Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to bring back into use the vacant Duke of Bridgewater pub on the Crown Estate in Stoke-on-Trent North constituency.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
This property is subject to escheat, meaning it is effectively ownerless. The only action that the Crown Estate may take in relation to such property is to dispose of it to an appropriate person or body.
The Crown Estate is currently in touch with Stoke-on-Trent City Council regarding proposed future disposals of the property.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the condition of local roads in Staffordshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department published a new traffic light rating system for all local highway authorities in England on 11 January which rates authorities red, amber or green based on the condition of their roads, how effectively they spend their record Government funding, and whether they do so using best practice. This system allows the Government to identify where authorities need to improve and to provide them with support to ensure road conditions improve nationwide.
Staffordshire County Council received an overall amber rating. Its three scorecards show amber for condition, green for spend, and amber for wider best practice.
The Government recognises that the condition of local roads has been affected by historic underinvestment. To address this, it has committed a record £7.3 billion for local highways maintenance over the next four years, in addition to £1.6 billion provided in the last financial year. This longer-term funding provides authorities with greater certainty to plan ahead and move from short-term repairs to more proactive and preventative maintenance.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
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 help ensure the health and care needs of young people with SEND in Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove are identified and met in a timely and effective manner.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
The Government has published ambitious special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms, supporting the treatment to prevention shift in the 10-Year Health Plan and its focus on early intervention, to prevent needs escalating. Close partnership working at all levels is crucial to delivering these reforms and transforming outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board works closely with the Staffordshire County Council, which Kidsgrove is in, and the Stoke-on-Trent City Council, alongside the National Health Service, and education and voluntary sector partners, to meet the wide range of assessed health and care needs of children and young people with SEND.
The system partnership continues to prioritise SEND and is working collaboratively to improve access, capacity, and the timeliness of support across the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB. This includes working closely with providers to understand pressures within existing services and current waiting times, targeted work to instigate improvements in specific services, and developing more effective joint commissioning across health, education, and local authorities, particularly in relation to speech and language therapy services.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department are taking to address the deteriorating condition and poor maintenance of national heritage buildings in and around Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This government recognises the impact that the deterioration of heritage buildings can have on local communities, including those in Stoke-on-Trent. I am aware the Minister for Heritage, Baroness Twycross will be meeting with you in the coming weeks to discuss Stoke-on-Trent’s heritage in more detail.
The recently announced £1.5 billion funding allocation for the Arts Everywhere Package includes nearly £200 million new spend, across multiple years, for protecting and preserving heritage buildings across the country and giving funding certainty to the end of the parliament, including £60 million for at risk heritage which provides grants towards repairs and conservation of historic buildings and £42 million for the Heritage Revival Fund, which helps communities to take control of and look after local heritage and bring buildings back into public use.
Funding is administered through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Arms-Length Bodies. Since 2006, Historic England has invested more than £7 million in 36 projects in the Stoke-on-Trent area and actively engages with Stoke-on-Trent with advice to support the local authority and heritage owners.
Similarly, since 1994, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded more than £11m to 53 projects in the constituency of Stoke-on-Trent North, and more than £34m in 161 projects in Stoke-on-Trent as a whole. This includes the September 2024 grant of £249,954 in support of Re-Form Heritage, an organisation that transforms historic buildings at risk for the benefit of the local and wider community. Focused on organisational resilience, this award builds on past Lottery investment, which has supported the organisation to redevelop the Grade II* listed Middleport Pottery and the neighbouring Harper Street, which was once home to pottery workers.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what mechanisms his Department has put in place to help ensure that communities are consulted on the use of Pride in Place funding in Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh
The community will decide how to invest £20m of Pride in Place Funding allocated to Bradeley and Chell Heath. A Neighbourhood Board led by an Independent Chair, made up of local people, will come up with a plan for this investment. The programme’s Prospectus sets out that all Boards must work with their wider community through deep and meaningful engagement and demonstrate this in plans, otherwise progress will be delayed. We have brought forward £150,000 of funding for all neighbourhoods in Phase Two of the programme, so engagement can begin immediately.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what safeguards are being put in place to ensure that forthcoming changes to the Universal Service Obligation do not further disadvantage constituents who rely on the timely delivery of essential correspondence, including medical notices and legal documents.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofcom, as the independent regulator, has a statutory duty to secure the provision of a universal service that meets the reasonable needs of users and to consider the impacts of any changes to the Universal Service Obligation. Ofcom conducted extensive research and public consultation ahead of the decision to change the requirements and has stated that it will continue to monitor quality of service closely and hold Royal Mail to account for improving reliability as reforms are implemented.
Royal Mail has publicly committed to publishing a detailed deployment and quality of service improvement plan as soon as possible following the conclusion of its discussions with the Communication Workers Union.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure Royal Mail improves first- and second‑class delivery performance following Ofcom’s recent findings and fines.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofcom, as the independent regulator, is responsible for setting and enforcing Royal Mail’s service standards. I met senior officials from Ofcom on 11 March.
I met Royal Mail’s CEO, Alistair Cochrane, on 3 February to press him on making demonstrable improvements to service levels as a matter of urgency. I will continue to raise concerns with Royal Mail if the company’s quality of service does not improve.
Royal Mail has publicly committed to publishing a detailed deployment and quality of service improvement plan as soon as possible following the conclusion of its discussions with the Communication Workers Union.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of Royal Mail’s failure to meet its Universal Service Obligation delivery targets in each of the past three years.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has been clear that Royal Mail’s service has not been good enough.
Ofcom, as the independent regulator, is responsible for assessing Royal Mail’s compliance with Universal Service Obligation delivery targets. Following investigations into Royal Mail’s performance, Ofcom has taken enforcement action, including issuing financial penalties, where it found that service levels were not met without sufficient justification. It issued a fine of £5.6m for 2022/23, a fine of £10.5m for 2023/24 and a fine of £21m for 2024/25.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to make it easier for people who cannot use the telephone to communicate changes in their circumstances online.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We understand that not everyone can use the telephone to communicate with us and we are committed to making our services more accessible, inclusive and responsive to customer needs.
We already offer alternative channels for several services. We’ve successfully launched the ability for customers to request Proof of Benefit evidence online, available 24/7 and used by thousands to access key services without needing to call.
We are continually developing our service, informed by customer needs, to include the capability for customers to communicate changes in their circumstances. The service is being designed as a multi-channel service, enabling people to engage with us through their preferred means.
These improvements are being delivered incrementally, guided by user feedback and inclusive design principles, to ensure our services work for everyone.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of allowing private sector organisations to access the Tell Us Once service on (a) the administrative burden on bereaved families and (b) the level of communications from companies to deceased individuals.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Following previous discussions with the Minister for Lords and the Minister for Transformation, Tell Us Once is currently exploring opportunities to expand its existing service offering. The existing capabilities of the system are being investigated to assess whether wider expansion would be viable, or if further digital investment is needed. Digital improvements will assist the service to expand further into the Public Sector with potential opportunity for expansion outside of the Public Sector in the future.
Included in this system assessment is the existing citizen communication route for the bereaved and whether this is meeting user expectations and reducing the administration burden.
The most recent internal evaluations in February 2025 of customer feedback show a satisfaction score of 92% for the online service.