Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that British suppliers are used for major energy infrastructure projects.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps with the youth homelessness sector to add a youth-specific section to the Homelessness Code of Guidance as part of the cross-government homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20895 on 19 December 2024.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the potential value to the economy of the export of Advanced Level (A-level) qualifications overseas.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve rail services in Hartlepool.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
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.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to tackle period poverty.
Answered by Bridget Phillipson - Minister for Women and Equalities
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.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the contribution of youth services to the wellbeing of young people in Hartlepool constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
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.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of council tax bands.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the NHS dental contracting framework.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department makes an assessment of the socio-economic background of an area when determining the location of asylum accommodation.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
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.
Asked by: Jonathan Brash (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to open an inquiry into crustacean die-offs on the North East coast.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.