Asked by: Josh Simons (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to reduce firework misuse in Makerfield constituency.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Enforcement powers exist for local authorities to take action when fireworks are unsafe, sold illegally or misused. Local authorities and the police also have powers to tackle anti-social behaviour caused by the misuse of fireworks. It is for local areas to decide how best to deploy these powers, based on their specific circumstances.
To inform any future decisions on the regulation of fireworks I intend to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities to gather evidence on the issues with and impacts of fireworks.
Asked by: Josh Simons (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much has been spent on the statutory element of Shared Parental Leave since its inception (a) in total and (b) by (i) geographical area and (ii) industry.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Information provided by employers to HMRC shows that the total value of payments made to individuals in receipt of Statutory Shared Parental Pay was £178.9m between 2014/15 and 2023/24 (the latest year for which full year data is available).
The table below presents a breakdown of the value of payments made to individuals by the region (based on recipient residence). Information on the sector or industry worked in by the recipient of Shared Parental Pay is not available.
Table 1: Total value of payments made to individuals in receipt of Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) by claimant resident region, 2014/15 to 2023/24
Government Office Region (based on residence of recipient of ShPP) | Total value of Statutory Shared Parental Pay payments |
East Midlands | £10,300,000 |
East of England | £16,200,000 |
London | £40,800,000 |
North East | £4,800,000 |
North West | £15,300,000 |
South East | £27,500,000 |
South West | £18,000,000 |
West Midlands | £10,400,000 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | £12,200,000 |
Northern Ireland | £2,900,000 |
Scotland | £9,900,000 |
Wales | £5,900,000 |
Other | £4,600,000 |
Notes
Asked by: Josh Simons (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what (a) his planned timescale is and (b) the terms of reference are for the review of parental leave; and who will conduct the review.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As committed to in the Plan to Make Work Pay, the Government will review the system of parental leave to ensure that it better supports working parents. We are still in the early planning stages for this Review and are actively considering the parameters and process for delivering it. As such it is not possible to confirm these details at this time.