Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has issued guidance to local authorities on the weight that should be given to quality of life issues when assessing local speed limits.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Traffic authorities have the power to make speed limits on the public roads which they manage. English authorities are asked to consider the best practice guidance ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’, designed to make sure that speed limits are appropriately and consistently set while allowing for flexibility to deal with local circumstances. This lists important factors that may be taken into account which include, among other things, the composition of road users including existing and potential levels of vulnerable road users, and the road environment such as the level of roadside development and the possible impacts (for example, severance, noise or air quality) on residents. This could include effects on the curtilage of neighbouring properties.
The final decision is for the traffic authority, working with the police who would carry out any enforcement.
The Department’s guidance to English traffic authorities can be viewed at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-local-speed-limits/setting-local-speed-limits.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring local authorities to consider the curtilage of properties when assessing local speed limits.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Traffic authorities have the power to make speed limits on the public roads which they manage. English authorities are asked to consider the best practice guidance ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’, designed to make sure that speed limits are appropriately and consistently set while allowing for flexibility to deal with local circumstances. This lists important factors that may be taken into account which include, among other things, the composition of road users including existing and potential levels of vulnerable road users, and the road environment such as the level of roadside development and the possible impacts (for example, severance, noise or air quality) on residents. This could include effects on the curtilage of neighbouring properties.
The final decision is for the traffic authority, working with the police who would carry out any enforcement.
The Department’s guidance to English traffic authorities can be viewed at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-local-speed-limits/setting-local-speed-limits.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has issued guidance to local authorities on considering the hierarchy of road users when assessing local speed limits.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Traffic authorities have the power to make speed limits on the public roads which they manage. English authorities are asked to consider the best practice guidance ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’, designed to make sure that speed limits are appropriately and consistently set while allowing for flexibility to deal with local circumstances. This lists important factors that may be taken into account which include, among other things, the composition of road users including existing and potential levels of vulnerable road users, and the road environment such as the level of roadside development and the possible impacts (for example, severance, noise or air quality) on residents. This could include effects on the curtilage of neighbouring properties.
The final decision is for the traffic authority, working with the police who would carry out any enforcement.
The Department’s guidance to English traffic authorities can be viewed at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-local-speed-limits/setting-local-speed-limits.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of making the wearing of cycle helmets a legal requirement for cyclists.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport considered the case for mandating the wearing of cycle helmets as part of a cycling and walking safety review in 2018. The review concluded that the safety benefits were likely to be outweighed by the fact that this would put some people off cycling. This would, in turn, reduce the wider health and environmental benefits.
The Department recommends that cycle helmets should be worn and this is set out in The Highway Code, but does not intend to make it a legal requirement.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May to Question 904060 on Personal Independence Payment: Reform, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed PIP changes on people in the North East.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Estimates of the impact of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reforms are made for England and Wales only and not on region or any other geographic area.
The department does not forecast benefit receipt at a regional level, nor have estimates of the behavioural impacts of the policy been produced at a regional level.
There will be no immediate changes. Changes to PIP eligibility and rebalancing of UC aren’t coming into effect immediately. Our intention is these changes will start to come into effect from April 2026 for UC and November 2026 for PIP, subject to parliamentary approval.
No one will lose access to PIP immediately. The changes, subject to parliamentary approval, would be brought in from November 2026. After that date, no one will lose PIP without first being reassessed by a trained assessor or healthcare professional, who assesses individual needs and circumstance. Reassessments happen on average every 3 years. Someone who didn’t score 4 points in an activity in a previous assessment may well score 4 points in a future assessment – not least as many conditions tend to get worse, not better, over time.
After taking account of behavioural changes, OBR predicts that 370,000 people who will be receiving PIP at the point of implementation of the four point requirement in November 2026, will have lost their PIP Daily Living entitlement by 2029/30. Of all PIP recipients at the point of implementation, 9 in 10 will not lose PIP during the subsequent 3 years from this change.
The number of people currently on PIP and did not score 4 points in one category in their last assessment should not be equated with the number who are likely to lose PIP. It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two, not least because we don’t want constituents to be unnecessarily fearful about their situation, when we understand many are already anxious.
We are consulting on how best to support those who are affected by the new eligibility changes, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. PIP is not based on condition diagnosis but on functional disability as the result of one or more conditions, and is awarded as a contribution to the additional costs which result.
We have also announced a wider review of the PIP assessment which I will lead, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details as plans progress.
Even with these reforms, the overall number of people on PIP and DLA is expected to rise by 750,000 by the end of this parliament and spending will rise from £23bn in 24/25 to £31bn in 29/30.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to to help improve access for students to courses at all levels in (a) history, (b) arts and (c) the humanities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to supporting access to creative subjects, such as the arts, history and humanities, in higher education.
For the 2024/25 academic year, the department has allocated around £12.9 million in high-cost subject funding from the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) towards creative and performing arts courses to cover course costs.
The department has also maintained SPG funding for world-leading small and specialist providers at £58 million for the 2024/25 academic year. Of the 20 providers recognised in this way, 12 are creative and performing arts providers.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of visa restrictions on revenue streams in the Higher Education sector.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There are many factors that influence international students when they choose to study abroad. These include the range and quality of available courses, the visa rules that apply in countries they are considering, and the appeal of living and studying in those countries.
Several changes were made to the immigration system in 2024, restricting international students from bringing family members with them to the UK unless they are studying a PhD, doctorate or research-based higher degree. These restrictions will be continued, as confirmed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department in early February, in line with the government’s commitment to manage migration carefully. The Home Office has also published a full impact assessment of changes made to student and work visas in 2024, alongside their introduction.
Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows that international students contributed £12.1 billion in tuition fees to UK higher education (HE) providers in the 2022/23 academic year.
This government has made clear its approach to international students. We welcome international students who enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment on people in the North East.
Answered by Liz Kendall - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
It is vital that our social security system, including PIP, is sustainable now and into the future.
That is why we are reforming the system, so we protect those who can never work and so that those who can work get the help they need and deserve – including by investing an additional £1 billion in our new Pathways to Work employment programme.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support post-92 institutions to (a) improve the educational experience and (b) widen participation of disadvantaged students.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All higher education (HE) providers registered with the Office for Students (OfS) that intend to charge higher level tuition fees must have an access and participation plan approved by the OfS. Access and participation plans articulate how HE providers will improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups.
The department wants providers to be more ambitious and play a stronger role in improving the access and outcomes for disadvantaged students.
The department made £281 million of funding available to providers for the 2024/25 academic year via the recurrent element of the Strategic Priorities Grant. This was in the form of student premiums and mental health support to support successful outcomes for students, including for disadvantaged students. Funding arrangements for the next academic year will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department includes local authority (a) owned and (b) managed Gypsy and Traveller sites within its definition of social housing under the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All registered providers of social housing, including local authorities, are required to deliver the outcomes of the consumer standards set by the independent Regulator of Social Housing (‘the regulator’).
The regulatory standards apply to social housing as defined by the Housing and Regeneration Act (2008). The Act defines low-cost rental accommodation as accommodation rented below market rate and made available to those whose needs may not be adequately served by the commercial market.
Socially rented residential homes on local authority owned or managed Gypsy and Traveller sites will be subject to the regulator’s consumer standards if they meet the definition of social housing under the Act.