Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to roll out gigabit connectivity to remaining properties in Newcastle upon Tyne North constituency.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, almost 96% of premises in the Newcastle upon Tyne North constituency can already access a gigabit-capable broadband connection (>=1,000 Mbps).
We have created a pro-competition regulatory environment for the rollout of gigabit broadband. We expect further premises in the hon. Member’s constituency to be connected via broadband suppliers’ commercial rollout.
Any premises which do not receive a gigabit-capable connection through suppliers’ commercial rollout will be considered for inclusion within Project Gigabit, in line with the government’s commitment to achieving nationwide gigabit coverage by 2032.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle antisocial behaviour from (a) illegally modified and (b) off-road bikes in the Northumbria Police area.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
The Crime and Policing Bill will give police greater powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour involving vehicles of all types, including off-road and illegally modified e-bikes, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles. This will allow police to put an immediate stop to offending.
The Government has recently consulted on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially more quickly. The consultation closed on 8 July and the Government response will be published in due course.
These combined measures will help tackle the scourge of vehicles ridden anti-socially and will send a clear message to would-be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with Northumbrian Water on sewage from storm overflows in the Ouseburn.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers and officials have regular discussions with a range of stakeholders, including water companies, on many issues related to the water sector including sewage pollution.
This Government has put in place the building blocks to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.
The Water (Special Measures) Act introduced independent monitoring of every sewerage outlet, with water companies required to publish real-time data for all emergency overflows. This matches the pre-existing duty for storm overflows and create an unprecedented level of transparency. This will meet the Government commitment to ensure monitoring of every outlet.
The Independent Water Commission has examined how to strengthen the regulation and delivery of water services to better support long-term water security, sustainable growth, and environmental protection. The Former Secretary of State provided an Oral Statement to Parliament in response to the final report.
As Part of Price Review 24, which runs from 2025-2030, Northumbrian Water will be investing £1.1 billion to reduce the use of storm overflows by delivering on 159 spill reduction schemes. Northumbrian Water across 2025-2030 will undertake multiple site specific investigations in respect of the effects of intermittent discharges in respect of Environment Act objectives.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2023 to Question 519 on Schools: Buildings, what progress her Department has made on the system-built block assessment; and whether she has made an estimate of the number of schools where safety issues have been raised.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department follows Health and Safety Executive guidance on building safety issues, and monitors reports from Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures, the Institution of Structural Engineers, and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for any bulletins on safety that may impact the school estate.
Where the department is alerted to significant safety issues with a building that cannot be managed with local resources, the department provides additional support on a case-by-case basis. There are no areas within schools open to pupils where there is a known immediate safety issue.
The department is working with the sector to establish a research study of several system-built frame types to establish how these buildings will age.
Following the National Audit Office’s recommendation in their June 2023 report on Condition of School Buildings, the department is consulting external academic and other experts on the proposed research into system-built blocks through a workshop in late March 2024.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the number of children learning in the 15% of the school estate with the greatest repair need.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The first ever review of the condition of the school estate was the Property Data Survey, which was carried out between 2012 and 2014, and covered 85% of the school estate. This government introduced the Condition Data Collection (CDC), the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate and one of the largest data collection programmes of its kind in Europe. Almost all government funded schools in England were visited as part of CDC during 2017 to 2019. Thanks to the department’s evidence led approach, following the James Review of Capital in 2011, this government has been able to allocate capital funding based on consistent data on condition need. This is the first UK government in history to allocate capital funding based on a national assessment of condition need.
The department’s plan to ensure schools are well maintained is working. CDC2, the successor programme to CDC, is underway and is due to complete in 2026. Early indications of the department’s CDC2 data collection to date, and feedback from responsible bodies, shows that in almost every case where a D grade component was identified in the CDC1 report, it has since been addressed.
CDC uses floor area of buildings rather than pupil numbers as a consistent approach to assessing buildings. Key findings from the CDC1 programme can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will have discussions with (a) responsible bodies and (b) local authorities on their school estate management capability.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Responsibility for keeping buildings safe and well-maintained lies with schools and their responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies. The department supports these bodies by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes, and offering guidance and support.
Ministers have regular conversations with schools and their responsible bodies about school buildings and the management of their estates. Departmental officials also have regular conversations about estate management capability with organisations representing responsible bodies, as well as school estate management professionals with day-to-day experience managing their school estates to develop and improve the support the department offers.
The department regularly reminds responsible bodies of their legal duty to keep their buildings safe and maintain them in good order. Last year, the department updated the Academy Trust Handbook, adding a requirement for accounting officers to confirm that they are managing their estates in line with their existing responsibilities, as well as signposting to further guidance.
The department provides guidance, tools and support to help schools and responsible bodies effectively manage their school buildings and keep them safe, including the good estate management for schools (GEMS) guidance, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools. In addition, the Capital Advisers Programme is providing direct support to help academy trusts improve their estate management, by offering best practice recommendations from experienced technical advisers, in line with GEMS.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the average condition funding required per pupil by local authority.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Responsibility for keeping buildings safe and well-maintained lies with schools and their responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies. The department supports these bodies by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes, and offering guidance and support.
The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. The department’s aim for condition funding is that responsible bodies receive a fair share of the available budget that takes account of their relative condition need. The department uses consistent data on the condition of the school estate to inform the allocation of funding. This means that the department targets more funding to where it is needed most, with schools in relatively poorer condition attracting more funding for their responsible body. It is then up to responsible bodies to use their local knowledge of priorities to target this investment.
This government introduced the Condition Data Collection (CDC), the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate and one of the largest data collection programmes of its kind in Europe. Thanks to the department’s evidence led approach, following the James Review of Capital in 2011, this government has been able to allocate capital funding based on consistent data on condition need. Almost all government funded schools in England were visited as part of CDC during 2017 to 2019. As part of this, surveyors and engineers assessed the condition of multiple building and land components. This data was then used to estimate the remediation cost to bring all building components back to new or performing as intended. More information is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60af7cbbe90e071b54214c82/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf. This includes a regional breakdown of condition need.
CDC uses floor area of buildings rather than pupil numbers as a consistent approach to assessing buildings, alongside data on the condition of buildings. This is the approach also used in CDC2, the successor programme to CDC, which is underway and is due to complete in 2026. The average floor area per pupil varies depending on several factors, including the phase of education and type of school. Therefore, this is not an estimate that the department makes.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the total cost to the public purse of (a) repairing, (b) refurbishing and (c) rebuilding school buildings in the West Midlands.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Well-maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department to support a high-quality education for all children. The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme is transforming poor condition buildings at over 500 schools.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools, such as academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools based on local knowledge of their estates. They decide how to use annual funding provided, or when to apply to central programmes. Where there are serious issues with buildings that cannot be managed independently, the department provides additional support on a case-by-case basis.
This government introduced the Condition Data Collection (CDC), the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate and one of the largest data collection programmes of its kind in Europe. The department’s evidence-led approach, following the James Review of Capital in 2011, has enabled the department to use consistent data on the condition of the school estate to inform capital allocations and funding policy. This means that the department targets more funding to where it is needed most, with schools in relatively poorer condition attracting more funding for their responsible body.
Almost all government funded schools in England were visited as part of the Condition Data Collection 1 (CDC1) programme between 2017 and 2019. Surveyors and engineers assessed the condition of multiple components of the schools' buildings and land within twelve primary building elements using an A-D rating. Key findings, including regional breakdowns, from the CDC1 can be found in the report, ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey – Key Findings’, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60af7cbbe90e071b54214c82/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Significant capital investment has been provided since the CDC1 was carried out, and Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) is now in progress to provide updated information and will be completed by 2026. Early indications from the CDC2 data collection to date, and feedback from responsible bodies, showed that in almost every case where a D grade component was identified in the CDC1 report, it has since been addressed.
The list of schools that have been awarded a place on the School Rebuilding Programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
Funding for capital programmes up to the 2024/25 financial year comes from the department’s overall £19 billion capital budget set at the 2021 Spending Review. Capital budgets beyond 2024/25 will be determined through a Spending Review, in the normal way.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the total cost to the public purse of (a) repairing, (b) refurbishing and (c) rebuilding school buildings in the South East.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Well-maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department to support a high-quality education for all children. The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme is transforming poor condition buildings at over 500 schools.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools, such as academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools based on local knowledge of their estates. They decide how to use annual funding provided, or when to apply to central programmes. Where there are serious issues with buildings that cannot be managed independently, the department provides additional support on a case-by-case basis.
This government introduced the Condition Data Collection (CDC), the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate and one of the largest data collection programmes of its kind in Europe. The department’s evidence-led approach, following the James Review of Capital in 2011, has enabled the department to use consistent data on the condition of the school estate to inform capital allocations and funding policy. This means that the department targets more funding to where it is needed most, with schools in relatively poorer condition attracting more funding for their responsible body.
Almost all government funded schools in England were visited as part of the Condition Data Collection 1 (CDC1) programme between 2017 and 2019. Surveyors and engineers assessed the condition of multiple components of the schools' buildings and land within twelve primary building elements using an A-D rating. Key findings, including regional breakdowns, from the CDC1 can be found in the report, ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey – Key Findings’, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60af7cbbe90e071b54214c82/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Significant capital investment has been provided since the CDC1 was carried out, and Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) is now in progress to provide updated information and will be completed by 2026. Early indications from the CDC2 data collection to date, and feedback from responsible bodies, showed that in almost every case where a D grade component was identified in the CDC1 report, it has since been addressed.
The list of schools that have been awarded a place on the School Rebuilding Programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
Funding for capital programmes up to the 2024/25 financial year comes from the department’s overall £19 billion capital budget set at the 2021 Spending Review. Capital budgets beyond 2024/25 will be determined through a Spending Review, in the normal way.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the total cost to the public purse of (a) repairing, (b) refurbishing and (c) rebuilding school buildings in the North West.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Well-maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department to support a high-quality education for all children. The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme is transforming poor condition buildings at over 500 schools.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools, such as academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools based on local knowledge of their estates. They decide how to use annual funding provided, or when to apply to central programmes. Where there are serious issues with buildings that cannot be managed independently, the department provides additional support on a case-by-case basis.
This government introduced the Condition Data Collection (CDC), the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate and one of the largest data collection programmes of its kind in Europe. The department’s evidence-led approach, following the James Review of Capital in 2011, has enabled the department to use consistent data on the condition of the school estate to inform capital allocations and funding policy. This means that the department targets more funding to where it is needed most, with schools in relatively poorer condition attracting more funding for their responsible body.
Almost all government funded schools in England were visited as part of the Condition Data Collection 1 (CDC1) programme between 2017 and 2019. Surveyors and engineers assessed the condition of multiple components of the schools' buildings and land within twelve primary building elements using an A-D rating. Key findings, including regional breakdowns, from the CDC1 can be found in the report, ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey – Key Findings’, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60af7cbbe90e071b54214c82/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Significant capital investment has been provided since the CDC1 was carried out, and Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) is now in progress to provide updated information and will be completed by 2026. Early indications from the CDC2 data collection to date, and feedback from responsible bodies, showed that in almost every case where a D grade component was identified in the CDC1 report, it has since been addressed.
The list of schools that have been awarded a place on the School Rebuilding Programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
Funding for capital programmes up to the 2024/25 financial year comes from the department’s overall £19 billion capital budget set at the 2021 Spending Review. Capital budgets beyond 2024/25 will be determined through a Spending Review, in the normal way.