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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support is available to West Midlands local authorities to bring forward brownfield sites under the proposed changes to the planning system.

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

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 91369 on 27 November 2025.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of how planning reforms will affect public consultation and community engagement in planning decisions in the West Midlands.

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

Local planning authorities are required to undertake a formal period of public consultation, prior to deciding a planning application. The proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that the government is currently consulting on will not affect this requirement.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what external agencies or consultants her Department or its arm’s-length bodies have commissioned to design the branding, logo and visual identity for Great British Rail; whether those contracts were subject to open competitive tender; how many bids were received; and what assessment she has made of value for money in awarding those contracts.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The brand unveiled on 9 December 2025 was developed in-house by staff at the Department for Transport with support from a livery design specialist who works for a train operator in public ownership. This approach was chosen to ensure good value for money for the taxpayer.

A specialist supplier on audience and accessibility testing was used to ensure that the branding unveiled and deployed would deliver against the Government’s objectives for Great British Railways (GBR) and meet the needs of a variety of users with a range of accessibility needs. This supplier was appointed under the Department’s usual procurement processes which include formal assessments of value for money.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total budget is for the development and rollout of branding for Great British Rail; and what the cost has been to date.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department is working to develop a rollout plan for the GBR branding, with a focus on maximising opportunities to ensure value for money, such as repainting trains when they are due to be repainted by their leasing companies and changing station signage when it is life expired.

The brand was developed in-house by the Department for Transport with support from a livery design specialist who works for a train operator in public ownership – with the only minimal design cost being audience and accessibility testing, at £32,400 including VAT. This approach was chosen to ensure good value for money for the taxpayer.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Great British Rail branding designs currently in circulation are the final approved versions; what stages of design development or ministerial approval remain outstanding; what consultation has taken place with (a) passenger groups, (b) disabled people’s organisations, (c) rail industry staff and (d) the wider public; what feedback was received; and what assessment she has made of the accessibility of the proposed branding, including colour contrast, legibility and ease of comprehension for passengers with additional needs.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The railway today features a huge variety of conflicting signage standards, driven by the wasteful approach in of rebranding operators each time the franchise changed – creating a fragmented and confusing system for passengers, and in some cases not reaching the accessibility standards we would expect.

Great British Railways (GBR) will unify the system for the passenger, ensuring that accessibility is maintained consistently throughout the railway network. In developing the branding, we have ensured that it has followed all relevant legal requirements and guidance, including compliance with relevant accessibility legislation. Audience testing has taken place, including people with a range of accessibility needs.

We are confident that the testing with the public, passengers, and those with disabilities has led to a design that provides ease of comprehension for all passengers. The GBR brand unveiled on the 9 December 2025 is the final approved design.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timetable is for implementing the Great British Rail branding across (a) rolling stock, (b) stations, (c) staff uniforms and (d) digital platforms; what estimate she has made of the cost of each element; what the cost will be of removing or replacing existing train operating company branding; what assessment she has made of the potential waste or environmental impact arising from that process; and what steps she is taking to minimise unnecessary expenditure.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department is working to develop a rollout plan for the GBR branding, with a focus on maximising opportunities to ensure value for money, such as repainting trains when they were due to be repainted by their leasing companies.

The brand rollout will be gradual, beginning from this spring at a number of publicly owned operators to demonstrate our commitment to change and to start the journey of simplifying the railway for the public.

To ensure value for money, and consider the environmental impact of a brand change, much of the rollout will be driven by routine asset maintenance cycles – changing the branding as assets are being maintained or replaced. This includes rolling stock, station assets, and uniforms.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the effect of introducing the Great British Rail branding on existing regional identities and heritage railway liveries; whether she plans to permit local or heritage-specific variations within the national brand; and what plans she has to evaluate the impact of the new branding on public confidence, passenger satisfaction and perceptions of value for money.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

In developing the new brand for Great British Railways (GBR), the Secretary of State has carefully considered how to preserve Britain’s iconic railway history. With that in mind, many heritage names like Great Western Railway and London North Eastern Railway will be preserved as regional identifiers within one overarching national brand, which in turn offers passengers consistency and clarity. Heritage stations will also preserve their heritage look and feel.

The Department has considered the impact of the new branding on public confidence, passenger satisfaction and perceptions of value for money. The brand has been developed in-house to provide value for money and undergone audience testing. We want to rebuild a railway the country can be proud of and rely on. The brand incorporates the iconic double arrow and the colours of the Union Jack.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to reduce regulatory burdens on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Small Business Plan outlines how we are supporting SMEs across the UK through the most significant package of legislative reforms in 25 years to tackle late payments; unlock billions of pounds in finance and remove unnecessary red tape.

We have also committed to reduce the administrative burden of regulation for all businesses by £5.6 billion by the end of this Parliament. We have already announced measures to ease the regulatory burden on SMEs, including efforts to modernise corporate reporting requirements, exempting tens of thousands of companies from producing Strategic and Directors' Reports, helping deliver annual savings of around £230 million.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of removals of individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK; and what assessment she has made of current capacity for enforced returns.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The government has set out plans to increase returns in the policy paper entitled “Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy”, updated on 21 November 2025. This can be viewed on gov.uk at Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy (accessible) - GOV.UK

The immigration removal estate is kept under constant review to ensure that the Home Office has sufficient resilience, geographical footprint and capacity for the men and women it is necessary to detain for the purposes of removal, while providing value for money.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the treasury spends on external videography services annually.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

In 24/25 HMT spent £16,831 on external videography services. In 25/26, HMT have spent £11,160 as at 30 November 2025 on external videography services. These figures are inclusive of the use of external videography services to make training videos for the organisation.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current deterrence measures aimed at reducing illegal Channel crossings; and what further steps she plans to take to prevent small-boat arrivals.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government has taken significant steps to address illegal migration and its Plan for Change sets out our ambition to secure borders and control immigration. We are committed to tackling illegal migration and the criminal networks which facilitate it. Since July 2024, nearly 50,000 individuals without lawful status have been removed from the UK. Our agreement with France means that those arriving by small boats can be detained and returned to France.

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 has now received Royal Assent and the overarching impact assessment for this can be found here:

Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill 2025: impact assessments - GOV.UK

The Government is continuously monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of our measures in place to tackle small boats. As stated in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, the Border Security Command will be publishing an annual report, which must state the Commander’s views on the performance in the financial year of the border security system. This is set out in the Act here:

Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025

Border security is fundamental to both our national security and economic security and evaluating our approach is a critical part of that.

On 17 November, this Government published a statement entitled “Restoring Order and Control” which set out significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and illegal migration system. The statement outlined the current challenges, the Government’s objectives, and a comprehensive package of measures to restore order, control, fairness and public confidence in the system. The Government is working at pace on the legislative and policy changes required and will set out timelines for implementation in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of skills funding announced in the Autumn Budget 2025 on the adequacy of engineering, advanced manufacturing, logistics, construction and health and social care skills in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, Walsall and the West Midlands; and whether his Department plans to publish regional allocations for those programmes.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The budget announced over £1.5 billion of investment in employment and skills sup-port to fund the Youth Guarantee and reform the Growth and Skills Levy over the Spending Review period.

The Youth Guarantee means every young person can access support to earn or learn.

The Growth and Skills offer will provide greater flexibility to employers and learners and support the industrial strategy. As part of the offer, new foundation apprentice-ships for young people were introduced in August 2025 alongside the ability to under-take shorter duration apprenticeships. These flexibilities will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work and fuel innovation in businesses across the country, including in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, Walsall and the West Midlands.

Further, providers nationwide are already funded to develop training aligned with local needs. In 2025/26, 67% of the £1.44 billion Adult Skills Fund was devolved to 13 Strategic Authorities for locally tailored provision, for example to support the delivery of Sector-Based Work Academies to meet the skilled workforce requirements of a wide range of sectors.

As set out in the Skills White Paper we are investing over £1 billion to support tens of thousands of jobs, in construction, defence, digital, engineering through skills pack-ages in key areas identified in the Industrial Strategy. This will help equip the work-force with the skills needed to drive innovation, fill industry shortages, and strengthen the UK’s economic and national resilience.

These measures will help to support provision in areas such as engineering, advanced manufacturing, logistics, construction and health and social care skills across the country.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of domestic energy production, including North Sea activity, on levels of imported energy.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The North Sea is a highly mature basin, and its natural decline would not be reversed by further licensing. New licences awarded in the last decade have made only a marginal difference to overall oil and gas production.

Further exploration and production licences would not meaningfully increase UK production levels, nor would they change the UK’s status as a net importer of oil and gas.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was spent on her visit to Wales and Scotland in early December 2025, including staffing, accommodation, expenses and security.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not publish granular detail on Ministers’ domestic travel. As a police protected minister, we do not comment on the specific arrangements in place for the Chancellor for security reasons.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the UK’s international tax competitiveness relative to comparable OECD economies; and what consideration she is giving to measures that would encourage investment and business growth.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The UK has an internationally competitive, territorial corporate tax regime, which is an essential component of growth and industrial policy in the UK.

The Government published its Corporate Tax Roadmap at Autumn Budget 2024, which included a commitment to ensuring a competitive and sustainable main rate of corporation tax by capping it at 25 per cent for the duration of this parliament. The current rate of corporation tax is the lowest in the G7, and this is supplemented by generous business investment tax reliefs which directly support investment, including Capital Allowances, R&D tax reliefs, and the Patent Box regime.

The Corporate Tax Roadmap provides businesses with the stability and certainty they need to make long-term investment decisions in the UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of current counter-extremism programmes; and whether she plans to introduce further measures to tackle extremist activity and protect public safety.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

This Government takes extremism seriously and we are committed to ensuring we have the required tools and powers needed to address this issue.

Efforts to counter extremism span a broad range of Government and law enforcement activity and we must persist in our efforts to challenge extremist narratives, disrupt the activity of radicalising groups, and directly tackle the causes of radicalisation.

We are progressing activity to challenge extremist narratives including working to ensure dangerous overseas hate preachers and extremists are unable to enter the UK to spread their divisive rhetoric.

The Prevent programme plays a fundamental role in protecting the public from the threat of terrorism and remains a vital tool for early intervention. Prevent is continuously improving to ensure it has the capabilities it needs to reduce terrorism risk.

In December 2024, the Government created a dedicated permanent oversight function, the Independent Prevent Commissioner, to provide continuous independent scrutiny of Prevent legislation, policy and delivery to maximise Prevent’s effectiveness.

The interim Independent Prevent Commissioner, Lord Anderson, published his ‘Lessons for Prevent’ in July 2025 identifying past failings and where further improvements are required.

The Home Office has also commissioned an independent evaluation of Channel, Prevent’s multi-agency early intervention programme, to assess whether it is effective at reducing individuals’ susceptibility to radicalisation. The evaluation is expected to report findings in 2026.

Finally, the Desistance and Disengagement Programme, which helps to manage the risk of individuals who have already been involved in terrorism or terrorism related activity, has been independently evaluated. The majority of recommendations from that evaluation have already been implemented.

As set out in its manifesto, this Government is committed to redoubling efforts to counter extremism and adapting to this evolving threat, including online, to stop people being radicalised and drawn towards hateful ideologies.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to accelerate grid upgrades to support energy security and industrial investment.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The electricity network companies are responsible for building, owning and operating the grid, and Government is working with them, Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator to accelerate the delivery of critical network infrastructure and reform the grid connections process to support energy security and industrial investment.

Grid expansion will be a critical enabler for both the government’s Clean Energy Superpower and Growth missions.

The recent interim publication of the Electricity Networks Sector Growth Plan by industry and Government demonstrates the positive impact network expansion will have specifically in the electricity networks supply chain.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans she has to bring forward supply-side reforms aimed at improving productivity in key growth sectors of the economy.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Economic growth is the first mission of this government, driving up prosperity and living standards across the UK. We are prioritising long-term productivity growth.

For example, the Government is committed to reducing the administrative costs of regulation on firms by 25% by the end of the Parliament and has set out reforms to achieve this.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent police recruitment and deployment changes on neighbourhood crime levels.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government published a performance framework in April 2025 which sets out how forces will be held to account. It includes measures on crime and other key indicators, including growth of neighbourhood policing.

The framework outlines to forces and the public the performance measures used to assess progress. The framework can be found at this link Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee performance framework (accessible) - GOV.UK.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of potential efficiency savings in public services that could reduce pressure on public spending while maintaining service quality.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

This government is relentlessly targeting waste and driving efficiencies to make sure we are getting the best possible value for taxpayer money.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to expand the use of stop-and-search powers in areas with persistently high levels of knife crime.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Stop and search is an important power that helps the police to get knives off our streets and save lives.

Police have powers to search any individual or vehicle where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they will find offensive weapons. Where serious violence has occurred or is anticipated, powers are available to authorise weapons searches with or without reasonable suspicion in a particular area for a limited time.

Chief constables and their officers are best placed to make operational decisions about how these powers are deployed in response to crime trends, intelligence and local needs.

In addition to supporting the use of stop and search in our efforts to reduce knife crime, we have banned zombie-style knives and ninja swords, strengthened legislation, and removed over 60,000 knives through surrender schemes and targeted operations. We are investing in prevention through the Young Futures Programme and rebuilding neighbourhood policing, with 13,000 additional police officers, Police Community Support Officers and Special Constables in neighbourhood policing roles across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament. This includes delivering 3,000 additional officers into neighbourhood policing roles by March 2026.

In the year ending March 2025, 15,955 (3.0%) stop and searches resulted in an offensive weapon or firearm being found.

Searches carried out for firearms and offensive weapons had the highest find rate at 15.7% (670) and 12.3% (9,483) respectively.

The number of arrests following searches under all legislation increased by 2,705 (up 3.6% to 78,746) in the year ending March 2025.

Data on stop and search for the year ending March 2025 was published on 6 November 2025: Police powers and procedures: Stop and search, arrests and mental health detentions, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2025

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to expand the use of stop-and-search powers in areas with persistently high levels of knife crime.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Stop and search is an important power that helps the police to get knives off our streets and save lives.

Police have powers to search any individual or vehicle where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they will find offensive weapons. Where serious violence has occurred or is anticipated, powers are available to authorise weapons searches with or without reasonable suspicion in a particular area for a limited time.

Chief constables and their officers are best placed to make operational decisions about how these powers are deployed in response to crime trends, intelligence and local needs.

In addition to supporting the use of stop and search in our efforts to reduce knife crime, we have banned zombie-style knives and ninja swords, strengthened legislation, and removed over 60,000 knives through surrender schemes and targeted operations. We are investing in prevention through the Young Futures Programme and rebuilding neighbourhood policing, with 13,000 additional police officers, Police Community Support Officers and Special Constables in neighbourhood policing roles across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament. This includes delivering 3,000 additional officers into neighbourhood policing roles by March 2026.

In the year ending March 2025, 15,955 (3.0%) stop and searches resulted in an offensive weapon or firearm being found.

Searches carried out for firearms and offensive weapons had the highest find rate at 15.7% (670) and 12.3% (9,483) respectively.

The number of arrests following searches under all legislation increased by 2,705 (up 3.6% to 78,746) in the year ending March 2025.

Data on stop and search for the year ending March 2025 was published on 6 November 2025: Police powers and procedures: Stop and search, arrests and mental health detentions, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2025

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 December 2025 on Support for Young People, HCWS1137, what assessment he has made of the readiness of Jobcentre Plus districts across the West Midlands, including Walsall and the Birmingham & Solihull pilot area, to deliver the Youth Guarantee Gateway and associated Youth Hubs; and if he will publish regional delivery plans setting out staffing requirements, partnership capacity and projected caseloads in each local authority.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We have already taken the first steps towards delivering a Youth Guarantee, to ensure that all 16–24-year-olds in Great Britain can access support to find work, training, or an apprenticeship. We have launched Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in England, announced funding to almost double our Youth Hubs across Great Britain, and we recently launched an Independent Report into Young People and Work, to identify potential areas for reform to better support young people with health conditions and disabilities.

We are now going further through an expansion of the Youth Guarantee. This expansion is backed by a £820 million investment over the Spending Review period to reach almost 900,000 young people, including through Youth Hubs in every area in Great Britain and a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, offering a dedicated session and follow-up support to 16-24 –year-olds on Universal Credit. This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training and provide guaranteed jobs to around 55,000 young people aged 18-21.

The national rollout of the Youth Guarantee Gateway will start in April 2026 and follow a phased implementation to ensure adequate provision and infrastructure are in place to meet demand.

Detailed planning is underway to deliver both the Youth Guarantee Gateway and expansion of Youth Hubs. The Government will ensure Jobcentres are resourced to deliver the Youth Guarantee.

DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.

We have established Youth Hubs already set up in the West Midlands.

The West Midlands is a Youth Guarantee trailblazer area working in partnership with seven local authorities and a network of providers, to provide programmes focusing on subsidised Work Experience, pre-apprenticeship training and NEET prevention.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to accelerate planning decisions and increase housing supply, particularly in areas with acute demand.

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

The government has taken a range of steps to accelerate planning decisions and increase housing supply.

In December 2024, we published a revised pro-growth National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). We are currently consulting on further reforms to the NPPF to provide for clearer, more rules-based policies for decision-making and plan-making.

Our landmark Planning and Infrastructure Act will speed up and streamline the delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure.

It includes provisions that will facilitate the reform of planning committees so that they operate as effectively as possible and are focused on those applications which require member input and not revisiting the same decisions.

Its provisions also include powers that allow the Secretary of State to delegate planning fee-setting to local planning authorities, enabling them to recover costs and reinvest to provide a more efficient and responsive planning service, including in respect of making timelier decisions.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026. This includes £8 million of targeted support which is being provided for local planning authorities handling the highest volumes of major residential schemes.

At the Budget on 26 November 2025, the Chancellor announced a further £48 million of investment over three years to support local planning authorities to attract, retain and develop skilled planners over a sustained period. Of this, £28.8 million has been allocated to MHCLG’s Planning Capacity and Capability Programme.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 December 2025 on Support for Young People, HCWS1137, what evidence underpinned the selection of Birmingham & Solihull as a pilot area for the Jobs Guarantee; what assessment he has made of how differing labour market conditions in neighbouring areas such as Walsall and Sandwell will affect delivery outcomes; and if he will publish comparative data on long-term youth unemployment across the West Midlands Combined Authority area.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government is investing over £1.5 billion in tackling youth unemployment and inactivity, including £820 million for the expanded Youth Guarantee and £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy. This will provide young people aged 16–24 with greater support into work and learning, including a Jobs Guarantee offering fully subsidised paid work for every 18–21-year-old on Universal Credit for 18 months.

The Jobs Guarantee will be fully rolled out Nationally in the Autumn 2026 with the aim of supporting 55,000 young people.

However, we know young people need support quickly and that is why we will begin delivery of Phase 1 of the Jobs Guarantee in six areas from spring 2026, including Birmingham and Solihull. Across these six areas, we will deliver over 1000 job starts in the first six months, by funding six experienced partners. As the scheme will be ultimately rolled out across Great Britain labour market conditions in neighbouring areas will not impact delivery.

The six areas selected have some of the highest need for the Jobs Guarantee over the period and sufficient capacity at the Job Centre level to accommodate this initial phase. We have also selected a range of areas with a variety of geographies and labour markets to provide a test for the programme.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to expand apprenticeship opportunities in high-demand sectors.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

This Government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer which will deliver greater flexibility for employers and learners, and support the industrial strategy. At Autumn Budget, the Chancellor announced additional investment of £725m to deliver the next phase of the Growth and Skills Levy.

In August, we introduced new foundation apprenticeships to give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, such as construction and health and social care, enabling them to earn a wage while developing vital skills. They are underpinned by additional funding for employers of up to £2,000 to contribute to the extra costs of supporting someone at the beginning of their career.

We recently announced that the next wave of foundation apprenticeships would be rolled out in sectors such as retail and hospitality.

From April 2026, employers will also be able to access short, flexible training courses in critical skills areas such as artificial intelligence, digital and engineering to help respond quickly to evolving skills needs.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 December 2025 on Support for Young People, HCWS1137, and the ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, what modelling his Department has done of employer demand for 16–24-year-old apprentices in each region; what steps he is taking to ensure the new funding does not displace existing apprenticeship opportunities; and whether he will publish the evidence base underpinning the expansion of foundation apprenticeships into lower-wage sectors such as retail and hospitality.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

From the next academic year, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for all eligible people aged under 25 at non-levy paying employers, essentially small and medium sized enterprises. Currently, this only happens for apprentices aged 16-21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care. This change will make it easier for those employers, who take on a high proportion of young apprentices, to engage with apprenticeships by cutting costs and reducing bureaucracy for both them and their training providers. It is backed by the additional £725m of funding for the Growth and Skills Levy announced at the Autumn Budget.

As apprenticeships are jobs with training, uptake is subject to employer demand and also learners choosing to undertake apprenticeships. The department encourages both through its facilitation of the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network which operates across all English regions. The network has around 2,500 volunteers, comprising employers and apprentices, who support small businesses to recruit and retain apprentices, and to go into schools and colleges to promote the benefits of apprenticeships for young people.

To support our ambition of 50,000 more young people undertaking apprenticeships, we are also expanding foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people such as hospitality and retail. As we develop and implement the reformed Growth and Skills offer, including the rollout of foundation apprenticeships, the government engages regularly with employers and their representative organisations. The department also works closely with Skills England to identify sectors where there is employer demand for foundation apprenticeships and where foundation apprenticeships will be suitable and have clear progression routes.