Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to support (a) victims and (b) victims families impacted by grooming gangs; and what steps she is taking to ensure these incidents don't occur in the future.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We have been clear that this Government is prioritising work to safeguard children, ensure victims and survivors are protected and supported, while pursing offenders and bringing them to justice.

I have supported, and continue to support, many victims and survivors of grooming gangs and other forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse, both in my capacity as Minister, Member of Parliament and continuing support for those I worked with before becoming an MP.

And we are continuing to work across Government and with policing and law enforcement partners at pace to further strengthen our prevention of and response to all forms of child sexual abuse. This includes the commitments the Home Secretary has outlined in Parliament to introduce a mandatory duty for those working with children to report sexual abuse and exploitation, to make grooming an aggravating factor to toughen up sentencing, and to improve data collection across forces.

In her statement on 16 January 2025, the Home Secretary announced that the Government will be working to develop a new framework for victim-centred, locally-led inquiries, where they are needed, and as a first step to work with Oldham Council and up to four other pilot areas. This will also include support for local authorities who want to explore other ways of supporting victims, including setting up local panels or drawing on the experience of the IICSA Truth Project.

The Home Secretary will also ask all chief constables to look again at historic gang exploitation cases where ‘No Further Action’ was taken, and work with the police Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce to pursue new lines of inquiry and re-open investigations where appropriate and these new measures will be backed by £2 million of additional funding for the taskforce and the panel.

In addition to the statutory support local authorities provide to victims of modern slavery, for potential child victims, the Government has rolled out the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) service to two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales. The ICTG service is currently delivered by Barnardo's.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the Government plans to continue providing subsidy payments to the Drax power station.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

A consultation was held under the previous administration on whether a transitional support mechanism should be introduced for large-scale biomass generators when their current support ends. Government is considering the responses to that consultation and no final decision has been taken as to whether alternate future support arrangements will be introduced.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the sustainability of energy produced by Drax power station in the last 12 years.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government supports biomass as a low carbon source of energy only where relevant sustainability criteria are met. Drax must demonstrate compliance with these criteria to Ofgem as the independent regulator. Evidence provided is independently audited. Ofgem recently published their conclusions on an investigation into Drax’s compliance with sustainability standards on 29 August 2024. The investigation found that whilst Drax complied with the standards, it failed to report data accurately. Government expects full compliance with all regulatory obligations and the size of Drax’s redress payment, £25m, underscores the robustness of the regulatory system.

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 improve access to (a) healthcare services, (b) GPs and (c) mental health support in (i) Ashfield and (ii) Mansfield constituencies.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Since June 2022, the 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) across England have been responsible for arranging National Health Service healthcare services that meet the clinical needs of their respective populations, with the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB being responsible the Ashfield and Mansfield constituencies.

However, we know that patients are struggling to see a general practitioner (GP) and we are committed to improving access to GP appointments across the country, including in the Ashfield and Mansfield constituencies. That’s why, in October 2024, we provided an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, enabling the recruitment of 1,000 newly qualified GPs across England. This will increase the number of GPs employed and the number of appointments delivered in GPs, benefitting thousands of patients that are struggling to receive the care they desperately deserve. Additionally, we have announced a proposed £889 million uplift to the GP Contract for 2025/26, the largest uplift in years, with a rising share of total NHS resources going to GPs. We are currently consulting the profession on key proposals to improve access, continuity of care, and GP recruitment.

We recognise that many people in the Ashfield and Mansfield constituencies are not getting the mental health support or care they need. As part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers nationally to reduce wait times and provide faster treatment. We will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England, roll out Young Futures hubs in every community, and modernise the Mental Health Act.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to support (a) vocational training and (b) apprenticeship programs in Ashfield constituency.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is working to create a clear, flexible, high-quality skills system that supports people of all ages, breaking down the barriers to opportunity and driving economic growth.

The department has established Skills England to ensure we have the highly-trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade. It will ensure the skills system is clear and navigable for both young people and older adults, strengthening careers pathways into jobs across the economy.

The department’s levy-funded growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at its heart, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers across England, including in Ashfield, and is aligned with our industrial strategy to create routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country and providing high quality entry pathways for young people.

Latest data provided by West Nottinghamshire College confirms a total of 1343 apprentices in learning. Of this, 522 apprentices are either living or employed in Ashfield District, which is around 39% of the total. The sectors with the most apprentices either living or are from Ashfield are Building and Construction (128), Engineering (118), Manufacturing Technologies (93) and Administration (59).

Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) support the department’s long term priority to drive local economic growth by reshaping the skills system to better align provision of post-16 technical education and training with local labour market needs and to support learners to gain the skills needed to get good jobs. The LSIP covering Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, which includes Ashfield, seeks to improve basic literacy and understanding of needs for learners and employees, digital skills as a key component of Technical Education courses, an increase in pre-16 engagement and skills development targeting young people, and basic employability skills that focus on for-work readiness.

West Nottinghamshire College is a large further education (FE) college based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, operating across nine centres and has specialist engineering and building services centres in Ashfield, with a construction skills training centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield. The college’s engineering training centre has been named as the UK’s first Gene Haas Centre for Advanced Manufacturing in partnership with the Gene Haas Foundation.

The college has a well-established supported internship programme, which includes Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Capita and National Grid amongst its employer partners. The college’s high needs provision was recognised as outstanding by Ofsted in June 2023. Additionally, the college has embarked on a three-year programme to develop programmes further so that local employers, including in Ashfield, can benefit from a more diverse workforce.

The college has strong links with key public sector employers within Mansfield and Ashfield, including both district councils and the local hospital. The college’s principal is chair of the Making Mansfield Place Board and a member of the college’s executive leadership team is vice chair of the Discover Ashfield Place Board.

High-quality careers advice is an essential part of our missions to break down the barriers to opportunity and to drive economic growth. Our ambition is for everyone to have access to impartial careers information, advice and guidance throughout their lives. This will help open up more opportunities for individuals from all backgrounds to access the skills and training they need to succeed in the workplace and to advance their careers.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, What steps her Department is taking to ensure that kinship families receive financial support similar to that of (a) foster and (b) adoptive families.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children, and the role of local authorities to support them.

As local authorities know their carers best, they have the power to decide what financial support should be provided to kinship carers and any payments should be made in accordance with their model for assessing support needs.

The government does not set a maximum or minimum allowance for local authorities to administer. However, the kinship care statutory guidance, which was published in October 2024, states that, in its calculation of any ongoing special guardianship financial support, the local authority should have regard to the fostering allowance that would have been paid if the child was fostered.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the department announced £40 million to trial a new kinship allowance in some local authorities in England. The department will test whether paying an allowance to cover the additional costs of caring for a child can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. ​​ The department will share further details and the process for selecting local authorities in due course.​

This is the single biggest investment made by government in kinship care to date. This investment could transform the lives of vulnerable children who can no longer live at home by allowing children to grow up within their families and communities, reducing disruption to their early years, so they can focus on schooling and building friendships.

The department understands the unique challenges kinship carers face and is committed to providing the necessary support.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of material switching by food producers currently using metal food cans on (a) UK food security and (b) the (i) recyclability of and (ii) cost of recycling other types of packaging.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Scheme Administrator will study what measures may be needed to mitigate against material switching, where switching may produce perverse environmental outcomes. As pEPR places the cost of disposing of packaging back on those who place packaging on the market, the system contains intrinsic incentives against producers switching to materials which are more expensive to reprocess in the waste stream.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to enhance the vetting and monitoring processes of Chinese businesses operating in the UK.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As an open economy, the Government welcomes foreign trade and investment where it supports growth and jobs in the UK, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security. Legislation including the country-agnostic National Security and Investment (NSI) Act gives the Government powers to scrutinise and potentially intervene in acquisitions of control over entities and assets in or linked to the UK that may pose national security risks.

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