theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the finite fatigue index is of each remaining Hawk T1 aircraft. \p Maria Eagle: The fatigue index value of each remaining Hawk T1 aircraft is contained in the table below.

Across all airframes we have retained more than sufficient overall remaining available fatigue life to ensure all Red Arrow tasking until 2030 as planned.

Hawk T1 Fatigue Index

Tail Number

Fatigue Index used

Maximum Fatigue Index

Percentage of Fatigue Index Used

XX177

133.650

154.09

86.74%

XX202

167.816

198.46

84.56%

XX219

163.636

191.60

85.41%

XX221

xx-xxxx-xxxx

203.76

82.78%

XX232

130.940

154.48

84.76%

XX239

123.861

xx-xxxx-xxxx

75.17%

XX242

146.188

154.45

94.65%

XX278

151.623

187.22

80.99%

XX295

106.590

155.31

68.63%

XX310

133.658

166.80

80.13%

XX319

176.021

193.41

91.01%

XX321

154.067

190.50

80.88%

XX322

154.811

185.67

83.38%

XX323

171.772

193.27

88.88%

Sustainment Fleet

XX159

137.555

194.27

70.81%

XX198

161.614

202.23

79.91%

XX217

140.460

195.11

71.99%

XX230

140.803

191.50

73.53%

XX255

145.777

189.47

76.94%

XX261

148.660

194.57

76.40%

XX281

146.154

201.26

72.62%

XX284

115.669

xx-xxxx-xxxx

68.31%

XX301

127.277

184.50

68.98%

XX303

156.256

196.23

79.63%

XX345

145.217

202.61

71.67%

XX350

141.363

200.88

70.37%
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the number of occasions classified military secrets have been leaked on the online war simulation entitled War Thunder. \p Luke Pollard: It has been the long-standing policy of the current and previous Governments that we do not comment on operational security matters. The Ministry of Defence takes the security of our assets extremely seriously and we have robust measures in place to assure the integrity of these arrangements. When any type of security incident is raised, it is reviewed by security personnel and subjected to an initial security risk assessment, with further action taken on a proportionate basis.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will increase funding to the UK Maritime Component Command based at the Naval Support Facility in Bahrain. \p Luke Pollard: Future funding decisions are subject to the ongoing Spending Review, and the outcome of the Strategic Defence Review.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what industrial disputes are ongoing within (a) their Department and (b) each of the arm’s length bodies connected to their Department; how many (i) staff and (ii) contractors are involved in each dispute; what the form of industrial action is in each dispute; which recognised trade union is involved in each dispute; what the substantive matter is that is being disputed in each case; and what steps he plans to take to end each dispute. \p Al Carns: The Ministry of Defence and its Arms Length Bodies have no ongoing industrial disputes with Trades Unions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

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Mr Calvin Bailey:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with refence to the Council of Reserve Forces and Cadets’ Associations' Annual Statutory Report 2024, published on 17 December 2024, what steps he has taken to ensure training courses are adapted to take account of the needs of reservists. \p Al Carns: We are very grateful for the work of the External Scrutiny Team in producing their Council of Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations Annual Statutory Report 2024.

All Ministry of Defence (MOD) training courses are delivered in accordance with Defence Systems Approach to Training, including for Reservists; this is a formal iterative process to continually improve course delivery, integrate learning technologies and formally record student feedback, resulting in improved changes to Course Programmes.

Many Defence courses now offer a modular approach to completion via the Defence Learning Environment which tracks and accurately records student progress. This has provided significant flexibility, allowing Reservists to complete courses in a way that fits around their employment needs and family commitments.

Adaptations include tailoring to deliver training locally at weekends or in blocks of time that are accessible, allowing Reservists to balance their civilian and military commitments effectively.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to help protect untrained military personnel from injury during training exercises. \p Al Carns: The Ministry of Defence is committed to the health and safety of our people and we have robust policies and processes in place to safely manage our training activities.

Defence activity can be inherently hazardous. This risk to our people is rendered as low as reasonably practicable and tolerable during training by ensuring that its design and delivery are subject to strict safety procedures, rigorous risk assessment and assurance.

All Defence training is risk assessed and conducted within a Safe System of Training (SST), which sets the conditions under which training is delivered.

Like a Safe System of Work, a SST puts in place control measures arising from a risk assessment, in order to manage identified hazards, which are broken down into four elements; safe person, safe equipment, safe place and safe practice. The SST also recognises that those undergoing training cannot be assumed to be competent until they have successfully completed their training and gained the necessary experience.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to avoid underreporting of incidents relating to injuries of civilian and military personnel. \p Al Carns: The Ministry of Defence is committed to the health and safety of our people.

We recognise the importance of reporting all safety occurrences. We have specific safety occurrence reporting policy. This mandates the reporting of all safety occurrences relating to Defence personnel, visitors and contractors that are undertaking Defence activities, using Defence equipment or on the Defence estate. We regularly review our policies to ensure they remain in line with good practice.

The continued development and rollout of the pan-Defence safety occurrence reporting system, MySafety, will further strengthen the capture of data by streamlining the reporting process for users. With MySafety, personnel will benefit from a standardised, more accessible, single safety occurrence reporting platform, and be able to raise timely occurrences from the occurrence location.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2024 to Question HL1878 on Armed Forces: Equality, if he will publish the report of the review into equality, diversity and inclusion spending in the Armed Forces. \p Al Carns: The review into equality, diversity and inclusion spending in Government Departments, including Civil Service expenditure of behalf of the Armed Forces, was conducted between June 2023 and May 2024 at the request of the then Chancellor of the Exchequer. This work was collated by the Cabinet Office and the release of the associated information is therefore a matter for them.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the MySafety (DURALS) system in recording incidents involving defence personnel. \p Al Carns: MySafety is the new pan-Defence safety occurrence reporting system which is being rolled out across Defence.

Once complete, the introduction of MySafety will provide a standardised, more accessible, single safety occurrence reporting platform to Defence personnel, that focuses heavily on the user experience and offers greater functionality than current reporting systems.

With MySafety, personnel are able to raise timely occurrences from the occurrence location using mobile electronic devices. It also offers improved data exploitation and analysis, enabling Defence to build a greater understanding of safety occurrences and learn lessons more quickly, thus enhancing safety in Defence.

MySafety has already rolled out to the Army, RAF and UK Strategic Command. The majority of Defence organisations are expected to transition to MySafety during 2025.

Early indications suggest the system is likely increasing reporting rates, however, comparisons with data from previous years should be avoided due to varying levels of operational and training activity.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to improve retention of officers in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) Royal Air Force. \p Al Carns: The new Government’s work in improving retention and recruitment is part of a package of measures aimed to renew the contract between the nation and those who serve. We are modernising and refining our policies and processes to attract, and then retain the best possible talent, highlighting that Defence is a modern, forward-facing employer which offers a valuable and rewarding career. Our aim is to attract and recruit more, as well as maximise the number of applicants that successfully enter and remain in Armed Forces employment.

The retention measures we have introduced and in development are aimed at the widest possible audience where possible, whether that be Officer or Enlisted ranks, unless directed towards protecting specific operational capabilities. As part of this inclusive approach to retention we have already awarded the largest Armed Forces pay increase in 22 years, providing appropriate financial recognition to all personnel and additionally supporting the retention of key skills.

The Ministry of Defence and Ministers recognise the significant sacrifices that our military families make in serving our nation, and more retention-positive measures have been introduced. As part of this we have protected the integrity of the Continuity of Education Allowance; the Secretary of State for Defence directed that the cap on current rates be lifted to support the means of mitigating the disruption to Service children’s education, caused by Service commitments involving frequent moves of the family home. The recent repurchase of the SFA estate from Annington Homes will enable the Ministry of Defence the freedom to embark on a substantive programme of redevelopment and improvement of our housing estate to provide quality homes for Service Families.

Furthermore, we have extended Wraparound Childcare to families serving overseas which will potentially save up to £3,400 annually for Service families.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Hawk T1 aircraft are in service with the (a) RAF and (b) Fleet Air Arm. \p Luke Pollard: There are 26 Hawk T1 aircraft in service. The Fleet Air Arm Hawk T1 went out of service on 31 March 2022.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has reached agreement with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the financial year when defence spending will reach 2.5% of GDP. \p Luke Pollard: The Government is committed to setting a path to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence in the spring and the Department engages regularly with His Majesty's Treasury on the issue.
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Rebecca Paul:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress his Department has made on designating a successor to the standard issue L85A3 service rifle. \p Maria Eagle: The L85 rifle (‘SA80’) will be replaced over the coming decade through Project GRAYBURN.

The project has entered the concept phase, where the capability requirements are being identified and understood in depth.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Defence Recycling and Disposals Team have commenced commercial negotiations with potential buyers for (a) HMS Bulwark and (b) HMS Albion. \p Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 January 2025 to question 22653.

HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark (docx, 15.8KB)
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Robert Jenrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any offenders convicted of a grooming gang offence were released under the SDS40. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: There is no single ‘grooming gang’ offence defined in legislation.

All sex offences are automatically excluded from SDS40.
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Alicia Kearns:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any offenders convicted of gang rape have been released early from prison in the last six months. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: There is no single offence for gang rape defined in legislation.

All sex offences are automatically excluded from the SDS40 scheme.
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Luke Murphy:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding has been allocated to the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner (a) in total and (b) for support services for survivors of sexual assault and abuse since 2012. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales receive annual grant funding from the Ministry of Justice’s victim and witness budget to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types.

My Department has committed £154 million per annum on a multi-year basis across this spending review period, up to the end of March 2025. For 2024/25 we provided £41 million of ringfenced funding for the recruitment of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisors, and £21 million of ringfenced funding for community-based domestic abuse and sexual violence services. These funding commitments have enabled us to provide tailored support to enable victims of sexual violence to cope and recover from the devastating effect of their crimes. Funding amounts for individual PCC areas are not routinely published.

The PCC for Hampshire publishes details on services commissioned in their annual reports available at: Money - Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner.
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Calum Miller:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of revising sentencing guidelines to protect the right to protest. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The right to peacefully protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. It is a long-standing tradition in this country that people are able to gather together and to express a point of view, provided that they do so within the law. The Government is fully committed to protecting and preserving that right.

Sentencing guidelines are developed by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so. The guidelines produced provide the Court with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how culpable the offender is.

As an independent body, the Council decides its own work plan and priorities. The Lord Chancellor or the Court of Appeal can ask the Council to consider producing or revising guidelines in a particular area, but the Council is not required to agree to any such requests.

The definitive guidelines on the sentencing of public order offences were issued by the Council on 25 September 2019 and came into force on 1 January 2020. The Council is currently developing guidelines for additional public order offences.
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Robin Swann:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the Independent Review of the Windsor Framework will consider the (a) operation and (b) output of the Northern Ireland Assembly Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee. \p Hilary Benn: It will be a matter for Lord Murphy to consider the programme of work of the Review. In line with the Terms of Reference, the Review will be obliged to consult with a range of stakeholders, including Northern Ireland political parties, and can engage with the Assembly and its committee functions as it considers appropriate.
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Saqib Bhatti:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of permanently reducing business rates for grassroots music venues. \p James Murray: As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties from 2026-27 for properties with rateable values below £500,00. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on all properties with a rateable value (RV) of £500,000 and above.

In the interim period, for 2025-26, we have prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40% up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.

The Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee’s report on grassroots music venues recommended that RHL relief should not be wholly withdrawn in April 2025. The Committee’s report also highlighted the sector's desire for certainty and long-term stability. That is why the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street RHL properties from 2026-27.

The Government’s full response to the CMS Committee’s report was published on 14 November 2024 and is available online: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8227/grassroots-music-venues/publications/.
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Rachel Blake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to Orchestra Tax Relief from 1 April 2024 on the promotion of UK orchestras. \p James Murray: The government recognises the value of the UK’s world-leading creative industries and arts sectors.

On 1 April 2024, several administrative changes to Orchestra Tax Relief took effect, following legislation being passed in Finance Act 2024.

In accordance with standard practice, HMRC published a tax information and impact note about the legislation, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/creative-industry-tax-reliefs-administrative-changes/administrative-changes-to-the-creative-industry-tax-reliefs

As set out in the note, the administrative changes are expected to have a negligible impact on businesses claiming the creative tax reliefs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

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Saqib Bhatti:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to take steps with the Valuation Office Agency to introduce new valuation methods for business rates for grassroots music venues. \p James Murray: As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support.

In the interim period, for 2025-26, we have prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40% up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.

Music venues are valued in the same way as any other class of non-domestic property; through applying the statutory and common law principles that apply across non-domestic rating. The valuation approach adopted by the Valuation Office Agency follows one of the established three methods of valuation for rating - rentals, receipts and expenditure, or contractors (cost based). In most cases, the method adopted will be derived from rental evidence directly from the property, or from similar properties that share comparable physical characteristics.
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Mike Amesbury:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her planned timetable is for permanent reform of business rates. \p James Murray: Over the Parliament, we will create a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced that it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties from 2026-27 for properties with Rateable Values below £500,000. Ahead of these changes being made, we have 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.

These announcements reflect the Government’s first steps to support the high street. We want to go further to modernise the system, and so, we have published a Discussion Paper setting out priority areas for reform. This paper invites industry to help co-design a fairer business rates system over the course of this Parliament.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data her Department holds on the number of adults who are victims of illegal money lending each year. \p Emma Reynolds: Illegal money lenders — more commonly known as loan sharks — are dangerous criminals capable of inflicting terrible harm on their victims. To combat this, the Government funds specialist Illegal Money Lending Teams (IMLTs) operating across the UK. These teams investigate and prosecute illegal money lenders and offer support to their victims.

Because of the underground nature of illegal money lending, HM Treasury does not have data on the number of victims of illegal money lending each year. However, HM Treasury officials regularly engage with the IMLTs to receive updates on their work, including on prosecutions, support provided to victims, and any key trends. To learn more about the work of the IMLTs, visit the Stop Loan Sharks website: https://www.stoploansharks.co.uk/.
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Joe Morris:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of which regions are most impacted by financial exclusion. \p Emma Reynolds: On 5 December, the Government convened a Financial Inclusion Committee which has been established to tackle the problems of financial exclusion. Through this committee, I will work with consumer groups and industry on the development of a Financial Inclusion Strategy.

I recognise the different impact of financial exclusion across regions, particularly when comparing urban and rural areas. As such, we will be working closely with organisations from across the UK to fully understand the barriers individuals are facing and ensure that the development of the strategy is informed by a range of perspectives and expertise.
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Mike Martin:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the planned reforms to agricultural property relief, what steps her Department will take to support farmers who have lost their exemption because their (a) spouse or (b) civil partner has died. \p James Murray: The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.

The reforms mean that individuals can access 100% relief for the first £1 million of combined business and agricultural assets, and 50% relief thereafter - meaning an effective tax rate of up to 20% – regardless of their relationship status. Any liability can also be paid over 10 years interest free – a benefit that is not seen anywhere else in the inheritance tax system.

It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR in 2026-27, with around half of those being claims that involve AIM shares. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of imported disposable vapes manufactured in China in (a) 2024 and (b) 2023. \p James Murray: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as a National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com). From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria.

Classification codes (according to the Harmonised System) are available to assist you in accessing published trade statistics data in the UK Global Tariff. Goods moving to and from the UK are identified by commodity codes. These are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff.  Disposable vapes are most likely classified as commodity code xx-xxxx-xxxx. HMRC does not collect the number of units imported for vapes.

The data we do have on the import of these items, can be obtained from the build your own interactive tables on www.uktradeinfo.com. These tables include country of dispatch (CoD) which gives information on the country of export. If specifically wanting information on country of manufacture/ country of origin (CoO) this is available in the  bulk datasets archive. The data available includes value and weight (kg) of imports.

Published data for 2024 covers January – October only

If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact xxx@xxx.xx.
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Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent representations she has received (a) directly and (b) via other Departments from the Special Educational Needs and Disability Transport Operators Group on the potential inclusion of (i) drivers and (ii) passenger assistants in any (A) grant and (B) compensation scheme to offset the impact of changes in employer national insurance contributions; and if she will include this cohort in any such scheme. \p James Murray: The government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way. This is the usual approach the Government takes to supporting the public sector with additional employer NICs costs, as was the case with the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.

This does not include support for the private sector, including private sector firms contracted by central/local government. For private sector organisations that contract with local or central government, the impact of tax changes would be taken into account along with all other changes to their cost base in the usual way through contract negotiations.

The definition of who is in scope as a public sector employee is based on Office of National Statistics classification of the entity paying employer NICs. This applies to employees who are directly employed by the public sector, but not, for example, where services are contracted out. The public sector comprises central government, local government and public corporations.
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Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes made to employer's National Insurance contributions at the Autumn Budget 2024 on the (a) staffing levels of and (b) level of (i) economic and (ii) social contributions to charities; and if she will make it her policy to exempt the charitable sector from these changes. \p James Murray: In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to support public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance contributions (NICs).

HMRC published on 13 November a Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the impact of the changes on charities as employers.

The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all next year, more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package, and all eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no NICs. All charities are eligible for the Employment Allowance, even if they are wholly or mainly carrying out functions of a public nature.

More broadly, within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving, with more than £6 billion in charitable reliefs provided to charities, CASCs and their donors in 2023-24.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_232

Mark Ferguson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the (a) total cost to the public purse for, (b) proportion of her Department’s total expenditure that was spent on and (c) spend per head for transport infrastructure in (a) the North East and (b) England the last 15 years. \p Mike Kane: Figures on public sector expenditure at national and regional levels are published as part of HM Treasury’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics (Available here for current and previous publications: ‌https:/‌‌/​‌‌‌www.gov.‌uk/​‌‌‌‌‌government/collections/‌‌​country-and-regional-‌analysis). In the most recent publication, figures are provided from 2019/20 to 2023/24.

In 2023/24, capital expenditure from the Department for Transport and its partner bodies was £489m in the North East of England and £17,298m in England. Capital expenditure in the North East of England was 1.6% as a proportion of total Department for Transport expenditure. Capital expenditure in England was 57.1% as a proportion of total Department for Transport expenditure.

Department for Transport Expenditure by Selected Regions, 2023/24 prices, £m (2019/20 to 2023/24)

Expenditure

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

Total Expenditure

25,010

35,113

32,393

30,039

30,306

Capital Expenditure in North East England

336

480

511

549

489

As a Proportion of Total Expenditure

1.3%

1.4%

1.6%

1.8%

1.6%

Capital Expenditure in England

13,186

14,485

16,675

16,959

17,298

As a Proportion of Total Expenditure

52.7%

41.3%

51.5%

56.5%

57.1%

Applying regional population estimates from the ONS to HMT’s Country and Regional Analysis data allows for a view of per capita spend by region. In 2023/24, capital expenditure per capita from the Department for Transport was £180 in the North East of England and £300 in England.

Department for Transport Capital Expenditure by Selected Regions per capita, 2023/24 prices, £ (2019/20 to 2023/24)

Region

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

North East England

127

182

193

205

180

England

234

257

295

297

300

The Government remains committed to driving prosperity across the United Kingdom, ensuring that growth is felt at both a regional and national level.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_233
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_233

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve the accessibility of bus services for disabled people in Lincolnshire. \p Simon Lightwood: The government is committed to improving bus services right across the country, including in Lincolnshire, so they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. On 1st October 2024, the first phase of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 came into force, meaning that newer vehicles providing local services must provide audible and visible information on stops, destinations and diversions. The majority of services will need to comply by October 2026.

On 17th December, the government introduced a new Bus Services Bill that will give local leaders the freedom to take decisions to deliver their local transport priorities and ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them, including for disabled people. The Bill includes measures which will make bus travel more accessible and inclusive.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_234
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_234

Lewis Cocking:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking with Transport for London to reduce fare evasion. \p Simon Lightwood: Ministers and officials have regular conversations with Transport for London on a variety of issues including fare evasion on their network. Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor and TfL is responsible for operational decisions to support reduced fare evasion.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_235
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_235

Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing (a) home-to-school and (b) home-to-work transport from the registration of local services requirements of the Bus Open Data Service. \p Simon Lightwood: The Bus Open Data Service (BODS) was launched in 2020 and requires all bus operators of local services in England to provide passengers with high-quality, accurate and up-to-date passenger information including timetables, fares, tickets and vehicle location information. 85% of bus operators in England have provided timetable, vehicle location and fares data to BODS.

The government is committed to delivering better bus services, and part of this work is improving the information available to passengers about their bus services. Regulations like those for Bus Open Data therefore form an important part of the Department’s efforts to ensure passengers have access to high quality bus services, including up to date, reliable information on where services are.

Publishing this data openly provides choice to parents, students and commuters in which apps they use for bus tracking, causing passengers to spend less time waiting at bus stops and helping to ensure they arrive at school or their workplace on time. Local authorities and bus operators also have better information on the punctuality and reliability of buses operating to provide school transport or home to work transport in their areas.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_236
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_236

Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of local authorities franchising bus services on smaller bus operators. \p Simon Lightwood: The Bus Services Act 2017 contains a duty for local authorities to make a statement on how they will facilitate participation from small and medium sized operators in service provision as part of the franchising process.

The Department, as part of the Impact Assessment for the Bus Services (No.2) Bill, has considered the potential effects of franchising; this includes the effect on small-to-medium-sized operators.

The Department is also providing support and guidance to authorities considering franchising and we will continue working with local authorities to develop different franchising models that could be smaller scale, require less financial commitment and support participation from a range of operators.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_237
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_237

Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data her Department holds on the number of bus incidents where driver fatigue was identified as an issue in (a) 2024 and (b) the last five years for which data is available. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department publishes statistics on road collisions and casualties involving personal injury reported by police via the data collection system known as STATS19.

Within this system, reporting police officers can assign up to 6 factors which, in their opinion, may have contributed to the collision. Please note that this does not assign blame for the collision to any specific road user but gives an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the collision.

The number of buses or coaches involved in collisions where the contributory factor ‘fatigue’ was assigned to the driver in each of the last 5 years for which data is available are shown in the table. Figures for 2024 are scheduled for publication in September 2025.

Year

Bus/coach in reported road injury collision with contributory factor ‘fatigue’ assigned to driver

2019

13

2020

7

2021

5

2022

12

2023

18
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_238
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_238

Graham Leadbitter:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of audio-visual announcements by bus operators under the Bus Services Act 2017. \p Simon Lightwood: We recognise the importance of audible and visible route and destination information in helping disabled people and other passengers to use bus services with confidence. On 1st October 2024 the first phase of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 (“Accessible Information Regulations”) came into force, requiring vehicles first used on local services since October 2019 to comply. The majority of local services should be compliant by October 2026.

The most recent annual bus statistics indicate that 37.2% of buses in Great Britain incorporated audible and visible route and next stop information provision as at 31st March 2024, but these statistics do not yet reflect the implementation of the Accessible Information Regulations.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_239
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_239

Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Institute of the Motor Industry's survey entitled EV TechSafe Technician Forecasts - Jan 2024. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Government is committed to working with the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) to ensure mechanics across the UK are equipped with the skills needed to safely repair electric vehicles (EVs). Currently over 58,000 technicians, 24% of the workforce, are qualified to work on EVs. This aligns with the 2.8% of licensed vehicles on UK roads that are zero emission.

By endorsing the IMI TechSafe Standards, the Government aims to strengthen trust within the industry and among consumers, supporting the transition to electric vehicles and fostering the development of a highly skilled workforce.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_240
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_240

Mark Ferguson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of spending on road infrastructure in (a) the North East and (b) England over the last 15 years by (i) percentage of total Departmental spend and (ii) per head. \p Lilian Greenwood: Figures on public sector expenditure at national and regional levels are published as part of HM Treasury’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics (available here for current and previous publications: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis). In the most recent publication, figures are provided from 2019/20 to 2023/24.

The figures included below are in 2023/24 prices.

In 2023/24, capital expenditure for the Department of Transport and its partner bodies on national and local roads was £284m in the North East of England and £3,754m in England. Capital expenditure on national and local roads in the North East of England was 0.94% of total Department for Transport expenditure. Capital expenditure on national and local roads in England was 12.39% of total Department for Transport expenditure.

Department for Transport Expenditure and Capital Expenditure on national and local roads by Selected Regions, 2023/24 prices, £m (2019/20 to 2023/24)

Expenditure

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

Total DfT Expenditure

25,010

35,113

32,393

30,039

30,306

Capital Expenditure in North East England: national roads and local roads

193

315

301

369

284

As a Proportion of Total DfT Expenditure

0.77%

0.90%

0.93%

1.23%

0.94%

Capital Expenditure in England: national roads and local roads

4,049

4,176

3,563

3,641

3,754

As a Proportion of Total DfT Expenditure

16.19%

11.89%

11.00%

12.12%

12.39%

Applying regional population estimates from the ONS to HMT’s Country and Regional Analysis data allows for a view of per capita spend by region. In 2023/24, capital expenditure per capita on national and local roads was £105 in the North East of England and £65 in England.

Department for Transport Capital Expenditure on national roads and local roads by Selected Regions £ per capita, 2023/24 prices, (2019/20 to 2023/24)

Region

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

North East England

73

119

114

138

105

England

72

74

63

64

65

The Government remains committed to driving prosperity across the United Kingdom, ensuring that growth is felt at both a regional and national level.
wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_241
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-16 conversation_241

Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress her Department has made on the preparation of a third cycling and walking investment strategy. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department’s officials are scoping out options for the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, and the Department will say more on this in due course. The Department will also consult stakeholders before the publication of the Strategy, as required by the 2015 Infrastructure Act, and will report to Parliament later this year on the delivery of the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy.
wrans/answers2025-02-06 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-06 conversation_1

Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of Carer's Allowance in supporting unpaid carers; and whether she plans to increase the rate of that allowance. \p Sir Stephen Timms: This Government continues to protect the value of benefits paid to carers whilst also spending record amounts in real terms.

The Secretary of State undertakes a statutory annual review of benefit and pensions, and the value of Carer’s Allowance is protected by Up-rating it each year in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). The rate of Carer’s Allowance is £81.90 a week in 2024/25, and from April 2025 this will increase to £83.30 a week, subject to Parliamentary processes.

In addition to Carer’s Allowance, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit. These benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the carer element and the additional amount for carers respectively. Currently, the Universal Credit carer element is £198.31 per monthly assessment period. The additional amount for a carer in Pension Credit is £45.60 a week. These additional amounts are worth around £2400 a year.