Thérèse Coffey Portrait

Thérèse Coffey

Conservative - Suffolk Coastal

First elected: 6th May 2010


Thérèse Coffey is not a member of any APPGs
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
25th Oct 2022 - 13th Nov 2023
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
6th Sep 2022 - 25th Oct 2022
Deputy Prime Minister
6th Sep 2022 - 25th Oct 2022
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
8th Sep 2019 - 6th Sep 2022
Environmental Audit Committee
11th Sep 2017 - 6th Nov 2019
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
29th Jul 2019 - 8th Sep 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
17th Jul 2016 - 25th Jul 2019
Environmental Audit Committee
10th Oct 2016 - 3rd May 2017
Parliamentary Secretary and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
8th May 2015 - 17th Jul 2016
Assistant Whip (HM Treasury)
15th Jul 2014 - 8th May 2015
Culture, Media and Sport Committee
12th Jul 2010 - 29th Oct 2012


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Thérèse Coffey has voted in 849 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Thérèse Coffey Division Votes

Debates during the 2019 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Lindsay Hoyle (Speaker)
(39 debate interactions)
Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op))
Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
(23 debate interactions)
Stephen Timms (Labour)
(18 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Department for Work and Pensions
(518 debate contributions)
Cabinet Office
(66 debate contributions)
HM Treasury
(12 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Pension Schemes Act 2021
(2,347 words contributed)
Media Bill 2023-24
(1,546 words contributed)
Pet Abduction Bill 2023-24
(1,383 words contributed)
View All Legislation Debates
View all Thérèse Coffey's debates

Suffolk Coastal Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Petition Debates Contributed

We want the Government to repeal the Dangerous Dogs Act and replace it with legislation that focuses on early intervention to prevent dog bites and tackle dog-related issues regardless of breed or type, based solely on their behaviour.


I believe that the XL bully is a kind, beautiful natured breed that loves children and people in general, and are very loyal and loving pets.


Latest EDMs signed by Thérèse Coffey

14th December 2023
Thérèse Coffey signed this EDM as a sponsor on Monday 18th December 2023

National Policy Statement EN-5

Tabled by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
That this House acknowledges that to meet net-zero targets significant new electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure will be required; notes that the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published a revised National Policy Statement (NPS) EN-5 in November 2023, with the aim of setting policy guidance for the required …
5 signatures
(Most recent: 18 Dec 2023)
Signatures by party:
Plaid Cymru: 3
Independent: 1
Conservative: 1
21st November 2023
Thérèse Coffey signed this EDM on Tuesday 28th November 2023

Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

Tabled by: Paulette Hamilton (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
That this House acknowledges that November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month; recognises that survival rates in the UK still lag behind much of the rest of Europe and the World; notes that pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect and that diagnosis takes too long with slow processes and multiple tests …
53 signatures
(Most recent: 26 Mar 2024)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 26
Independent: 6
Liberal Democrat: 6
Democratic Unionist Party: 5
Scottish National Party: 3
Plaid Cymru: 3
Conservative: 2
Green Party: 1
Social Democratic & Labour Party: 1
Alliance: 1
View All Thérèse Coffey's signed Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Thérèse Coffey, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


Thérèse Coffey has not been granted any Urgent Questions

Thérèse Coffey has not been granted any Adjournment Debates

7 Bills introduced by Thérèse Coffey


A Bill to make provision relating to the up-rating of certain social security benefits payable in the tax year 2022-23.

This Bill received Royal Assent on 17th November 2021 and was enacted into law.


A Bill to make provision about the release and marketing of, and risk assessments relating to, precision bred plants and animals, and the marketing of food and feed produced from such plants and animals; and for connected purposes.

This Bill received Royal Assent on 23rd March 2023 and was enacted into law.


A Bill to make provision about additional payments to recipients of means-tested benefits, tax credits and disability benefits.

This Bill received Royal Assent on 28th June 2022 and was enacted into law.

Introduced: 23rd September 2020

A Bill To make provision relating to the up-rating of certain social security benefits.

This Bill received Royal Assent on 23rd November 2020 and was enacted into law.


This Bill received Royal Assent on 12th July 2011 and was enacted into law.


A Bill to make provision changing the law about the offence of livestock worrying, including changes to what constitutes an offence and increased powers for investigation of suspected offences; and for connected purposes.

Commons - 40%

Last Event - 2nd Reading
Friday 2nd February 2024
(Read Debate)

A Bill to guarantee the right to provision of hydration and nutrition for terminally ill people; and for connected purposes

Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading: House Of Commons
Wednesday 14th September 2011

Thérèse Coffey has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 50 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
3 Other Department Questions
22nd Jan 2024
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much has been spent on traffic marshals in each financial year from 2019-20 to 2022-2023; and what the estimated spend is for financial year 2023-24.

The figures below reflect the spend on traffic marshals for each financial year (April to March) from 2019 to 2024.

The figures include use of traffic marshals to manage the movement of traffic and/or pedestrians (a) in the Palace and along the spine road, (b) in and out of the underground car park, and (c) on laundry road in the Northern Estate. The figures are all excluding VAT.

The figures below do not include costs where it has not been possible to extrapolate the cost of marshal provision from the overall contract for works.

Financial years 2019 to 2023

2019–2020 £176,069

2020–2021 £199,471

2021–2022 £257,534

2022–2023 £598,534


Financial year 2023–2024

The costs for the 2023–2024 financial year are not comparable to the previous years.

Prior to 2023–24 the cost of the traffic marshals for the underground car park, required to facilitate the works in New Palace Yard, was covered by the contractor, as part of the project costs, and not included above. These costs are now covered by the House directly as efficiencies had been identified.

The underground car park requires 24/7 cover due to the closure of one of the ramps into the car park necessary to facilitate the works in the New Palace Yard. The costs include unsociable working hours, bank holidays and weekends.

For the 2023–2024 financial year, the cost for traffic marshals, excluding underground car park marshals, is forecast to be £647,763.

For the same period, the cost for the underground car park marshals is forecast to be £1,271,966.

5th Jan 2024
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much has been spent on the (a) purchase and (b) installation of fire doors in the Palace of Westminster since 2010.

It is not possible to give a fair and accurate number spent on the (a) purchase and (b) installation of all fire doors in the Palace of Westminster since 2010. This is because fire doors are routinely refurbished or replaced as part of wider projects, and information recorded on building and maintenance projects does not specifically identify which involved installing new fire doors.

There was a fire door and compartmentation project that took place from 2016–2020. This project focused on the refurbishment and conservation of doors, rather than the installation of new doors. The team worked on 721 doors across the Palace of Westminster, only a handful of which were purchased and installed as new. The total cost of the project amounted to £5.2 million, which covered not only the work on the doors but out of hours working (so as not to disrupt the business of the House) and work to replace glazed panels or large bespoke doors.

It would not be possible to break down the cost by door nor the cost to install the small number of new doors that were purchased as part of this particular project.

As a member of the Parliamentary Fire Safety Committee, I would be happy to take forward any concerns from the right hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal and ensure they are promptly addressed.

14th Dec 2023
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the (a) timeliness and (b) quality of service delivery of the designated stationery supplier.

The House Service manages a contract with Banner for the provision of both general and bespoke stationery for Members and staff of both Houses. It monitors Banner’s service through regular performance meetings and by reviewing performance metrics provided by Banner. The contract includes a dedicated account manager and a customer care hotline.

Members can purchase stationery from other providers. The contract with Banner enables them to charge any purchases from Banner to their IPSA funded account.

The contract with Banner was procured from the Cabinet Office’s agency, Crown Commercial Service (CCS), during 2021 and will be due for re-tendering during 2024.

In my capacity as a Commissioner, I shall make representations to the House Administration asking that it looks at Banner’s service delivery, when the House returns from the Christmas recess.

28th Feb 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Government funded start-up loans have been issued (a) in every year since 2012 and (b) in total.

As of January 2024, a total of 110,699 Start Up Loans have been issued since 2012 with an aggregate value of £1,075,873,213.

The attached table contains a breakdown of Start Up Loans issued by year, from 2012-13 to Jan 2024.

Year

Loans Made

Amount Lent

2012-13

1884

£ 9,578,673

2013-14

12647

£ 70,146,440

2014-15

13543

£ 66,902,431

2015-16

9191

£ 64,961,014

2016-17

9263

£ 89,618,969

2017-18

8521

£ 104,723,856

2018-19

7896

£ 83,258,440

2019-20

8532

£ 95,572,650

2020-21

11318

£ 137,286,554

2021-22

10372

£ 130,745,218

2022-23

9536

£ 119,952,292

2023-24

7996

£ 103,126,676

Totals (2012-2024)

110699

£ 1,075,873,213

Kevin Hollinrake
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
13th Mar 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions she has had with the Leader of the House on making parliamentary time available for scrutiny of the Draft Strategy and Policy Statement for Energy Policy; and whether she plans to table a motion to refer that Strategy to a Delegated Legislation Committee.

The Draft Strategy and Policy Statement for Energy Policy will be debated in a Delegated Legislation Committee tomorrow.

Amanda Solloway
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
1st Mar 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, (a) how many and (b) which companies applied to be part of an Offshore Coordination Support Scheme pilot.

The Offshore Coordination Support Scheme initially received five applications, three of which were removed by developers at the Down-Selection Point where more than one application had been submitted for the same project. Following an in-depth Value for Money and eligibility assessment, the Government allocated funding to a consortium of North Falls Offshore Wind Farm, Five Estuaries Offshore Wind Farm and Sea Link (National Grid Electricity Transmission).

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
22nd Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what is Ofgem's estimated cost of the Sealink HVDC project.

National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) is developing proposals for Sea Link, a 2GW high voltage undersea electricity link between Suffolk and Kent. The project is forecast to cost NGET ~£1.1bn, as quantified by Ofgem in their ‘Decision on accelerating onshore electricity transmission investment’ paper published in December 2022. This cost estimate is based on a 2018/19 price base and is subject to final engineering design, commodity prices, landowner agreements and mitigation.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
16th Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2023 to Question 8973 on Wind Power: Bradwell-on-Sea, if she will direct National Grid to publish the study that informed its assessment of the suitability of Bradwell as a site for landfall and converter stations of offshore wind and interconnectors.

National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) has published its assessment of the site’s suitability as part of the latest pre-consultation material for the Norwich to Tilbury project, which outlines its considerations around Bradwell as an unsuitable landfall or converter site. NGET are best placed to answer further questions.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
10th Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will direct National Grid to publish its assessment of the suitability of Bradwell as a site for landfall and converter stations of offshore wind and interconnectors.

Given the quasi-judicial role of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Secretary of State as the ultimate decision maker on nationally significant infrastructure, I cannot comment directly on specific projects. National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) have assessed Bradwell as part of its considerations and found it unsuitable as a landfall or converter site for a number of reasons. NGET published its assessment of the site’s suitability as part of the latest pre-consultation material for the Norwich to Tilbury project.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
12th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help monitor the availability of childcare during school holidays in (a) Suffolk and (b) England.

The department is investing over £200 million per year, until March 2025, in free holiday club places for children from low-income families, through the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme, with all 153 local authorities in England delivering in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays.

The HAF Programme supports disadvantaged children and their families with enriching activities, providing them with healthy food, helping them to learn new things, and improving socialisation.

While the Programme is targeted primarily towards children in receipt of benefits-related free school meals (FSM), local authorities also have flexibility to use up to 15% of their funding to target and support other children and families that align with the local authorities’ own priorities.

This summer, the programme reached more than 580,000 children and young people in England, including over 460,000 children eligible for FSM.

Since 2022, the HAF programme has provided 10.7 million HAF days to children and young people in this country. The expansion of the programme year-on-year has meant a total of 5.4 million HAF days provided between Christmas 2022, Easter and summer 2023.

This year, the department has allocated over £2.2 million for the HAF programme to support children and families across Suffolk, building on the £2.2 million that was allocated to them for 2022/23.

David Johnston
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
11th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of childminders that provide access to free childcare in (a) Suffolk Coastal constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England.

The number of childminders and state-funded nursery schools delivering government funded early years provision for children aged 2 to 4 in Suffolk and in England in each year from 2018 to 2023 can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d229a86f-25c9-4388-af45-08dbfa4e7cea.

Statistics relating to government funded early years provision for children aged 2 to 4 are published in the annual ‘Education provision: children under 5 years of age’ National Statistics publication which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5. The latest statistics containing January 2023 data were published in July 2023 and the next release containing January 2024 data is expected to be published in June 2024.

Figures at parliamentary constituency level are not readily available.

The department does not centrally hold figures on the number and proportion of free childcare places that are available in nurseries and childminders during out of school term times.

David Johnston
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
11th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of nurseries that provide access to free childcare in (a) Suffolk Coastal constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England.

The number of childminders and state-funded nursery schools delivering government funded early years provision for children aged 2 to 4 in Suffolk and in England in each year from 2018 to 2023 can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d229a86f-25c9-4388-af45-08dbfa4e7cea.

Statistics relating to government funded early years provision for children aged 2 to 4 are published in the annual ‘Education provision: children under 5 years of age’ National Statistics publication which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5. The latest statistics containing January 2023 data were published in July 2023 and the next release containing January 2024 data is expected to be published in June 2024.

Figures at parliamentary constituency level are not readily available.

The department does not centrally hold figures on the number and proportion of free childcare places that are available in nurseries and childminders during out of school term times.

David Johnston
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
11th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free childcare places were provided through childminders in (a) Suffolk Coastal constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England in the latest period for which data is available.

The number of childminders and state-funded nursery schools delivering government funded early years provision for children aged 2 to 4 in Suffolk and in England in each year from 2018 to 2023 can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d229a86f-25c9-4388-af45-08dbfa4e7cea.

Statistics relating to government funded early years provision for children aged 2 to 4 are published in the annual ‘Education provision: children under 5 years of age’ National Statistics publication which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5. The latest statistics containing January 2023 data were published in July 2023 and the next release containing January 2024 data is expected to be published in June 2024.

Figures at parliamentary constituency level are not readily available.

The department does not centrally hold figures on the number and proportion of free childcare places that are available in nurseries and childminders during out of school term times.

David Johnston
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
11th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of free childcare places are available in child minders during out of school term times in (a) Suffolk Coastal constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England.

The number of childminders and state-funded nursery schools delivering government funded early years provision for children aged 2 to 4 in Suffolk and in England in each year from 2018 to 2023 can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d229a86f-25c9-4388-af45-08dbfa4e7cea.

Statistics relating to government funded early years provision for children aged 2 to 4 are published in the annual ‘Education provision: children under 5 years of age’ National Statistics publication which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5. The latest statistics containing January 2023 data were published in July 2023 and the next release containing January 2024 data is expected to be published in June 2024.

Figures at parliamentary constituency level are not readily available.

The department does not centrally hold figures on the number and proportion of free childcare places that are available in nurseries and childminders during out of school term times.

David Johnston
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
11th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free childcare places were provided through nurseries in (a) Suffolk Coastal constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England in the latest period for which data is available.

The number of childminders and state-funded nursery schools delivering government funded early years provision for children aged 2 to 4 in Suffolk and in England in each year from 2018 to 2023 can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d229a86f-25c9-4388-af45-08dbfa4e7cea.

Statistics relating to government funded early years provision for children aged 2 to 4 are published in the annual ‘Education provision: children under 5 years of age’ National Statistics publication which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5. The latest statistics containing January 2023 data were published in July 2023 and the next release containing January 2024 data is expected to be published in June 2024.

Figures at parliamentary constituency level are not readily available.

The department does not centrally hold figures on the number and proportion of free childcare places that are available in nurseries and childminders during out of school term times.

David Johnston
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
15th Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to extend the livestock production syllabus of the agriculture land management and production T-level to include (a) pigs and (b) sheep.

The Agriculture, Land Management and Production T Level is designed to equip students with the core knowledge and skills they need to enter a range of agriculture, land management and production occupations.

In their second year, students choose an occupational specialism to complete. The Livestock Production Occupational Specialism in the T Level provides students with a strong foundation knowledge relating to cattle, sheep/lambs, pigs and poultry production.

The assessed skill elements within the T Level currently relate to cattle and sheep/lambs. While the skills related to pig production was considered for inclusion, in addition to cattle and sheep, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education had concerns that delivering and assessing pigs content would not be practical due to manageability and resourcing issues for providers and the need to ensure comparability of assessment.

T Levels are designed to provide high quality learning for students and deliver the knowledge and skills employers need. T Level content may evolve as the underpinning occupational standards are updated and as the department continues to regularly review the content through engagement with employers, providers and industry experts.

11th Mar 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licences for abstraction in chalk streams have been rescinded in each year since 2010.

A total of 110 licences affecting chalk streams have been revoked since 2010. A further 158 have been varied or reduced.

The abstraction licence changes have returned over 37 billion litres of water per year to chalk catchments and prevented a further 110 billion litres per year being abstracted.

Number of abstraction licences, affecting chalk streams, that have been changed up to 30.09.23

Year

Number of licences varied or reduced

Number of licences revoked

Total

2010

7

0

7

2011

2

10

12

2012

3

0

3

2013

5

3

8

2014

14

6

20

2015

30

5

35

2016

5

0

5

2017

24

45

69

2018

43

16

59

2019

5

12

17

2020

9

5

14

2021

0

5

5

2022

1

1

2023

10

3

13

Total

158

110

268

Robbie Moore
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
22nd Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the Biodiversity Gain Site Register Regulations 2024 will come into force on 12 February 2024, in the context of their approval by both Houses in January 2024.

The Biodiversity Gain Site Register (Financial Penalties and Fees) Regulations 2024 and The Biodiversity Gain (Town and Country Planning) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2024, which were both subject to the affirmative procedure, were laid before parliament on 30 November 2023 and following debates on 8 and 10 January 2024 they were formally approved by parliament. The final four statutory instruments, subject to the negative procedure, were then laid before parliament on Friday 19 January 2024. Following the usual parliamentary procedure of allowing 21 days between laying legislation and it coming into force, the new mandatory biodiversity net gain requirement will come into force for major development, subject to the confirmed exemptions and transitional arrangements, on 12 February 2024.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
18th Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2024 to Question 8421 on Tree Planting: Finance, for what reason the statistics for planting of trees in Forestry Commission Key Performance Indicators, updated on 9 August 2023 are provisional for 2022/23; what the changes are in the revisions of previous years in that release; and for what reason the statistics are released on an annual basis.

New planting of woodland and trees in England is reported in statistics derived from returns from a number of contributors and range of grant types. After first release of the statistics, it is possible for more accurate data to become available hence the reason the statistics are described as provisional.

The Forestry Commission will normally make necessary revisions to new planting statistics when those figures next appear in any related publication including the Forestry Statistics report and its accompanying datasets, available from the Forest Research website at: https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/forestry-statistics/.

A key reason that statistics on new planting are published annually is that there is one tree planting season a year. The Forestry Commission does publish interim statistics on new planting in England for the first half of the financial year where data are available at mid-year, and these are available in its Headline Performance Updates, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forestry-commission-corporate-plan-performance-indicators.

The Forestry Commission seeks to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics published on the UK Statistics Authority website, available at https://code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
8th Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 have been (a) made and (b) approved in Suffolk Coastal constituency.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 9 January the Rural Payments Agency has received 36 applications of which 24 agreements have been offered and 17 accepted for the Suffolk Coastal Constituency.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
8th Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees have been planted in England in (a) 2020, (b) 2021,(c) 2022 and (d) 2023 using tax payer money.

The Forestry Commission produces statistics on all new planting of woodland in England. These can be found in Forestry Commission Key Performance Indicators (opens in a new tab). These statistics are reported for each financial year in thousands of hectares. The latest available figures are for 2022-23.

Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
11th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much waste was collected in (a) household waste and (b) recycling centres in (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21, (iii) 2021-22 and (iv) 2022-23 per waste authority.

Figures for Total Household waste by Local Authority for 2019/20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 can be found in Table 1 of the dataset published here.

Defra do not publish figures for total waste deposited at HWRC’s by Local Authority.

This information can be derived from WasteDataFlow Question level data published on Gov.uk for 2019/20, 2020-21 and 2021-22.

Data for 2022-23 will be published in 2024.

Robbie Moore
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
11th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 have been (a) made and (b) approved in Suffolk Coastal constituency.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 12 December the Rural Payments Agency had received 18 applications of which 9 agreements have been offered and 9 accepted for the Suffolk Coastal Constituency.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
22nd Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 have been (a) made and (b) approved in Suffolk Coastal constituency.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive has a rolling application window and as of 23 November the RPA has received 12 applications of which 7 agreements have been offered and 6 accepted for the Suffolk Coastal Constituency.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
15th Nov 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, regarding SFI23, how many applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 offer have been (a) made and (b) approved.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) has a rolling application window and as of 16 November 2023, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) had received 2,737 SFI 23 applications. Of these, the RPA has issued offers of agreement to 1,589 farm businesses and 1,227 have been accepted.

The SFI23 application window opened in mid-September and there is a rolling window to apply which allows farm businesses to apply when they are ready to do so.

Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
6th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to repeal section 5(2) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999.

I am mindful of the particular concerns of the Hon Lady on this issue, we keep it under close review, and whilst there aren’t current proposals, that does not preclude their introduction at a future date.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
6th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many journeys were made using the £2 bus fare cap in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk coastal district in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.

The Department for Transport has contracted with external delivery partners to complete a robust monitoring & evaluation of the impact of the Bus Fare Cap Grant, and as a part of this, extensive data is collected from operators including the number of ticket sales. However, the data is commercially sensitive and cannot be disaggregated by region in a way that would provide journey numbers for Suffolk or Suffolk coastal district. The Department will publish the final report evaluating the impact of the £2 fare cap in the spring of 2024.

For 21/22 and 22/23, bus passenger journeys made in Suffolk were 9.5 million and 12.2 million respectively (BUS01: Local bus passenger journeys). This 28% increase in passenger journeys will likely have been impacted by the introduction of the £2 bus fare cap from 1 January 2023, which the Government has extended until the end of 2024. This takes total Government investment in the £2 bus fare cap to nearly £600 million.

The Department for Transport's local bus fare statistics show that between September 22 and September 23, bus fares have dropped by 6.2% in England, outside London, and by 11% in non-metropolitan parts of England. In Scotland, Wales and London, where the buses are devolved, fares increased by 9.8%, 6.2% and 6.0%, respectively.

Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
28th Feb 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2024 to Question 15000 on Pension Credit and State Retirement Pensions: Suffolk Coastal, what estimate his Department has made of when that data will be updated and made available.

The Department publishes quarterly statistics on recipients of a wide range of benefits, including State Pension and Pension Credit, by various geographical breakdowns including Westminster parliamentary constituency, on Stat-Xplore. The latest statistics are available up to quarter ending May 2023 for State Pension, and quarter ending August 2023 for Pension Credit. The State Pension statistics were recently temporarily suspended so are currently only available to May 2023, with a progress update on their re-instatement due on 13 March 2024.

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

Paul Maynard
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
27th Feb 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which business or organisation has been awarded the Help to Claim contract for April 2024 to March 2026.

We expect to announce the outcome of the Future Support Offer 2024 grant competition for Help to Claim in March.

Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
26th Feb 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to commence section 25 of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008.

The Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023, it amended section 32M of the Child Support Act 1991 as inserted by section 25 of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008.

When commenced it will streamline enforcement processes by removing the requirement to obtain a court issued liability order and enable the Secretary of State to issue an administrative liability order. This will reduce the process from 22 weeks to as low as 6 weeks, making it quicker to get money to children.

A public consultation to seek views on proposed regulations to be introduced for administrative liability orders concluded in November 2023, and the Government response was published on 12 February 2024. Legislation will be brought forward as soon as possible.

Paul Maynard
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
20th Feb 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people receive (a) the state pension and (b) pension credit in Suffolk Coastal constituency.

There are currently 30,114 people in receipt of the State Pension in the quarter ending May 2023 in Suffolk Coastal Constituency.

There are currently 1,977 people in receipt of Pension Credit in the quarter ending August 2023 in Suffolk Coastal Constituency.

Figures are published and available via Stat-Xplore

Paul Maynard
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
25th Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government's consultation entitled Child Maintenance: Improving our enforcement powers through the commencement of curfew orders, published on 9 July 2022, what his Department's planned timetable is for laying the commencement order relating to curfew orders.

The Child Maintenance Service already has a suite of strong enforcement powers at its disposal. These include, using Enforcement Agents (previously known as bailiffs) to take control of goods, forcing the sale of property, removal of driving licence or UK passport, deductions directly from earnings and bank accounts or even commitment to prison. We have explored how Curfews could be implemented as an additional enforcement measure to improve compliance. Several enforcement initiatives aimed at improving compliance are currently in train and we need to get those in place and assess their effects before we can best see how curfews might fit with them. We are continuing to keep their introduction under review.

Paul Maynard
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
19th Mar 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how her Department determines the performance target for units of dental activity for each dental practice.

From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England.

The current General Dental Service (GDS) contract and Personal Dental Service (PDS) agreement were introduced in 2006. The majority of contracts which deliver routine, or mandatory, dental services are legacy arrangements from pre-2006, and the contracted Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) under these contracts generally reflect the treatment volumes that were required from each practice prior to the new arrangements coming into force.

Activity levels for any new GDS contracts or PDS agreements would be determined as part of the procurement process, taking into account oral health needs assessments undertaken by ICBs, to identify areas of need and to determine the priorities for investment.

Contractors are expected to deliver 96 to 102% of their agreed activity each year. Where contracts deliver less than 96%, the value of the undelivered activity is recouped from the contractor. Undelivered activity between 96 to 100% may be carried forward into the next financial year. Activity greater than 100% may be funded to 110%, if there is a local arrangement with the ICB, or may be deducted from the activity requirements of the next financial year.

Andrea Leadsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
19th Mar 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2024 to Question 16340 on Dental Services, whether column H in the spreadsheet link provided is the (a) monthly or (b) annual unit of dental activity performance target.

The answer of 5 March 2024 to Question 16340 provided a link to data published by the NHS Business Services Authority on English Contractor Monthly General Dental Activity. Column H of the data spreadsheet is the annual Units of Dental Activity performance target.

Andrea Leadsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
29th Feb 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an estimate of the number of units of dental activity (a) awarded and (b) fulfilled per dentist in Suffolk Coastal constituency per year since 2008.

Data on the Units of Dental Activity (UDA) commissioned and delivered is published each month on the NHS Business Services Authority Open Data Portal, and is available at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-contractor-monthly-general-dental-activity

The portal currently holds data from April to November 2023. Data on the UDA awarded and fulfilled before April 2023 will be published soon.

Andrea Leadsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
29th Feb 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the (a) highest, (b) lowest, (c) average and (d) median rate for a unit of dental activity in (i) Suffolk Coastal constituency, (ii) Suffolk, (iii) inner London, (iv) outer London, (v) Sheffield and (vi) England in financial year 2023-24.

Data is published on the total financial value of contracts, as well as the total number of units of dental activity (UDA) commissioned, on the NHS Business Services Authority’s Open Data Portal. This data is available at the following link:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/english-contractor-monthly-general-dental-activity

From this data, the requested UDA values can be calculated by taking the total financial value, and dividing it by the number of UDAs commissioned. Currently the portal holds monthly data, from April to November 2023.

Andrea Leadsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
12th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is her Department's planned timeline to provide funding for the (a) outline business case and (b) rebuilding of the James Paget University Hospital.

We are committed to delivering a new hospital at James Paget University Hospital by 2030 in line with our announcement in May 2023. This announcement set out the need to prioritise the rebuilding of hospitals constructed with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete to protect staff and patient safety. The New Hospital Programme team is working closely with the trust on how to proceed with this as quickly as possible through a standardised approach. The trust has received funding to develop its Strategic Outline Case. In line with the standard business case assurance processes, once the Strategic Outline Case has been approved, the trust will begin work on their Outline Business Case.

Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
13th Dec 2023
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to help preserve penguin populations in the Overseas Territories.

Many protections already exist for penguins in the Overseas Territories. These include the Marine Protected Area around South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands, and the Antarctic Treaty System. The Government also supports biodiversity through Darwin Plus which, since 2012, has invested over £47 million in over 260 projects. Projects have aimed to conserve northern rockhopper penguins on Tristan da Cunha, and improve native tussac grassland to improve breeding habitat for Magellanic penguins in the Falkland Islands. In the UK-OT Joint Declaration, we committed to strengthen our partnership to protect and sustainably manage our unique and globally significant environments.

David Rutley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
13th Dec 2023
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the written statement of 16 October 2023 entitled Update on the Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, HCWS1062, what further legislative proposals he plans to bring forward prior to the ratification of the BBNJ treaty.

The UK was pleased to be among the first signatories to the Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement when it opened for signature at the UN on 20 September 2023 and the Agreement was laid before Parliament for scrutiny on 16 October 2023. Work is in hand on the legislation and other measures needed to translate the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement into UK law before we can ratify the Agreement, which will be taken forward when parliamentary time allows.

Andrew Mitchell
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
11th Mar 2024
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many voluntary donations have been paid to the Government in each of the last 20 years; and what the total amount paid in voluntary donations is over that time period.

HM Treasury received a total of 137 voluntary donations for a total of £4,111,587.79 from January 2003 up to 13th March 2024. The breakdown for each year is in the table below.

Calendar year

No. of donations

Value of donations

2003

4

£3,103.00

2004

7

£97,518.13

2005

1

£5.00

2006

7

£821,669.41

2007

3

£4,270.66

2008

4

£5,411.17

2009

7

£452,208.81

2010

7

£972,621.71

2011

7

£60,657.19

2012

1

£670.00

2013

1

£99,423.00

2014

0

-

2015

0

-

2016

2

£47,078.41

2017

3

£92,847.53

2018

1

£800.00

2019

3

£65,000.00

2020

1

£1,193,875.76

2021

10

£13,334.00

2022

29

£150,120.55

2023

38

£28,212.26

2024 (to 13th Mar)

1

£2,761.20

TOTAL

137

£4,111,587.79

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
18th Jan 2024
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit recipients there are in Suffolk Coastal constituency; and how many tax credit recipients have undergone managed migration to Universal Credit.

The number of Child or Working Tax Credits recipients in the Suffolk Coastal constituency can be found in table 4 in Geographical data tables of the latest Provisional Awards statistics published here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6495a963831311000c2962b1/Child_and_Working_Tax_Credits_April_2023_Geographical_Tables.ods

The statistics are as at April 2023, the most recent point in time for which numbers are available.

Information on the number of tax credits recipients who have moved to Universal Credit through the managed migration process is not available at the parliamentary constituency level.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
18th Jan 2024
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2024 to Question 7905 on Welfare Tax Credits, for what reason the awards of tax credit are deemed provisional; and for what reason the information is published annually.

The provisional awards statistics for those receiving Child and Working Tax Credits relate to the caseload position at a snapshot point in time, based on the latest family circumstances HMRC have been informed of by each family prior to that point in time.

It is only at finalisation (usually four to nine months after the end of the tax year) that the family’s circumstances for the whole year are known and a finalised award can be calculated.

This means the statistics for provisional awards provide up to date numbers at the reference point in time but are subject to change following finalisation as described above.

HMRC publishes accredited official statistics based on provisional awards data twice a year coinciding with the availability of that data for analytical purposes. The statistics are usually released in February (based on data from December of the previous year) and June (based on April data).

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
5th Jan 2024
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit recipients have undergone managed migration to universal credit.

The details requested have been published and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/move-to-universal-credit-statistics-july-2022-to-august-2023

Information to the end of December 2023 is due to be released in March 2024, with a precise date to be given in an announcement not less 28 days before the publication.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
5th Jan 2024
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit recipients there were in December 2023.

Statistics for families in receipt of tax credits as of April 23 are available at the link below:

Child and Working Tax Credits statistics: Provisional Awards April 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Figures for December 2023 are due to be released in February and will form part of the Child and Working Tax Credits statistics: Provisional Awards, December 2023 accredited official statistics publication.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
5th Jan 2024
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was paid to recipients of tax free childcare (a) in total and (b) on average in each financial year since 2017-18.

Statistics relating to Tax-Free Childcare account use are published quarterly in “Tax-Free Childcare Statistics” on the gov.uk website. The latest publication, containing information up to September 2023 is here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-free-childcare-quarterly-statistics

Laura Trott
Chief Secretary to the Treasury