Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what key performance indicators his Department plans to use to measure the success of the Office for Investment; and how these differ from key performance indicators outlined at the launch of the Office.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for Investment (OfI) is focusing on building and converting a pipeline of significant investments opportunities, delivering economic growth and strategic government priorities. This was also the focus of the OfI when originally launched in 2020 but there is now a greater expectation on the number of significant opportunities that will be supported.
As demonstrated in the DBT Inward Investment Results 2024-25, DBT and OfI measure and report on several aspects of investments supported by the government’s investment promotion service including Gross Value Add (GVA) and jobs created outside of London and the South East.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the UK-US trade deal on the health and social care sectors.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department continues to work closely with United Kingdom pharmaceutical firms, life sciences trade associations, and other Government departments to assess the potential impact of the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal on the health and social care sectors. The Government is clear that we will only ever sign trade agreements that align with the UK’s national interests, and that the National Health Service will never be on the table for any trade agreement.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Record-breaking International Investment Summit secures £63 billion and nearly 38,000 jobs for the UK, published on 14 October 2024, what the regional breakdown is of those jobs.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The figures released as part of the International Investment Summit last autumn are aggregate values of investment plans from several multi-national enterprises. The Office for Investment does not hold information from companies on the regional breakdown of their job proposals in their investment plans.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the value was of inward investment deals for the Office of Investment in (a) October 2024 and (b) June 2025.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for Investment (OfI) facilitates high-value, strategically important inward investment into the UK. As a dedicated concierge service, it provides a seamless journey for investors, unlocking high-impact opportunities and accelerating delivery of the government’s growth priorities.
Recently expanded to enhance its capabilities, the OfI played a pivotal role in securing the £63 billion announced at the International Investment Summit in October 2024. Since then, it has helped attract billions more across key Industrial Strategy sectors, including from Universal, Vishay, Vantage, Knauf, Rheinmetall, and Lendlease.
A full list of companies cannot be disclosed due to commercial sensitivities.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which businesses have used the Office for Investment since October 2024.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for Investment (OfI) facilitates high-value, strategically important inward investment into the UK. As a dedicated concierge service, it provides a seamless journey for investors, unlocking high-impact opportunities and accelerating delivery of the government’s growth priorities.
Recently expanded to enhance its capabilities, the OfI played a pivotal role in securing the £63 billion announced at the International Investment Summit in October 2024. Since then, it has helped attract billions more across key Industrial Strategy sectors, including from Universal, Vishay, Vantage, Knauf, Rheinmetall, and Lendlease.
A full list of companies cannot be disclosed due to commercial sensitivities.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the conversion success rate for inward investment deals managed by the Office for Investment is since October 2024.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for Investment (OfI) facilitates high-value, strategically important inward investment into the UK. As a dedicated concierge service, it provides a seamless journey for investors, unlocking high-impact opportunities and accelerating delivery of the government’s growth priorities.
Recently expanded to enhance its capabilities, the OfI played a pivotal role in securing the £63 billion announced at the International Investment Summit in October 2024. Since then, it has helped attract billions more across key Industrial Strategy sectors, including from Universal, Vishay, Vantage, Knauf, Rheinmetall, and Lendlease.
A full list of companies cannot be disclosed due to commercial sensitivities.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the £209 million of reallocated HS2 Funding for Better Local Transport was allocated to Worcestershire for each of the seven years following the announcement.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The previous government made several unfunded commitments. This government is committed to long-term sustainable funding settlements to support local authorities in building credible delivery plans for local transport improvements.
Worcestershire County Council will receive a capital allocation of £66.9m, in addition to the £13.6m capital allocated for 2025/26 through the LTG and Integrated Transport Block. Allocations are published on gov.uk.
In addition to the £0.5m resource funding it is receiving in 2025/26, Worcestershire will also receive a share of the £104m LTG resource funding that was announced at Spending Review 2025. Individual allocations will be confirmed in due course.
All allocations beyond 2029/30 are subject to future Spending Review processes.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Local Transport Grant funding has been allocated to Worcestershire in each year of the Spending Review 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Spending Review 2025 confirmed a £2.3 billion investment in local transport through the Local Transport Grant (LTG) for smaller cities, towns and rural areas, outside London which do not receive City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) or Transport for City Regions (TCR) funding. Capital funding allocations for all eligible local authorities are published on gov.uk
Worcestershire County Council will receive a total LTG capital allocation of £66.9m between 2026/27 and 2029/30, consisting of £13.8m in 2026/27, £16m in 2027/28, £17.7m in 2028/29 and £19.5m in 2029/30.
In addition, Worcestershire will receive a share of the £104m LTG resource funding that was announced at Spending Review 2025. Individual allocations of resource funding will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that livestock can move freely between land in England and Wales.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works closely with the Devolved Governments with the aim of providing, where possible, a consistent and coordinated response across the UK. A key forum for this is the Animal Disease Policy Group, which is a UK-wide policy decision making group. Defra and the Devolved Governments also engage closely with industry to inform policy development and implementation through the Livestock Core Group.
Nevertheless, disease control is a devolved matter, and it is for the Devolved Governments to assess the disease risks and impacts in relation to their national herds, alongside the impacts of controls, and respond accordingly.
From 1 July 2025 the restricted zone (RZ) for bluetongue will be extended to include all areas of England and the current movement restrictions for live animals within England will be lifted. Given the availability now of safe and effective BTV-3 vaccines, low prevalence of severe clinical signs in affected domestic animals, and the impact of restrictions, sustaining or increasing controls on BTV-3 into the future is neither sustainable nor proportionate.
The Welsh Government will allow livestock to be moved from England to Wales subject to licences, qualifying vaccination and pre-movement tests at the keeper's expense. Farmers will need to make commercial decisions regarding the costs associated with this.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated to Holiday Activities and Food Programme in each of the last three financial years; and how much funding has been allocated in each financial year of the 2025 Spending Review period.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme to ensure children who are eligible for free school meals can access enriching activities and healthy meals.
The department has invested £205 million per year for 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 in free holiday club places for children from low-income families through the HAF programme.
We are currently working through the outcomes of the Spending Review, and we will share further information in relation to the future of the HAF programme in due course.