Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the Growth and Skills Levy.

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

The department’s levy-funded growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers in England, aligned with our industrial strategy creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors.

Three trailblazers in the key priority sectors of green energy, healthcare and film/TV production will be among the first to pioneer, and benefit from, the flexibilities that new shorter duration apprenticeships offer. These will support more people to gain high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country.

The department is working across government on these plans including working closely with the Department for Business and Trade; and in December, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade hosted a joint CEO Broadcast with businesses to discuss the levy-funded growth and skills offer.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve the accessibility of cultural activities in Wolverhampton.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

This government is committed to supporting culture, and making sure that arts and cultural activities will no longer be the preserve of a privileged few. As part of our Plan for Change, we are committed to ensuring that arts and culture thrives in every part of the country, with more opportunities for more people to engage, benefit from and work in arts and culture where they live.

The government supports the arts predominantly through Arts Council England (ACE) funding. ACE’s open funding programme, National Lottery Project Grants, is currently accessible to organisations and individuals across the country, including those in Wolverhampton. This programme provides over £100 million of support annually to individuals and organisations, and since 2020 has invested over £2.3 million into arts projects across Wolverhampton. Alongside this funding, organisations in Wolverhampton currently receive £1,029,081 per annum through ACE’s National Portfolio programme.

Our new Creative Foundations Fund, announced in February, will also invest £85 million into arts and cultural organisations across England to support urgent capital works to keep venues across the country up and running and open to the public. In addition to this, we were pleased to announce last week that Wolverhampton Art Gallery has been awarded a major Capital grant of over £1.6m from Round 4 of the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND), and that a fifth Round will launch shortly.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle antisocial behaviour in Wolverhampton.

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

Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.

The Government’s Plan for Change, announced by the Prime Minister on 5 December, included our plan to reduce ASB. This will include a dedicated lead officer in every police force working with communities to develop a local ASB action plan.

As part of our wider reforms, we are delivering on our commitment to strengthen neighbourhood policing, putting 13,000 neighbourhood police, community support officers and special constables into local communities so residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.

We will also crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets and in communities by introducing tougher powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to tackle repeat offending, including the new Respect Order to tackle the most persistent ASB offenders.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support councils to build additional social housing in Wolverhampton.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 31737 on 27 February 2025.

Found: Helen Hayes (Labour; Dulwich and West Norwood) (Chair) Jess Asato (Labour; Lowestoft) Mrs Sureena Brackenridge

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Helen Hayes (Chair); Jess Asato; Mrs Sureena Brackenridge; Amanda

Found: Helen Hayes (Labour; Dulwich and West Norwood) (Chair) Jess Asato (Labour; Lowestoft) Mrs Sureena Brackenridge

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Helen Hayes (Chair); Jess Asato; Mrs Sureena Brackenridge; Darren

Found: to 19 and NC15 and NC16 _NC1 Helen Hayes Jess Asato Caroline Voaden Mark Sewards Mrs Sureena Brackenridge

Found: New Amendment: NC14 _NC1 Helen Hayes Jess Asato Caroline Voaden Mark Sewards Mrs Sureena Brackenridge

Found: _NC1 Helen Hayes Jess Asato Caroline Voaden Mark Sewards Mrs Sureena Brackenridge Manuela Perteghella

Found: Amendments: NC9 to NC13 _NC1 Helen Hayes Jess Asato Caroline Voaden Mark Sewards Mrs Sureena Brackenridge

Found: _NC1 Helen Hayes Jess Asato Caroline Voaden Mark Sewards Mrs Sureena Brackenridge Manuela Perteghella

Found: New Amendments: 3 and NC8 _NC1 Helen Hayes Jess Asato Caroline Voaden Mark Sewards Mrs Sureena Brackenridge

Found: New Amendment: NC7 _NC1 Helen Hayes Jess Asato Caroline Voaden Mark Sewards Mrs Sureena Brackenridge

Found: _NC1 Helen Hayes Jess Asato Caroline Voaden Mark Sewards Mrs Sureena Brackenridge Manuela Perteghella

Found: New Amendment: NC6 _NC1 Helen Hayes Jess Asato Caroline Voaden Mark Sewards Mrs Sureena Brackenridge

Found: New Amendments: NC5 _NC1 Helen Hayes Jess Asato Caroline Voaden Mark Sewards Mrs Sureena Brackenridge