Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will commission an assessment of the value for money of vice-chancellors’ salaries in universities which are in receipt of public money.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Higher education (HE) providers are independent and therefore responsible for decisions around pay, including for Vice-Chancellors and other senior staff. The government does not have a role in intervening in pay and staffing matters.
The department acknowledges that Vice-Chancellors manage large and complex organisations, and therefore, deserve a salary that reflects the responsibilities and challenges of their roles.
However, Vice-Chancellors' salaries should not be excessive or disproportionate. Where providers are facing financial challenges, we expect them to work with staff and unions to help identify how best to reduce unnecessary spend. All efficiency measures taken by the sector should provide better long-term value both for students and for the country.
In addition, transparency is crucial for students, staff, and the public. Therefore, the Office for Students, the independent regulator in England, requires HE providers to provide and publish justifications for Vice-Chancellors' remuneration. If concerns arise regarding senior staff pay, the Office for Students has the authority to conduct independent reviews to ensure that a provider’s governance arrangements are appropriate and effective.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to enhance the (a) remit and (b) powers of Town and Parish Councils following the replacement of District and County Councils by unitary authorities; and what the proposed relationship between those two levels of local authorities will be after reorganisation.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The English Devolution White Paper was clear that we know people value the role of governance at the community scale. All levels of local government have a part to play in bringing improved structures to their area through reorganisation. We will therefore want to see stronger community arrangements when reorganisation happens in the way councils engage at a neighbourhood or area level.
Local authorities act independently of central government. Town and parish councils can work with other tiers of local government to determine how they can best serve their communities in their area.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will expand the statutory requirements for local authorities to make mandatory the provision of free journeys for companions of people with (a) physical disabilities, (b) visual impairment and (c) learning disabilities who cannot travel on buses without those companions.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. The ENCTS costs around £700 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations, such as extending the eligibility criteria, would therefore need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability.
Local authorities in England have the power to go beyond their statutory obligations under the ENCTS and offer additional discretionary concessions, such as offering companion passes for those travelling with someone eligible for the ENCTS.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what positions other than (a) new regional mayors and (b) parish and town councillors will elections be held in May 2026 in areas where local authority elections have been postponed for 12 months.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The postponed elections of councillors to the county councils of East Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey and West Sussex and the unitary councils of Isle of Wight and Thurrock are due to take place in May 2026. In addition, scheduled elections of councillors to district councils within the county areas listed above are due to take place in May 2026.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the (a) earliest and (b) latest dates are at which she expects elections to be held to (i) the new unitary authority for the area currently covered by Hampshire County Council and (ii) other new unitary authorities for areas covered by County Councils whose elections have been postponed.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Government has agreed to postpone scheduled local elections for Surrey, Norfolk and Suffolk; Essex and Thurrock; Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; East Sussex and West Sussex from May 2025, until May 2026 only. This postponement is crucial in order to ensure that we can reorganise local government and deliver devolution as quickly as possible. For any area in which elections are postponed, we will work with areas to move to elections to new ‘shadow’ unitary councils as soon as possible as is the usual arrangement in the process of local government reorganisation. The exact date of elections to new unitary authorities in any area will depend on the proposals that are developed and submitted to government by councils in that area, and the decisions that are taken on implementing any such proposal. We also intend for Mayoral elections to take place as soon as possible in these areas.