Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with Birmingham City Council on preventative maintenance regarding potholes.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

It is the Council’s responsibility to manage its local highways including with respects to preventive maintenance and repairing potholes.

However, the Government is committed to working with the Council to achieve a smooth transition away from its PFI arrangements for its local highways. As part of this, the Department has engaged the Council on its future plans for maintaining its local highways.

More widely, the Department has published a new rating system for every highway authority in England, where they each receive a red, amber or green rating based on the condition of their roads, how much they are spending to maintain it, and whether they do so using best practice, including by adopting more preventative maintenance. The ratings, which will be updated periodically, provide an incentive for councils to adopt more preventative maintenance, and enable the Department to provide targeted support to authorities to help them adopt best practice.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to improve access to arts and culture for young people in the West Midlands.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people can access high-quality arts and culture.

Between 2023/24 and 2025/26, Arts Council England invested over £170 million in arts organisations and projects across the West Midlands, including almost £40 million supporting children and young people. This funding supports initiatives such as Powered by CAN in Sandwell, which develops creative opportunities and career pathways; Big Brum Theatre in Education, one of the most established Theatre in Education companies in the UK; and Wolverhampton’s City of Youth Culture programme, helping more young people engage with arts, culture and creative activities across the region.

Nationally, the government is committed to revitalising arts education through a reformed curriculum and support for teachers, including via the new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, due to be established by September 2026. To increase access to enrichment opportunities across culture, sport, and wider youth sectors for disadvantaged young people, the Every Child Can programme, backed by £132.5 million in dormant assets through the National Lottery Community Fund, will fund activities within schools and in communities at weekends and in the holidays, ensuring enrichment is a common entitlement for all.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether guidance has been issued to Birmingham City Council on maintaining non-digital access routes for digitally excluded residents.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

Everybody should be able to access the public services they need with ease.

While local authorities – including Birmingham City Council – have autonomy for how they design and deliver services, all public bodies must comply with the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018, the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty, which require them to consider the needs of disabled people and ensure their websites and apps are accessible to all users.

Councils are encouraged to adopt the government Service Standard and Service Manual, as a framework and guidance for good, accessible and inclusive service design.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support biodiversity in Royal Sutton Coldfield.

Answered by Mary Creagh

This Government has supported the West Midlands Combined Authority to develop the West Midlands Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), which covers Royal Sutton Coldfield. This brought local stakeholders together to agree priorities to help nature recover and support locally and nationally important species. The West Midlands LNRS will help groups and individuals target action with the most impact for biodiversity.

Discussions with Birmingham City Council regarding agri-environment schemes and developer-funded support to improve Sutton Park’s facilities and management, are helping restore biodiversity while managing increased recreational pressure from new housing developments.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to support the work of (a) emergency and (b) short term foster carers in Royal Sutton Coldfield.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department recognises the incredible work and commitment of emergency and short-term foster carers in providing stability and support for children.

Foster carers play an essential role in children’s lives, and the department remains committed to strengthening support for them.

To achieve this, the department has launched a consultation on updated national standards and guidance for fostering. These standards apply across all fostering arrangements, including emergency, short-term, long-term, short-break and parent-and-child placements.

The standards set clearer expectations for fostering services to provide foster carers with high-quality training, support, multidisciplinary expertise and early intervention, helping to prevent placement breakdown and improve carer retention. They reinforce these expectations for short-break care, emphasising effective information-sharing and supporting relationships between carers, children and families to provide continuity across repeated stays.

Alongside this, the department is investing in the Mockingbird Family Model to expand access to enhanced support and peer networks for foster carers.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help increase economic growth in Royal Sutton Coldfield.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

We want people in all corners and nations of the UK to feel the benefits of economic growth so we can raise living standards and ensure opportunities are felt everywhere. We have the right economic plan to do exactly that, particularly through devolution, investment and reform.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act has put Mayoral Strategic Authorities on a statutory footing for the first time, cementing a base of devolved powers through the devolution framework. Royal Sutton Coldfield falls within West Midlands Combined Authority, which benefits from government funding. WMCA will receive at least £2.5 billion in funding for 26-27 to 29-30 through their integrated settlement.

They will also receive investment through the Transport for City Regions Fund, improving transport to the city hubs, investment in HS2, the £3 bus fare cap and investment from the British Business Bank, all of which will support growth in the area.

Royal Sutton Coldfield will also benefit from the Pride in Place programme, which will provide up to £20m over 10 years. The fund will target investment to communities that need it most, addressing the visible decline on high streets and the wider public realm. Local areas will be able to decide where to invest, including things like youth clubs, libraries, community grocers, cultural venues, and health and wellbeing services.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide additional funding for West Midlands Police to help address low level crime during the summer months.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

West Midlands Police will receive up to £883.9 million in 2026-27, an increase of up to £36.9 million when compared to 2025-26.

Decisions on how funding and resources are utilised are an operational matter for Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, who are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust spent on agency staff in each of the last five years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table shows the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust’s spend on agency/contract staff since 2021/22, according to University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust’s last five published annual reports and accounts:

Figures for 2025/26 are still subject to audit and will be finalised and published in due course.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with Birmingham City Council on improving water safety at Sutton Park.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Responsibility for water safety and drowning prevention is shared across a range of organisations, including local authorities, emergency services, regulators, education partners and landowners. Defra's role primarily relates to the water environment and oversight of relevant arm's-length bodies. Defra supports the Environment Agency and Canal and River Trust, which undertake risk assessments and public safety campaigns to help people stay safe around water.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help improve water safety measures at Sutton Park.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Responsibility for water safety and drowning prevention is shared across a range of organisations, including local authorities, emergency services, regulators, education partners and landowners. Defra's role primarily relates to the water environment and oversight of relevant arm's-length bodies. Defra supports the Environment Agency and Canal and River Trust, which undertake risk assessments and public safety campaigns to help people stay safe around water.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of mobile signal coverage gaps in the West Midlands.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

Ofcom is responsible for reporting on mobile network coverage across the UK through their Connected Nations Reports and Map Your Mobile tool. Utilising the Connected Nations data, trends in how coverage has evolved over time can be determined.

As of January 2026, by aggregating the coverage in the 30 local and unitary authorities in the West Midlands region, 93.6% of the West Midlands has 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile operators (as defined by Ofcom), while standalone 5G is available outside of 93.2% of premises from at least one operator. This is means 4G coverage increased from 92.9% in July 2025, and standalone 5G coverage rose quite substantially from 80.5% over the same period.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate he has made of the number of households in fuel poverty in the Birmingham City Council area.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The latest sub-regional fuel poverty data were published in May 2026, these estimated the level of fuel poverty in 2024, under the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) metric. The Birmingham Local Authority had an estimated fuel poverty rate of 13.8% (60,832 households) in 2024, which is higher than the overall fuel poverty rate in England of 9.9%.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support AI development in the West Midlands.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

The Government recognises that artificial intelligence is one of the most significant opportunities of our time, and we are determined to ensure that its benefits are felt in every part of the country, including the West Midlands.

In January 2025, the Government set out an ambitious plan for the UK to lead in shaping the AI revolution, transforming outcomes for people, public services and the economy.

One year on, that plan is delivering. We have met 38 of the AI Action Plan’s 50 commitments, enabling faster AI adoption, tangible progress across public services and the foundations for economic growth.

We are also providing free AI training for all and will provide 10 million workers with essential AI skills by 2030, with the aim to make the UK the fastest adopting AI country in the G7. Through these initiatives and others, we will drive economic opportunity and support workers to adapt and thrive in workplaces across the UK, including communities in the West Midlands.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions Home Office officials have had with West Midlands Police regarding increased anti social behaviour during school holidays.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government’s police reforms will protect and strengthen neighbourhood policing by freeing local forces, including West Midlands Police, from national responsibilities so they can focus on issues that matter most locally, like anti-social behaviour (ASB). Every police force in England and Wales now has an ASB lead in place who will work with communities, stakeholders and the general public to implement their individual ASB Action Plans, which were published at the start of April. Further information on the West Midlands Police ASB Action Plan can be found here: https://www.westmidlands.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/asb/asb/antisocial-behaviour/antisocial-behaviour-action-plan/

Through the Crime and Policing Act, we are making our streets and neighbourhoods safer by strengthening the powers available to the police and other agencies to tackle ASB. Our new Respect Orders will give local agencies stronger enforcement capability to tackle the most relentless adult ASB offenders.

We are also strengthening the powers available to the police and other local agencies by increasing the upper limit for fixed penalty notices for breaches of CPNs and PSPOs from £100 to £500, increasing the time a dispersal direction can be implemented for from 48 to 72 hours and giving registered social housing providers the power to issue closure notices, amongst others.

Home Office officials have had no specific discussions with West Midlands Police about increased ASB during school holidays.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that older people can engage in community sports in Royal Sutton Coldfield.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including older people, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities to stay fit and healthy.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through DCMS’s Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Their ten-year Uniting the Movement strategy reinforces their commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for those from under-represented groups, including older people.

Sport England also provides support for grassroots sport through the Movement Fund, which offers crowdfunding pledges, grants and resources to improve physical activity opportunities for the people and communities who need it the most, including older people.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with (a) Swim England and (b) the Royal Life Saving Society UK on the potential merits of including additional water safety lessons in the PE national curriculum.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Following the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government committed to reviewing the swimming and water safety content within the PE national curriculum to support more consistent, high-quality provision across schools. The department works closely with sector organisations, including Swim England, the Royal Life Saving Society UK and the National Water Safety Education Working Group, to support schools through high-quality resources, teacher training and curriculum development.

Through both the revised PE curriculum and the updated statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum, pupils will be taught how to stay safe around water, supporting the development of a vital life skill from primary school onwards. Together, the PE and RSHE curricula will help ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to develop the practical competence and safety knowledge needed to be safer in different water environments. Stakeholders will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft PE curriculum during the public consultation later this year.

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