Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how often Access to Work awards for blind and partially sighted customers are reviewed for compliance with the EHRC Code of Practice.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Access to Work (AtW) awards, including those made to blind and partially sighted customers, are managed through standard casework processes, which include appropriate Service Assurance checks to ensure decisions comply with AtW guidance and principles.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reductions to Access to Work awards at renewal on employment outcomes for blind and partially sighted people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The support that a customer will receive from Access to Work is dependent upon their needs and circumstances at the time they make an application. Case managers will use the guidance to ensure Access to Work principles are considered when making a decision on support. No changes have been made to Access to Work policy.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for a breakdown of what prison education courses, according to annual delivery plan data, were provided in January (a) 2025, and (b) 2026, by prison, level of qualification and duration.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We are committed to ensuring that prisoners can access high-quality education and skills provision that supports rehabilitation and reduces re-offending.
The curriculum delivered through core education contracts is decided at local level, as is the number of education staff employed. It would not be possible to obtain this information from each prison without incurring disproportionate cost. It should be noted that the majority of teaching staff are employed by external providers.
In the interests of transparency, we intend to publish figures for changes to core education delivery volumes at individual prison level in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison education staff, according to annual delivery plan data, were employed in January (a) 2025, and (b) 2026, by prison.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We are committed to ensuring that prisoners can access high-quality education and skills provision that supports rehabilitation and reduces re-offending.
The curriculum delivered through core education contracts is decided at local level, as is the number of education staff employed. It would not be possible to obtain this information from each prison without incurring disproportionate cost. It should be noted that the majority of teaching staff are employed by external providers.
In the interests of transparency, we intend to publish figures for changes to core education delivery volumes at individual prison level in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison education staff were employed in January (a) 2025, and (b) 2026, by prison.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We are committed to ensuring that prisoners can access high-quality education and skills provision that supports rehabilitation and reduces re-offending.
The curriculum delivered through core education contracts is decided at local level, as is the number of education staff employed. It would not be possible to obtain this information from each prison without incurring disproportionate cost. It should be noted that the majority of teaching staff are employed by external providers.
In the interests of transparency, we intend to publish figures for changes to core education delivery volumes at individual prison level in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to deliver a sustainable supported housing sector.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 112725 on 25 February 2026.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to increase (a) seafarer jobs and (b) freight volumes on domestic short sea shipping routes.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Domestic shipping routes are an important part of the UK maritime sector and wider economy. Such routes accounted for 71.2 million tonnes of freight moved in 2024. Moving freight in this way can be environmentally beneficial and improve inland transport efficiency. We support the shift towards greater use of waterborne freight, and Government intends to undertake a comprehensive review of the potential for waterborne freight and the barriers that currently constrain its growth.
Shipping is a commercial market, and demand for shipping goods stems from wider economic demand, but it is important the sector can respond to those opportunities. Government continually considers the UK offer to attract shipping businesses to base themselves, and operate in, the UK market. Recent improvements to Tonnage Tax for shipping operators have proved successful.
The Department also remains committed to increasing the number of seafaring jobs in the UK. The apprenticeship levy is available for use in the maritime industry, including for ratings apprenticeships, and the Department and MCA continues to fund 50% of a cadetship through the £18m Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) fund.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she expects to launch (a) Round 7 of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC7) and (b) round 2 of the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure competition (ZEVI2); and how much public funding will be allocated from the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) budget for (i) CMDC7 and (ii) ZEVI2.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We intend to launch the CMDC7 and ZEVI2 competitions in Spring 2026. The budgets will be announced when the competitions launch and will be funded from the recently announced UK SHORE £448m budget for the 2026 – 2030 financial period.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with representatives from the maritime ports sector on modal shift of freight from road to domestic short sea shipping routes.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Departmental officials have discussed the case for promoting greater use of coastal and other domestic short-sea shipping routes with the British Ports Association and with the UK Major Ports Group on several recent occasions. The Government remains committed to incentivising modal shift.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information she holds on the recent progress of the International Green Corridor Fund feasibility studies to decarbonise merchant shipping routes between (a) the ports of Holyhead and Dublin and (b) the ports of Tyne and Ijmuiden.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Green Corridors have the potential to be effective mechanisms to deliver first mover activity and accelerate the decarbonisation of the maritime sector globally, as demonstrated in the published findings of the International Green Corridor Fund. These bilaterally-funded studies, with Ireland and the Netherlands, demonstrated the economic feasibility of industry delivering Green Corridors on these routes. The Government is focussed on delivering change through the policies set out in the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy alongside international action at the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This will support industry to deliver Green Corridors and widespread decarbonisation of the maritime sector.