Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will hold discussions with Avanti West Coast on the (a) reliability and (b) speed of wifi connectivity on west coast mainline passenger railway services.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Secretary of State and the Rail Minister met with Avanti West Coast (AWC) in January to discuss industrial action and performance. They did not specifically discuss Wi-Fi connectivity however, officials meet with AWC regularly to discuss services for passengers, including Wi-Fi.

The Department is considering the feasibility of a range of technology options to improve passenger Wi-Fi services on the rail network. AWC recently completed a positive trial using laser window etching technology to improve connectivity and are exploring future use. The Department is also measuring the strength of mobile signals along the rail network to fully understand where interventions are needed, and the potential impacts.

Operators are required to achieve challenging customer experience targets across a range of measures, including Wi-Fi connectivity. These standards are regularly and independently inspected via the Service Quality Regime and there are accountability and financial consequences for failure.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce the backlog at the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and (b) improve the efficiency of VOA services.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is currently on target to deliver the next business rates revaluation in 2026 across England and Wales.

The VOA is committed to continually learning and further improving its services. It is replacing IT systems with modern cloud-based platforms that will deliver significant efficiencies. At the same time, it is enhancing digital services to make it easier for customers to self-serve.

In addition, it is managing demand by recruiting new people, moving existing staff to where there is the greatest customer need, ensuring hardship cases are prioritised and upskilling its workforce so they can handle multiple types of cases and work more flexibly.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing adequate passenger services to Reddish South railway station.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department expects operators to match capacity and frequency of their services to demand, though these must also be operationally sustainable and deliver value for taxpayers. Rail North Partnership, through which the Department and Transport for the North jointly manage the contract with Northern Trains, which serves Reddish South, will assess any business case put forward, but this analysis must balance the economic and social benefits of any enhancement with the performance of existing services and the financial impact on taxpayer subsidy.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to improve Passenger Assist service for rail users in England.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

We have recently invested over £10 million to enable the Rail Delivery Group to deliver the next phase of the Passenger Assist Improvement Programme. This 25-month programme will deliver a series of improvements including the capability to book a ticket, request assistance and reserve a seat in a single transaction. Importantly, it will give customers the ability to communicate directly with staff and provide a dedicated help function on the Passenger Assist App.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many physician associates were employed by the NHS in England in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the number of physician associates employed by the NHS in England in the last 10 years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We do not hold data on physician associate (PA) numbers for each of the last ten years, but the table below provides figures for the number of full time equivalent (FTE) PAs employed in both National Health Service trusts and primary care from 2017 to 2024.

Sources: NHS Workforce Statistics, NHS England; General Practice Workforce Statistics, NHS England; Primary Care Quarterly Workforce Update, NHS England

Notes:

• Data is only published for PAs employed in hospital and other core organisation (commissioning bodies) settings from 2020 onwards.
• PAs in primary care settings may be employed directly by general practices (GPs) or may be employed through other routes such as by primary care networks. Data is only available for PAs employed directly by GPs prior to 2021 and as such will be an undercount of the total across primary care.

The Government has commissioned Professor Gillian Leng CBE to lead an independent review of physician and anaesthesia associate professions. It will consider the safety of the roles and their contribution to multidisciplinary healthcare teams. The conclusions of the review will inform the workforce plan to deliver the 10-Year Health Plan.

The review will consider the approach that was adopted in England to support the safe introduction, employment and deployment of these new roles.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that more people from disadvantaged backgrounds take up journalism courses and training.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

It is key that the public feel represented and reflected by the media. Journalism plays an invaluable role in the fabric of our society and we are committed to supporting a free, sustainable and plural media landscape. Encouraging more people from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter the industry may have a positive impact on the sustainability of the industry where it helps news publishers improve their appeal to currently underserved and under-represented audiences. Government believes that we need routes into journalism that are open to everyone, wherever they grow up.

High-quality apprenticeships available to support employers and learners in the news sector, including the Level 5 Journalist apprenticeship standard, are a means to help enable this. DCMS is working closely with DfE on their work to reform the growth and skills levy. The new growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers in England, and will be aligned with the Industrial Strategy to create routes into good skilled jobs.

This support complements the industry’s own efforts, and we welcome the National Council for the Training of Journalists’ (NCTJ) recent launch of the new phase of the Community News Project, a major initiative to strengthen local journalism and improve local newsroom diversity across the UK through apprenticeship placements. This project demonstrates the type of industry collaboration which can help secure the future of local journalism, which we want to further encourage through our Local Media Strategy.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will make an assessment of the sustainability of local news outlets in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) North West of England.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Sustainability of local journalism across the country is an area of particular concern for this Government, including in Greater Manchester and the North West of England. We are developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, reporting on the issues that matter to communities, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story.

We are working across Government and with other stakeholders as the Strategy develops, and we recently held a roundtable discussion with local news editors from across the country, including from Manchester Evening news, to discuss our planned approach and explore further collaboration on the Strategy. We will announce further details in due course.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to introduce representation of independent (a) environmental experts and (b) clinicians on the Food Strategy Advisory Board.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

A range of representatives from the food sector and NGOs were invited to sit on the Food Strategy Advisory Board. We kept it deliberately small, whilst reflecting the scope of the food supply chain.

The Board represents the first step in a wider stakeholder engagement strategy which will continue to ensure and demonstrate the joined-up and systems-wide approach for the food strategy. There is huge expertise, energy and commitment to work towards better food system outcomes, and all stakeholders need to be part of the solution. There will be multiple routes to share ideas as part of the co-design process in 2025 – we say more on this soon.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration her Department has given to including Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council in the cohort for the pilot on the kinship allowance trial scheme.

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

The government announced a £40 million package to trial a new kinship allowance. The pilot will begin in autumn 2025 and the department will evaluate the pilot to build an evidence base on how best to deliver financial support for kinship families. We will confirm the process for selecting local authorities taking part in the pilot in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will ask (a) local authorities and (b) combined authorities to undertake an audit of bus stops in order to identify those that fall below the standard.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government recognises the value that high-quality public transport infrastructure provides to passengers, including bus stops. Local authorities are responsible for the bus stops in their area, and the government has allocated over £712 million to local authorities in England outside London in this financial year to support and improve bus services. This includes capital funding which can be used to improve infrastructure such as bus stations and stops. The Department has also published Local Transport Note (LTN) 1/24 Bus User Priority which provides guidance on good practice in the design of bus stops.

The Government also knows how important safe and accessible bus stations and stops are in supporting people to make inclusive journeys on local bus services. The Bus Services (No.2) Bill, introduced on 17 December, sets out a comprehensive package of measures which will make bus travel more accessible and inclusive. This includes a requirement on Local Transport Authorities to publish Bus Network Accessibility Plans setting out an assessment of existing provision and measures to improve this in future. These plans could include an assessment of bus stops in the local area.

The Bill also introduces a power to enable the Secretary of State to publish statutory guidance on the safety and accessibility of bus stations and stops, and to require specified public sector bodies to pay regard to it when they provide new or upgrade existing facilities. The guidance will help authorities to provide infrastructure that people can and want to use, helping to ensure that they are not prevented from using bus services because of inadequate accessibility or safety.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department will make an assessment of the impact of (a) unfilled station staff vacancies and (b) use of fixed-term contracts at Avanti West Coast-managed railway stations on (i) trends in the length of delays at ticket offices and (ii) trends in the number of unscheduled closures of ticket offices.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department expects all train operating companies to use reasonable endeavours to meet their obligations for regulated staffed ticket office opening hours under Schedule 17 of the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement. As such, we regularly review ticket office opening hours compliance and the causes of any negative trends, including staff vacancies.

Train operating companies are also required to achieve challenging customer experience targets across a range of measures, including ticket offices being open at advertised times. These standards are regularly and independently inspected via the Service Quality Regime and there are accountability and financial consequences for failure.