Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to reduce congestion on key commuter routes in the West Midlands.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is supporting improvements to public transport connectivity across the West Midlands through the £2.4 billion Transport for City Regions settlement allocated to the West Midlands Combined Authority through to 2031/32.
This devolved funding gives the Combined Authority, and the Mayor, the flexibility to determine local transport investment priorities, including those that improve connectivity and help tackle congestion on key commuter routes across the region.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to release Family Court Statistics with a regional breakdown.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice already publishes Family Court Statistics with regional breakdowns. The Family Court Statistics Quarterly releases include CSV datasets containing regional-level information for a range of family justice measures across England and Wales, including volumes, open caseload and timeliness metrics. They are available here: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.
The Department will continue to keep its statistical releases under review to ensure it meets user needs.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of young people that will benefit from the Youth Guarantee Gateway scheme in Royal Sutton Coldfield over the next 5 years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
With over one million young people not in education, employment and training, this Government will not leave an entire generation of young people behind. The Government is investing an additional £2.5 billion over the next three years into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy.
This investment will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn, including through expanded network of Youth Hubs, earlier intensive support in Job Centres through a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, additional work experience and training opportunities, a £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant and £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for employers, and a fully funded six month job for long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds.
We also recognise the crisis of participation that Alan Milburn has so clearly laid out in his interim report. We will use this interim report to continue to build our reforms and look forward to final recommendations in the Autumn.
In total, over the next three years almost one million young people on Universal Credit and looking for work in Great Britain will benefit from the Youth Guarantee Gateway receiving a dedicated work support session, followed by four additional weeks of intensive support.
The Department does not forecast demand at a constituency level. All young people in Royal Sutton Coldfield who are eligible will benefit from the Youth Guarantee Gateway.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 wildlife conservation sites in the West Midlands.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra published its updated protected sites Environment Act target delivery plan on the 16 July here to support the improvement of protected sites across the country, including the West Midlands.
Natural England (NE) monitors protected sites to ensure these are managed appropriately and advises land managers on suitable funding schemes to improve site condition.
NE maintains mapping systems and datasets such SSSI Impact Risk Zones to help local authorities and developers avoid harm to sites and target conservation efforts.
Biodiversity Net Gain supports wildlife sites by ensuring that new developments leave biodiversity in a better state than before.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Birmingham City Council regarding local residential and nursing care capacity.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes using local population and market data to inform commissioning decisions and drawing on providers’ insights into local market sustainability and workforce pressures to ensure that people have a choice of appropriate and high quality care services in their local area.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the full time equivalent police officer workforce was on the most recent date for which data is available in West Midlands Police; and if she will forecast the expected numbers for the next 5 years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales. Information on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers, police staff and designated officers, and police community support officers (PCSOs) is broken down by Police Force Area in England and Wales. The latest data, for West Midlands Police, as at 30 September 2025, is available in Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3 of the accompanying data tables: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6978e47175d4437096552078/police-workforce-sep25-tables-280126.ods. Data on the police workforce as at 31 March 2026 will be published on 22 July 2026. From 1 April 2026, this Government has removed the requirement for forces to achieve a target number of officers. This gives Chief Constables, PCCs and Mayors with PCC functions the flexibility to manage their budgets to provide a workforce with the right blend of officers and staff, that delivers the best operational outcomes for the communities they serve. The Government does not maintain forecasts of officer numbers over future years. Forces will make individual decisions on the shape of their workforce in light of future funding arrangements. |
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many long-term unemployed 18–21-year-olds have been enrolled on the new national Jobs Guarantee scheme in Birmingham.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Phase One of the Jobs Guarantee commenced in May and will be followed by national rollout from November 2026. The information requested is planned for future publication and will be made available in due course.
Birmingham and Solihull is one of six Phase One areas where support is being offered first. In Birmingham and Solihull, DWP has partnered with Catch-22 to deliver the Jobs Guarantee and referrals started in May. Long-term unemployed young people who are enrolled on the scheme will be provided six months of paid employment alongside wraparound support and training.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the National Highways agency on improving lorry parking facilities in the Midlands.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The department engages regularly with National Highways on improving lorry parking provision and driver welfare facilities across England, including in the Midlands.
Through the HGV Parking and Driver Welfare Match Funding Grant Scheme and National Highways' Lorry Parking Facilities Improvements Scheme, 62 sites across the Midlands since 2022, have received funding to enhance parking capacity, strengthen security measures, and improve facilities for HGV drivers.
The National Highways Scheme remains open to eligible lorry parking operators to improve driver welfare facilities, site security and lorry parking capacity.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of parents eligible for the Free Childcare for Working Parents scheme have accessed the scheme in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The latest January 2026 statistics on funded early education and childcare were published on 2 July and can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2026.
These statistics show an estimated 85% of eligible children aged 9 months to 4 years were registered for the working parent entitlement. However, as stated on the methodology page, it is not possible to calculate sub-national estimates for this measure due to data/sample size limitations.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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.