Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on launching a new National Music Education Network.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
On 18 March, the department announced its intention to launch a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education.
We intend to appoint the delivery partner for the Centre through an open, competitive procurement. We will engage with sector stakeholders to refine the details of the Centre ahead of the commercial process later this year. We will set out further detail shortly.
The National Centre will deliver on the manifesto commitment to deliver a Music Education Network. The department’s intention is to launch the National Centre in September 2026.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help veterans access Tax-Free Childcare.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government is committed to supporting veterans and their families access financial support available to them such as Tax- Free Childcare. Tax-Free Childcare aims to support working parents with the cost of childcare, including veterans, to work, return to work and work more when they want or need to.
To be eligible, a parent and their partner (if they have one) must expect to earn at least the National Minimum or National Living wage for 16 hours a week on average and each earn no more than £100,000 per year. A parent may still be eligible if they are not currently working but their partner is and they are in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, or Severe Disablement Allowance, or Carer’s Allowance or Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance.
HMRC promotes Tax-Free Childcare through a range of channels including GOV.UK and the Childcare Choices website. More information on the scheme is also available on the British Army’s website, through targeted campaigns to childcare providers/parents and by the service charity sector such as Help for Heroes listed in the MoD’s Service Leavers’ Guide. These efforts ensure veterans are signposted to the childcare support available to them after military service.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many breakfast club early adopters there are in (a) rural and (b) urban areas.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In order to test and learn about how best to support schools in implementing new free universal breakfast clubs, the department has selected over 750 early adopter schools to deliver from summer term 2025, ahead of national roll out to all schools with primary aged children.
Just under a third of the breakfast club early adopter schools are in rural areas, meaning over two thirds are in urban areas. This is a representative of the split of the overall make-up of state-funded schools with primary aged pupils across England. Schools have been selected to ensure a representative sample, to ensure the early adopter scheme learns from a variety of schools, including schools that are large and small, with high and low levels of deprivation, and in a range of locations.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps to prevent solar panels from being placed on agricultural land.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Planning guidance makes clear that, wherever possible, solar developers should utilise brownfield, industrial, contaminated, or previously developed sites. Where the development of agricultural land is shown to be necessary, lower-quality land should be preferred to higher-quality land.
The total area of land devoted to solar panels is very small. As of the end of September 2024, ground-mount solar PV panels covered an estimated 21,200 hectares (52,000 acres), which is only around 0.1 per cent of the total land area of the UK.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps to identify long-term solutions to (a) potholes and (b) other road defects.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to enabling local highway authorities to maintain and renew their local highway networks effectively. For this financial year 2025/26 we have already announced a funding uplift of £500 million, compared to the last financial year, for local authorities to spend on highway maintenance. Through our new reporting requirements we are encouraging local authorities to focus on long-term preventative strategies rather than the short-term patching of potholes.
The Department also encourages and supports innovation and best practice in road surface repairs in other ways. It is updating the Code of Practice for Well-Managed Highway Infrastructure, which will contain new advice on matters such as surface treatments. It is also supporting a £30 million research programme which is allowing local authorities to trial innovative low-carbon ways of looking after their networks. One of the projects is allowing novel resurfacing materials to be tested and evaluated.
National Highways is also trialling innovative ways of resurfacing parts of the Strategic Road Network to give longer-lasting and more environmentally friendly results. Their work on projects like the resurfacing of the A64 in Yorkshire could pave the way for industry-wide changes, resulting in significant carbon savings and improved road surfaces for drivers.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will reduce the level of VAT on food and hot beverages in the hospitality sector.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
The exceptional VAT relief for tourism and hospitality during the Covid-19 pandemic cost over £8 billion. Reintroducing a similar relief would come at a significant further cost.
Delivering on its manifesto pledge, the Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. In the meantime, the Government has prevented RHL relief from ending in April 2025 by extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business and frozen the small business multiplier.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to maintain the level of UK exports.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is committed to supporting UK businesses to export and grow globally. The Export Academy and International Trade Advisers are helping UK SME’s build their capability to export around the world. The International Markets teams in embassies around the world are connecting UK businesses with global buyers and distributors. UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk.
And we are targeting market access barriers in priority markets to open up even more opportunities for UK exporters.
As part of our new trade strategy and small business strategy, we are looking at further proposals to help UK businesses to export more.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help schools support pupils experiencing childhood bereavement.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is vital that when a child suffers a bereavement, they are aware of and able to access the support they need. Schools know their pupils best and do an excellent job in supporting them through a range of adverse life experiences, including bereavement. The department is always looking for ways to better support schools in this role.
The relationships, sex and health (RSHE) statutory guidance states that teachers should be aware of common ‘adverse childhood experiences’, including bereavement. The full guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
The department is reviewing the RSHE curriculum and following analysis of consultation responses and further discussion with stakeholders, we will decide on any new content on bereavement.
The government is also committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people, including those who have experienced a bereavement. To achieve this, we have committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school. The department also provides a resource hub for school and college mental health leads, signposting practical tools to embed effective mental health and wellbeing practice. The hub includes resources for schools to support bereaved children.
The department has also published guidance to support pupils whose ability to attend exams has been affected by bereavement, including examples of effective practice. In addition, we have recently made updates to GOV.UK adding links to bereavement support specifically for children and their families. This support is available at: https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death/bereavement-help-and-support?step-by-step-nav=4f1fe77d-f43b-4581-baf9-e2600e2a2b7a.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to encourage developers to use design features that provide nesting facilities for endangered birds.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 22080 on 15 January 2025.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support park home owners.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 39735 on 27 March 2025.