Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to ensure fairness in the operation of the tax system.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
It is right that everyone contributes to sustainable public finances and the government is ensuring those with the broadest shoulders pay their fair share.
Spring Budget took steps to tackle non-compliance and improve HMRC’s ability to collect tax debts.
Because of our commitment over 13 years to help the lowest earners, people can now earn over £1000 a month free from income tax or National Insurance.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the National Tutoring Programme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Since 2020, the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) has delivered over 3 million courses of tutoring to pupils most in need of catch up following the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is extensive evidence that tutoring is one of the most effective ways to accelerate academic progress. This is why the Department is providing more than £1 billion for tutoring, so that pupils can catch up through accessing high quality tuition.
The Year 2 Implementation and Process Evaluation report explored the implementation of the NTP, particularly the School Led Tutoring (SLT) route, which was new in the 2021/22 academic year. It also explored teacher and leader perceptions of whether the NTP has affected workloads, the effect of the NTP on pupil premium spend on tutoring, reasons for non engagement in the NTP overall or its individual routes, and perceptions of impact on pupils, staff and schools.
The Year 2 Implementation and Process evaluation report was published in October 2022 and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-tutoring-programme-year-2-implementation-and-process-evaluation.
The Year 2 Implementation and Process Evaluation report found most school leaders were satisfied with the NTP programme overall, and with the individual routes they were participating in. It found that all three routes of the NTP were perceived by head teachers to be having a positive effect on pupils’ attainment, self-confidence, and helping them catch up with their peers. It also found that most schools were prioritising pupil premium eligible pupils for tutoring across all routes.
The Year 2 Implementation and Process Evaluation compliments a quantitative impact evaluation, which explores the impact of NTP in its second year on educational attainment outcomes for pupils. This is due to be published in the autumn, alongside the Year 3 Implementation and Process Evaluation.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of road conditions.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department takes the condition of our roads very seriously, and is providing £5.5 billion of highways maintenance capital funding for English local highways authorities over this Parliament. It is also working with the British Standards Institute and the Transport Research Laboratory to develop a new standard for assessing road condition. This will help authorities identify, assess, and deal with road defects, including potholes.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association on the future of Castle Armoury in Bury.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Army has recently received a proposal from the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association (RFCA) which it looks forward to discussing further with the RFCA and partners across Defence. To date, the Army has considered that Castle Armoury will still be required in the future for training.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on countering foreign disinformation in the UK.
Answered by Suella Braverman
Countering foreign disinformation – which seeks to subvert and undermine the UK’s democracy, prosperity, and security – is vital.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology holds overall responsibility for countering disinformation and is the convening department that coordinates cross-government capabilities.
The Home Office works closely with DSIT and others in the coordinated effort to protect the UK.
The National Security Bill - currently making its way through this House - will further strengthen our ability to counter hostile state threats.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support nuclear technology companies.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government provides a range of support to nuclear technology companies. This includes:
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his policy to support mandatory reformulation of foods high in saturated fat, salt and sugar to improve their nutritional profile by reducing those elements.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government is delivering mandatory policies which support the reformulation of foods high in saturated fat, salt or sugar. These include the soft drinks industry levy and restrictions on the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in-store and online. The Government also has a voluntary programme on reduction and reformulation to encourage the food industry to gradually and incrementally lower the levels of sugar, salt and calories in everyday foods and to stimulate the production of healthier products without consumers having to make changes.
In addition, we will be implementing restrictions on the sale of less healthy products by volume price from 1 October 2023, and restrictions on the advertising of less healthy products before 9pm on television and paid-for advertising of less healthy products online from 1 October 2025, restrictions which are also expected to support the reformulation of foods high in saturated fat, salt or sugar.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
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 reduce childhood obesity.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish on 20 January 2023 to Question 119899.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral statement on Security Threat to UK-Based Journalists of 20 February 2023, Official Report columns 49-51, what steps she is taking to help protect the safety of the Jewish community.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
We take any threat to the UK-based Jewish community extremely seriously. As the Security Minister said in this House on 20 February, we are taking significant steps to address the activities of the Iranian regime and its operatives in the UK – whether those activities are threatening the Jewish community or any individuals or organisations in this country. However, the community should be alert but not alarmed.
In April 2022, the then Home Secretary announced continuation of the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant for 2022-23 (for £14 million) which provides protective security measures at various Jewish community sites. In November we circulated protective security messaging to charity Community Security Trust to help keep the Jewish community aware of the threat posed by Iran, and signpost towards the government’s online security advice hubs.
More broadly, we take a proactive approach to countering the most acute forms of state-directed physical threats to individuals in the UK. Working through our police forces – both national and regional – as well as the agencies that support them, we seek to identify those communities and individuals who may be most at risk, and to provide them with the right protective security guidance, and other measures where appropriate.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral statement on Security Threat to UK-Based Journalists of 20 February 2023, Official Report columns 49-51, what recent discussions (a) she and (b) her Department have had with representatives of the Community Security Trust on potential threats to the Jewish community.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Security Minister recently met with representatives of the Community Security Trust on 27 February, for a very useful discussion on certain security issues affecting the Jewish community.
We recognise that the Community Security Trust remains a highly trusted and expert delivery partner of HMG, with considerable experience of providing protective security for the Jewish community.