Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
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 help ensure that property agents are (a) suitably qualified and (b) accountable to leaseholders.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for tenants and homeowners and making sure that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service. This commitment includes raising professionalism and standards amongst property agents (letting, estate and managing agents), protecting consumers while defending the reputation of good agents from the actions of rogue operatives. We therefore welcome the ongoing work being undertaken by the industry itself to raise professionalism and standards across the sector, including on codes of practice for property agents.
The Government is considering the recommendations in the final report on the regulation of property agents from Lord Best’s working group, including on qualifications. We will continue to work with industry on improving best practice.
Leaseholders have a range of powers to hold a property agent to account. They may complain directly to the agent, and then to the relevant Government-approved redress scheme to which a property agent must belong. They may also apply for an Order to the First-tier Tribunal under Section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 to change their managing agent if they are unhappy with the service that they are receiving.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage self-sufficiency in food production.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 response. Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.
Strong domestic food production supports our food security. The UK enjoys considerable self-sufficiency in food, with nearly 100 percent sufficiency in poultry, carrots and swedes. 88% of cereals consumed in the UK in 2020 were produced domestically.
In addition, UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
Recognising the importance of food production, the Government has set out a legal obligation on the Government to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. It recognised the contribution made by British farmers to our resilience, and the importance of strong domestic production to our food security. This report will serve as an evidence base for future policy work.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the progress of the Places for Growth programme.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office has frequent conversations with our Cabinet colleagues, and I am pleased with the progress made so far relating to the Places for Growth agenda with 1,524 Civil Service roles committed for relocation to Scotland, including senior and policy roles and an increased Ministerial presence in our Scotland hubs.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding her Department provides to local authorities to support the delivery of effective road safety interventions.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Road safety is a priority for the Government and the Department for Transport is working with road safety stakeholders and local authorities to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads. We have some of the safest roads in the world, but the Government is not complacent and there is more work to be done.
The Secretary of State for Transport has committed to tackling dangerous cycling by making sure that we will be able to prosecute dangerous cyclists more easily. Our award-winning Safer Roads Fund has seen the Department funding local authorities £100 million across England to fix the 50 most dangerous “A-roads”. This fund is expected to save 1,500 lives over the next 20 years and is already improving safety for all road users.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the progress of the Places for Growth programme.
Answered by Conor Burns
The creation of additional Government roles in Northern Ireland remains a key priority for the Government and the Northern Ireland Office.
Bringing new roles to Northern Ireland will deliver on our commitment to level up right across the UK and increase prosperity in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I continue to work closely with the Minister for Levelling up and other Cabinet colleagues to drive this important work forward.
I am also pleased to advise that my Department has recently relocated to the Government Hub at Erskine House in Belfast City centre.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help promote the take up of careers in teaching (a) humanities and (b) arts subjects.
Answered by Robin Walker
The number of teachers remains high, with over 461,000 working in state-funded schools across the country, 20,000 more than in 2010. Over 37,000 new trainee teachers were recruited to start training in the 2021/22 academic year.
The department is driving an ambitious transformation programme to overhaul the process of becoming a teacher, from stimulating initial interest through world-class marketing through to the start of training.
In October 2021, the government’s new digital service, ‘apply for teacher training’, was rolled out. This is a key milestone in the delivery of a more streamlined, user-friendly application route. New data and insight from government services will also drive innovation with a view to boosting recruitment in priority subjects.
To promote careers in teaching humanities and arts subjects, the department uses a combination of financial incentives, marketing, and school experience.
Trainee teachers on both undergraduate and postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) courses are able to apply for student finance, regardless of the subject they train to teach. This includes a tuition fee loan, maintenance loan and additional means-tested funding for trainees in particular circumstances, including those with children, adult dependants, or a disability. Trainees on employment-based courses are ineligible for student finance as they earn a salary whilst they train instead.
In addition, the department is offering a £15,000 tax-free bursary for both languages and geography trainee teachers starting ITT courses in the 2022/23 academic year. The government will review the need for financial incentives across all subjects before announcing the bursaries for the 2023/24 academic year.
The department’s teaching marketing campaign provides inspiration and support to explore a career in teaching and directs people to the ‘Get Into Teaching service’. Through the website, prospective candidates in any phase or subject can access support and advice through expert one-to-one teacher training advisers, a contact centre, and a national programme of events. The ‘get school experience’ digital service also arranges school experience placements between prospective candidates and schools. This service is available here: https://schoolexperience.education.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce unemployment rates across the West Midlands.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Throughout the pandemic, the UK Government has provided over £400 billion to support the economy, including funding for our Plan for Jobs. The Kickstart Scheme has enabled young people to move into employment, with many of these securing permanent jobs. Alongside this, the Restart Scheme offers a fresh start to those who have been unemployed for over 9 months. The scheme breaks down employment barriers that could potentially prevent jobseekers from finding work. In addition, to support those who may need extra help, we are delivering the following employability programmes; Job Entry Targeted Support, Intensive Personalised Employment Support and Work & Health Programme.
Way to Work is a campaign to help half a million job ready claimants into work by the end of June 2022. We are building on the success of Kickstart to work closely with employers and aim to move claimants into work quicker; through recruitment days, job fairs and work trials. We will be stepping up our expectations of claimants and taking a robust approach to ensure agreements made through the Claimant Commitments are adhered to.
In addition, our jobcentre teams are helping employers find the right people for their vacancies, particularly through the Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP), Skills Bootcamps, Apprenticeships and Traineeships. For example, the local team are working with the West Midlands Mayoral Authority to help equip people with the skills needed to fill vacancies for the upcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Across the West Midlands, Jobcentres work collaboratively with the National Career Service (NCS) and Further Education Colleges to provide careers information, advice, and guidance so that jobseekers can make informed decisions on learning, training, and work. Collaborating with partners such as the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), the seven West Midlands Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and local Chambers of Commerce, to progress our strategic aims to increase diversity in the workplace, promote Disability Confident to reduce the disability gap in the workplace and increase skills provision in those sectors that are experiencing labour shortages.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure that new trade deals support UK farmers and food producers.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
As a result of the recent agreements, businesses will benefit from the elimination of tariffs on all British exports to Australia and New Zealand. These deals are a gateway to joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), where British food and drink exports were worth £1.8 billion in 2020.
In addition to securing trade deals, we continue to support our farmers by knocking down trade barriers across the globe, from securing access to sell British pork in Mexico, to reopening the American market for British lamb.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking in response to the recommendations of the National Audit Office’s review of the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Based on the report by the National Audit Office and its recommendations, the Committee of Public Accounts took evidence from HM Treasury and the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy and published its report on the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme on 1 December 2021. The government response to the Committee’s report was published on 24 February with the government agreeing with all of the Committee’s recommendations.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase capacity in (a) family courts and (b) employment tribunals.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We continue to take action to tackle the impact the pandemic has had on our courts and tribunals system. We invested £250 million to support recovery in our courts in the last financial year (2020/21). This included £76 million to increase our capacity to hear cases in the family and civil courts, as well as in tribunals. The recent Spending Review has also provided £324 million over the next three years to improve waiting times in the civil and family courts, and tribunals.
In the family court, we sat to our highest ever level in 2020 – 54,830 days in public law and 71,832 days in private law. This is 9% higher than we sat in 2019 for public law and 5% higher than we sat in 2019 for private law.
We increased Cafcass’s budget by £13 million in 2021, so that they have more capacity and can manage the additional pressures caused by the pandemic. In addition, we have provided Cafcass with an additional £491,000 in 2021, to be spent in the areas of the country where their resources are most under pressure.
We are also managing demand in the family courts to ensure the capacity can be used most effectively. In March 2021, we launched a Family Mediation Voucher Scheme for those seeking to resolve private law matters relating to a child. Since its introduction, over 6,000 families have successfully used the scheme to access mediation and help resolve disputes outside of court. In January this year, we increased the overall funding for the scheme to just under £3.3 million.
In the employment tribunal, we increased the sitting day allocation from 30,000 in the 2020/21 financial year to 35,000 in the 2021/22 financial year. To ensure this capacity is used effectively, we established a joint ministerial taskforce last year with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to reduce pressures on the tribunals and develop a joint plan for recovery. We have also established a virtual region of fee-paid judges able to hear remote cases from any region, which we expect to deliver more than 500 additional sitting days.
Across both jurisdictions, we have run ambitious recruitment campaigns to expand our judicial capacity and boost caseworker numbers.
We are also continuing to use remote hearings. This provides additional capacity to ensure cases that work well remotely can be heard quickly, while also freeing up space for cases that must be heard in-person. While it remains for the judge to decide whether a particular trial or hearing is suitable to be heard virtually, video hearings will continue to be a critical part of court and tribunal operations. For hearings that cannot be dealt with virtually, we have maximised the capacity of existing courtrooms by adjusting our estate to be Covid-secure.