Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department plans to take to give powers to councils to reject applications for new betting shops, vapes stores and fake barbers.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government is taking action to give local authorities and communities the power greater control over the mix of uses on their high streets. Later this year Government will bring forward a new High Streets Strategy, backed by at least £150 million of support, to tackle the challenges care about most.

When parliamentary time allows, we will introduce Cumulative Impact Assessments in gambling licensing, enabling councils to better manage the concentration of gambling premises in vulnerable areas. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will also provide powers to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products. Alongside this, the 2025 Budget committed £15 million per year to tackle illegal activity on the high street.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to prioritise Skills Bootcamp funding for areas with demand for engineering and technical skills.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution; supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economies.

As part of this, a new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Under devolution, local areas are the commissioners of Skills Bootcamps and can plan provision according to local skills priorities. They are responsible for decisions relating to the allocation of funding to individual providers in line with their preferred commissioning method.

We will continue to work with local areas on the implementation of the new funding methodology.

The latest published data on Skills Bootcamps completions and outcomes by sector is available here Evaluation of Skills Bootcamps - 2022 to 2023 (Wave 3) completions and outcomes report.

The department does not publish estimates of Skills Bootcamps starts.

The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), an arm’s length body of the Department for Work and Pensions, is also supporting training and skills development for the Hinkley Point C projects. This includes investing in training programmes to support young and adult learners into employment with EDF and its supply chain, such as the ECITB scholarship which is providing training to 16-18 years olds in welding and pipefitting.

The ECITB is also supporting the Hinkley Support Operative Bronze Programme (HSO). By the end of 2026, ECITB’s support for the HSO programme over the past three years is projected to total more than £1.25 million, enabling more than 1100 learners to complete the course.

The ECITB has invested in £460,000 in state-of-the-art training rigs and £300,000 to support the capital costs of Centres of Excellence for mechanical and electrical training in the Somerset area.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the role of Skills Bootcamps in enabling workers from construction trades to retrain into mechanical, electrical and HVAC roles.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution; supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economies.

As part of this, a new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Under devolution, local areas are the commissioners of Skills Bootcamps and can plan provision according to local skills priorities. They are responsible for decisions relating to the allocation of funding to individual providers in line with their preferred commissioning method.

We will continue to work with local areas on the implementation of the new funding methodology.

The latest published data on Skills Bootcamps completions and outcomes by sector is available here Evaluation of Skills Bootcamps - 2022 to 2023 (Wave 3) completions and outcomes report.

The department does not publish estimates of Skills Bootcamps starts.

The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), an arm’s length body of the Department for Work and Pensions, is also supporting training and skills development for the Hinkley Point C projects. This includes investing in training programmes to support young and adult learners into employment with EDF and its supply chain, such as the ECITB scholarship which is providing training to 16-18 years olds in welding and pipefitting.

The ECITB is also supporting the Hinkley Support Operative Bronze Programme (HSO). By the end of 2026, ECITB’s support for the HSO programme over the past three years is projected to total more than £1.25 million, enabling more than 1100 learners to complete the course.

The ECITB has invested in £460,000 in state-of-the-art training rigs and £300,000 to support the capital costs of Centres of Excellence for mechanical and electrical training in the Somerset area.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people expected to enrol in Skills Bootcamps in Somerset in 2025–26.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution; supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economies.

As part of this, a new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Under devolution, local areas are the commissioners of Skills Bootcamps and can plan provision according to local skills priorities. They are responsible for decisions relating to the allocation of funding to individual providers in line with their preferred commissioning method.

We will continue to work with local areas on the implementation of the new funding methodology.

The latest published data on Skills Bootcamps completions and outcomes by sector is available here Evaluation of Skills Bootcamps - 2022 to 2023 (Wave 3) completions and outcomes report.

The department does not publish estimates of Skills Bootcamps starts.

The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), an arm’s length body of the Department for Work and Pensions, is also supporting training and skills development for the Hinkley Point C projects. This includes investing in training programmes to support young and adult learners into employment with EDF and its supply chain, such as the ECITB scholarship which is providing training to 16-18 years olds in welding and pipefitting.

The ECITB is also supporting the Hinkley Support Operative Bronze Programme (HSO). By the end of 2026, ECITB’s support for the HSO programme over the past three years is projected to total more than £1.25 million, enabling more than 1100 learners to complete the course.

The ECITB has invested in £460,000 in state-of-the-art training rigs and £300,000 to support the capital costs of Centres of Excellence for mechanical and electrical training in the Somerset area.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on progression from Skills Bootcamps into employment in the (a) nuclear and (b) energy sectors.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution; supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economies.

As part of this, a new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Under devolution, local areas are the commissioners of Skills Bootcamps and can plan provision according to local skills priorities. They are responsible for decisions relating to the allocation of funding to individual providers in line with their preferred commissioning method.

We will continue to work with local areas on the implementation of the new funding methodology.

The latest published data on Skills Bootcamps completions and outcomes by sector is available here Evaluation of Skills Bootcamps - 2022 to 2023 (Wave 3) completions and outcomes report.

The department does not publish estimates of Skills Bootcamps starts.

The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), an arm’s length body of the Department for Work and Pensions, is also supporting training and skills development for the Hinkley Point C projects. This includes investing in training programmes to support young and adult learners into employment with EDF and its supply chain, such as the ECITB scholarship which is providing training to 16-18 years olds in welding and pipefitting.

The ECITB is also supporting the Hinkley Support Operative Bronze Programme (HSO). By the end of 2026, ECITB’s support for the HSO programme over the past three years is projected to total more than £1.25 million, enabling more than 1100 learners to complete the course.

The ECITB has invested in £460,000 in state-of-the-art training rigs and £300,000 to support the capital costs of Centres of Excellence for mechanical and electrical training in the Somerset area.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed reduction in Skills Bootcamp funding on the supply of skilled workers required for major infrastructure projects, including Hinkley Point C.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are giving local areas greater control of the delivery of Skills Bootcamps in line with our commitment to devolution; supporting areas to use Skills Bootcamps to more closely meet the needs of their local employers and economies.

As part of this, a new funding model for local areas from 2026-27 will ensure the distribution of funding remains fit for purpose and sustainable as the programme matures.

Under devolution, local areas are the commissioners of Skills Bootcamps and can plan provision according to local skills priorities. They are responsible for decisions relating to the allocation of funding to individual providers in line with their preferred commissioning method.

We will continue to work with local areas on the implementation of the new funding methodology.

The latest published data on Skills Bootcamps completions and outcomes by sector is available here Evaluation of Skills Bootcamps - 2022 to 2023 (Wave 3) completions and outcomes report.

The department does not publish estimates of Skills Bootcamps starts.

The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), an arm’s length body of the Department for Work and Pensions, is also supporting training and skills development for the Hinkley Point C projects. This includes investing in training programmes to support young and adult learners into employment with EDF and its supply chain, such as the ECITB scholarship which is providing training to 16-18 years olds in welding and pipefitting.

The ECITB is also supporting the Hinkley Support Operative Bronze Programme (HSO). By the end of 2026, ECITB’s support for the HSO programme over the past three years is projected to total more than £1.25 million, enabling more than 1100 learners to complete the course.

The ECITB has invested in £460,000 in state-of-the-art training rigs and £300,000 to support the capital costs of Centres of Excellence for mechanical and electrical training in the Somerset area.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require that, once an eviction notice has been served to a traveller encampment, the same group cannot establish a further unlawful encampment within a defined radius of the original site.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Planning policy is clear that local authorities should assess the need for traveller sites in their area, and then plan to meet that need, in the same way they plan for all forms of housing.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government recently consulted on a new National Planning Policy Framework, which includes proposals that aim to give greater clarity on how traveller sites should be planned for, and which seeks views on the impacts of our policies on Gypsies and Travellers. The consultation closed on 10 March and responses are being analysed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help tackle illegal traveller encampments where the same group repeatedly relocates within a local area, requiring the local authority to obtain a new possession order.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Planning policy is clear that local authorities should assess the need for traveller sites in their area, and then plan to meet that need, in the same way they plan for all forms of housing.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government recently consulted on a new National Planning Policy Framework, which includes proposals that aim to give greater clarity on how traveller sites should be planned for, and which seeks views on the impacts of our policies on Gypsies and Travellers. The consultation closed on 10 March and responses are being analysed.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many meetings with representatives of social media companies (a) she and (b) her predecessor had while in post.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Ministers and officials regularly engage with social media companies on matters within the department’s remit.

In line with longstanding process, the full details of Ministerial and senior civil servant-level meetings are published publicly in quarterly transparency returns.

Found: Labour; Forest of Dean) Pam Cox (Labour; Colchester) Linsey Farnsworth (Labour; Amber Valley) Sir Ashley Fox

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Andy Slaughter (Chair); Linsey Farnsworth; Sir Ashley Fox; Warinder

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Andy Slaughter (Chair); Linsey Farnsworth; Sir Ashley Fox; Warinder