Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a levy on foreign ownership of residential properties.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Non-UK residents purchasing residential property in England or Northern Ireland currently pay a 2 percentage point Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) surcharge on top of the standard residential SDLT rates.

The Government keeps all tax policy under review and would have to consider the merits of any new taxes in the round as part of a fiscal event. The Chancellor will set out her Budget on the 30th October.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many passengers used Telford Central train station in each year since 1994.

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

The station usage data is compiled by ORR and historic results going back to 1997 are publicly available through the following link: Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal, specifically under Table 1410 - Passenger entries and exits and interchanges by station (ods).

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the Birmingham to Shrewsbury (via Telford) railway line.

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

Midlands Connect, the sub-national transport body which researches, develops and progresses transport projects in the Midlands, are refreshing the Business Case for line speed improvements to this route. My officials are in regular contact with Midlands Connect to support them in this work, and I expect to receive a Business Case later this year.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the installation of solar panels as part of the motorway network; and which Government department or agency would provide (a) consent, (b) investment and (c) retain revenue concerns.

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

National Highways, who are responsible for operating, maintaining, and improving the Strategic Road Network, which includes motorways and trunk ‘A’ roads, is actively exploring renewable energy generation as part of its Net Zero Highways plan.

Multiple trials and studies have been conducted, including solar panels on signs and structures on the Strategic Road Network. National Highways have also considered larger ground-mounted solar farms on non-operational estates, small scale Renewable Energy Generation on the Strategic Road Network, Renewable Energy Generation at depots and solar car ports at depots and motorway service areas.

Feasibility studies to retrofit solar panels on existing motorway structures has shown that it does not represent value for money. The most economically viable option identified is rooftop solar generation at depots where most of the generation is consumed on-site and acts to offset the use of electricity from the grid.

On the issue of consent, rooftop solar generation in depots does not require planning permission, however, it is expected that any installations on the Strategic Road Network would be subject to consent using powers within the Highways Act 1980. Any installations on National Highways’ non-operational estates would be subject to consent by the relevant Local Planning Authority.

The Department provides investment to National Highways for such activities under the Road Investment Strategy funding. Any revenue from energy generation initiatives will help reduce National Highways’ operational expenditure.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with energy companies on expanding the social tariff to include all pensioners.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has no plans to introduce an energy social tariff this winter. However, we are committed to ensuring vulnerable households are supported with their energy bills and we are looking at all options on how to support these households.

The Government is continuing to deliver the Warm Home Discount which provides a £150 rebate off energy bills to over 3 million eligible low-income households. We are also working with energy suppliers to ensure they are providing additional support to vulnerable customers.

The Government has also extended the Household Support Fund for an additional 6 months until 31 March 2025 with an extra £500 million in funding, and I encourage any individual who is struggling to pay their bills contacts their local authority to see if they are eligible for this support.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse for moving magistrates court remand hearings from Shropshire Magistrates Court in Telford; and if she will hold discussions with His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service on reinstating remand hearings at that court.

Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The decision to centralise remand hearings in the West Mercia area was a judicial decision taken by the local Judicial Business Group in 2017 following full public consultation.

The decision was based on remand court volumes prevailing at the time, and enabled other courts in the area to improve efficiency and trial timeliness to the benefit of victims and witnesses.

The position has recently been reviewed and based on current workload volumes, the Judicial Business Group has agreed to return Shropshire remand cases back to Telford Magistrates Court.

Implementation of this decision is underway.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average time taken was between the Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing and the first trial date at Shrewsbury Crown Court for people who had pleaded not guilty to charges of (i) sexual offences, (ii) violent domestic abuse, (iii) other types of domestic abuse and (iv) other violent offences at Shrewsbury Crown Court in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) his Department and (b) the Competition and Markets Authority was in each of the last three years.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The table below shows the average length of paternity leave taken by staff. This includes paternity leave after birth.

The Department for Business and Trade is a newly formed Department established in February 2023. The new department absorbed the functions of the former Department for International Trade (DIT) and some of the functions of the former Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

The figures prior to 01.08.2023 include all former DIT staff and former BEIS staff who transferred to DBT.

The below figures cover the same period for staff at the Competition and Markets Authority.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders released on licence at the 40% point of their sentence were convicted of (a) one and (b) more than one breach of restraining orders.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Government inherited a crisis in our criminal justice system, with prisons on the point of collapse. As a result, we were forced to take the difficult but necessary step to move certain release points for prisoners serving eligible standard determinate sentences (SDSs) from 50% to 40%.

Public protection is our priority, so we have important exclusions from this change, notably certain serious violent, sexual, national security and domestic abuse connected offences. These exclusions included the Breach of Restraining Order (BoRO) offence under Section 363 of the Sentencing Act 2020 passed by the previous Government.

It became clear that a repealed piece of legislation was being incorrectly used in a small number of cases. This created an anomaly, which meant 37 offenders were released under a repealed offence. These 37 offenders have now been returned to custody.

Data on SDS40 releases forms a subset of data intended for future publication.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in her Department was in each of the last three years.

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

The average length of paternity leave taken by employees of the Department for Education for each of the last three years is set out in the table below.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioner households claimed (a) pension credit and (b) housing benefit in Telford in each year since 2010.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Quarterly statistics on pensioners who receive a) pension credit and b) housing benefit from quarter ending February 2010 to quarter ending February 2024 are published on Stat-Xplore.

Housing benefit can be broken down by age group prior to April 2018 and from April 2018 onwards, it can be broken down by working age or pension age.

Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to issue any licences for fox trail hunting on Ministry of Defence land.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation, including the banning of trail hunting. Licenses to trail hunt on Ministry of Defence (MOD) land are currently under Ministerial review. To date, no licenses to trail hunt on MOD land have been granted for the 2024-25 hunting season, pending Ministerial review.

The MOD is in discussion with other Government Departments on this policy and we hope to provide an update on progress shortly.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in her Department was in each of the last three years.

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

The average length of paternity leave taken by DCMS staff was as follows:

2021: 10.8 days

2022: 9.7 days

2023: 10.3 days

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve screening for prostate cancer.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended by the UK National Screening Committees (UK NSC). This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test, the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). A PSA-based screening programme could harm men, as some of them would be diagnosed with a cancer that would not have caused them problems during their life. This would lead to additional tests and treatments which can also have harmful side effects; for example, incontinence of faeces and urine and impotence.

The UK NSC is undertaking an evidence review for prostate cancer screening and plans to report within the UK NSC’s three-year work plan.

The evidence review includes modelling the clinical cost effectiveness of several approaches to prostate cancer screening; this includes different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years of age onwards and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher-than-average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in his Department was in each of the last three years.

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

The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) her Department and (b) the Crown Prosecution Service was in each of the last three years.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Our records show that between 2021 and October 2024, Attorney General’s Office and Crown Prosecution Service employees have taken paternity leave for the birth or adoption of a child.

The average working days taken (AWDT) is shown in the table below.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to continue the provision of the Children's Hospice Grant into 2025/26.

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

In 2024/2025, NHS England provided £25 million in funding for children and young people’s hospices. This funding was distributed, for the first time, via integrated care boards, in line with National Health Service devolution.

I recently met NHS England, Together for Short Lives, and one of the chairs of the Children Who Need Palliative Care All Party Parliamentary Group to discuss children’s palliative and end of life care, and this funding stream was discussed at length at that meeting. NHS England is currently considering the future of this important funding stream beyond 2024/25.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in his Department was in each of the last three years.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The HR reporting system used by the Northern Ireland Office does not provide paternity leave information in the form requested.

The paternity leave policy followed is set out here.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in his Department was in each of the last three years.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The average length of paternity leave in days taken by staff in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) was 9.6 during 2023 and 9.8 during 2024.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) was established in February 2023. Data before this time is unavailable.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) her Department, (b) HM Courts and Tribunals Service and (c) HM Prison and Probation Service was in each of the last three years.

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

The average length of paternity leave taken across the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for each of the last three years is 14 calendar days. The breakdown as per the request is as follows:

Average number of days of paternity leave taken by staff in MoJ, HMCTS and HMPPS

Note: This includes those with an Absence Category of ‘Paternity Birth’ on the department’s HR database.

Note: Records assigned to the relevant year by the Absence Start Date.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) her Department and (b) HMRC was in each of the last three years.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMT Response

HM Treasury offers two-weeks’ paternity leave with pay for staff who meet the qualifying conditions. Staff can choose to take the two weeks together or in separate blocks of one week each.

The information below covers the average length of paternity leave in calendar days for the past three financial years in HM Treasury:

HMRC Response

Financial year April-23 to March-24: The average number of calendar days taken for paternity leave per person is 27.79 days.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) his Department and (b) the armed forces was in each of the last three years.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

Our records show that between 2021 and October 2024, Ministry of Defence employees have taken paternity leave for the birth or adoption of a child.

The average working days taken (AWDT) for civilian and military personnel is shown in the tables below.

Data covers the entire civilian workforce (includes DE&S and SDA)

Data includes Paternity Leave, Paternity Leave Birth and Paternity Leave Adoption

Data includes Paternity Leave, Paternity Leave Birth and Paternity Leave Adoption

- including any unpaid and deferred elements

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in her Department was in each of the last three years; and what information she holds on the the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in local authorities in the same period.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Our records show that between 2021 and October 2024, 100 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) employees have taken paternity leave for the birth or adoption of a child. The average working days taken (AWDT) is shown in the table below.

Staff employed in local authorities are subject to the pay terms and conditions for those organisations. This department does not keep a central record on employment data relating to these organisations.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in her Department was in each of the last three years; and whether she holds similar data for police forces in England and Wales.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office policy is named 'maternity and adoption support leave' in recognition of the fact that the secondary parent or, in the case of adoption, the secondary adopter, is not necessarily a man. The average length of maternity and adoption support for last three financial years is outlined below.

The Home Office does not collect centrally information on the average length of paternity leave taken by those working within the police service.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in his Department was in each of the last three years.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Our records show that between 2021 and October 2024, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) employee’s have taken 160 days paternity leave for the birth or adoption of a child.

The average working days taken per colleague (AWDT) is shown in the table below.

*The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) was established in February 2023. Data before this time is unavailable.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) his Department and (b) NHS England was in each of the last three years; and what information his Department holds on the average level of paternity leave taken at each NHS trust in the same period.

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

The average length of paternity leave at the Department over the last three years is 10 days. The following table shows average length of paternity leave at the Department broken down by year:

Regarding the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in NHS England and NHS trusts, the Department does not hold this information.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the financial sustainability of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £95.4 million in 2024/25. This is an increase of 5.6% in cash terms compared to 2023/24.

In 2024/25 Shropshire FRA has a core spending power of £28.8m, an increase of £1.6m (6.0%) compared to 2023/24.

As at 31 March 2023 Shropshire FRA held £6.0m in resource reserves. This is equivalent to 22.1% of their 2023/24 core spending power and an increase of £1.1m (22.4%) compared to the previous year.

In addition to the funding received through the Local Government Finance Settlement, fire and rescue authorities including Shropshire FRA will receive a share of grants provided by the Home Office, including Pensions and Protection grants.

The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to ensure fire and rescue services have the resources they need to keep the public safe.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in her Department was in each of the last three years.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

This data has been taken from a live system. Staff have 52 weeks to take paternity leave following the birth of the child, so figures for 2024 may rise.

The average working days taken (AWDT) is shown in the table below:

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in his Department was in each of the last three years.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Our records show that between 2021 and October 2024, 258 Cabinet Office employees have taken paternity leave for the birth or adoption of a child.

The average working days taken (AWDT) is shown in the table below. ​​

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what entitlements male staff in his Department and have for paternity (a) pay and (b) leave; and what information his Department holds on the same entitlements for male staff employed by NHS England in each (i) hospital trust and (ii) integrated care board.

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

The information requested is contained in the attached document, due to the length of the information.

Submit Evidence (by 10 Dec 2024)

Disorder took place in several UK cities between 30 July and 7 August 2024, following the violent events in Southport on 29 July.