Andy Carter Portrait

Andy Carter

Conservative - Warrington South

First elected: 12th December 2019


Committee on Standards
2nd Mar 2020 - 4th Dec 2023
Committee of Privileges
2nd Mar 2020 - 4th Dec 2023
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill
7th Jun 2023 - 11th Jul 2023
Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill
7th Sep 2022 - 12th Oct 2022
Professional Qualifications Bill [HL]
12th Jan 2022 - 18th Jan 2022
Skills and Post-16 Education [HL] Bill
24th Nov 2021 - 7th Dec 2021


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Andy Carter has voted in 966 divisions, and 3 times against the majority of their Party.

24 Jun 2020 - Demonstrations (Abortion Clinics) - View Vote Context
Andy Carter voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 43 Conservative No votes vs 56 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 213 Noes - 47
2 Jun 2020 - Proceedings during the Pandemic - View Vote Context
Andy Carter voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 31 Conservative Aye votes vs 240 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 185 Noes - 242
30 Jan 2024 - Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Ninth sitting) - View Vote Context
Andy Carter voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 1 Conservative No votes vs 9 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 9 Noes - 6
View All Andy Carter Division Votes

Debates during the 2019 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative)
(25 debate interactions)
John Whittingdale (Conservative)
(22 debate interactions)
Boris Johnson (Conservative)
(22 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Home Office
(60 debate contributions)
Department for Education
(47 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Media Bill 2023-24
(4,195 words contributed)
Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022
(2,488 words contributed)
View All Legislation Debates
View all Andy Carter's debates

Warrington South Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Petition Debates Contributed

Given how many animals are sold online, we want Government to introduce regulation of all websites where animals are sold. Websites should be required to verify the identity of all sellers, and for young animals for sale pictures with their parents be posted with all listings.

We ask Parliament to repeal the High Speed Rail Bills, 2016 and 2019, as MPs voted on misleading environmental, financial and timetable information provided by the Dept of Transport and HS2 Ltd. It fails to address the conditions of the Paris Accord and costs have risen from £56bn to over £100bn.

Matthew was taken to, ‘a place of safety’, and died 7 days later.
24 others died by the same means, dating back to the year 2000. An indicator that little was done to address the growing problems.
Something went terribly wrong with the NHS Mental Health Services provided to my son.

I would like the government to review and increase the pay for healthcare workers to recognise the work that they do.

To revoke the Immigration Health Surcharge increases for overseas NHS staff. The latest budget shows an increase of £220 a year for an overseas worker to live and work in the UK, at a time when the NHS, and UK economy, relies heavily on them.

We would like the government to support and regard social care: financially, publicly and systematically on an equal par as NHS. We would like parliament to debate how to support social care during COVID-19 and beyond so that it automatically has the same access to operational and financial support.

Give NHS workers who are EU and other Nationals automatic UK citizenship if they stay and risk their own lives looking after the British people during the COVID crisis.


Latest EDMs signed by Andy Carter

Andy Carter has not signed any Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Andy Carter, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


Andy Carter has not been granted any Urgent Questions

3 Adjournment Debates led by Andy Carter

Monday 14th November 2022
Monday 7th February 2022

1 Bill introduced by Andy Carter


A Bill to allow for certain civil and family court hearings to be conducted remotely.

Commons - 40%

Last Event - 2nd Reading
Friday 1st March 2024

Latest 29 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
10th Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to support the development of carbon capture, utilisation and storage technology.

We are clear that CCUS is a priority for this Government, and we are progressing at pace.  In March 2023 we announced up to £20 billion funding for early deployment of CCUS across all sectors, and in December we outlined how we will get to a competitive carbon capture market by 2035.

Andrew Bowie
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
4th Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the operation of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

Up to the end of May 2023 the Boiler Upgrade Scheme had received 18,433 applications and paid £58.9 million in grants.

Industry reacted positively to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme during its first year, with suppliers developing competitive offers alongside the grant. Consumers can now install a heat pump for an increasingly similar price to a gas boiler.

The Government is conducting an independent evaluation of the scheme, delivered through an external contractor, to inform decisions about future improvements.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
4th Jul 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the installation of smart-enabled hot water cylinders.

I refer my hon Friend to the answer I gave to my hon Friend the Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous) on 16 June 2023 to Question UIN 188254.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
22nd Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the support provided to households to cover increased energy costs has taken into account the regional variations in the energy price cap.

Ofgem’s licence conditions require that energy charges are cost-reflective in the price cap. As it costs more to distribute energy to some regions than others, there are regional variations in charging to reflect higher costs to serve.

The Energy Price Guarantee applies a fixed discount to tariffs, so these small differences continue to exist.

Amanda Solloway
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to help ensure that gas networks are ready for a 20% hydrogen blend by the end of this year.

The Government is aiming to reach a policy decision in 2023 on whether to allow blending of up to 20% hydrogen by volume into the gas distribution networks. This could generate carbon-savings of up to 6-7% on current GB grid gas consumption.  The Government is working with the networks and industry to build the necessary evidence base to determine whether blending meets the required safety standards, is feasible and represents value for money.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
8th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential financial impact of extending the copyright exception for text and data mining on news media publishers.

The Government sought evidence of impact on the creative industries in its consultation on AI and IP. The Government has welcomed further evidence from rights holders on financial impact over the Summer. In light of this, the Government will soon launch a period of stakeholder engagement to consider the best way to implement the policy. An impact assessment will be published alongside the legislation when laid.

19th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help protect consumers from significant increases by energy companies in standing charges.

For millions of households the level of standing charge is protected by the energy price cap rate set by Ofgem. While the setting of tariffs is a commercial matter for individual supply companies, the energy unit rate and the standing charge together must not exceed the price cap.

Ofgem have recently launched a consultation to review the component of the Standing Charge that consumers pay toward the Supplier of Last Resort levy. Ofgem expects to publish a response in August.

Greg Hands
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
16th Jan 2020
What steps her Department is taking to support further growth of the creative industries in the North West.

Government and industry launched a Sector Deal for the Creative Industries in 2018, with more than £150m of funding. This aims to unlock growth for creative businesses across the country, and the North West benefits from a number of programmes within the Sector Deal.

These include a Creative Scale Up programme to help small creative businesses access the finance they need to grow and is launching today in the Manchester region.

22nd Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Warrington Borough Council to help (a) support families with disabled children and (b) reduce the time taken to process education, health and care plans.

Following the Area Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) inspection of Warrington Local Area Partnership (LAP), conducted by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission and published in May 2023, departmental officials have been working alongside NHS England SEND advisers to provide support and challenge to the LAP to address the areas for improvement highlighted in the report. These areas for improvement include:

  • The efficiency and quality of information gathering processes.
  • Health services that better meet children and young people’s needs.
  • The effectiveness of systems to share information about children and young people’s needs.
  • The timeliness of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.

Responding to the inspection report, Warrington LAP have updated their SEND strategy and published a strategic SEND improvement plan. This sets out how the Partnership will improve services for children and young people with SEND in the area and address the areas for improvement highlighted in the inspection report. The department monitors progress against these plans at regular intervals. Both documents are available at: https://www.warrington.gov.uk/send-inspection-review.

In 2022, the rate of EHC plans, excluding exceptions, issued within 20 weeks in Warrington was 48.2%, compared with a national average of 49.2%. This data is accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.

The department has increased Warrington's dedicated schools grant from £190 million in 2021/22 to over £238 million in 2024/25. This includes an increase of 33% in the high needs block from £25.6 million in 2021 to over £34.2 million in 2024/25.

David Johnston
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
22nd Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve decision making by local authorities on special educational provision for children.

To support strategic decision-making, the department will introduce new local Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) partnerships that bring together delivery partners across local systems to support local authorities to strategically plan and commission support for children and young people with SEND and in AP. Partnerships will be expected to co-produce a Local Area Inclusion Plan based on robust evidence that will explain how the needs of children and young people aged 0-25 in the area will be met. The department is providing local authorities with guidance on partnerships and plans throughout the year to strengthen local governance and decision-making for SEND and AP and services. Soon, the department will be launching a national and local inclusion dashboard that will present published data on system health and performance to enable better decision-making at a national and local level and drive self-improvement across local areas.

The department is also testing, via the Change Programme, whether using Multi Agency Panels for decision making about individuals in the Education, Health and Care plan process improves decision-making and parental confidence.

David Johnston
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
8th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Bumper £24 million to boost children’s literacy, published on 9 October 2022, whether that funding will be used to support children's speech and language skills.

The Government has committed £24 million to boost literacy in schools in the 2022/23 academic year. The majority of this funding will be distributed via the English Hubs programme.

The focus in the first two years of the programme has been on phonics teaching, with early language and reading for pleasure as secondary aims. In the third and fourth delivery year, English Hubs continue to focus on systematic synthetic phonics. A number of English Hubs have already started to deliver support in all three priority areas, including early language. In January 2023, the Hubs will begin delivering new early language training to schools, which has been designed by Hubs and external experts.

24th May 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that pre-reception and post-reception children can recover their ability to speak and understand language during the covid-19 recovery.

In total, the department has announced almost £5 billion for an ambitious, multi-year education recovery plan to support young people to catch up on missed learning.

As part of education recovery, the department is investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector. Strengthening understanding of speech and language development is an important part of this support.

The recovery includes investing in continuous professional development for early years practitioners, through the national expansion of the early years Professional Development Programme, which has a focus on upskilling practitioners to support the early development of literacy and language and early mathematics, alongside personal, social, and emotional development. The department is also investing over £24 million for local authorities to select and train early years practitioners in the best programmes to support parents with the home learning environment. This aims to improve children’s early language and social and emotional development, giving priority to families that will benefit the most.

Additionally, the department is investing £17 million for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), which is a proven programme aimed at the reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development. We are also increasing the number of qualified special educational needs coordinators in early years settings.

The Recovery Premium, providing £1.3 billion for the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years, is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of the pupil premium. However, school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties. Schools can use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.

The Parent Pledge in the Schools White Paper will also make the department’s vision clear that any child who falls behind in English or mathematics will receive the right evidence-based targeted support to get them back on track.

18th Jun 2020
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many laptops have been allocated to vulnerable children in Warrington during the period of school closures due to the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education and social care services, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers.

We are providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in year 10 do not have internet connections, we are providing 4G wireless routers.

The Department has ordered over 200,000 laptops and tablets and allocated devices to local authorities and academy trusts based on its estimates of the number of eligible children that do not have access to a device. Local authorities and academy trusts are best place to identify and prioritise children and young people who need devices. The Department is working to provide these devices in the shortest possible timeframe; deliveries to schools and local authorities began in May and have continued throughout June. As of 14 June, we have shipped over 100,000 laptops and 20,000 4G routers, including 481 to Warrington for children with a social worker and care leavers and 45 for disadvantaged year 10 pupils.

The Department has published information about how many laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers we have delivered or dispatched to local authorities and academy trusts as of 14 June, which can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data.

23rd Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on (a) increasing the availability of driving tests and (b) reducing the wait time between bookings for people retaking their tests.

As of 23 October 2023, there were 571,820 car practical driving tests booked, and 72,787 driving tests available within the 24-week booking window.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is taking all the measures it can to reduce driving test waiting times. This includes carrying out overtime, such as at weekends and on public holidays, buying back annual leave from driving examiners (DE) and, inviting recently retired DEs to return to work.

Since April 2021, measures put in place by the DVSA to reduce waiting times for its customers, together with the ongoing recruitment of DEs, is creating on average over 40,000 extra car test slots each month.

The DVSA has also deployed all eligible managers and administrative staff back on the front line to do driving tests from the beginning of October 2023 until the end of March 2024, which will create around 150,000 test slots.

Richard Holden
Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
19th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Government funding allocated to local authorities for repairing potholes is used effectively; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that those repairs are of a good standard.

Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, as amended, to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. The Government does not intervene or override local decisions in these matters.

Well-planned maintenance to prevent potholes and other defects from forming in the first place is vital, and the Department advocates a risk-based, whole life-cycle asset management approach to all aspects of the local highway network.

To assist local authorities in treating potholes and other road defects, the Department worked with the Association of Directors, for Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) to publish in 2019 Potholes: a repair guide.

The Government has committed £915 million per year for local highways maintenance for local highway authorities outside London and Mayoral Combined Authorities, for the three years starting 2022-23, which includes pothole funding.

14th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the nationwide cycle network benefits both cyclists and motorists.

The management of local roads, including provision of cycling facilities, is the responsibility of individual local traffic authorities. It is for them to ensure their streets are designed to provide safe movement for all road users. The Department has published updated guidance on Cycle Infrastructure Design to help local authorities deliver high quality cycle infrastructure in the future which can be accessed at www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycle-infrastructure-design-ltn-120. Cycling clearly does not work for everyone, or for every journey. But the more people that cycle, the more roadspace is freed up for those who really need to drive. High-quality infrastructure is a key part of enabling this.

The National Cycle Network (NCN), managed by Sustrans, is a UK-wide network of signed paths and routes for walking and cycling. It stretches over 12,000 miles and in 2019 an estimated 4.2 million people used the NCN to make almost 650 million journeys. Over 50% of journeys were made by modes other than a bicycle including equestrians.

On 14 May 2022 the Department announced £35m of funding for the National Cycle Network to deliver improved surfacing, widened paths and greater accessibility, such as the removal of barriers that impact disabled people and cyclists. Many of these projects are focused on canal towpaths, which are important elements of many local cycling and walking networks.

14th Jun 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that potholes are repaired by local highways authorities in a timely and suitable manner to ensure that roads are safe for cyclists.

Well-planned maintenance to prevent potholes and other defects from forming in the first place is vital, and the Department advocates a risk-based, whole life-cycle asset management approach to all aspects of the local highway network.

To assist local authorities in treating potholes and other road defects, the Department worked with the Association of Directors, for Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) to publish Potholes: a repair guide.

13th Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce endoscopy waiting lists in (a) Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System and (b) Warrington.

In July 2023, Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System (ICS) delivered 1,997 more gastroscopy procedures in July 2023 than in July 2018. Alongside this increase of almost 2,000 procedures, 70% of patients who require a gastroscopy are now seen within six weeks.

Cheshire and Merseyside ICS has also secured funding to support the delivery of more than 1,000 additional endoscopy procedures across Cheshire and Merseyside by the end of December 2023. Cheshire and Merseyside’s Diagnostic Programme is also progressing a number of workforce initiatives including a collaborative staff bank for the endoscopy workforce and an endoscopy academy to provide training and upskilling for the endoscopy workforce.

Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for endoscopy services, is one of this Government’s top priorities. This is a shared ambition amongst ICSs, including the Cheshire and Merseyside ICS.

£2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years to increase diagnostic capacity, including for endoscopy services. This funding will also increase the number of community diagnostic centres up to 160 by March 2025, including a number delivering endoscopy services.

30th Jan 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department has provided to increase the availability of NHS dental appointments in Warrington in the last 12 months.

In September 2022, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in Warrington. These will increase access to NHS dentistry whilst making the NHS dental contract more attractive to dental practices.

We have taken action to implement these changes, including through regulations that came into effect on 25th November 2022. The changes include a contractual requirement for NHS dentists to keep their NHS.UK profiles up to date, adherence to risk-based recall intervals, and enabling dentists to make better use of their team resources. The contractual changes of 28th December 2022 also provide for the commissioning of 110% of contracted Units of Dental Activities so that practices can deliver more NHS care, particularly in those areas where NHS dentistry is less prevalent.

NHS England is holding further discussions with the British Dental Association and other stakeholders for additional reforms of the NHS Dental System planned to take place in 2023

24th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of mental health spending on drugs trials takes place in the North West of England.

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Since 2018, the NIHR has invested approximately £41 million through research programmes on pharmaceutical trials in mental health. Of this, £836,772 has been awarded to organisations in the North West of England. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including mental health. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions.

8th Nov 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to make Olaparib available on the NHS for people with prostate cancer.

In October 2022, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance which does not recommend olaparib for the treatment of prostate cancer. ‘Olaparib for previously treated BRCA mutation-positive hormone-relapsed metastatic prostate cancer’ is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta831

NICE continues to survey new evidence which may affect its published guidance and would consult on proposed changes with a wide range of stakeholders if significant new evidence were to emerge.

19th Jul 2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to make Avastin available on the NHS for people with stage 3 or 4 bowel cancer.

Bevacizumab (Avastin) is not routinely funded on the National Health Service in England. In 2012, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) considered the clinical and cost-effectiveness of bevacizumab for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer in adults. However, it was unable to recommend the drug as an effective use of resources. NICE monitors new evidence which may affect its guidance and would consult on proposed changes with stakeholders if any such evidence emerges.

Where a treatment is not routinely commissioned by the NHS, a patient’s clinician may submit an individual funding request if they consider it is in the patient’s best interests.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
23rd Oct 2023
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure consistency of collection of tax on the interest of savings that are not due until maturity of the savings bond.

The taxation of interest arising on savings bonds depends on the terms and conditions applying to each and may differ as not all savings bonds are the same.

Income tax is charged on the full amount of interest ‘arising’ to a person in a tax year and interest normally ‘arises’ when the amount is received or is credited to an account on which the holder is free to draw.

The terms of a savings bond may be that interest is credited each year and, once credited, the bondholder is able to draw on it. In this case, the interest arises each year and is taxed each year as it is credited.

On the other hand, it is possible that interest may be credited each year, but the terms of the bond may mean the bondholder cannot draw on it or benefit from it until the end of the term. In that case all the interest paid on the bond would be regarded as ‘arising’ when it became available to the bondholder on maturity of the bond.

This long-standing position is explained in HMRC’s guidance at SAIM2440, and there have been no recent changes.

In either case, to the extent that the interest arising in any year is not covered by personal allowances, such as the Personal Savings Allowance, the tax will be collected in the same way, usually through a taxpayer’s PAYE code or a self-assessment tax return.

Andrew Griffith
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, what guidance her Department issues on fire safety in high-rise residential buildings; and whether that guidance includes instructions for residents of such buildings on action to take in the event of a fire.

The Home Office, as the Department responsible for fire safety, publishes a suite of guides to help Responsible Persons (RPs) understand and meet their legal duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO), and regulations made under Article 24 of the FSO, in specific types of premises including high rise purpose-built blocks of flats. This includes guidance on how to meet their legal duties in relation to providing instructions for residents on what action to take in the event of a fire.

The Home Office has also issued guidance on the new legal duties RPs have to ensure residents are aware of the steps they are required to take in the event of a fire as part of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 that came into force on 23 January 2023.

Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
7th Jun 2021
What steps her Department is taking to increase financial support for the police.

In February, the Government published a total police funding settlement of up to £15.8 billion in 2021/22.

This is an increase of up to £600 million compared to 2020/21 and cements our commitment to give the police the resources they need to keep the public safe.

7th Feb 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of spending on defence procurement was placed with UK companies in the latest period for which data is available.

The Department's latest publication on its regional expenditure with UK industry and commerce and supported employment for 2021-22 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-regional-expenditure-with-uk-industry-and-supported-employment-202122.

The MOD remains committed to its aim of ensuring the UK continues to have a world-leading defence and security industrial base. In 2021-22, over £21 billion of around £23.4 billion overall expenditure with industry was spent in the UK. These statistics relate to expenditure within the UK, based on the location of where work has taken place, and do not take account of corporate structure and ultimate ownership of each company.

Alex Chalk
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
20th Jul 2020
What plans he has to help first-time buyers to purchase their own homes.

This Government will reset our national homeownership offer – ensuring local people and key workers have the opportunity to build a life in their own community.

First Homes, our new homeownership programme, will discount homes by at least 30 per cent for key workers, local people, and first-time buyers – including those who have done so much to respond to the Covid-19 outbreak. We recently closed our consultation on First Homes and will publish our response soon.

At the same time our new £12 billion investment in affordable homes will create thousands of new homes for Shared Ownership.

And all of this adds to other Government-backed schemes, including Help to Buy, which have supported over 627,000 households into homeownership since 2010.

15th Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve the court estate.

The condition of the court estate matters – for the standing of the justice system in our society, but also for all court users, including the victims and witnesses who rely on the courts to see justice done.

We have significantly increased the budget to maintain the court and tribunal estate. The £220m two-year settlement is already enabling major estates projects to be planned with certainty and efficiency.

Mike Freer
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)