Harpreet Uppal

I am aware of the terrible cases that have occurred in your constituency and these tragic cases are an example as to why we have committed to halving instances of knife crime in a decade as part of this Government’s Plan for Change.

Violent crime is too high, too many lives are still being lost to knives, and we too often see the consequences of these heinous crimes in the press. By banning zombie knives, tackling online sales via Ronan’s Law and working closely with community leaders, this Government has already taken robust action to tackle this issue.

We will continue to take action to reduce knife crime further. I am committed to the Crown Prosecution Service playing a full part in this critical work, and it requires a whole system effort.

This is an issue that is regularly discussed at Mission Boards and which I will continue discussing with Ministerial colleagues and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Green investment is a cornerstone of the UKs drive for growth, as set out in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper. For Huddersfield and towns across the North, we actively showcase investment opportunities to potential investors, and provide account management services for investors already in the region to help them build and scale. This is demonstrated by our work to support the £50m investment of Syngenta in Huddersfield, to build technology that will improve crop yields, announced in March this year.

This government is supporting high street businesses in Huddersfield and in similar towns by reforming business rates, empowering communities to address vacant high street properties through high street rental auctions and tackling anti-social behaviour and crime in town centres through the Crime and Policing Bill.

In April, we announced a Licensing Taskforce that will suggest improvements to our licensing regime to foster vibrant hospitality and cultural sectors on the high street.

Government support in Huddersfield includes £16.7m from MHCLG for the Open Market project to provide a new market that is fit for the future and is part of the council’s programme to drive footfall and demand across the high street. The Plan for Neighbourhoods programme, led by MHCLG will also provide £20 million of long-term funding to 75 places over the next decade targeted on local projects prioritised by the community, including those on the high street.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. The Government has a wide range of business support offers aimed at independent retailers, engaging directly and through key trade associations. We will be launching the Business Growth Service later this year to support small businesses further with productivity and growth working closely with Growth Hubs in England. We are also taking measures to tackle late payments, reform business rates, improve access to finance and encourage tech adoption for all businesses and independent retailers. Key growth-driving programmes such as Help to Grow: Management help businesses unlock their potential through bespoke support and resources.

The UK is a global leader in the fight against climate change, which is why at COP29, the Prime Minister announced the UK’s 1.5°C aligned 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% by 2035, compared to 1990 levels.

This target is ambitious and is estimated to reduce emissions by more than 60% between 2019 and 2035, aligning with the reductions in the IPCC’s global pathways which limit warming to 1.5°C with low or no overshoot.

Last week, this Government took a step further and was amongst the first few countries in the world to formally submit its 2035 NDC to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

By submitting our 2035 early, the UK is championing mitigation ambition and will be leading by example to encourage and support other countries to come forward with their own ambitious target ahead of COP30.

The UK is the first major economy to halve its emissions, having cut them by around 53% between 1990 and 2023, while also growing its economy by around 80%. We have also over-achieved against the first, second and third carbon budgets. We will deliver an updated cross-economy plan in due course, to outline the policies needed to deliver carbon budgets 4-6 on our pathway to net zero by 2050.

The department primarily funds such aspects through Arts Council England (ACE) which supports organisations through their National Portfolio (NPOs) programme which provides funding of over £450 million a year to arts organisations across the country, many of which provide programmes that celebrate creativity and heritage. In addition, ACE’s open funding programme, National Lottery Project Grants, is currently accessible to organisations and individuals across the country, including those in Huddersfield and similar sized towns. This programme provides over £100 million of support annually to individuals and organisations.

In Huddersfield for example, ACE supports a number of NPOs such as the annual Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Lawrence Batley Theatre which hosts a wide ranging year-round programme which includes dance shows, dramas and top comedians. ACE is also supporting Kirklees council in the creation of a new Cultural Strategy.

Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund also distribute funding on behalf of the department aimed at enabling communities to celebrate their heritage and champion historic places. Historic England delivers grant schemes such as Everyday Heritage Grants and History in the Making which focuses on projects that celebrate working class histories and enables communities to celebrate their local history. The National Lottery Heritage Fund funds a broad range of projects that connect people and communities to the UK's heritage. Their funding can be used for a range of heritage projects including commemorations and celebrations of communities, places or events, and exploring cultural traditions within a place.

The Government does not hold the data requested. Local authorities fund youth services from their Local Government Settlement in line with local need, and this was increased to more than £69 billion in 2025/26 - a 6.8% increase in cash terms compared to 2024/25.

Additionally, we will be launching the Local Youth Transformation pilot this year, which will support local authorities to build back capability to improve local youth offers. We will share more information in due course.

Youth work is estimated to have an indirect economic value of £3.2 billion, including £0.5 billion from decreased crime, £1.7 billion from improved health, and £0.8 billion from increased employment and education. There is also evidence that youth social action has positive impacts on young people’s sense of belonging and active citizenship, as well as inter-generational relationships and communities’ feelings of pride in local areas.

As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. At the Autumn Budget, we announced £1.3 billion of extra funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement for the next financial year.

In 2025/26, we will be launching the Local Youth Transformation pilot which will support local authorities to build back capability in the youth space and improve local youth offers.

We are developing a new National Youth Strategy co-produced with young people, which will set out a new vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this. We will be publishing an interim report this spring and the Strategy will be published this summer.

As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. At the Autumn Budget, we announced £1.3 billion of extra funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement for the next financial year.

We are developing a new National Youth Strategy co-produced with young people, which will set out a new vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this. We will be publishing an interim report this spring and the Strategy will be published this summer.

Funding allocations for specific programmes in 2025/26 will be communicated in due course, following the completion of business planning. It will include:

• Over £85 million of capital funding to create fit-for-purpose spaces in places where it is most needed. This includes the Better Youth Spaces Fund - £26 million for youth clubs to buy new equipment and do renovations;

• The Local Youth Transformation Fund to start the journey of building back lost capability in local areas;

• Completion of Youth Investment Fund projects underway.

As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, the government will launch a new Youth Guarantee for young people aged 18 to 21 in England to ensure that they are supported to access high quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work.

This is alongside the launch of Skills England, which will support skills training opportunities for young people, and local skills improvement plans which bring employers, providers and local leaders together to collaboratively identify and address skills needs of local areas.

The government supports colleges to provide skills training, including through over £7.5 billion of 16 to 19 programme funding which will be invested during the 2024/25 academic year to ensure young people are developing the skills they need to succeed in work and in life.

The government is working with universities on access and participation and we will support the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university, regardless of their background, where they live and their personal circumstances.

We are also widening the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer which will include new foundation apprenticeships, giving more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives.

Skills development is crucial for economic growth and breaking down the barriers to opportunity.

The government is developing a Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy which will set out how the skills system will work to deliver on our Plan for Change, moving towards a more responsive and flexible education system that can adapt to the evolving demands of the economy. This will help ensure that students and workers have access to the training and education they need to thrive in work and life.

Through Skills England, the department also oversees local skills improvement plans which provide an ongoing mechanism through which local employers, strategic authorities, further education and higher education providers and other stakeholders can come together locally to identify and resolve skills needs and issues.

As set out in the current Area SEND Inspection Framework, local areas with a Written Statement of Action that were not revisited by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission under the previous framework will have a full inspection within the first three years of the new inspection cycle, meaning that they should receive a full inspection under the current framework by the end of 2025.

As part of Area SEND inspections, inspectors assess the extent to which the local area partners are complying with relevant legal duties relating to arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

For any local area that has an active Written Statement of Action, the department works to monitor, support and challenge local authorities as needed, working closely with NHS England to tackle any weaknesses that sit with health partners. Where a council does not meet its duties, including around timeliness of education, health and care plans, we offer a range of universal, targeted and intensive support through departmentally-managed programmes, such as our sector led improvement partners, which provides peer-to-peer tailored support. Councils identified as having issues with 20 week timeliness specifically are subject to additional monitoring by the department. Where we have concerns about their capacity to make the required improvements, we secure specialist SEND advisor support to help identify barriers and improve the service.

​​School absence is one of the biggest barriers to success for children and young people. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, limiting their opportunity to succeed.

The department recognises that some pupils, such as pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or mental health problems, may face additional challenges to attendance. We expect schools to have the same attendance ambitions for these pupils as they do for all pupils, and to put support in place where required to facilitate their attendance.

To support children and young people to attend school, the department has introduced statutory guidance which sets clear expectations for schools, trusts and local authorities. The guidance is clear that schools and local authorities should take a sensitive, ‘support-first’ approach to enabling attendance, working with the child and their family to remove any barriers to attendance. For pupils with SEND or mental health needs this may include:

• Considering informal reasonable adjustments to policies and practices.
• Making formal reasonable adjustments under section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 where a pupil has a disability.
• Where applicable, ensuring the provision outlined in a pupil’s education, health and care plan is accessed.

After a period of absence, schools may also consider phased returns if needed, as well as offering support to catch up on missed learning.

This government is also committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. As of April 2024, NHS-funded Mental Health Support Teams covered 44% of pupils and learners in schools and further education in England and are expected to cover at least 50% by April 2025.

The department publishes figures from the school census on pupil absence in state-funded schools. The latest data, including breakdowns by characteristic, covers the 2023/24 academic year and is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.

The following table provides the number of pupils who were persistently absent, by special educational needs provision: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/b158c055-7dcf-49ad-938b-08dd6ba01329.

Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and littering. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 for fly-tipping and £500 for littering, and prosecution action which can lead to significant fine or even imprisonment and vehicle seizure. We encourage councils to make good use of these powers and we are taking steps to develop statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support local authorities to consistently and effectively exercise these existing powers.

We have also announced a review of their powers to seize and crush vehicles of suspected fly-tippers to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.

We are also committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

Additionally, we will move the regulation of waste carriers, brokers and dealers from light-touch registration into environmental permitting. This will enhance the Envrionment Agency’s ability to take action in this area and make it harder for rogue operators to operate. Penalties set out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990, such as prison sentences of up to 5 years, will also become applicable to breaches of the new regulations.

Waste sites in England are regulated by the Environment Agency (EA) under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 which include a range of penalties including fines and imprisonment for breaches of conditions. The EA also takes action against illegal operators who abuse and ignore the rules.

The Secretary of State has recently announced plans to tighten up the regulation of those who transport and manage waste services, moving them from a light-touch registration system into environmental permitting. Councils to seize and crush fly-tipping vehicles to clean up Britain - GOV.UK. This will give the EA a greater range of powers and more resources to be able to take action against those operating illegally.

Additionally, we will reform the waste permit exemptions regime by removing three exemptions and requiring those activities to be fully permitted and tightening the controls around 7 other exemptions. This will ensure greater oversight of activities which are being abused by waste criminals.

For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.

That is why we have placed water companies under special measures through the Water (Special Measures) Act. The Act will drive meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry as a first important step in enabling wider, transformative change across the water sector. This includes new powers for Ofwat to ban unjustified bonuses, and for the Environment Agency to impose automatic penalties and recover costs for a much greater range of enforcement activities.

The Environment Agency is also increasing its regulatory officers, data analysts and enforcement specialists who deal with pollution. They are using new digital tools and data sources, including from storm overflow monitors to identify offences and take enforcement action.

Local councils have a range of enforcement powers to tackle issues such as fly-tipping and littering. These include fixed penalty notices, prosecution and vehicle seizure. We are seeking powers to issue statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to help councils make full and proper use of their fly-tipping powers.

Councils are also responsible for keeping public land clear of litter. We are targeting some of the most commonly littered items to reduce the presence of these on our streets. The sale of single-use vapes will be banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The DRS will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers.

Defra continues to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities, to share good practice on preventing fly-tipping. Various practical tools are available from their webpage at: National Fly-tipping Prevention Group | Keep Britain Tidy.

National design guidance supports local authorities to bring forward well-designed new development, including attractive, inclusive, and safe public spaces.

The Government will be considering the role of place-based initiatives, including Local Food Partnerships, as we develop our plans to support our farmers and food and drink businesses, boost food security, invest in rural communities, deliver growth, manage waste more effectively across the supply chain, improve resilience to climate change and tackle biodiversity loss.

Kirklees Council is a constituent authority of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA). Between 2022/23 – 2026/27, WYCA will receive over £167 million a year through its City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), which includes highway maintenance funding.

In 2025/26, WYCA received over £14 million in additional funding for highway maintenance as part of the £500 million uplift announced in Budget 2024. It is entirely a matter for WYCA to determine how to allocate this funding to its constituent authorities, including Kirklees Council, based on local needs and priorities.

The Government is taking steps to boost investment and improve connectivity in transport as part of its commitment to driving economic growth in all parts of the UK.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has been allocated £830m through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), a five-year £5.7bn government investment to improve the transport networks across eight city regions in England from 2022/23 to 2026/27. As part of this, funding is expected to support transport improvements in Huddersfield town centre, including enhancements to active travel routes on key approaches and upgrades to Huddersfield Bus Station.

While these schemes are in development, it a decision for WYCA whether they will progress to construction.

Future funding beyond 2025-26 will be reviewed in the spring multi-year spending review, aligning with the Integrated National Transport Strategy for long-term interests.

The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) will deliver faster, greener and more reliable rail journeys, better connecting key northern cities including Manchester to York via Huddersfield and Leeds, transporting people to work, education and leisure opportunities whilst supporting economic growth. TRU will provide an additional two platforms at Huddersfield and extend existing ones to increase capacity, as well as installing a new footbridge and lifts to improve accessibility.

Pakistan is still on UK Air Safety List and there is a process to follow to come off the Air Safety List. The Department for Transport, along with the UK Civil Aviation Authority continues to engage with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority. Responsibility remains with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority to ensure it is meeting required safety standards to be delisted and we cannot provide a timeline on this.

Neurodivergent people bring many positive benefits to workplaces but face particular barriers to employment, which is reflected in a poor overall employment rate. As a government, we want to support all forms of neurodiversity in the workplace by encouraging employers to adopt neuro-inclusive working practices so that everyone can thrive at work.

On 29 January this year, the Government launched an independent panel of academics with expertise and experiences of neurodiversity to advise us on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work. Many of the panel are diagnosed or identify as neurodivergent and/or have familial experience alongside their professional experience and expertise.

The panel will consider the reasons why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate. Recommendations are expected to include employer actions that can support the inclusion of neurodivergent people, including in recruitment and day to day workplace practices.

Employers have a key role to play. Our support to employers includes the online Support with Employee Health and Disability service, to support employers managing health and disability in the workplace. This includes questions of disclosure and equipping employers to feel confident having conversations about health and disability. The Disability Confident scheme also signposts employers to expert resources which support the employment of disabled people, including neurodivergent people.

As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we will launch a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England set to receive grant funding to deliver the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers from Spring 2025. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.

This is alongside a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include work experience, training courses or employability programmes.

The Government is also reforming the apprenticeships offer into a more flexible growth and skills offer, aligned to the industrial strategy. The Department for Education is working to introduce new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships, in targeted sectors. These will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuel innovation in businesses across the country, and provide high-quality entry pathways for young people.

DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.

The data is not held centrally in the format requested, but some relevant information covering waiting times for these services for all children and young people is available. Neurodevelopmental assessments can include, but are not limited to, assessments for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), the Autism Waiting Time Statistics published by NHS England show that there was a total of 5,385 patients aged zero to 17 years old with an open suspected autism referral in December 2024, the latest available data. The median waiting time of patients in this ICB with an open suspected autism referral, where their first care contact was in the quarter, was 257 days in December 2024 for those aged under 10 years old, and was 239 days for those aged 10 to 17 years old. Caution should be used when interpreting these statistics since they are experimental rather than official statistics.

In respect of ADHD, there is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment and diagnosis for ADHD nationally or for individual organisations or geographies in England.

The latest available data for the NHS West Yorkshire ICB shows that in the period of November 2024 to January 2025, the median waiting time between referral and first contact for children and young people, those aged under 18 years old, supported through National Health Service funded mental health services, was 14 days. This data is published in the Mental Health Services Monthly Statistics, which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-services-monthly-statistics

For speech and language therapy services in Kirklees, following an initial triage or screening, it can take between seven and 32 weeks for a full assessment.

We know that too many children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, are not receiving the mental health care they need, and that waits for mental health services are too long across England, including in Huddersfield. We are determined to change that.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England, introduce open access Young Futures hubs in communities, and recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to cut wait times and provide faster treatment.

The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.

As part of the work to develop the 10-Year Health Plan, we will be carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including those in the hospice sector.

In February 2025, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, and long-term sector sustainability, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, was discussed at length.

The Department has provided the biggest investment in a generation for hospices, with £100 million to help hospices this year and next, to provide the best end of life care to patients and their families in a supportive and dignified physical environment. Hospices for children and young people will also receive a further £26 million of revenue funding for 2025/26 through what until recently was known as the Children’s Hospice Grant.

The decision to bring NHS England and Department together into one team will have no impact on this, or future funding decisions around hospices.

Ministers are working with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. Hospices will continue to have a clear point of contact within the centre.

NHS England has developed an assurance system with specific steps and deadlines to ensure the timely dissemination of the £26 million revenue funding to children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. These steps include regular oversight sessions with integrated care boards (ICBs), regions and hospices, giving ICBs a hard deadline within quarter one of the financial year of when they are expected to disseminate the funding to hospices, including escalating to NHS England if any ICB is unable to meet the deadline. If the deadline is missed, NHS England has put steps in place to ensure all hospices receive the funding within the timescales outlined.

We are using all levers at our disposal to bring about an end to the conflict in Sudan. As penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council, the UK continues to call out atrocities committed in Sudan and press for a peaceful end to the conflict. On 15 April, the Foreign Secretary gathered Foreign Ministers and high-level representatives from 21 countries and multilateral bodies at the London Sudan Conference. Discussions focussed on how to make progress on shared goals of ending the conflict, protecting civilians and scaling-up the delivery of humanitarian aid. Participants agreed on the need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. As detailed in the co-chairs' statement, this is not the end but the start of a process; the UK remains committed to working with the international community to secure a ceasefire in Sudan.

The UK is playing a leading role in response to the crisis in Sudan, including efforts to facilitate more consistent humanitarian access into and within Sudan. During last month's London Sudan Conference, the Foreign Secretary announced a further £120 million towards the crisis which will provide life-saving aid to more than 650,000 people. An urgent improvement in access is required to enable aid to be delivered to those in need.

The sinking of the S.S. Tilawa is a tragedy that has touched the lives of so many. Alongside the Prime Minister, I reiterate my heartfelt condolences to all the victims and families affected. On the 80th Anniversary of VEVJ Day this year, the UK will honour the lives lost in all conflicts, including those from the S.S. Tilawa on its important 83rd Anniversary. I cannot comment on the subject of correspondence to the Government of Japan regarding S.S. Tilawa, which is a private and reserved matter.

The sinking of the S.S. Tilawa is a tragedy that has touched the lives of so many. Alongside the Prime Minister, I reiterate my heartfelt condolences to all the victims and families affected. On the 80th Anniversary of VEVJ Day this year, the UK will honour the lives lost in all conflicts, including those from the S.S. Tilawa on its important 83rd Anniversary. I cannot comment on the subject of correspondence to the Government of Japan regarding S.S. Tilawa, which is a private and reserved matter.

The Foreign Secretary has raised the Israeli operations in the West Bank with his Israeli counterparts. As I made clear in Parliament on 25 February, the UK is seriously concerned by the expansion of Israel's operations in the West Bank. 40,000 Palestinians have reportedly been displaced. Palestinians must be allowed home. Civilians must be protected and the destruction of civilian infrastructure minimised. All sides should work to ensure a lowering of tension in the West Bank at this time. The risk of instability is serious and the need for de-escalation urgent. It is in no one's interest for further conflict and instability to spread in the West Bank.

This Government wants town centres to be vibrant, welcoming places where businesses thrive and people feel safe and come to shop, socialise and live.

To that end we are working with Police and Crime Commissioners, and essential local partners such as councils, schools, health services, business, transport and community organisations in launching a new programme of work focussed on Keeping Town Centres Safe this Summer, with the aim of driving down street crime, shop theft and anti-social behaviour in town centres. This will help us build on existing data and evidence of what works locally to tackle these issues.

The Home Office has not assessed the effectiveness of town-wide safety campaigns in reducing crime. However, as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, and to support making the country’s streets safer for 2025/26 £66.3 million Hotspot Action funding has been awarded to all 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. As part of the Hotspot Action Fund, West Yorkshire will be in receipt of £ 2,476,420.