Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she has taken to increase the number of available driving tests in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire since September 2025.
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. The agency is intensifying its efforts to reduce waiting times and improve access to driving tests that will break down barriers to opportunity as part of the government’s Plan for Change.
On the 12 November, the Secretary of State for Transport, updated the Transport Select Committee on the government’s ongoing response to high driving test waiting times.
In the coming months, DVSA will:
DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country, including in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire, to provide as many tests as possible. A full-time driving examiner (DE) can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.
DVSA currently has a recruitment campaign underway and has advertised DE vacancies for these areas.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what a) number and b) proportion station staffing levels have changed on TransPennine Express services since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The increases over 2024/25 were mainly to fill vacancies that had been paused pending the previous Government’s proposals for the closure of ticket offices, which they reversed after significant public criticism. In mid-2024, TransPennine Express gradually increased the Hull station headcount by an additional four full-time employees to support station resilience. It has increased overall station staffing by a further 19 full-time employees to improve reliability and resilience of the delivery of passenger assistance and other customer services (e.g. retailing); many of these roles are currently being recruited into.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to help tackle online job advertisements where the company has no intent to hire.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Job boards and employment businesses are already prohibited from advertising jobs that do not exist or lack proper authorisation to advertise, with state enforcement by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.
Additional safeguards come from consumer protection and ASA codes, which address misleading or unfair adverts.
Individuals misled by fake job postings may also have civil remedies, depending on the circumstances.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of job vacancies in key professions within her Department’s responsibilities, including contractor organisations.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The independent Office for National Statistics publish monthly estimates of online job adverts by occupation Labour demand volumes by Standard Occupation Classification (SOC 2020), UK - Office for National Statistics(opens in a new tab) and vacancies across each industrial sector VACS02: Vacancies by industry - Office for National Statistics(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the Civil Service Recruitment Framework.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Civil Service Recruitment Framework exists to ensure vacancies are consistently accessible to the widest possible pool of talent. There are no plans to publish this internal-facing framework to the public domain, as it constitutes HR-to-HR guidance designed for departments to integrate into their respective policies and processes.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 15 May 2025, to Question 50576 on Cabinet Office: Recruitment, whether members of the Senior Civil Service can be permanently promoted up a grade without open and fair competition.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Promotion on a permanent basis can only take place after fair and open competition. Senior Civil Service vacancies are advertised externally by default and exceptions must be approved by a Minister or Permanent Secretary equivalent in non-Ministerial departments. Civil Service Commissioners chair all competitions for SCS3 and SCS4 posts to ensure appointments are made on merit.
Asked by: Pam Cox (Labour - Colchester)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons and Young Offender Institutions have (a) an ID and Banking Administrator and (b) an Employment Lead currently in post.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Prison Employment Leads (PELs) and ID and Banking Administrators (IDBAs) were introduced to 93 prisons across the estate in 2022 and have been effective in supporting prisoners to prepare for their reintegration into the community since then. Whilst these roles are supported nationally, they are managed and recruited to locally, so numbers of vacancies are not held centrally.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
For FY24/25, DSIT spent £159,000 on LinkedIn subscriptions and £1,221,168 on other subscriptions. DSIT uses its LinkedIn subscription to support with recruitment efforts including role advertisement and usage of LinkedIn Insights which supports with strategic workforce planning. With more than 44 million registered users in the UK as of January 2025, LinkedIn offers DSIT the ability to promote live vacancies to as many potential external candidates as possible. This is particularly important for DSIT’s critical digital and data vacancies, whereby it is estimated that more than half of our applicants come from outside of the civil service market.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many domestically trained applicants were (a) accepted and (b) rejected for (i) nursing and (ii) midwife positions with NHS providers in each year since 2020.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the number of applicants, whether domestically trained or overseas trained, that were accepted or rejected for nursing and midwife positions with National Health Service providers. NHS trusts will undertake local processes to manage recruitment to nursing and midwifery vacancies.
NHS England publish monthly information on the annual numbers of nurses and midwives joining the NHS, including information on the self-reported nationality of these staff but this will not necessarily be the same as the place of training. Joiners’ data will include staff returning from breaks in service and is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics
On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The Guarantee will ensure there are enough positions for every newly qualified nurse and midwife in England. The package of measures will unlock thousands of jobs and will ensure thousands of new posts are easier to access by removing barriers for NHS trusts, creating opportunities for graduates and ensuring a seamless transition from training to employment.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applicants trained overseas were (a) accepted and (b) rejected for (i) nursing and (ii) midwife positions with NHS providers in each year since 2020.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the number of applicants, whether domestically trained or overseas trained, that were accepted or rejected for nursing and midwife positions with National Health Service providers. NHS trusts will undertake local processes to manage recruitment to nursing and midwifery vacancies.
NHS England publish monthly information on the annual numbers of nurses and midwives joining the NHS, including information on the self-reported nationality of these staff but this will not necessarily be the same as the place of training. Joiners’ data will include staff returning from breaks in service and is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics
On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The Guarantee will ensure there are enough positions for every newly qualified nurse and midwife in England. The package of measures will unlock thousands of jobs and will ensure thousands of new posts are easier to access by removing barriers for NHS trusts, creating opportunities for graduates and ensuring a seamless transition from training to employment.