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Dr Allison Gardner:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve support for care leavers in Stoke-on-Trent South constituency. \p Janet Daby: The government recognises that care leavers have some of the worst outcomes in society and is committed to ensuring that children leaving care have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships and are engaged in education, employment and training (EET).

To address the challenges care leavers face, the department has established a care leaver Ministerial Board, chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Deputy Prime Minister, which brings together Ministers from key departments to improve support for care leavers across government. We have also introduced the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to drive forward our commitments on children’s social care, including placing new duties on local authorities to provide ‘Staying Close’ support to care leavers up to the age of 25, where their welfare requires it, and requiring each local authority to publish information about the arrangements it has in place to support care leavers in their transition to adulthood and independent living.

To support care leavers to engage in EET, those who start an apprenticeship are entitled to a £3,000 bursary. Further, local authorities must provide a £2,000 bursary for care leavers who go to university, and care leavers are a priority group for the 16 to 19 bursary if they are studying in further education.

To help care leavers secure and maintain safe and affordable housing, the department is funding local authorities to support care leavers who wish to stay living with their foster families up to the age of 21, and have increased support for young people leaving residential care, with move-on accommodation and ongoing support from a keyworker provided through the ‘Staying Close’ programme.

The department knows that a stable support network and loving relationships are crucial to supporting care leavers to thrive. We are funding family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes across 45 local authority areas, including Stoke-on-Trent, to help care leavers to identify and reconnect with important people in their lives and create safe, stable, loving relationships.

To enable better access to mental health services, the department committed to recruit 8,500 new mental health staff and we are also updating the statutory guidance on promoting the health and wellbeing of children in care and care leavers.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of free breakfast provision in secondary schools on levels of school attendance. \p Stephen Morgan: Breakfast clubs remove barriers to opportunity, supporting pupils’ attendance and attainment, enabling them to thrive academically and socially and helping families with the cost of childcare around the school day.

Compared to studies of programmes targeted at primary-aged pupils, there are comparatively few high-quality experimental studies on the impact of breakfast clubs on secondary-aged pupils. Typically, primary school breakfast clubs have higher take-up than secondaries and more studies report their positive effects on attainment and attendance, such as the Magic Breakfast evaluation which reported that attendance improved for children at breakfast club schools, equivalent to 26 fewer half-days of absence per year for a class of 30.

The government is committed to offering a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England. With limited resources, the evidence we do have shows it is right for the government to focus this provision on primary-aged pupils where there is greatest evidence of gains to children’s learning and development.
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Ian Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking with local authorities to help support kinship carers in (a) Liverpool and (b) other areas. \p Janet Daby: The government recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children. In October 2024, the department published the new Kinship Care statutory guidance for local authorities, which sets out the support and services local authorities should provide to kinship families, including reaffirming the requirement to publish their local offer of support in a clear, accessible way.

Alongside this, as part of her role as the National Kinship Care Ambassador, Jahnine Davis will work alongside all local authorities to help them improve their kinship practice and local policies and ensure they are following national guidance. She will share learning nationally so that more local authorities can benefit from evidence of best practice. In turn, this will help to improve outcomes for children and families across England.

In October 2024, the government also announced a £40 million package to trial a new Kinship Allowance in some local authorities in England, to test whether paying an allowance to cover the additional costs of supporting a child can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. This is the single biggest investment made by government in kinship care to date and could transform the lives of vulnerable children who can no longer live at home.

The department will share further details on the process for selecting local authorities in due course.
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Antonia Bance:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of academy trusts that have reported off-payroll arrangements for staff who are also trustees in each of the last five years. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department collates and publishes data annually in the academies sector annual report and accounts on off-payroll arrangements in academy trusts. This includes arrangements with trustees, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/academies-sector-annual-reports-and-accounts.

The academies sector annual report and accounts is drawn from academy trusts’ accounts data. The report for 2022 to 2023 will be published shortly and the deadline for academy trusts to submit data to the department for 2023 to 2024 is 28 January 2025.
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Cat Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average pay was for headteachers in (a) primary and (b) secondary school in the maintained sector in each of the last five years. \p Catherine McKinnell: Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The following link provides the full-time equivalent median average salary for head teachers in local authority maintained primary schools, local authority maintained secondary schools and total state-funded schools in England, as at November each year, for the academic years 2019/20 to 2023/24: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1a07b1b4-e474-4cf7-1e4d-08dd2d8a762c.
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Natalie Fleet:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of when the review into the proposed North Derbyshire University Academy free school project in Bolsover will be completed. \p Stephen Morgan: The mainstream free schools review is ongoing and departmental officials are reviewing the latest information from Redhill Academy Trust and Derbyshire County Council. No decisions have been made yet and the department will not take decisions without considering the key evidence and data.

The department will update all trusts and local authorities on next steps shortly. We will also provide an update on the overall review in due course.
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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with local councils on the future funding of the Holiday Activities and Food programme. \p Stephen Morgan: I refer the hon. Member for Gosport to the answer of 5 December 2024 to Question 17058.
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Luke Murphy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) retention and (b) pass rate is for 16 to 19 year olds studying three A level-equivalent (i) applied general and (ii) tech level qualifications. \p Janet Daby: The department does not publish retention and pass rate data for 16 to 19-year-olds for applied general and tech level qualifications equivalent in size to three A levels.

However, the department does publish data on pass rates and the proportion of students who are retained to the end of their ’core aim’ (or main learning aim) of their study programme at a school or college in the ’A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results/2022-23. The data covers students at the end of 16 to 18 study in the reporting year attending state-funded schools and colleges. This includes all applied general and tech level qualifications approved for reporting in school and college performance data in that year, irrespective of the size of the qualification. For retention, the data relates to qualifications where it is the student’s core aim. This means that if a student studied both applied general and tech level qualifications, the statistics only refer to the learning aim recognised as their core aim. For pass rates, data reflects their best result if students enter multiple applied general (or tech level) qualifications, but students that enter both applied general and tech level qualifications will report outcomes for both unless they are in the same subject. The most recent published data is for the cohort of students at the end of 16 to 18 study in 2022/23 and is available for pass rates, available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e869e68e-85ab-4cf7-595d-08dd3479441b, and retention which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e09fafe6-b348-4839-5950-08dd3479441b.

Additionally, in 2024 the department included in the T Level Action Plan a retention rate for 16-year-olds starting a large vocational and technical qualification (VTQ) equivalent in size to three A levels in academic year 2021/22, which found that 80% of 16-year-olds were retained within two years of starting their large VTQ. This is based on all relevant aims, and not just each student's core aim. The T Level Action Plan is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66290c86b0ace32985a7e6d6/T_Level_action_plan_-_analytical_annex.pdf.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that young people leave school equipped with relevant skills for working life. \p Catherine McKinnell: The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.

The review will seek to deliver a curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and ready for work, and one that builds the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to seize opportunity and to thrive in the changing workplace. This includes weaving speaking and listening skills, as well as digital and other life skills, into their learning.

The review group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its initial findings and confirming the key areas for further work. Its final report, with recommendations, will be published this autumn. We will take decisions on what changes to make in light of these recommendations.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of strengthening media literacy programmes in the ongoing Curriculum and Assessment Review. \p Catherine McKinnell: Political and media literacy are currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which covers parliamentary democracy, the power of government, and how citizens and Parliament hold government to account. It also equips young people to distinguish between fact and opinion and understand the role of a free press. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship, using non-statutory programmes of study at key stages 1 and 2. Complementary aspects of media literacy are also taught through relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) and computing, which together equip pupils to evaluate and apply information technology and to be a discerning consumer of information online.

Support for curriculum delivery is available through optional, free and adaptable resources from Oak National Academy (Oak). Oak launched its new curriculum sequences for secondary citizenship earlier this academic year, with the full package of curriculum resources expected to be available by this autumn. Oak resources are available here: https://www.thenational.academy/.

The Educate against Hate website also hosts a series of online media literacy resources, which seek to help young people evaluate the validity of information. These resources can be accessed here: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, conducted by a group of education leaders (the Review group) and chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The terms of reference were published last July and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/curriculum-and-assessment-review.

The Review will seek to deliver a curriculum that is rich and broad, which ensures children and young people are equipped with the essential knowledge and skills to enable them to adapt and thrive in the world and workplace of the future. The Review will consider the skills needed to ensure that children are resilient to misinformation and can distinguish fact from fiction.

The role of the Review group is to consider the evidence, the responses to the call for evidence and widespread engagement with the sector, and then make recommendations for the government to consider. The Review group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work, and will publish its final report with recommendations this autumn. The department will take decisions on what changes to make in light of these recommendations.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to mandate local authorities to collect information on special educational needs disaggregated by primary need. \p Catherine McKinnell: Information on the primary and secondary need of pupils in school with both an education, health and care (EHC) plan and who have special educational needs (SEN) support is collected via the school census.

The school census is a statutory return and collects information on school characteristics and pupil records three times a year. This includes information on the pupil’s SEN provision, whether they have an EHC plan or SEN support without an EHC plan and also what their primary and secondary need is.

This information is published each year as part of the statistical release ‘Special education needs in England’, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2023-24.

Information is also collected from local authorities for all EHC plans maintained by the local authority, including those educated other than at school. SEN2 is also a statutory return and includes information on: requests for assessment for an EHC plan made to each local authority and the outcome of that request, the assessments for an EHC plan made by each local authority, and the outcome of that assessment as well as information on the EHC plans maintained by the authority.

This includes information on the primary and secondary SEN need for each child and young person with an EHC plan. This individual level SEN2 collection was introduced in 2022 and the department is currently developing the publication to include primary needs in 2025.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to introduce a standardised complaints process for academy schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: ​​All academies are required to have a complaints process which adheres to Part 7 of the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014. This sets out that it is the academy’s responsibility to handle and resolve any complaints. If a complainant has concerns that an academy did not handle a complaint in line with the regulations, they can then escalate to the department, whose role it is to consider whether the academy followed the correct process.

The department’s ‘Best practice guidance for academies complaints procedures’ can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-up-an-academies-complaints-procedure/best-practice-guidance-for-academies-complaints-procedures.

​
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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of supporting the expansion of (a) local authority supply pools and (b) not-for-profit supply provision on (i) supply teachers and (ii) schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: Supply teachers perform a valuable role and the department is grateful for their important contribution to schools across the country.

Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers. Local authority supply pools are one of the approaches to providing supply teachers and local authorities have the autonomy to decide whether to operate these supply teacher pools.

Supply teachers employed directly by a state-maintained school or local authority must be paid in accordance with the statutory arrangements for teachers laid down in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document.

The department, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, has established the agency supply deal, which supports schools in obtaining value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. Details of this can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the (a) number and (b) proportion of school support staff in state-funded schools in England who are employed on (i) zero-hour and (ii) term time-only contracts. \p Catherine McKinnell: Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The school workforce census does not collect figures on zero-hour contracts and does not directly identify term time-only contracts. In November 2023, the latest information available, there were 71,000 school support staff contracts for between 37 and 40 weeks, the likely duration of term time-only contracts, in state-funded schools in England. This equates to 13% of support staff contracts where a duration was reported.

Support staff may have more than one contract, so individuals may be counted more than once.
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Derek Twigg:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with universities on allowing defence companies to attend university (a) careers fairs and (b) events. \p Janet Daby: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had recent discussions with universities regarding the attendance of defence companies at career fairs and events. As autonomous institutions, universities have the discretion to decide which companies they invite to such events.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the average fees charged by independent schools for the term starting in (a) January 2024, (b) September 2024 and (c) January 2025. \p Stephen Morgan: The school level annual school census collects information each January from all registered independent schools in England. This collection includes information from each school on the lowest and highest fees charged for day and boarding pupils, before the application of any bursaries or other forms of fee reduction.

Using the average of the reported lowest and highest fees charged for each school from the latest information available, from the January 2024 collection, shows that across independent schools that charge fees:

• The mean annual day fee charged was £27,642

• The median annual day fee was £15,371

• The mean annual boarding fee was £52,399

• The median annual boarding fee was £32,310.

Data from the 2025 January collection will be available late June 2025.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release entitled One of the largest mental health trials launches in schools, published on 4 February 2019, what the results of those trials were. \p Stephen Morgan: In September 2017, the department commissioned a series of trials in schools across England testing five different approaches to supporting and promoting young people’s mental health and wellbeing. The aim of these trials was to improve the evidence available to schools in choosing how they support their pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.

As part of these trials, children received mindfulness exercises, relaxation techniques and breathing exercises to help them regulate their emotions, alongside lessons on mental health and wellbeing led by teachers and mental health experts.

The randomised control trials have now concluded. The government will publish the findings in the coming months.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the provision of air cleaning units to education facilities. \p Stephen Morgan: The department regularly reviews its guidance to ensure that it aligns with best practice and industry standards, to deliver high-quality school environments.

Between January 2022 and April 2023, the department provided over 9,000 air cleaning units to over 1,300 settings that had been identified with poor ventilation. The department has published guidance on how to use CO2 monitors and air cleaning units, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-co-monitors-and-air-cleaning-units-in-education-and-care-settings.

The department also publishes non-statutory guidance on indoor and outdoor air quality in ‘Building Bulletin 101: Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools’ (BB101), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings.
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Uma Kumaran:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) training and (b) support local authorities will receive to ensure the Children Not In School register does not inadvertently disadvantage parents of children with special educational needs. \p Catherine McKinnell: The measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill for statutory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, and the accompanying duties on parents and out-of-school education providers to provide information for these registers, will support local authorities in identifying all children not in school in their areas, including those with special educational needs (SEN). By identifying these children, local authorities will be better able to support them and their families so they can achieve and thrive.

In order to make sure that these measures are implemented appropriately, the department has established stakeholder implementation forums to enable us to engage with a wide group of stakeholders at regular intervals during the progress of the Bill and subsequently after. This includes a group of home educating representatives and families, some of whom have children with SEN, and we are factoring their views into our delivery and the planned support offer to local authorities.

The department will be issuing statutory guidance to support local authorities to carry out their new duties proportionately. As part of our planned engagement with stakeholders, we will consider whether additional support is required, such as training for local authority staff.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides on schools making second hand uniform available. \p Catherine McKinnell: The government’s statutory guidance requires schools to ensure that arrangements are in place for parents to acquire second-hand school uniforms, for example through periodic second-hand uniform sales or swap shops, and to make these arrangements clear on their website. This guidance is available here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms.

Too many families tell us that the cost of providing school uniform remains a financial burden. That is why we are introducing legislation to limit the number of expensive branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) statutory requirements and (b) guidance exist for (i) local authorities and (ii) schools to prevent children with special education needs becoming Children Missing Education. \p Stephen Morgan: The department recognises that barriers to attendance are wide and complex, and this is particularly true for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Addressing these requires a support-first approach and strong relationships between families, schools, local authorities and other relevant local services.

The department has published the ’Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which is statutory for both schools and local authorities. The guidance promotes a 'support-first' approach and sets out attendance expectations for schools, local authorities and parents. The guidance also provides detail on additional support for pupils with SEND. Where a pupil is not attending due to unmet or additional needs, it requires schools, local authorities and wider services to work together to access and provide the right support to improve attendance.

For pupils registered at a special school, the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 outline that schools must not delete the names of children from the school roll unless they receive approval from the local authority who made the initial arrangements for their education.

The department has also published statutory guidance for local authorities on children missing education (CME). This guidance sets out key principles to enable local authorities in England to implement their legal duty to identify CME, as far as it is possible to do so, and get them back into education. The guidance outlines that local authorities should consider the reasons why children go missing from education, and the circumstances that can lead to this happening, when developing policies and procedures. Moreover, the guidance highlights that schools do have a safeguarding duty in respect of their pupils, and as part of this, should investigate any unexplained absences.
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Alison Griffiths:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many laptop computers procured for his Department have been (a) lost and (b) stolen in each of the last 12 months. \p Justin Madders: The Department for Business and Trade figures for (a) lost and (b) stolen between start Jan 2024 and end Dec 2024 are:

(a) Lost = 31

(b) Stolen = 25
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Alison Griffiths:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with businesses on the subsidy control regime. \p Justin Madders: To date I have not met with business representatives directly to discuss the subsidy control regime, however my department would welcome the views of businesses in response to the current public consultation on refinements to the UK’s subsidy control regime. The consultation closes on 21 January 2025 and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/refining-the-uk-subsidy-control-regime.
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Alison Griffiths:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the net monetary value to business was of the removal of regulation in each year from 2010 to 2024. \p Justin Madders: The Business Impact Target BIT, which was repealed by the previous government through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act, was the principal mechanism through which government made an estimate of the change in the total annual cost of regulation to business. The total impact of regulatory changes between 2011-2022 measured by equivalent annual net direct cost to business is estimated to be an increase of £6.2bn. This data is taken from annual BIT reports and for the period 2011-2015 the data also includes calculations by the National Audit Office of some regulatory changes outside the BIT’s remit.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an estimate of the number of people on the National Living Wage who will become liable for income tax from 6 April 2025. \p Justin Madders: The department will publish a comprehensive impact assessment on the impacts of the 2025 National Minimum Wage uprating in line with the requirements of the Better Regulation Framework shortly. However, this will not provide an estimate of the number of National Living Wage earners who will become income taxpayers from April 2025.
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Alison Griffiths:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2024 to Question 19287 on Trade Agreements: India, whether talks have begun. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: UK-India trade talks will relaunch early this year, and work is underway across government to prepare for negotiations.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to Section 132 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, whether any employers' associations maintain a political fund. \p Justin Madders: Unincorporated employers’ associations are able to maintain a political fund in accordance with the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. None currently maintain a political fund.
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Claire Hanna:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department has taken to monitor the application of the General Product Safety Regulations in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. \p Justin Madders: The updated GPSR largely formalises the reality of how many businesses are already operating and the measures are therefore likely to have limited impact in practice. However, we understand that for some businesses, the regulation will require changes, and we take any concerns extremely seriously.

We have issued guidance, will keep this under review and continue to engage businesses directly to ensure we are supporting them to trade freely within the UK and with the EU. We have regular discussions with businesses and consumer representatives from across the UK to hear their concerns.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_142

Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of recycling lithium iron phosphate batteries. \p Sarah Jones: The UK currently has an emerging capacity to recycle lithium-ion batteries, with most EV batteries being dismantled and shipped to Europe.

Recyclus Group, based in Wolverhampton, is the country's first and only industrial-scale recycling facility. It is licenced to turn 22,000 tonnes of spent lithium-ion batteries, taken from a range of sources including electric cars, each year into black mass without using water, and has a low carbon footprint.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_143
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_143

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to decolonise the (a) artwork and (b) heritage assets in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its arm's length bodies. \p Justin Madders: There has been no change in the Department for Business and Trade’s management of artwork or heritage assets since the previous administration.

As separate entities, the responsibility for creating policy and guidance for artwork sits with each individual Arm’s Length Body, rather than with the Department.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_144
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_144

Richard Tice:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an estimate of the annual cost of regulatory compliance for businesses in each of the last five years; and if she will make a comparative estimate of the cost of regulatory compliance (a) in the UK and (b) across the G7. \p Justin Madders: The Business Impact Target, which was repealed by the previous government through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act, was the principal mechanism through which government made an estimate of the total annual cost of regulation to business. In its place, the reformed Better Regulation Framework encourages an earlier and more thorough assessment of impacts of individual regulatory proposals. This government will use the framework to ensure that new regulations achieve their objectives, with the lowest possible cost to businesses and households.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_145
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_145

Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing (a) licencing for builders and (b) affordable recourse for people impacted by rogue builders. \p Justin Madders: This Government is working to ensure we have a high-quality and professional construction industry, which delivers safe work and has consumer protection at the heart of this. Any licencing scheme would need to be robust, proportionate and evidence based.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 sets out the standards consumers can expect from traders and remedies if these rights are breached. Consumers can seek redress through the Small Claims Court, where they can pursue claims of up to £10,000 against a rogue builder. Citizens Advice provides information on making claims and can refer complaints on to Trading Standards for appropriate enforcement action.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_146
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_146

Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the use of hydrometallurgical separation in the recycling of electric vehicle batteries to help facilitate the recovery of lithium. \p Sarah Jones: The Government seeks to encourage sustainable critical mineral production and pro-cessing. As electric vehicle batteries reach the end of their economic life, there will be an opportunity and necessity to repair, repurpose, reuse, and recycle them. The chemicals sector will play an important role in recovering valuable materials like lithium, enhancing environmental sustainability, and alleviating pressure on primary supply

To this end, the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) aims to support the creation of an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain in the UK. It provides support to late-stage R&D and capital investments in strategically important technologies. This in-cludes unlocking strategic investments in battery recycling.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_147
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_147

Sam Carling:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what role rural digital connectivity will have in the industrial strategy. \p Sarah Jones: As set out in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper, access to fast, secure, and reliable digital connectivity is essential to enabling economic growth and to reap the transformational productivity benefits of digitalisation and the adoption of AI. Improvements in infrastructure, including digital infrastructure, will be foundational to success across our growth-driving sectors and to addressing place-specific constraints to growth across the country.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_148
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_148

Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when the next phase of Help to Grow Management Programme funds will be available to universities. \p Gareth Thomas: In the Autumn Budget, 2024 the Chancellor demonstrated the government’s commitment to continue the Help to Grow: Management Course throughout 2025-26, maintaining its existing scale and reach as part of our growth strategy. Help to Grow: Management will continue to help thousands of small businesses across the UK to improve their productivity and drive small business growth. Funding for 2025-26 will continue to be made available to university business schools through the Chartered Association of Business Schools from April 2025.

Help to Grow: Management is delivered by the UK’s leading business schools. DBT provides annual grant funding to the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS). DBT will extend its existing grant agreement with CABS once the business planning round is completed in March 2025. CABS will then contract with individual business schools to deliver the training to SMEs, allowing the programme to continue without a break in funding.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_149
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_149

Ben Lake:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussion he has had with (a) Skills England and (b) the equivalent agencies in the devolved nations on the AI Opportunity Action Plan. \p Feryal Clark: The AI Opportunities Action Plan government response commits to working with Skills England, as well as devolved and local governments, to assess the country’s AI and digital skills. This will expand education pathways into AI, ensure lifelong skills programmes are prepared for AI, and identify AI adoption opportunities to drive growth.

The Secretary of State engaged with all devolved administrations and key departments on the Action Plan. Skills England will collaborate with devolved administrations to boost growth and spread opportunities across the UK, addressing challenges within the UK skills system and establishing cross-border linkages to facilitate investment in skills.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_150
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_150

Ben Lake:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that that the skills needed for the implementation of the AI Opportunity Action Plan are developed across all four nations of the UK. \p Feryal Clark: The AI Opportunities Action Plan will ensure the UK builds a strong and diverse talent pipeline, realising AI benefits across all UK nations.

Skills England will build highly trained workforces to meet national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade. Skills England will collaborate with devolved administrations, regional partners, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Department for Education, aligning with devolution agreements and the Government’s commitment to simplify and devolve adult skills funding to Combined Authorities. Cross-UK collaboration will spread best practices and equip the four nations in boosting growth and spreading opportunity.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_151
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_151

Ben Lake:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with the devolved Administrations on the AI Opportunity Action Plan. \p Feryal Clark: We are committed to building an AI sector that can scale and win globally, ensuring global AI companies want to call the UK home, and boosting the responsible adoption of AI across all parts of the economy.

The plan sets out our intention to deliver growth across the entire UK via collaboration with devolved and local governments, regional businesses and trade bodies to devise strategies best suited to the context of these regions. I have spoken with ministers from all the Devolved Administrations about the Action Plan, emphasising how important it is for the whole of the UK to benefit.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_152
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_152

Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to regulate Artificial Intelligence. \p Feryal Clark: The vast majority of AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, and the UK's existing expert regulators are best placed to do this. The government is committed to ensuring that regulators have the right expertise and resources to make proportionate and effective decisions about AI.

The Government also intends to introduce targeted requirements on the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI systems. These proposals will build on the voluntary commitments secured at the Seoul and Bletchley AI Summits and will strengthen the role of the AI Safety Institute.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_153
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_153

James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is encouraging developers to make provisions for (a) hedgehogs and (b) other wildlife. \p Matthew Pennycook: The revised National Planning Policy Framework we published on 12 December 2024 expects developments to provide net gains for biodiversity, including through incorporating features which support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats and hedgehogs.

Hedgehog highways are identified in the National Model Design Code and Planning Practice Guidance as a feature to enable movement between development sites, and Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework sets out how development can incorporate a range of nature friendly features including bricks with a hole which can benefit sparrows, tree sparrows, swifts, starling, and bats.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_154
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_154

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with the President of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) on the Renters Rights Bill. \p Matthew Pennycook: Officials in my department hold regular discussions with colleagues at HM Court Tribunal Service (HMCTS) and the Ministry of Justice, as well as members of the judiciary, in respect of ongoing work to ensure that the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) is prepared for the introduction of the measures in the Renters’ Rights Bill.