Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will review the maximum value of fixed penalty notices for breach of permit conditions, relating to offences under the New Roads and Street Works Act to provide a stronger deterrent to utilities companies against breach of those conditions.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is taking decisive action to reduce unnecessary disruption caused by street works by increasing the value of Fixed Penalty Notices. For certain offences, such as undertaking works without a permit, breaching permit conditions, or failing to provide timely notifications of reinstatements or start/stop notices, the penalties will be doubled. This measure is intended to strengthen compliance and ensure that street works are carried out responsibly and with minimal impact to road users and the public.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for attendance allowance are processed each year; and what proportion of those applications do not proceed to assessment.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The number of Attendance Allowance (AA) applications cleared are measured weekly. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
In 2022/23, 415,800 applications were cleared.
In 2023/24, 508,200 applications were cleared.
In 2024/25, 517,200 applications were cleared.
Because of how we capture our operational data, information on if a claim has progressed to assessment is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.
Special Notes:
The Applications Cleared figures are unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.
Please note that data is missing for w/c 18th December 2023 as such the figure for 2023/24 has a small undercount.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of people who pass away before their attendance allowance appeal is concluded.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
For Attendance Allowance Appeals raised in the 2024/25 year, 10 claimants died before their appeal was concluded.
Please note that the figure supplied is derived from unpublished information and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. It should therefore be used with caution and may be subject to future revision.
Notes:
Figure has been rounded to the nearest 10
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department's policy is on investment in skills in the grassroots performing arts.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This government is making a substantial investment in skills across the economy, with over £1 billion of additional funding by 2028-29, on top of the phase 1 settlement for 2025-26. This protects opportunity, delivers the workforce needed for the Plan for Change, and fuels future growth.
The Creative Industries Sector Plan sets out how we will develop high quality, responsive, inclusive and targeted education, skills and training for the Creative Industries, which will benefit grassroots performing arts. This includes delivering a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service to raise awareness of creative careers and ensuring that we continue to consider the needs of smaller employers when developing our growth and skills offer. The Plan recognises the UK’s significant strengths in educational infrastructure for performing arts, including our world-leading institutions, and commits to working with DfE, Skills England and industry to support increased access to quality specialist creative education provision across England.
On the 2nd June, the government also announced that £132.5 million of dormant assets funding will be allocated to increase disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability.
The Department for Education will launch the National Centre for Arts and Music Education in September 2026 to expand arts access for young people, enhance teacher training, and strengthen school-arts partnerships. In addition, in 2024/25, Arts Council England awarded £14.2 million to 1,220 creative practitioners through its Developing Your Creative Practice programme, and a further £28 million to 1,119 practitioners via National Lottery Project Grants.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to extend (a) film and (b) high-end TV tax relief to grassroots performing arts.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government recognises the importance of the creative industries, including the key role they play in driving economic growth.
The Government supports the creative industries through tax reliefs and funding, where the recently published Creative Industries Sector Plan set out the Government’s vision. Up to £30 million will be set aside for a new Music Growth package over the next three years, which will create new touring, performance, mentoring and export opportunities for emerging talent, while also delivering a significant uplift in funding for the grassroots sector to support small venues.
The objective of the creative industry tax reliefs is to support and incentivise productions rather than to support venues themselves. When considering new tax reliefs, the Government takes into account costs, complexity, and the market failure the relief is seeking to address. Extending the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) to grassroots performing arts is not currently under consideration.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with (a) music concert event organisers, (b) large venue event organisers, (c) ticketing platforms and (d) others on the amount expected to be raised by the grassroots ticket levy in the second quarter of 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government wants to see the music industry supporting the ticket levy to back the artists, venues, festivals and promoters who make up our grassroots sector. We are working closely with the sector to monitor progress, particularly with LIVE and the Music Venue Trust, who are tracking data on the uptake of the levy. Sector reporting shows 8% of 2025 tickets on sale in the UK now include the grassroots ticket levy, with an encouraging uptake in recent months. Summer ticket sales and the establishment of the LIVE Trust should mean greater uptake by autumn. I am delighted that the Royal Albert Hall has announced that it will now include the levy for all ticketed events and am enthusiastically encouraging all venues, promoters and artists to follow suit. If not, the Government will reconvene the live music sector to consider legislative options.
Since November I have held two roundtables with members of the live music sector to drive progress on the levy uptake. We are urging major promoters to act without delay, and I recently met Live Nation to encourage them to back the scheme in earnest. I would also urge every major artist to encourage their team to sign up as a matter of urgency so that at least a majority of qualifying tickets carry the levy by the end of the year.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how her Department monitors progress of the grassroots ticket levy.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government wants to see the music industry supporting the ticket levy to back the artists, venues, festivals and promoters who make up our grassroots sector. We are working closely with the sector to monitor progress, particularly with LIVE and the Music Venue Trust, who are tracking data on the uptake of the levy. Sector reporting shows 8% of 2025 tickets on sale in the UK now include the grassroots ticket levy, with an encouraging uptake in recent months. Summer ticket sales and the establishment of the LIVE Trust should mean greater uptake by autumn. I am delighted that the Royal Albert Hall has announced that it will now include the levy for all ticketed events and am enthusiastically encouraging all venues, promoters and artists to follow suit. If not, the Government will reconvene the live music sector to consider legislative options.
Since November I have held two roundtables with members of the live music sector to drive progress on the levy uptake. We are urging major promoters to act without delay, and I recently met Live Nation to encourage them to back the scheme in earnest. I would also urge every major artist to encourage their team to sign up as a matter of urgency so that at least a majority of qualifying tickets carry the levy by the end of the year.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that there is clear understanding within (a) her Department and (b) employers of which payments and benefits from employers are treated as income for the purposes of child maintenance calculations.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
CMS staff have a clear understanding of what is classed as income from training and internal guidance.
With regards to employers, income included in the basic child maintenance calculation is the same as that used in HMRC calculations of taxable income. There is therefore no requirement for employers to make additional or separate reports of income for child maintenance purposes as the CMS take this information directly from HMRC, and therefore no requirement for employers to understand what constitutes income for child maintenance purposes. In cases where the CMS request ongoing child maintenance payments are deducted directly from salary, this is done by issuing a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). When a DEO is served, the CMS provides the employer with the precise figure to be deducted.
However, this does not cover all income that an employer may pay an individual. Where a paying parent is the director of their limited liability company, they are legally an employee of that company and are treated the same as any other employee for child maintenance purposes but may receive additional income as a result of their employment status, for example, dividends, which are not routinely included in the standard child maintenance calculation. In these circumstances, this income is only included within the calculation if the receiving parent in the case applies for a variation.
Caseworkers are fully supported in processing variation applications through training and internal guidance.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to make an assessment in (a) the six monthly report on Hong Kong and (b) the overseas business risk guidance for UK firms of the potential impact of declining public access to (i) the ombudsman archives, (ii) company, land and court records and (iii) other official information in Hong Kong.
Answered by Catherine West
Assessments in the six-monthly report and the overseas business risk guidance will be made in usual way. No decision has yet been made on whether to include analysis on the ombudsman archives and company, land, and court records in Hong Kong. As a co-signatory to the Joint Declaration, the UK will continue to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, to call out the violation of their freedoms, and to hold China to its international obligations.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to encourage (a) the private sector and (b) other donors to increase funding for water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) recognises the potential of private investment to accelerate progress on water supply, sanitation and hygiene. We work with governments in eight countries to improve the performance of the water and sanitation sector, strengthening systems and capacity and reduce commercial risks that discourage private investment. Our support to the World Bank also helps do this, for example through the Water Security and Climate Adaptation Global Challenge Programme. This work is complemented by our support to the Heads of State Initiative for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), which is mobilising domestic finance and encouraging collaboration between governments, donors and other development partners. These initiatives mark the FCDO's shift from projects that delivered WASH infrastructure to a more strategic focus on governance and finance, improving the sustainability and resilience of WASH services that can attract funding from users, government budget allocations and private investors.