Jodie Gosling

This government recognises that equality and opportunity are at the heart of our programme of national renewal, this includes in our workplaces. The best employers understand that an inclusive workplace, where employees are supported to succeed, is good for productivity and good for the business.

Under the landmark Employment Rights Bill we are taking steps to ensure that all workplaces follow the fantastic example set by some of our leading businesses. This includes requiring large employers to publish plans setting out how they are tackling the gender pay gap and supporting employees during the menopause. Through this process we expect to be able to highlight those employers exhibiting best practice, and ensure that they can share their experiences for other businesses to learn from.

The King’s Speech announced our intention to publish draft legislation this session that will introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting for large employers (those with 250 or more employees).

Pay gap reporting can help businesses better understand their workforce, which can lead to them adopting policies and changes which support improved productivity and improved rates of progression and retention, ensuring they make the most of the skills of their employees.

The work of the Insolvency Service is kept under continual review by the Department and Ministers.

The Insolvency Service, on behalf of the Secretary of State, performs a crucial function in overseeing the Recognised Professional Bodies’ regulation of Insolvency Practitioners. The regulation of Insolvency Practitioners was subject to a public consultation in 2021, and the Government is considering the introduction of reforms in this area.

The Government supports the deployment of solar on rooftops, including those of car parks and other buildings. Many smaller-scale commercial rooftop projects are covered by permitted development rights, which allow them to be installed without applying for planning consent. These include solar canopies in non-domestic, off-street car parks, and rooftop projects of any size on non-domestic buildings. From next year, Future Homes and Buildings Standards will ensure that all newly-built homes and commercial buildings are fit for a net zero future.

The government is committed to offering skills training to learners to help them acquire the necessary skills for employment or further training. The Adult Skills Fund (ASF), previously the Adult Education Budget (AEB), is worth £1.34 billion this academic year and fully funds or co-funds education and skills training for eligible adults aged 19 and over.

In 2024/25, as part of the AEB transition to the ASF, the department introduced five new funding rates, which has seen 78% of qualifications funded through the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

The department is investing in level 3 learning via the ‘free courses for jobs’ offer, which allows eligible learners to access a high value level 3 qualification for free. An additional funding uplift is paid by the department, at two different rates, for providers that offer a wide range of sector subjects.

The total ASF allocation for a provider in the Nuneaton constituency for the 2024/25 academic year is approximately £4.6 million. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-allocations-to-training-providers-2024-to-2025.

Over £7.5 billion in 16 to 19 programme funding will be invested during the 2024/25 academic year as part of the department’s drive for all young people to access high quality education and training that meets their needs and helps them to thrive. My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at Budget a further boost of £300 million in the 2025/26 financial year for further education (FE) to ensure young people are developing the skills they need to succeed and a further £300 million to support colleges to maintain, improve and ensure suitability of their estate.

Information on 16 to 19 funding allocations received by institutions in Nuneaton is available in the published allocations, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/funding-education-for-16-to-19-year-olds#published-allocations.

For the 2023/24 academic year, 16 to 19 funded institutions in the Nuneaton constituency were allocated £31.23 million in 16 to 19 funding. This includes high needs student funding, student support funding and funding for the FE teachers pension scheme employer contribution grant. For the 2024/25 academic year, they received £33.96 million. This is an increase of £2.73 million, or 8.7%.

Maintained and Academy schools are required to publish special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) information reports according to the Children and Families Act 2014, s69. The specific information required is set out in the SEND regulations 2014 and the SEND code of practice, which can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/part/3 and here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25.

The department welcomes the publication of the response to the Big Listen, which stated that Ofsted will consult on introducing a new inspection judgement area for inclusion across education settings. The department will continue to work with Ofsted to consider how outcomes for children and young people with SEND, or in alternative provision, are better reflected in the Education Inspection and the Area SEND inspection frameworks.

Following the last Ofsted inspection, departmental officials have been working with Warwickshire County Council to closely monitor progress against the areas for improvement identified by inspectors.

The areas were:

(i) Autism spectrum disorder waiting times, assessments and support following diagnosis.

(ii) Co-production.

(iii) Placement of children and young people with an education, health and care plan.

(iv) Uptake of training for school staff working with children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

(v) And the quality of the online local offer.

The department has appointed a SEND advisor to support and work alongside Warwickshire County Council and the local area partnership.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with local area partnerships to improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

Local authorities receive their core funding for schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Local authorities are then responsible for designing a local formula, within certain parameters, to distribute the funding that they receive from the department to schools in their area. This local formula is used to determine funding for both the maintained schools and academies in each area.

As the DSG is allocated at local authority level DSG allocations are not available broken down to the level of individual constituencies. The individual allocations that schools within Nuneaton constituency receive are determined, each year, by the local funding formula set by Warwickshire local authority.

The table below provides the per pupil funding units from the 2018/19 academic year to the 2024/25 academic year for Warwickshire local authority. The department cannot provide comparable funding data back to 2010, due to the changes in the funding system since that time. In particular, funding for schools was only identified separately from funding for high needs or early years in 2013, and funding for central school services provided by local authorities was split out from the schools block funding in the 2018/2019 academic year.

The figures below represent the core funding schools receive through the schools block of the DSG. All the figures in the table exclude growth and premises funding. They also do not include additional funding that schools have received for pay and pensions, or other funding streams such as the pupil premium.

Water companies have a statutory duty to provide a secure supply of water for customers and set out how they plan to do this through Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs). To develop their plans, water companies must consult local authorities and consider all demand management and supply options available to meet future water needs, including those for new homes.

Sewerage undertakers have a statutory obligation to prepare, publish and maintain a Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan (DWMP), detailing the actions the company proposes to take to meet current and future demand.

The delivery of High Speed Two (HS2) is expected to nearly double seat capacity between London and Birmingham, which is the most congested section of the West Coast Main Line. We are taking into consideration the recent proposal from the Mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands for enhancing rail connectivity between the Midlands and the North West, and will set out a clear plan to address capacity and connectivity issues in due course.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) continues to make significant investments in improving customer communications and correspondence through digital transformation and the Service Modernisation Programme.

A proportion of the overall funding for the programme is and will continue to be used to improve the service, including response times to correspondence.

One aim of the Programme is to improve CMS response times by increasing the capability of our self-service platforms, simplifying guidance and internal systems for our colleagues, and by freeing up caseworker time.

We strive to ensure staff are equipped with the tools needed to respond quickly and comprehensively to customer correspondence, however response times can vary depending on the complexity of individual cases. We will continue to invest in improving our contact channels for customers to offer a more flexible and responsive service to all customers.

The Government is committed to putting patients back at the heart of care. This includes supporting a patient’s right to choose, if they wish, where they go for their first appointment when referred to consultant-led care as an outpatient. Further details for patients are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-choice-framework/the-nhs-choice-framework-what-choices-are-available-to-me-in-the-nhs

The Department is working closely with NHS England on plans for targeted support starting in the most disadvantaged areas. General practitioners (GPs) can see waiting time information for different providers displayed as part of the e-Referral Service. GPs and patients can also use the Manage Your Referral service, allowing patients to make an informed choice of provider online or through the NHS App following their appointment.

The Government is committed to putting patients back at the heart of care. This includes supporting a patient’s right to choose, if they wish, where they go for their first appointment when referred to consultant-led care as an outpatient. Further details for patients are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-choice-framework/the-nhs-choice-framework-what-choices-are-available-to-me-in-the-nhs

The Department is working closely with NHS England on plans for targeted support starting in the most disadvantaged areas. General practitioners (GPs) can see waiting time information for different providers displayed as part of the e-Referral Service. GPs and patients can also use the Manage Your Referral service, allowing patients to make an informed choice of provider online or through the NHS App following their appointment.

Investment in Infrastructure is crucial for delivering the government’s missions, which is why the government is fundamentally reforming how it delivers infrastructure through a 10-year infrastructure strategy, establishing the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), and delivering ambitious planning reform.

The 10-year infrastructure strategy will be published next spring, alongside the 2025 Spending Review. Government is developing the strategy working closely with the National Infrastructure Commission and Infrastructure and Projects Authority. The government will engage extensively with businesses, industry bodies and other stakeholders.

The Government is committed to rolling out a network of Young Futures Hubs which will bring together services to help improve the way young people can access the support they need.

Over the coming weeks we will be engaging with local communities, the police, charities, and other key partners to support the design of the Young Futures programme, including hubs and explore options for their delivery.

This Government will treat tackling violence against women and girls as a national emergency and prevention will be a key element of our approach.

With a mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.

I refer my Hon Friend to the answer I gave to Question 10272 on 28 October 2024.

Local authorities have strong powers and incentives to tackle empty homes. They have the discretionary powers to charge additional council tax on properties which have been left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for one or more years. The maximum premium that a council can apply increases, depending on the length of time that the property has been empty for, with a premium of up to 300% on homes left empty for over ten years.

Local authorities can also use powers to take over the management of long-term empty homes to bring them back into use in the private rented sector. Since April 2024, local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) when a property has been empty for more than two years, subject to the production of evidence that the property has been causing a nuisance to the community and evidence of community support for their proposal. More information can be found here.

There are no buildings in the Nuneaton constituency that have been identified with unsafe cladding.

Existing combined county authority legislation provides that only upper tier local authorities in the area of a combined county authority can be constituent members. District councils are an important part of local government, and as non-constituent members can play an active role in any combined county authority in their area, should they wish.

It is important that all local authorities are engaged and actively involved in improving their areas, working across all levels of government for the interests of the local community.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent courts. Courts take into account the specific facts of each case and have a statutory obligation to follow any relevant sentencing guidelines. The Sentencing Council’s guideline on domestic abuse, published in 2018, makes clear that the domestic context of an offence increases its severity. This is because it represents a violation of trust and security that normally exists in an intimate or family relationship.

We know, however, that sentences which offenders receive often do not make sense either to victims or the wider public, and this is particularly worrying for offences against women and girls. That is why this Government has committed to carry out a review of sentencing, to ensure it is consistent and makes sense to victims and the public.

We are also aware that there are specific issues in relation to domestic homicide sentencing, due to the effects of the 25-year starting point for murders committed with a knife or other weapon taken to the scene with intent. In opposition, this Government welcomed the legislation introduced by the previous administration which implemented some of Clare Wade KC’s independent Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review recommendations. We recognise, however, that there is more to be done and Ministers are continuing to meet stakeholders on this complex issue.