Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support innovation to make transport more accessible to deaf people.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is proud to support innovation aimed at making transport more accessible for everyone, including deaf people. In July 2018 the Department published the Inclusive Transport Strategy. Its ambition is to create a transport system that provides equal access for disabled people by 2030 and includes a commitment to ensure future technology is designed inclusively and opportunities are sought to harness innovation.
Practical action includes the introduction of the accessible information regulations from October which will see improved audible and visible technology made a requirement for travel on local buses, supported by grant funding of £4.65m for small operator implementation costs. Almost £2m has been awarded to Transport Research Innovation Grants (TRIG) for small and medium sized enterprises and academia to solve accessibility challenges, including projects focused on improving information assistance for deaf people at railway stations. The First of a Kind (FOAK) programme, which promotes innovative new technologies on the railway network is funding three rail accessibility projects, aimed at improving the travel experience for people with hearing impairments. This includes projects aimed at converting travel information into British Sign Language (BSL) or subtitles through mobile phones or on-board information.
The Department has an active BSL communications working group, with BSL integrated into the It’s Everyone’s Journey inclusive transport campaign and the Air Passenger Travel Guide.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what funding UKRI provides to support research and innovation related to pandemic preparedness.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to question 25489.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to increase awareness of Horizon Europe funding routes for UK manufacturers.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to Question 25490.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) standard of wifi services provided by train operators, (b) trends in the standards of that service over the last three years and (c) effectiveness of incentives for train operators to provide high quality wifi services.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
In general under the Department’s National Rail Contracts and Service Contracts, wifi quality standards are for train operators to determine. In 2020, the Department commissioned Transport Focus to undertake research of the availability and quality of internet and voice connectivity available to passengers. This provided a snapshot of the comparative performance.
The choice of mobile operator(s) – used to provide the mobile connection between the on-train wifi systems and the internet – and the coverage and technology (3G, 4G or 5G) that is available serving the rail corridor can vary considerably by individual route and region. SWR are developing superfast 5G Wi-Fi technology, which will be installed between Earlsfield and Basingstoke in 2024. This superfast trackside solution will be fully integrated with their existing on-board Wi-Fi service, delivering an enhanced connectivity solution for SWR mainline passengers.
We continue to work closely with Network Rail to improve connectivity on the rail corridor and Project Reach is a Network Rail led transaction seeking private sector investment in rail telecoms.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to table 6 of his Department’s publication entitled Child Maintenance Service statistics: data to December 2023, published on 26 March 2024, how much child maintenance had not been paid and needed to be collected through Collect and Pay in (a) each nation, (b) each region and (c) Newcastle Central constituency as of 31 December 2023.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The data provided within table 6 of the Child Maintenance Service national tables is based upon transactional financial data. CMS do not capture geographical data aligned to these transactions and as such it is not possible to apportion this information to geographical regions.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of funding for schools in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, (b) Newcastle upon Tyne and (c) the North East since 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to providing a world class education system for all children and has invested significantly in education to achieve that.
Including the additional funding for teachers’ pay and pensions, funding for both mainstream schools and high needs nationally is £2.9 billion higher in 2024/25, compared to 2023/24. The overall core school budget will total £60.7 billion in 2024/25, the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. This means school funding is set to have risen by £11 billion by 2024/25, compared to 2021/22.
The department cannot provide funding comparisons for the Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, Newcastle upon Tyne, or the North East back to 2010, as comparable data is not available. However, at national level, school funding will be 5.5% higher in real terms per pupil in 2024/25 compared to 2010/11 when using the GDP deflator measure of inflation which is based on independent Office for National Statistics and Office for Budget Responsibility data, the routine measure of public spending. The additional 2024/25 pensions funding is provided on top of that.
Mainstream schools in Newcastle upon Tyne Central Constituency are attracting an extra £3.8 million in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24 through the schools national funding formula (NFF), an increase of 2.2% per pupil in their pupil-led funding. As a result, schools in the Newcastle upon Tyne Central Constituency will attract over £89.9 million, based on the schools NFF. Constituency figures are based on an aggregation of school-level allocations through the NFF.
Through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), Newcastle upon Tyne local authority is receiving an extra £7.1 million for mainstream schools in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24, taking total school funding to over £228.7 million. This represents an increase of 2.1% per pupil compared to 2023/24 and an increase of 15.1% per pupil compared to 2021/22 (excluding growth funding).
Through the DSG, the North East is receiving an extra £45.7 million for mainstream schools in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24, taking total school funding to over £2.0 billion. This represents an increase of 2.1% per pupil compared to 2023/24 and an increase of 14.8% per pupil compared to 2021/22 (excluding growth funding).
All schools will receive additional funding through the Teachers’ Pay Additional Grant and Teachers' Pension Employer Contribution Grant 2024 in the 2024/25 financial year.
The precise funding that individual schools in Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, Newcastle upon Tyne and the North East will receive year-on-year will depend on each school’s unique circumstances, and the decisions that local authorities have made about how to deploy funding. The national funding formula is designed to fund each school according to its relative needs and is updated annually to reflect how those needs change over time.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2024 to Question 25493 on Life Sciences Council, for what reason the Life Sciences Council meeting of May 2024 was rescheduled; how long had the meeting been in place prior to rescheduling; and how much notice was given to the meeting participants of its rescheduling.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The May 2024 meeting of the Life Sciences Council (LSC) was rescheduled due to Ministerial diary pressures and has now been confirmed for June 2024.
The May meeting was confirmed three months prior to the meeting date. Five weeks’ notice was given to meeting participants of its rescheduling.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the impact of the rule that prohibits UK television broadcasters from showing live Premier League matches on Saturdays between 2:45pm and 5:15pm on (a) attendance of non premier league football games, (b) pirating of Premier League matches and (c) the range of football matches broadcast.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government does not have a role in the application of the broadcast blackout for football matches played at 3pm in England. This rule arises from Article 48 of the Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) statutes.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the press notice entitled PM announces turning point in European security as UK set to increase defence spending to 2.5% by 2030, published on 23 April 2024, whether the 5% of the defence budget to be committed to research and development will be counted as science spend; and which Department will be responsible for that expenditure.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is delivering a record £20 billion public investment in R&D this year, which will increase to £22 billion by the end of the next Parliament. £1.6 billion of this £2 billion increase will be allocated to higher defence R&D by 2028-29. The Ministry of Defence will be responsible for this expenditure and further details will be confirmed at the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether officials in her Department have provided Ministers with written advice on meeting the public sector equality duty in relation to the (a) UK Science and Technology Framework, (b) National AI Strategy and (c) Life Sciences Vision.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The department does not hold an Equality Impact Assessment for the Science and Technology Framework, as it is a high-level strategic Framework through which to deliver Government policy. Individual policies that will be delivered under the Framework have or will develop Equality Impact Assessments for their policies, in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty. As set out in the published Science and Technology Framework, many of the strands have equality considerations at the heart of what they are aiming to achieve.