Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what lessons for the protection of high streets his Department has learned from the collapse of Wilko.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Government has no role in the strategic direction or management of private companies, but we understand that the failure of a business is very difficult for all involved, especially employees.
We recognise the importance of the retail sector and its significance for employment and the economy. Government will continue to work with retail businesses, including those taking over Wilko’s assets as well as through the industry-led Retail Sector Council to determine the sector’s long-term strategic needs. We want all types of retail to thrive now and in the future.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to help support SMEs with utility costs.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Eligible Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are supported with their energy costs through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme which provides a baseline discount on high energy bills for 12 months from April 2023 until 31 March 2024. A higher level of support is also provided to some Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETIIs) that are particularly exposed to energy cost increases due to their energy and trade intensity and are therefore less able to pass these costs through to their customers due to international competition.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the longest waiting time was for people trying to contact HMRC by telephone on 5 December 2023.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publishes its performance data on a monthly and quarterly basis as below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase retention levels of experienced prison officers.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In late 2021, the Ministry of Justice launched a retention toolkit to help Senior Leaders across HMPPS including Governors/Directors to tackle the main drivers of attrition in their departments and improve retention levels. We are using the data from enhanced exit interviews to better understand why experienced Prison Officers are leaving.
We made a significant investment in pay for prison staff through the 2023/24 pay award. This delivered an increase in base pay of at least 7% for all staff between bands 2 to 5 which includes Prison Officers.
Since April 2022, we have invested in several new initiatives to increase retention of our employees including Prison Officers. These include a new peer-to-peer learning scheme, the introduction of new staff mentors to support new Prison Officers in their roles, which takes the pressure off both experienced Prison Officers and managers, and a Career Pathways framework to enable staff to identify their development needs and career aspirations. We are also running supervision pilots in two prisons alongside the introduction of new leadership training, which will contribute to supporting career development and retention of experienced officers.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has plans to introduce mandatory training on (a) learning disabilities and (b) autism for secondary school teachers.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department considers all teachers as teachers of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), including autism, and is committed to ensuring that all pupils can reach their potential and receive excellent support from their teachers.
The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils. To be awarded Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), trainees must demonstrate that they have met all the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. The standards are also used to assess the performance of all teachers with QTS under the School Teachers’ Appraisal Regulations (2012). Therefore, most teachers need to adhere to the standards throughout their careers.
The Teachers’ Standards require teachers to adapt teaching to respond to the needs of all pupils, and to have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs.
To support all teachers in meeting the Teachers’ Standards, the department is implementing high-quality teacher training reforms which begins with Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and continues as their careers progress. The department’s Universal Services programme, backed by almost £12 million, provides SEND-specific training to the school and college workforce, with over 100,000 professionals undertaking autism awareness training since 2022.
The department is exploring opportunities to build teacher expertise through a joint review of the ITT Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework. The review, due to published in early 2024, has an aim to support trainees and Early Career Teachers to be more confident in meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND, including autism, both through engaging with the most up to date evidence to inform their practice, and applying this in the contexts in which they work as new teachers.
In May 2023, the department published guidance for accredited ITT providers and their partners, to support the involvement of special schools and alternative provision in ITT. The guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1157879/ITT_-_special_schools_and_alternative_provision_May_2023.pdf#:~:text=It%20has%20been%20produced%20to%20help%20accredited%20Initial,units%2C%20and%20mainstream%20schools%20with%20SEN%20resource%20units.
The department’s reforms to teacher recruitment and retention will support all teachers, including teachers of children with SEND.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits supporting the new UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK strongly supports developing countries' efforts to scale-up domestic resource mobilisation to finance sustainable development.
The UK engaged constructively in the negotiations on the UN tax resolution. However, the UK, alongside many other countries, is concerned that proceeding with a UN convention on international tax at this time would not be the most effective way to achieve these goals. An Explanation of Vote was published on GOV.UK on 22nd November. [LINK]
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
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 increase the provision of housing for homeless families in Birmingham, Hall Green constituency.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We are committed to tackling homelessness. For those who find themselves at risk of homelessness, we are investing over £1 billion in the Homelessness Prevention Grant over three years. Birmingham has been allocated £16.9 million between 2023/24 and 2024/25.
At the Autumn Statement government announced a further £120 million funding to help councils address Ukraine and homelessness pressures in 2024/25, including funding for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme delivers thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country.
We are also launching a £450 million third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund. This will provide capital funding to local authorities to obtain better quality temporary accommodation for those owed a homelessness duty and to provide safe and suitable housing for those on Afghan resettlement schemes.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had recent discussions with rail companies on the affordability of fares.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department regularly meets with the rail industry, on a variety of issues including rail affordability. Following last year’s biggest ever Government intervention to cap rail fare increases below inflation, we will continue to protect passengers from cost-of-living pressures and will not increase next year’s rail fares by as much as July RPI.
We have also introduced several other initiatives to support passengers, including launching flexible season tickets and three new Railcards.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department considered alternative measures to the ban on the XL Bully breed of dog.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We considered the ban on XL Bully type dogs carefully and we firmly believe that it is necessary to reduce the risks to the public by this type. This is why we have taken urgent action to ban XL Bully type dogs by the end of the year.
Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to improve the safety of teenage care leavers living in semi-independent accommodation.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Every child growing up in care should have a stable, secure environment where they feel supported. That’s why the department has introduced mandatory national standards and Ofsted registration and inspection requirements for previously ‘unregulated’ independent and semi-independent accommodation for sixteen and seventeen year-old looked after children and care leavers.
The introduction of national standards and Ofsted registration requirements is vital to ensure that sixteen and seventeen year-olds in and leaving care have access to high quality accommodation and support, and action can be taken where provision is not good enough. The department has published guidance for the sector on the new requirements, which is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1187743/Guide_to_the_supported_accommodation_regulations_including_quality_standards.pdf.
Within the current spending review period, the department is providing £99.8 million of funding to local authorities to increase the number of care leavers that stay living with their foster families in a family home up to the age of 21 through the ‘Staying Put’ programme. Going beyond this, the department is also providing an additional £53 million to increase the number of young people leaving residential care who receive practical help with move-on accommodation, including ongoing support from a keyworker, through the ‘Staying Close’ programme. A further £3.2 million is being given to local authorities this year to provide extra support to care leavers at highest risk of rough sleeping.
The department is committed to actions set out in Stable Homes, Built on Love to ensure an increase in the number of care leavers in safe, suitable accommodation and a reduction in care leaver homelessness by 2027.