Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of (1) rural bus services in England, and (2) the effectiveness of the Bus Services Act 2017 in improving services.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government's approach to improving bus services in England, including those in rural areas, is set out in the National Bus Strategy. We have announced more than £4.5 billion of funding for buses in England outside of London since 2020,
including:
o The recently announced £1 billion of funding redirected from HS2 to deliver better buses across the North and the Midlands as part of Network North;
o Over £1 billion allocated in 2022 to help LTAs deliver their BSIPs;
o £300 million in ongoing funding to support and improve services until April 2025;
o Nearly £600 million to cap single bus fares at £2 from 1 January 2023 until the end of 2024; and
o £2 billion between March 2020 and June 2023 to prevent reductions to bus services following the pandemic.
The Bus Services Act 2017 was accompanied by a suite of regulations to provide Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) outside London with powers to improve local bus services. These included enhanced partnerships (EPs) between bus operators and LTAs, and automatic franchising powers to all Mayoral Combined Authorities. 73 LTAs now have an EP in place and Greater Manchester expect to have a fully franchised bus network by March 2025.
The Bus Services Act 2017 also focused on introducing the Bus Open Data Service (BODS). The BODS was launched in 2020, and requires all bus operators of local services in England to open up high-quality, accurate and up-to-date bus service information including timetables, fares, tickets & vehicle location information.
The Bus Services Act 2017 also amended the Equality Act 2010 to enable the Government to introduce ‘Accessible Information Regulations’ as part of its commitment to creating an inclusive transport system. These regulations were introduced in 2023, which by Autumn 2026 will require the majority of local bus and coach services to incorporate audible and visible announcements as standard.
The Department is conducting a monitoring and evaluation exercise on the impact of the National Bus Strategy. The Bus Transformation Evaluation assesses the delivery and impact of Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) introduced by the 33 LTAs that received Phase 1 BSIP funding from the Department under the National Bus Strategy. A draft interim report is expected by summer 2024. In addition, the Department is also conducting monitoring and evaluation of the Inclusive Transport Strategy 2018, which includes an assessment of the impact of accessibility requirements introduced under the Bus Services Act 2017 to provide audible and visible information on buses. The Inclusive Transport Strategy: Evaluation Baseline Report was published in January 2022 and the final report is expected to be published later this year.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding is allocated to (a) each Greater Manchester local authority and (b) any other organisation in Manchester city region to tackle child criminal exploitation.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold information on funding allocations for tackling child criminal exploitation (CCE) for the Greater Manchester local authorities. However, we do provide national funding to some organisations in Greater Manchester to tackle county lines, CCE and serious violence.
Through our Drug Strategy, we are providing a targeted investment of up to £145m over three years to bolster our County Lines Programme. This includes funding a dedicated county lines taskforce in Greater Manchester Police, as well as funding Catch22 to provide a specialist support and rescue service for under 25’s and their families in Greater Manchester to help them safely reduce and exit their involvement from county lines.
The Home Office has provided £1.3million to fund The Children’s Society to deliver The Prevention Programme between 2023-25. Through the programme, a dedicated Northwest Prevention Officer works to support a range of partners to improve the response to multiple forms of exploitation including CCE in the North West region.
To tackle the drivers of serious violence, the Home Office has also invested over £20m to develop and run the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit (with funding of over £4.38m in 2023-2024). We have also invested over £14.5m into the Grip programme (previously known as Surge) in Greater Manchester between 2019-23 for hotspot policing targeting serious violence, and a further £2.35m has been allocated for Grip in 2023-24.
Furthermore, this financial year (2023-24), the government has made available £1m to the Young Women and Girls’ Fund, with Salford City Local Authority receiving £43,000. This funds a Young Women’s Worker who delivers specialist support and interventions to vulnerable young women and girls who are experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, gang-related exploitation or abuse.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2024 to Question 14203 on Rents: Greater Manchester, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact of build-to-rent developments on average rental costs in (a) Stockport and (b) Greater Manchester.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 14203 on 21 February 2024.
Build to Rent can play a vital role in helping to meet demand in the Private Rented Sector, and the Greater Manchester area is now the second largest market for Build to Rent investment after London.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of new build-to-rent housing developments on social cohesion in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 14203 on 21 February 2024.
Build to Rent can play a vital role in helping to meet demand in the Private Rented Sector, and the Greater Manchester area is now the second largest market for Build to Rent investment after London.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what fiscal steps she is taking to support (a) training programmes, (b) apprenticeships and (c) other efforts to promote (i) job creation and (ii) skills development in Bury South constituency.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government is committed to creating a world leading skills system which is employer-focused, high quality and fit for the future. The government’s reforms are strengthening higher education (HE) and further education (FE) to help more people get good jobs and upskill and retrain throughout their lives, as well as to improve national productivity and economic growth. The government’s reforms are backed with an additional investment of £3.8 billion over the course of this Parliament to strengthen HE and FE.
This additional funding will help providers such as those in Bury to deliver high quality education and training.
Bury College serves the Bury South constituency and received £25.3 million to deliver learning and skills training programmes in 2022/23 for 16 to18 year olds and apprentices for local employers. Bury College has also received capital investment of over £12 million since 2019.
Bury College offers a wide range of post-16 education and training from pre-entry level qualifications, A levels, T Levels, vocational courses at Levels 1 to 3, and apprenticeships in health and public services, business administration, engineering, retail and commercial enterprise, and education and training. It also has a University Centre and works in partnership with several local universities to deliver a range of HE courses at Higher National Diploma, Foundation Degree and Degree level to the local community. Bury College also receives funding for adult education programmes via Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Bury College is a partner of the Greater Manchester Institute of Technology, led by The University of Salford, and has received £1.353 million of funding for refurbishments and specialist equipment in Heath Innovation, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Enterprise and Sports provision. Bury College will account for 25% of all learners at the Institute of Technology. This equates to approximately 200 learners in 2023/24.
The area is also served by Holy Cross College, a Catholic sixth form college, which received £12.89 million to deliver learning programmes for 16 to18 year olds in 2022/23. It delivers a largely academic Level 3 programme and a small Level 2 cohort. Holy Cross College has a University Centre delivering HE both through a direct contract with Office for Students and in partnership with Liverpool Hope University.
The department is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to £2.7 billion by 2024/25 to support employers of all sizes and in all areas of the country, including Bury South, to grow their businesses with the skilled apprentices they need. Since 2010, there have been 11,380 apprenticeship starts in Bury South.
The department has introduced the Free Courses for Jobs scheme which enables eligible adults to gain a qualification for free. Residents in Bury can access provision in a range of sector subject areas delivered through colleges and training providers in the area.
In addition, the department has also introduced Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast track to an interview with an employer. In each of the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, the department has allocated £7.5 million to Greater Manchester Combined Authority to deliver Skills Bootcamps in the Greater Manchester area, including in Bury South via grant funding.
T Levels will equip more young people with the skills, knowledge and experience to access skilled employment or further study. From September 2023, 18 T Levels will be available and will be delivered through nearly 300 providers across all regions of the country. Bury college is delivering T Levels in business administration, legal, financial, and accounting, education and childcare, and health and engineering in 2023/24. The college intends to introduce further T Levels in catering and hospitality, construction and the built environment, creative and digital, and hair and beauty in 2024/25.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) support and (b) funding his Department provides to local probation services in Bury South constituency to help ensure effective rehabilitation of people leaving the criminal justice system.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) service delivery in Greater Manchester supports all Criminal Justice activity for the Bury Borough. This includes all aspects of Community and Custodial practice across public protection, sentencing, sentence management and delivery, resettlement and reintegration.
Greater Manchester Probation Service (GMPS) on behalf of HMPPS have a unique approach to commissioning rehabilitative services across the region. Services are co-commissioned with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). There is a Memorandum of Understanding which sets out the principles of our approach, signed by both parties. There are also grant agreements in place which enable the co-commissioning to proceed in a way that provides both flexibility and assurance. These arrangements have enabled procurement of services at locality level, and there is specific activity across the Bury Borough.
From a wider partnership aspect, Reducing Reoffending is one of the six priorities of the Bury Community Safety Partnership (CSP), with the priority led by the local probation manager who chairs a multiagency steering group for this priority.
GMPS is an active participant in the Bury Community Safety Partnership, which encompasses work to tackle drug & alcohol related harm; involvement in the Prevent Partnership and Channel Panel (as part of CONTEST Counter-terror duty); involvement in the Domestic Abuse Partnership Board; involvement in the Bury Serious Violence Duty Steering Group and is the lead agency for actions in emerging Serious Violence Duty Delivery Plan to reduce serious violence related harm (offending and related hospital admissions).
GMPS lead engagement with the Creating & Maintaining Safe Spaces subgroup on Community Payback opportunities to link into local environmental improvement works.
Bury CSP (through GMCA core grant to CSP) have funded the Gateway project to break the cycle of substance misuse and offending,
Through the Co-commission approach outlined, approximately 60 services across the GM Region have been procured in this financial year, all of which support reducing harm and reoffending activities.
There has been investment and collaboration where appropriate with local authorities to procure services and ensure alignment with local Criminal Justice Priorities.
HMPPS delegate 4 reducing reoffending budgets into the GM region which are for the specific purpose of reducing reoffending in the region. These are Community Accommodation Service Tier 3, Community Rehabilitation Service, Integrated Offender Management and Regional Outcome and Innovation Fund. The Bury Borough are provided with services from each of these budgets, and this equates to roughly a 10% share.
Specifically, rehabilitative services in Bury cover the following: services for women; services for accommodation; services for training, education and access to employment; peer mentoring; drug and alcohol interventions; wellbeing support for improving physical and mental health.
The question specifies 'people leaving the criminal justice service’. GMPS has formal responsibility for those within the system and this answer details the offer in this context. However, given close integration with GMCA and local authorities, the intention is to provide a link to continuity of help in local areas like Bury, beyond the period someone is subject to probation supervision.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an estimate of the potential impact of Build to Rent housing developments on the level of average rental costs in (a) Stockport and (b) Greater Manchester.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Build to Rent sector has delivered thousands of new, high-quality rental homes in recent years helping to boost housing supply, drive up standards and increase choice for tenants.
The Government does not disaggregate the build to rent sector in the data sets on local rental markets which are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-rents-lettings-and-tenancies.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many zero emission buses had been allocated Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas funding as of 6 February 2024; and how many of those buses (a) have been ordered and (b) are on the road as of that date.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The following table presents information on the number of zero emission buses funded through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas 1 (ZEBRA 1) programme by local transport authority. The numbers in this table are not official statistics: they are based on the latest information available and are therefore indicative and subject to change.
ZEBRA 1 funding was awarded in March 2022 for local transport authorities except Oxfordshire who received funding in December 2022.
Local Transport Authority | Number of buses funded | Number of buses ordered | Number of buses in service |
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Kent County Council | 33 | 33 | 0 |
Leicester City Council | 116 | 116 | 74 |
Warrington Borough Council | 105 | 105 | 0 |
South Yorkshire Combined Authority | 27 | 27 | 0 |
Norfolk County Council | 70 | 70 | 26 |
North Yorkshire County Council | 39 | 39 | 0 |
Portsmouth City Council & Hampshire County Council | 62 | 62 | 0 |
Blackpool Council | 90 | 0 | 0 |
Nottingham City Council | 68 | 48 | 0 |
Greater Manchester Combined Authority | 170 | 170 | 0 |
Hertfordshire County Council | 27 | 0 | 0 |
West Midlands Combined Authority | 124 | 0 | 0 |
City of York Council | 53 | 53 | 27 |
West Yorkshire Combined Authority | 136 | 119 | 0 |
Oxfordshire County Council | 159 | 159 | 9 |
| 1,309 | 1,031 | 166 |
Asked by: Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the delivery of the banking hubs and delivery hubs recommended by Link for locations which have been identified as lacking in services, such as Marple in Greater Manchester; and what steps are they planning to ensure that delivery is accelerated.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Banking Hubs are a voluntary industry initiative, which enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities. To date, LINK has recommended over 100 Banking Hubs across the UK. Over 30 Banking Hubs have opened, with a further 70 expected to open by the end of the year. LINK has also recommended cash deposit services in another 90 communities, including Marple in Greater Manchester. While industry is responsible for delivering these services, the government is closely monitoring the rollout and hopes to see facilities open as soon as possible.
Separately, the government has legislated to protect access to cash specifically. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 provides the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities. Following the conclusion of its consultation on 8 February, the FCA expects to finalise its rules in Q3 2024.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of special educational needs training given to teachers and staff at comprehensive schools in Greater Manchester.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not perform teacher performance evaluation at the local level. The Teachers’ Standards sets out the minimum level of practice expected of teachers who are awarded qualified teacher status (QTS). To be awarded QTS at the end of Initial Teacher Training (ITT), trainees must demonstrate that they have met all the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. The standards are also used to assess the performance of all teachers with QTS under the School Teachers’ Appraisal Regulations (2012). Therefore, most teachers need to adhere to the standards throughout their careers.
All teachers are teachers of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and the department is committed to ensuring that all pupils can reach their potential and receive excellent support from their teachers. The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND. Consideration of SEND underpins both the ITT Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework (ECF), which were both produced with the support of sector experts. ITT courses and ECF-based programmes are designed so that new teachers can demonstrate that they meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. This includes the requirement in Standard 5, that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils.
To pass statutory teacher induction, early career teachers must demonstrate that they meet the Teachers' Standards through a formal assessment, signed off by their headteacher and independently checked by their appropriate body. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting ITT partnerships and ECF lead providers in line with published inspection frameworks.
Headteachers use their professional judgement to identify any further training, including specific specialisms, for individual staff that is relevant to them, the school, and its pupils. To further support the needs of pupils with SEND, particularly in mainstream settings where most of these learners are educated, the department has funded the Universal Services programme. The Universal Services programme, backed by almost £12 million in funding, will help the school and further education (FE) workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND earlier and more effectively.
National Standards will improve mainstream education through setting standards for early and accurate identification of needs, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will include clarifying the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support. This will help families, practitioners and providers understand what support every child or young person should be receiving from early years through to FE, no matter where they live or what their needs are.