Michael Wheeler

Smart Data Foundry research shows that small businesses, including those in the construction industry were owed on average an estimated £22,000 in late payments in 2022. This represents a significant cash flow challenge for small businesses, undermining opportunities to invest and innovate.

In September 2024 we announced a package of measures to help ensure small businesses and the self-employed are paid promptly to improve the resilience of supply chains and boost economic growth across the UK.

We will soon launch a public consultation on further measures to address late payments and long payment terms, including specific measures to address the construction contractual practice of retention payments.

Source: Smart Data Foundry (2022) – Payment Speed and Timeliness for UK Small & Micro Businesses – https://smartdatafoundry.com/resources/news/payment-speed-and-timeliness-for-uk-small-and-micro-businesses

In September 2024 we announced a package of measures to help ensure small businesses are paid promptly by the large businesses they supply.

This included the newly launched Fair Payment Code by the Small Business Commissioner, and upcoming legislation to require that large companies include payment performance reporting headlines within their annual reports.

We will soon launch a public consultation on further measures to address late payments and long payment terms, including strengthened powers for the Small Business Commissioner.

Blending low carbon hydrogen into the existing gas networks may have value, in certain circumstances, to support the early development of the hydrogen economy and the wider energy system.

The Government remains committed to assessing the case for hydrogen blending into the gas transmission network. This work aims to gather evidence on the feasibility, costs and benefits of hydrogen blending.

The government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the next decade. Education has a crucial role to play in preventing and tackling harmful behaviour, helping children and young people to develop empathy, boundaries and respect for difference.

Through compulsory relationships education, all pupils will learn how to form positive and respectful relationships and develop an understanding of the concepts and laws around sexual harassment and sexual violence.

The department is reviewing the statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum, and as part of this review we are looking at how to ensure that the guidance equips pupils, starting in primary, to form healthy and respectful relationships. We are analysing consultation responses, talking to stakeholders and considering relevant evidence to determine how this can fully complement our wider actions to tackle VAWG. Ministers have been clear that the RSHE guidance must support schools to tackle misogynistic attitudes and help students gain the knowledge and skills needed to develop healthy relationships.

We are currently considering how best to support teachers to deliver high-quality RSHE and are aware of many of the programmes and toolkits already in place, including the Healthy Relationships toolkit developed by Tender and launched by the Mayor of London, which we understand is free for schools to use if they wish. As with other curriculum subjects, the department does not advise schools on which resources, external speakers or organisations to use, not least because schools operate in a variety of different contexts and have both the expertise and knowledge that makes them best placed to make these decisions.  The department does not endorse or promote third-party resources to schools.

Local authorities receive their core funding for schools through the dedicated schools grant (DSG). Local authorities are then responsible for designing a local formula, within certain parameters, to distribute the funding that they receive from the department to schools in their area. This local formula is used to determine funding for both the maintained schools and academies in each area.

As the DSG is allocated at local authority level, DSG allocations broken down to the level of individual constituencies are not available. The individual allocations that schools within Worsley and Eccles constituency receive are determined by the local funding formula set each year by Salford and Wigan local authorities.

However, the DSG funding allocations at local authority, regional and national level for each of the last five years are set out below. The per-pupil funding figures include premises funding but exclude growth and falling rolls funding.

Data on Sure Start children’s centres is supplied by local authorities via the department’s Get Information about Schools (GIAS) database portal, which can be accessed here: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.

Based on information supplied by Salford and Wigan local authorities, no centres have closed in Salford or Wigan since May 2010. However, Salford local authority has converted 11 children’s centres into children’s centre linked sites since May 2010. Wigan local authority has converted 15 children’s centres into children’s centre linked sites since May 2010. ‘Children’s centre linked sites’ are formerly children's centres in their own right, but they no longer meet the statutory definition of a children’s centre. They offer some early childhood services on behalf of another children's centre.

The information on children’s centres closed since May 2010 is based on data supplied by the local authorities for Salford and Wigan as at 14 February 2025. These figures could change again in future, since local authorities may update the database at any time.

Apprenticeship starts by Parliamentary constituency between the 2018/19 and 2023/24 academic years are published in the Apprenticeships statistics publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/ac6bc11a-b1ec-45a2-021e-08dd45ba797d.

Under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, 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 fee rates for the 2025/26 academic year. Returning learners who have previously received government support to undertake higher-level learning will have a reduced entitlement that is dependent on the level of funding they have already received.

For example, a typical graduate who completed a 3-year degree worth £28,605 based on current fees will have a £9,535 residual entitlement (or 1 year of full-time study). This amount will be adjusted should the modern fee limit change.

An additional entitlement above the core four year entitlement will be available for some priority subjects and longer courses, such as medicine. This will ensure that learners can always gain skills in priority areas, regardless of remaining entitlement or previous qualifications.

The government will publish a list of subjects eligible for additional entitlement in 2025. This will include information on degrees longer than 4 years. We will also work with the Student Loans Company and the sector to ensure that learners have access to high-quality information, advice and guidance which supports them to make informed decisions about their entitlement and learning journey.

The Environment Agency (EA) does not have any regulatory powers for flood risk management for the Bridgewater Canal or Manchester Ship Canal which are both privately owned assets. The owners are responsible for operating and maintaining their assets.

The EA responded during the recent incident in Little Bollington, Cheshire, and continues to support this area during the recovery period.

The EA has permissive powers to undertake maintenance on Main Rivers including vegetation clearance and removal of blockages. Within this constituency there are 8 debris screens on Main Rivers that the EA own, maintain, and clear. Debris screens stop debris entering culverts which if blocked can cause flooding. Before and during heavy rainfall the EA clears debris from these screens. The EA also work closely with partners, including Salford CC and United Utilities to have a strategic overview of all sources of flooding.

Within the Worsley Brook area the EA has 4 flood warning areas where they a offer a flood warning service to over 330 properties. There are also a further 4 flood warnings areas within the wider constituency, where a further 315 properties are able to receive a flood warning enabling them to take action when flooding is expected.

Both Salford City Council and Wigan Metropolitan Borough are constituent members of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). During 2024/25, the Government allocated funds to GMCA through its City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), which includes consolidated funding for highway maintenance funding for all its constituent authorities. In addition to this funding, during 2024/25 GMCA received a £4.4 million funding uplift as part of the previous Government’s Network North plan.

For 2025/26, GMCA will receive an Integrated Settlement from the Government, into which CRSTS will be consolidated. In addition to this funding, GMCA will receive an additional £14.8 million from the highway maintenance funding uplift announced in this Government’s 2024 Budget.

Funding allocations for CRSTS and highway maintenance are published on gov.uk.

Light rail, including the Manchester Metrolink, is devolved in England where local authorities, such as Greater Manchester Combined Authority, own and are responsible for the operations and financial sustainability of their own systems. This includes setting the costs for their own ticketing and annual fares.

As such, the Department does not hold such records information on the cost of two zones (1+2) Manchester Metrolink adult annual travelcards in 2010.

The honourable member may wish to contact Transport for Greater Manchester who are better placed to provide such information.

The price of standard class annual season tickets in 2010 for journeys from the requested stations to these Manchester stations was £741.50.

The table below shows the average waiting time as of January 2025, for driving test centres (DTCs) that serve the Worsley and Eccles constituency.

There is no administrative data collected or recorded when an employee takes a sickness absence. The best evidence available uses findings from the Employee Survey (Employee research Phase 2: Sickness absence and return to work. Quantitative and qualitative research: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64108286d3bf7f02f6e38078/employee-research-phase-2-sickness-absence-and-return-to-work-quantitative-qualitative.pdf.)

The survey showed that 64% of respondents had no sickness absence. Of those that do have a sickness absence, 13% of those who have a sickness absence reported an absence of more than 3 weeks. The majority of sickness absences were for up to a week (57%) followed by between 1 to 2 weeks (20%), and between 2 to 3 weeks (10%). These figures demonstrate that when workers took sickness absence, it was usually for a short period of time.

Of those who have had a sickness absence, many would receive Occupational Sick Pay. The Employee Survey findings suggest 57% of employees said they would receive OSP, while a further 9% said they would receive some combination of both SSP and OSP. 26% would receive SSP, while the remaining 8% do not know.

The estimated cost to business of SSP reforms is derived from a simulation model that incorporates raw sickness absence data from the DWP Employee Survey 2023 alongside characteristic information from the Family Resources Survey. (Family Resources Survey: financial year 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK)

As Statutory Sick Pay is administered and paid by employers, this information is not held by government. Therefore, we are not able to make an assessment of the proportion of employees who are currently receiving Statutory Sick Pay for specific periods of sickness absence.

The information requested is published and available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

Guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

The Department’s latest estimate is that in Quarter 1 of the financial year 2022/23 there were around 1-1.3 million employees in the UK who earned below the LEL. This figure does not include workers who are self-employed.

Of these employees, (a) 86% were in England, (b) 7% were in Scotland, (c) 4% were in Wales and (d) 3% were in Northern Ireland.

These figures are drawn from the published estimates from the Department’s Statutory Sick Pay Regulatory Impact Assessment: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6715f848386bf0964853d848/Impact_assessment_improve_access_statutory_sick_pay_removing_lower_earnings_limit_removing_waiting_period.pdf

Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.

The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job; we will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, driving productivity up and getting waiting times down.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For Worsley and Eccles constituency, this is the NHS Greater Manchester ICB.

ICBs have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.

A copy of two tables breaking down the number of people waiting over six months to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service support in Salford and Wigan since 2020 is attached.

The following table shows the number of referrals accepted by child and adolescent mental health services in Salford in each month from 2020/21 up to December 2024, the month for which most recent data is available:

Source: NHS England

The following table shows the number of referrals accepted by child and adolescent mental health services in Wigan in each month from 2020/21 up to December 2024, the month for which most recent data is available:

Source: NHS England

The following table shows the median waiting time in days between a referral start date and first contact, within the three-month rolling reporting period, for referrals for children and young people aged under 18 years old who are supported through National Health Service funded mental health services, from August 2023, the earliest date available, to November 2024, for Salford and Wigan:

Source: NHS Futures.

When HMRC receives an R&D relief claim, it goes through a risk assessment process. New additional information requirements mean HMRC can more accurately identify claims that may not be compliant and reduce the number of valid claims being picked for a compliance check.

The length of a compliance check will depend however on a range of factors, including the complexity of the claim and customer engagement. At Autumn Budget, HMRC published the Approach to Research and Development Tax Reliefs for 2023 to 2024, which shows that the average time to complete a compliance check for 2023-24 was 246 days, down from 269 days in 2022-23.

HMRC processed 92% of R&D claims within 40 days in 2023 to 2024. This is above HMRC’s published customer service aim to process 85% of claims within 40 days of receipt. Processing means paying the claim, making contact to request further information, or refusing the claim, and, for claims identified as high-risk, starting an appropriately targeted compliance check.

Small businesses are vital to high streets and communities, and essential to the success of the government’s growth mission. The Government recognises the important role tax reliefs, including the R&D reliefs, play in strengthening small businesses’ ability to invest and grow.

Whilst it is right that HMRC is taking action to address error and fraud, the government is committed to responding to stakeholder feedback and improving administration to ensure the R&D reliefs continue to support our most innovative businesses.

The average time taken to process a substantive decision is not currently available from published data, and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

However, the Home Office does publish data on the number of asylum claims awaiting an initial decision by duration. This data can be found at table Asy_D03 of the ‘Asylum and resettlement summary tables’.

Additionally, data on the percentage of applications processed within 6 months is published in table ASY_01 of the ‘Immigration and Protection’ data of the Migration Transparency Data collection.

We are restoring order to the asylum system so that every part – border security, case processing, appeals and returns – operate swiftly.

As a result, asylum decision making increased by 52% in the last three months of 2024.

The Home Office continues to take action to speed up asylum processing whilst maintaining the integrity of the system.

The Government takes electrical safety very seriously and the Building Regulations require work to homes’ fixed electrical systems to be carried out safely to protect people from fire and injury. Government-backed schemes exist to ensure domestic electricians are qualified and registered and can self-certify their work. This is an essential part of safety protections and is one of several schemes – called the competent person schemes – that oversee the competence of tradespeople in many disciplines by considering their qualifications and experience as well as inspecting samples of their work. There are no plans to replace this model. Government does consider applications from new scheme providers periodically but there are no plans currently to invite new applications.

Information about appeal outcomes to SEND is published at: Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 - GOV.UK.

Appeal outcomes are not broken down by Local Authority in the published data as requested in this PQ. These data are provided for academic years September to August as follows:

1 - In addition to the categories requested appeals can be struck out. This is included in the total number of appeals.

2 - (B) Is the total of cases where the appellant wins the majority of the appeal (i.e. the appellant may be successful in 2 out of the 3 sections they appeal against).

3 - The information provided has been extracted from local management information.

The majority of cases are decided within 12 months, although some more complicated cases can take significantly longer.

The table below shows the average time for decisions to be made on applications* for criminal injuries compensation by people resident in Salford**.

The table below shows the average time for decisions to be made on applications* for criminal injuries compensation by people resident in Wigan**.

*The tables do not include archived bereavement applications because the address of the applicant is not retained. In most cases, applications are archived three years after the case has been closed.

**The above tables include all awards where the applicant named Wigan or Salford as the town in their home address in their application.

The table below provides the number of compensation awards paid in each of the last five calendar years to applicants living in Salford, and the value of those awards.

Salford

The table below provides the number of compensation awards paid in each of the last five calendar years to applicants living in Wigan, and the value of those awards.

Wigan

*The tables do not include archived bereavement applications because the address of the applicant is not retained. In most cases, applications are archived three years after the case has been closed.

**The above tables include all awards where the applicant named Wigan or Salford as the town in their home address in their application.