Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average spend per pupil was in state schools in each year since 1994, broken down by region.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The table below provides per pupil funding units from 2018/19 to 2024/25, which represents the funding provided for schools in all regions, nationally.
The department cannot provide comparable funding data back to 1994, due to the changes in the funding system since that time. In particular, funding for schools was only identified separately from funding for high needs or early years in 2013, and funding for central school services provided by local authorities was split out from the schools block funding in 2018/19.
The figures below represent the core funding schools receive through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). All the figures in the table, apart from those for 2018/19 exclude growth funding but include premises funding. They do not include additional funding that schools have received for pay and pensions, or other funding streams, such as the pupil premium.
Region | DSG Schools Block per pupil funding | ||||||
| 2018/19 * | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
East Midlands | £4,426 | £4,477 | £4,702 | £5,086 | £5,393 | £5,698 | £5,818 |
East of England | £4,445 | £4,447 | £4,643 | £5,021 | £5,322 | £5,616 | £5,736 |
London | £5,383 | £5,360 | £5,529 | £5,914 | £6,240 | £6,553 | £6,656 |
North East | £4,618 | £4,649 | £4,828 | £5,220 | £5,538 | £5,869 | £5,993 |
North West | £4,629 | £4,653 | £4,838 | £5,221 | £5,524 | £5,835 | £5,962 |
South East | £4,335 | £4,372 | £4,589 | £4,975 | £5,268 | £5,555 | £5,681 |
South West | £4,346 | £4,393 | £4,614 | £5,010 | £5,317 | £5,614 | £5,734 |
West Midlands | £4,638 | £4,652 | £4,823 | £5,198 | £5,506 | £5,815 | £5,931 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | £4,590 | £4,622 | £4,819 | £5,202 | £5,508 | £5,824 | £5,949 |
* In the 2018/19 DSG, growth funding and premises funding were calculated together, so the 2018/19 funding figures include growth funding. All other years exclude growth funding.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle the decline of UK seabirds.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ensuring nature’s recovery is a top priority for this Government. This is why the Government has announced a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) to deliver on our legally binding environment targets, including reversing the decline in species abundance and reducing the risk of national extinction.
Earlier this year, Natural England published the English Seabird Conservation and Recovery Pathway (ESCaRP), which assesses the vulnerability of seabird species in light of the pressures they are facing and sets out actions that could help to bring about seabird recovery. Defra plans to seek stakeholders’ views on the recommended actions this winter.
The Oslo-Paris Commission (OSPAR), the regional seas convention for the North East Atlantic, has published a Regional Action Plan (RAP) for Marine Birds on 6 September. UK experts were involved in developing the RAP which aims to reduce and eliminate the main pressures and activities impacting marine birds in the North-East Atlantic.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle the decline of seabirds.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ensuring nature’s recovery is a top priority for this Government. This is why the Government has announced a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) to deliver on our legally binding environment targets, including reversing the decline in species abundance and reducing the risk of national extinction.
Earlier this year, Natural England published the English Seabird Conservation and Recovery Pathway (ESCaRP), which assesses the vulnerability of seabird species in light of the pressures they are facing and sets out actions that could help to bring about seabird recovery. Defra plans to seek stakeholders’ views on the recommended actions this winter.
The Oslo-Paris Commission (OSPAR), the regional seas convention for the North East Atlantic, has published a Regional Action Plan (RAP) for Marine Birds on 6 September. UK experts were involved in developing the RAP which aims to reduce and eliminate the main pressures and activities impacting marine birds in the North-East Atlantic.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, if she will publish the number of cases awaiting charging decisions by the Crown Prosecution Service, broken down by (a) whether they are (i) summary only, (ii) either way and (iii) indictable only offences and (b) by Crown Prosecution Service region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Management information is held showing the number of cases with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which are awaiting a pre-charge decision.
The table below shows the overall number of cases which were awaiting a charging decision or administrative triage (completed on files sent by the police to the CPS for a charging decision) as of 25 March 2024. This data is provided in line with the last quarterly data release in March 2024.
25/03/2024 | |
Cymru Wales | 1,354 |
East Midlands | 1,107 |
East Of England | 868 |
London North | 803 |
London South | 833 |
Merseyside and Cheshire | 733 |
North East | 852 |
North West | 1,088 |
South East | 912 |
South West | 1,167 |
Thames & Chiltern | 759 |
Wessex | 631 |
West Midlands | 1,571 |
Yorkshire & Humberside | 1,019 |
Total | 13,697 |
Data Source: CPS Pre-Charge Decision Workload Report | |
These figures do not include cases that have been referred to the CPS but that are currently with the police to action, having been sent back to them with a request for further information.
This count is of the number of cases, not suspects. A single case may cover one suspect or several.
No data is available in the report showing whether the alleged offences are summary, either-way or indictable only. To obtain this information would require a manual review at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the spread of bluetongue disease on South Suffolk constituency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) was detected in the EU for the first time in autumn 2023 and it will take time to fully understand the impacts of this disease on the sector. We continue to investigate all reports of suspicion of disease and are monitoring the evidence of impacts domestically and on the continent.
In the meantime, we continue to attempt to prevent its spread. We acted quickly to contain disease when the first case this season was detected on 26 August, implementing zones with movement controls on susceptible livestock to prevent spread in East Anglia, and more recently in East Riding.
Defra has also permitted the use of vaccines for BTV-3 in the high-risk counties of south-east England.
Defra and APHA continue surveillance of susceptible animals and epidemiological assessments, remaining vigilant for any changes, and will continue to work closely with key industry stakeholders to respond to developments and ensure that keepers have the information they need.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues on the incineration of medical waste in the East of England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not currently hold this information. However, the national guidance for the National Health Service’s clinical waste strategy is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-clinical-waste-strategy/
Organisations across integrated care systems, such as NHS trusts, would have their own policies on how to enact this guidance.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on vaccinating badgers to help tackle the spread of bovine tuberculosis.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Over the past few years, several initiatives have been introduced to encourage take up of badger vaccination over larger, more contiguous areas.
As a result of these step, more than 3,000 badgers were vaccinated in England in 2023. This the highest number ever vaccinated annually in England to date
On 30 August, the Government announced the start of work to refresh the Bovine TB strategy for England, to end the badger cull by the end of this parliament and drive down disease to save cattle and farmers’ livelihoods. This will be undertaken in co-design with farmers, vets, scientists and conservationists, ensuring a refreshed strategy continues to be led by the best scientific and epidemiological evidence and advice.
As part of this announcement, a new Badger Vaccinator Field Force will be established. This will increase badger vaccination to drive down TB rates and protect badgers. A badger vaccination study will also be carried out. This will supplement the Field Force. The Government will rapidly analyse the effect of badger vaccination on the incidence of TB in cattle to encourage farmers to take part and provide greater confidence that doing so will have a positive effect on their cattle.
Further details can be found on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-end-badger-cull-with-new-tb-eradication-strategy.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many heritage railways have received grants or financial assistance from the Government since 1999; and how much each of those which have been given support has received.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Since 1999, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £70,562,212 to the UK’s heritage railways.
Within that amount, DCMS funded over 60 heritage steam organisations through the Culture Recovery Fund (2020 - 2021) providing nearly £15 million in support for the heritage rail sector. This has included multiple awards supporting the infrastructure of iconic heritage railways such as Ffestiniog, Bluebell and Severn Valley, as well as the restoration of individual locomotives and elements of rolling stock, including the world-famous Flying Scotsman.
Since 1999, Historic England (previously English Heritage) has awarded £280,396 to the UK’s heritage railways. This included sites such as Bowes Railway Company in the North East which received seven grants since 2002 totalling £515,834. In addition, Bowes Railway Company received £36,241 (July 2020 to March 2021) through a Covid-19 Emergency Grant. Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Community Interest Company received £3,374 (June 2020 to September 2020) through a Covid-19 Emergency Grant. A £49k repair grant was provided towards the cost of the restoration of a Grade II* listed turntable in St Blazey, Cornwall in 2021. The turntable has been restored to operational condition by a social enterprise company, and allows main line steam engines to run into Cornwall on railtours bringing tourists to the Duchy, and be turned ready for their return journey. Historic England has also been supporting the Railway 200 celebrations in many ways including research, outreach and listing sites with links to heritage rail.
We do not hold information on grants given from parts of Government that are not DCMS and its arms length bodies.
Asked by: Alex Baker (Labour - Aldershot)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate her Department has made of the level of (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage, (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in Aldershot constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested regarding (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in Aldershot constituency is not available. Geographic availability of data differs depending on the data source. Where possible, information has been provided for the constituency of Aldershot. Otherwise, statistics for the local authority of ‘Rushmoor’, county of ‘Hampshire’, or the area of ‘Hampshire and Isle of Wight’ are provided where relevant.
Car ownership
According to the Department’s vehicle statistics, there were 138,805 licensed cars as at end March 2024 in the Aldershot Constituency.
Bus usage
According to the Department’s annual bus statistics, in the year ending March 2023 there were 20.8 million local bus journeys taken in Hampshire.
Train usage
The Regional Rail Usage Statistics published by the Office of Rail and Road show that in the year ending March 2023 there were 25.0 million passenger rail journeys within the South East of England that started or ended in Hampshire and Isle of Wight. There were also 15.3 million journeys that started or ended in Hampshire and Isle of Wight that started or ended from regions outside the South East of England.
Active travel usage
According to the Department’s annual walking and cycling statistics, between November 2022 and November 2023, 66.4% of adults walked or cycled, for any purpose, at least once per week in Rushmoor (Non-Metropolitan District). The equivalent figure for Hampshire (County) is 73.6%.
Asked by: Mark Ferguson (Labour - Gateshead Central and Whickham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average funding per pupil was in mainstream schools in (a) Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency, (b) the North East Combined Authority Area and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The table below sets out funding statistics for the North East and England in each of the last five years.
The figures represent the funding provided through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). All of the figures in the table exclude growth funding but include premises. The figures do not include the additional grant funding that schools across the country have received to support pay and pensions increases in 2024/25.
The DSG is allocated at local authority level and, as such, the equivalent figures are not available for Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency. The allocations that schools within a constituency receive are determined by the local funding formula in their area.
The table below provides average per-pupil funding for the last five years, from the 2020/21 to 2024/25 financial years:
Year | DSG Schools Block per-pupil funding | |
North East * | England | |
2020/21 | £4,828 | £5,055 |
2021/22 | £5,220 | £5,212 |
2022/23 | £5,538 | £5,534 |
2023/24 | £5,869 | £5,838 |
2024/25 | £5,993 | £5,957 |
* The data the department holds for the North East is for the North East region, as opposed to the North East Combined Authority Area.