Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were unable to get a place at their catchment school for (a) primary and (b) secondary education in Wansbeck constituency in the 2023-2024 academic year.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold information on the criteria under which school places are offered or refused, such as being within catchment area. The administration of the coordinated offer process, by which school applications are processed and offers made, are the responsibility of the local authorities.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inland bathing water site applications were received in 2022; and how many and what proportion of those applications were accepted.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2022 Defra received 16 bathing water applications for inland sites. Three of these sites were designated as bathing waters: Rutland Water Whitwell Creek, Rutland Water Sykes Lane and an area of the River Deben Estuary at Waldringfield, Suffolk.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many of Royal Mail's delivery routes have changed as a result of the adoption of electric vehicles.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Royal Mail is a private company, and the Government does not have a role in its operational decisions including the deployment of electric vehicles and administration of delivery routes.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to support rural bus services in (a) Wansbeck constituency, (b) Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency, (c) Blyth Valley constituency, (d) Hexham constituency, (e) Northumberland and (f) the rest of the North East.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is investing over £2 billion in funding for Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs). This includes £1 billion from redirected HS2 funding to level up bus services in the North and Midlands as part of Network North.
The support provided for bus services (including rural bus services) in the North East is £175 million, covering both the North East Combined Authority (NECA) and the North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA).
This figure includes both BSIP funding and Network North BSIP funding up to March 2025.
In addition, our £20 million Rural Mobility Fund (RMF) is supporting 16 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas across 16 local authorities in England. These pilots are exploring whether Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) can serve these communities more effectively than traditional public transport solutions alone.
On top of this, we have announced that a new uplift of 60% will be added to Community Transport Operators’ (CTOs) Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) claims until 31 March 2025.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of franchising bus services for communities in the North East.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government will support any Local Transport Authority (LTA) wishing to franchise their bus services, including those in the North East. The Transport Act 2000 provides automatic access to franchising powers for Mayoral Combined Authorities in England. Other authorities can request those powers but need to demonstrate that franchising is the best option to deliver improvements for passengers. It is for an LTA to conduct an assessment of any proposed franchising scheme for their area.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to research conducted by Friends of the Earth published on 28 November 2023, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the findings on changes to bus service levels in the North East.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government provided over £2 billion in emergency and recovery funding from March 2020 to June 2023 to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic and help protect services. Due to this funding, bus service mileage in England outside London remained at approximately 80% of pre-COVID levels in 2020/21, despite patronage dropping to 10% of pre-pandemic levels during the height of the pandemic.
To continue to support bus services in the North East, the Prime Minister announced £1 billion to deliver better services in the Midlands and North as part of Network North. Of the initial £150 million allocation, the North East will receive £11.2 million and details on future allocation will be published in due course.
In May, we announced a long-term approach to protect and improve bus services backed by an additional £300 million from July 2023 until April 2025. This funding is in addition to the £163 million the Government is providing to the North East to help local areas level up their bus services and deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plan. Local transport authorities and bus operators in the North East receive funding under the Bus Service Operator Grant to keep fares down and run services that might otherwise be unprofitable and could lead to cancellation. To support this, the Government provides up to £259 million annually for the national scheme.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the final report of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, published in May 2022, what estimate her Department has made of the potential savings to the public purse of the recommendation to provide a financial allowance to all (a) special guardians and (b) kinship carers with a child arrangements order.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of the commitment outlined in 'Stable Homes Built on Love,' the department is exploring the feasibility of introducing a new financial allowance for kinship carers with a special guardianship order or child arrangements order. Further details will be shared in due course.
The department is in the final stages of drafting its kinship strategy, which outlines plans to enhance support for all kinship families in England. This strategy will complement the existing support initiatives offered by the department, such as the peer-to-peer support service and the upcoming training and support programme set to launch next year.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of people working in the social care sector.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help prevent the cancellation of court hearings at short notice.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The trend in Crown Court vacated (i.e. cancelled) trials is improving. Following the Crown Court Improvement Group update in January, we have seen 27% fewer vacated trials compared to the same period before the Bar Strike.
While short notice postponements are undesirable, they are not always avoidable.
Judges are responsible for listing. Most cases that are vacated are done so in excess of 10 days from hearing date, as we always aim to keep short notice postponements to a minimum.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions she has had with (a) businesses, (b) devolved administrations and (c) Trade Union Congress on methods to reduce the number of workers on zero-hour contracts.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, they are useful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For this small group, a zero hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.
Research from CIPD found that 62% of zero hours contract workers are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs, which is similar to the proportion of employees as a whole (66%)
(2022).