Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of poor media literacy skills on young people's (a) employability and (b) workplace readiness.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
According to the Essential Digital Skills Framework, media literacy-related skills, including understanding online risks, are essential for work. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has worked with FutureDotNow to analyse the benefits of essential digital skills for earnings and employability, with findings being published shortly.
The Digital Inclusion Action Plan outlines steps towards delivering digital inclusion and media literacy for everyone in the UK. The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is also considering how young people will acquire the digital skills needed for future life, with the interim report highlighting the need for a renewed focus on media literacy.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of poor media literacy skills on young people's (a) employability and (b) workplace readiness.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
According to the Essential Digital Skills Framework, media literacy-related skills, including understanding online risks, are essential for work. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has worked with FutureDotNow to analyse the benefits of essential digital skills for earnings and employability, with findings being published shortly.
The Digital Inclusion Action Plan outlines steps towards delivering digital inclusion and media literacy for everyone in the UK. The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is also considering how young people will acquire the digital skills needed for future life, with the interim report highlighting the need for a renewed focus on media literacy.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of health misinformation due to levels of media literacy on public health decision-making.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment of the impact of health misinformation on public health decision making, but recognises the importance of accurate health information being available to the public and of preventing misinformation.
The Department regularly rebuts factual inaccuracies when they appear in traditional media and undertakes extensive planning, engagement, and strategic work to ensure accurate public health information is available on social media channels to mitigate misinformation. In addition, the Department strives to ensure that all of the information it publishes is accurate, clear, and accessible to a variety of audiences, including using easy read versions.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Youth Courts were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, by region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table below shows the number of dedicated Youth Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. Youth Courts are normally sat by magistrates and are routinely located in magistrates’ courts. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed. Some buildings are also multi-jurisdictional, so may also be included in data provided for different jurisdictions in answer to other parliamentary questions.
Region | Youth Courts closed |
London | 1 |
Midlands | 1 |
North East | 0 |
North West | 0 |
South East | 0 |
South West | 0 |
Wales | 0 |
There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Nightingale Courts were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2020 and 1 July 2024, by region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table below shows the number of Nightingale Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2020 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The data is limited to Nightingale Courts that have closed and does not include instances of jury trial rooms enabled by small venue hire or rooms enabled via Portacabins.
Region | Nightingale Courts closed |
London | 3 |
Midlands | 5 |
North East | 5 |
North West | 9 |
South East | 4 |
South West | 3 |
Wales | 0 |
There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Tribunals were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, by region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table below shows the number of Tribunals that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed. Some buildings are also multi-jurisdictional, so may also be included in data provided for different jurisdictions in answer to other parliamentary questions.
Region | Tribunals closed |
London | 3 |
Midlands | 0 |
North East | 5 |
North West | 0 |
South East | 0 |
South West | 0 |
Wales | 0 |
There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.
In order to help reduce the risk of building failures, we have announced a boost in court maintenance and capital project funding from £120 million last year, to up to £148.5m for 2025/26.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many County Courts were (a) partially and (b) fully closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, by region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The table below shows the number of County Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed. Some buildings are also multi-jurisdictional, so may also be included in data provided for other jurisdictions in answer to other parliamentary questions.
Region | County Courts closed |
London | 5 |
Midlands | 20 |
North East | 12 |
North West | 15 |
South East | 16 |
South West | 4 |
Wales | 4 |
There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.
In order to help reduce the risk of building failures, we have announced a boost in court maintenance and capital project funding from £120 million last year, to up to £148.5m for 2025/26.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to prioritise British products in public procurement.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to supporting British businesses and ensuring they have the best chance to win public contracts.
The new Procurement Act creates a simpler and more transparent system that will support British small businesses bidding for work.
The Act also allows contracting authorities to set standards that recognise the quality and standard of UK businesses and products.
Alongside this, our new National Procurement Policy Statement encourages contracting authorities to consider this government’s industrial strategies and the sectors vital to our economic growth.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Magistrate trials were (a) ineffective and (b) postponed between 1 May 2010 and 30 June 2024, broken down by region.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Magistrates’ courts trial effectiveness data including ineffective and vacated trials by region are published routinely as part of the Accredited Official Statistics series Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly.
This Government is determined to support the judiciary to drive down the ineffective trial rate and further work is needed to do this. The Lord Chancellor has appointed Sir Brian Leveson to conduct an Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. Phase 2 of the review will consider the efficiency and timeliness of processes of the criminal courts through charge to conviction/acquittal.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Crown Court trials were (a) ineffective and (b) postponed between 1 May 2010 and 30 June 2024, broken down by region.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Crown Court trial effectiveness data including ineffective and vacated trials by region are published routinely as part of the Accredited Official Statistics series Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly. The latest published series covers 2016 to 2024, and the data from 2010-2016 is available from a previous edition (Jan-Mar 2019).
This Government is determined to support the judiciary to drive down the ineffective trial rate. Since 2023, trends have been improving in relation to cases which have been prioritised by judges (for example, serious sexual offences) as well as more generally. Whilst the proportion of ineffective trials in the Crown Court has reduced slightly in recent years, in 2024 it was still at 25%.
We welcome this progress, but further work is needed to reduce ineffective trials. The Lord Chancellor has appointed Sir Brian Leveson to conduct an Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. Phase 2 of the review will consider the efficiency and timeliness of processes of the criminal courts through charge to conviction/acquittal.