Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her planned timetable is for the roll-out of free breakfast clubs to additional schools in Stoke-on-Trent North constituency.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There are already seven schools delivering a free breakfast club in the Stoke-on-Trent North constituency. The full list of schools on the programme is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breakfast-clubs-early-adopters-schools-in-the-scheme.
The government is committed to delivering a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England. Following the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, all state-funded schools with primary-age pupils will be required to offer a club once the statutory duty comes into force.
New groups of schools will be onboarded in stages throughout 2027 and 2028 to ensure appropriate support is in place. The department recognises the strong interest from schools and families in the free breakfast clubs programme and further details will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Crown Estate is taking to secure and repair the Grade II listed former Duke of Bridgewater public house in Longport, Stoke-on-Trent.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - 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 remains in correspondence with Stoke-on-Trent City Council with a view to a future disposal 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, when the Department plans to publish its response to the consultations launched alongside the Road Safety Strategy published in January 2026.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government response to the consultation on mandating vehicle safety technologies in GB type approval was published on 16 July 2026.
Responses to the consultations on motoring offences, introducing a minimum learning period for learner drivers, introducing mandatory eyesight testing for older drivers and improved moped and motorcycle training, testing and licensing are currently being analysed.
Government responses to those consultations will be published once analysis has concluded.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislation to amend section 7A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 so that a specimen of blood taken from a driver incapable of giving consent may be tested without that driver's subsequent consent.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recently consulted on possible changes to the law and practice governing drink and drug testing. Responses are being analysed and the Government will set out its conclusions and any next steps in its response to the consultation.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of accessibility of statutory SEND rights for (a) parents and (b) carers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The views of parents, carers and young people remain a key underpinning principle for decisions made in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. The government’s proposed reforms will expand the legal duties to meet the needs of children and young people without an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
Under our proposals, Individual Support Plans (ISP) will provide a record of need and provision, and will allow settings to work alongside parents, providing a single, consistent record of what support has been tried, what has worked, and what needs to change. We are proposing a duty on settings to produce an ISP for any child or young person with SEND.
Under our proposals, children and young people eligible for a specialist provision package would receive an EHC plan and an ISP outlining day-to-day provision, ensuring that those with the most complex needs are supported in a flexible, responsive and well-evidenced way. We propose strengthening the needs assessment process, so it is clearer, simpler and reflects the voices of parents, carers and the child or young person
The government's consultation on 'SEND reform: putting children and young people first’ has now closed. The department is carefully reviewing responses and will publish our final proposals in due course.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the SEND system on (a) family wellbeing, (b) employment and (c) mental health.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The current system for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is failing too many children and too many families. Improving the life chances of children and young people with SEND is the first priority for these reforms, in turn also improving their employment prospects and mental health. Every child deserves a high-quality, inclusive education, and families should not have to battle the system for this.
The SEND consultation ran for 12 weeks and closed in May. We are carefully considering all responses, and we will continue to engage on our proposals. We will publish a response to the consultation in due course and bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity as set out in the King’s Speech.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that public procurement processes are (a) accessible and (b) proportionate for organisations in the VCSE sector.
Answered by Chris Ward
The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually, delivers economic growth and supports small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).
Government departments are now required to set 2 year targets and action plans for direct spend with VCSEs and publish annual progress updates. Those falling behind will be expected to set out robust actions for improvement.
On the 26th March I announced wider reforms to improve procurements for VCSEs, including that we intend to introduce a new definition of social value, which will re-focus social value on local communities and businesses, such as SMEs and VCSEs.
Alongside this, we will introduce a new list of national and regional community schemes which will help these smaller suppliers contribute to identified social value priority areas without needing to establish their own programmes of work, and a social value Key Performance Indicator (KPI) which will improve transparency and mean suppliers and contracting authorities can be held accountable for achieving their social value goals.
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 comparative assessment he has made of levels of funding allocated to (a) mayoral combined authority areas and (b) non-mayoral local authority areas.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan
We have not made a direct comparative assessment of all levels of funding allocated to Mayoral Strategic Authorities and non-mayoral local authorities. All funding information is published online through the “Local authority capital expenditure and receipts” and “Local authority revenue expenditure and financing” collection.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what oversight Ofwat exercises to ensure that unmetered fixed charges set by water companies are proportionate and do not disadvantage low‑occupancy and low‑usage households.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is working to make the charging system for water fairer in England. Unmetered charges for households are based on rateable values, which the Valuation Office has not updated since 1990. To provide greater billing fairness to household customers the Government is supporting the water industry to move unmetered customers over to metered charging, which will provide more accurate billing based on a customer’s usage. To maximise the benefits customers will get from metering, the Government is supporting regulators and the water companies to deliver approximately 10.4 million smart meters over 2025-30. This rollout involves all water companies in England, including Severn Trent.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy and transparency of unmetered fixed charges set by water companies, including Severn Trent Water.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is working to make the charging system for water fairer in England. Unmetered charges for households are based on rateable values, which the Valuation Office has not updated since 1990. To provide greater billing fairness to household customers the Government is supporting the water industry to move unmetered customers over to metered charging, which will provide more accurate billing based on a customer’s usage. To maximise the benefits customers will get from metering, the Government is supporting regulators and the water companies to deliver approximately 10.4 million smart meters over 2025-30. This rollout involves all water companies in England, including Severn Trent.