Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with the Department for Transport on improving the quality and quantity of trains on the line between Aberystwyth and Birmingham via Telford.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
I have regular discussions with the Transport Secretary on a range of issues.
Services and rolling stock on the line between Aberystwyth and Birmingham, via Telford, are the responsibility of Transport for Wales and my officials engage regularly with colleagues in Transport for Wales.
The UK Government is investing at least £445 million into Welsh rail to right years of underfunding by previous governments and unleash Wales’ economic potential.
This will mean new stations, more and faster trains across Wales, improving cross border connectivity, connecting people with the new, well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales and cross border areas.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure NHS Online is accessible to people with limited a) digital skills and b) internet access.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will establish an “online hospital”, NHS Online, which will give people on certain pathways the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. It will connect patients with clinicians across the country through secure, online appointments accessed through the NHS App.
Before NHS Online goes live, the National Health Service will learn from existing research on patient experience of online care over the last five years and build it into the programme as it develops, with a commitment to patient partnership in design and delivery. Inclusive service design is a key priority to ensure people continue to have greater access, choice, and control over their care.
Digital health tools will be part of a wider offering that includes traditional face-to-face support with appropriate help for people who struggle to access digital services. Digital inclusion is a key priority for the NHS as it will support the shift from ‘analogue to digital’. It is one of the five national NHS England Health Inequalities Strategic Priorities, and they published a Digital Healthcare Framework which has guided the integrated care boards’ approach.
To improve digital awareness and access, the NHS App team are working with through the National Health Literacy Partnership to provide an NHS App support offer to public libraries in England.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
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 ensure that online healthcare provision reflects the needs of diverse modern families.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will establish an “online hospital”, NHS Online, which will give people on certain pathways the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. It will connect patients with clinicians across the country through secure, online appointments accessed through the NHS App.
Before NHS Online goes live, the National Health Service will learn from existing research on patient experience of online care over the last five years and build it into the programme as it develops, with a commitment to patient partnership in design and delivery. Inclusive service design is a key priority to ensure people continue to have greater access, choice, and control over their care.
Digital health tools will be part of a wider offering that includes traditional face-to-face support with appropriate help for people who struggle to access digital services. Digital inclusion is a key priority for the NHS as it will support the shift from ‘analogue to digital’. It is one of the five national NHS England Health Inequalities Strategic Priorities, and they published a Digital Healthcare Framework which has guided the integrated care boards’ approach.
To improve digital awareness and access, the NHS App team are working with through the National Health Literacy Partnership to provide an NHS App support offer to public libraries in England.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve a) awareness of and b) access to online health care services among families and carers.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will establish an “online hospital”, NHS Online, which will give people on certain pathways the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. It will connect patients with clinicians across the country through secure, online appointments accessed through the NHS App.
Before NHS Online goes live, the National Health Service will learn from existing research on patient experience of online care over the last five years and build it into the programme as it develops, with a commitment to patient partnership in design and delivery. Inclusive service design is a key priority to ensure people continue to have greater access, choice, and control over their care.
Digital health tools will be part of a wider offering that includes traditional face-to-face support with appropriate help for people who struggle to access digital services. Digital inclusion is a key priority for the NHS as it will support the shift from ‘analogue to digital’. It is one of the five national NHS England Health Inequalities Strategic Priorities, and they published a Digital Healthcare Framework which has guided the integrated care boards’ approach.
To improve digital awareness and access, the NHS App team are working with through the National Health Literacy Partnership to provide an NHS App support offer to public libraries in England.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the (a) effectiveness, (b) value for money and (c) adequacy of (i) leadership and (ii) accountability of Sports England.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sport and physical activity generates £123 billion in social value each year. That is why supporting grassroots sport and increasing physical activity are key government priorities. We work closely with Sport England who are best placed to deliver on these priorities and ensure value for money.
A large part of Sport England’s work focuses on bringing the health and sports sectors together at community level, including their place partnerships work which is working in a targeted way with local areas to understand and overcome the specific barriers in their communities. Telford and Wrekin is one of Sport England’s place partnerships.
To ensure accountability, all DCMS Public bodies are required to hold quarterly partnership meetings, board effectiveness reviews and annual chair appraisals. The Secretary of State met with Sport England’s Chair and CEO in October to discuss priorities and plans moving forward, including how the organisation can best deliver and measure impact for the investment they make in sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many business pay business rates for each year that data is available in (a) Telford constituency and (b) Telford and Wrekin Local Authority area broken down by type of business rate charge.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department does not collect data on the number of businesses paying business rates from local authorities.
The Department does not collect business rates data for parliamentary constituencies.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish a breakdown of a) the number of claims and b) the total value of statutory paternity pay and shared parental pay between the public and private sectors for each of the last three years.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC collects data on statutory paternity and shared parental pay. HMRC also holds data on the legal status of organisations and their Pay As You Earn schemes, which does include whether the organisation is a private sector or public sector organisation.
However, to match the two together would be a significant analytical task and so the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will determine West Mercia Police's requests for special grant funding for the next financial year.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Decisions on police funding for 2026-27 will be taken shortly. Any requests for additional funding will be considered in the round and decisions communicated to Police and Crime Commissioners in due course.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what policy he has on match funding raised by charity fundraisers for capital projects that will exclusively benefit the the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is supportive of the National Health Service working with the charities sector to identify opportunities for philanthropic donations alongside match funding. We are aware of several successful examples of infrastructure projects either part or majority funded through such partnerships, including investment at Great Ormond Street Hospital and Moorfield Eye Hospital.
Ultimately, it is for local NHS organisations and trusts to identify and agree these arrangements with charitable partners.
More broadly, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan we are implementing several national reforms to the capital regime that should ultimately support the NHS’ ability to work effectively with charitable partners, including on options for securing match funding for projects. These include providing multi-year capital allocations, extending to 10 years of funding certainty for NHS maintenance budgets, and expanding capital flexibilities and autonomy for high-performing providers and integrated care boards. These reforms should enable systems to better plan longer term pipelines of investment, better facilitating and enabling philanthropic and charitable contributions.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children were in poverty in Telford constituency for each year that data is available.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on the number of children living in absolute and relative poverty by parliamentary constituency are published annually in the “Children in low income families: local area statistics” publication.
These are available at: Children in low income families: local area statistics - GOV.UK
Statistics are available from FYE 2015 to FYE 2024.
The latest available data can also be found on Stat-Xplore: Stat-Xplore - Home
The Child Poverty Strategy, which will be published shortly, sets out the steps we are taking to reduce child poverty in the short term, as well as putting in place the building blocks we need to change the course we’re on and create long-term change.
The removal of the two child limit, announced at Autumn Budget, will lift 450,000 children out of poverty, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures announced this year, such as the expansion of free school meals. These interventions will lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.
The removal of the two child limit could benefit around 4,800 children in Telford living in households affected by this policy.