Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions has she had with brick manufacturers on meeting the demand for new homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 60503 on 25 June 2025.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to increase funding for mental health services for children.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services, including support for children.
The 2025 Spending Review confirmed that we will fulfil our commitment to provide access to mental health support within schools in England by expanding mental health support teams to cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30. This expansion will ensure that up to 900,000 more children and young people will have access to support from trained education mental health practitioners in 2025/26.
Additionally, we are continuing to provide top-up funding of £7 million to the 24 Early Support Hubs to expand their services, and we are also taking part in an ongoing evaluation of these services in 2025/26. This new funding will enable the supported Early Support Hubs to deliver at least 10,000 additional mental health and wellbeing interventions, so that more children and young people are supported.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the 10-year health plan will include policies on (a) community equipment services and (b) the timely provision of community care equipment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, creating a truly modern health service designed to meet the changing needs of our changing population. Moving care from hospitals into the community and putting the building blocks in place to enable this to happen is at the heart of the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department plans to take to improve transport connectivity in Dudley constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is committed to restoring pride and trust in a transport system that works – day in, day out – for the people who rely on it.
That is why we have allocated substantial funding to the West Midlands Combined Authority, to enable it to make the best decisions about how to maintain and improve its local transport network and connectivity, including in Dudley.
This funding includes over £2.4 billion, until 2031/32, from the Transport for City Regions settlements, as well as an additional £8.6 million in 2025/26 for local highway maintenance, and more than £49 million in 2025/26 in bus funding.