Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve the (a) reliability of Northern Trains and (b) communications on the impacts of delays and cancellations on passengers.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Ministers have made very clear to Northern’s management and the Department for Transport Operator that its current performance is not acceptable, and that is why we issued it with a notice of breach of contract, requiring it to produce a detailed plan to improve its services, including moving to 90 per cent of all its trains arriving within 3 minutes of timetable and cancellations below 3 per cent.

One significant issue is a continuing dispute with conductors in the North West, which has been going for seven years and which the last Government did nothing to resolve. We are supporting Northern to step up its discussions with RMT about bringing Sundays into the working week and other reforms. We will be watching this closely to make sure this work continues at pace.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with officials within the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on further housing development near Castleton Rail Station in Heywood and Middleton North constituency to support (a) local and (b) regional economic growth.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department is continuing to work with MHCLG and other partners to deliver a well-designed, integrated, and affordable transport network that plays a vital role in unlocking homes, and delivering wider benefits, including reducing congestion and emissions, promoting less sedentary lifestyles, and ensuring communities can access jobs and services.

As recently announced by the Chancellor, as part of the governments reform of the planning system, untapped land near commuter transport hubs will be unlocked for housing - with plans to consult in the Spring on a new, streamlined set of national policies for decision making to guide planning decisions taken by local authorities and promote housebuilding in key areas.

We will continue to work closely with the Mayor and local leaders across Greater Manchester, including those in Middleton and Heywood, to ensure these reforms maximise transport investment benefits for housing and growth.

We are providing substantial transport funding for the Greater Manchester region, including over £1bn from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) for 2022/23 – 2026/27. This includes the tram/train scheme from Bury-Rochdale that goes through Castleton and Heywood. As the business case development progresses on this CRSTS scheme, DFT officials will continue to support GMCA officials, and will ensure potential benefits from planned housing are considered in this work.

Additionally, an extra £200m for CRSTS was announced in October to further support transport in major city regions, including Greater Manchester.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to tackle misogynistic attitudes in primary schools.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Education has a crucial role to play in tackling harmful behaviour, helping children and young people, at primary and secondary level, to develop empathy, boundaries and respect for difference.

Through compulsory relationships education, all pupils, including boys and young men, learn how to form positive and respectful relationships and develop an understanding of the concepts and laws around sexual harassment and sexual violence.

The relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance emphasises that schools should be alive to issues such as everyday sexism, misogyny, homophobia and gender stereotypes and take positive action to build a culture where these are not tolerated, ensuring any occurrences are identified and tackled. The guidance is clear that schools should provide pupils with the knowledge they need to recognise and report abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse, and to build empathy and promote respect for all. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

Schools should consider what they can do to foster healthy and respectful peer-to-peer communication and behaviour between boys and girls, and provide an environment, which challenges perceived limits on pupils based on their gender or any other characteristic.

​The department is currently reviewing the statutory RSHE curriculum and as part of this review will be looking at how to ensure that the guidance equips pupils, including at primary school level, to form healthy and respectful relationships. We are analysing consultation responses, talking to stakeholders and considering relevant evidence.

Separately, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will consider how RSHE fits into the wider curriculum.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with officials in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on house building around Castleton station to support (a) local and (b) regional economic growth.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Officials from my Department engage regularly with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) in relation to their Places for Everyone plan, which includes the Sidings and Trows Farm developments in Castleton.

We will continue to work closely with GMCA to support their housebuilding ambitions as part of the Places for Everyone plan and to progress a devolved Integrated Settlement that will support local and regional economic growth.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of deaths associated with asbestos-related diseases.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is tackling Great Britain’s asbestos legacy using a variety of regulatory interventions, including licencing of removal contractors and inspection of the management of asbestos in situ, stakeholder engagement and research activities. Collectively, this supports duty holders and other stakeholders to manage asbestos safely to avoid further exposure to risk and work towards an asbestos-free built environment, in compliance with the stringent controls on working with asbestos introduced several decades ago.

The government recognises the devastating impact on those who have asbestos related disease and their families. We know that we need to do more. As part of this, HSE inspectors consider management of asbestos at every inspection of premises where asbestos may be present, they are holding an Asbestos Research Summit in March 2025 which will bring together technical experts and stakeholders to look at our strategic research priorities for asbestos and they are developing proposals to strengthen the existing legislative framework and intend to consult on this within the next financial year. We are also actively considering recommendations made by the Work and Pensions Select Committee to bring about a long term solution to Great Britain’s asbestos legacy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on steps to tackle violence against women and girls on public transport in Greater Manchester.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

This Government has set out an ambition to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade. Achieving this requires a transformative approach to the way we work together across national and local Government, public services, the private sector, and charities.

This includes working with the Department for Transport and the transport sector, on how we can improve safety for women using the transport network.

I meet Ministerial colleagues from across Government regularly and recently met with the Minister for Local Transport 2024 to discuss how we can better tackle VAWG on transport networks right across the country. My officials and I also engage regularly with the British Transport Police on this issue.

On 27 November 2024, we launched the new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in select areas, including Greater Manchester, which will go further than existing protective orders to protect victims.

In addition, Greater Manchester Police is continuing to drive forward the work of Operation Soteria, a unique police and Crown Prosecution Service programme, which has introduced new operating models for the investigation and prosecution of rape in England and Wales.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the impact of her Department's policies on the number of convictions for (a) people smuggling and (b) related crimes since July 2024.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

Backed by £150 million funding, the Border Security Command (BSC) has a strategic cross-government remit and convening authority over the border security system, with its early focus on delivering operational capacity and new powers to support agencies across the Border Security system to dismantle criminal gangs quickly and effectively.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) leads the law enforcement response to the organised criminality involved in the trafficking and smuggling of people to the UK; it investigates and brings organised immigration crime offenders to justice. The NCA assesses their activity is having an impact here and overseas –Their operational results are demonstrated in the form of arrests, prosecutions and seizures, and they have continued to disrupt a large number of networks involved in this type of criminality since July 2024.

From 4^th July 2024 through 12^th December 2024, 17 people were convicted and sentenced across 7 OIC operations thanks to NCA’s actions. 15 of those sentenced received a total of over 107 years in custody, with a further 2 people receiving suspended sentences for their OIC crimes.

The NCA has over 70 ongoing investigations into networks or individuals in the top tier of organised immigration crime - several of these sit right at the top of the NCA’s priority list.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps with Greater Manchester Combined Authority to improve connectivity between Heywood and Middleton and other towns in Greater Manchester.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

We work closely with the Mayor and Greater Manchester Combined Authority to support their plans and strategies to improve connectivity within and across Greater Manchester including Middleton and Heywood. This has included strong endorsement and support for the successful introduction of the Bee Network, including providing £66.3m for buses in 2025/26, protecting and supporting services, and delivering Bus Service Improvement Plans.

We are providing substantial transport funding for the Greater Manchester region, including over £1bn from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) for 2022/23 – 2026/27. This includes the tram/train scheme from Bury-Rochdale that goes through Heywood and is designed to significantly enhance local connectivity. Transport for Greater Manchester is targeting delivery of this scheme in the early 2030's, with an outline business case due with the Department in early 2026.

Additionally, an extra £200m for CRSTS was announced in October to further support transport connectivity in major city regions, including Greater Manchester. Through the Greater Manchester Pathfinder Devolution Deal we are providing Greater Manchester with a single integrated funding settlement, which includes CRSTS, to ensure that funding is prioritised locally to meet local connectivity requirements.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Greater Manchester Police to tackle the (a) prevalence and (b) impact of anti-social behaviour the city-region.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.

The Government’s Plan for Change, announced by the Prime Minister on 5 December, committed to a zero-tolerance approach to ASB. This will include a dedicated lead officer in every force working with communities to develop a local anti-social behaviour action plan. We will also put 13,000 neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.

The Government recently announced Respect Orders which will be introduced through the Crime and Policing Bill. Respect Orders can be applied for by the police and local councils and are issued by the courts. They will enable courts to place wide-ranging restrictions on the behaviour of the most persistent and disruptive ASB offenders. Breaching a Respect Order will be a criminal offence, allowing police officers to immediately arrest offenders and disrupt ongoing ASB.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking with local authorities to expedite the removal of asbestos from schools.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department takes the safety of children and those who work with them incredibly seriously, which is why we expect all those with responsibility for managing the school estate, which includes local authorities, governing bodies and academy trusts, to have robust plans in place to manage asbestos in school buildings effectively, in line with their legal duties, drawing on appropriate professional advice.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as the regulator, sets the legal requirements and standards to manage asbestos and produces guidance for responsible bodies to follow, as duty holders. The department provides guidance, tools and support to help schools and responsible bodies effectively manage their school buildings, including guidance on managing asbestos in schools and colleges, which was updated in October 2024.

Asbestos is typically removed when carrying out wider rebuilding or refurbishment work to improve the condition of buildings. The department follows the advice of the HSE as the regulator, that as long as asbestos-containing materials are undamaged, and not in locations where they are vulnerable to damage, they should be left undisturbed, and their condition monitored.

The department has been clear that when asbestos does pose a risk to safety and cannot be effectively managed in place, it should be removed. The decision to remove asbestos should be considered on a case-by-case basis and annual condition funding provided by the department can be used for this purpose. As part of the 2025/26 budget, we have increased capital allocations to improve the condition of school buildings to £2.1 billion, which is £300 million more than the 2024/25 financial year. This is on top of the School Rebuilding Programme and targeted support for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure legal aid is accessible to people using the family courts in the North West.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

With regards to scope, in private family proceedings, legal aid is available for matters such as child arrangements, financial remedy proceedings and divorce if an individual is a victim of domestic abuse or is at risk of being abused.

Legal aid is also available in certain private family proceedings if a child is a victim of child abuse or at risk of abuse. Funding is subject to providing the required evidence of domestic abuse or child abuse as specified in legal aid legislation and meeting the relevant merits and financial eligibility criteria.

A financial eligibility waiver is available for victims of domestic abuse applying for protective injunctions, such as non-molestation orders, which means they can receive legal aid even if they would not otherwise pass the means test, though they may be required to pay a financial contribution towards their legal costs.

In public family proceedings, means-free legal aid is available for parents, those with parental responsibility, and children in public family law special Children Act’s cases, including care proceedings and adoption proceedings under the Children Act 1989 as well as in related proceedings.

Legal aid funded services are provided by independent organisations who hold contracts to carry out legal aid work. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is responsible for the commissioning and procurement of these contracts. The LAA is satisfied that there is adequate supply of family law services in the North West of England.

Found: Kirsteen Sullivan Emily Darlington Wera Hobhouse Kim Johnson Sarah Owen Ellie Chowns Mrs Elsie Blundell

Found: Kirsteen Sullivan Emily Darlington Wera Hobhouse Kim Johnson Sarah Owen Ellie Chowns Mrs Elsie Blundell

Found: Tracy Gilbert Kirsteen Sullivan Wera Hobhouse Kim Johnson Sarah Owen Ellie Chowns Mrs Elsie Blundell

Found: Afzal Khan Anna Sabine Tracy Gilbert Wera Hobhouse Kim Johnson Sarah Owen Ellie Chowns Mrs Elsie Blundell

Found: Afzal Khan Anna Sabine Tracy Gilbert Wera Hobhouse Kim Johnson Sarah Owen Ellie Chowns Mrs Elsie Blundell