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, how the Mental Health Bill will improve mental wellbeing in (a) Stoke-on-Trent North constituency, (b) Kidsgrove and (c) other areas with high rates of socioeconomic deprivation.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Mental Health Bill announced in the King’s Speech will deliver the Government’s commitment to modernise the Mental Health Act 1983, so that it is fit for the modern world. The bill will amend the act, which applies to England and Wales, and sets out the legal rights that apply to people with a mental disorder. This bill does not apply to general mental health services to help individuals with their mental wellbeing. Under this law, a person can be admitted, detained, and treated in hospital for a mental disorder without their consent, if they are a posing a risk to themselves or others.
More broadly, the NHS Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for providing health and care services to meet the needs of the people of the Stoke on Trent constituency and Kidsgrove, taking into account local considerations. The NHS Mental Health Dashboard shows how National Health Service mental health services are performing, broken down to ICB level, and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/mental-health-five-year-forward-view-dashboard/
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Foundational Apprenticeships support disadvantaged young people into apprenticeship schemes.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Too many young people face difficulties progressing beyond secondary education and we want to ensure that more people from disadvantaged backgrounds can undertake apprenticeships.
The department has begun work to develop new foundation apprenticeships, providing high quality entry pathways for young people. We will engage with relevant stakeholders to inform our thinking to maximise its positive impact on young people, including those in disadvantaged areas. More detail on foundation apprenticeships will be set out in due course.
The department continues to pay additional funding to employers and training providers to support them to take on young apprentices, apprentices with learning difficulties and disabilities, and care leavers.
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 steps her Department is taking to support local authorities to provide temporary accommodation to families in (a) Stoke-on-Trent North and (b) Kidsgrove in a way that does not have a detrimental impact on (i) local people and (ii) town centres.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness levels are far too high, and this can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Government is taking action by setting up a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) which the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) will chair, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy to put us back on track to ending homelessness, including youth homelessness.
As announced at the Budget on 30 October, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). The increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping and brings the total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26. We also confirmed a further £450 million for councils through the Local Authority Housing Fund enabling councils to obtain better quality temporary accommodation for homeless families.
More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including: delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament; and abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.
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 steps her Department is taking to tackle youth homelessness in (a) Stoke-on-Trent North constituency and (b) Kidsgrove.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness levels are far too high, and this can have a devastating impact on those affected. The Government is taking action by setting up a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) which the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) will chair, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy to put us back on track to ending homelessness, including youth homelessness.
As announced at the Budget on 30 October, funding for homelessness services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). The increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping and brings the total spend to nearly £1 billion in 2025/26. We also confirmed a further £450 million for councils through the Local Authority Housing Fund enabling councils to obtain better quality temporary accommodation for homeless families.
More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including: delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament; and abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, preventing private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empowering people to challenge unreasonable rent increases.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle anti-social behaviour caused by the illegal use of off-road bikes.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government will give police the powers they need to swiftly seize dangerous and antisocial off-road vehicles and take them off the streets for good.
Enforcement of road traffic law, including in relation to the anti-social behaviour caused by the use of illegal off-road bikes, is an operational matter for Chief Officers who will decide how to deploy available resources, taking into account any specific local problems and demands.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support people to transition from level three qualifications to higher levels.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Skills are crucial to economic growth, with a third of productivity improvement over the last two decades explained by improvements to skills levels. However, between 2017 and 2022, skills shortages in England doubled to more than half a million and now account for 36% of job vacancies.
To address this, Skills England will bring together central and local government, businesses, training providers and unions across all regions to meet the skills needs of the next decade to provide strategic oversight of the post-16 skills system that is aligned to the government’s Industrial Strategy.
The government will also bring forward a comprehensive strategy for post-16 education to break down barriers to opportunity, support the development of a skilled workforce and drive economic growth through its Industrial Strategy.
The department will continue to support learners who wish to progress from Level 3 to a higher level, whether that is to study at university, a higher level or degree apprenticeship, or a Level 4 or 5 classroom-based qualification such as a Higher Technical Qualification, which have been approved as providing the skills that employers need.
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 steps her Department is taking to support councils to build additional social housing in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my Hon Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 10272 on 28 October 2024.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle antisocial behaviour in (a) Stoke-on-Trent North constituency and (b) Kidsgrove.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
We will put thousands of new neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities, such as Stoke-on-Trent, and crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets by introducing tougher powers including new Respect Orders to tackle repeat offending.
Asked by: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) support Local Skills Improvement Plans and (b) prevent duplication of those plans with Skills England.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) support the department’s aim to make technical education and training more responsive to local labour market and employer needs.
Since autumn 2022, the designated employer representative bodies (ERBs) leading the LSIPs have engaged thousands of local businesses regarding their skills needs. The resultant LSIPs are a valuable source of information for local skills deliverers, employers and stakeholders, and will provide important intelligence for the newly-established Skills England.
Skills England will work closely with regional stakeholders, including the designated ERBs that cover all of England across the 38 LSIP areas.
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 grant local authorities powers to (a) improve and (b) regulate private bus services in areas without bus franchising.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Improving local transport services is a key part of this government’s growth mission, and the government has set out plans to deliver better bus services, grow passenger numbers and drive opportunity to under-served regions.
As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this parliamentary session. The Bill seeks to deliver new powers for local leaders and will empower them to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising high quality partnerships with private operators, or public ownership.
In addition, government is undertaking a review into Enhanced Partnerships between local authorities and bus operators with a view to strengthening collaboration and delivery.