Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the Pathfinder scheme to Hertfordshire.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Pathfinder model is currently operating in six family court areas across England and Wales. Three further court areas will start the model on 11 November in the Black Country and Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire and in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. Courts in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will start the model in January next year.
Further expansion of the model will be considered during the allocations process which follows the latest Spending Review, and we are unable to pre-empt the outcome of this.
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many postgraduate students are (a) studying and (b) parents of children of nursery age for which the latest data is available..
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. HESA does not collect data on the parental status of students across all UK HE providers, and so information on the total number of postgraduate students that are parents of children of nursery age is not currently held by the department.
For the 2023/24 academic year, HESA reported there are 847,905 postgraduate students enrolled in UK HE providers. Counts of HE student enrolments by level of study are published in Table 3 of HESA’s Student data, which can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb271/figure-3.
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) homes have been purchased through the council homes acquisition programme and (b) former homes bought under right to buy have been purchased back by local authorities since 2023.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Data on the number of homes purchased specifically through the council homes acquisition programme and on the number of homes sold under right to buy subsequently purchased back by local authorities, is not collected centrally.
The number of all acquisitions by councils can be found in the Affordable Housing Supply open data, which can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the average deposit paid by (a) all first time buyers and (b) first time buyers using shared ownership schemes in 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
According to the English Housing Survey, the average (mean) deposit of a first-time buyer in 2023-24 was £55,372 (£32,700 median). Further information can be found in the English Housing Survey statistical publication on gov.uk here.
In 2023-24, the mean cash deposit paid by first time buyers in England using shared ownership schemes sold through via private registered providers was £20,300 and the median cash deposit was £12,900. Figures for all shared ownership schemes sold through via private registered providers is available in Live Table 697.
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many first time buyers there were in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025; and what proportion of those bought through shared ownership schemes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department does not collect data on the number of first-time buyers.
The Office for National Statistics publishes data on first-time buyer mortgage sales by local authority in the UK. They can be found on its website here. Data covers the period between 2006 and 2024. Data for 2025 has not yet been published.
While it is not possible to provide information on the overall proportion of first time buyers that bought through shared ownership, my Department collects data on shared ownership sales by private registered providers of Social Housing, including whether these were to first time buyers.
This data is used to produce an estimate of the proportion of shared ownership sales by private registered providers that are to first time buyers. These estimates are published for 2022-23 and 2023-24 as part of the Social Housing Sales and Demolitions statistical release. The 2024-25 publication has been pre-announced for publication in January/February 2026. My department only collects similar data from local authorities on a voluntary basis.
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the average value of a redeemed child trust fund since (a) July 2023 and (b) July 2024.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The average market value of Child Trust Fund accounts that have matured and have been claimed or transferred to an ISA can be found in the Child Trust Fund tables of the Annual Savings Statistics.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2025
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many schools have entrances which open directly onto a 70mph road in (a) the UK, (b) England and (c) the East of England.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department does not hold this information.
Local traffic authorities are best placed to decide where lower limits will be effective on the roads for which they are responsible, as they are best place to respond with the local information they hold.
Earlier this month, 12 of England’s regional mayors signed a joint pledge to help more children walk, cycle or scoot to school safely through the delivery of a combined 3,500 miles of routes safely linking schools to homes, town and city centres, and transport hubs.
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a Central Finance Facility for credit unions on the economy.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government has made clear its strong support for the credit union sector, recognising the value that credit unions bring to their members in local communities across the country in providing savings products and affordable credit.
HM Treasury is delivering on measures announced by the Chancellor in last year’s Mansion House speech, including: concluding a call for evidence on potential reforms to credit union common bonds, supporting the industry-led Mutual and Co-operative Sector Business Council, and commissioning the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to publish a report on the mutuals landscape by the end of 2025.
The Government currently has no plans to develop a central finance facility for credit unions but continues to engage with the sector and will keep all issues, like central finance functions, under review.
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
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 councils use unspent Section 106 contributions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
While there are a variety of entirely legitimate reasons why local planning authorities may be holding unspent developer contributions, including to facilitate the effective delivery of phased development projects, we recognise the need to ensure that the contributions that developers make to mitigate the impact of development and make it acceptable in planning terms are used effectively and in a timely manner.
Local planning authorities are expected to use all of the funding received by way of planning obligations. Individual agreements should normally include clauses stating when and how the funds will be used by and allow for their return, after an agreed period of time, where they are not.
The Planning Advisory Service (PAS), funded by the Department, provides support to local planning authorities in the governance of developer contributions.
Any local planning authority that receives a contribution from development through section 106 planning obligations must prepare and publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement at least annually. Reporting on developer contributions helps local communities and developers see how contributions have been spent and understand what future funds will be spent on, ensuring a transparent and accountable system.
The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing paramedics to (a) carry and (b) use fentanyl as an analgesic agent.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals. This will support the aim that patients are cared for, and treated by, the most appropriate healthcare professional to meet their needs, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. Many regulated healthcare professionals have already received extended medicine responsibilities and the Department is committed to assessing the impact that these changes have had on patient care.
Regarding the extension of paramedics’ medicine responsibilities, there is a process in place for making changes to ensure proposals are safe and beneficial for patients. Officials are carefully considering proposals relating to a range of healthcare professionals, including paramedics, and the use of fentanyl as an analgesic agent, as part of wider work.