Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of financial barriers such as maintenance loans, accommodation costs, unpaid placements on working-class students in higher education; and what reforms are being considered to improve retention alongside initial access.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the impact the cost of living crisis on students. To help students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds progress into and excel in higher education, we will future proof our maintenance loan offer by increasing maintenance loans in line with forecast inflation every academic year. We will also provide extra support for care leavers, who will automatically become eligible to receive the maximum rate of maintenance loan.
We will reintroduce maintenance grants, providing full-time higher education students from low-income households studying subjects aligned with the government’s missions and Industrial Strategy with up to £1,000 extra support per year from 2028/29.
Further, we will develop options to address regional disparities in access and tackle systemic barriers in the journey to higher education for disadvantaged students. To deliver this we have brought together a task and finish group to focus on how the system can best widen access for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing legislation to regulate designed in bias in AI programmes such as ChatGPT, GROK, CoPilot and others.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
A range of regulation and legislation applies to AI systems such as data protection, equality legislation and sectoral regulation. Where AI systems contravene or are non-compliant with those rules, enforcement and mechanisms for redress will apply. The government is committed to supporting regulators to promote the responsible use of AI in their sectors including identifying and addressing bias.
To further tackle this issue, the government ran the Fairness Innovation Challenge (FIC) with Innovate UK, the Equality and Human Rights Council (EHRC), and the ICO. FIC supported the development of novel of solutions to address bias and discrimination in AI systems and supported the EHRC and ICO to shape their own broader regulatory guidance.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the regional representation of new peers appointed for each year since 2015 to the current December 2025 list.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The House of Lords works best when there is a diversity of perspectives represented, including from all the nations and regions of the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister published a statement in June 2025, setting out the roles and responsibilities of those involved in the appointments system, in which he emphasised that party leaders should consider national and regional representation when making nominations, to ensure the second chamber better reflects the country it serves.
As a first step in reform of the House of Lords, the Government introduced the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill which removes the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The Government’s priority is to get this Bill on the statute book as soon as possible.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the government has plans to offer basic first aid training in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton to the answer of 28 November to Question 92868.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of inpatient mental health capacity in Greater Manchester; and what discussions he has had with Pennine Care NHS Trust on that issue.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such specific assessment has been made. The Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership is responsible for commissioning National Health Service mental health inpatient beds to meet the needs of the local population across Greater Manchester. Neither ministers nor departmental officials have held discussions with the Pennine Care NHS Trust on that issue.
Nationally, our ambition is to avoid unnecessary admissions to mental health inpatient services and provide care close to home, including alternatives to admission. The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our plans to transform mental health services to improve access and treatment, and to promote good mental health and wellbeing for the nation. This includes piloting neighbourhood mental health centres, which will bring together a range of community mental health services under one roof, including crisis services and short-stay beds.
In addition, all integrated care boards (ICBs) were asked to publish a three-year plan to localise and realign mental health, learning disability, and autism inpatient care. The Greater Manchester ICB shared their plan at their public board on 20 November 2024. The plan commits to making the best use of resource and reducing reliance on inpatient care, so that more people can access care and support for their mental health, as and when they need it.
We will move care closer to home by reducing out of area placements for mental health patients by March 2027, as outlined in the medium-term planning framework. We will also use new integrated health organisations to break down barriers between services and ensure more integrated, holistic care, addressing both physical and mental health care needs, with more freedom to determine how best to meet the needs of their local populations.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the local housing allowance was last updated; and what estimate he has made of the difference between average rents at the time of the last update compared with the most recent available data.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were last updated in April 2024. The Office for National Statistics ‘Price Index of Private Rents’ (PIPR) provides monthly estimates for average rents in the whole private rental sector. PIPR data is available on the ONS website: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/datasets/priceindexofprivaterentsukmonthlypricestatistics
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2025 to question 92072, what framework, conditions and support she has agreed with the TV and film sector since July 2024 to ensure the inclusion of English regional dialects in productions.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our priority is supporting a healthy and mixed screen ecology where public service broadcasters, alongside commercial broadcasters, can continue to deliver high-quality, culturally relevant content for audiences across England and the UK.
The Government has engaged extensively with industry and has consistently championed the commissioning and production of programming in all parts of the country, For example, the BBC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the West Midlands Combined Authority and Create Central, committing to increased output, skills investment, and a new production base in Digbeth.
In addition Part 1 of the Media Act 2024, once commenced, will for the first time make clear in legislation the importance of the provision of indigenous regional and minority languages in the modernised public service remit for television, and will require public service broadcasters to provide a sufficient quantity of audiovisual content that reflects the lives and concerns of different communities and cultural interests across the UK. It will be for Ofcom, the independent regulator, to monitor compliance.
Alongside this, and building on competitive fiscal incentives like the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit, the Creative Industries Sector Plan published in June, also set out plans for how the Government will support television and film and television production across the nations and regions, tapping into the huge potential for growth across the country. Our £75 million Screen Growth Package specifically will support regional growth of Film & TV alongside wider measures - from our £150m Creative Places Growth Fund, to £100m for the Creative Industries Clusters programme - helping to create opportunities for all.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of trends in complaints and compensation payments for unacceptable standards of maternity care since 2015.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As assessment has not been made of the trends in complaints for unacceptable standards of maternity care. The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England is, however, of great concern to the Government.
A report published by the National Audit office (NAO) on 17 October 2025 stated that "over the last 20 years the cost of settling claims involving infants and children has increased significantly. Between 2006/07 and 2024/25, the total cost for obstetrics claims involving cerebral palsy or brain damage increased by over £1 billion in real terms, with average compensation for claims settled with damages growing by 305% (from £2.8 million to £11.2 million)”. The report can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/costs-of-clinical-negligence/#downloads
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC is providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims, which will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.
Baroness Amos is leading a rapid, independent investigation into NHS Maternity and Neonatal services to help us understand the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies, and families experience unacceptable care. The investigation will look into the maternity and neonatal system nationally, bringing together the findings of past reviews into one clear national set of recommendations. This will also include local investigations of maternity and neonatal services in selected trusts.
On 9 December, Baroness Amos published reflections on what she has heard so far as part of the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, following engagement with women and families. Baroness Amos’ reflections and initial findings can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of cancelled annual leave days as a result of strike action in the NHS since July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no estimate of the number of cancelled annual leave days as a result of strike action in the National Health Service. Information is not held centrally on the level of cancellation of annual leave of NHS staff, including for the reason of cover of staff who are undertaking industrial action.
Our priority is to keep patients as safe as possible during any industrial action. The NHS makes every effort through rigorous contingency planning to minimise the disruption of industrial action and its impact on patients and the public. Assessments are made by local Trusts about levels of resourcing available, and they can escalate concerns via regions and nationally, where appropriate.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has been made of the potential impact, average level and trends of business rates payable by businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors since 2015.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
Without our support, the pub sector as a whole would have faced a 45% increase in the total bills they pay next year. Because of the support we’ve put in place, this has fallen to just 4%.
The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
The National Insurance Contributions (NICs) Employment Allowance has been more than doubled to £10,500, ensuring that over half of businesses with National Insurance liabilities, including those in the hospitality sector, will either gain or see no change this year. A Tax Information and Impact Note was published alongside changes to employer NICs.