To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the progress on procurement for the Project Gigabit contract for Cheshire.

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the progress on procurement for the Project Gigabit contract for Cheshire.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the report from Coram entitled, Charter for Children: A Call for Change for the next generation, published December 2023.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the report from Coram entitled, Charter for Children: A Call for Change for the next generation, published December 2023.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the CMA's report entitled Children’s social care market study final report, published on 10 March 2022, whether the children’s social care dashboard will identify (a) placement capacity constraints in specific geographical areas and (b) the frequency with which placements...

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the CMA's report entitled Children’s social care market study final report, published on 10 March 2022, whether the children’s social care dashboard will identify (a) placement capacity constraints in specific geographical areas and (b) the frequency with which placements...

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress she has made on implementing the children's social care national framework and dashboard.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress she has made on implementing the children's social care national framework and dashboard.

I welcome my right hon. and learned Friend’s commitment to increase the use of tagging, where appropriate, to reduce the amount of reoffending. In doing so, what plans does he have to include high-risk domestic abusers and, potentially in the future, those who are illegal drug users?

I welcome my right hon. and learned Friend’s commitment to increase the use of tagging, where appropriate, to reduce the amount of reoffending. In doing so, what plans does he have to include high-risk domestic abusers and, potentially in the future, those who are illegal drug users?

The section 28 achieving best evidence video interviews to which my right hon. and learned Friend refers are there to support vulnerable witnesses and to help to secure not only a charge but a conviction. However, yesterday, during a Justice Committee evidence session, we heard from senior King’s Counsel that there were incidents where such cases were being de-prioritised because of the backlog in the criminal courts, on the basis that in essence the evidence-in-chief had already been taken. Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware of that issue? If not, will he look into it further and report back to the Committee?

The section 28 achieving best evidence video interviews to which my right hon. and learned Friend refers are there to support vulnerable witnesses and to help to secure not only a charge but a conviction. However, yesterday, during a Justice Committee evidence session, we heard from senior King’s Counsel that there were incidents where such cases were being de-prioritised because of the backlog in the criminal courts, on the basis that in essence the evidence-in-chief had already been taken. Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware of that issue? If not, will he look into it further and report back to the Committee?

What steps his Department has taken to support the Government’s response to the conflict in Sudan.

What steps his Department has taken to support the Government’s response to the conflict in Sudan.

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. A constituent of mine was holed up in a Khartoum corridor with a French family for days, unable to receive email or WhatsApp instructions from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office due to the power outages. My office was having to relay updates to his distressed family. Mercifully, he was airlifted out by the French armée de l’air. I recognise the complex and

challenging nature of the evacuation, but what can His Majesty’s Government do to help improve awareness of and communications with stranded British citizens in potentially unstable states to enable our armed forces to mount efficient and effective airlifts in the future?

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. A constituent of mine was holed up in a Khartoum corridor with a French family for days, unable to receive email or WhatsApp instructions from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office due to the power outages. My office was having to relay updates to his distressed family. Mercifully, he was airlifted out by the French armée de l’air. I recognise the complex and

challenging nature of the evacuation, but what can His Majesty’s Government do to help improve awareness of and communications with stranded British citizens in potentially unstable states to enable our armed forces to mount efficient and effective airlifts in the future?

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact on educational opportunities of the entrepreneur support programme set out in Inclusive Britain: government response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, published in March 2022.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact on educational opportunities of the entrepreneur support programme set out in Inclusive Britain: government response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, published in March 2022.

Decision making, leadership, commitment, confidence, resilience, teamwork and self-esteem are all skills and attributes essential to entrepreneurialism. It is also the case that these can be fostered by high-quality physical education in schools, which is why today’s announcement of £600 million over two years to support primary school PE and sport is so welcome. Sport England reported in December:

“Children and young people with Black, Asian and Other ethnicities are the least likely to be active.”

So will my hon. Friend use his good offices to upgrade from Government aspiration to Government policy the Association for Physical Education’s recommendation to make PE a core subject in schools to help tackle this unacceptable disparity?

Decision making, leadership, commitment, confidence, resilience, teamwork and self-esteem are all skills and attributes essential to entrepreneurialism. It is also the case that these can be fostered by high-quality physical education in schools, which is why today’s announcement of £600 million over two years to support primary school PE and sport is so welcome. Sport England reported in December:

“Children and young people with Black, Asian and Other ethnicities are the least likely to be active.”

So will my hon. Friend use his good offices to upgrade from Government aspiration to Government policy the Association for Physical Education’s recommendation to make PE a core subject in schools to help tackle this unacceptable disparity?

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much (a) Cheshire East and (b) Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority received in funding from his Department through the (i) Bus Service Operator Grant and (ii) Bus Recovery Grant in each of the last five years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much (a) Cheshire East and (b) Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority received in funding from his Department through the (i) Bus Service Operator Grant and (ii) Bus Recovery Grant in each of the last five years.

What steps his Department is taking to support the operation of public services during industrial action.

What steps his Department is taking to support the operation of public services during industrial action.

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

Ambulance response times, particularly in rural areas such as Eddisbury, are one of those issues on which I seem to have been campaigning since I first came to Parliament. Like others, I am perplexed by the contrarian and regressive turn that has been taken in the policy area by unions representing ambulance workers, which are refusing to agree to minimum service and safety levels during industrial action. Does my right hon. Friend agree that they should embrace those common- sense measures? Perhaps the public would then be more sympathetic in the subsequent collective bargaining.

Ambulance response times, particularly in rural areas such as Eddisbury, are one of those issues on which I seem to have been campaigning since I first came to Parliament. Like others, I am perplexed by the contrarian and regressive turn that has been taken in the policy area by unions representing ambulance workers, which are refusing to agree to minimum service and safety levels during industrial action. Does my right hon. Friend agree that they should embrace those common- sense measures? Perhaps the public would then be more sympathetic in the subsequent collective bargaining.

One clear lesson from our covid response has been to understand the severe and disproportionate consequences of closing our schools and the impact that that has had on our children’s education and development. What assessment has my right hon. Friend made of that so far, and does he agree that we should look at making schools part of our essential national infrastructure, so that we ensure that that does not happen again in future?

One clear lesson from our covid response has been to understand the severe and disproportionate consequences of closing our schools and the impact that that has had on our children’s education and development. What assessment has my right hon. Friend made of that so far, and does he agree that we should look at making schools part of our essential national infrastructure, so that we ensure that that does not happen again in future?

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Crown Prosecution Service in tackling the backlog of cases in the criminal justice system.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Crown Prosecution Service in tackling the backlog of cases in the criminal justice system.

I thank the Solicitor General for his answer. Further to the point raised by the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner), in the first three quarters of 2022 there have been 235 ineffective Crown court trials caused by prosecution absence—the highest annual total since 2014—compared with just 19 in 2019. The recent uplift to defence fees has meant there is now more money in defending than in prosecuting, and consequently the CPS is struggling to find enough prosecutors for trials. What timescales is my hon. and learned Friend working to in order to address this situation?

I thank the Solicitor General for his answer. Further to the point raised by the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner), in the first three quarters of 2022 there have been 235 ineffective Crown court trials caused by prosecution absence—the highest annual total since 2014—compared with just 19 in 2019. The recent uplift to defence fees has meant there is now more money in defending than in prosecuting, and consequently the CPS is struggling to find enough prosecutors for trials. What timescales is my hon. and learned Friend working to in order to address this situation?

If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 25 January.

If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 25 January.

Q4

.

Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con):

For our most vulnerable children, school is often their principal place of safety as well as education, but as reported in my review of school exclusions for the Government in 2019, the unacceptable and illegal use of off-rolling is still shutting a worrying number of children out of the

classroom, out of learning and out of the protection they need from gangs, violence and domestic abuse. The Department for Education has done some impressive and excellent work to address this terrible practice, but what more can my right hon. Friend do to ensure that we permanently exclude off-rolling from our schools?

Q4

.

Edward Timpson (Eddisbury) (Con):

For our most vulnerable children, school is often their principal place of safety as well as education, but as reported in my review of school exclusions for the Government in 2019, the unacceptable and illegal use of off-rolling is still shutting a worrying number of children out of the

classroom, out of learning and out of the protection they need from gangs, violence and domestic abuse. The Department for Education has done some impressive and excellent work to address this terrible practice, but what more can my right hon. Friend do to ensure that we permanently exclude off-rolling from our schools?

If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 18 January.

If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 18 January.