Andrew Mitchell

The government recognises the critical role of AI infrastructure in supporting advanced AI technologies. The AI Opportunities Action Plan outlines how the UK can build the cutting-edge compute infrastructure needed to lead in AI development and deployment, securing long-term economic growth and staying at the forefront of AI innovation.

We are interested in partnering with local and regional authorities and devolved administrations to establish AI Growth Zones, ensuring substantial regional and national benefits, such as upskilling and employment opportunities, are felt across the country.

On Monday 10 February, local and regional authorities, along with industry, were invited to come forward with potential sites suitable for hosting AI infrastructure as an early expression of interest. This was followed by a discussion about towns in the Birmingham area.

The Government highly values the cultural sector and its positive contribution across the country, including in the West Midlands.

Due to the difficult economic inheritance from the previous government, we had to take a number of difficult decisions on tax, welfare and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability. The Government has considered the implication of this policy change, and the impacts were published in the usual way by HMRC as part of the Autumn Budget process. The cultural sector also benefits from the expenditure on public services that the Budget has enabled.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN), which gives a clear explanation of the policy objective and an assessment of the impacts was published alongside the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill on 13 November 2024.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. They can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools. The funding is not ringfenced, subject to the conditions set out in the published Grant Determination Letter, nor is it time bound, meaning local authorities are free to use this funding to best meet their local priorities.

Birmingham City Council has been allocated just below £26.2 million to support new school places needed over the current and next two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026.

The department’s Pupil Place Planning Advisers engage with local authorities regularly, to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, they offer support and advice.

Recent engagement with Birmingham City Council has confirmed both existing and anticipated secondary sufficiency pressure in Sutton Coldfield. The local authority is investing in expansions within existing schools to address short term localised sufficiency pressure and exploring further expansions to meet medium term demand. The department is aware of planned housing development in the local area in the longer term which may ultimately require additional school places to meet community needs.

Improving biodiversity is a key objective for the Government, and we are taking action to deliver on our legally binding biodiversity targets on species abundance, species extinction, and habitat creation and restoration.

These targets, alongside other statutory targets on tree canopy and woodland cover, water and air quality, marine protected areas, and resource efficiency, will drive action for nature recovery.

The West Midlands Combined Authority is the responsible authority for preparing the West Midlands Local Nature Recovery Strategy, which will agree priorities for nature recovery in the area and identify and map the best locations for action to be taken to benefit nature and the wider environment. Defra has provided funding to responsible authorities to prepare their strategies, as well as dedicated advice and support from Natural England, the Environment Agency, and the Forestry Commission.

Local councils are usually best placed to respond to littering problems, as their response can be tailored to the local community. They have a range of enforcement tools at their disposal including fixed penalty notices and prosecution. We are reviewing how we can further support local authorities to tackle these issues.

We have also taken steps to tackle commonly littered plastic items such as disposable vapes. The sale of single-use vapes will be banned from 1 June 2025. This will help to tackle a huge and growing stream of hard-to-recycle waste and litter, with nearly 5 million thrown away every week.

Plastic drinks containers are also covered as part of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) that will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The DRS will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers which can be claimed back by customers when the empty container is returned. This will reduce litter, increase recycling rates, create high quality recyclate for producers, and promote a circular economy.

The percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting for Birmingham City Council in 2022-23 was 22.9 per cent.

Waste and recycling statistics including household recycling rates are published annually for all local authorities in England here.

The department is working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to implement an “Integrated Settlement” for the West Midlands Combined Authority from April 2025. This will give the Mayor and Combined Authority a consolidated budget across local transport, housing, regeneration, local growth, skills, buildings retrofit, and employment support, with much greater freedom and funding flexibility to drive forward the local economy and deliver growth.

The department is also looking to simplify the current funding arrangements for all other Local Transport Authorities so that they can spend funding according to their local priorities and avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy. Multi-year funding will be confirmed at the upcoming spending review.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.

On the 18 December, DVSA set out further plans to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. These steps include recruiting 450 driving examiners (DEs). Full details of these steps can be found on GOV.UK.

DVSA continues recruitment for DEs at driving test centres (DTCs) that serve customers in the West Midlands region and is currently working through the recruitment process from recent campaigns. As part of this, DVSA is currently aiming to recruit up to twelve potential new DEs in the Birmingham area, five in the Worcester area, two in Ludlow and two in Hereford. There is also the potential for five new DEs for DTCs in Gloucestershire, which might also serve customers in the West Midlands region.

Some of these candidates have started training, whilst others are currently undergoing checks as part of the recruitment process.

The Budget announcement on 30 October confirmed departmental budgets for the rest of this financial year and the financial year 25/26. This included a commitment of over £650m in local transport funding beyond city regions in 25/26 to ensure that transport connections improve in our towns, villages and rural areas as well as in our major cities. Allocations for individual local authorities will be confirmed by the Secretary of State for 25/26 in due course.

Funding for the Department post 25/26 is subject to a comprehensive bottom-up Spending review process that is planned to conclude in June. Local funding options are being considered as part of this review.

The rail industry continues to offer free travel in the same way it has done historically, this includes free travel to Remembrance Sunday events. Eligible passengers can also apply for a Veterans Railcard which offers discounted prices on train fares for those who have served in the UK Armed Forces.

Looking back at winter 2023-24, there were around 13,400 pensioner households in Sutton Coldfield Constituency receiving the Winter Fuel Payment but not receiving Pension Credit. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-Xplore and the Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Please note that the above does not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up that we might see as a result of the Government’s Pension Credit Awareness Campaign.

We do not yet hold data on the number of Pension Credit or Winter Fuel Payment recipients through winter 2024-25.

The published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individual pensioners in respect of whom Pension Credit is paid will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where a claimant has a partner and / or dependents).

In addition, while Pension Credit claimants constitute the majority of those that will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, pensioners who claim other qualifying means-tested benefits will also be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. It is not, however, possible to include those on other qualifying means-tested benefits in these figures.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment which will also help ease pressure on busy mental health services.

Despite the challenging fiscal environment, the Government has chosen to prioritise the funding to deliver expansions of NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement & Support schemes, demonstrating our commitment to addressing the root cause of mental health issues and providing support for people with severe mental illness to contribute to the economy by remaining in or returning to work.

The Government inherited public finances in their worst state since 1945. The National Health Service in England invests £3 billion into dentistry every year. NHS England is responsible for issuing guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) on dental budgets, including ringfences. NHS England Planning Guidance for 2025/26 has now been published and sets out the funding available to ICBs.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges patients face when trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most.

Responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to ICBs across England. For Sutton Coldfield constituency, this is NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB.

The Department has been working with suppliers to address current supply issues with Creon, which is used by patients with conditions such as cystic fibrosis and certain cancers including pancreatic cancer. The supply issues with Creon are impacting countries throughout Europe and have been caused by limited availability of raw ingredients and manufacturing capacity constraints to produce volumes needed to meet demand. These issues have resulted in knock-on supply disruptions of alternative pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy medications. The Department is continuing to work with all suppliers of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy to help resolve the supply issues in the short and longer term. This includes asking that they expedite deliveries, source stock from other markets, and increase production.

The supplier of Creon has advised that they expect to have regular supplies released each month going forward and are working to increase the quantities released. Serious Shortage Protocols are in place for Creon 10,000 and 25,000 capsules which pharmacists can use to restrict supply to one month at a time to ensure more patients have access to it whilst stock is limited.

We have worked closely with colleagues in NHS England to issue comprehensive guidance to healthcare professionals about these supply issues and encourage sharing of local solutions. The guidance provides advice on how to manage patients whilst there is disruption to supply and is being kept under review, with updates made as necessary.

The Government is working hard to ensure the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine as quickly as possible. The proceeds are currently frozen in a UK bank account while a new independent foundation is established to manage and distribute the money. They are not Government funds. UK officials continue to hold discussions with Mr Abramovich's representatives, experts and international partners, and we are continuing on our efforts to reach a resolution.

Since the fall of Assad, the UK has announced a further £61 million in humanitarian assistance to support vulnerable Syrians inside and across the region. This will support the delivery of essential services, including healthcare activities.

Overall in 2024, the UK provided over £30 million to support healthcare activities in Syria through UNICEF, UNFPA, Humanitarian Pooled Funds and a dedicated UK-funded health partner. UK funding has helped over 2.3 million people access primary healthcare, supported improvements to medical facilities, and provided a range of specialist mental health and Gender-based violence (GBV) support to the most vulnerable people across Syria. The UK has directly supported 79 health facilities, including 17 hospitals, 21 primary healthcare centres, 16 mental health, protection and specialised services centres, and 25 mobile medical units that can travel to remote areas to provide essential healthcare.

As the Foreign Secretary stated in Parliament on 14 January, we are currently reviewing our Syria sanctions.

We are actively engaging with the new interim authorities in Syria, including via visits to Damascus, to press for progress towards an inclusive political process, which leads to a stable Syria. We are keeping the re-establishment of a permanent presence in Damascus under review.

The UK supports evidence-based responsive vaccination programmes as part of our dedication to improving global health. The UK is one of the largest donors to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which has vaccinated over a billion children. Gavi's vaccination programmes are guided by the latest scientific evidence and expert advice from the World Health Organisation's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE), coupled with in-depth, evidence-based analysis to ensure the effectiveness of its vaccination programmes.

This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police – taking a national approach - to ensure our response is as strong as it can be, including working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime.

Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced measures to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying them.

We are also providing £250,000 funding this financial year to help support enforcement at the ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad, including additional staff and specialist equipment.

Via the recently established National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, we are focusing on prevention and deterrence of theft of and from vehicles; this includes training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles.