Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to conclude its consultation on the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have available is used to support community pharmacy in the best way possible. We will announce the outcome in the normal manner, by letter to contractors, when the consultation has concluded.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to publish the contract for the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have available is used to support community pharmacy in the best way possible. We will announce the outcome in the normal manner, by letter to contractors, when the consultation has concluded.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will have discussions with the Office of Rail and Road on the potential merits of increasing the number of northern services from (a) Seaham and (b) Horden train stations.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Rail North Partnership, on behalf of the Department and Transport for the North is currently examining a business case for the increase in services along the Durham Coast line to these two stations, with effect from the December 2025 timetable. The analysis must balance the economic and social benefits of this enhancement with the performance of existing services and the financial impact on taxpayer subsidy.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many train cars were in use by Northern in January 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 1 January 2024, Northern had 904 carriages. The average number of carriage journeys made by Northern Trains in January was 6543 per day across all train configurations.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of workplace visa rules on staffing levels within her Department.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Whilst the impact of changes to the Skilled Worker Salary threshold, introduced in April 2024, are affecting a very small proportion of staff within the Department, visa expiry and potential options for obtaining a future work visa are specific to individuals’ circumstances and the Home Office legislation which applies at the time that their current visa expires.
As current employees’ Visa expiry dates span several years and not all will be impacted by the changes to the skilled worker salary thresholds, the department does not expect changes to the Skilled Worker salary threshold to negatively impact on service levels.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the recommendation 10.4 of the report entitled Road fuel market study, published by the Competitions and Markets Authority on 8 July 2023, if he will take steps to introduce a statutory fuel finder scheme.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government response to the road fuels consultation published on 30 October 2024 confirmed that the Government will implement the recommendation made by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in its Final Road Fuel Market Study to set up a statutory open data scheme for fuel prices, called Fuel Finder.
Fuel Finder will increase price transparency and help drivers easily compare prices and find the best deals. This will increase pressure on fuel retailers to compete strongly to attract customers. Subject to legislation and parliamentary timings, we aim to launch Fuel Finder by the end of 2025.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of probation officer salaries in the context of the (a) workload and (b) level of stress associated with this role.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Probation Service this Government inherited was burdened with a workload which often exceeded what staff should be expected to handle. Probation staff are drawn to the profession because it is a vocation, it is right that we recognise the resilience and dedication of our staff.
To achieve this and support our hardworking probation staff, in October, we brought forward planned increases to pay, impacting the majority of staff by six months enabling access to improved pay earlier than planned.
We shortly intend to engage with Trade Union colleagues about a new pay deal effective April 2025, following the current multi-year deal coming to an end in March 2025.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will list the providers that have entered into Prison Education Service contracts in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The information requested is in the public domain. The names of contractors are published via Contracts Finder - GOV.UK. For ease of reference, Prison Education Services entered into in the last 12 months are provided below:
Supplier |
Associated Training Services (ATS) Ltd |
Barber Training & Education |
Beating Time (also known as "Choirs Beating Time") |
Belong: Making Justice Happen |
Brighton Table Tennis Club |
CAP Enterprise (Kent) cic |
Career Connect |
Catimor Ltd t/a Redemption Roasters |
Changing Tunes |
Chess in Schools and Communities |
Chichester College Group |
City and Guilds of London Institute |
Combat2Coffee C.I.C |
Community Arts Projects UK |
Community Training Solutions Limited |
Complete skills solutions |
Cronin Music Ltd |
Dominic Waldron |
Elite Project Services Ltd |
Food Behind Bars |
FTW Training |
Fusion21 Ltd |
Get Skills Employment & Training Ltd |
Get Wise Enterprise C.I.C |
GLA Group |
Good Vibrations |
GREEN SKILLS PARTNERSHIP C.I.C. |
Hampshire Cultural Trust |
Independent sewing machines |
Ingeus UK Limited |
Inside Ecommerce Academy CIC |
Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality |
karenmackeyconsultants |
Key Training and Learning Ltd |
Kinetic Youth Ltd |
Liberty Kitchen |
Life Cycle UK |
Lincolnshire Action Trust |
LTE Group (Trading as Novus) |
Mainstream Training |
Maverick Sounds Ltd |
Milton Keynes College |
Momentic Limited |
n-ergy Group Limited |
Northampton Saints Foundation |
Odd Arts |
Open College Network London Region |
Ormiston Families |
PeoplePlus Group Ltd |
Prison Advice & Care Trust (pact) |
RECOOP |
RIFT Social Reform |
RMF Construction Training Academy Ltd. |
Rocketeer Enterprise Ltd |
Saints Foundation |
Seetec Business Technology Centre Limited |
SevenThreeOne |
Shakespeare Un'bard |
Shannon Trust |
spark Inside |
St Giles Trust |
Synergy Theatre Project |
The Clink Charity |
The Growth Company Ltd |
The Prison Phoenix Trust |
The Restore Trust |
The Safety Box |
The Zahid Mubarek Trust |
Unity Restorative Practices |
University of Central Lancashire |
Unlock Drama |
WANT2ACHIEVE THE ACADEMY LIMITED |
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the pricing mechanism for electricity reflects the lower generation costs of renewables.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Unabated gas generation is increasingly being displaced on the system by the rollout of renewables, setting the marginal price less frequently. The most effective mechanism for driving renewable generation is a Contract for Difference-type scheme that includes key features such as competitive auctions to minimise costs to consumers, alongside a mechanism wherein generators pay back when wholesale prices are high. The Government is committed to retaining this type of scheme and as part of the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements programme, is also considering what further steps can be taken to protect consumers from the impacts of potential price spikes.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the marginal pricing system on consumer electricity bills.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
With marginal pricing, the price of electricity is set by the last technology needed to meet overall demand. The marginal price reflects the value of generating an additional unit of electricity at any given time. This ensures that generators increase or decrease their output to meet demand and incentivises them to make efficiency improvements to remain competitive in electricity markets and keep costs down for consumers.
As part of the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) programme, the Government is also considering what further steps can be taken to protect consumers from the impacts of potential price spikes.