Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many roadside inspections on Operator License Operated Mini Buses have been undertaken in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows volumes of roadside inspections the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has carried out for public service vehicle (PSV) minibuses that had an operator licence recorded. DVSA only holds records for this data as far back as 2019:
Year | PSV Minibus Operator Licence Encounters |
2019/20 | 1330 |
2020/21 | 145 |
2021/22 | 898 |
2022/23 | 1009 |
2023/24 | 862 |
2024/25 | 654 |
Grand Total | 4898 |
DVSA does not record if any school or other type of minibus it inspects, whether at the side of the road or at annual MOT tests for PSVs, are subject to a section 19 permit.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) school and (b) other minibuses have failed inspections under Section 19 of the Transport Act 1985 in the last 10 years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows volumes of roadside inspections the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has carried out for public service vehicle (PSV) minibuses that had an operator licence recorded. DVSA only holds records for this data as far back as 2019:
Year | PSV Minibus Operator Licence Encounters |
2019/20 | 1330 |
2020/21 | 145 |
2021/22 | 898 |
2022/23 | 1009 |
2023/24 | 862 |
2024/25 | 654 |
Grand Total | 4898 |
DVSA does not record if any school or other type of minibus it inspects, whether at the side of the road or at annual MOT tests for PSVs, are subject to a section 19 permit.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to support the road haulage industry to meet government net zero targets through the National Wealth Fund.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The National Wealth Fund will invest in pursuit of the government’s growth and clean energy priorities to support the delivery of the Industrial Strategy and Britain’s acceleration to net zero. The National Wealth Fund will continue to invest in the UK Infrastructure Bank’s previous priority sectors, which include transport and clean energy.
Individual investments will be considered on a case-by-case basis in line with the NWF’s mandate and strategic priorities, which can be found on www.uknwf.org.uk.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many roadside inspections of Permit 19 Minibuses have been undertaken in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not record if any minibuses it inspects at the side of the road are subject to a section 19 permit. Roadside inspections of minibuses could be completed by DVSA, local Police or local authorities.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she had made of trends in the number of young people not in education, employment or training.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Office for National Statistics estimate that nearly 1 in 8 young people are not in education, employment or training.
This is 872,000 young people, a number which has risen by 74,000 over the last year.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason Staffordshire's eligibiltiy for the Farming Recovery Fund is under review.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
October 2023 to March 2024 was the second wettest 6-month period on record in England, recorded rainfall was nearly 60% above the average of the last decade. The impacts on farm businesses are already evident in some sectors and are likely to extend through the year.
The launch of the Farming Recovery Fund on 9 April captured a first tranche of 9 counties affected by the flooding as a result of Storm Henk. Since then, we have listened and responded to feedback by removing the requirement for land to be within 150 metres of the main river and are committed to reviewing the eligibility to ensure that it best meets the needs for those who were most affected by the persistent wet weather over the winter.
In recognition of the persistent wet weather over the winter, I am in discussion with farmers about what further support is needed. As part of this support, we have provided flexibility to farmers who have not been able to complete their agri-environment scheme requirements in winter or the spring – due to the prolonged wet weather impacts.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to introduce legislation protecting shopworkers from serial or abusive shoplifters.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Government’s plan – "Fighting retail crime: more action" was launched on 10 April, and includes a new standalone offence for assaults on retail workers and electronic monitoring for prolific shoplifters. This builds on the police-led Retail Crime Action Plan, launched in October 2023.
We will legislate through the Criminal Justice Bill, currently before Parliament, to introduce a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops.
The new bespoke offence of assaulting a retail worker will also be introduced via the Criminal Justice Bill. The offence will have a maximum penalty of six months in prison, or an unlimited fine – and upon conviction, it is expected that courts will make a Criminal Behaviour Order, which could bar offenders from visiting affected shops or premises. Breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order is a criminal offence and carries a five-year maximum prison sentence.
Those who repeatedly assault retail workers will be electronically monitored after their third offence, to crack down on reoffending and ensure those continuing down a path of violent behaviour will be met with further consequences. For the most serious violent offenders of assault, custodial sentences of up to five years in prison are already available.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many vacancies there are in frontline police roles, including Police Community Support Officers, as of 16 April 2024.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
The Home Office does not hold data on vacancies in frontline policing roles.
The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the function of police workers (officers, staff, designated officers (S.38) and Police Community Support Officers) as at 31 March each year in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
This includes information on the number and proportion of police workers in frontline policing roles. Data from 31 March 2021 to 31 March 2023, by worker type, can be found in the ‘Functions Open Data Table’ here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ba635306f78d000d7426aa/open-data-table-police-workforce-functions-260723.ods. Data for previous years, can be found in Tables F1 to F3 of the data tables accompanying each publication.
Data for the ‘as at 31 March 2024’ publication will be published in July 2024 as part of the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has for land that was formerly earmarked for HS2.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Any property that is no longer required will be disposed of and a programme is being developed to do this. We will ensure it is compliant with requirements on the disposal of surplus government property, delivers value for money for taxpayers and does not disrupt local property markets.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to return NHS Trusts to pre-pandemic procurement practices.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Guidance on how contracting authorities, including National Health Service trusts, should respond to the COVID-19 pandemic was published in March 2020 and February 2021, reminding them of the options available when undertaking procurements in an emergency. These two guidance documents are available, respectively, at the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0120-responding-to-covid-19
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0121-procurement-in-an-emergency
Authorities are allowed to procure goods, services, and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances, using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. These include a direct award under which authorities may enter into contracts without competing or advertising the requirement.
Contracting authorities assess the market conditions for procuring supplies related to any procurement, in accordance with procurement guidance and regulations. Where any procurement meets the tests for the use of Regulation 32(2)(c) for the direct awarding of a contract, then that approach can be used. However, where it doesn’t, other approaches will be considered.