Alex Baker
Labour - Aldershot
5,683 (11.7%) majority - 2024 General ElectionFirst elected: 4th July 2024
5 APPG memberships (as of 12 Feb 2025)
Armed Forces Community, British Buses, Defence and Security Sectors Supporting Local Communities, Get Refusal, NepalDivision Voting information
Alex Baker voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 147 Labour No votes vs 234 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 330 Noes - 275
Debates during the 2024 Parliament
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
(6 debate interactions)
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
(5 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(6 debate contributions)
(5 debate contributions)
(4 debate contributions)
(4 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(522 words contributed)
Aldershot Petitions
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
of 5,112 signatures (5.52%)
of 38,104 signatures (0.45%)
of 43,307 signatures (0.31%)
of 159,134 signatures (0.23%)
of 86,163 signatures (0.23%)
of 217,538 signatures (0.18%)
of 159,134 signatures (0.23%)
of 197,212 signatures (0.17%)
of 5,112 signatures (5.52%)
Latest EDMs signed by Alex Baker
Commons initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Alex Baker, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Alex Baker has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Alex Baker has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Alex Baker has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Alex Baker has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Latest 50 Written Questions
(View all written questions)The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon Lady’s Parliamentary Question of 3 September 2024 is attached.
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
ECO4 does not award funding to households, it is an obligation set by Government on large energy suppliers to install energy efficiency measures.
To the end of September 2024 (the latest available data by local authority and parliamentary constituency), ECO4 has supported 79 households in the Aldershot constituency and 1,470 households in Hampshire (includes Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth and Southampton local authorities).
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Fuel poverty statistics for England do not include a breakdown of whether residents of households receive care. Furthermore, the statistics are based on the English Housing Survey, which surveys households and does not include communal establishments. Therefore, the statistics do not cover residents of care homes.
The latest statistics for the number and proportion of households in fuel poverty in parliamentary constituencies in England can be found in the published sub-regional fuel poverty Official Statistics, in Table 5:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sub-regional-fuel-poverty-data-2024-2022-data.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We've already had £34.8 billion of private investment announced into the UK’s clean energy industries since July. Significant investment in our energy system is required no matter what, to replace retiring generation capacity and meet increasing demand. This investment is therefore one we cannot afford not to make. Our 2030 mission will ensure this investment is directed at the technologies, places and people that provide the most affordable, secure and prosperous future for the British public.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The department is able to provide links to the published dedicated schools grant (DSG) tables from the 2022/23 financial year to the 2024/25 financial year. These tables show average per pupil funding amounts, split by primary and secondary phase, for each local authority and at national level.
As the DSG is allocated at local authority level, DSG allocations are not available broken down to the level of individual constituencies. The individual allocations that schools within Aldershot constituency receive are determined each year by the local funding formula set by Hampshire local authority.
Links to the published DSG tables are listed below:
- 2022/23 financial year DSG: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2022-to-2023.
- 2023/24 financial year DSG: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2023-to-2024.
- 2024/25 financial year DSG: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2024-to-2025.
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, plus subjects taught in state-funded secondary schools, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available 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, which is the same as the previous year. The ratio of pupils to adults (excluding auxiliary staff) was 12.0 in state-funded secondary schools in England, which is again 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 Aldershot constituency and England for the 2019/20 to 2023/24 academic years.
The total number of hours taught by subject in state-funded secondary schools is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f01b06d4-a691-4c8d-6209-08dd1b6a61d0.
The proportion of those hours that were taught by teachers without a relevant post A level or higher level qualification is published at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/2b0e7522-f965-400d-6219-08dd1b6a61d0.
Timetabled teaching is reported for a typical week in November, as determined by the school. It does not cover an entire year of teaching. If there are variations in timetabling across the year, this is not covered in the data available to the department.
Subject and hours taught are only collected from secondary schools that use electronic timetabling software that can produce data in the format required. Data is then weighted to provide national totals. Therefore, breakdowns by local authority and parliamentary constituency are not available.
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, plus subjects taught in state-funded secondary schools, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available 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, which is the same as the previous year. The ratio of pupils to adults (excluding auxiliary staff) was 12.0 in state-funded secondary schools in England, which is again 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 Aldershot constituency and England for the 2019/20 to 2023/24 academic years.
The total number of hours taught by subject in state-funded secondary schools is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f01b06d4-a691-4c8d-6209-08dd1b6a61d0.
The proportion of those hours that were taught by teachers without a relevant post A level or higher level qualification is published at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/2b0e7522-f965-400d-6219-08dd1b6a61d0.
Timetabled teaching is reported for a typical week in November, as determined by the school. It does not cover an entire year of teaching. If there are variations in timetabling across the year, this is not covered in the data available to the department.
Subject and hours taught are only collected from secondary schools that use electronic timetabling software that can produce data in the format required. Data is then weighted to provide national totals. Therefore, breakdowns by local authority and parliamentary constituency are not available.
Minister of State (Education)
Supporting our expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child. However, this government has inherited a system with critical shortages of teachers, with the growth in teacher numbers not keeping pace with demographic changes. This is why the government has set out the ambition to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers.
We have made good early progress towards this key pledge by ensuring teaching is once again an attractive and respected profession, key to which is ensuring teachers receive the pay they deserve. This is why we have accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools for 2024/25.
Alongside teacher pay, we have made £233 million available from the 2025/26 recruitment cycle to support trainee teachers with tax-free bursaries of up to £29,000 and scholarships of up to £31,000 in shortage subjects. The department has also expanded its school teacher recruitment campaign, ‘Every Lesson Shapes a Life’, and the further education teacher recruitment campaign ‘Share your Skills’.
In addition to recruiting expert teachers, we want them to stay and thrive in the profession. To support this, new teachers of mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing in the first five years of their careers will now receive a targeted retention incentive of up to £6,000 after tax if working in disadvantaged schools. There are four schools in Aldershot that are eligible for targeted retention incentives.
To further support retention, we have provided workload and wellbeing resources that were developed with school leaders through our new ‘Improving Workload and Wellbeing’ online service, as well as continuing to promote the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which nearly 4,000 schools and colleges have already signed up to.
To reduce workload, the department has also removed the requirement for performance related pay and has abolished one-word Ofsted judgements to deliver a system which provides better information for parents and is proportionate for staff.
To help retain a more diverse workforce, the department is committed to supporting schools to implement flexible working practices, including taking planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time remotely. The department is also funding bespoke support provided by flexible working ambassador schools and multi-academy trusts. The named flexible working ambassador for schools in Aldershot is Upton Court Grammar school, part of the Pioneer Educational Trust.
High quality continuous professional development is also key to ensuring we retain an effective teaching workforce. The department has established Teaching School Hubs across the country, which provide approved high quality professional development to teachers at all stages of their careers. They play a significant role in delivering Initial Teacher Training, the Early Career Framework, National Professional Qualifications and Appropriate Body services. The Success for Every Teacher Teaching School Hub is a centre of excellence supporting teacher training and development across Basingstoke and Deane, East Hampshire, Guildford, Hart, Rushmoor and Waverley.
Minister of State (Education)
The department publishes the number of pupils in primary and secondary schools in the Aldershot constituency who receive free school meals. This data is available in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication, based on the January 2024 school census. The most recent figures can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.
The publication webpage includes a school-level data file, listed under the dropdown heading ‘Additional supporting files’ as ‘School level underlying data - 2023/24 (csv, 22 Mb)’.
This file contains one row per school, and you can filter the data by school phase and constituency. Data on parliamentary constituencies use boundaries as they were when the statistics were published. The most recent constituency boundaries will be updated in the next ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics publication’ in June 2025.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Giving children the best start in life is key to the government’s Opportunity Mission. Good parenting and high-quality early education provide the foundation for children to achieve and thrive. This government is determined to ensure that parents have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and childcare.
The department is rolling out more government-funded childcare entitlements to help millions of families, working hand in hand with the early years sector to build a system that works for them, parents and above all, children. This includes delivering 3,000 new and expanded school-based nurseries to make high-quality childcare accessible and available. As a first step, primary schools can now apply for up to £150,000 of £15 million capital funding for nursery places to open from September 2025. High-quality, school-based nursery provision is popular with parents, especially families with multiple children. It can help schools upgrade spare space whilst also providing early support to children and families, supporting their transition into primary school. School-based nursery settings have proportionally higher qualified staff and see lower staff turnover, providing more consistency of care for children. Proportionally, school-based nurseries also look after more children with special educational needs and disabilities and offer a higher proportion of places in the most deprived areas.
In the 2024/2025 financial year, early years providers are set to benefit from over £2 billion extra investment compared to last year, to support the rollout of 30 hours of government-funded early education from next September, rising in 2027/28 to over £4.1 billion. As announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, the department expects to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements in 2025/2026, which is around a 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we continue to deliver the expansion to eligible working parents of children aged from nine months. Departmental hourly funding rates for Hampshire have been confirmed at, for 3 to 4-year-olds: £5.98 for 2-year-olds: £8.32 and for under 2s: £11:30.
The planned September 2025 childcare rollout of 30 funded hours per week will go ahead, but there will be challenges including providers securing enough staff and places to meet demand, with the capacity needed varying across the country. The department is supporting the sector to attract talented staff and childminders to join the workforce by creating conditions for improved recruitment. The department is urging the public to ‘do something BIG’ and start a career working with small children through our national recruitment campaign. Our dedicated website also helps people find out more about gaining qualifications and search for existing job vacancies.
Skills Bootcamps for the early years are available and lead to an accelerated apprenticeship, and we are funding Early Years Initial Teacher Training as a route for new and existing staff to gain Early Years Teacher Status. To support childminders to join and stay in the profession, the department has implemented new flexibilities to work with more people and spend more time working from non-domestic premises.
The department is working closely with local areas and the early years sector to do everything we can to ensure there are enough places and the sector has the workforce it needs to provide those places and to bridge local gaps ahead of September 2025.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
High and rising school standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best life chances.
The independent Curriculum and Assessment review will seek to deliver a curriculum which is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative to ensure that children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and ready for work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive. This includes embedding oracy, digital and life skills in their learning. The Review will consider the recently published report of the Oracy Commission as part of this work.
In the early years, too, developing language skills is vital to enable children to thrive. The department is funding evidence-based early language interventions, targeting children needing extra support with their speech and language development.
Minister of State (Education)
The median debt of full-time undergraduate borrowers funded by student finance England, whose postcode is within the Aldershot constituency, and who entered repayment within the last five financial years is £46,577. The median debt includes tuition fees and maintenance loans and the effective date of the data is 30 April 2024.
The borrower’s postcode refers to the current contact or home address supplied by the borrower to the Student Loans Company.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The overall core schools budget will total £61.8 billion in 2024/25. Average per pupil funding in England, as allocated through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), is £5,957.
The DSG is allocated at local authority level, and as such the equivalent figures are not available for Aldershot constituency. For Aldershot constituency, the notional national funding formula (NFF) average per-pupil funding is £5,447. That is calculated based on the notional schools NFF allocations for all mainstream schools in the constituency. The allocations that schools within a constituency actually receive are determined by the local funding formula in their area. The funding figures for Aldershot constituency are based on the constituency boundaries before the July 2024 general election.
All of the figures provided include premises funding, but exclude growth funding. The figures do not include the additional grant funding that schools in the Aldershot constituency and across the country have received to support pay and pensions increases in 2024/25.
Schools in Aldershot constituency have a lower proportion of pupils who attract deprivation funding through the NFF than the national average.
The precise funding that individual schools in Aldershot constituency and across the country receive depends on each school’s unique circumstances and the decisions that it has made about how to deploy its funding.
Minister of State (Education)
10 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
(View all Alex Baker's Defra questions)The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 17 November there are currently no Farm Businesses with a Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement in the Aldershot constituency.
* The above is based on the registered address for the business postcode
Note: *The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) only holds data for the number of farms that are registered with the RPA and have SFI agreement.
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of the 17 November there are no Farm Businesses with a current Countryside Stewardship scheme agreement in the Aldershot constituency.
The above is based on the registered address for the business postcode.
Note: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) only holds data for the number of farms that are registered with the RPA and have Countryside Stewardship Agreement.
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
While many users make use of these rights in a responsible way, the Government is aware of damage and disturbance caused by excessive use of off-road motor vehicles on highways where such activities are legal, such as byways open to all traffic and on other unsealed roads which carry motor vehicle rights, often referred to as ‘green lanes’. Motor vehicle use on green lanes can damage the surface and reduce enjoyment of the route by other users. Defra consulted on banning vehicles from green lanes as part of the 2019 Landscapes Review, but a legislative ban to remove vehicular rights was not supported. Defra believes that the current Traffic Regulation Order process is legally robust enough to protect green lanes with carefully targeted local action to protect sensitive areas, while allowing vehicle users to responsibly enjoy the countryside.
It is local authorities’ responsibility to monitor and repair public rights of way, which includes green lanes.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Forestry Commission publishes statistics on new planting of woodland, and trees outside woodland, in England. These can be found in Forestry Commission Key Performance Indicators. These statistics are reported for each financial year in thousands of hectares. The Government does not hold data for individual constituencies but continues to work with delivery partners across England to increase tree planting rates.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As the independent economic regulator, Ofwat independently scrutinises water company business plans and ensure the prices water companies charge their customers are fair and proportionate. Ofwat published their final determinations for Price Review 2024 on 19 December, which sets company expenditure and customer bills for 2025-2030.
The Government is committed to taking action to address water poverty and help vulnerable customers with their water bills. All water companies, including South East Water and Southern Water, have measures in place for customers who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, including measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support.
Furthermore, we expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their public commitment to end water poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to this end.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To ensure we protect the country from the devastating impacts of flooding, we will invest £2.4 billion in 2024/25 and 2025/26 to improve flood resilience, by maintaining, repairing and building flood defences.
The Environment Agency, Hampshire County Council and the Southern Regional Flood and Coastal Committee have jointly funded a Property Flood Resilience programme to help small communities across Hampshire become more flood-resilient.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For too long, water companies have discharged record levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.
That is why we are placing water companies under special measures through the Water (Special Measures) Bill, which will strengthen regulation, including delivering new powers to ban the payment of bonuses for polluting water bosses and bringing criminal charges against persistent law breakers.
We are also carrying out a full review of the water sector to shape further legislation that will transform how our water system works and clean up rivers, lakes and seas for good.
The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) will continue to drive investment and improvement at a range of Thames Water Sewage Treatment Works and Storm Overflows. Several schemes were funded between 2020-2025 in the Aldershot constituency, including to monitor spills at storm tanks and to monitor the flow at Sewage Treatment Works from the inlet to full treatment.
The final determination for the next Price Review by Ofwat, due on the 19 December, will confirm additional investment planned by Thames Water for 2025-2030 to reduce pollution and improve storm overflows.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to tackling waste crime, which is a blight on our local communities and the environment and damages legitimate businesses. My department is considering what further measures to pursue to tackle waste crime, including regulatory reform.
The Environment Agency assesses all reports of suspected waste crime. All information and any intelligence is recorded and used to target resources where the offending poses the greatest risk and harm to people and the environment. The Environment Agency do not currently have any active high risk illegal waste sites recorded in the Aldershot constituency. Due to concerns about ongoing criminal activity in the area, a number of vulnerable landowners in the constituency have been contacted proactively to reduce the risk of thousands of tonnes of waste being illegally deposited on their land. Waste crime is borderless, those carrying waste have been stopped on multi-agency days of action in Hampshire and neighbouring Surrey to ensure they are compliant with the law.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government’s commitment to farmers and food producers remains steadfast. We will always champion British farming to boost rural economic growth, strengthen food security and improve the environment.
Defra has allocated £5 billion for the farming budget over two years. This will include the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector, with the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery all continuing. This funding will deliver improvements to food security as well as the environment, in the Aldershot constituency and across the country.
Publicly funded research and innovation, including investments under the Farming Innovation Programme, an innovation programme which aims to drive up productivity and enhance environmental sustainability, is enabling us to adapt to climate change more effectively, while improving levels of food security.
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local road network. Hampshire County Council (HCC) is the local highway authority for the Aldershot constituency, and it is therefore responsible for the maintenance of the local road network. HCC will receive £37.7 million from this Department during 2024/25 to enable it to carry out its local highway maintenance responsibilities. Funding for future years is a matter for the Spending Review.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government has set out an action plan for improving the bus network, centred around putting control of local bus services into the hands of communities to give them the tools they need to plan and deliver services in a way that suits their needs. On 9 September, the government announced important first steps towards delivering this aim by laying a statutory instrument to ‘open up’ bus franchising to all local transport authorities (LTAs), and publishing a consultation document on proposed updates to streamline bus franchising guidance that will speed up and lower the cost of franchising for LTAs.
As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will also introduce a new Buses Bill later this year that will build on the progress of this first package of measures, and help bring to an end the postcode lottery of bus services by giving local leaders the freedom to take decisions to deliver their local transport priorities and ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them, including in rural areas in Aldershot and across England.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department officials maintain contact with train operators to ensure an appropriate level of service is provided to meet passenger demand, and this is reviewed regularly. The recent establishment of Shadow Great British Railways paves the way for the creation of Great British Railways and will deliver a unified railway providing a stronger, more reliable railway for the benefit of passengers.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local road network. Hampshire County Council (HCC) is the local highway authority for the Aldershot constituency, and it is therefore responsible for the maintenance of the local road network. HCC will receive £37.7 million from this Department during 2024/25 to enable it to carry out its local highway maintenance responsibilities. Funding for future years is a matter for the Spending Review.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested regarding (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in Aldershot constituency is not available. Geographic availability of data differs depending on the data source. Where possible, information has been provided for the constituency of Aldershot. Otherwise, statistics for the local authority of ‘Rushmoor’, county of ‘Hampshire’, or the area of ‘Hampshire and Isle of Wight’ are provided where relevant.
Car ownership
According to the Department’s vehicle statistics, there were 138,805 licensed cars as at end March 2024 in the Aldershot Constituency.
Bus usage
According to the Department’s annual bus statistics, in the year ending March 2023 there were 20.8 million local bus journeys taken in Hampshire.
Train usage
The Regional Rail Usage Statistics published by the Office of Rail and Road show that in the year ending March 2023 there were 25.0 million passenger rail journeys within the South East of England that started or ended in Hampshire and Isle of Wight. There were also 15.3 million journeys that started or ended in Hampshire and Isle of Wight that started or ended from regions outside the South East of England.
Active travel usage
According to the Department’s annual walking and cycling statistics, between November 2022 and November 2023, 66.4% of adults walked or cycled, for any purpose, at least once per week in Rushmoor (Non-Metropolitan District). The equivalent figure for Hampshire (County) is 73.6%.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government knows that Britain needs a modern transport network to help kickstart economic growth. Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities. As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will introduce a Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, to ensure networks can meet the needs of the communities who rely on them, including in Aldershot.
We also plan to empower local transport authorities through reforming bus funding. By giving local leaders more control and flexibility over bus funding they can plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities. The Department will work closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on the government’s ambitions.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Improving services for passengers is at the heart of our plans to improve Britain’s railways, and station staff play an important role in supporting passengers, especially those who require additional assistance. This Government has no plans to close ticket offices, and we expect train operating companies to take measures to ensure they are open at published times.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Improving services for passengers is at the heart of our plans to improve Britain’s railways, and station staff play an important role in supporting passengers, especially those who require additional assistance. This Government has no plans to close ticket offices, and we expect train operating companies to take measures to ensure they are open at published times.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested regarding the average cost of bus fares is not available. The Department produces quarterly bus fare statistics in the form of a local bus fares index. However, this data is not available specifically for (a) Aldershot constituency, or (b) Hampshire. Data is available for (c) England and the latest publication can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-bus-fares-statistics-january-to-march-2024.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are committed to tackling poverty.
We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of people falling into poverty so this will be the foundation of our approach. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will target and tackle economic inactivity and unemployment and join up employment, health and skills support to meet the needs of local communities.
Alongside this, we are committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to do. We have begun this work with the announcement of the Fair Repayment Rate in the Budget and will continue to work with stakeholders closely as the review progresses. We will regularly update Parliament on progress.
We are taking the first steps to tackle poverty through our commitments to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers. Furthermore, our plan to Make Work Pay aims to create opportunities for all by tackling low pay, poor working conditions and job security.
To further support struggling families, £1 billion, including Barnett impact, will be invested to extend the Household Support Fund in England by a full year until 31 March 2026, on top of the six months already announced, and to maintain Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Office for National Statistics estimate that nearly 1 in 8 young people are not in education, employment or training.
This is 872,000 young people, a number which has risen by 74,000 over the last year.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Official statistics for the number of people on Universal Credit are published each month on Stat-Xplore, with breakdowns available by various geographies including Westminster Parliamentary Constituency and local authority. The latest statistics are to August 2024.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested information will be published as part of Universal Credit Official Statistics in November 2024.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In Aldershot in the Financial Year 2022/23, 450 people who had registered to claim PIP were disallowed after assessment, this is 51% of all initial decisions. Of these, 40 claims were subsequently awarded PIP following an appeal, this is 5% of all initial decisions in the Financial Year 2022/23.
Note:
- Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
- Percentages have been rounded to the nearest percent.
- This data is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.
- These figures include appeal outcomes up to March 2024, the latest date for which published data is available. Note that more appeals could be made and completed after March 2024, so numbers may change as it can take some time for an appeal to be lodged and then cleared after the initial decision.
- Figure provided for the number of applicants first awarded PIP at appeal stage include claims that were awarded via a lapsed appeal after a disallowed initial decision and no change to award at MR.
o A lapsed appeal is where DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We believe learning disabled and neurodiverse people should have an equal opportunity to work. In our plan to make work pay, we committed to raising awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace.
In Aldershot, we have a dedicated Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) who supports learning disabled and neurodiverse customers alongside partner organisations that we work closely with.
Other specialist initiatives which can provide support include the Work and Health Programme and joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.
We are also exploring how we will build upon the recommendations outlined in the Buckland Review of Autism Employment to be more inclusive to support all neurodiverse people to enter, remain in or return to employment.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are 100,000 people aged 16-24 who have been unemployed for over 12 months, 16.8% of all 16-24s who are unemployed.
The sample sizes from survey data for Aldershot and Hampshire are too small, so it is not possible to make a robust estimate of the level of long-term youth unemployment for these areas.
My department, working closely with the Department for Education, are developing the Youth Guarantee, to offer localised support to all young people aged 18-21 years old not in education, employment or training. We will ensure they have access to quality opportunities for training, an apprenticeship or help to find work that is sustainable.
In Aldershot, service delivery teams are working with a range of local partners and employers across the community to support to young people into work, including the care leaver charity Step by Step, Rushmoor Borough Council and other providers.
In Hampshire, a range of Flexible Support Funded local courses are in place to deliver place based employment support to young people with additional barriers, such as care leavers, neurodivergence and mental health. More widely, there are a number of Youth Hubs in Hampshire, ensuring a joined up approach with multiple partners to co-deliver employment, training and life skills support to bring them closer to employment.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
The Child Poverty Taskforce, co-chaired by the Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, has started urgent work to publish the UK wide Child Poverty Strategy in Spring and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.
The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside the Government’s commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, setting every child up at the start of the day ready to learn, expanding childcare to deliver work choices for parents and life chances for children, provide stronger protection for families who rent privately as well as deliver our plan to make work pay.
The Government is also extending the Household Support Fund for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £500 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF, including funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual. This means that Local Authorities in England will receive £421 million to support those in need locally.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Information relating to Pension Credit eligibility is only available via take-up statistics. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2021 to 2022 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, these statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas.
Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
No such assessment of inflation on living standards has been made.
The Government is committed to the Triple Lock, which means that in April 2025, the basic and new State pension will increase by the higher of the growth in average earnings, price increases or 2.5%.
Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The information requested is not available at a constituency level. Information on Employment Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) clearance times for initial claims is published at a national level on DWP Stat-Xplore. This can be accessed by selecting ‘Guest log in’ and choosing ‘Clearance Times for Initial Claims’ under the ESA WCA section.
We are currently unable to provide clearance times for Universal Credit (UC) WCA statistics, as these are being developed for future publication as explained in the UC Statistics release strategy.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold the data requested at a constituency level. Nationally, the Mental Health Support Team (MHST) pilot programme commenced in 2018. The number of MHSTs in each integrated care board, from 2018, is available at the following link:
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently 22 care homes registered with Care Quality Commission in the Aldershot constituency. As of the latest data from 1 August 2024, 16 of those care homes, or 73%, are rated ‘Good’.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the information is not collected in the format requested, the following table shows the number of people diagnosed with HIV for the local authority of Rushmoor, which covers the Aldersholt constituency, from 2018 to 2022:
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
HIV diagnoses | 3 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 11 |
HIV diagnoses first made in England | 2 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
Source: HIV annual data tables are published on the GOV.UK website, and are available at the following link:
The data requested for the Aldershot constituency is not available, as it is not obtainable at a constituency level.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)