Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on economic growth in the North East generated by the creative industries following the BBC’s recent announcement of a cut of £500m in its budget and 2,000 job losses.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The BBC is a vital national institution and an engine of the nations and regions, including the North East of England. In that context, this news is concerning for the BBC workforce who are facing significant uncertainty, and for the sector as a whole. The BBC is delivering significant savings, which requires difficult decisions to be made independent of the Government. The BBC have stated that there will be more information on their plans later this year. Looking ahead, the Charter Review aims to deliver a BBC that is sustainably funded in a way that sets the BBC on a path to thrive until well into the latter half of this century. The Charter Review will consider how the BBC can support the creative economy and drive growth across the UK.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report on changes to women's State Pension age, published on 21 March 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential (a) economic and (b) social impact on 1950s-born women in Hartlepool.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government carefully considered the findings of the Ombudsman’s report on the communication of changes to women’s State Pension age, and a detailed response including an Equality Analysis has been deposited in the House Library.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to publish a long-term strategy for improving driver 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.
Work is underway in the Department to improve understanding of lorry parking capacity and demand and driver welfare needs, including a national survey of lorry parking. 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. Working 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 in investment by National Highways and industry at truck stops and motorway service areas along the strategic road network.
The government is also 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.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Access to Work programme has adequate resources to meet projected demand.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Demand for Access to Work has increased significantly since 2019/20, with more than double the number of applications in 2024/25. Since March 2024 we have increased the number of staff working on Access to Work claims by 29% from 500 full time equivalent (FTE) to 648 FTE in March 2026. Case managers prioritise applications where the customer is due to start a job within four weeks, we continue to streamline processing, improving consistent decisions, strengthening quality checks and enhancing case manager calls with customers and employers. Further to this, we continue to recruit and train new case managers.
We are continuing to consider what support we provide in this space in the future. We will make use of the outcomes of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, the Collaboration Committees, and upcoming work of the Independent Disability Advisory Panel to inform the future direction of Access to Work. We recognise the importance of the National Audit Office’s findings and are carefully reviewing their recommendations. These insights will support and strengthen our work to ensure the scheme continues to meet customer needs while delivering value for money.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Get Britain Working White Paper of 2024, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of increased levels of demand for the Access to Work programme as a result of the increased funding for tailored employment support for Disabled people on out of work benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are continuing to consider what support we provide in this space in the future. We will make use of the outcomes of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, the Collaboration Committees, and upcoming work of the Independent Disability Advisory Panel to inform the future direction of Access to Work. We recognise the importance of the National Audit Office’s findings and are carefully reviewing their recommendations. These insights will support and strengthen our work to ensure the scheme continues to meet customer needs while delivering value for money.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his department will make an assessment of the potential merits of using some of the additional £1 billion per year allocated for tailored employment support for Disabled people on out of work benefits for increasing levels of funding for the Access to Work programme.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are continuing to consider what support we provide in this space in the future. We will make use of the outcomes of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, the Collaboration Committees, and upcoming work of the Independent Disability Advisory Panel to inform the future direction of Access to Work. We recognise the importance of the National Audit Office’s findings and are carefully reviewing their recommendations. These insights will support and strengthen our work to ensure the scheme continues to meet customer needs while delivering value for money.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with the haulage sector on the safety of drivers using overnight facilities.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport ministers and officials hold regular discussions with representatives from the logistics and haulage industry to understand the sector’s priorities, including the safety of drivers and overnight facilities.
Recent engagement with the sector includes the Road Haulage Association’s (RHA) parliamentary reception on the 10 February, where I met with industry representatives and heard about their concerns, including the safety of drivers.
I also chaired the Freight Council on the 11 February where industry representatives had the opportunity to raise concerns, including the safety of HGV drivers using overnight facilities.
More recently, on the 25 February I jointly hosted a freight roundtable with the Minister for Policing and Crime, which was attended by haulage sector, trade bodies and police representatives. Both the Minister for Policing and Crime and I heard directly from the sector on their concerns relating to freight crime, including at overnight HGV parking facilities.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department will provide an update on the timeline of the Online Parenting Interventions project.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government is committed to expanding access to high-quality, evidence-based parenting and home-learning support. This ensures that families receive interventions that best promote children’s early development and help close the gap before they start school. We want to help more parents to support their child’s development in communication, language, literacy, social and emotional skills and behaviour.
‘Giving every child the best start in life’ highlighted the importance of combining digital and in‑person parenting support to broaden access and meet the diverse needs of families, including through the establishment of a national digital parenting offer.
The department published a contract notice on the 23 September 2025 exploring the potential central procurement of a digital parenting programme. An update will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of trends in the level of the dispersal of homeless families from local authorities in the South East and the Midlands to the North East.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Published data shows only small numbers moving from the South East or Midlands to the North East, with most placements made within the same region.
The Code of Guidance makes clear families should be placed locally first. That’s why we are improving data, raising expectations, and working with councils to reduce poor practice.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Music and Dance Scheme on (a) trends in the level of regional economic growth and (b) contributing to the Creative Industries Sector Plan.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) have providers in every region of England and is open to young people across the UK. It supports the Creative Industries Sector Plan commitment to increase access to quality specialist creative education provision across England to strengthen our cadre of highly trained young musicians and dancers.
The department currently provides £36.5 million for the MDS this academic year and future funding will be announced in due course.