Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available to help students in Knowsley access A-levels in other local authority areas.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department remains committed to ensuring that young people have access to an inclusive and extensive educational offer that adds value and helps them to achieve their long-term career aspirations.

Students from Knowsley can, and do, study A level provision in surrounding local authority areas. For example, Carmel and Riverside Colleges, both graded Ofsted Outstanding, are based in the surrounding boroughs of St Helens and Halton, and both provide subsidised transport for Knowsley students that reside more than 1.5 miles away from the college campuses.

All schools, academies, further education colleges, sixth-form colleges and other institutions that deliver 16 to 19 education are provided with 16 to 19 bursary funding, to deliver financial support to help students who could not otherwise afford to take part in education to overcome specific barriers to participation, including cost travel costs.

Additionally, through devolution, the government has given Mayoral Strategic Authorities the powers to set local transport priorities and ensure services meet residents’ needs, including support for young people’s access to education.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) paying Extended Producer Responsibility fees on packaging supplied indirectly to business end users and (b) producers being charged for commercial waste disposal of that packaging on those producers.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

In autumn last year my department published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) scheme on packaging producers as a whole, when the regulations were laid in parliament.

We are aware of industry concerns around producers being charged pEPR disposal fees for the management of packaging that is disposed of in commercial streams. At a roundtable with industry chaired by Minister Creagh on 10 June it was agreed to establish an industry led group to develop approaches to remove dual use packaging that is unlikely to end up in household waste stream from obligation. This work is now well advanced, and my department is carefully reviewing proposed approaches and will seek to balance sectoral ambitions against the operational integrity of the scheme.  We will continue to engage with industry during this process as we seek to establish a final approach.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools in surrounding areas Knowsley A-level students are attending.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The 2024/25 Individualised Learner Record and school census data shows that Knowsley students are undertaking A level learning aims at the following schools and colleges:

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to respond to the Putting Fans First consultation, which closed on 4 April 2025.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The government response to "Putting fans first: consultation on the resale of live events tickets" was published on 19 November. The government response sets out new measures to end the scourge of ticket touting and put fans back at the heart of live events - including a resale price cap which will make it illegal to resell a ticket for more than it was originally purchased for.

A copy of the government response can be found at: Putting fans first: consultation on the resale of live events tickets - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what methods of transport Knowsley A-level students use to get to school; and what the (a) times and (b) costs of their commutes are.

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

The Department for Transport does not hold the level of data requested.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of Knowsley A-level students have commutes exceeding 45 minutes each way.

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

The Department for Transport does not hold the level of data requested.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of transport costs on Knowsley students’ ability to access A-level education.

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

The Government knows how important affordable public transport services are in enabling young people to get to education. The Government has taken action to keep the cost of travel lower, for example, by introducing a £3 cap on single bus fares in England outside London. We confirmed at the Spending Review that this would be extended until March 2027.

As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the Government allocated over £1 billion to support and improve bus services in 2025/26. This includes £712 million for local authorities, this can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has been allocated £20.9 million of this funding. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, which could include introducing new fares initiatives to reduce the cost of bus travel for young people. This is already the case in Liverpool City Region, where a £2 bus fare cap is in place.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of A-level students in Knowsley use public transport to get to school.

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

The Department for Transport does not hold the level of data requested.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring that the Fair Funding Review will ensure that the most deprived areas of the country will see the biggest increases in funding.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government published the local government finance policy statement Local government finance policy statement 2026-27 to 2028-29 - GOV.UK and government response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 on Thursday 20 November which set out the government’s plans to introduce a fairer and evidence-led system, that will realign funding with need and deprivation.

The government has used the most robust and up to date evidence available. On this basis, we are now using data from the recently published 2025 Indices of Multiple Deprivation in our assessment of need.

We expect that by 2028-29, the top 10% most deprived authorities will see a significant increase in their Core Spending Power per head, compared to the least deprived.

We will publish provisional local authority allocations at the upcoming provisional multi-year Settlement in December. Proposals and allocations will be subject to consultation and the usual Parliamentary process.

Found: Central and Acton) Natasha Irons (Labour; Croydon East) Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat; Eastleigh) Anneliese Midgley