Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the number of people who are providing unpaid care for a relative or loved one in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP does not hold data on the number of people who are providing unpaid care for a relative or loved ones in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate she has made of the number of pensioners living in households in fuel poverty in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) does not collect local-level data specifically on pensioners in fuel poverty. The latest estimate of the fuel poverty rate in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, based on the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) metric, was 13.2% of households in 2023 (Table 3 of the sub-regional fuel poverty statistics).
Statistics on fuel poverty in England in 2024 by age of the oldest person in the household can be found in Table 23 of the fuel poverty detailed tables.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2025 to Question 46726 on Treasury: Information Officers, what the total annual cost is for the 40.9 full-time equivalent Government Communication Service professionals.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury’s communications pay budget for the last financial year was £2,775,204.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2025 to Question 47686 on Humanitarian Aid, how much of the allocation has been (a) spent and (b) allocated.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Humanitarian Crisis Reserve (HCR) value is £100 million for financial year 2025/26.
At the time of asking, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has so far provided £15 million from the HCR this financial year to support the humanitarian response, following the severe earthquake in Myanmar.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the potential change in the number of people supported by local authorities under the (a) Afghan and (b) Ukraine resettlement schemes caused by births in the UK.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Arrivals under Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP) are granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR).
Afghan children born in the UK with parents who have ILR automatically become British citizens and are therefore eligible for support like any British Citizen. This does not impact the number of people supported by local authorities under the Afghan Schemes.
The Home Office does not hold data on the number of children born in the UK to Ukrainian nationals. However, to support guests to fully integrate into communities and rebuild their lives, local authorities continue to receive a tariff of £5,900 per Homes for Ukraine arrival in their area. Councils can use this funding flexibly to support households as best suits the local area.
Children who are born in the UK, to a Ukrainian national parent who holds permission to stay in the UK under the Ukraine Schemes, are able to apply for the Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme, to gain permission to stay for up to 18 months.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the number of older people with unmet health and care needs in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Direct estimates of unmet health and care need at a local level are not available. Assessing unmet health and care need is complex, particularly as it is multi-faceted, and validated data is not always available at a constituency level. For national level insights, please see Age UK’s State of Health and Care of Older People in England 2024 report, which is available at the following link:
We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to which will set out a long-term vision to reform the National Health Service and make it fit for the future. Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the 10-Year Health Plan, to ensure the NHS is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps National Highways is taking to coordinate with local authorities on managing (a) fly-tipping and (b) litter in places which overlap between special roads and trunk roads.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways works closely with local authorities to tackle litter on the Strategic Road Network (SRN). National Highways has introduced litter partnership agreements to facilitate better coordination of litter clearing operations and has provided health and safety training to key local authority personnel to support their litter-clearing teams.
National Highways regularly engage with local authorities to help identify opportunities for local authority teams to access the network and address priority areas of concern for litter-picking and sweeping. Local authorities are able to utilise National Highways’ traffic management to schedule their own litter picks, helping to reduce costs for taxpayers and minimise disruption to road users. Although National Highways does not possess enforcement powers, in the event its CCTV operators notice illegal activity such as littering or fly tipping taking place on the SRN, evidence of that is also passed onto the local authorities responsible for prosecution.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps National Highways is taking to reduce (a) fly-tipping and (b) litter on roads it is responsible for.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways are committed to the effective management of fly tipping and litter on the Strategic Road Network (SRN). National Highways pick litter on the SRN every day and its inspectors regularly survey the network, grading it in accordance with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse.
National Highways consistently work to deliver improved clean-up using innovative methods such as industrial vacuums, as well as undertaking several anti-littering interventions to influence behaviours and attitudes of road users towards litter. These include anti-littering messaging through social media, trialling AI enforcement cameras to capture those throwing litter on the SRN, using geofencing to send targeted anti-littering messages to mobile devices around identified litter hotspots, as well as putting anti-littering posters and signs and installing car and lorry height bins at motorway service areas.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2025 to Question 47676 on Anzhalika Melnikava, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Europe and (b) elsewhere on reports of the disappearance of Anzhelika Melnikava and her daughters.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As I have previously noted, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials continue to follow the case of the disappearance of Angelika Melnikova. Our understanding is that her daughters are currently in Belarus with their father. I have not raised this with European counterparts, nor elsewhere. As circumstances of Ms Melnikava's disappearance remain unclear, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support the Falkland Islands government to preserve its (a) marine biodiversity, (b) sustainable fishing practices and (c) other aspects of its ecological environment.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials work closely with the Falkland Islands Government to ensure that Falkland Island interests are represented in international fisheries meetings at the UN and FAO, and that challenges in ensuring sustainable management of high seas fisheries in the South West Atlantic are addressed.
Defra primarily supports the UK Overseas Territories, including the Falkland Islands, to protect their unique biodiversity and natural environments through the Darwin Plus programme. In the past 5 years, Darwin Plus has awarded funding to 28 projects of benefit to the Falkland Islands worth over £4 million, including 8 worth over £2 million dedicated to marine conservation.
Projects have been working to: