Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve recruitment and retention in the Armed Forces.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces (Luke Pollard) on 29 October 2024 to Question 10078 to the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Chris Evans).
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services in Gloucester.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board to make available appropriate provision to meet the mental health and other care needs of children and young people in Gloucester.
Nationally, we will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across children and adult mental health services to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on busy children and young people’s mental health services.
We will also provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school in England so that mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, can be identified early on and prevented from developing into more serious conditions in later life. We will also roll out open access Young Futures hubs for children and young people in every community. This national network is expected to bring local services together, deliver support for teenagers at risk of being drawn into crime or facing mental health challenges.
We are currently working with colleagues at NHS England and across Government to consider options to deliver these commitments.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the average increase in the State Pension in each of the next five years.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has committed to uprating the basic and new State Pensions by the Triple Lock for the length of this parliament.
Based on OBR Autumn 2024 forecasts, over the course of this parliament, the full yearly rate of the new State Pension will go up by around £1,900. At the same time, the full yearly rate of basic State Pension is forecast to increase by around £1,500.
Table A.3 of the Economic Fiscal outlook sets out the OBR’s economic and fiscal forecasts in each year, including the Triple Lock uprating forecast which is the rate at which basic and new State Pension is increased by for the following financial year. For example, the 2024-25 rate will determine the rate of increase for basic and new State Pension for the year 2025-26.
Forecast year | 'Triple-lock' guarantee |
2024-25 | 4.0%* |
2025-26 | 4.3% |
2026-27 | 2.5% |
2027-28 | 2.5% |
2028-29 | 2.5% |
2029-30 | 2.5% |
* Note: After the forecast was finalised, inflation and earnings outturn data and revisions were released which have changed state pension triple lock rate for 2024-25 (to be used in uprating for 2025-26) to 4.1 per cent.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help tackle overcrowding in social housing in (a) Gloucester and (b) England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 11383 on 31 October 2024 that sets out the steps the government is taking to increase social and affordable housebuilding, which will help tackle overcrowding.
Local authorities, including Gloucester City Council, are responsible for allocating social housing through schemes managed locally. In doing so, they are governed by a framework set by central government which ensures that they must give ‘reasonable preference’ to specific groups, including people in overcrowded housing. Statutory allocations guidance also recommends local authorities consider giving ‘additional preference’ (high priority) to families in severe overcrowding which poses a serious health hazard.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the extension of the Household Support Fund in 2025-26 on low-income households in Gloucester.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made on the potential impact of the extension of the Household Support Fund in 2025-26 on low-income households in Gloucester.
We are currently conducting an evaluation of the Household Support Scheme that ran from April 2023 to March 2024, to understand the benefits of the awards made across England during this period. This will be published in due course.
Management information on the Household Support Fund from April 2023 to March 2024, including details of how funding was spent in Gloucestershire, of which Gloucester is a part, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/household-support-fund-4-management-information-for-1-april-2023-to-31-march-2024.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effectiveness of legislation in preventing hate crime offences against LGBT+ people in Gloucester constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is absolutely committed to tackling all forms of hate crime across England and Wales, and I will continue to work with ministerial colleagues across relevant Government departments on how to strengthen the effectiveness of hate crime legislation.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government has set out an unprecedented ambition to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade. Achieving this mission will require a transformation in the way we work together on this issue across Government, public services, charities and the private sector.
We have already taken significant steps to improve the policing and criminal justice response to these heinous crimes, including the introduction of domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms and the belated roll-out of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders. The Home Office is also working with the NPCC and the College of Policing on the use of data-led tools to pursue the most prolific perpetrators.
To drive progress on the mission, we have established a violence against women and girls ministerial group, which will drive activity across Government departments, ranging from prevention work in schools to sustained support for victims and survivors.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of local roads.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - 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 highway network. It publishes data annually on the condition of local roads which is available on gov.uk.
At Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced an extra £500 million for local highway maintenance for the 2025/26 financial year, an increase of nearly 50% compared to the current financial year - exceeding this Government’s manifesto commitment on repairing local roads. The Government will confirm 2025/26 funding allocations to English local highway authorities, including Gloucestershire County Council, in due course.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to establish Young Futures Hubs in (a) Gloucester and (b) across the country.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is committed to rolling out a new Youth Futures programme, including a network of Young Futures Hubs which will bring together services to help improve the way young people can access the support they need.
Officials from across a range of departments are already working together, using evidence of what works to start to shape how the prevention partnerships and hubs will work in practice. As part of this we are engaging with local communities, the police, charities, and other key partners to support the design of the programme and explore options for it’s delivery, ensuring we are making use of the vast knowledge and experience that already exists. This includes considerations of the most suitable locations as well as how best to engage with those young people who would benefit most from their support.
We will provide further detail on the future timelines for delivery as the work develops.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
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 people sleeping rough in Gloucester; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing a long term plan to end rough sleeping.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness and rough sleeping levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected. This Government will address this and deliver long term solutions to combat the need to sleep rough. We will develop a new cross-government strategy, working with mayors and councils across the country to get us on back on track to ending homelessness and rough sleeping once and for all.
Whilst we develop our new cross governmental strategy, the £547 million Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) which runs from April 2022 to March 2025 will continue its support to up to 300 local authorities across England including Gloucester City Council by funding local, tailored rough sleeping services.
On 31 March 2024, there were 198 households in temporary accommodation in Gloucester. Of these, there were 94 families with 204 children. This information is available at table TA1 Detailed_LA_202403.xlsx.