To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Personal Independence Payment: West Midlands
Monday 2nd June 2025

Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Personal Independence Payment recipients are in work in (a) Birmingham Northfield constituency, (b) Birmingham local authority area and (c) the West Midlands.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

For the proportion of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants who are in work by different geographic breakdowns, please see table 1 below.

Table 1: the percentage of PIP claimants who are in work by different geographic breakdowns

Geography

Percentage of PIP claimants in work

Birmingham Northfield PC

18

Birmingham LA

15

West Midlands

19

Source(s): PIP Administrative Data and HMRC data

Notes:

  • Figures are for March 2024 which is the latest employment data available.
  • Figures only include claims made under normal rules and exclude claims made under Special Rules for End of Life (SREL).
  • Figures only include claimants who are working age.
  • Employment category includes self-employed as well as employees.
  • Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.


Written Question
George Dixon Primary School
Friday 16th May 2025

Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her spokesperson's comments in the Birmingham Mail article entitled The reason staff at a Birmingham school decided a last resort strike, published on 7 March 2025, whether she plans to make an Academy Order for the George Dixon Primary School in Birmingham.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

High and rising standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity so every child can achieve and thrive.

An academy order for George Dixon Primary School in Birmingham was issued in June 2023 and remains in place. Departmental officials continue to work with the local authority on next steps. A request has been made by the school’s governing body to revoke the academy order, and a decision will be shared with them shortly.


Written Question
Government Departments: Documents
Friday 16th May 2025

Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of National Archives documents misplaced while on loan to Departments.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Section 4(6) of the Public Records Act 1958 gives departments the right to recall records that they have transferred to The National Archives. In 2018, The National Archives put in place a framework for safeguarding public records that establishes firm controls around such recalls. Officials at The National Archives are unaware of any records going missing since the establishment of this framework.


Written Question
Medical Records: Information Sharing
Friday 16th May 2025

Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce barriers to the sharing of medical records between NHS trusts in cases when those trusts are treating the same patients.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Appropriate information sharing is essential for the provision of safe and effective health care. Improving this will enable enhanced quality of care and safety for patients and better informed clinical and care decision-making, empowered by access to precise and comprehensive information.

The Connecting Care Records programme joins up information based on the individual rather than via one organisation. Through targeted investment, local Connecting Care Record systems have been established in all integrated commissioning board areas. 97% of trusts and 92% of primary care networks are now connected.

As you may also be aware, NHS England has been supporting National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in acquiring and developing the effectiveness of their electronic patient records, and support is available to bring trusts to an optimum level of digital maturity, which will further reduce barriers to the information sharing needed to treat patients. Further information on data and clinical record sharing is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/data-and-clinical-record-sharing/

Going beyond this, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has announced the intention for there to be a single patient record, which would provide a comprehensive patient record and end the need for patients to have to repeat their medical history when interacting with the NHS. We have been engaging with the public to help shape our plans, including what information they would want to see included in a single record.


Written Question
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority: Standards
Friday 16th May 2025

Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 50727 on Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority: Standards, what proportion of the respondents to that paper survey selected (a) very good, (b) good, (c) average, (d) poor and (e) very poor in 2023-24.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Of the respondents to the paper survey in 2023-34, (a) 53.2% selected very good, (b) 31.0% selected good, (c) 10.0% selected average, (d) 3.3% poor and (e) 2.5% selected very poor.


Written Question
High Speed Two
Thursday 15th May 2025

Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to item 5.4.4 of the minutes of HS2 Limited's Board meeting of 25 September 2024, what the (a) membership and (b) remit is of the Tripartite Cooperation Board.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Tripartite Cooperation Board (TCB) was established in 2014 following a memorandum of understanding signed between the DfT, NR and HS2 Ltd. The TCB brings together the senior executives from the Department, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, as sponsor for the programme, HS2 Ltd as delivery agent for the programme and Network Rail as owner and operator of the existing network. Its purpose is to provide strategic advice at the request of the Programme Senior Responsible Owner, Alan Over, or the Programme Board to ensure the successful integration of HS2 onto the conventional network in such a way that the whole network is enhanced.

The members at this time are:

Alan Over, Major Rail Projects Group DG, DfT - Chair

Alex Hynes, Rail Services Group DG, DfT

Sir Andrew Haines, Chief Executive, Network Rail Chief Exec

Mark Wild, CEO, HS2 Ltd

Richard Goodman, Rail Reform and Strategy DG, DfT

Clare Dixon, DfT – Secretariat.


Written Question
Network Rail: Public Appointments
Thursday 15th May 2025

Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) process and (b) timetable will be for recruiting a new Chief Executive of Network Rail.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

  1. The Network Rail Board via its Nomination and Remuneration Committee is responsible for the Chief Executive selection process. In line with the Network Rail Framework Agreement, the Secretary of State for Transport has the right to approve the Board’s suggested candidate for Chief Executive.

  1. The timetable for appointing a new Chief Executive will be confirmed once the Secretary of State has considered the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.


Written Question
HS2 Ministerial Task Force
Thursday 15th May 2025

Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which Ministers have been members of the HS2 Ministerial Taskforce since its creation; and on which dates each Minister (a) joined and (b) left the taskforce.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Secretary of State for Transport, Minister for Rail and Chief Secretary to the Treasury have been members of the Ministerial Task Force for HS2 since its first meeting on 30 April 2020. Ministers from the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (and its predecessors) are no longer members, with the former last attending the meeting held on 15 December 2021 and the latter on 27 January 2022.


Written Question
HS2 Ministerial Task Force
Thursday 15th May 2025

Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates the HS2 ministerial taskforce has met since 25 October 2022.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Ministerial Task Force for HS2 has met on the following dates since 25 October 2022:

1 November 2023

31 January 2024

22 October 2024

18 March 2025.


Written Question
Birmingham City Council: Staff
Thursday 15th May 2025

Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 07 April 2025 to Question 43306 on Birmingham City Council: Finance, when the transparency publication referred to in that Answer will next be updated.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Commissioners’ fees and expenses up to and including March 2025 have now been published on Birmingham City Council’s website.