Stephen Morgan Alert Sample


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Information between 4th March 2024 - 14th March 2024

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Division Votes
13 Mar 2024 - Business without Debate - View Vote Context
Stephen Morgan voted No - in line with the party majority and against the House
One of 141 Labour No votes vs 0 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 291 Noes - 147
13 Mar 2024 - National Insurance Contributions (Reduction in Rates) (No. 2) Bill - View Vote Context
Stephen Morgan voted Aye - in line with the party majority and against the House
One of 147 Labour Aye votes vs 0 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 170 Noes - 292
13 Mar 2024 - National Insurance Contributions (Reduction in Rates) (No. 2) Bill - View Vote Context
Stephen Morgan voted Aye - in line with the party majority and against the House
One of 147 Labour Aye votes vs 0 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 169 Noes - 293


Speeches
Stephen Morgan speeches from: Oral Answers to Questions
Stephen Morgan contributed 2 speeches (73 words)
Wednesday 6th March 2024 - Commons Chamber
Scotland Office


Written Answers
Universal Credit
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Monday 4th March 2024

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a repayable advance for Universal Credit claimants who are awaiting a payment correction following an assessment error.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No assessment has been made.

Wealth: Ethnic Groups and Women
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that (a) women and (b) ethnic minority individuals are not disproportionately affected by changes to the Financial Promotion Order exemptions for high-net-worth individuals and sophisticated investors.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The changes to the financial promotion exemptions that came into force on 31 January 2024 were subject to a public consultation which closed in March 2022.

However, the Government recognises the significant concerns that have been raised recently about these changes. I met recently with the angel investing sector and listened carefully to the representations made, and the Government is working closely with the sector to address the concerns raised

Wealth
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has undertaken a gender equality impact assessment of the reforms to the Financial Promotion Order exemptions for high-net-worth individuals and sophisticated investors.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The changes to the financial promotion exemptions that came into force on 31 January 2024 were subject to a public consultation which closed in March 2022.

However, the Government recognises the significant concerns that have been raised recently about these changes. I met recently with the angel investing sector and listened carefully to the representations made, and the Government is working closely with the sector to address the concerns raised

Community Policing: Training
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of mandating additional training for police officers on community tensions following the events since 7 October 2023 in Israel and Gaza.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

We are grateful to police forces across the country for the steps they have taken to manage protests and protect and reassure our communities.

The police are operationally independent. As part of the national policing curriculum set by the College of Policing, all officers receive training on topics including engaging with the community to maximise community cohesion, trust and confidence; protecting the community; and tackling hate crime. This is bolstered by refresher training to maintain and enhance knowledge. The College of Policing also publish operational guidance for the police, known as ‘Authorised Professional Practice’ (APP), on how to tackle different types of crime and incidents, including hate crime.

As a result of the conflict, all forces now have established tension monitoring processes, working in partnership with community safety and voluntary partners to enable action to be taken to diffuse community tensions at the earliest possible stage. The National Police Chiefs’ Council has also provided awareness briefings to forces relating to the conflict which have been developed following consultation with key community stakeholders including Community Security Trust and Tell MAMA.

Occupied Territories: Politics and Government
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help ensure political stability in the Occupied Palestinian Territories following the resignation of Mohammad Shtayyeh.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has an important long-term role to play. We must work with our allies to provide serious, practical and enduring support needed to bolster the PA. We already provide technical and practical support and are ready to do more. The PA must also take much needed steps on reform, including setting out a pathway to democratic progress.

Just as the PA must act, so must Israel. This means releasing frozen funds, halting settlement expansion and holding to account those responsible for extremist settler violence.

We are looking at what more we can do, including providing economic support to the PA. We have already moved to ban those responsible for violence in the West Bank from the UK.

We have taken further steps to hold those to account who undermine the steps to peace in the West Bank. Earlier this month, the Foreign Secretary announced new sanctions designations against four extremist Israeli settlers who have violently attacked Palestinians in the West Bank.

Gaza: Israel
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has held with his Israeli counterpart on the Israeli’s Government’s plan for evacuating Gaza civilians from Rafah.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We are deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah. Over half of Gaza's population are sheltering in the area, and the Rafah crossing is vital to ensure aid can reach the people who so desperately need it.

The immediate priority must be a humanitarian pause in the fighting, which is the best route to secure the safe release of hostages and significantly step up the aid reaching Gaza. We want that pause to lead to a sustainable ceasefire without a return to further fighting.

That remains the focus of all our diplomatic effort, and the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister have reiterated these messages in our contacts with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other senior Israeli political leaders.

Schools: Finance
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help mitigate the impact of inflation on real terms funding received by schools.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The government is committed to providing a world class education system for all children and has invested significantly in education to achieve that.

School funding is rising to £59.6 billion, from this April, meaning schools will be funded at their highest ever level in real terms per pupil. The government invested an additional £2 billion for both this year and next, announced at the 2022 Autumn Statement. As well as extra funding for the 2023 teachers’ pay award, ensuring it was properly funded.

Business: Ethnic Groups and Women
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department is taking steps to increase the share of Angel’s funding received by women and ethnic minority individuals.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

My department leads the Investing in Women Code, a voluntary commitment for providers of capital including Angel investment syndicates. The Code has attracted over 250 signatories, including over 40% of UK Business Angel Association (UKBAA) members. The Code publishes its findings annually. These show that signatories are more likely to invest in women entrepreneurs than the wider market.

Code signatories have also provided data on their investments in entrepreneurs from an ethnic minority background. These figures were analysed by the UKBAA and were published in November 2023, in collaboration with the APPG for Ethnic Minority Business Owners.

Research: Finance
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of setting a target for GDP invested in research and development.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

In 2017, the Government committed to a target of increasing UK economy-wide investment in R&D to 2.4% of GDP by 2027, and 3% in the longer-term.

Last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) updated its methodology for capturing R&D performed in small businesses and higher education institutions throughout the UK. This has not yet been incorporated into calculations of GDP, and so an official estimate of UK R&D expenditure as a proportion of GDP under the new methodology is not yet available. However, on this revised basis, DSIT estimates R&D investment would have been between 2.8% and 2.9% of GDP for 2021. Government remains committed to public R&D expenditure reaching £20bn for 24/25, a record level.

New Businesses: Women
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to implement the recommendations of The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship on increasing the number of female angel investors in the UK.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The ‘Women backing Women’ campaign was launched under the auspices of the Rose Review via the Angel Investment Taskforce, led by the UK Business Angels Association.

This campaign seeks to support women to become angel investors across all four nations in the UK, and has engaged thousands of new and prospective female angel investors to help unlock new source of early-stage funding for female founders across the UK. Further measures to increase the number of women choosing to become angel investors will be taken during 2024.

Rented Housing: Disability
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when her Department plans to publish its response to the consultation on entitled Improving disabled people’s access to let residential premises: reasonable adjustments to common parts, a new duty.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Cabinet Office’s Equality Hub is working towards publication of the Government's response to the 2022 consultation on the implementation and commencement of the remaining parts of Section 36 of the Equality Act 2010 and its associated schedules. I would expect further progress on this soon.

Health Professions and Teachers: Training
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to work with universities to help train (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) teachers.

Answered by Robert Halfon

The department is working closely with Higher Education Providers (HEP’s) to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to access a world class education. This remains a top priority and is fundamental to the government’s ambition to level-up skills, growth, and economic opportunity across the country.

Record numbers of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare staff will be trained in England as part of the first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP), which was published in June 2023. By significantly expanding domestic education, training and recruitment, we will have more healthcare professionals working in the NHS. The LTWP will:

  • Double the number of medical school places to 15,000 a year by 2031/32. To support this ambition, the government will increase the number of medical school places by a third, to 10,000 by 2028/29. This will build on the expansion of medical school places in England to 7,500 per year, a 25% increase, which the government completed in 2020 and that delivered five new medical schools. The government has accelerated the LTWP expansion by allocating 205 additional medical school places for 2024/25, a year ahead of target. The process for allocating 350 additional places for the 2025/26 academic year is underway and further details will be confirmed in due course.
  • Record numbers of nurses are now working in the NHS, and the Plan will increase adult nursing training places by 92%, taking the number of total places up to nearly 38,000 by 2031/32. To support this ambition, the government will increase training places to nearly 28,000 in 2028/29. This forms part of the ambition to increase the number of nursing and midwifery training places to around 58,000 by 2031/32. The government will work towards achieving this by increasing places to over 44,000 by 2028/29, with 20% of registered nurses qualifying through apprenticeship routes compared to just 9% now. The number of nursing applicants still continues to outstrip the places on offer. Nursing and midwifery training places are competitive, and lead to an attractive and important career in the NHS.
  • Introduce medical degree apprenticeships, with pilots running from 2024/25 so that by 2031/32, 2,000 medical students will train via this route. The department will work towards this ambition by growing medical degree apprenticeships to more than 850 by 2028/29

The government is backing the LTWP with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places. This is on top of increases to education and training investment, reaching a record £6.1 billion over the next two years. The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, the Office for Students, as well as the General Medical Council to actualise the delivery of the plan.

The department will continue to work with the sector so everyone who wants to pursue a rewarding healthcare career has the support and opportunities to do so.

There are record numbers of teachers in England’s schools, with more than 468,000 working in state-funded schools across the country, which is 27,000 (6%) more than in 2010. The department works closely with schools and universities to recruit the best teachers, in the subjects and areas they are needed most. The department has already put in place a range of measures for trainees in the 2023/24 academic, including bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000, to encourage talented trainees to apply to train in key subjects such as chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics.

The department is also offering a levelling up premium worth up to £3,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the department is doubling the rates of the levelling up premium to up to £6,000 after tax. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.

The department is also working with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) and an employer-led trailblazer group to develop the Teacher Degree Apprenticeship (TDA). The TDA will be a new route into the teaching profession, for both primary and secondary teachers, through which successful candidates will ‘earn while they learn’ and attain an undergraduate degree and qualified teacher status while working in a school.  Subject to IfATE approvals, the TDA standard will be published in spring 2024, with the candidate recruitment commencing from autumn 2024 and training commencing in autumn 2025.

Higher Education: Social Mobility
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to encourage collaboration between colleges and universities to (a) widen participation in tertiary education and (b) promote social mobility.

Answered by Robert Halfon

The department is investing in Institutes of Technology (IoT). IoTs are prestigious, high-quality education providers that are created through innovative collaborations that bring together the best of existing further education (FE) colleges and higher education (HE) providers with local employers. To date the IoT Network comprises 77 colleges, 35 HE providers and 99 employers. By offering a range of specialised courses, from Higher Technical Qualifications to apprenticeships, IoTs empower students to develop the practical skills and knowledge required to excel in key sectors such as engineering, healthcare digital technology and manufacturing.

FE and HE Providers across the country already collaborate at local levels to deliver education and training, ensuring learner and employer needs are met. Some of these partnerships are formal, longstanding arrangements for colleges to deliver degrees but less formal arrangements with specific courses in FE occurring to ensure progression for those who wish to go into HE.

In Plymouth, City College is working with Plymouth Marjon University and the University of Plymouth to offer foundation degrees, higher national certificates and higher national diplomas, as well as traditional degrees.

Collaborative working forms a significant part of the department’s HE access and participation reforms, which were launched in 2021. As part of these the department has tasked the Office for Students to strongly encourage universities to work with schools and colleges to drive up standards and encourage aspiration and attainment. The department wants to see universities stepping up to support students through the paths that benefit them the most, including through apprenticeships, higher technical qualifications, and vocational education as well as degrees.

The department is aware that diversifying modes of study can be an important method of broadening access and participation. HE providers have been strongly encouraged to set themselves ambitious, measurable targets to significantly increase the proportion of students on higher and degree apprenticeships, Level 4 and Level 5 courses and part time study. The department is also providing £40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access this provision.

Uni Connect, which the department is funding at £30 million for the 2023/24 academic year, brings together partnerships of universities, colleges and other local organisations to offer activities, advice and information on the benefits and realities of going to university or college.

Students: Cost of Living
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support students with the cost of living.

Answered by Robert Halfon

The department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years to deliver better value for students. By the 2024/25 academic year, maximum fees will have been frozen for 7 years.

The government has continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs each year. Maximum support has been increased by 2.8% for the current 2023/24 academic year, with a further 2.5% increase announced for 2024/25.

Students awarded a loan for living costs for the 2023/24 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the tax year 2023/24 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.

Decisions on student finance have had to be taken to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs of HE are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university.

The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year and that are impacting students. The department has already made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support successful outcomes for students including disadvantaged students.

The department is making a further £10 million of one-off support available to support student mental health and hardship funding. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.

Further the department is investing hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding over the three-year period from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to support high-quality teaching and facilities including in science and engineering, subjects that support the NHS, and degree apprenticeships. This includes the largest increase in government funding for the HE sector to support students and teaching in over a decade.

That is why the department has asked the Office for Students (OfS) to maintain student premium and mental health funding for the 2023/24 financial year at the same levels as the previous year and to ensure providers are aware they can draw on the Student Premium to support students in financial hardship. The department will continue to liaise with the OfS on the impacts of cost-of-living pressures.

Between 2022/23 to 2024/25, government will have provided support worth £104 billion, an average of £3,700 per household, to help families throughout the UK with the cost-of-living including to meet increased household energy costs. This will have eased some of the pressure on family budgets and so will in turn enabled many families to provide additional support to their children in HE to help them meet increased living costs.

Antisemitism and Islamophobia
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support victims of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism following the events since 7 October 2023 in Israel and Gaza.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

I refer the Hon Member to my oral answer of 4 March 2024 (Official Report, HC Volume 746, Column 628).

Antisemitism and Islamophobia
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to tackle the rise in islamophobia and antisemitism following the events since 7 October 2023 in Israel and Gaza.

Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

I refer the Hon Member to my oral answer of 4 March 2024 (Official Report, HC Volume 746, Column 628).

Damages
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 17 April 2023 to Question 176607 on Fatal Accidents Act 1976, what the basis is for his Department's assessment that an extension of eligibility for bereavement damages could lead in some cases to intrusive and upsetting investigations.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The assessment is based on a strong sense that such an extension of the current legislative framework (for those eligible for bereavement damages) may lead to defendants seeking in some cases to question or challenge relationships. For example, seeking to establish whether a person was the child of the deceased person. Another example might be competing claims for an award, such as where a deceased person had both a surviving spouse and a cohabiting partner.

The Government’s position remains that it believes the existing legal framework, involving a fixed level of award and clear eligibility criteria, represents a reasonable, proportionate and practical approach.

Damages: Scotland
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the Damages (Scotland) Act 2011 in compensating bereaved relatives in Scotland.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Any review of the system of bereavement damages in England and Wales would have regard to the legislative approach adopted in Scotland and other jurisdictions, but there are no current plans to undertake a review.

The Government’s position remains that it believes the existing legal framework, involving a fixed level of award and clear eligibility criteria, represents a reasonable, proportionate and practical approach.

Damages
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on identifying a suitable legislative vehicle to extend eligibility for bereavement damages under section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 to fathers of illegitimate children.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Government’s position remains that it believes the existing legal framework, involving a fixed level of award and clear eligibility criteria, represents a reasonable, proportionate and practical approach.

Damages: Public Consultation
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of launching a public consultation on updating the law on bereavement damages in England and Wales.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

There are no current plans to consult on reforms. The Government’s position remains that it believes the existing legal framework, involving a fixed level of award and clear eligibility criteria, represents a reasonable, proportionate and practical approach.

Damages
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to page 9 of the report of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers entitled Bereavement damages: a dis-united kingdom, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policy on bereavement damages of the findings of the YouGov survey on public attitude to the individual assessment of compensation claims.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Any review of the system of bereavement damages in England and Wales would have regard to all relevant material, but there are no current plans to undertake a review.

The Government’s position remains that it believes the existing legal framework, involving a fixed level of award and clear eligibility criteria, represents a reasonable, proportionate and practical approach.