Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies for prison officers there were in the West Midlands in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In the latest published figures as of 31 March 2025, there were 89 FTE fewer staff in post compared to the target staffing level. This relates to the full-time equivalent, adjusted for different contracted hours, for Band 3 to 5 Prison Officers working in public sector prisons in the West Midlands. These figures are available in HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly: March 2025, Prison and Probation Officer Recruitment annex: March 2025 via HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly: March 2025.
Notes:
This figure covers all Band 3 - 5 Officers includes Band 3 - 4 Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 Supervising Officers, and Band 5 Custodial Managers.
The figure is a net value and balances out surpluses and deficits between the individual establishments.
Prisons included in this analysis cover the West Midlands Prison Group (Birmingham, Brinsford, Featherstone, Hewell, Stafford, Stoke Heath, Sudbury, and Swinfen Hall), supplemented by a Long Term High Security Estate prison, a women’s prison and a Young Offenders Institution in the West Midlands region (Long Lartin, Drake Hall and Werrington).
Data only includes Public Sector Prisons. Data does not include Private Sector Prison establishments.
The Target Staffing level changes regularly in response to Governors' freedoms and other changes requested by the business.
Target Staffing is the number of staff required to run an optimal regime in each prison. This level is greater than the minimum number of staff required for a prison to operate safely, and includes allowances for staff taking leave, being off sick or being on training.
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 improve access to (a) autism and (b) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessments in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has recognised that, nationally, the demand for assessments for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown significantly in recent years, and that people are experiencing severe delays in accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future, recognising the need for early intervention and support, without the need for diagnosis.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for making appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to ADHD and autism assessments, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce to better understand the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June 2025, with the final report expected later in the year, and we will carefully consider its recommendations.
The NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB is working with regional and local partners, including Parent Carer Forums, to coproduce and redesign pathways of care to focus on addressing the health and social needs that arise in neurodiverse children, young people, and adults. The Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has also launched a 12-month pilot programme working with schools and community care providers to better support children, families, and professionals while they wait for autism assessments.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions her Department has had with Birmingham City Council on the potential impact of proposed changes to green belt protections on (a) access to green space and (b) biodiversity.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear about the importance of conserving and enhancing the natural and environment
Planning policies and decisions should contribute to, and enhance, the natural and local environment by minimising impacts on and providing net gains for biodiversity, including by establishing coherent ecological networks that are more resilient to current and future pressures and incorporating features which support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats, and hedgehogs.
The revised Framework published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that ‘Golden Rules’ should apply to major development including the provision of housing on land released from the Green Belt through plan preparation or review, or on sites in the Green Belt subject to a planning application. These ‘Golden Rules’ include necessary improvements to local or national infrastructure.
It is for local planning authorities to apply national policy when preparing local development plans or determining planning applications, including in relation to the Green Belt.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to encourage business investment in (a) Sutton Coldfield constituency and (b) the West Midlands.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This department is taking significant steps to encourage business investment across the West Midlands, including Sutton Coldfield constituency. For 2025/26, we have committed £490,700 in core funding to Business Growth West Midlands through the West Midlands Combined Authority, providing tailored business support services including access to finance, export opportunities, and innovation support.
In addition, UK businesses, including those in the West Midlands, can also access DBT's export support via Great.gov.uk, including the Export Academy, UK Export Finance, International Markets network, and International Trade Advisers, to support their business growth.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many public electric vehicle charging points have been installed in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Sutton Coldfield constituency in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Data on public electric vehicle charging devices in the UK, held by the Department for Transport, are sourced from the electric vehicle charging platform Zapmap. These statistics show when charging devices were added to the data source, which is not necessarily when they were installed.
Between 1st April 2024 and 1st April 2025:
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the punctuality of (a) Avanti West Coast, (b) CrossCountry and (c) West Midlands Railway.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Punctuality (percentage of station calls made within three minutes of schedule) for these three operators were as follows in the most recent rail period 3 (25 May to 21 June):
Avanti West Coast – 60.1 per cent period 3, 59.1 per cent moving annual average;
CrossCountry – 66.9 per cent period 3, 69.0 per cent moving annual average, and;
West Midlands Trains – 84.1 per cent period 3, 82.9 per cent moving annual average, which includes the West Midlands Railway 86.3 per cent period 3 result.
We recognise performance is not where it needs to be for passengers, particularly for Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry which are consistently among the least punctual operators. Officials and Ministers have regular engagement with operators and their Network Rail counterparts, to address poor performance and demand immediate action to raise standards. We are also working with the rail industry on a Performance Restoration Framework, with five clear areas of focus to recover performance to acceptable levels, including timetable resilience, staffing and keeping trains safely moving during disruptive events.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that older people can engage in community sports in the West Midlands.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including older people, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
Sport and physical activity play a vital role in driving positive public health outcomes by preventing, and helping to treat and manage, a wide range of health conditions as well as providing wider benefits, for example, in tackling loneliness.
Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for community sport, are investing up to £250 million of National Lottery and Exchequer funding into more than 90 Place Partnerships across England, including Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. The programme works in a targeted way with local areas to understand and overcome the specific barriers in their communities to getting people active. Birmingham and Solihull were part of the first local delivery pilot areas the scheme is based on.
Sport England also provides support for grassroots sport through the Movement Fund, which offers crowdfunding pledges, grants and resources to improve physical activity opportunities for the people and communities who need it the most, including older people.
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 assessment he has made of the effectiveness of measures in place to tackle fly-tipping in the West Midlands.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No specific assessment of the effectiveness of measures to tackle fly-tipping in the West Midlands has been made. However, local authorities are required to report the number of fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions to Defra, this data is published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. This excludes the majority of private-land incidents.
Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, vehicle seizure and prosecution action which can lead to a significant fine or even imprisonment. We encourage councils to make good use of these powers, and we are taking steps to develop statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support councils to consistently and effectively exercise their powers. This government has also announced a review of their powers to seize and crush vehicles of suspected fly-tippers to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool. Defra will continue to work with stakeholders through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, such as the National Farmers Union, local authorities and police, to promote and disseminate good practice on tackling fly-tipping.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of SEND services in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The constituency of Sutton Coldfield falls under Birmingham City Council.
A recent inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of the Birmingham Local Area Partnership’s arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) took place from 23 June 2025 to 27 June 2025. The report is not yet published.
The Ofsted and CQC inspection in June 2018 identified 13 areas of weakness. A revisit in May 2021 deemed that sufficient progress had been made in one area of weakness. The department issued a statutory direction in October 2021, requiring the local authority to take specific actions to improve their SEND provision and appointed a SEND commissioner to work with the local area. A SEND advisor has also been deployed to drive improvement.
Departmental officials continue to work closely with Birmingham City Council, and the commissioner reports that progress is evident and measurable.
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, how many people were waiting for treatment from community mental health services in the West Midlands in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting time metrics for referrals to community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication, to help services target the longest waits. Data in the Mental Health Services Dataset is known to be incomplete and these figures may be an undercount. Information on patients waiting to access NHS Talking Therapies services is not included. The latest information on wait times for NHS Talking Therapies is available at the following link: