Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the Legal Aid Agency paid in fees to (a) Kingsley Napley LLP, (b) Leigh Day LLP, (c) Wilson Solicitors LLP, (d) Bindmans LLP and (e) Duncan Lewis LLP in (i) 2021-22, (ii) 2022-23, (iii) 2023-24 and (iv) 2024-25.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information for financial years 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-24 can be found in the table below:
| 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Bindmans LLP | £2,889,044.98 | £3,567,543.29 | £3,434,244.42 |
Duncan Lewis Solicitor LTD | £29,281,007.13 | £26,328,354.77 | £33,111,592.51 |
Kingsley Napley LLP | £1,103.00 | £19,784.00 | £25,553.00 |
Leigh Day | £1,033,994.11 | £761,937.35 | £525,154.12 |
Wilson Solicitors LLP | £3,713,641.93 | £2,616,516.78 | £3,859,081.76 |
Information relating to closed case expenditure in legal aid funded cases is published on a quarterly basis as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s Official Statistics. Data relating to financial year 24-25 is due for publication on June 2026.
Information broken down by financial year, legal aid provider, and type of legal aid can be viewed on the Provider explorer dashboard of the Legal aid provider completions and starts statistics data visualisation tool.
Please note that Kingsley Napley LLP no longer hold a legal aid contract. The firm withdrew from its criminal legal aid contract on 15 September 2023 and its civil legal aid contract on 31 August 2024. Expenditure in subsequent years represents bills paid relating to work carried out whilst the contract was live.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing student loans for apprentices.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Apprenticeships are jobs with training, allowing apprentices to earn a wage whilst getting hands-on industry experience. Apprenticeships training is funded by the government and by employers, meaning that apprentices do not have to pay towards the cost of their training. For this reason, apprentices are not eligible for student finance, but we remain committed to ensuring that apprentice wages support the attraction of talented individuals into apprenticeships.
On 1 April 2025, the Apprentice National Minimum Wage (ANMW) increased by 18% to £7.55 per hour, from £6.40, which will help to encourage more young people to upskill via apprenticeships. Apprentices under 19, or aged 19 and above and in the first year of their apprenticeship, are entitled to the ANMW. In all other cases, apprentices must receive at least the correct national minimum wage for their age, although many employers choose to pay more than the minimum.
This government also wants to ensure that more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds can undertake apprenticeships. We continue to pay a bursary of £3,000 to apprentices under the age of 25 who have been, or are, in local authority care. The bursary is paid in instalments over the first year of the apprenticeship, supporting care leavers as they transition into employment.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) develop and (b) implement in-classroom screening tools for dyslexia; and if she will include those tools in the (i) training and (ii) resources provided to teachers.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The statutory guidance ‘SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years’ is clear that meeting the needs of a child with special educational needs (SEN) does not require a diagnostic label or test. Instead, the department expects teachers to monitor the progress of all pupils and put support in place where needed. The full guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25.
The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with specific learning difficulties. As part of this, the department is considering both international evidence and best practice in its policymaking on SEN, with a focus on strengthening the evidence base on what works to identify and support needs in mainstream settings, including for specific learning difficulties.
The department has also commissioned evidence reviews from University College London, which will highlight what the best available evidence suggests are the most effective tools, strategies and approaches for teachers and other relevant staff in mainstream settings to identify and support children and young people (age 0 to 25) with different types of needs.
In November 2024, the department established the Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group, chaired by Professor Karen Guldberg from Birmingham University, to provide an expert view and make recommendations on how to best meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people within mainstream education settings. The group brings together experts including clinicians, scientists and academics, education professionals, and charities representing specific types of neurodivergence. We have been clear that in developing their advice, we expect the group to draw on a wide range of inputs, including other sector experts and stakeholders, to ensure appropriate coverage of other types of neurodivergence. The group will also listen to the voices of neurodivergent children and young people, their parents, and others who care for them.
The initial teacher training and early career framework, which replaces the core content framework and early career framework from September 2025 and underpins what all new teachers should learn, contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND. The adaptive teaching content includes, for example, developing an understanding of different pupil needs, and learning how to provide opportunities for success for all pupils.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with Portsmouth City Council on their voluntary position on the Devolution Priority Programme.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Portsmouth City Council joined the Devolution Priority Programme alongside Southampton Council, Hampshire County Council and the Isle of Wight Council earlier this year. I met with local leaders across the region, including Portsmouth City Council, on 4 February to discuss their application to the programme and on 1 April as part of a visit to the area. Baroness Taylor of Stevenage also met with local leaders on 17 December. Throughout these past months, I have also been in regular communication with local leaders through correspondence and my officials meet with officers across the region regularly to support them in delivering devolution to the most ambitious timeframe.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to set material-specific collection targets for local authorities under the Simpler Recycling reforms.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to reducing waste by transitioning to a circular economy. To support the Government in achieving this goal, a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts has been established from across government, industry, academia, and civil society to help us develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England.
The taskforce will consider the evidence for sector-specific interventions from right across the economy and will be exploring a wide range of levers to drive circularity, including targets.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to utilise private sector capacity to (a) reduce backlogs and (b) improve services in the NHS; and if he will ensure that the NHS remains free at the point of use.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Independent sector providers have a role to play in supporting the National Health Service as trusted partners to recover elective services by using additional capacity to tackle the backlog, whilst delivering value for money. The independent sector plays a vital role in supporting hospitals to get on top of the backlog, so we can deliver more than 100,000 elective appointments and procedures every week for NHS patients.
In January 2025, the NHS and the independent sector established a partnership agreement, the first of its kind for 25 years, setting out how we will work together to reduce the elective care waiting list. This will see more NHS patients able to choose to be treated in a private hospital where there is capacity, at no cost to patients. As a balanced agreement, the independent sector will support broader work to grow the overall elective workforce, provide training opportunities, and continue to meet the same high standards expected of all providers. It will also see the independent sector play a greater role in supporting the most challenged specialities, such as ear, nose, and throat and gynaecology, while helping to give patients in more deprived areas a greater choice of where and when they receive treatment.
The Government is steadfast in its commitment to the guiding principles of the NHS. The NHS will always be free at the point of use and will never be for sale to the private sector.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve (a) patient access to, (b) staff retention in and (c) recruitment to NHS dentistry in Portsmouth North constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Portsmouth North constituency, this is the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB.
ICBs have started to advertise posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years. As of 10 April 2025, in England, there are 53 dentists in post, with a further 44 dentists who have been recruited but are yet to start in post. Another 256 posts are currently advertised.
To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle the sale of illegal vapes in Portsmouth.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is investing £10 million of new funding into Trading Standards for 2025/26, to support the enforcement of illicit and underage tobacco and vape sales in England, and the implementation of the measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
The Trading Standards South East region, which includes Portsmouth, has been allocated funding for new apprentices to boost workforce capacity, alongside further funding for the storage and recycling of seized illicit vapes. The new funding will also support other activity, including additional work to identify and seize illicit vapes consignments at ports, and training for Trading Standards officers on the new single use vapes ban.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the evidential basis is that (a) growing and (b) reorganising Portsmouth City Council will increase it's financial stability.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government was elected on a manifesto that pledged to fix the foundations of local government alongside a transfer of power and funding out of Westminster through devolution. Local government reorganisation is central to this pledge, and we have set out the rationale for reorganisation in the English Devolution White Paper.
The local government reorganisation programme invites all councils in two tier areas and their neighbouring small unitary authorities to put forward reorganisations proposals. Accordingly, Portsmouth City Council, together with the twelve two tier councils in Hampshire, Isle of Wight Council and Southampton City Council, were invited to submit proposals for unitary local government. Existing district areas should be considered the building blocks for proposals, but where there is a strong justification more complex boundary changes will be considered. Ultimately it is for councils to develop robust and sustainable proposals that are in the best interests of their whole area.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) devolution and (b) local government reorganisation.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The overall case for devolution and local government reorganisation is set out the English Devolution White Paper.
The White Paper sets an ambitious new framework for English devolution, moving power out of Westminster and back to those who know their areas best. The government is committed to expanding devolution across England, devolving further powers to local leaders, those with local knowledge to drive economic growth and empower communities.
Devolution must be built upon strong foundations. That means creating clearer, more sustainable local government structures to unlock crucial efficiency savings, with more resources directed to the frontline. This reform will mean more accountable structures, making it much clearer for residents who they should look to on local issues, with fewer, but more empowered local political leaders, who can focus on delivering for residents. This government will not waste this opportunity to achieve stability for local government across England and increase value for money for council taxpayers, so they are no longer paying an inefficient two-tier premium.