Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the interest accrued on the frozen £2.5 billion proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club is intended to benefit the proposed foundation to support victims of the war in Ukraine; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that no part of these funds benefits sanctioned individuals.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is determined to see that the frozen proceeds, including the accrued interest, from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine. Restrictions imposed through UK sanctions laws will ensure that the proceeds do not benefit sanctioned individuals.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the interest accruing on the frozen £2.5 billion proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club is subject to UK taxation.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are unable to comment on the tax affairs of specific taxpayers. UK source interest is chargeable to UK tax. The quantum and timing of that charge are dependent on the status of the recipient and the precise nature of the arrangements that lead to that interest.Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 6 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 2 June 2025, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Durham County Council, (b) the North East Mayor and (c) industry representatives on the potential location of an always-on munitions factory in the North East.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We are committed to ensuring the Defence industry is an engine for growth through strengthened industrial relationships and domestic investment. As published in the UK Defence Footprint the North East region has seen £178 million of Defence spending in 2024-25. We have committed £6 billion this Parliament towards munitions, as outlined in the Strategic Defence Review 2025, which supports defence capacity whilst generating local jobs and economic prosperity. This investment includes £1.5 billion for building six new energetics and munitions factories in the UK to deliver an 'always on' pipeline, locations and arrangements of which are being assessed through ongoing work. Whilst it is currently premature to comment on specific site proposals and their assessment, more detail will be available once the necessary preparatory work has been completed.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 6 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 2 June 2025, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of locating at least one of the proposed always-on munitions factories in County Durham.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We are committed to ensuring the Defence industry is an engine for growth through strengthened industrial relationships and domestic investment. As published in the UK Defence Footprint the North East region has seen £178 million of Defence spending in 2024-25. We have committed £6 billion this Parliament towards munitions, as outlined in the Strategic Defence Review 2025, which supports defence capacity whilst generating local jobs and economic prosperity. This investment includes £1.5 billion for building six new energetics and munitions factories in the UK to deliver an 'always on' pipeline, locations and arrangements of which are being assessed through ongoing work. Whilst it is currently premature to comment on specific site proposals and their assessment, more detail will be available once the necessary preparatory work has been completed.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 6 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 2 June 2025, when he plans to announce the locations of the six new always-on munitions factories; and if he will publish the details of the site-selection criteria allowed by national security.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We are committed to ensuring the Defence industry is a powerhouse for economic growth through strengthened industrial relationships and domestic investment. As published in the UK Defence Footprint the North East region has seen £178 million of Defence spending in 2024-25. We have committed £6 billion this Parliament towards munitions, as outlined in the Strategic Defence Review 2025, which supports defence capacity whilst generating local jobs and economic prosperity. This investment includes £1.5 billion for building six new energetics and munitions factories in the UK to deliver an 'always on' pipeline, locations and arrangements of which are being assessed through ongoing work. We plan for construction of the first six new munitions factories to begin in 2026.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools provide mandatory (a) CPR training and (b) defibrillator use; and what systems are in place to monitor implementation across schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
All state funded schools are required to teach first aid as part of the statutory health education set out in the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. Independent schools are required to cover health education as part of their responsibility to provide personal, social, health and economic education.
The statutory RSHE guidance includes basic first aid for primary school children, for example dealing with common injuries, such as head injuries, and pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid, for example specifically how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators and how to use them.
Schools also have the autonomy to decide how they teach first aid, including teaching additional topical content and which resources to use. Many schools incorporate additional content, which can include how pupils should deal with a first response emergency situation, including how to respond to knife wounds, drug misuse and road traffic injury.
The department’s defibrillator programme completed in 2023 and was the largest rollout of defibrillators across England to date and provided over 20,000 defibrillators to almost 18,000 schools, ensuring that all state-funded schools in England have access to a device.
Defibrillators are designed so they can be used by anyone with no prior training. As part of the department’s roll out, we provided awareness videos to schools showing how simple defibrillators can be to use, and asked schools to share these videos in staff meetings and assemblies.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress she has made with Cabinet colleagues on implementing the Pride in Place programme.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
For too long, people have watched their towns and neighbourhoods’ decline. Through the Pride in Place programme, we’re cutting through bureaucracy to put money directly in the hands of local people. As it stands, almost 250 places will receive a share of £5bn from Spring next year to help them reclaim beloved local assets and drive renewal, street by street.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Norway’s decision to purchase Type 26 frigates from BAE Systems on levels of supply chain opportunities for businesses in the North East.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given by my noble Friend, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence (Lord Coaker), on 16 September 2025 to Question number HL10176 in the House of Lords.
The Norwegian Government’s announcement on 31 August 2025, that it had selected the UK as a strategic partner for their acquisition of Type 26 warships, will sustain around 4,000 jobs across the UK’s supply chain until well into the 2030s.
This is the largest ever UK warship export deal by value and it is expected to provide a £10 billion boost to the UK economy and support more than 400 British companies across all regions, including the north east of England. It is a huge vote of confidence in the UK’s defence industry and supply chains, which are supported by small and medium enterprises.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps UK Research and Innovation is taking to help increase technological capabilities in battery cell production.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Faraday Battery Challenge funds battery related research, development of battery materials and technologies, and encourages investment into the UK’s world-class battery facilities.
An example of investment into UK facilities is the Advanced Materials Battery Industrialisation Centre (AMBIC), due to open in Q2 2025. AMBIC will provide innovation capability for the synthesis and processing of battery materials right through to the prototyping of commercially attractive batteries. The £12 million facility will bring together scalable and commercially relevant equipment into one entity to fast-track battery materials development.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the decision was taken not to grant Restore Your Railway funding to the Weardale Line; and for what reason that decision was taken.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Aside from Restoring Your Railway (RYR) projects currently at the delivery stage or in construction, all remaining RYR-originated projects, including the Darlington to Weardale line, are now being considered as part of preparations for the Spending Review. Ministers have been clear that not all projects will be able to proceed to delivery due to the challenging financial situation facing the Department.