Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what fiscal steps he is taking with Cabinet Colleagues to help lower energy bills for people in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government action at the Budget, to end the ECO scheme and shift 75% of the domestic Renewables Obligation to the exchequer, will remove an average of £150 of costs from energy bills from April. In addition, expanding the Warm Home Discount means around six million low‑income households will receive £150 this winter.
Through the Warm Homes Plan, the Governemt has also announced £15 billion to upgrade up to five million homes and help lift up to one million families out of fuel poverty by 2030.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support the creation of well-paid jobs in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade is supporting the creation of jobs and opportunities across the UK, including in Staffordshire and Newcastle-under-Lyme, by championing free trade agreements, supporting small and medium sized enterprises to export, securing foreign investment, developing the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy and investing in growth sectors like life sciences, advanced manufacturing and digital technologies.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase the number of probation officers.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Government recognises the vital role probation officers play in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. Recruitment and retention continue to be a priority and through these efforts we are starting to see the positive impact of a centralised recruitment process as a large number of qualified probation officers come through the pipeline.
In 2024/25, we exceeded our commitment to onboard 1,000 trainee probation officers, successfully onboarding 1,057. We are now going further, having committed to onboard a total of 1,300 trainee probation officers in 2025/26. Probation officer numbers have increased over both the last quarter and the last year. The Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) 20 recruitment campaign, which went live on the 19th of January, will further support our efforts to maintain strong recruitment momentum and sustain the pipeline of future probation officers.
A retention toolkit has been developed, informed by research into the drivers of attrition. This toolkit supports local, regional, and national interventions and is used alongside structured exit interviews which were introduced to gather feedback and shape future actions. It is positive that we are seeing a continued reduction in Probation Service attrition.
Both probation officer numbers in post and leaving rates can be found at HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly: September 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps has he taken to help tackle fraud in the pension system.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is resolute in its determination to protect pension scheme members from financial harm. There is a strong regulatory framework which allows pension scheme trustees to block pension transfers if there is risk of a scam and we are developing extended measures which seek to strengthen protections and combat any areas of evolving risk. DWP will continue to work closely with partners, including the police, the National Economic Crime Centre and anti-scams industry groups, to identify and disrupt unlawful activity and to ensure appropriate enforcement action is taken against those who exploit or seek to exploit pension savers. We will publicly consult on our work to strengthen the transfer process with enhanced protections in the coming months.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps he has taken to help reduce industrial energy costs for businesses in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Our Modern Industrial Strategy will make industrial electricity costs cheaper with new support which could cut bills by up to 25% for more than 7,000 businesses. From 2027, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity cost for eligible businesses by c.£35-40/MWh.
We have also increased support for energy-intensive industries eligible for the British Industry Supercharger, with an uplift of the Network Charging Compensation (NCC) scheme from 60% to 90%.
Companies in Newcastle-under-Lyme operating in frontier industries, or those supplying critical inputs to frontier industries such as specialised ceramics, are well placed to benefit from this support.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the length of time of a call to HMRC before it was answered.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publishes its call waiting times on GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to support dairy farmers in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK dairy sector is highly resilient and adaptable and continues to supply healthy and affordable products, both capitalising on the opportunities and rising to the challenges it has faced in recent years.
Following a recent period of enhanced profitability for the UK sector, supply of dairy is currently exceeding demand on both our domestic and wider global markets. This is resulting in reductions to UK farmgate milk prices.
Ensuring fairness in supply chains is key for UK dairy farmers and supporting the sustainability of the sector. The Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024, which fully came into force on 9 July 2025, improve fairness and transparency, requiring dairy contracts to include clear terms on pricing, termination, and prohibiting unilateral changes. However, these regulations are not intended to set prices.