Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with US counterparts on the British Indian Ocean Territory since President Trump took office.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Secretary of State for Defence held an introductory call with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on 31 January 2025, during which they discussed a wide range of security issues. Ministers and officials will continue to hold regular meetings with their US counterparts, including on the long-term protection of the base on Diego Garcia as a shared UK and US priority.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes made to the level of employer National Insurance contributions at the Autumn Budget 2024 on hospitality businesses in Bromsgrove.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy; and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

Estimates of the impact on businesses in Bromsgrove from changes to Employer NICs announced at Autumn Budget 2024 are not available.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to change the historic vehicle tax exemption threshold to 30 years.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

At Budget 2014 the previous Government announced that it would introduce a rolling 40-year VED exemption for classic cars. This means that currently vehicles constructed before 1 January 1984 are exempt from paying VED.

The law does not specifically define a vehicle as historic or classic for registration purposes, and it is widely recognised that there are many factors other than age which influence whether a car is considered as classic. The previous Government therefore set 40 years as being a fair cut-off date to distinguish classic cars from older cars.

While there are no plans to reduce the tax exemption age for classic cars from 40 years, the Government keeps all taxes under review, and welcomes representations from the public about how the tax system could be improved.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to procure British manufactured vehicles for use by the Government Car Service.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government Car Service (GCS) is committed to supporting British businesses wherever possible, and approximately half of the vehicles in the GCS fleet are manufactured in the United Kingdom. However, public sector procurement is governed by clear principles, including value for money, transparency, and fair competition, which guide GCS purchasing decisions.

This approach ensures that all vehicles are assessed based on objective criteria such as quality, cost-effectiveness, and suitability for purpose. Where British manufactured vehicles meet GCS requirements and offer the best overall value, they are prioritised in line with procurement regulations.

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 help promote retail entrepreneurship in Bromsgrove constituency.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government supports entrepreneurs, including those in Bromsgrove, through Start-up Loans via the British Business Bank and through programmes such as Growth Hubs in England and Help to Grow: Management across the UK. We will publish our Small Business Strategy later this year, which will signal a clear overarching ambition to promote entrepreneurship and articulate a new vision for business support, built around the new Business Growth Service. The strategy will enable scale-ups and other small businesses to grow, empowering entrepreneurs to innovate, export, and create new jobs.

Our Industrial Strategy is unreservedly pro-business, engaging on complex issues that are barriers to investment, like skills, recruitment of international talent, data, R&D, technology adoption, access to finance, competition, regulation, energy prices, grid connections, infrastructure, and planning – all through the lens of promoting investment.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military pensions are unclaimed; and what steps his Department is taking to increase the claimant rate of those pensions.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The estimated number of unclaimed pensions as of March 2024, the end of the last financial year, was 14,797.

Tables on membership can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66977e29a3c2a28abb50d0d1/Armed_Forces_Pension_Scheme_annual_accounts_2023_to_2024.pdf

Once a pension reaches 60 working days past the point of being due for payment, proactive attempts are made to trace the member and, on receiving a current address, an explanatory letter and application form is sent advising that a pension may be due. If returned, the deferred pension is put into payment.

Where there is information advising that the individual is deceased, the MOD engages to confirm whether there are any dependants and then process as normal.

In addition, in an aim to increase the claimant rate of those pensions, on receipt of their HM Armed Forces Veteran Card, individuals are advised to review the Deferred Pension Booklet on the gov.uk website to check their possible entitlement and submit a claim if appropriate.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will use a digital veteran card.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

Based on census data and other sources, there are currently around two million Veterans, all of whom will be able to apply for a Virtual Veterans Card.

The Veterans Data Dashboard is publicly available at the following link:

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/office.for.veterans.affairs/viz/2024-07-29VeteransDataDashboardv2final/Story1

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of excluding China from the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme on UK national security.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is currently working at pace to implement the scheme, which is expected to commence in 2025. The proposed foreign entities to be included in the scheme will be subject to formal debate and agreement by both Houses of Parliament in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of numbers of magistrates.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government is committed to increasing the number of magistrates and we aim to recruit up to 2,000 magistrates per year. We are investing in recruitment to ensure that we build a larger and more diverse group of magistrates to meet the needs of our courts. We are also continuously improving our recruitment process collaborating with the magistracy and Advisory Committees.

As of 01 April 2024, there were 14,576 active magistrates in England and Wales, an increase of 2,907 since the start of the Magistrate Attraction and Recruitment Campaign in January 2022. The next set of statistics for the period April 2024 to March 2025 will be published in July 2025.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with the United States State Department on trade.

Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The UK looks forward to working with President Trump and his administration to deepen our trading relationship with the US. The Prime Minister had a warm call with President Trump on 26 January where they discussed trade and the economy, and agreed to meet soon for further discussions.

The US Government has clear rules that preclude other governments from formally engaging with members of the US Cabinet before they are officially confirmed by the Senate. We are still waiting for both the Commerce Secretary and the US Trade Representative to be confirmed by the Senate.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, by what date her Department plans to commence structural reform in Worcestershire.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I wrote to all councils in Worcestershire on 5 February to formally invite unitary proposals. We have published these letters here. This letter set out the timelines and next steps for local government re-organisation.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of social media access on youth mental health.

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

In November 2024, DSIT announced a feasibility study to further understand the impact of smartphones and social media on children.

The study will review existing evidence and assess which research methods will be most effective in determining the causal effect of social media and smartphones on children’s developmental outcomes. The study will conclude in May 2025.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants funded by central government work in Bromsgrove constituency.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The location of civil servants is mapped and published at International Territorial Levels (ITLs) and Local Administrative Units (LAUs) only, and not by parliamentary constituency. However, the boundary for the parliamentary constituency of Bromsgrove aligns with the LAU of Bromsgrove. As of 31 March 2024 there were approximately 590 civil servants (headcount) employed and based in Bromsgrove. This information has been sourced from Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES) 2024, Cabinet Office.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of building Westerly slip road access to the M42 from J1 of the M42.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

There are no plans to introduce westbound access to the M42 at Junction 1 owing to the close proximity of the Junction to the M5 Catshill interchange, half a mile to the west. National Highways has determined that due to the significant amount of weaving and lane changing already required to access Catshill Interchange, adding a new merge at this location off Junction 1 would introduce a considerable and unacceptable level of safety risk to road users.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many and what proportion of items of correspondence from Parliamentarians received by (a) his Department, (b) himself and (c) his ministerial team have not yet received a substantive response in each month since August 2024.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The total number and proportion of parliamentarian correspondence received by the FCDO (including the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the ministerial team) each month since August 2024 that has not yet received a substantive response:

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the time period between MOTs for privately registered passenger vehicles under ten years of age from one to two years.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The MOT test is a vital part of keeping our roads safe. Many motorists rely on it to identify and fix potentially dangerous faults with their vehicle. Any changes made to the frequency of testing risk increasing the number of serious injuries and fatalities on our roads and must therefore be considered very carefully.

The Department for Transport published a consultation on changing the date of the first MOT test in 2023. Of those who responded 84% opposed changing the date of the first test with the decision made not to change it. The associated call for evidence also asked for opinions on the frequency of testing, and the Department has been considering those responses as part of a wider review of the MOT. In that context there are currently no plans to alter the frequency of MOT testing.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to reduce trade barriers between Northern Ireland and (a) Bromsgrove and (b) other parts of Great Britain.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

This Government is committed to implementing the Windsor Framework in good faith, to taking all steps necessary to protect the UK internal market, and to taking forward Safeguarding the Union. The Windsor Framework ensures Northern Ireland’s businesses have unfettered access to their most important market in Great Britain, including Bromsgrove, and the UK internal market system is helping to smooth the flow of trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

We are also seeking a veterinary/SPS agreement with the EU, which would further remove barriers to the movement of animal, food and plant products across the Irish Sea.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will take steps to reduce levels of congestion in Hagley resulting from recurring roadworks.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Highway authorities have a range of powers to manage and co-ordinate road works on their road network and reduce the impact they have on congestion. Councils can also introduce lane rental schemes to target works on the busiest roads at the busiest times.

But we know how frustrating it is when road works are poorly managed and run over time, which is why we have recently announced increases in penalties for utility companies and the extension of overrun charges to the weekend.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to fund new schools in Bromsgrove constituency.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Local authorities are responsible for providing enough school places for children in their area. Where the need for a new school has been identified, local authorities must currently seek proposals for a new academy, or free school, under section 6A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. This is known as the ‘free school presumption’ process.

Changes to the legal framework for opening new schools will be introduced through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. The measures will remove the legal presumption that all new schools are opened as academies, allowing local authorities to welcome proposals for all types of school and to put forward their own proposals where they choose to do so. This will ensure new schools are simply opened by the provider with the best offer for local children and families.

The department provides the Basic Need capital grant to support local authorities to provide mainstream school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and capacity data. We provide High Needs Provision capital allocations to support the provision of new places and improve existing provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities or requiring alternative provision. Local authorities can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools.

Financial contributions from housing developers are also an important way of helping to meet demand for new school places when housing developments are driving pupil numbers. It is for the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to secure developer contributions through section 106 agreements or the Community Infrastructure Levy and to decide on the local infrastructure needs that this contribution should support. The department encourages LPAs to secure significant contributions for new school places and work closely with colleagues planning school places in their area, including county councils when the local authority responsible for education is not the LPA.

There are no centrally-delivered free school projects currently planned for the Bromsgrove area.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what changes have there been in the number of GPs working between 5 July 2024 and 31 January 2025 in Bromsgrove constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

General practice workforce data is available for the last working day of every month and is published approximately four weeks after collection. Therefore, we present data for 31 July 2024 and 31 December 2024.

Between 31 July 2024 and 31 December 2024, the number of fully qualified general practitioners (GPs) in general practice in Bromsgrove constituency increased by 0.1 full-time equivalent (FTE). Including GPs in training grade, the number of doctors in general practice increased by 2.3 FTE over the same period.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of Alvechurch train station car park.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

We understand that West Midlands Trains (WMT) has acted positively on feedback about Alvechurch train station car park. It has done so by putting in place a maintenance programme that helps preserve the right of way to Alvechurch and Bordesley Nursery School via the car park.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the waiting time for firearms license applications.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

On 15 January, the Government laid a statutory instrument before Parliament that will increase fees charged by police forces to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications, giving effect to a commitment in the Government’s manifesto. The new fees will come into force on 5 February 2025.

The fees were last increased in 2015 and they no longer meet the cost of the service provided. It is essential for both public safety and police efficiency that full cost recovery fees are introduced so that service improvements can be made. The need to increase firearms licensing fees to help address shortcomings in firearms licensing was highlighted by the Senior Coroner in his Preventing Future Deaths reports into the fatal shootings in Plymouth in August 2021.

The NPCC Lead on Firearms Licensing is developing a new performance framework for firearms licensing teams. In addition, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services will later this year be undertaking a thematic inspection of police forces’ arrangements in respect of firearms licensing.

A full impact assessment, which covers the impact of increased fees on the shooting community, was published alongside the statutory instrument.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been granted the right to remain in Bromsgrove constituency since July 2024.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the initial decision of asylum claims (including grants), is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. This data is not broken down by constituency. The Home Office does not track the addresses of those granted refugee status, and refugees are free to move around the UK or leave.

Data on asylum seekers on support by local authority is published in table Asy_D11 of the ‘Asylum seekers in receipt of support by local authority detailed datasets’. This data does not include information about the decisions made on the asylum claims of these individuals.

The latest data relates to the year ending September 2024. Data for October to December 2024 will be published on 27 February 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increasing firearms license fees on firearms license holders.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

On 15 January, the Government laid a statutory instrument before Parliament that will increase fees charged by police forces to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications, giving effect to a commitment in the Government’s manifesto. The new fees will come into force on 5 February 2025.

The fees were last increased in 2015 and they no longer meet the cost of the service provided. It is essential for both public safety and police efficiency that full cost recovery fees are introduced so that service improvements can be made. The need to increase firearms licensing fees to help address shortcomings in firearms licensing was highlighted by the Senior Coroner in his Preventing Future Deaths reports into the fatal shootings in Plymouth in August 2021.

The NPCC Lead on Firearms Licensing is developing a new performance framework for firearms licensing teams. In addition, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services will later this year be undertaking a thematic inspection of police forces’ arrangements in respect of firearms licensing.

A full impact assessment, which covers the impact of increased fees on the shooting community, was published alongside the statutory instrument.

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 charging asylum seekers for costs associated with their settlement in the UK.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

Current Home Office policy in this area remains the same as that in place under the previous government.

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 deporting foreign nationals resident in the UK that engage in activities contrary to British values.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

It is already government policy to pursue deportation where a foreign national:

• is convicted of an offence that has caused serious harm or if, the person has not yet been convicted of an offence, there is compelling circumstantial evidence that the person’s conduct or presence in the UK has or will cause serious harm;
• is a persistent offender;
• poses a threat to national security;
• is involved in gun crime or serious drug offending (regardless of the length of sentence received); or
• has participated in or facilitated a sham marriage.

In this Government’s first six months in office, we removed 2,580 foreign national offenders, a 23% increase on the same period twelve months prior.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the train service between Wythall and Birmingham.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

No specific assessment has recently been made of the adequacy of train services between Wythall and Birmingham. West Midlands Trains (WMT) keeps train loadings under review and are expected to adjust train lengths where possible.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of AI on the creative industries.

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

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport jointly published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024, seeking views on several topics relating to the interaction between copyright and AI.

The Government has published a summary assessment of options alongside the consultation which aims to provide context on the range and scale of impacts the Government is considering in these policies.

The Government welcomes further information and evidence on impacts, including the economic impact of AI on the creative industries, to help shape its thinking.

The consultation closes on 25 February.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has had recent discussions with his EU counterparts on linking the UK and EU emissions trading schemes.

Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero engages regularly with international counterparts on a number of issues.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants across Government are compressed hours workers on a four day week.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This information is not held centrally.

Decisions on terms and conditions of employment, including flexible working, are made by the employing department, depending on their specific business requirements and the nature of the role.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the level of population growth in Bromsgrove constituency in the next five years.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 5th February is attached.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the labour force to meet the Government's housing targets over the course of this Parliament.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government recognises the need to expand and upskill the construction workforce to meet our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of delivering 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament.

We are working with industry to ensure the housebuilding sector has access to the skilled workers needed. This includes a £140 million package of industry investment to deliver 5,000 more apprenticeship places through 32 new Homebuilding Skills Hubs.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much (a) her Department and (b) each of its Arm’s Length Bodies has spent on external public relations since 5 July 2024; and which firms that funding went to.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Public relations activity is a subset of communication spend. As such, this data is not held. The Government Communication Service encourages the prioritisation of low and no cost public relations activities wherever possible.

It is recommended that all external communications support should be procured through approved government frameworks, with strict controls in place to ensure cost-effectiveness.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what his Department's research and development budget was in the (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 financial year.

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

DSIT’s closing R&D budget for 2023-24 was £12,300m. This reflects the position post-Machinery of Government changes, comprising elements of the R&D budgets of DSIT’s predecessor departments.

DSIT’s R&D budget for 2024-25, updated at Autumn Budget 2024 is £12,500m*.

* Rounded to nearest £100m

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent trends in the level of funding for the Listed Places of Worship Scheme on the VAT rebate threshold for large church restoration projects.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

On the 22nd of January, I was pleased to announce that the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme would continue from March 2025 to March 2026 with a budget of £23m.

Further details can be found here in the Written Statement.

As I said in his Westminster Hall debate on the subject, based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by the change.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of building a westerly relief road around Bromsgrove.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

It is for the local authority to identify which local road schemes should be proposed and progressed as part of their strategic transport plans. It would therefore be for Worcestershire County Council to bring forward any plans for a westerly bypass for Bromsgrove, should it wish to do so.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with her French counterpart on reducing illegal migration from France.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Secretary is in regular contact with her French counterpart, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, to discuss ongoing cooperation on reducing irregular migration via France to the UK.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what provision she has made for the costs associated with the proposed Treaty with Mauritius on the future sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory in her Departmental Budget; and from which Departmental budget will the settlement be paid.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The FCDO and the MOD are the lead departments for this agreement. Any financial obligations, including departmental budgetary responsibilities, will be managed responsibly within the government’s fiscal framework, including through the upcoming Spending Review.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of eligible pensioners who were not claiming Pension Credit in Bromsgrove constituency on 31 January 2025.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

In published DWP Pension Credit Take-up statistics, it is estimated that up to 760,000 households who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit. These statistics are only available at Great Britain level and cannot be broken down to smaller geographical areas. The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics for Great Britain cover the financial year 2022 to 2023 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK

Latest caseload statistics show that at May 2024, there were 1,354,446 people in receipt of Pension Credit in Great Britain, of which 1,443 were in Bromsgrove constituency. This data is available via DWP Stat-xplore.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of Chinese manufacturing in delivering the Government's Clean Power 2030 goal.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As set out in the Integrated Review Refresh, a positive trading relationship benefits both the UK and China, and we continue to recognise the importance of trade and investment from China where it is safe, reciprocal and mutually beneficial.

The Government works closely with industry to maintain a detailed picture of foreign involvement in critical national infrastructure. Foreign involvement in critical national infrastructure undergoes the highest levels of scrutiny, with the government and industry working alongside each other to monitor and mitigate the security risks in the energy sector and its supply chain.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) disruption to and (b) interference with interconnectors on the UK's energy (i) security and (ii) resilience.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero is working across Whitehall and with energy owners, operators, and regulators to ensure that interconnectors are proportionately protected against hazards and malicious threats. Great Britain has a highly resilient and diverse energy network, and we are confident that the gas and electricity system operators have the tools they need to effectively balance supply and demand in a wide range of scenarios. This includes ensuring robust plans are in place to mitigate the impacts of a gas or electricity disruption as far as possible, in the event that they occur.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many state school teachers were employed in Bromsgrove constituency on (a) 5 July 2024 and (b) 6 February 2025.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers in each school, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

As of November 2023, the latest date for which data is available, there were 943 full-time equivalent teachers employed in the 38 state-funded schools in Bromsgrove constituency.

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 support local museums.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Local museums animate towns, high streets and rural communities across the country. Their programmes and activities promote education, entertainment and wellbeing, and play an important role in delivering the government’s agenda.

The Government, with Arts Council England (ACE), supports local museums through the ACE 2023-26 National Portfolio supporting 80 museum organisations with £37m annually, and a further £3m annually is invested in the Museum Development Network. The Government also funds regional museums maintenance through the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND), with £86.6 million committed to date, and provides tax incentives through both the Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief, and the VAT Refund Scheme for museums. We hope to announce more soon.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff are employed in (a) clinical, (b) executive and (c) managerial positions across the NHS; and whether he has made an estimate of the number of surplus (i) managerial and (ii) executive roles.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England publishes monthly Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and integrated care systems but excludes staff working for other providers such as in general practice or social care. There is also quarterly data published on staff working in central bodies such as NHS England. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR), the Human Resources system for the National Health Service. Data is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics

These statistics show that as of November 2024, there are 736,140 full-time equivalent (FTE) professionally qualified clinical staff employed by NHS trusts and integrated care boards in England. These work alongside a further 412,036 FTE patient facing support staff. There are also 26,751 FTE managers and 13,472 FTE senior managers.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of armed forces personnel are serving in military bands; and what funding his Department has made available to military bands.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Government is proud of those who serve in our military bands. They not only support all year-round engagements but also serve secondary roles supporting defence. Armed Forces personnel who serve in military bands have a secondary specialisation in support of operations; for example those in the Army support deployed medicine; Naval personnel can form part of a medical team on board a casualty-receiving facility, and Royal Air Force Musicians are also trained in the Counter-CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear) role of establishing and running a Casualty Decontamination Area, a declared NATO capability.

The number and proportion of Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM) and Royal Air Force (RAF) Full-Time Trained Strength (FTTS) and Army Full-Time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS) Personnel serving in Military Bands as at 1 April 2024 was:

Source: Analysis (Tri-Service)

In the most recent Financial Year (FY, 2023-24), expenditure on all band activity was as follows:

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many licensed public houses were operating on (a) 5 July 2024 and (b) 31 January 2025 in Bromsgrove constituency.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 6th February is attached.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of capping annual net-migration into the United Kingdom.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

I refer the Hon Member to the Answer provided on 05 December to Question UIN 16705.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the Married Couple's Allowance.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Married Couple’s Allowance allows married couples and civil partners to reduce their tax bill by 10 per cent of the allowance amount, provided that at least one partner was born before 6 April 1935.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government uprated the Married Couple’s Allowance in line with inflation, as is default policy, so that it is valued to be between £4,280 and £11,080 in 2024-25.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with West Midlands Railway on restoring the number of services between North Worcestershire and Birmingham to six per hour.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Secretary of State has not had discussions with West Midlands Trains on this specific matter, but officials have done so. We keep service provision under constant review but have to balance the costs of providing additional services with the needs of taxpayers.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of small businesses in Bromsgrove constituency (a) in July 2024 and (b) as of 6 February 2025.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 6th February is attached.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has plans to increase the grading of students that move to state schools from independent schools.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member for Bromsgrove directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the United States Department of State on the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign Secretary and the US Secretary of State had a phone call on 27 January where they discussed a range of shared UK/US priorities, including the long-term protection of the base on Diego Garcia.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of business rate reform to incentivise retail business investment in (a) Bromsgrove constituency and (b) across the United Kingdom.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government is creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century.

At Autumn Budget 2024, we made the first step with the announcement of permanently lower tax rates for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure properties with rateable values below £500,000 from 2026-27.

The Discussion Paper published at Budget sets out priority areas for reform and invites businesses to have a conversation with government about transforming the business rates system over the course of this Parliament, including how to incentivise investment.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to increase the Income Tax Personal Allowance.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

At our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze - implemented by the previous Government - on the Personal Allowance. As a result, the Personal Allowance will rise with inflation from April 2028.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reducing academic barriers to entry to the nursing profession.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No such assessment has been made.

Universities are responsible for setting their entry requirements in line with standards of proficiency, conduct and performance of nurses, as set out by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. It would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene in this process, to respect the independence and expertise of universities and regulators designing standards and curricular that ensure public safety.

For those whom a traditional full-time university course is not practical or preferred, there is an alternative route into the nursing profession via a registered nurse degree apprenticeship.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of items of correspondence from Parliamentarians received by (a) her Department, (b) herself and (c) her ministerial team have not yet received a substantive response in each month since August 2024 .

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

An annual correspondence report, across all departments, will be published in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of a 0% interest rate for student loans for the study of specific courses.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Student loans are subject to interest to ensure that those who can afford to do so contribute to the full cost of their degree, irrespective of the subject studied. The student loan system has significant borrower protections, and the government has not made an assessment of the impact of making interest rates dependent on the course studied.

Interest rates on student loans do not affect monthly repayments made by borrowers. Regular repayments are based on a fixed percentage of earnings above the applicable student loan repayment threshold, not on amount borrowed or the rate of interest. If a borrower’s income drops, so does the amount they repay. If income is below the relevant student loan repayment threshold, or a borrower is not earning, then they do not have to make repayments at all. Any outstanding debt, including interest built up, is written off after the loan term ends, or in case of death or disability, at no detriment to the borrower.

Interest rates are set annually in relation to the Retail Price Index (RPI). The government caps maximum student loan rates when needed to ensure that student loan interest rates do not exceed market rates for comparable unsecured personal loans.

The government is determined that the higher education funding system should deliver for our economy, for universities, and for students. The department is considering the system and will continue to engage with stakeholders on this.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of bus services in Bromsgrove constituency.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The government knows that a modern public transport network is vital to providing access to services and keeping communities connected. The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December to put the power over local bus services back into the hands of local leaders. In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. Worcestershire County Authority have been allocated over £9 million of this funding, helping to improve bus services across the area, including Bromsgrove.

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 trends in the level of demand for Ozempic on the NHS.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table, while not reflecting demand, does provide the total number of Ozempic injections that were dispensed under the National Health Service in England, prescribed each year from January 2019 to November 2024:

The Prescription Cost Analysis data release gives items and quantities of each medicine dispensed in the community in England.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase the provision of radiographers in the NHS.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan, which will be published this summer, will deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and will ensure that the National Health Service has the right people, including radiographers, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.

To supplement the student loan support provided by the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care provides non-repayable and non-income assessed funding via the NHS Learning Support Fund. All eligible nursing, midwifery and allied health professions students, including those studying radiography, receive a grant of £5,000 per academic year. Radiography students receive an additional specialist subject payment of £1,000 per year, with a further £2,000 per year available for childcare, as well as support for placement travel and accommodation costs. Students in exceptional hardship can also access up to a further £3,000 per year.

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 potential impact of AI on (a) hospital waiting times and (b) the number of missed appointments.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have huge potential in improving productivity across the National Health Service by supporting clinicians with faster and more accurate diagnosis, enhancing clinical decision-making about treatment plans, and reducing the administrative burden faced by healthcare staff. The Department and NHS England are developing guidance for the responsible use of these tools and how they can be rolled out to make the day-to-day operations of the NHS more productive.

Patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. Currently, the waiting list stands at 7.48 million, with only 59% waiting less than 18 weeks for treatment. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment. The plan includes exploring opportunities for digital innovation and looking at where these can be adopted more widely to improve patient experience and care. For example, some trusts are using AI as part of their process for waiting list validation in addition to clinical validation, which helps to ensure waiting lists are accurate and up to date as well as enabling more efficient use of clinical time.

Other areas of digital innovation across the NHS include the use of AI prediction that helps prevent missed appointments and maximise clinic utilisation by supporting teams to fill appointments that patients can no longer use. The Elective Reform Plan commits to enhance two-way communication between hospitals and patients and use the results of AI work to predict who will miss appointments to target communications and prevent up to one million missed appointments.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has plans to increase funding for SEND provision in Bromsgrove constituency.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

Following the 2024 Autumn Budget, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to £11.9 billion. Of that total, Worcestershire County Council is being allocated over £97 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £7.5 million on this year’s DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 8.3% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on the equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.

In addition to the DSG, local authorities will also receive a separate core schools budget grant (CSBG), and funding in respect of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions in 2025/26. This CSBG continues the separate grants payable this year, which are to help special schools and alternative provision with the costs of teachers’ pay and pension increases, as well as the costs of pay increases for other members of staff. Individual local authorities’ allocations for both grants for the 2025/26 financial year will be published in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with hon. Members from Worcestershire on local government reform.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Secretary of State has not had discussions with Members from Worcestershire on local government reform.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many successful prosecutions for (a) fly tipping and (b) environmental crime there were in 2024 in Bromsgrove constituency, by category.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions, such as prosecutions, to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. This data isn't available at a constituency level and excludes the majority of private-land incidents.

Data for the 2023/24 reporting year will be published on 26 February 2025. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected.

The Environment Agency investigates fly tipping where the waste is more than 20 tonnes, a specified amount of hazardous waste, or is suspected to be linked to organised.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle crime that crosses police force boundaries.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is committed to ensuring that law enforcement has the resources it needs to tackle crime effectively, including when crime crosses police force boundaries.

When it does, the National Crime Agency (NCA), which leads the UK's fight to cut serious and organised crime, and policing’s Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) network, have specialised intelligence and investigative teams that are deployed across the full range of threats to bring offenders to justice. This includes tackling ‘borderless’ serious crimes including fraud, cyber-enabled criminality, online child sexual exploitation and abuse and County Lines.

Both the NCA and ROCU network have been allocated significant resources to enhance their capacity and capability to continue tackling serious crime at both national and regional levels.

The Home Office is also funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response to County Lines. This is vital in strengthening the law enforcement response and enabling police forces to work together to tackle this complex issue.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to agricultural property relief on the domestic dairy farming industry.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 gets the balance right between supporting farms and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992.

The reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, in 2026-27 paying more inheritance tax. This means almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.

In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on rural entrepreneurship.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy on the dairy industry.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) is a tax on pre-packaged soft drinks with added sugar. Drinks without added sugars, such as plain cow’s milk, are not in scope of SDIL.

At Autumn Budget, the Chancellor announced a review of SDIL, including the current exemption from the levy for milk-based drinks.

The current exemption applies to milk-based drinks containing at least 75ml of milk per 100ml.

Due to the high sugar content of some milk-based drinks, the Government is reconsidering the evidence justifying the exemption. As young people only get 3.5% of their calcium intake from milk-based drinks, it is likely that the health benefits do not justify the harms from excess sugar.

The review will consider a variety of evidence, including the potential impacts to the diary industry, and no decisions have yet been made. The Government expects the review will conclude in Spring 2025.

More details of the review can be found on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/soft-drinks-industry-levy-review/hmt-hmrc-soft-drinks-industry-levy-review

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps with voluntary organisations to help increase the number of adult volunteers in (a) uniformed youth activity groups and (b) Scouts.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

To date, the DCMS Uniformed Youth Fund has enabled Uniformed Youth organisations to recruit over 4,200 adult volunteers in hundreds of new or expanded units across England, and created over 20,500 new places for young people. This includes over 1,000 new volunteers who have been recruited by the Scouts.

In line with the National Youth Strategy announcement in November 2024, the Government has committed to continue funding Uniformed Youth organisations in 2025/26 to ensure young people can continue to access opportunities outside of school in all parts of the country. More details will be shared in due course.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of criminal sanctions for fly tipping.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We have committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess they have created. This will build on the sanctions already available which include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, seizing of vehicles and prosecution which can lead to a significant fine, a community sentence or even imprisonment. Sentencing is a matter for the independent courts. We do not intend to carry out any further assessment of criminal sanctions for fly tipping.

We encourage councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are considering if further guidance is needed.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to increase youth services provision in Bromsgrove constituency.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Local Authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people in their area.We will be launching the Local Youth Transformation pilot this year, which will support local authorities to build back capability to ensure a youth offer which addresses the needs of young people and delivers on government priorities.

This government has also committed to co-producing a new National Youth Strategy. As part of the Strategy, we will be consulting closely with young people and the youth sector. The Strategy will be published this summer.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of mandating the flying of the Union Flag on all (a) schools and (b) public buildings.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Flag flying guidance is issued each year for Government buildings. However we currently have no further plans to consider the requirement for schools or other public buildings to fly the Union Flag.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a strategic industry register to document key industries and companies of national significance.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The modern Industrial Strategy focuses on eight growth-driving sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy Industries, Creative Industries, Defense, Digital and Technologies, Financial Services, Life Sciences, and Professional and Business Services.

For each, an ambitious sector plan will be designed in partnership with business, devolved governments, regions and other stakeholders, through bespoke arrangements tailored to each sector. The industrial strategy, alongside sector plans for the growth-driving sectors, will be published in spring 2025, aligned with the multi-year spending review.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential (a) merits of the mandatory displaying of waste licence numbers on advertisements for waste disposal and (b) impact of doing so on the level of illegal disposal of waste.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The current waste carriers, brokers and dealers regulatory regime is not fit for purpose, so I have asked officials to look at how we strengthen that regime to crack down on waste criminals. This includes consideration of the mandatory display of waste licence numbers on advertising. A full impact assessment would be conducted ahead of any legislative reform.

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 adequacy of children’s A&E provision in North Worcestershire.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No such assessment has been made by the Department. The commissioning of children’s accident and emergency services in North Worcestershire is the responsibility of local National Health Service commissioners, in partnership with providers and in the best interest of their populations.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the risk of flooding in Bromsgrove constituency.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Communities at risk of flooding in the Bromsgrove constituency include Hagley, Hollywood, and Bromsgrove itself. At present, there have been no reports to the Environment Agency of property flooding in this constituency during the recent wet weather.

The Environment Agency has been supporting Worcestershire County Council as the Lead Local Flood Authority and Bromsgrove District Council, to establish flood risk management projects on the 2021-2026 Flood and Coastal Risk Management Investment Programme. Over £300,000 has been invested to date with a further £1.2 million planned to be invested under the new Government. The projects aim to better protect over 100 properties from flooding through Property Level Resilience interventions across Bromsgrove and Redditch Council areas.

The Environment Agency is engaging with the community at Hagley and Bromsgrove via flood action groups and responding to direct enquiries from residents.

A Flood Warning Service is available to over 900 homes and businesses at risk of flooding from main rivers in the constituency. The Environment Agency will continue to collaborate with partners towards raising awareness of flood risk in the area to support community resilience.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions (a) she, (b) Ministers and (c) officials in her Department have had on the sale of her Department's property at Tardebigge.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Ministry of Justice is in discussions with a potential purchaser for the former HMP Hewell Grange.

We are unable to comment further on these discussions at this time due to commercial confidentiality.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reasons the Government started negotiations with Mauritius on the future sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Negotiations were started by the previous Conservative Government.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether financial payments made as part of the proposed agreement between the UK and Mauritius agreement on the British Indian Ocean Territory would be subject to an inflationary escalator.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As made clear in the 3 October joint political declaration, the UK will make an indexed annual payment to Mauritius as part of its package of financial support.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of cooperation between state and independent schools on state schools.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education does not plan to make an assessment of the potential impact of cooperation between state and private schools on state schools.

Many of the schools involved in cross sector partnership working carry out their own impact assessments of the activities they are involved in, though the department does not endorse or assure such assessments.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many asylum seekers have received medical treatment in Bromsgrove constituency in the last two years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Due to the way in which the data is held, across multiple agencies, it is not possible to provide a total number of people seeking asylum who have received medical treatment by constituency during the last two years.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of linking vehicle excise duty to vehicle weight.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), sometimes known as 'road tax' or ‘car tax’, is a tax on vehicles used or kept on public roads. Different rates apply to cars, vans, and motorcycles, and the rate for each vehicle is calculated according to a range of factors, such as its date of first registration, weight, or CO₂ emissions.

Specifically for cars, from 1 April 2017, a reformed VED system was introduced for new cars. Under the reformed VED system, new cars pay a variable first year rate according to the emissions of the vehicle, and zero emission models currently pay nothing.

As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, from 1 April 2025, the VED first year rates are changing to further support the take-up of electric vehicles. The changes announced will freeze the lowest rate for zero emission cars at £10 until 2029-30, and introduce higher rates for higher emitting hybrid and petrol/diesel cars. These changes will only affect those purchasing a new car from 1 April 2025.

The government has no current plans to change the VED treatment for cars to be based on weight. The government keeps all taxes under review and any changes are announced at fiscal events.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to increase the minimum threshold at which the Expensive Car Supplement is levied on vehicle excise duty.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Expensive Car Supplement is an additional VED charge for new cars with a list price of £40,000 or more, which is payable in year 2 – 6 of a car’s lifecycle.

As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the government recognises the disproportionate impact of the current VED Expensive Car Supplement threshold for those purchasing zero emission cars and will consider raising the threshold for zero emission cars only at a future fiscal event, to make it easier to buy electric cars.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the merits of increasing the maximum level of deposit protection afforded by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Eligible deposits held by UK banks, building societies and credit unions that are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000, with joint accounts protected up to £170,000. This limit is set by the PRA. The PRA is required to independently review the limit every five years, and its next review is due by the end of 2025. Any changes to the limit must be approved by the Treasury and the Government would carefully consider any changes proposed by the PRA.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the merits of increasing the maximum Premium Bond holding deposit.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government keeps the Premium Bond investment limit under review, to ensure that the limit continues to reflect the interests of savers, taxpayers, and the wider financial sector.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Prime Minister will make an assessment of the potential merits of inviting the Minister for Housing and Planning to Cabinet.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has responsibility for housing and planning policy in Cabinet.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of street racing on the A435 at Wythall; and what steps her Department plans to take to help increase prosecutions for these offences.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.

The Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee sets out our ambition to have a dedicated lead officer for ASB in every police force, working alongside communities on developing a bespoke ASB action plans for their area, in order to address the issues that matter most in local communities.

As part of that Guarantee, we will also put 13,000 additional neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities up and down the country by the end of the Parliament.

We are bringing forward new powers in the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill to ensure police and other agencies have the powers they need to tackle ASB, such as allowing the police to more swiftly seize vehicles being used antisocially, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing them. This will allow them to better deal with vehicles involved in street racing and car cruising.

We will also introduce Respect Orders, which can be applied for by the police and local councils and are issued by the courts. They will enable courts to place wide-ranging restrictions on the behaviour of the most persistent and disruptive ASB offenders. Breaching a Respect Order will be a criminal offence, allowing police officers to immediately arrest offenders and disrupt ongoing ASB.

Found: Christopher Chope; Torcuil Crichton; Wera Hobhouse; Josh MacAlister; Luke Murphy; Mike Reader; Bradley Thomas

Found: Christopher Chope; Torcuil Crichton; Wera Hobhouse; Josh MacAlister; Luke Murphy; Mike Reader; Bradley Thomas

Found: Torcuil Crichton; Wera Hobhouse; Josh MacAlister; Anneliese Midgley; Luke Murphy; Mike Reader; Bradley Thomas

Found: Torcuil Crichton; Wera Hobhouse; Josh MacAlister; Anneliese Midgley; Luke Murphy; Mike Reader; Bradley Thomas

Submit Evidence (by 8 Apr 2025)

The committee has launched an inquiry into the cost of energy.

Submit Evidence (by 8 Apr 2025)

The ability of the Government to make difficult decisions and to change the way in which energy is generated and used in the UK will depend on being able to bring the population along with them.

Submit Evidence (by 8 Apr 2025)

The previous Government published Civil Nuclear: Roadmap to 2050 in January 2024.