Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many apprenticeship vacancies were advertised on the Find An Apprenticeship website in each month since 1 January 2020.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The requested data on apprenticeship vacancies that were advertised on the Find an Apprenticeship website are published in the Apprenticeships statistics publication and can be found here:

https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/37950fb3-a95f-425c-f86d-08de0724494a

This has been available since 17 July 2025. The next update to these figures will be in the Apprenticeships: November 2025 statistics publication. ​

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of out of area taxi operations on public safety.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The primary purpose of the taxi and private hire vehicle licensing regime is public safety. Since coming into Government, we have been actively looking at ways to improve the existing licensing regime.

We have committed to legislate to address the issues raised in Baroness Casey’s national audit on group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, to tackle the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We want to achieve two outcomes; the first is ensuring we have consistently high safeguarding standards and the second is that there is no unintended reduction in the availability of licensed taxi and private hire vehicle services, which could disproportionately impact women and girls and disabled people, who rely on these services the most. We are considering all options – including out-of-area working, national standards, enforcement and transferring licensing to local transport authorities - seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.

We are currently reviewing licensing authorities’ compliance with existing guidance issued by the Department on actions they should take on licensing matters including safety. All licensing authorities have reported that they require the highest level of criminal background checks for taxi and private hire vehicle driver licence applicants – an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check with a check of the children’s and adults’ barred lists. Where safety recommendations from the guidance are not being followed, licensing authorities will be held to account.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of court cases that (a) did not progress and (b) were delayed due to the non-attendance of professional witnesses by the profession of those witnesses in Greater Manchester in the last 12 months.

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

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of cases which did not progress or were delayed due to non-attendance of professional witnesses split by witness profession.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department is providing to Greater Manchester to fund the removal of Clean Air Zone signage in the region.

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

We agreed in January 2025 an £86m plan for Greater Manchester to help clean up the region’s air, including support for cleaner buses, local traffic measures and moving Greater Manchester’s taxi fleet to cleaner vehicles. Individual spending decisions within that funding package are for Greater Manchester authorities.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to help increase the number of co-operative housing units.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government recognises that the community-led housing sector delivers a wide range of benefits including strengthening community participation in local decision-making, engendering community cohesion, achieving high quality design and strengthening the co-operative economy.

In March, we announced a £20m 10-year social finance investment to provide capital finance for community-led housing, which is expected to directly support the construction of more than 2,500 new homes over the next decade. These housebuilding projects will be led by communities to specifically address local needs in their area.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December strengthened support for community-led housing, including through changes to the size limit on community-led exception sites and a broadening of the definition of organisations able to deliver community-led housing.

The government is also considering opportunities to legislate to establish a legal framework for a co-operative housing tenure, which would help formalise the rights and responsibilities of both co-operatives and their tenants, and make co-operative housing a more attractive option.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the average number of asylum seekers who are housed in each property procured for dispersal accommodation in each local authority in Greater Manchester.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has a legal obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute by providing appropriate support which usually includes accommodation.

The Home Office does not disclose information about average number of asylum seekers who are housed in each property procured for dispersal accommodation.

Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including accommodation type, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab of our most recent statistics release. Immigration system statistics data tables - www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

Injury on Duty Award Scheme

Found: Return Nil Return Alison McGovern Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Jim McMahon

Found: Return Nil Return Nil Return Alison McGovern Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Nil Return Jim McMahon

Found:

Found: