Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) cost and (b) duration are for the contract between his Department and Serco Marine Services for the support vessels (i) SD Victoria and (ii) SD Northern River.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
SD Victoria and SD Northern River currently operate under the Serco Continued Procurement of Marine Services contract which expires on 30 September 2025. From 1 October 2025, the two vessels will operate the under the Serco Defence Marine Service Offshore to Military Training Contract. This contract was awarded on the 14 May 2025 following a competitive procurement process. The Contract has a duration of 10 years and a cost of £94 million.
The Ministry of Defence has no live maritime service contracts with subsidiaries of Serco.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Strategic Defence Review on the (a) budget and (b) headcount of the (i) UK Hydrographic Office and (ii) National Shipbuilding Office.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) sets a path for the next decade and beyond to transform Defence and make the UK stronger both at home and abroad. The Government endorses the Review's vision and accepts all 62 recommendations.
The potential impact of the SDR on the budget and headcount of the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is that, as an arm's length body and trading fund, the SDR has no significant impact on existing UKHO budget and headcount that have not been accounted for within the corporate planning process.
The potential impact of the SDR on the budget and headcount of the National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) is yet to be determined. The NSO continues to be this Government's driver for shipbuilding activity both on Government shipbuilding programmes and across the commercial and civil sector.
We will be in a better position to understand this once work on the Defence Investment Plan completes later this year.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the transfer of Stirling Castle from the Royal Fleet Auxillary to the Royal Navy on the operational capacity of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The transfer of Stirling Castle from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) to the Royal Navy allows the RFA to direct its resources to crew and maintain other vessels in its inventory, optimising readiness to support Defence’s outputs.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding will be reprioritised away from (a) journalism, (b) media studies, (c) publishing and (d) information services courses in the most recent Strategic Priorities Grant; and to which subject areas that funding has been reallocated.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Easington to the answer of 22 July 2025 to Question 67279.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated through the Strategic Priorities Grant to (a) journalism, (b) media studies, (c) publishing and (d) information services courses in each of the last three years.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Easington to the answer of 22 July 2025 to Question 67279.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with the (a) National Council for the Training of Journalists and (b) National Union of Journalists on the Strategic Priorities Grant funding changes for journalism education.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Easington to the answer of 16 July 2025 to Question 63373.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to high-cost subject funding on student access to (a) journalism and (b) publishing courses.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Easington to the answer of 16 July 2025 to Question 63373.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Strategic Priorities Grant funding changes on long-term skills provision in (a) journalism and (b) publishing.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Easington to the answer of 16 July 2025 to Question 63373.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 64014 on Food Supply, by what metrics his Department (a) measures and (b) forecasts annual domestic food production.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra produces a comprehensive set of metrics to measure annual domestic food production but does not produce forecasts of domestic food production. These statistics cover a wide range of indicators, including:
These metrics are publicly available in either the annual publication "Agriculture in the United Kingdom" at Agriculture in the United Kingdom - GOV.UK or on the Food & Farming Statistics publication page at Food, Farming and Bio-security statistics - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2025 to Question 34243, Prisons: Education, what guidance was given to her Department by (a) HM Treasury and (b) other Departments on the application of New Fair Deal to prison educators transferring from further education colleges to the private sector as a result of new Prison Education Service contracts.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department followed guidance from His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT), at the time of tender publication, and included all the relevant details to bidders on the application of the New Fair Deal (NFD) in the Invitation to Tender documentation.
Further information can be found using the following links: Prisoner Education Services Panel (Inc. Core Education) - Find a Tender (find-tender.service.gov.uk) and Procurement for the Provision of Prisoner Education Services (Careers Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG)) - Find a Tender.
Once HMT policy on pensions was announced on 14 November 2024, all contracts were awarded to suppliers to include the application of NFD to transferring educators.