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 make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of UK Shared Prosperity Fund spending on (a) upskilling and (b) reskilling programmes; and what oversight and accountability mechanisms are in place to ensure these funds are effectively deployed.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) provides a total of £3.5 billion of funding, with all places in the UK receiving an allocation via a funding formula. Through the People and Skills investment priority, places can choose to fund projects that help reduce the barriers some people face to employment, and support them to move towards employment and education. Places can also target funding on skills to support employment and local growth, including upskilling and reskilling programmes. As of September 2024 £1.1 billion of UKSPF funding had been spent across the investment priorities, of that, over £268 million of funding had been used for People and Skills projects.

The UKSPF has a light-touch and flexible delivery model. In England, Scotland and Wales, lead local authorities determine how to allocate their UKSPF allocation in line with local circumstances and priorities. In Northern Ireland, MHCLG works with a Partnership Group of local partners to implement the fund. MHCLG receives progress reports from places on a six-monthly basis. Places are also required to publish information on UKSPF delivery and activities being funded in their area. MHCLG is also undertaking a programme evaluation to measure overall fund impact.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons the 2025-26 allocation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund wasn't an open competition.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My officials meet regularly with representatives of the voluntary and community sector and local authorities through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Northern Ireland Partnership Group, as well as officials from the Northern Ireland Executive Departments of Finance, Economy and Communities, to seek views and insight on funding allocation, local priorities and alignment with other provision and policies in Northern Ireland.

I met with Northern Ireland Executive ministers to discuss the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and with the Northern Ireland Partnership Group and project deliverers to hear first-hand the impact that the fund is having on people and communities across Northern Ireland.

Taking account of partner feedback and to avoid a hiatus in delivery of support for people and businesses, my department determined the most appropriate approach to funding for 2025-26 was to invite continuation applications. This has avoided a significant delay in delivery that new funding competitions would have created.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund project information for Northern Ireland is published on gov.uk. This will be updated for 2025-26 funding allocations following the conclusion of the selection process.

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 make an estimate of the total amount of multiply funding that has been allocated for Northern Ireland; how that funding has been distributed; and how that funding compares to that previously provided by the European Social Fund.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Over the course of 2023-25, approximately £8.75m of Multiply funding has been allocated to projects in Northern Ireland.

£5.9m was allocated to the Department for the Economy, who are leading a partnership of all eleven NI councils, the three universities, and four of the six further education colleges to deliver a suite of linked activities, including vocational mathematics (linked to traineeships and apprenticeships), maths for speakers of other languages, engaging mature learners, and support that helps children and parents learn numeracy together.

The remainder of the funding is being used by community and voluntary organisations to address numeracy barriers that may prevent the economically inactive people they support from returning to employment.

Comparable data for the European Social Fund is not available.

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 publish a breakdown of how the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has been allocated in Northern Ireland for financial year 2025-26 including spending by (a) sector, (b) region and (c) projects.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My officials meet regularly with representatives of the voluntary and community sector and local authorities through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Northern Ireland Partnership Group, as well as officials from the Northern Ireland Executive Departments of Finance, Economy and Communities, to seek views and insight on funding allocation, local priorities and alignment with other provision and policies in Northern Ireland.

I met with Northern Ireland Executive ministers to discuss the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and with the Northern Ireland Partnership Group and project deliverers to hear first-hand the impact that the fund is having on people and communities across Northern Ireland.

Taking account of partner feedback and to avoid a hiatus in delivery of support for people and businesses, my department determined the most appropriate approach to funding for 2025-26 was to invite continuation applications. This has avoided a significant delay in delivery that new funding competitions would have created.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund project information for Northern Ireland is published on gov.uk. This will be updated for 2025-26 funding allocations following the conclusion of the selection process.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what engagement she has had with (a) community groups, (b) local authorities and (c) the Northern Ireland Executive on the reallocation of (a) UK Shared Prosperity Fund and (b) skills funding in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My officials meet regularly with representatives of the voluntary and community sector and local authorities through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Northern Ireland Partnership Group, as well as officials from the Northern Ireland Executive Departments of Finance, Economy and Communities, to seek views and insight on funding allocation, local priorities and alignment with other provision and policies in Northern Ireland.

I met with Northern Ireland Executive ministers to discuss the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and with the Northern Ireland Partnership Group and project deliverers to hear first-hand the impact that the fund is having on people and communities across Northern Ireland.

Taking account of partner feedback and to avoid a hiatus in delivery of support for people and businesses, my department determined the most appropriate approach to funding for 2025-26 was to invite continuation applications. This has avoided a significant delay in delivery that new funding competitions would have created.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund project information for Northern Ireland is published on gov.uk. This will be updated for 2025-26 funding allocations following the conclusion of the selection process.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding her Department plans to allocate for (a) upskilling, (b) re-skilling and (c) local economic development for women in Northern Ireland beyond financial year 2025-26.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government will set out its future vision for local growth at the multi-year spending review. In the meantime, we will continue to engage with Northern Ireland partners, including Northern Ireland Executive, to inform plans beyond 2025-26.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to raise awareness during Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month of the signs and symptoms of cancer in April 2025.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in teenagers and young adults. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.

The Department is committed to improving outcomes for teenagers and young adults with cancer. That’s why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement in England, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will ensure that the unique needs of children and young people, including teenagers with cancer, are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan for England, due to be published later this year.

As part of this work, the Department is committed to directly engaging with patients and their families to discuss their experiences. We are working with taskforce members to assemble a Patient Experience Panel, made up of young people with lived experience of cancer and their families, which will feed directly into the work of the taskforce.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to meet young people with cancer to discuss their experiences during Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month in April 2025.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in teenagers and young adults. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.

The Department is committed to improving outcomes for teenagers and young adults with cancer. That’s why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement in England, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will ensure that the unique needs of children and young people, including teenagers with cancer, are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan for England, due to be published later this year.

As part of this work, the Department is committed to directly engaging with patients and their families to discuss their experiences. We are working with taskforce members to assemble a Patient Experience Panel, made up of young people with lived experience of cancer and their families, which will feed directly into the work of the taskforce.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of raising the digital age of consent.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

When Information Society Services, such as social media or live streaming sites, rely on consent to process children’s data, consent is only lawful in respect of children under the age of 13 when parental authority has been granted. The current age of consent was set by Parliament in the Data Protection Act 2018. We will continue to keep the evidence for and against change in this area under review.

Wealth tax and social security reform

Restless legs syndrome

LED headlights

International Day of the Midwife

Israel’s military presence in the West Bank

Renewal of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme

Fee waivers for ILR applications

Found: Labour; Gower) (Chair) Dan Aldridge (Labour; Weston-super-Mare) Chris Bloore (Labour; Redditch) Sorcha Eastwood