Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough and Rushden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in Wellingborough constituency have been on school trips out of the country since September 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The department recognises the significant benefits that activities outside the classroom, which may include school trips out of the country, can have for children’s mental health and wellbeing, as well as their educational and social development.
The department does not collect data on how many children participate in such trips. Schools are best placed to understand and meet the needs of their pupils and have flexibility to decide what range of extra-curricular excursions to offer.
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough and Rushden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school students receive free school meals in Wellingborough constituency.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The department publishes annual statistics on the number of pupils at state-funded schools in England who are eligible for free school meals (FSM). The most recent figures are for January 2023, available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2022-23.
21.7% of pupils at state-funded primary schools and 19.0% of pupils at state-funded secondary schools in Wellingborough were eligible for FSM as of January 2023.
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough and Rushden)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent off-road vehicles used for recreational purposes from causing damage to (a) farmland and (b) the countryside in Wellingborough constituency.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
We recognise that these unsealed routes often provide essential vehicular access for residents and businesses without causing damage or disturbance. Whilst many users make use of their rights in a responsible way, we are aware of disturbance caused by excessive use of off-road motor vehicles on some unsealed routes. We consulted on banning vehicles from green lanes as part of the 2019 Landscapes Review, but a legislative ban to remove vehicular rights was not supported by the public. We believe that the current Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process is legally robust enough to protect these routes on farmland with carefully targeted local action to protect sensitive areas, while allowing vehicle users to responsibly enjoy the countryside. It is the responsibility of local authorities to issue Traffic Regulations Orders to protect sensitive areas where necessary.
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough and Rushden)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data his Department holds on the number of trees planted in Wellingborough constituency since 2010.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Forestry Commission publishes statistics on new planting of woodland, and trees outside woodland, in England. These can be found in Forestry Commission Key Performance Indicators. These statistics are reported for each financial year in thousands of hectares.
This Government has not set specific targets for individual constituencies and the statistic the hon. Member has requested is not currently available.
Our England Trees Action Plan has kickstarted tree planting over the past 3 years. We reported over 3,600 hectares of new woodland and trees outside of woodland planted in 22/23. This represents the highest woodland planting rate for nearly a decade and an almost 40% increase on the previous year. The figures for planting in 23/24 are scheduled to be published as part of Official Statistics in June 2024.
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough and Rushden)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data his Department holds on the number of people in Wellingborough constituency who (a) paid national insurance contributions and (b) earned below £25,000 per year in financial year 2022-23.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
The information for the tax year 2022 to 2023 is not yet available.
Table 3.15 of HMRC’s Personal Incomes Statistics contains the latest constituency-level income estimates for the tax year 2021 to 2022.
Income and tax by Parliamentary Constituency
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough and Rushden)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms in Wellingborough constituency are part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answered by Mark Spencer
As of 20 May 2024, there are 24 farm businesses with a current Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement for the Wellingborough constituency.
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough and Rushden)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms in Wellingborough constituency are part of Countryside Stewardship scheme.
Answered by Mark Spencer
As of 20 May 2024, there are 34 farm businesses with a current Countryside Stewardship Agreement for the Wellingborough Constituency.
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough and Rushden)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage (a) farmers and (b) food producers to use sustainable farming methods in Wellingborough constituency.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra is investing in sustainable farming methods, in the Wellingborough constituency and across England, through our environmental land management schemes, in particular the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). The SFI aims to support the environment and food production, and it rewards farmers for practices that will help to produce food sustainably and protect the environment at the same time, while also providing them a reliable income for doing so. That is because we know that food production and nature preservation go hand in hand. Those practices will help to look after farms in the short and long term by improving soil health or mitigating the impact of extreme weather.
The aim is for the scheme to be flexible for farmers in both the actions that they can take and the land on which they farm. Rather than prescribing what farmers must do, they should have a menu from which to choose what works best for their farm and to their advantage. That is helping those farmers to make their businesses more sustainable.
What is more, Defra is listening to and acting upon farmer feedback about environmental land management schemes. In 2024, we are increasing payment rates for the SFI and Countryside Stewardship (CS) by an average of 10, increasing the number of actions on offer in our environmental land management schemes with up to 50 new actions, making schemes more flexible and easier to access, and continuing to prioritise an ‘advise and prevent’ approach across schemes and regulation, which will make things fairer for all farmers participating in schemes. We will begin to offer SFI and new CS Mid Tier and Higher Tier agreements through rolling application windows this summer with the first agreements starting from the autumn. As a result, applicants will get agreements quicker and earlier than the current annual cycle for CS agreements. These, and other changes, will make it easier for our schemes to slot into farm businesses, providing more money for farmers deliver change and ensure we get the scale and ambition we need to positively impact the environment.
We have already seen strong demand for SFI agreements, with 22,209 applications received and 21,243 agreement offers issued across England.
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough and Rushden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide additional funding for the provision of out-of-hours GP appointments in (a) Wellingborough constituency and (b) Northamptonshire.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Under the general practice contract, practices must provide services during core hours, from 08:00 to 18:30 on all weekdays, except bank holidays. Out of hours services are those provided outside of core hours, which practices are paid for via the Global Sum Payment. Practices can opt out of providing these services with their commissioner’s approval, and the relevant deductions will be made to the Global Sum Payments. The amount of Global Sum funding received has been uplifted every year since 2013. Where a practice has opted out of delivering out of hours services, the commissioner must commission the services from an alternative provider, for that practice’s registered patients.
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough and Rushden)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any asylum seekers in Wellingborough constituency have been (a) identified and (b) detained for deportation to Rwanda.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The Home Office does not routinely publish information on detention activity at a regional level.
The first illegal migrants set to be removed to Rwanda have now been detained, following a series of nationwide operations this week. We will not be providing a running commentary on operational activity.