Asked by: Mike Reader (Labour - Northampton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to provide adequate funding to the Probation Service for meeting its additional responsibilities in the Sentencing Bill.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We continue to invest in Probation to ensure workloads are manageable and the changes from the Independent Sentencing Review are sustainable.
The Probation and community services budget will increase by up to £700 million (a 45% rise) by 2028/2029.
An initial £8 million will be invested in technology to reduce administration and free up officers to focus on managing risk and reducing reoffending.
Asked by: Mike Reader (Labour - Northampton South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children born in the UK have at least one parent with indefinite leave to remain.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information requested is not centrally held.
Asked by: Mike Reader (Labour - Northampton South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many households which include children born in the UK include (a) one and (b) two adults with indefinite leave to remain.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information requested is not centrally held.
Asked by: Mike Reader (Labour - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what engagement his Department has had with institutional investors to identify barriers to investment in green infrastructure; and what steps his Department is taking to address those barriers through policy or regulatory reform.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department engages regularly with institutional investors and industry associations through bilateral meetings, roundtables and targeted events to better understand and address investment barriers. Insights from these interactions inform policy and regulatory reform to best mobilise private investment into the Clean Energy Mission. For example, investors were actively engaged in the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements. Engagement also informs planning reform, and changes to investment mechanisms such as recent Contracts for Difference reform. The Department works alongside public finance institutions to develop targeted interventions that crowd in private investment.
Asked by: Mike Reader (Labour - Northampton South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will take steps to help reduce administration for businesses required to complete declarations for goods staying in Northern Ireland under trusted trader schemes.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
On 1 May, the Government introduced important new arrangements for freight and parcel movements to ensure that goods can continue to move smoothly from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
The new arrangements ensure that parcels sent to or from consumers will not be subject to customs declarations or duty.
We have also introduced a range of schemes to support businesses by removing unnecessary checks and paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland; over 15,000 businesses are already signed up to the UK Internal Market Scheme.
Asked by: Mike Reader (Labour - Northampton South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor for the Exchequer, whether the Office for Investment is taking to update its infrastructure pipeline portal; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential lessons learned from the (a) Australian, (b) New Zealand and (c) other international models of infrastructure pipeline portals.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The NISTA Infrastructure Pipeline was launched in July and plans to update the pipeline are outlined here: https://pipeline.nista.grid.civilservice.gov.uk/future. In developing the design of the Pipeline, NISTA drew on a broad range of industry feedback and examples, including from those outside the UK such as Australia and New Zealand. The Pipeline team will continue its active engagement of users to steer its design and ensure it improves through forthcoming iterations.
Asked by: Mike Reader (Labour - Northampton South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increasing pension fund investment in private markets and infrastructure on the economy.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In May, 17 of the largest workplace pension providers signed the Mansion House Accord and voluntarily committed to invest at least 10 per cent of their defined contribution main default funds in private markets by 2030, with at least half of that invested in the UK.
This is expected to unlock £50 billion of additional private market investment by 2030, including £25 billion in the UK. As providers work towards meeting these commitments, they will be investing more in private assets such as infrastructure projects.
Additionally, the measures in the Pension Schemes Bill, introduced in July, will ensure pension schemes have the scale and expertise to access these types of investment.
Asked by: Mike Reader (Labour - Northampton South)
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 plans to accept the recommendations of the Older People’s Housing Taskforce Report, published on 26 November 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market and we will continue to consider this issue as we develop our long-term housing strategy, which will be published later this year.
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 26 November 2024 (HCWS249), the government is giving careful consideration to the recommendations from the Older People’s Housing Taskforce report including in relation to specialist accommodation for older people.
Asked by: Mike Reader (Labour - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department plans to take with local authorities to encourage consumer-led flexibility in the energy market in Northampton South constituency.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This Government supports significant growth in consumer-led flexibility, as set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. In our Action Plan, Government committed to publishing a Flexibility Roadmap in 2025. The Roadmap will set out further detail on how the benefits of clean flexibility can be unlocked for consumers across all parliamentary constituencies in Great Britain, including Northampton South. The government will continue to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders, including with local authorities to support greater uptake of public on-street EV charging.
Asked by: Mike Reader (Labour - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects the Circular Economy Strategy for England to be published.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy. The government has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, which we plan to publish for consultation in the coming autumn.