Asked by: Andrew Ranger (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when guidance will be released for cites wanting to bid for the 2029 city of culture competition.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s approach to a future UK City of Culture competition will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Ranger (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of bank holiday weekend closures of Euston Station on passengers; and what steps she is taking to ensure the accessibility of major rail hubs during periods of high demand.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail advises that London Euston will be closed over the early May Bank Holiday over Sunday 4 and Monday 5 May and with a reduced service on Saturday 3 May whilst work takes place to upgrade track and drainage and carry out maintenance work to help improve performance for passengers and freight for future journeys. Bank Holidays are chosen to carry out work as it allows more time for work to take place whilst fewer passengers are travelling.
Trains will start and finish at Milton Keynes where bus replacement services will run to and from Bedford for onward travel to London St Pancras.
Passengers are being encouraged to check before they travel at National Rail Enquiries. An advertising campaign has taken place across ticket booking sites, a press release has been issued, stakeholders have been updated and there have been frequent social media posts to ensure passengers had awareness of the changes to journeys.
Asked by: Andrew Ranger (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero,what progress he has made on achieving clean power by 2030.
Answered by Ed Miliband - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Since the election, we have turbocharged progress towards a clean power system, changing the planning rules, reforming the grid, lifting the onshore wind ban and consenting 3 times more solar power in 10 months than the last government did in 14 years.
Just this month we approved the Rampion offshore wind farm delivering power to 1.3 million homes as well as creating thousands of jobs.
Our mission is all about jobs, growth and energy security, and that’s what we’re delivering.
Asked by: Andrew Ranger (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that businesses and employers are contributing to enhancing social mobility through (a) apprenticeships, (b) internships and (c) employment practices.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Plan to Make Work Pay aims to improve fairness at work, ensure equal treatment and opportunity, and support low-paid workers.
Too many young people are struggling to access high-quality opportunities. That is why this government is working with businesses to develop new foundation apprenticeships: to give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives whilst supporting the pipeline of new talent that employers will need to drive economic growth.
Asked by: Andrew Ranger (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to support people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds in accessing employment opportunities.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Get Britain Working White Paper focuses on building a thriving labour market, reducing economic inactivity and increasing the number of people in work, which is central to growing the economy. We will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity, create an inclusive labour market in which everybody can participate and progress in work, and meet the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.
We are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access good, meaningful work, and support them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. The new service will be available for anyone who wants to look for work, to increase their earnings or to change their career or retrain. It will be responsive to local employers, inclusive for all customers and will work closely in partnership with local services to tackle the challenges associated with local labour markets.
Additionally, our Youth Guarantee will ensure that all young people aged 18-21 in England can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship, or employment support, helping to bridge the gap for those who might otherwise struggle to find employment due to their socio-economic status.
We are committed to breaking down barriers and fostering greater social mobility across the UK, our plans as set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper Get Britain Working White Paper - GOV.UK set us on a path to achieving this.
Asked by: Andrew Ranger (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure equal access to digital skills training and technology.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government is taking action in both these areas. The Digital Inclusion Action Plan sets out how we have, for example, launched a device donation pilot scheme in partnership with The Digital Poverty Alliance to refurbish end-of-life government laptops from three departments and get them to those that need them most.
The government is also supporting digital upskilling, for example through Essential Digital Skills (EDS) provisions funded by the Department for Education’s Adult Skills Fund. We will also be enhancing support for the EDS framework, which supports businesses and individuals to get the digital skills they need.
Asked by: Andrew Ranger (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to help increase the number of civil servants who come from low income backgrounds.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds to create a modern Civil Service that delivers high quality public services.
There are a range of policies to support those from low socio-economic backgrounds wishing to join the Civil Service, this includes internships and apprenticeships which support people to gain valuable paid work experience in the Civil Service, as well as extensive outreach events to raise awareness of the Civil Service as an inclusive employer.
The Civil Service also provides entry routes through the Going Forward into Employment (GFiE) recruitment schemes across government. GFiE uses innovative approaches, working in partnership including with local government and the voluntary sector, to recruit people from a wide range of backgrounds into the Civil Service who may not otherwise have considered a Civil Service job, including people from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Asked by: Andrew Ranger (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support social mobility for people from (a) underrepresented and (b) disadvantaged groups in the green energy sector.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for Clean Energy Jobs is working closely with industry and trade unions to improve accessibility of jobs in the clean energy sector, and coordinate across social inclusion initiatives. In January it published a ‘Clean Energy Jobs Employer Handbook’ which summarises support available, including for employees from underrepresented and disadvantaged groups. The Department will set out its wider approach to clean energy workforce strategy later this year, to support delivery of the workforce for the Clean Energy Superpower Mission.
Asked by: Andrew Ranger (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to improve access to opportunity in disadvantaged areas to promote social mobility for students from low-income backgrounds.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
For too many children and young people in Britain, their background, where they come from or their parents' income limits the life they are able to build. The government’s Opportunity Mission aims to break this link between a child’s background and their future success.
To achieve the department’s overall mission objective of closing the opportunity gap, we have set a milestone of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn.
As the Plan for Change set out, the department will measure our progress through 75% of 5-year-olds reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment. We are already making good progress to deliver this first milestone, we have announced the largest ever uplift to the Early Years Pupil Premium, confirmed the first wave of 300 school-based nurseries and are on track to deliver the final increase in childcare entitlement from September. This first milestone is only the beginning of our ambition for children and young people.
The department’s first step for the Opportunity Mission is recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools, both mainstream and specialist, and our colleges over the course of this Parliament. The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for children, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The department has already made good early progress towards this key pledge, including providing a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools, announcing a £233 million initial teacher training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle, and confirming targeted retention incentives for shortage subjects worth up to £6,000 after tax.
More widely the department has already shown commitment to supporting the most disadvantaged by confirming over £3 billion will be provided to state-funded schools in England through the pupil premium in the 2025/26 financial year, an increase of almost 5% from 2024/25, to help disadvantaged pupils achieve and thrive in education and remove the barriers to learning that hold too many children back.
Asked by: Andrew Ranger (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to (a) reduce income inequality and (b) improve social mobility for people from lower-income backgrounds.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Distributional analysis shows that the expected impacts of government decisions from Autumn Budget 2024 onwards are progressive and benefit households in the lowest income deciles the most, on average, as a percentage of income in 2028-29.
The Government is committed to making sure the wealthiest in our society pay their fair share of tax. That is why the Chancellor announced a series of reforms at Autumn Budget 2024 to help fix the public finances in as fair a way as possible. The increases in tax are concentrated on the highest income households. Overall, on average, all but the richest 10% of households will benefit from policy decisions in 2028-29.