Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle skills shortages in areas historically impacted by deindustrialisation.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We are strengthening the skills system so people of all ages can gain the qualifications needed for jobs in a changing economy.
Skills England leads on work to identify skills needs, simplify the system, and align training with labour‑market demand. It also works with the both the Department for Education and Department for Business and Trade to ensure skills provision supports the government’s Industrial Strategy and key growth sectors. Additionally, Strategic Authorities have a key role in skills in their areas, and Local Skills Improvement Plans create frameworks for local collaboration between employers and providers.
The Post‑16 Education and Skills White Paper, published in 2025, sets out a vision for a world‑leading system that widens access, meets employer needs, and supports innovation. Reforms by the department include new V Levels and two clear Level 2 pathways, expanding apprenticeships, the introduction of foundation apprenticeships and a new growth and skills levy, as well as investing in higher‑level technical qualifications and providing support for priority sectors.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department has taken to encourage businesses in deprived areas historically impacted by deindustrialisation to employ people locally.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade is committed to supporting economic growth and job creation across all parts of the United Kingdom, including in communities historically affected by deindustrialisation. The key objective of the Industrial Strategy is to drive up business investment, increase growth and create high quality jobs.
Across Government we are helping to ensure that local people have the skills that employers need, including through programmes focused on apprenticeships, skills bootcamps, and sector-based work academies.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
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 ensure that investment from the British Business Bank is spread evenly throughout the country.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The British Business Bank seeks to improve access to finance for businesses across the UK through both national and regional interventions. The former includes the Start Up Loans scheme, where loans have been issued in every UK parliamentary constituency, while the latter includes the Nations and Regions Investment Funds.
The Bank’s latest Impact Report found that in 2024/25, 84 per cent of businesses supported by the Bank were based outside London. Each UK nation and region is expected to benefit from an estimated additional Gross Value Added impact of at least £100 million over the lifetime of the finance provided.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to encourage a culture of economic growth in deindustrialised areas.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government is committed to improving economic growth and living standards across every part of the United Kingdom, including in communities affected by the long-term decline of industry. We are moving away from a model where growth is concentrated in a few places to one that unlocks investment in every region.
At the March 2026 Mais Lecture, the Chancellor set out plans to empower regional growth, including establishing City Investment Funds with an additional £2.3 billion of grant, loan and patient capital funding for major city regions, with up to £1.7 billion going directly to mayors in the North. Over £150 million will also be invested through the IS8 cluster (Industrial Strategy growth driving sectors) programme into five areas across the North and North East, backing growth-driving sectors where places already have strengths, to grow firms and create good local jobs. This builds on the £15.6 billion confirmed at the Spending Review for Transport for City Regions settlements, and the £5.8 billion being provided for deprived neighbourhoods across the UK through the Pride in Place Programme.
Alongside investment, the Government is tackling economic inactivity directly. We have announced further investment to unlock up to 200,000 new jobs and apprenticeship opportunities for young people, including a new Youth Jobs Grant and an expanded Jobs Guarantee, taking total investment in the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy to £2.5 billion over the next three years. Through the National Wealth Fund, the Government has invested £3.8 billion across a number of projects, creating or supporting 20,300 jobs in its first year.
Taken together, these measures are designed to raise investment, create more jobs and improve living standards in the places that have too often been left behind.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to encourage investment in areas with high economic inactivity historically impacted by deindustrialisation.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government is committed to improving economic growth and living standards across every part of the United Kingdom, including in communities affected by the long-term decline of industry. We are moving away from a model where growth is concentrated in a few places to one that unlocks investment in every region.
At the March 2026 Mais Lecture, the Chancellor set out plans to empower regional growth, including establishing City Investment Funds with an additional £2.3 billion of grant, loan and patient capital funding for major city regions, with up to £1.7 billion going directly to mayors in the North. Over £150 million will also be invested through the IS8 cluster (Industrial Strategy growth driving sectors) programme into five areas across the North and North East, backing growth-driving sectors where places already have strengths, to grow firms and create good local jobs. This builds on the £15.6 billion confirmed at the Spending Review for Transport for City Regions settlements, and the £5.8 billion being provided for deprived neighbourhoods across the UK through the Pride in Place Programme.
Alongside investment, the Government is tackling economic inactivity directly. We have announced further investment to unlock up to 200,000 new jobs and apprenticeship opportunities for young people, including a new Youth Jobs Grant and an expanded Jobs Guarantee, taking total investment in the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy to £2.5 billion over the next three years. Through the National Wealth Fund, the Government has invested £3.8 billion across a number of projects, creating or supporting 20,300 jobs in its first year.
Taken together, these measures are designed to raise investment, create more jobs and improve living standards in the places that have too often been left behind.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
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 ensure that support offered by Growth Hubs is not only used in places of concentrated wealth.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Growth Hub network comprises 38 local business support bodies delivered by or via local authorities in England. DBT provides funding to authorities for their Growth Hubs to deliver a core service and to act as local delivery partners for the new Business Growth Service. Hubs provide advice and access to support across a broad range of business needs for businesses of any size, sector or ownership structure within their footprint, via a free and impartial single point of contact. Authorities have the freedom to shape and enhance their Growth Hub’s support offer to meet local business and economic needs.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the Northern Powerhouse investment fund has done to increase employment in areas historically impacted by deindustrialisation.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The two generations of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) support employment across the North of England by increasing access to finance for smaller businesses to start, scale and innovate.
The first NPIF delivered more than £1 billion of combined public and private sector investment to businesses across the North of England, of which £613 million was private sector investment. The Fund created more than 7,900 jobs.
Since launch, NPIF II has supported more than 400 businesses, facilitating almost £275 million of investment, and we would expect job creation across the North as under the first-generation fund.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of healthcare treatment uptake on the finances of low income households.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
There has been no specific assessment of the potential impact of healthcare treatment uptake on the finances of low-income households.
National Health Services are free at the point of use for those ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, except for certain charges, such as some NHS prescription charges and dental charges.
Many people are eligible for help with health costs. This includes exemptions for specific groups, and support through the NHS Low Income Scheme for people on a low income. Patients on a low income may also be able to get help with other necessary health-related costs, for example through the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme, subject to eligibility.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information on his Department holds on the number of people who have partially or wholly self funded proton beam therapy in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department oversees healthcare in England but does not routinely track how many residents have received proton beam therapy, either domestically or abroad, in the past five years.
We also do not routinely collect data on patients eligible for this treatment, associated out-of-pocket costs, and the number of individuals who have self-funded their therapy.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many UK residents received proton beam therapy (a) domestically and (b) overseas under NHS commissioning arrangements in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department oversees healthcare in England but does not routinely track how many residents have received proton beam therapy, either domestically or abroad, in the past five years.
We also do not routinely collect data on patients eligible for this treatment, associated out-of-pocket costs, and the number of individuals who have self-funded their therapy.