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 the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on the development of seafarer (a) training, (b) skills and (c) employment policy as a result of projects funded through the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has been in frequent discussion with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which oversees UK seafarer training, to ensure green skills are embedded in the new training scheme. This scheme, developed with industry input and coordinated by the MCA, will launch in September 2025. It includes training on future fuels and new technologies, complementing the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition's projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Furthermore, the MCA has a formal role in both the design and delivery of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition's programme and was closely involved in the design of the latest funding competition, which includes provision for bids covering training and skills.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the terms of reference for the post-legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government will commence post legislative scrutiny from May 2025, and submit a memorandum to the Home Affairs Select Committee. The memorandum will include aspects such as explanatory notes, impact assessments and legal issues as necessary.
Once the Committee has received the Government’s memorandum on the Public Order Act 2024, the committee can decide to take further steps regarding further post legislative scrutiny if it so wishes.
Details about post-legislative scrutiny, including the contents to be covered in the Government’s memorandum, can be found here: Guide to making legislation - GOV.UK
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who the sub-contractors were who were involved in (a) the supply of crew to operate the Pacific Grebe during the sea trials phase and (b) other aspects of the Winds of Change project funded by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Winds of Change project was awarded funding through the third round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC). The CMDC is funded by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) Research and Development programme in the Department for Transport and delivered and managed by Innovate UK, on behalf of the Department.
Applications for CMDC funding undergo an independent assessment process, managed by Innovate UK. Project partners of all successful bids are published online. Innovate UK and the Department for Transport are not responsible for the procurement of subcontractors, but the rules around the use of subcontractors are set out in the competition scope.
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 (a) InnovateUK and (b) the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on the appraisal of projects funded in each round of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) is funded by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme in the Department for Transport, to support innovation in the maritime sector. The CMDC is delivered and managed by Innovate UK on behalf of the Department.
We are committed to a robust evaluation of the UK SHORE programme. The Department has commissioned Frontier Economics and SYSTRA Ltd to conduct a comprehensive independent evaluation of the UK SHORE programme, which is assessing the processes and impact of all UK SHORE schemes and will inform future policy development.
In March 2025, the Department for Transport published a report setting out the early outcomes of the evaluation of the UK SHORE programme to date, including completed projects in the CMDC, with the final report due in Autumn 2025.
Officials regularly discuss the appraisal of CMDC projects with Innovate UK, who play a key role in collecting project monitoring data to inform the evaluation programme.
We work jointly across Government to develop policies, regulation and mechanisms to support maritime environment and decarbonisation, including with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department holds data on (a) vessel operation and (b) maritime skills recorded as part of Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition projects funded by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions in her Department.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) is funded by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme in the Department for Transport. The CMDC has supported a range of feasibility studies, pre-deployment trials and short demonstrations.
We are committed to a robust evaluation of the UK SHORE programme. The Department has commissioned Frontier Economics and SYSTRA Ltd to conduct a comprehensive independent evaluation of the UK SHORE programme, which is assessing the processes and impact of all UK SHORE schemes, including environmental impacts and job creation.
In March 2025, the Department for Transport published a report setting out the early outcomes of the evaluation of the UK SHORE programme to date, including completed projects in the CMDC. The majority of the CMDC demonstration projects only concluded at the end of March 2025. Therefore, data about their impact will be captured through the ongoing evaluation, due to conclude later this year.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department's planned post-legislative scrutiny of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will be carried out independently; and if she will make it her policy to publish the outcomes of that review.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Post-legislative scrutiny of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 will be carried out by the department responsible for each act and a memorandum will be submitted to the relevant departmental select committees in accordance with normal parliamentary practice.
Post legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 will occur this year, beginning in May. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will be subject to post-legislative parliamentary scrutiny between 3 and 5 years after Royal Assent, i.e. between April 2025 and April 2027.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to enable post-legislative scrutiny by civil society of the Public Order Act 2023.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Post-legislative scrutiny of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 will be carried out by the department responsible for each act and a memorandum will be submitted to the relevant departmental select committees in accordance with normal parliamentary practice.
Post legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 will occur this year, beginning in May. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will be subject to post-legislative parliamentary scrutiny between 3 and 5 years after Royal Assent, i.e. between April 2025 and April 2027.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's timetable is for the post-legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Post-legislative scrutiny of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 will be carried out by the department responsible for each act and a memorandum will be submitted to the relevant departmental select committees in accordance with normal parliamentary practice.
Post legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 will occur this year, beginning in May. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will be subject to post-legislative parliamentary scrutiny between 3 and 5 years after Royal Assent, i.e. between April 2025 and April 2027.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether expedited post-legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 will be independent of Government; and whether she plans to publish the outcomes of that scrutiny.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Post-legislative scrutiny of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 will be carried out by the department responsible for each act and a memorandum will be submitted to the relevant departmental select committees in accordance with normal parliamentary practice.
Post legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 will occur this year, beginning in May. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will be subject to post-legislative parliamentary scrutiny between 3 and 5 years after Royal Assent, i.e. between April 2025 and April 2027.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will hold discussions with HM Courts and Tribunals Service on the potential merits of ensuring that domestic abuse victims attending Liverpool Family Court can use a different entrance to the building to that of their alleged perpetrator.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It is important that the Family Court works for children and families. That is why the Government is committed to ensuring there are adequate protections in place for users and that we improve the timeliness of cases.
I am aware that, due to the building’s architecture, layout and shared use there are issues in arranging separate entrances at Liverpool Family Court. To mitigate this, it is possible to arrange staggered arrival times, secure waiting rooms and separate exits. Special measures can be requested by contacting the court as soon as possible, ideally 5 days before the hearing. Liverpool Family Court's contact details can be found at: Liverpool Civil and Family Court - Find a Court or Tribunal - GOV.UK.
We recognise the significant impact that delay can have on children and families. We are committed to tackling backlog of cases we inherited from the previous Government and the latest published data shows progress is being made. When comparing October to December 2024 to the same period in 2023, under the previous Government, the average duration of private law cases has fallen from 45 to 42 weeks and care proceedings over the same period have fallen from 42 weeks to 36. We know that there is more to do and the Family Justice Board has agreed system-wide targets for 2025/26 and these are focused on increasing the proportion of public law cases concluded within the statutory 26-week timeframe and closing the longest running cases in both private and public law. To support this, Cheshire and Merseyside is a designated Trailblazer area, developing and testing targeted solutions to address the biggest local drivers of delays.
Our new Pathfinder courts are improving the experience and outcomes for children and parents involved in private law proceedings, and particularly those who may need additional support such as domestic abuse survivors. The pilot courts work closely with local domestic abuse agencies, including Independent Domestic Violence Advisers. The Pathfinder pilot started in February 2022 in Dorset and North Wales. It was expanded to Southeast Wales and Birmingham in 2024 and Mid and West Wales on 3 March 2025. Pathfinder will be rolled out to West Yorkshire on 3 June. Areas delivering the Pathfinder model for private family law are making significant progress in addressing delay, with the initial two pilot sites showing an 11-week reduction in average case duration and a 50% reduction in outstanding caseloads between February 2022 and November 2024.
Alongside improving how cases move through the system we need to properly support those involved. Victims of domestic abuse must receive emotional and practical support to recover and rebuild their lives. The Ministry of Justice provide Police and Crime Commissioners with annual grant funding to commission local support services. This includes ring-fenced funding for sexual violence and domestic abuse community-based services and Independent Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse Advisors. Alongside this the Home Office runs the Flexible Fund, administered by Women’s Aid, which offers financial support to victims in specific circumstances.