Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) people enrolling on a second undergraduate degree course, (b) people enrolling on a five-year degree course and (c) other returning learners receive adequate support via the additional entitlement within the new Lifelong Learning Entitlement scheme.

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

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices there (a) are and (b) were in 2010 in Worsley and Eccles constituency.

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

The data provided has been sourced from NHS England and shows the number of general practices (GPs) in the Worsley and Eccles constituency in January 2025 and January 2014, as no data is available prior to this. The data only includes main practices and does not include branch practices. The data is as follows:

- as of January 2025, there are 14 GPs in the Worsley and Eccles constituency; and

- as of January 2014, there were 20 GPs in the Worsley and Eccles constituency.

Practices close for a variety of reasons, including mergers or retirement, and so this does not necessarily indicate a reduction in the quality of care. When a practice does close, patients are informed of the closure and advised to register at another local practice of their choice within their area.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time for driving tests is in Worsley and Eccles constituency.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

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

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships have started in Worsley and Eccles constituency in each of the last six years.

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

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.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (a) how many people received awards and (b) what the value of those awards were in (i) Salford and (ii) Wigan in each of the last five years.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many mental health support teams there were in (a) Worsley and Eccles constituency, (b) Salford and (c) Wigan in each year since 2014.

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

The following table shows a summary of mental health support teams in (a) Worsley and Eccles constituency, Salford and Wigan in each year since 2014.

Source: NHS England

Note: there were no teams in existence between 2014 and 2020/21.

Salford has three Community Mental Health Teams covering the Salford locality and this has been the case since prior to 2014. Since 2022, Salford has also implemented a living well offer as part of the core community mental health pathway, working into each of the five primary care networks in the city. There are also specialist teams, for example, Early Intervention in Psychosis, adult community eating disorders, Home Based Treatment and MH Liaison, in addition to primary care mental health talking therapies, covering the Salford population.

Wigan mobilised its first two mental health support teams in 2021/22 with the staff in post and starting their training course in Sept 2021 and the team going live in the spring of 2022.

In 2023/24 Greater Manchester Mental Health was allocated funding for 2.58 new teams for the Wigan and Bolton footprint. This was an additional team for each locality and the development of a footprint higher education offer.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average processing time was for applications to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme by people resident in (a) Salford and (b) Wigan in each of the last five years.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average time was between (a) referral and (b) first contact for mental health services for people aged 17 years and under in (a) Salford and (b) Wigan in each of the last five years.

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

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.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average funding per pupil was in mainstream schools in (a) Worsley and Eccles constituency, (b) Salford (c) Wigan (d) the North West and (e) England in each of the last five years.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals have been accepted by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in (a) Salford and (b) Wigan in each of the last five years.

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

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

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parents or young people have taken (a) Salford and (b) Wigan to appeal at a tribunal against an Education, Care and Health Plan decision in each of the last five years; and what (i) number and (ii) proportion of those appeals were (A) determined in favour of the appellants, (B) determined in favour of the local authority, (C) withdrawn, (D) conceded before the hearing and (E) still awaiting a hearing.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many speech and language therapists have worked for the NHS in (a) Salford, (b) Wigan and (c) the North West in each of the last five years.

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

The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent speech and language therapists working in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the NHS England North West region in each of the last five years:

Source: NHS England, NHS Workforce Statistics

Note: These staff will provide services in a range of settings including in education. However, therapists will also be directly employed by other providers, including schools, independent provision and third sector/ charitable organisations for which data is not held centrally.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start centres have closed in (a) Salford and (b) Wigan since May 2010; and what the (i) name and (ii) postcode was of each centre.

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

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.

Found: Mary Kelly Foy Gill Furniss Tracy Gilbert Gurinder Singh Josan Lee Pitcher Frank McNally Michael Wheeler

Found: Q19 Michael Wheeler: I have a couple of other points to follow up on that.

Found: Q19 Michael Wheeler: I have a couple of other points to follow up on that.

Found: Lab) • Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con) • Laurence Turner (Birmingham Northfield) (Lab) • Michael Wheeler