Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with relevant stakeholders on the inclusion of targets for child poverty reduction in Hexham constituency within the forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.
Our recently published landmark Child Poverty Strategy is set to lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030.
The publication sets out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the Strategy, including understanding how this varies across the UK and for different groups. The publication also sets out how we will measure the experience of children in the most severe and acute forms of poverty.
The Child Poverty Taskforce and Unit engaged extensively with stakeholders in the North East throughout the development of the Strategy. This includes engagement with the North East Poverty Commission and attendance at the North East Child Poverty Summit. Furthermore, Kim McGuinness, Mayor of the North East Combined Authority, attended a Taskforce meeting in September 2024 to discuss the experience of poverty in local communities and approaches to tackling child poverty.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with relevant stakeholders on the inclusion of targets for child poverty reduction in the Northumberland within the forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.
Our recently published landmark Child Poverty Strategy is set to lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030.
The publication sets out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the Strategy, including understanding how this varies across the UK and for different groups. The publication also sets out how we will measure the experience of children in the most severe and acute forms of poverty.
The Child Poverty Taskforce and Unit engaged extensively with stakeholders in the North East throughout the development of the Strategy. This includes engagement with the North East Poverty Commission and attendance at the North East Child Poverty Summit. Furthermore, Kim McGuinness, Mayor of the North East Combined Authority, attended a Taskforce meeting in September 2024 to discuss the experience of poverty in local communities and approaches to tackling child poverty.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with relevant stakeholders on the inclusion of targets for child poverty reduction in the North East within the forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.
Our recently published landmark Child Poverty Strategy is set to lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030.
The publication sets out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the Strategy, including understanding how this varies across the UK and for different groups. The publication also sets out how we will measure the experience of children in the most severe and acute forms of poverty.
The Child Poverty Taskforce and Unit engaged extensively with stakeholders in the North East throughout the development of the Strategy. This includes engagement with the North East Poverty Commission and attendance at the North East Child Poverty Summit. Furthermore, Kim McGuinness, Mayor of the North East Combined Authority, attended a Taskforce meeting in September 2024 to discuss the experience of poverty in local communities and approaches to tackling child poverty.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on improving waiting lists for Education, Health and Care plan assessments in (a) Northumberland and (b) the North East.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Data on the number of requests for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment, the number of assessments carried out and assessments outstanding is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025. This includes data for the North East. The latest data was published on 26 June 2025.
Following the above publication of EHC plan statistics, departmental officials met with all North East local authorities during July and August 2025, including Northumberland County Council. Officials discussed the published data including the overall timeliness of assessments and actions each local area was taking to improve services and reduce wait times for children, young people and their families undergoing an EHC needs assessment.
The department will continue to work with North East local area partnerships to monitor the delivery of special educational needs and disabilities services and offer support when required.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of improving parliamentary scrutiny procedures for international trade agreements.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Effective parliamentary scrutiny of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is vital. The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (CRaG) gives Parliament the statutory right to scrutinise treaties prior to ratification, and includes the power to block ratification. Parliament must also pass legislation that may be necessary to implement a treaty.
In addition, the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee plays an important role in scrutinising the Government’s trade policy.
Taken together, the current framework facilitates robust parliamentary scrutiny of FTAs.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on tackling harassment on trains against women and girls in Hexham constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Everyone should be able to use the rail network without fearing for their safety. As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, we have a commitment to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade.
Last month, the Department and Greater Manchester Combined Authority jointly hosted a Safer Streets, Safer Transport Summit which brought together representatives from across the transport industry, Government, local authorities (including the North East Combined Authority), the third sector and policing to commit to taking action against anti-social behaviour (ASB) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
Hexham Station has a very low crime rate, with no sexual offences reported this year or in 2024/25.
BTP officers in the North East attend the local Safer Transport Regional Group and the Violence Against Women and Girls on Transport Partnership Working Group, strengthening collaboration with partners and focusing joint efforts on preventing these offences.
BTP deliver numerous public campaigns to increase VAWG reporting across the network including in the North East. The Rail Delivery Group also delivers its ‘zero tolerance’ campaign, which is aimed at educating people about the different types of sexual harassment and encouraging reporting to the BTP or anonymously to Crime Stoppers.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussion her Department is having with relevant stakeholders to help tackle harassment against women and girls on trains in the North East.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Everyone should be able to use the rail network without fearing for their safety. As part of the Government’s Safer Streets mission, we have a commitment to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade. The Department is committed to working with the rail industry and the British Transport Police (BTP) to ensure this is the case.
Last month, the Department and Greater Manchester Combined Authority jointly hosted a Safer Streets, Safer Transport Summit which brought together representatives from across the transport industry, Government, local authorities (including the North East Combined Authority), the third sector and policing to commit to taking action against anti-social behaviour (ASB) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
BTP officers in the North East attend the local Safer Transport Regional Group and the Violence Against Women and Girls on Transport Partnership Working Group, strengthening collaboration with partners and focusing joint efforts on preventing these offences.
BTP deliver numerous public campaigns to increase VAWG reporting across the network including in the North East. The Rail Delivery Group also delivers its ‘zero tolerance’ campaign, which is aimed at educating people about the different types of sexual harassment and encouraging reporting to the BTP or anonymously to crime stoppers.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help support community cohesion in Hexham constituency.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG's Community Cohesion Unit works to support and promote cohesion across England, through working closely with local authorities, voluntary and community sector and faith organisations, and other government departments.
The Government's new £2.87m Common Ground Resilience Fund is supporting community connection and cohesion by funding locally led interventions to build community resilience. As part of this, the Common Ground Award is investing capital funding into VCSE sector organisations that are bringing people together from different backgrounds, supporting the cost of constructing or renovating facilities, or the purchasing of equipment to deliver services.
Furthermore, MHCLG is co-ordinating cross-Government efforts to develop a longer-term, more strategic approach to social cohesion - working in partnership with local government, communities and local stakeholders to rebuild, renew and address the deep-seated issues.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders on the use of the Community Recovery Fund in the North East.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG has maintained proactive engagement with stakeholders across the North East to ensure effective deployment of the Community Recovery Fund. In particular, the Department continues to work in close partnership with Hartlepool Borough Council, Middlesbrough Borough Council, and Sunderland City Council, the three areas awarded funding, to ensure alignment with local priorities and the delivery of community - led initiatives.
In the North East, the Community Recovery Fund has been strategically utilised at the local authority level to support the recovery and resilience of affected communities. This includes investment in the repair of physical infrastructure, targeted support for vulnerable groups and local businesses, and initiatives designed to foster social cohesion and rebuild trust within communities.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Road Safety Strategy on people in the North East.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Road Safety Strategy is under development and will include a broad range of policies which will have national reach. We intend to publish the Strategy this year.