Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) spend was up to and including the 2023-24 financial year and (b) forecast spend is for the 2024-25 financial year on the T level programme.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Spend on the T Level programme was £994 million up to and including the 2023/24 financial year. Forecast spend for the 2024/25 financial year on the T Level programme is £253 million.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report by the Institution of Civil Engineers entitled Paying for Britain’s Infrastructure System, published on 25 February 2025.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government is committed to delivering a cross-cutting 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy communicating to the public its approach to housing, economic and social infrastructure, alongside a pipeline to give industry a clear sense of the government’s long-term priorities.
The government has been engaging openly with industry – including the Institution of Civil Engineers – as it develops this Strategy to ensure that it is credible and deliverable.
As part of this engagement, in January the government published a working paper setting out the government’s plans for the Strategy and some key areas under consideration.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to (a) engage and (b) communicate with the public about major infrastructure projects.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government is committed to delivering a cross-cutting 10 year infrastructure strategy communicating to the public its approach to housing, economic and social infrastructure, alongside a pipeline to give industry a clear sense of the government’s long-term priorities.
The government is seeking to engage collaboratively with the public, including the construction sector, its supply chain, major investors and other key industry stakeholders as it develops the Strategy to understand how it can support investment in and the delivery of shared objectives for infrastructure.
As part of this engagement, in January the government published a working paper setting out the government’s plans for the Strategy and some key areas under consideration.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 November 2024 on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, HCWS244, what her planned timetable is to (a) consult and (b) bring measures into force on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024’s provisions on (i) service charges and (ii) legal costs.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement in question, the government will consult this year on the Act’s provisions on service charges and on legal costs, bringing these measures into force as quickly as possible thereafter.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2024 to Question 10174 on Pesticides, when he plans to publish the National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We intend to publish a Pesticides National Action Plan this year.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 28504 , whether the Child Poverty Strategy's work on social security reforms will include assessment of the impact of the two-child benefit cap on the commitment to tackle child poverty.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The causes of child poverty are wide-ranging and deep-rooted, and so it is right that the Taskforce carefully considers and assesses the available levers as it develops this Strategy.
The UK Government has committed to economic stability and any decision on government spending related to child poverty takes place against that backdrop. As part of the Taskforce, social security measures are under consideration.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the number of American Express retirees in the UK impacted by the lack of statutory inflation protection for pre-1997 defined benefit pensions.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold individual occupational pension scheme data.
Discretionary increases in benefits above the statutory minimum and those required by scheme rules are a matter for the scheme sponsor and trustees.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2025 to Question 22765 on Pensions: Inflation, whether he has had discussions with American Express.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold individual occupational pension scheme data.
Discretionary increases in benefits above the statutory minimum and those required by scheme rules are a matter for the scheme sponsor and trustees.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to involve communities and stakeholders in the development of a new Clean Air Strategy; and what his planned timetable is for completing the strategy.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to meeting current legal targets for air quality, including the targets recently set under the Environment Act 2021, and will review the policy measures needed to achieve them.
The Government launched a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) to revise our plan for significantly improving the environment, including for air quality. The Government concluded the review of the EIP at the end of last year and published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025.
We will continue to engage with stakeholders, communities and interested parties in meetings to develop a strategy to clean up our air and reduce emissions so that everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to answer Question 23103 on Air Pollution, published on 9 January 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The next review of our statutory Air Quality Strategy is due to be completed by mid-2028. We intend to bring forward that date whilst ensuring we have time to work closely with stakeholders to co-design the new strategy.