Jonathan Brash

The Department for Education runs a scheme providing free products in education settings, so periods aren’t a barrier to learning for young women. There are similar schemes to ensure that hospital patients and those in police detention have access to the products they need.

This Government is tackling the root causes of poverty through measures to make work pay, boosting the living wage, and investing in public services; so no one has to go without the essentials.

We have always been clear; our country’s clean energy future must be built in Britain. That’s why we launched the Clean Industry Bonus for offshore wind. The first round was hugely successful – more than doubling the budget for developers to invest in UK factories. It’s why we set up our National Wealth Fund to invest in crucial supply chains. And it’s why we created Great British Energy – which has already announced £300 million to invest in domestic offshore wind supply chains.

A new National Policy Statement will be developed to provide the planning framework for nuclear power beyond 2025. We believe the sites identified in the current National Policy Statement (EN6), including the privately owned Hartlepool site, are likely to retain inherent positive attributes that make them attractive for consideration for development.

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation following the Spending Review.

We will now work closely with sporting bodies - including the Lawn Tennis Association - and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment to the LTA, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in tennis and padel initiatives that will benefit as many people as possible.

This Government cares about young people and champions the vital role that youth services play in improving the wellbeing of young people. We are working closely with the Home Office on the Young Futures Programme which prioritises prevention, including mental health. In Hartlepool, we have provided funding to youth clubs through the Youth Investment Fund, to give young people a safe space to go to. We also know that sport has public health benefits too which is why we have committed to investing £123 million in grassroots sport this year to ensure sport is open to everyone.

The department does not hold information on the value of exporting A level qualifications overseas.

Ofqual publishes a range of information about exported qualifications. The latest information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-qualifications-market-report-academic-year-2022-to-2023/annual-qualifications-market-report-2022-to-2023-academic-year#in-focus-international-market. This data does not include unregulated qualifications, such as international A levels, which are also offered overseas by awarding organisations.

Yes, aseptic and refrigerated cartons made of a fibre-based composite are included within the plastic recyclable waste stream, required to be collected from all households in England by 31 March 2026.

The Department is aware of the conclusions of the independent review commissioned by the previous administration into the crustacean mass mortality event on the North East coast of England. Defra, supported by its public bodies and agencies, continues to work with researchers and the scientific community on coastal health, livelihoods, and environment.

As well as allocating significant investment to reopen Hartlepool platform 3 in June 2024, we are working with train operators to make the best use of the available infrastructure and to improve reliability to deliver the services passengers need.

At the end of March 2024, 14% of PIP recipients in Hartlepool were in employment.

Notes:

- HMRC data is used to determine whether a claimant was in employment. HMRC data covers up to the end of the tax year 2023/24, therefore March 2024 has been provided as the latest data available.

- Self-employment data from the financial year 2023/24 is not available until the end of the 2024/25 financial year, so self-employment data for the financial year 2022/23 has been used as a proxy for 2023/24 instead.

- The data provided includes both normal rules and special rules for end of life claimants.

To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists.

There are no perfect payment systems and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system and contracting framework, so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.

The police are able to pursue off road bikers but any decision on whether to undertake a pursuit is an operational one, and should take account of the risk factors and proportionality in each situation. The Home Office works closely with the NPCC to understand how the safety of police pursuits can be improved.

The Government will give police the powers they need to take illegal, dangerous and antisocial bikes off the streets for good, so that they will be able to quickly destroy the bikes that they seize from offenders. We will set out more information in due course.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.

The police are able to pursue off road bikers but any decision on whether to undertake a pursuit is an operational one, and should take account of the risk factors and proportionality in each situation. The Home Office works closely with the NPCC to understand how the safety of police pursuits can be improved.

The Government will give police the powers they need to take illegal, dangerous and antisocial bikes off the streets for good, so that they will be able to quickly destroy the bikes that they seize from offenders. We will set out more information in due course.

The Home Office has a set of asylum accommodation plans which set out how much Dispersal Accommodation is appropriate for each local authority. The Home office has developed an indexing tool which has helped to ensure that this is done in an evidence-based manner, factoring in a range of socio-economic factors, for example homelessness, pressures on GPs and hate crime. When procuring accommodation in line with those plans, our accommodation providers consult with local authorities who have the opportunity to set out any concerns and to signpost our accommodation providers to possible alternative properties.

The Home Office will continue to review the appropriateness of sites for use as asylum accommodation and remains committed to regularly engaging with local authorities and key stakeholders as part of this process.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20895 on 19 December 2024.

The Government currently has no plans to reform council tax. Ahead of any decisions taken on the tax, the Government will carefully consider the impact on councils and taxpayers. The Government is committed to keeping taxes on working people as low as possible.