Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to tackle backlogs in the courts.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Sir Brian’s report set out a blueprint for pragmatic structural reform in our criminal courts and made clear that action across the process is essential.

The Courts and Tribunals Bill is the first step to putting that blueprint into law. Coupled with record investment in sitting days and criminal legal aid and modernisation of listing practices and use of case coordinators and blitz courts to boost efficiencies, we are taking a neglected service and bringing it, finally, into the 21st century.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to publish a national strategy on HGV parking and welfare facilities.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

There are no current plans to publish a national strategy on HGV parking and welfare facilities.

The Department for Transport has commissioned a National Survey of Lorry Parking which is currently underway. The survey will provide a fresh baseline on the availability of secure lorry parking and HGV driver welfare provision and is scheduled to be published in the autumn.

The survey was last conducted in 2022 and provided the evidence base for the design of the HGV Parking Matched Funding Grant Scheme. With industry, this scheme is delivering up to £35.7 million in joint investment to enhance truck stops across England. The scheme is helping to improve driver welfare facilities, lorry parking provision, site security and decarbonisation. This investment is on top of up to £30 million investment by National Highways and industry at truck stops and motorway service areas along the strategic road network.

The government is prioritising improvements to the planning system. Strengthened policy on freight and logistics has been proposed in the recent consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to improve the consideration of freight, including lorry parking, in the planning system.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of school leavers progressed onto apprenticeships at (a) Level 3, (b) Level 4 and (c) above by type of establishment in each year since September 2020.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department publishes information on the destinations of students after key stage 4 and 16 to 18 study. This includes whether an apprenticeship was sustained.

To be counted, young people need to sustain the apprenticeship for six months in the academic year after leaving.

Data on the destinations of students who have completed key stage 4 study is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/059bdddb-673e-47bd-f7ed-08de834d471d.

Data on the destinations of students who have completed 16 to 18 study is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7cebeac7-c6b9-475a-f7ef-08de834d471d.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of school leavers have progressed to (a) employment and (b) economic inactivity by type of establishment in each year since September 2020.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department publishes information on the destinations of students after key stage 4 and 16 to 18 study. This includes whether a student sustained an education, employment or apprenticeship destination. The data also includes the number of students who did not sustain a destination or where no activity was captured.

To be counted in a destination, young people must have sustained participation for a six-month period in the destination year.

Data on the destinations of students who have completed key stage 4 is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/40d1474a-30ff-402a-f7ee-08de834d471d.

Data on the destinations of students who have completed 16 to 18 study is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/5d0582dc-7327-42f2-ab5e-08de834ce335.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to research from The University of Manchester entitled The right to play: making play a policy and practice priority, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that all schools have access to green spaces.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Play is an essential part of children’s physical, social and cognitive development, as recognised in the early years foundation stage statutory framework. All education settings, from early years to further education, can register with the National Education Nature Park which provides free and quality assured resources, guidance and support to enable them to turn their grounds from grey to green.

The Education Estates Strategy also recently set out how the new design specifications and Renewal and Retrofit Programme will increase access to nature and create better outdoor places with more variety, so that pupils can undertake both quiet and energetic activities.

The value of access to nature and outdoor learning is also being recognised and promoted through enrichment, with our upcoming Enrichment Framework including 'Nature, outdoors and adventure' as one of five categories that schools should seek to cover in a broad and well-rounded enrichment offer.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of tobacco companies on (a) AI summaries on topics of commercial interest, including the size of the illicit tobacco market, and (b) the accuracy of those summaries.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology has made no assessment of the impact of tobacco companies on the outputs of AI models or their accuracy.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Jim Dickson

Found: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat, Carshalton and Wallington) (added 28 Oct 2024) 73 of 82 (89.0%) Jim Dickson

Found: meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Bobby Dean; Jim Dickson

Found: meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Bobby Dean; Jim Dickson

Found: meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Bobby Dean; Jim Dickson