Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council to meet demand for adult social care, children’s services and temporary accommodation.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
For Stockon-on-Tees, the Settlement will make available £280.2 million in Core Spending Power by 2028-29, an above average increase of 29.3% since 2024-25, equivalent to £63.5 million.
The government is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities. We are delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade. As a result of the fair funding review reforms, nine in ten councils will receive funding that broadly matches their assessed relative need by the end of the multi-year Settlement, up from around a third before our reforms.
In the Rewiring the State Cabinet Statement, the government committed to taking forward a programme of reform to support the financial sustainability of local authorities. This includes increasing the share of business rates retained by regional and local government to 100% by the end of the decade to give local leaders greater control and certainty over their budgets, along with the ongoing and future reforms to the demand-led services placing the greatest pressure on council budgets: adult and children’s social care, homelessness, and special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the local government funding formula on funding for Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
For Stockon-on-Tees, the Settlement will make available £280.2 million in Core Spending Power by 2028-29, an above average increase of 29.3% since 2024-25, equivalent to £63.5 million.
The government is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities. We are delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade. As a result of the fair funding review reforms, nine in ten councils will receive funding that broadly matches their assessed relative need by the end of the multi-year Settlement, up from around a third before our reforms.
In the Rewiring the State Cabinet Statement, the government committed to taking forward a programme of reform to support the financial sustainability of local authorities. This includes increasing the share of business rates retained by regional and local government to 100% by the end of the decade to give local leaders greater control and certainty over their budgets, along with the ongoing and future reforms to the demand-led services placing the greatest pressure on council budgets: adult and children’s social care, homelessness, and special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to support the financial sustainability of local authorities without increasing the council tax burden on households.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
For Stockon-on-Tees, the Settlement will make available £280.2 million in Core Spending Power by 2028-29, an above average increase of 29.3% since 2024-25, equivalent to £63.5 million.
The government is making good on long overdue promises to fundamentally update the way we fund local authorities. We are delivering fairer funding, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade. As a result of the fair funding review reforms, nine in ten councils will receive funding that broadly matches their assessed relative need by the end of the multi-year Settlement, up from around a third before our reforms.
In the Rewiring the State Cabinet Statement, the government committed to taking forward a programme of reform to support the financial sustainability of local authorities. This includes increasing the share of business rates retained by regional and local government to 100% by the end of the decade to give local leaders greater control and certainty over their budgets, along with the ongoing and future reforms to the demand-led services placing the greatest pressure on council budgets: adult and children’s social care, homelessness, and special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing regional variations in summer holiday dates to reduce peak demand for domestic and international travel.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Management of disciplinary matters and related sickness absence is a matter for employers, rather than the department.
The School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009 set out the high-level procedures that governing bodies in maintained schools must establish for the regulation of the conduct and discipline of school staff. Schools are advised to use the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance. This provides basic practical guidance for employers, employees and their representatives and sets out principles for handling disciplinary situations in the workplace. This guidance is available at: https://www.acas.org.uk/?articleid=2174.
The department has no responsibility for the management of sickness absence. This is part of the Burgundy Book and is an agreement between school employers and teaching unions.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of arrangements for identifying and intervening with persistent offenders involved in (a) vehicle theft and (b) dangerous driving; and what steps she is taking to support police forces to prevent escalation in such offending.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Government recognises the serious impacts that vehicle theft and dangerous driving can have on businesses, communities and individuals and is determined to ensure that crimes such as these receive the response they deserve.
Police Reform will support policing and provide our communities with more consistent services and policing which responds to local needs. At the local level, new Local Policing Units (LPUs) will work with communities to focus on the issues that matter most to them, such as responding to emergencies, preventing and investigating local crime – such as vehicle theft and dangerous driving – and supporting safer neighbourhoods. In addition, the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee commits to delivering 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of the Parliament. 3,814 additional police officers and PCSOs were delivered into neighbourhood roles by Mach 2026, creating more capacity for local patrols and a stronger presence in communities.
Vehicle theft is often organised, mobile and cross border in nature. At the national level, Police Reform will address cross-border threats such as these by establishing a more capable National Police Service (NPS) that will tackle national threats and deliver national capabilities. The NPS will bring together four core functions: strategic leadership, standard setting, support and enabling services for police forces in England and Wales and the operational response to serious and organised crime, like serious organised vehicle crime, and threats to national security. It will bring together the National Crime Agency, Counter Terrorism Policing and regional organised crime capabilities.
Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales indicates that the most common method of entry in the case of vehicle theft involved use of electronic devices to manipulate the signal from a remote locking device. The Policing and Crime Act provides the police and courts with stronger powers to target those who use, manufacture or supply these tools, allowing for a maximum penalty of up to 5 years imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.
In January 2026, the Government published a consultation on motoring offences and enforcement, including whether existing penalties and enforcement powers remain effective, proportionate and sufficiently capable of deterring repeat or dangerous behaviour. Responses to the consultation are currently being analysed, and the Government will publish its response in due course.
Information on stolen vehicles is already shared across law enforcement and with relevant partners to support the prevention, detection and investigation of vehicle crime. Opal, the police national intelligence unit focusing on serious organised acquisitive crime has responsibility for identifying and developing intelligence relating to organised vehicle crime. It works with law enforcement officers, partners and industry (both nationally and internationally) in delivering this remit. In addition, the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership headed by the National Police Chief Council’s Lead for Vehicle Crime, ACC Sarah Grahame, brings together law enforcement, industry and government partners. It is working to enhance information sharing and analysis, build networks to target offenders and coordinate activity to reduce vehicle crime and associated harm.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department collects on enforcement action taken against non-compliant retail premises on high streets; and whether she plans to publish data on (a) inspections, (b) closure orders, (c) seizures and (d) prosecutions arising from the Government's high street enforcement programme.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 19 May, the Government announced a £30 million, three-year crackdown targeting cash-intensive businesses on our high streets, including activity to disrupt money laundering and illegal working.
Operational activity is being coordinated by the National Crime Agency, in conjunction with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, with partner agencies collecting data on enforcement outcomes including premises visited, arrests and seizures.
In parallel, the High Street Organised Crime Unit is developing a longer-term strategic response, including consideration of stronger powers and better coordination to prevent criminal activity. The Unit is working across Government, including with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and HM Revenue and Customs, to support development of the High Street Strategy.
More broadly, we want local partners to take a joined-up, place-based approach to the problems that make high streets feel unsafe, bringing together policing, local authorities and other agencies to identify and tackle the premises, offenders and locations causing the greatest harm.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that measures in the Government's High Street Strategy are supported by effective enforcement against retail premises that breach trading standards, tax, immigration or other regulatory requirements.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 19 May, the Government announced a £30 million, three-year crackdown targeting cash-intensive businesses on our high streets, including activity to disrupt money laundering and illegal working.
Operational activity is being coordinated by the National Crime Agency, in conjunction with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, with partner agencies collecting data on enforcement outcomes including premises visited, arrests and seizures.
In parallel, the High Street Organised Crime Unit is developing a longer-term strategic response, including consideration of stronger powers and better coordination to prevent criminal activity. The Unit is working across Government, including with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and HM Revenue and Customs, to support development of the High Street Strategy.
More broadly, we want local partners to take a joined-up, place-based approach to the problems that make high streets feel unsafe, bringing together policing, local authorities and other agencies to identify and tackle the premises, offenders and locations causing the greatest harm.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local antisocial behaviour and community safety plans address the potential impact of non-compliant retail premises on crime, antisocial behaviour and perceptions of safety on high streets.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 19 May, the Government announced a £30 million, three-year crackdown targeting cash-intensive businesses on our high streets, including activity to disrupt money laundering and illegal working.
Operational activity is being coordinated by the National Crime Agency, in conjunction with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, with partner agencies collecting data on enforcement outcomes including premises visited, arrests and seizures.
In parallel, the High Street Organised Crime Unit is developing a longer-term strategic response, including consideration of stronger powers and better coordination to prevent criminal activity. The Unit is working across Government, including with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and HM Revenue and Customs, to support development of the High Street Strategy.
More broadly, we want local partners to take a joined-up, place-based approach to the problems that make high streets feel unsafe, bringing together policing, local authorities and other agencies to identify and tackle the premises, offenders and locations causing the greatest harm.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve coordination between police forces, local authorities, Trading Standards, Immigration Enforcement and HMRC in tackling persistent non-compliance by retail premises on high streets.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 19 May, the Government announced a £30 million, three-year crackdown targeting cash-intensive businesses on our high streets, including activity to disrupt money laundering and illegal working.
Operational activity is being coordinated by the National Crime Agency, in conjunction with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, with partner agencies collecting data on enforcement outcomes including premises visited, arrests and seizures.
In parallel, the High Street Organised Crime Unit is developing a longer-term strategic response, including consideration of stronger powers and better coordination to prevent criminal activity. The Unit is working across Government, including with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and HM Revenue and Customs, to support development of the High Street Strategy.
More broadly, we want local partners to take a joined-up, place-based approach to the problems that make high streets feel unsafe, bringing together policing, local authorities and other agencies to identify and tackle the premises, offenders and locations causing the greatest harm.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders sentenced for offences under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978 received (a) immediate custodial sentences, (b) suspended sentence orders and (c) community orders in each of the last five years for which data are available.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Parliament has provided the courts with a broad range of sentencing powers to deal effectively and appropriately with offenders convicted of sexual offences against children. For offences involving indecent images of children (under Protection of Children Act 1978 s.1) the law provides for a significant maximum penalty of 10 years’ custody, reflecting the seriousness with which Parliament and the courts treat this type of offending.
Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts. When deciding what sentence to impose the courts consider the circumstances of the offence including the culpability of the offender, the harm they caused or intended to cause, and any aggravating and mitigating factors in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines issued by the independent Sentencing Council.
Sentencing guidelines for offences involving indecent images of children set out that Category A offences should attract the highest sentence starting points. The guidelines set out a range of factors for the court to consider at sentencing including for example, the number and nature of the images, the extent of any sharing, distribution or production, the offender’s level of involvement, whether there is evidence of a sexual interest in children, and any abuse of trust. Courts should also consider the potential harm caused to victims, even where that harm is not directly visible. The relevant sentencing guidelines can be found here: Possession of indecent photograph of child/ Indecent photographs of children.
The Sentencing Act 2026 introduced a presumption for the courts to suspend custodial sentences of 12 months or less. Courts will always be able to send offenders to prison where they have breached a court order, an individual is at significant risk of harm, or there are exceptional circumstances which would justify not suspending the sentence.
The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on sentencing outcomes for offenders sentenced for a wide range of offences, including offences under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool. This can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.