertaking works without a permit, breaching permit conditions, or failing to provide timely notifications of reinstatements or start/stop notices, the penalties will be doubled. This measure is intended to strengthen compliance and ensure that street works are carried out responsibly and with minimal impact to road users and the public.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for attendance allowance are processed each year; and what proportion of those applications do not proceed to assessment.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The number of Attendance Allowance (AA) applications cleared are measured weekly. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
In 2022/23, 415,800 applications were cleared.
In 2023/24, 508,200 applications were cleared.
In 2024/25, 517,200 applications were cleared.
Because of how we capture our operational data, information on if a claim has progressed to assessment is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
Special Notes:
The Applications Cleared figures are unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.
Please note that data is missing for w/c 18th December 2023 as such the figure for 2023/24 has a small undercount.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of people who pass away before their attendance allowance appeal is concluded.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
For Attendance Allowance Appeals raised in the 2024/25 year, 10 claimants died before their appeal was concluded.
Please note that the figure supplied is derived from unpublished information and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. It should therefore be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
Notes:
Figure has been rounded to the nearest 10
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department's policy is on investment in skills in the grassroots performing arts.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This government is making a substantial investment in skills across the economy, with over £1 billion of additional funding by 2028-29, on top of the phase 1 settlement for 2025-26. This protects opportunity, delivers the workforce needed for the Plan for Change, and fuels future growth.
The Creative Industries Sector Plan sets out how we will develop high quality, responsive, inclusive and targeted education, skills and training for the Creative Industries, which will benefit grassroots performing arts. This includes delivering a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service to raise awareness of creative careers and ensuring that we continue to consider the needs of smaller employers when developing our growth and skills offer. The Plan recognises the UK’s significant strengths in educational infrastructure for performing arts, including our world-leading institutions, and commits to working with DfE, Skills England and industry to support increased access to quality specialist creative education provision across England.
On the 2nd June, the government also announced that £132.5 million of dormant assets funding will be allocated to increase disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability.
The Department for Education will launch the National Centre for Arts and Music Education in September 2026 to expand arts access for young people, enhance teacher training, and strengthen school-arts partnerships. In addition, in 2024/25, Arts Council England awarded £14.2 million to 1,220 creative practitioners through its Developing Your Creative Practice programme, and a further £28 million to 1,119 practitioners via National Lottery Project Grants.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to extend (a) film and (b) high-end TV tax relief to grassroots performing arts.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government recognises the importance of the creative industries, including the key role they play in driving economic growth.
The Government supports the creative industries through tax reliefs and funding, where the recently published Creative Industries Sector Plan set out the Government’s vision. Up to £30 million will be set aside for a new Music Growth package over the next three years, which will create new touring, performance, mentoring and export opportunities for emerging talent, while also delivering a significant uplift in funding for the grassroots sector to support small venues.
The objective of the creative industry tax reliefs is to support and incentivise productions rather than to support venues themselves. When considering new tax reliefs, the Government takes into account costs, complexity, and the market failure the relief is seeking to address. Extending the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) to grassroots performing arts is not currently under consideration.