Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the availability of apprenticeship opportunities for young people in Bristol North East constituency; and what plans he has to work with local employers to expand provision of apprenticeships in sectors with skills shortages.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer that will give greater flexibility to employers and support young people, including those in Bristol, at the beginning of their careers.
In August, we introduced new foundation apprenticeships to give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage while developing vital skills. They are underpinned by additional funding for employers up to £2,000 to contribute to the extra costs of supporting someone at the beginning of their career.
More recently, we have announced our ambition is to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships and backed this with an additional £725 million of investment. This will enable us to expand foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people. It also provides £140 million to pilot new approaches, with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, to better connect young people aged 16–24, especially those who are NEET, to local apprenticeship opportunities.
We also announced that the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers (essentially small and medium sized enterprises), for all eligible people aged under 25. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16-21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care.
In addition, we provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care. Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25, when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year.
The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises 2,500 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England, including the South West, through nine regional networks which provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to encourage businesses in Bristol North East to partner with education providers to deliver vocational training and Post-16 skills programmes to local young people.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government works with employer representative bodies (ERBs) and local partners to strengthen collaboration between businesses and education providers. Through ERB-led Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), we encourage employers to help shape the local post-16 technical education offer, so training meets labour market needs. Statutory guidance for the development of these plans was published on 18 November.
Business West is leading the development of the local LSIP working with the West of England Combined Authority, local businesses and delivery partners. The plan will be published in Summer 2026. Businesses are supported to partner with colleges and training providers to deliver vocational programmes, apprenticeships, and national initiatives such as Skills Bootcamps and T Levels.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce delays in County Court proceedings relating to possession or enforcement actions against individuals living in vehicles.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) Part 55, 55.1 (a) states a possession claim means a claim for the recovery of possession of land (including buildings or parts of buildings), on which a vehicle might be parked.
The CPR stipulate that possession claims should be listed within 4-8 weeks. The most recent published statistics, covering the period July to September 2025 show that the median time from claim to order is 7.6 weeks. The timeliness of the subsequent enforcement of an order, where this is required, can be influenced by the actions of users as well as the court. For 2024 only 26% of possession claims required enforcement.
The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly data on possession claims at: Mortgage and landlord possession statistics: July to September 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to reduce delays in the home buying and selling process.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 87197 on 7 November 2025.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to address gaps in Post-16 education and skills training provision in Bristol North East.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy sets out our vision for a world-leading skills system which breaks down barriers to opportunity, meets student and employers’ needs; widens access to high-quality education and training; supports innovation, research, and development; and improves people’s lives.
The government has established Skills England to ensure we have the highly trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade.
Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) are employer-led strategies designed to ensure post-16 technical education and vocational training align with local labour market needs. Business West is leading the development of the local LSIP working with the West of England Combined Authority, local businesses and delivery partners. The plan will be published in Summer 2026. Businesses are supported to partner with colleges and training providers to deliver vocational programmes, apprenticeships, and national initiatives such as Skills Bootcamps and T Levels.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve recruitment and retention of general practitioners in Bristol North East.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since October 2024 we have funded primary care networks with an additional £160 million to recruit recently qualified general practitioners (GPs) through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS). In the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) 44 GPs have been recruited via the scheme since October 2024.
Within the 2025/26 GP Contract, a number of changes have been confirmed to increase the flexibility of ARRS and allow primary care networks to respond better to local workforce needs. This includes GPs and practice nurses included in the main ARRS funding pot, an uplift of the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme, and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion into GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest cash increase in over a decade and will facilitate the recruitment of GPs. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.
The Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB also has a successful GP and Nurse fellowship scheme to support retention of staff.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
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 impact of staff undertaking additional work in private hospitals on NHS workforce capacity.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no assessment of the impact of National Health Service staff undertaking additional work in private hospitals on NHS workforce capacity.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure parents of children with SEND are informed of (a) their rights and (b) the protections available to them.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to publish a Local Offer, setting out in one place information about provision they expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people in their area who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those without an education, health and care plan.
Every local authority must have a SEND information, advice and support service. These provide free and impartial advice to children and young people with SEND and their parents and carers.
The department works with national organisations such as Contact, IPSEA and the National Network of Parent Carer Forums. We also fund local parent carer forums across England who gather the views and experiences of local SEND families to help shape and inform policy and provision and offer a valuable peer support network for parents and carers navigating the SEND system.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 September 2025 to Question 69695, what are the timescales for improving access to palliative care at home for children nearing the end of life; and what assessment he has made of the (a) provision and (b) commissioning of such services in Bristol.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England are currently working at pace to develop plans on how best to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan. I will be able to say more about our timelines for that work in the near future.
We will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.
Children’s palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and a service specification for children and young people. The statutory guidance states that ICBs, including the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB, must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of palliative care and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations.
We are providing £26 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. Jessie May Children’s Hospice in Bristol has received £182,000 from this funding. We are also committing £80 million for children’s and young people’s hospices over the next three financial years, giving them stability to plan ahead and focus on what matters most, caring for their patients.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the BBC on journalists working for BBC Arabic who have made antisemitic and pro-Hamas comments.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is crucial that the BBC upholds the highest standards of reporting and impartiality, so it remains the most trusted news source in the UK and overseas. The BBC has rightly acknowledged where coverage, standards and enforcement of those standards has fallen short. We welcome the actions taken by the BBC to strengthen editorial quality and standards for the BBC Arabic Service, as set out in the BBC Chair's letter to the Media, Culture and Sport Committee of 10 November, and we will continue to demand both rapid implementation and rigorous monitoring of those changes.