First elected: 4th July 2024
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Alex Baker, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Alex Baker has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Alex Baker has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Alex Baker has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Alex Baker has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon Lady’s Parliamentary Question of 3 September 2024 is attached.
The overall core schools budget will total £61.8 billion in 2024/25. Average per pupil funding in England, as allocated through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), is £5,957.
The DSG is allocated at local authority level, and as such the equivalent figures are not available for Aldershot constituency. For Aldershot constituency, the notional national funding formula (NFF) average per-pupil funding is £5,447. That is calculated based on the notional schools NFF allocations for all mainstream schools in the constituency. The allocations that schools within a constituency actually receive are determined by the local funding formula in their area. The funding figures for Aldershot constituency are based on the constituency boundaries before the July 2024 general election.
All of the figures provided include premises funding, but exclude growth funding. The figures do not include the additional grant funding that schools in the Aldershot constituency and across the country have received to support pay and pensions increases in 2024/25.
Schools in Aldershot constituency have a lower proportion of pupils who attract deprivation funding through the NFF than the national average.
The precise funding that individual schools in Aldershot constituency and across the country receive depends on each school’s unique circumstances and the decisions that it has made about how to deploy its funding.
The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local road network. Hampshire County Council (HCC) is the local highway authority for the Aldershot constituency, and it is therefore responsible for the maintenance of the local road network. HCC will receive £37.7 million from this Department during 2024/25 to enable it to carry out its local highway maintenance responsibilities. Funding for future years is a matter for the Spending Review.
The government has set out an action plan for improving the bus network, centred around putting control of local bus services into the hands of communities to give them the tools they need to plan and deliver services in a way that suits their needs. On 9 September, the government announced important first steps towards delivering this aim by laying a statutory instrument to ‘open up’ bus franchising to all local transport authorities (LTAs), and publishing a consultation document on proposed updates to streamline bus franchising guidance that will speed up and lower the cost of franchising for LTAs.
As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will also introduce a new Buses Bill later this year that will build on the progress of this first package of measures, and help bring to an end the postcode lottery of bus services by giving local leaders the freedom to take decisions to deliver their local transport priorities and ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them, including in rural areas in Aldershot and across England.
Department officials maintain contact with train operators to ensure an appropriate level of service is provided to meet passenger demand, and this is reviewed regularly. The recent establishment of Shadow Great British Railways paves the way for the creation of Great British Railways and will deliver a unified railway providing a stronger, more reliable railway for the benefit of passengers.
The information requested regarding the average cost of bus fares is not available. The Department produces quarterly bus fare statistics in the form of a local bus fares index. However, this data is not available specifically for (a) Aldershot constituency, or (b) Hampshire. Data is available for (c) England and the latest publication can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-bus-fares-statistics-january-to-march-2024.
Improving services for passengers is at the heart of our plans to improve Britain’s railways, and station staff play an important role in supporting passengers, especially those who require additional assistance. This Government has no plans to close ticket offices, and we expect train operating companies to take measures to ensure they are open at published times.
The government knows that Britain needs a modern transport network to help kickstart economic growth. Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities. As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will introduce a Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, to ensure networks can meet the needs of the communities who rely on them, including in Aldershot.
We also plan to empower local transport authorities through reforming bus funding. By giving local leaders more control and flexibility over bus funding they can plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities. The Department will work closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on the government’s ambitions.
As of 2 September 2024, there were 2,216 car practical driving tests booked, and 134 driving tests available to book within the 24-week booking window at Farnborough driving test centre (DTC).
The average waiting time (August 2024) for a car practical test at Farnborough DTC was 24 weeks.
The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local road network. Hampshire County Council (HCC) is the local highway authority for the Aldershot constituency, and it is therefore responsible for the maintenance of the local road network. HCC will receive £37.7 million from this Department during 2024/25 to enable it to carry out its local highway maintenance responsibilities. Funding for future years is a matter for the Spending Review.
The information requested regarding (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in Aldershot constituency is not available. Geographic availability of data differs depending on the data source. Where possible, information has been provided for the constituency of Aldershot. Otherwise, statistics for the local authority of ‘Rushmoor’, county of ‘Hampshire’, or the area of ‘Hampshire and Isle of Wight’ are provided where relevant.
Car ownership
According to the Department’s vehicle statistics, there were 138,805 licensed cars as at end March 2024 in the Aldershot Constituency.
Bus usage
According to the Department’s annual bus statistics, in the year ending March 2023 there were 20.8 million local bus journeys taken in Hampshire.
Train usage
The Regional Rail Usage Statistics published by the Office of Rail and Road show that in the year ending March 2023 there were 25.0 million passenger rail journeys within the South East of England that started or ended in Hampshire and Isle of Wight. There were also 15.3 million journeys that started or ended in Hampshire and Isle of Wight that started or ended from regions outside the South East of England.
Active travel usage
According to the Department’s annual walking and cycling statistics, between November 2022 and November 2023, 66.4% of adults walked or cycled, for any purpose, at least once per week in Rushmoor (Non-Metropolitan District). The equivalent figure for Hampshire (County) is 73.6%.
The Office for National Statistics estimate that nearly 1 in 8 young people are not in education, employment or training.
This is 872,000 young people, a number which has risen by 74,000 over the last year.
The information requested is not available at a constituency level. Information on Employment Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) clearance times for initial claims is published at a national level on DWP Stat-Xplore. This can be accessed by selecting ‘Guest log in’ and choosing ‘Clearance Times for Initial Claims’ under the ESA WCA section.
We are currently unable to provide clearance times for Universal Credit (UC) WCA statistics, as these are being developed for future publication as explained in the UC Statistics release strategy.
In Aldershot in the Financial Year 2022/23, 450 people who had registered to claim PIP were disallowed after assessment, this is 51% of all initial decisions. Of these, 40 claims were subsequently awarded PIP following an appeal, this is 5% of all initial decisions in the Financial Year 2022/23.
Note:
o A lapsed appeal is where DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.
The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum housing support for tenants in the private rented sector. It ensures that claimants in similar circumstances living in the same area are entitled to the same maximum rent allowance regardless of the contractual rent paid.
LHA rates are set within geographical areas referred to as Broad Rental Market Areas so that a household’s LHA rate reflects private rents where they live.
LHA rates were restored to the 30th percentile of local market rents from April 2024, at a cost of £1.2 billion for 2024/25.
There were 3,134 households receiving housing support via either Housing Benefit or the Housing Element of Universal Credit subject to the LHA in the Aldershot constituency in May-24. Of those, 34% have an eligible rent above their applicable LHA rate, with a mean monthly difference, or shortfall, of £208.24. Equivalent figures for Hampshire are not readily available and to provide them would incur disproportionate cost.
Any future decisions on LHA will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, housing priorities, and the fiscal context and will include the consideration of current rents.
For those who face a shortfall in meeting their rental costs and need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments are available from local authorities.
No such assessment of inflation on living standards has been made.
The Government is committed to the Triple Lock, which means that in April 2025, the basic and new State pension will increase by the higher of the growth in average earnings, price increases or 2.5%.
The requested information will be published as part of Universal Credit Official Statistics in November 2024.
Official statistics for the number of people on Universal Credit are published each month on Stat-Xplore, with breakdowns available by various geographies including Westminster Parliamentary Constituency and local authority. The latest statistics are to August 2024.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
We believe learning disabled and neurodiverse people should have an equal opportunity to work. In our plan to make work pay, we committed to raising awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace.
In Aldershot, we have a dedicated Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) who supports learning disabled and neurodiverse customers alongside partner organisations that we work closely with.
Other specialist initiatives which can provide support include the Work and Health Programme and joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.
We are also exploring how we will build upon the recommendations outlined in the Buckland Review of Autism Employment to be more inclusive to support all neurodiverse people to enter, remain in or return to employment.
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
The Child Poverty Taskforce, co-chaired by the Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, has started urgent work to publish the UK wide Child Poverty Strategy in Spring and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.
The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside the Government’s commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, setting every child up at the start of the day ready to learn, expanding childcare to deliver work choices for parents and life chances for children, provide stronger protection for families who rent privately as well as deliver our plan to make work pay.
The Government is also extending the Household Support Fund for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £500 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF, including funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual. This means that Local Authorities in England will receive £421 million to support those in need locally.
There are 100,000 people aged 16-24 who have been unemployed for over 12 months, 16.8% of all 16-24s who are unemployed.
The sample sizes from survey data for Aldershot and Hampshire are too small, so it is not possible to make a robust estimate of the level of long-term youth unemployment for these areas.
My department, working closely with the Department for Education, are developing the Youth Guarantee, to offer localised support to all young people aged 18-21 years old not in education, employment or training. We will ensure they have access to quality opportunities for training, an apprenticeship or help to find work that is sustainable.
In Aldershot, service delivery teams are working with a range of local partners and employers across the community to support to young people into work, including the care leaver charity Step by Step, Rushmoor Borough Council and other providers.
In Hampshire, a range of Flexible Support Funded local courses are in place to deliver place based employment support to young people with additional barriers, such as care leavers, neurodivergence and mental health. More widely, there are a number of Youth Hubs in Hampshire, ensuring a joined up approach with multiple partners to co-deliver employment, training and life skills support to bring them closer to employment.
The data requested for the Aldershot constituency is not available, as it is not obtainable at a constituency level.
To fix the chronic workforce shortages in the mental health workforce we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services, to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment, across all areas of England, including the Aldershot constituency.
We are working to develop a plan to deliver this expansion of the mental health workforce, including where they should be deployed to achieve maximum effect. NHS England is also working to improve retention through clearer career progression pathways.
The Government will make sure the National Health Service has the staff it needs, to be there for all of us when we need it, and will get the staff to the places where patients and the NHS need them. This will not only benefit the Aldershot constituency, but the whole of the NHS in England.
Recruitment decisions do not sit with the Government but instead are the responsibility of the local employers, who are best placed to understand the diverse needs of their communities. They subsequently manage their own recruitment to ensure they have the right number of staff, with the right skill mix, to provide the safe and effective care that their patients need. Each trust has a retention midwife who focuses on retention and providing pastoral support to midwives as they consider their future options in and outside of the NHS.
The following table shows the number of people that were newly diagnosed with diabetes in the Aldershot constituency, in each of the calendar years from 2018 to 2022, broken down by diabetes type:
Year of diagnosis | Number of people newly diagnosed with diabetes | ||
Type 1 | Type 2 and other | All diabetes types | |
2018 | 15 | 540 | 555 |
2019 | 15 | 590 | 605 |
2020 | 10 | 405 | 415 |
2021 | 15 | 450 | 465 |
2022 | 5 | 505 | 510 |
There are currently 22 care homes registered with Care Quality Commission in the Aldershot constituency. As of the latest data from 1 August 2024, 16 of those care homes, or 73%, are rated ‘Good’.
The average payments by the NHS Business Services Authority to community pharmacies in the Aldershot constituency were: £68,547.19 per pharmacy per month in 2021/22, or £822,566.32 per pharmacy for 12 months; and £77,398.58 per pharmacy per month in 2022/23, or £928,782.96 per pharmacy for 12 months.
While the information is not collected in the format requested, the following table shows the number of people diagnosed with HIV for the local authority of Rushmoor, which covers the Aldersholt constituency, from 2018 to 2022:
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
HIV diagnoses | 3 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 11 |
HIV diagnoses first made in England | 2 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
Source: HIV annual data tables are published on the GOV.UK website, and are available at the following link:
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates all health and social care services in England. The Commission ensures quality and safety across a range of sectors that deliver health and care to people in England.
The CQC carries out assessments of approximately 10% of registered primary dental services, to determine if they are compliant with regulations. However, they do not rate dental services in the same way they do for the other services they regulate. Data held by the CQC on the active dental locations in the Aldershot constituency that have been assessed is undergoing quality assurance, and is currently unavailable.
While no specific assessment has been made of the trends in rates of perinatal mortality in the Aldershot constituency, NHS England does collect some data on perinatal mortality through the Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS), although this is not collected for individual National Health Service trusts in England. Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE) is the gold standard for mortality data, and produces the national perinatal mortality figures. MBRRACE uses the data collected in the MSDS and combines it with other data sources to build an accurate picture of perinatal mortality in England.
The MBRRACE Perinatal Mortality tool allows you to view trends for trusts and health boards which can be compared against other trusts in the region, and is available at the following link:
https://timms.le.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk-perinatal-mortality/data-viewer/
The data requested for the Aldershot constituency is not available, as it is not obtainable at a constituency level.
The Department is committed to working closely with NHS England to ensure that people with an eating disorder get the care and treatment they need, when they need it. The Department will focus on improving the performance of the existing waiting time standards for Children and Young Peoples’ Eating Disorder services including in Aldershot.
This will be supported by recruiting 8,500 additional mental health staff across children and adult mental health services, ensuring every young person has access to a specialist mental health professional at school, and setting up Young Futures hubs in every community, offering open access mental health services for young people.
Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. In performing that duty, a local authority must have regard to the need to ensure that it is aware of current and likely future demand for such services, and to consider how providers might meet that demand.
The Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund includes grant conditions which require each local authority to submit an adult social care capacity plan. These were submitted to the Department in June 2024. The hon. Member's local authority, Aldershot, submitted their 2024/25 capacity plan, which is currently undergoing processing and quality assurance.
People with mental health issues in Aldershot and across the country are not getting the support or care they deserve, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that mental health is given the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.
We will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment which will also help ease pressure on hospitals. By cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier with more timely mental health support, we can get this country back to good health.
We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP), and we are committed to fixing this crisis in GPs to secure the long-term sustainability of the National Health Service. Aldershot sits within the NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board, where 84.8% of appointments were delivered within two weeks of booking, 2.1% higher than the national average.
The Government has committed to fixing the front door to the NHS by shifting the focus from hospitals and into the community. We know that if patients can’t get a GP appointment, they will end up in accident and emergency, which is worse for them, and more expensive for the taxpayer.
NHS England is working to address training bottlenecks, so the health service has enough staff for the future, and we have provided £82 million to fund the recruitment of over 1,000 newly qualified GPs, to increase capacity and reduce workloads.
We are pleased to announce that newly qualified GPs will be included in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment, with additional funding over 2024/25.
General practices are able to provide Directed Enhanced Services and Enhanced Services by opting in, and will receive payment for these services separately to global sum payments. As commissioners of primary care, integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning Local Enhanced Services, which are not agreed nationally and can vary in scope and funding to fit local needs.
This Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. According to the 2024 GP patient survey results, 81% of people who tried to get a National Health Service dentist appointment in the last two years in Frimley ICB were successful compared to 76% in England. Of those who tried to get an appointment in the last two years, 87% of existing patients were successful compared to 35% of new patients.
Since 2010, the total number of residential care homes that have closed in the Aldershot constituency is 29.
We know that patients are finding it increasingly difficult to see a general practitioner (GP). Patients cannot get through the front door of the National Health Service, so they aren’t getting the timely care they need.
We have pledged to guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one. We will make sure the future of general practice is sustainable by training thousands more GPs, ensuring increased capacity across the NHS to deliver this commitment and secure a future pipeline of GPs.
The National Health Service has been facing chronic workforce shortages for years and we have to be honest that bringing in the staff and investment the NHS needs will take time.
We are determined to fix our NHS and restore it to a service we are proud of. We are committed to training the staff we need to get patients seen on time.
The Government is committed to making sure the NHS has the staff it needs to be there for all of us when we need it and get staff in places where patients and the NHS need them and that will benefit not just Aldershot but the whole of the NHS in England.
Local employers are best placed to understand the diverse needs of their communities and subsequently manage their own recruitment to ensure they have the right number of staff, with the right skill mix, to provide the safe and effective care that their patients need.
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government, as we get the National Health Service back on its feet. Equality of both access to care and outcomes will be at the heart of building an NHS that is fit for the future.
We have committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by the end of this Parliament. As a first step to achieving this, we will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week across the country, and will increase the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests, that are needed to reduce elective and cancer waits.
In Aldershot at a local level, the team will soon start trialling an animated video to promote breast screening. This has been developed in partnership with Imperial College London.
On a national level, NHS England has developed an improvement plan in collaboration with key stakeholders to support local and regional uptake, which includes: expanding access and reducing inequalities by increasing the use of evidence based and evaluated interventions, focusing on low uptake areas and groups; improved data and analytics by ensuring we have the availability of population level data to show insights into uptake and support services, to deliver targeted initiatives; IT developments to continue development of the breast screening IT systems, as part of the Digital Transformation of Screening programme, and by starting a programme of work to enable people to book appointments through the NHS App; contracting and service oversight, by strengthening contracting mechanisms and performance management to monitor impact and benefits; and communication, by ensuring the programme has appropriate inclusive and accessible communication mechanisms and materials.
We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP) or National Health Service dentist, and we are committed to fixing the the crisis in primary care to secure the long-term sustainability of the NHS, and increase access to local services including those in the Aldershot constituency. Aldershot sits within the NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB), where the percentage of GP appointments delivered within two weeks of booking is 3.2% lower than the national average. Our annual statistics show that in 2023, only 40% of the adult population in the Frimley ICB were seen by an NHS dentist in the last two years, compared with 41% nationally.
Our plan to restore GPs will require both investment and reform. We have committed to training thousands more GPs, ending the 8:00am scramble for appointments by introducing a modern booking system, and trialing new neighborhood health centers to bring community health services together under one roof. Furthermore, the Government will also bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to see the same patient. The Government will also tackle the immediate dental crisis with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and to recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of shoplifting offences, and their investigative outcomes, recorded by the police in England and Wales. This information is published at the Police Force Area level including Hampshire.
The latest information, for the year ending March 2024, is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables
Statistics on convictions at court are published by the MoJ and can be accessed via their outcomes by offence data tool, available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2023
Data are not available at the Parliamentary Constituency level.
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. We understand that anti-social behaviour causes great harm and misery to our communities, and, if left unchecked, can lead to more serious offending.
We will crack down on the adults making neighbourhoods feel unsafe and unwelcoming by introducing new powers, such as Respect Orders with tough sanctions and penalties, to tackle repeat offending.
The Office for National Statistics annually publishes anti-social behaviour incidents reported to the police by Police Force Area. The latest available data covering year to March 2024 can be found here: Crime in England and Wales: Police Force Area data tables - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). Data is also published at the Community Safety Partnership level. The latest available data covering year to March 2024 can be found here: Recorded crime data by Community Safety Partnership area - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
Monthly Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA) police recorded incidents of anti-social behaviour are available through police.uk. The latest data covering incidents to end of July 2024 can be found here: Data downloads | data.police.uk
Tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.
We will put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can go to when things go wrong and will set out further measures in due course.
The Safer Streets Fund is a crime prevention programme, helping to prevent neighbourhood crime, violence against women and girls (VAWG) and anti-social behaviour (ASB) in public spaces to ensure the public is better protected.