Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the updated Manual for Streets will be published.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is continuing work to update the Manual for Streets. No timetable for publication has yet been set.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps are being taken to create increased opportunities and accessibility into employment for post-university students.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Graduates who may face challenges entering competitive professions despite significant study, can access tailored support through Jobcentre Plus. Work Coaches provide personalised advice to help individuals secure roles that reflect their skills, qualifications and experience, alongside targeted job search support.
Work Coaches can also identify skills gaps and signpost customers to relevant training and provision, including demand-led training aligned with local labour market needs and higher-skilled occupations.
Jobcentre Plus works with expert organisations, including Milkround, Grad Plus and Prospects, to help graduates identify opportunities and navigate the early-career labour market. While Jobcentre Plus does not determine access to profession-specific training routes, it can help individuals explore alternative pathways, build relevant experience, and continue working towards their chosen career.
The DWP Careers Service in England provides free, impartial careers support through to anyone who is looking for work, who wants to get on in work, or who wants to change their career or retrain, regardless of whether they are claiming benefits. Careers information and advice is available via the digital offer.
Where customers are unable to digitally self-serve, they can access careers information and advice from a qualified careers adviser, with in-depth guidance prioritised for those customers who face the greatest barriers to working or learning.
The Government is investing an additional £2.5 billion by 2029 into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy. This investment will support almost one million young people, including young graduates aged up to 24, and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.
Support will include an expanded network of Youth Hubs, earlier intensive support in Jobcentres through a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, additional work experience and training opportunities, a £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant and £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for employers, and a fully funded six month job for long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support first time buyers entering the property market.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 37891 on 3 November 2026.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of trends in house prices in the North West.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on house prices and annual earnings to calculate affordability ratios in England and Wales by local authority district on an annual basis. This is published on the ONS website here.
The ONS also publishes data on private rental and house prices and on private rental affordability, which can be on the ONS website here and here.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a cross-government National Accident Prevention Strategy.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
A national accident prevention strategy would encompass many other sources of accidents, e.g. road accidents, home accidents, and would focus on improving data on accidents from the NHS
Accident prevention is a priority and it is delivered by different departmental portfolios, of which the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is one. The current approach is effective at dealing with this diverse range, so it would be difficult to bring accident prevention under one umbrella of a national accident strategy.
The Government believes the regulatory model employed by HSE for regulating health and safety in the workplace can be used in the approach to regulating accident prevention. However, introducing a cross-government strategy would not be a matter solely for HSE or the Department for Work and Pensions.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of requiring builders to comply with BS 5395-1:2010 in Approved Document K.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS388) made on 16 October 2026. The BSR published its Call for Evidence on Building Regulations Part K (protection from falling, collision and impact) on Monday 19 October, which will remain open until the end of the year. It can be found here. Evidence collected will supplement the department’s commissioned research on domestic stairs which can be found here and general access and utility stairs, which can be found here, which considered aligning statutory guidance in Approved Document K with British Standard 5395-1:2010 (‘Code of practice for the design of stairs with straight flights and winders’). Evidence collected will aid the BSR to meet its duty, under the s.5 Building Safety Act 2022, to keep the safety of people in and about buildings and the standard of buildings under review. Building Regulations and guidance in Approved Documents can then be updated as needed.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in the context of the delay to mandatory kerbside collection of flexible plastics under Simpler Recycling, what support her Department plans to provide to (a) recycling companies that have already invested in UK-based reprocessing infrastructure and (b) the wider plastic industry.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will work with industry through the Plastic Film Forum launching this November, with a working group specifically looking at reprocessing. We will continue to promote the continuation of existing voluntary collection routes — including council collections, business collections and front-of-store take-back at major supermarkets, which could provide feedstock to infrastructure.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on ensuring the forthcoming expansion of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) aligns with the delayed timeline for plastic film collections to incentivise domestic recycling.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works closely with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on ensuring that the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to waste incineration aligns with Defra-led reforms to waste and recycling.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to meet the implementation date for mandatory kerbside collections of flexible plastics.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra will be launching a Plastic Film Forum this November and will convene working groups focusing on collections, sorting, reprocessing and end-markets, with the objective of developing a Transition Framework to support 2030 implementation.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to work with industry to ensure continued private investment in flexible plastic recycling capacity.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In addition to convening a plastic forum with industry representative, Defra have been engaging with a project led by the University of Birmingham to assess the challenges facing UK plastics infrastructure.