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 the disparity in healthy life expectancy between the North East and South East.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Tackling health inequalities is central to our Health Mission, which is why the Government has committed to halve the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions by addressing the social determinants of health. Work is currently underway across the Department and with NHS England and the regional Directors of Public Health to develop approaches to address regional health inequalities.

In line with the Health Mission, we will also be launching a 10-Year Health Plan with the core focus of addressing healthcare inequity, ensuring the National Health Service is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to increase funding for (a) vocational education and (b) apprenticeships for young people in Teesside.

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

The department is investing over £7.5 billion in 16 to 19 funding during the 2024/25 academic year, and announced an additional £100 million investment in 16 to 19 education in the 2025/26 financial year on top of the £300 million announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. This £400 million spend will ensure enough funding is available given the very significant increase in student numbers and other pressures on the system and 16 to 19-year-olds in Teesside will benefit from this.

The department will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the adult skills fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year and will have devolved 68% of the ASF to mayoral strategic authorities. These authorities, including Tees Valley Combined Authority which covers Teesside, have autonomy in deciding how to use their funding to make decisions that are best for their areas.

This government also wants to support more young people to benefit from apprenticeship training. Future spending will be subject to the outcome of the spending review.

As part of the new Growth and Skills offer, the department is introducing foundation apprenticeships to provide young people with clear progression pathways into further work-based training and employment. Construction will be one of the key sectors that will benefit from this new offer, launching in August 2025, and employers will be provided with £2,000 for every foundation apprentice they take on and retain in construction.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking with local businesses to ensure that (a) schools and (b) colleges in the north of England have adequate resources to provide effective lifelong learning opportunities.

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

This government recognises the value of lifelong learning and creating opportunities for individuals across their working lives. That is why the department has committed to introducing the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), a transformation to the existing higher education student finance system. The LLE will launch in the 2026/27 academic year for learners studying courses starting on or after 1 January 2027.

Under the LLE, new learners will be able to access a full entitlement equal to four years of full-time tuition. This is currently equal to £38,140 based on the 2025/26 academic year fee rates.

Learners will be able to use this new entitlement more flexibly than ever before to fund individual modules as well as full courses at levels 4 to 6, regardless of whether they are provided in colleges, universities or independent providers.

Working closely with local and national employers to fully understand their needs is a key part of the successful delivery of the department’s ambition for the LLE. This is demonstrated through our existing piloting activity, the Modular acceleration programme, which is a two-year programme designed to accelerate the supply and delivery of individual modules of Higher Technical Qualifications. Through this programme, successful providers in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber, seven colleges in the combined regions in this case, received funding to enable demand raising which included engagement with local employers.

Schools will also play a key part in the successful delivery of the LLE by communicating key messages about the programme to leaders, career-guidance practitioners, learners and their parents. This will be key in ensuring learners are well informed about the new flexibilities offered by the LLE.

In addition, local skills improvement plans, led by a designated employer representative body, are bringing together employers and providers across England to set out a clear articulation of employers’ skills needs and the priority changes required in the local area.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans she has for reform of Capital Gains Tax.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government increased the main CGT rates to 18% and 24%. The new CGT rates strike the right balance between raising revenue to repair the public finances and improve public services, while remaining internationally competitive, with lower headline rates than France, Germany and Italy.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that his Department's trade policies promote resilience in (a) steel, (b) energy, (c) advanced manufacturing and (c) other strategically important domestic supply chains.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

This government recognises the importance of secure and resilient supply chains to the UK’s growth and economic security. DBT is strengthening the UK’s resilience both through sector programmes and the upcoming Trade and Industrial Strategies. These Strategies, which are unreservedly pro-business, will outline more on our plans for resilience-building, including in the growth and foundational sectors targeted by the Industrial Strategy.

In collaboration with business, we are already acting to bolster the resilience of key UK industries, for example reviewing all options to ensure a secure future for our domestic steel industry and building a globally competitive electric vehicle supply chain through the Automotive Transformation Fund.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will establish Health and Prosperity Improvement Zones with targeted interventions in communities with the lowest healthy life expectancy.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Tackling the gap in healthy life expectancy is at the heart of our Health Mission, which is mobilising action across all parts of the Government to address the root causes of ill health and inequality, delivering targeted interventions at every stage of life to build a healthier society. We are considering a range of options to deliver this, including proposals for targeted interventions such as Health and Prosperity Improvement Zones.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help improve support for people in former industrial communities who have been diagnosed with (a) mesothelioma and (b) other asbestos-related diseases.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provides a range of specific support for people with asbestos-related conditions.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) provides a non-contributory, “no-fault”, weekly benefit for disablement because of an accident at work, or because of one of over 70 prescribed diseases known to be a risk from certain jobs. DWP also provides one-off lump-sum compensation payments under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 (the ‘1979 Act scheme’) to individuals who suffer from one of the dust-related diseases covered by the scheme, subject to the wider eligibility criteria being satisfied. This scheme is designed to cover people who are unable to claim damages from any relevant employers because they have gone out of business.

Asbestos-related diseases covered by IIDB and the 1979 Act scheme include pneumoconiosis (including asbestosis), diffuse mesothelioma, unilateral or bilateral diffuse pleural thickening and asbestos-related primary carcinoma of the lung.

Eligible individuals with diffuse mesothelioma who are not entitled under the 1979 Act scheme, for example those whose exposure was not work-related, may instead be entitled to a one-off lump-sum compensation payment under Part 4 of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 (“the 2008 Act Scheme”).

The value of weekly IIDB awards were uprated by 1.7 per cent from April this year. Awards under the 1979 and 2008 Act Schemes were also uprated by 1.7 per cent and new rates apply to those who first become entitled to a payment on or after 1 April 2025. The Department recognises the importance of providing support to customers with asbestos-related conditions and we continue to work with stakeholders to identify improvements where possible.

World Bee Day (No. 2)

World Bee Day

Impact of the UK–US trade deal on the domestic ethanol industry and the green economy

International Nurses Day 2025

Nurses Day 2025

UK parliamentarians sanctioned by the Russian Federation

Sanctioning of UK Parliamentarians by Russia

The death of His Holiness Pope Francis

St George’s Day 2025

International Day of the Midwife

Abduction of Ukrainian children

125th anniversary of the Irish Guards

Scams and fraud

Retrospective awarding of the Humanitarian Medal

Building consensus on a pathway to spending 3% of GDP on defence

Keeping transport workers safe