Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on ending military operations in the northern West Bank.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

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.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of funding provided to local authorities for (a) street maintenance and (b) pothole repairs in Kirklees.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

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.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve (a) investment and (b) connectivity in transport in Huddersfield constituency.

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

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.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether additional funding will be made available for youth services in Huddersfield to (a) support early intervention and (b) reduce youth offending.

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

As part of our Plan for Change, the Safer Streets Mission is driving work across Government to divert young people away from crime.

To this end the Government has committed to the creation of a Young Futures Programme jointly led by the Home Office and Department for Education. Under this programme the Government will intervene earlier to ensure children and young people who are facing poorer outcomes and are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way. The programme also aims to create more support and opportunities for them in their communities.

As we continue to design the Young Futures Programme, we want to ensure that it learns from and builds on the work of the Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in this regard. In 2025/26 we are investing £47m via the Home Office in core grant funding to VRUs, including making over £4.3m available to the West Yorkshire VRU this year. This funding will support delivery of a range of early intervention and prevention programmes to divert young people away from crime.

In addition, the Serious Violence Duty requires a range of specified authorities, such as, the police, local government, youth offending teams, fire, health, and probation services, to work collaboratively, analyse the local problem, and put in place a strategy to prevent and reduce serious violence within their local communities. In 2025/26, the Government has allocated £14.4m to continue the implementation and delivery of this Duty across all 43 police force areas in England and Wales. This includes £162k for West Yorkshire.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to help secure a ceasefire in Sudan.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

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.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to disburse famine aid quickly across Sudan.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

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.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of town-wide safety campaigns in reducing crime in (a) Huddersfield and (b) other urban centres.

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

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.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking with (a) the University of Huddersfield and (b) other local universities to help promote (i) innovation and (ii) skills development in that region.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

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.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help support (a) high streets and (b) town centre shop fronts in (i) Huddersfield and (ii) similar towns.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

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.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department provides to help support local cultural (a) events and (b) awards that seek to celebrate the (i) heritage and (ii) creativity of (A) Huddersfield and (B) similar towns.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

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.

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 tackle operators who do not dispose of waste appropriately despite holding valid waste licences; and whether he plans to take further steps to improve enforcement against licensed waste operators who breach environmental regulations.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

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.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps his Department has taken to help attract green inward investment to (a) Huddersfield and (b) other northern towns.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

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.