Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of vacancies in the automotive manufacturing sector in (a) January 2024 and (b) each subsequent month up to and including the most recent month for which data is available.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt Hon. gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 4th February is attached.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) the Programme Team of New Hospital Programme has adequate levels of staff and (b) staffing vacancies do not delay the implementation of that programme.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The New Hospital Programme (NHP) is a major Government programme and recognises the need to recruit, develop, and retain people with the specialist skills necessary to deliver the programme’s objectives. We recognise that having the right level of staff is integral to delivering the programme.
The NHP remains committed to increasing its in-house resource and the programme continues to recruit into priority posts, ensuring delivery remains on track. The programme has appointed the Health Delivery Partnership, which has strengthened the capacity of the programme, giving flexibility to move teams around where expertise is required.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servant positions within the Ministry of Defence were gapped as at (a) 5 July 2024 and (b) 1 February 2026.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
In line with recommendations from the Strategic Defence Review the Ministry of Defence aims to reduce Civil Service costs by at least 10% by 2030. To achieve this, the Department is employing a range of workforce levers to facilitate a measured and sustainable approach to workforce reductions. As part of this process, all Civil Service vacancies are being reviewed. Until this work is complete, it is not possible to provide specific numbers of posts vacant or not being actively recruited at the dates requested.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Action 15 of the National Cancer Plan, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that patients in remote and rural areas with poor access to public transport are not disadvantaged in their ability to access specialist treatment.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan sets out how we will tackle unwarranted geographical variation head on and ensure that everyone has access to the best diagnostic and treatment services, no matter their postcode.
We recognise that rural and coastal areas have been struggling for too long, which is why this plan is increasing the number of training places for cancer consultants in rural and coastal areas, particularly in areas where there are a high number of vacancies. This will ensure quality improvement in the trusts with the greatest needs and provide all patients with access to specialised cancer doctors.
We will utilise data driven service planning tools, to support local systems to plan specialist care in a way that is accessible to everyone. It will take account of travel time and the impact on different groups who can experience disparities, such as older people, some ethnic groups, and those that live in rural and coastal areas.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will set out how his Department will ensure that jobs under the Jobs Guarantee scheme are additional, including whether they represent newly created roles or existing vacancies.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Eligible young people participating in the scheme are likely to have multiple barriers and complex needs which may have prevented them from securing employment. The scheme will break the cycle of unemployment by guaranteeing meaningful paid employment opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach.
It is a requirement of the Jobs Guarantee scheme that jobs created or sourced under the scheme do not cause existing employees or contractors to be displaced, dismissed, or to have their hours reduced.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many civil service jobs the Office for Women and Equalities has advertised in the last 12 months which have only been listed on the internal civil service jobs website.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
All vacancies for OEO are advertised via Civil Service Jobs, ensuring the recruitment process is appropriately followed.
Recruitment is by exception where there is a clear business critical need or specialism that can not be found within the Department.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's publication entitled High Street Rental Auctions: Non-statutory guidance, updated 5 June 2025, what steps her Department has taken to commence the use of High Street Rental Auctions powers since the publication of that guidance.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Government is firmly committed to tackling high street vacancy. Since publishing the non-statutory guidance on 2 December 2024, we have continued to work closely with the 12 early adopters and other local authorities to implement High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA), in addition to providing support and targeted funding. Uptake continues to grow as more councils adopt the measures and are reporting reductions in long-term vacancies, with landlords taking action even before formal notices or auction processes begin.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving examiner vacancies currently exist in the East of England.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.
DVSA acknowledges car practical driving test waiting times remain high and understands the impact this continues to have on learner drivers, including those living in rural and semi-rural communities. The government remains committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, particularly in rural areas where a driving licence is vital for accessing jobs and training, as part of our Plan for Change.
It is not possible to confirm how many people are waiting to book a practical driving test. DVSA only holds data on the number of tests booked.
DVSA continually reviews its recruitment needs to ensure the agency maintains the right level of resource to meet customer demand. The Agency’s latest national recruitment campaign closed in December 2025. As a result, it has a number of candidates progressing through the final recruitment stages. In the East of England. This includes:
11 potential driving examiners (DE) booked onto training courses.
14 potential DEs currently undergoing pre-employment checks.
72 applicants currently working their way through recruitment processes.
DVSA is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible at all test centres and regularly conducts tests outside of normal hours, including evenings, weekends and on public holidays. Between June - December 2025, DVSA conducted 1,158,458 car practical driving tests. This is an increase of 102,290 more car practical driving tests when compared to the same period in 2024. This increase can largely be attributed to the additional test allowance scheme introduced in June 2025.
DVSA publishes data on car practical test cancellation reasons by month and driving test centre (DTC) on GOV.UK. This data, in report DRT122B, is updated annually and currently shows data to March 2025. The next update is due to be published in June 2026.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of teachers in England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The latest school workforce census reported that the workforce has grown by 2,346 FTE between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools. This year has one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,700 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector and more teachers returning to state schools than at any point in the last ten years. The latest data showed 17,274 teachers returned to the classroom.
This government agreed a 5.5% pay award for 2024/25 and a 4% pay award for 2025/26, meaning teachers and leaders will see an increase in their pay of almost 10% over two years. In 2024/25, we also confirmed targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for teachers in the first five years of teaching in maths, physics, chemistry and computing in the most disadvantaged schools.
The government manages Teaching Vacancies, a website where schools can list their teaching, leadership and support vacancies. The service helps schools save money by removing advertising costs for their recruitment activities.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis they have undertaken of the distribution of healthcare professionals across regions; and how workforce planning reflects areas of greatest health needs.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are a range of sources that present data detailing how staff working in National Health Service roles are distributed across England. These published sources include, but are not limited to, information on the trust and region of staff employed by NHS trusts and integrated care boards, information on vacancies in the NHS, and information on general medical practice staff. This information is available on the NHS.UK website.
The forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out further detail on how we will ensure the NHS has the right staff, in the right places, to deliver high quality care for patients when they need it.
Workforce planning for medical staff already means that Medical Foundation and Specialty training posts are allocated across the United Kingdom to support workforce needs, including in rural and hard to recruit areas. While some locations have historically found recruitment more challenging, we now have fewer vacancies in the Foundation Programme. NHS England is working with a number of medical schools to pilot the allocation of students directly to their local foundation schools.