Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools to recruit qualified modern languages teachers in the West Midlands.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
High quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child’s outcomes. This is why the government’s Plan for Change is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools, and our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.
The department is offering £20,000 tax-free bursaries for modern foreign language (MFL) trainees, including international as well as domestic trainees. In addition, we are continuing to offer a prestigious scholarship worth £22,000 tax-free for French, German and Spanish trainees.
Our future school teacher pipeline is growing. Although this government inherited a system with critical shortages of MFL teachers, with the department achieving only 32% of its postgraduate initial teacher training target in 2023/24, this year we have achieved 94% of the target with 1,378 new trainees beginning their postgraduate training in MFL.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to increase the number of apprenticeships in the West Midlands.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy, which will deliver greater flexibility to employers and more opportunities for young people and support the industrial strategy across the country, including in the West Midlands.
In August 2025, we introduced new foundation apprenticeships to give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage while developing vital skills. They are underpinned by additional funding for employers of up to £2,000 to contribute to the extra costs of supporting someone at the beginning of their career.
We are investing an additional £725 million to deliver the next phase of the growth and skills levy and meet our ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships. We will expand foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people, launch a pilot with Mayoral Strategic Authorities to better connect young people to local apprenticeship opportunities, and fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible 16–24-year-olds from the next academic year.
From April 2026, employers will also be able to access short, flexible training courses to help respond quickly to evolving skills needs. The first wave of these courses will be called apprenticeship units and they will be available in critical skills areas such as artificial intelligence, digital and engineering.
The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises 2,500 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England, including the West Midlands, through nine regional networks which provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure eligible men take up prostate cancer screening in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is currently no national prostate cancer screening programme. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is an independent scientific advisory committee which advises ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries on all aspects of population and targeted screening and supports implementation. They recently closed a consultation on their draft recommendation to:
The evidence that supports this draft recommendation can be found on the UK NSC prostate cancer recommendation page, at the following link:
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure energy security in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is strengthening energy security by reducing dependency on volatile global fossil fuel markets and delivering a diverse, secure and clean energy system based on renewables and nuclear, backed up by a strategic reserve of gas supply to be used only when essential, which will benefit the country and the Hon. Member’s constituency.
For further detail I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 March to Question UIN 113858.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 trend in patients waiting over 4 hours for admission transfer and discharge in emergency departments in the NHS Birmingham And Solihull Integrated Care Board area.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made.
NHS England publishes data on the number of patients admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours in accident and emergency departments on a monthly basis. The information is available at the following link:
The following table shows the four-hour performance in each quarter since 2017 for the NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB):
Financial year | Percentage of total accident and emergency attendances admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours | |
England | NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB | |
2025/26 | 74.8% | 72.2% |
2024/25 | 73.9% | 73.2% |
2023/24 | 72.1% | 69.9% |
2022/23 | 70.8% | 69.2% |
2021/22 | 76.7% | 71.5% |
2020/21 | 86.8% | 84.4% |
2019/20 | 84.2% | 80.1% |
2018/19 | 88.0% | 86.2% |
Note: the provisional data for the financial year 2025/26 is not yet fully available and doesn’t include February and March data.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle cyber crime targeting older people in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Home Office directly funds a national to local network of specialist officers trained to investigate cyber crime and support local communities. This network includes funding, in partnership with the Police and Crime Commissioner, for a Local Cyber Crime Unit (LCCU) in West Midlands Police force.
The LCCU force PROTECT Officers provide localised support and advice to help individuals to improve their cyber security. Their work involves regularly delivering events for community, charity and faith groups with specific engagement with the elderly, including sessions on raising awareness on cyber crime and fraud, such as how to create strong passwords, how to spot phishing emails and fraudulent calls.
The Home Office also funds the Regional Cyber Crime Units (RCCUs) across England and Wales who are set up tackle cyber crime and the harm it causes citizens in the UK. Officers in the West Midlands RCCU work with local authorities and the NHS to train partners to spot the signs of people who may have been impacted by, or be a victim of, cyber crime.
Additionally, the City of London police and the National Cyber Security Centre co-ordinate campaigns that aim to target vulnerable people on how to protect themselves from both cyber crime and fraud, which has included work with AgeUK to help educate and support older people to stay secure online.
This government takes cyber crime extremely seriously and will continue to take the necessary steps to protect the public and support victims.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the reduction in the level of Official Development Assistance funding on the Global Health Partnerships scheme.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK should be proud of the progress made in international development this century. But the world has changed, and so must we. With less money, we must make choices and focus on greater impact
The Global Health Workforce Programme, led by the Department of Health and Social Care and delivered by organisations including Global Health Partnerships, is closing at the end of March 2026.
Efforts are being made with delivery partners to ensure the sustainability of projects beyond the programme’s lifetime.
We remain committed to international development and will continue to support countries to build resilient, sustainable health systems.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help support the wild bird population in the West Midlands.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to delivering our statutory biodiversity targets which will support the recovery and conservation of wild bird populations.
At a local level Defra Group has supported the West Midlands Combined Authority to prepare their Local Nature Recovery Strategy, which was published in October 2025. It sets nature recovery priorities and maps specific proposals for habitat creation and improvement that will support many species including wild birds.
Nationally, Government actions to restore and create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2042, along with projects funded through Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, will support the conservation and recovery of a wide range of bird species. Within the farmland environment, Environment Land Management schemes include actions that provide food, shelter, and nesting habitat for a range of bird species.
In addition, to support delivery of our statutory species targets, Defra is developing a detailed Threatened Bird Recovery Plan which aims to improve the coordination and drive the delivery of actions to recover our most threatened bird species.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to provide further (a) financial and (b) other support to the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership in the West Midlands.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department continues to work closely with The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership to ensure rapid and sustained improvement across its schools. This includes weekly meetings focused on stabilising learning and supporting both staff and pupils across the trust. Leadership and governance at the trust have been significantly strengthened, with changes to both its executive team and board, helping to ensure the capability and capacity to drive the necessary improvements. The department will continue to monitor progress closely and provide support to secure financial sustainability and high‑quality education for all pupils within the trust. The government is delivering on its manifesto commitment by legislating to introduce Ofsted inspection of academy trusts, and related intervention powers for the department. Trust inspection will help drive better outcomes for children and provide greater confidence for parents.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has set a target for the number of job starts to be offered to long-term unemployed 18–21-year-olds on Universal Credit in Birmingham and Solihull during the first 6 months of the Jobs Guarantee scheme.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government is investing over £1.5 billion in tackling youth unemployment and inactivity, including £820 million for the expanded Youth Guarantee and £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy. This will provide young people aged 16–24 with greater support into work and learning, including a Jobs Guarantee offering fully subsidised paid work for every 18–21-year-old on Universal Credit for 18 months.
In line with the Government’s December 2025 announcement, the Jobs Guarantee will begin its rollout from Spring 2026 in 6 areas which have some of the highest need, including Birmingham and Solihull.
The first 6 months of the Jobs Guarantee scheme will provide over 1000 job starts across the 6 areas.
National roll-out of the Jobs Guarantee across Great Britain will take place later in 2026. The programme is expected to support around 55,000 young people over the next three years, contributing to this government’s long-term ambition to increase employment and reduce long-term youth unemployment.
This Government is taking action to ensure young people have clear pathways into work, with opportunities that build skills, confidence and long-term employability.
In addition, through the expanded Youth Guarantee, we are creating around 300,000 additional opportunities for young people to gain workplace experience and training.
This includes up to 150,000 extra work experience placements and up to 145,000 bespoke training opportunities designed with employers through our Sector based Work Academy Programmes, or SWAPs. These programmes provide young people with real, practical experience linked to vacancies in priority sectors, improving their prospects of moving quickly into work.