Jim McMahon

Information on the effectiveness of public sector procurement with local suppliers in each English region is not held centrally.

This Government is determined to ensure public procurement delivers jobs, growth and investment across all regions of the UK. Our National Procurement Policy Statement encourages contracting authorities to consider how procurement can foster economic growth, support small businesses, strengthen UK supply chains and drive delivery of the Government’s Industrial Strategy and missions.

We are considering additional measures to further assist local suppliers and support British skills and jobs.

The Department for Business and Trade committed to launch a Call for Evidence on co-operative and mutual business. The Call for Evidence will focus on how the government can continue to support co-operative and mutual businesses, to start, grow and scale, as well as support for existing businesses who want to transition to become a co-operative or mutual.

DBT is also looking at how to integrate support for co-operatives and mutuals within the government’s overall approach for supporting SMEs, including what we can do via the Business Growth Service, and through DBT funded Growth Hubs (England only) which aim to support local businesses, including co-operative and mutuals.

The Department for Business and Trade committed to launch a Call for Evidence on co-operative and mutual business. The Call for Evidence will focus on how the government can continue to support co-operative and mutual businesses, to start, grow and scale, as well as support for existing businesses who want to transition to become a co-operative or mutual.

As part of this, we will be collecting data on existing business support for co-operatives and mutuals, including, but not limited to government funded support.

Together with local and community energy groups and other key stakeholders from devolved governments to mayoral strategic authorities, Great British Energy and the UK government will turbocharge support for local and community energy projects across the UK.

Great British Energy will work closely with Local Authorities to provide commercial, technical and project-planning assistance to increase their capability and capacity to build a pipeline of successful projects in their local areas.

Mayoral Strategic Authorities also have a vital role in offering local expertise with their communities and in July, Great British Energy awarded all 14 mayoral strategic authorities in England a share of £10 million in grant funding to roll out clean energy projects at the heart of their communities.

This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which we will publish in the autumn. We are considering all available levers, including social security reforms, to give every child the best start in life. The causes of child poverty are wide-ranging and deep-rooted, and so it is right that the Taskforce carefully considers and assesses the available levers as it develops this Strategy.

In the meantime, we are pressing ahead with action.

As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap.

In August, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.

The government recognises the contribution of co-operatives to the economy, serving local communities and ensuring the UK has a diverse business sector.

According to Co-operatives UK, there are 7,391 co-operatives operating in the UK with a combined annual income of £42.7bn. Co-operatives serve 16.6 million members - an increase of 1.4 million (9.5%) from 2024 levels - and employ almost 240,000 people.

The government is taking steps to support further growth the co-operative sector in line with its manifesto commitment to double the size of the co-operative and mutuals sector. This includes funding the Law Commission’s independent review of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, which will consider ways to update and modernise the Act. The review is expected to be published by the end of the 2025 and the government will carefully consider its findings before responding.

Additionally, at Mansion House 2024 the Chancellor set out a package of measures aimed at supporting the growth of the broader co-operative and mutuals sector. This included welcoming the establishment of the industry-led Mutuals and Co-operative Business Council and asking the PRA and FCA to produce a report on the mutuals landscape by the end of 2025.

The Department for Business and Trade has also announced a call for evidence which will explore business support for co-operatives and non-financial mutuals.

Together, these will support the growth of the co-operative sector in line with the manifesto commitment.

For the safety and security of those we accommodate and staff, it is our longstanding policy not to disclose information about sites which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office.

The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area. These statistics can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.

Police custody is overseen by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). HMICFRS published its most recent custody inspection report into Greater Manchester Police’s custody provision on 8 February 2023. The report identified six causes of concern and 13 areas for improvement, including one area for improvement focused on the safety and environment of the custody suites. A further review in December 2023 led HMICFRS to take the view that, in light of the progress that the force had made, the six areas of causes of concern could be reduced to the less serious category of areas for improvement.

National standards for police custody design, construction and refurbishment of police custody suites in England and Wales are set out in the Home Office Police Custody Design Guide, which provides guidance and national standards for police forces to adopt regarding police custody design and construction along with the refurbishment of existing suites.

Policing is operationally independent of Government. Chief Constables and elected Police and Crime Commissioners are responsible and accountable for the operational management of their force and for local resourcing and estates, including custody suites.

The Government inherited a record and rising courts backlog in the Crown Court. The impacts of a historic lack of investment in the criminal justice system and increased demand, due to more arrests and charging practices, means there is now also additional pressure on the magistrates’ courts.

We are committed to creating a more stable and sustainable criminal justice system, in which victims and the public can have confidence. We continue to build capacity in the magistrates’ courts, with 14,636 magistrates in post as of April 2025 across England and Wales, and we are uplifting our recruitment programme to bring in up to 2,000 new and diverse magistrates over the next 12 months. In addition, we are recruiting greater numbers of legal advisers to ensure our courts remain resilient.

In Greater Manchester, strong collaboration with criminal justice partners is driving improvements in efficiency and performance. Key areas of focus include police file quality, listing reviews to optimise court use, and ongoing cross-agency training to build capability and experience.