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1584872

registered interest
date	07/02/2023
answering body	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept id	211
answering dept short name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
answering dept sort name	Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
hansard heading	Urban Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Government is taking to revitalise high streets.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	141410
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/02/2023 answer text <p>This Government is committed to supporting the businesses and communities that make our high streets and town centres successful. The Government has provided a comprehensive package of around £400 billion of direct support, including business grants, coronavirus loan schemes, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and income tax payment deferral. This is alongside our steps to introduce an arbitration scheme to help resolve pandemic related rent debt through the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022. Our package builds on long-term investment in our high streets and small businesses including through the £3.6bn Towns Fund, the Future High Streets Fund, and the 4.8bn Levelling Up Fund. In addition to this, the High Streets Task Force is continuing to provide essential support in placemaking and planning, and so far has supported 115 local leaders.</p><p>The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill is going further and builds on long-term investment in our high streets and small businesses. For example, this includes High Street Rental Auctions, a new permissive power for local authorities to require landlords to rent out vacant commercial properties to prospective tenants, such as local businesses or community groups.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bishop Auckland answering member printed Dehenna Davison question first answered 14/02/2023 12:58:05 answering member 4737 label Biography information for Dehenna Davison
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1584873

registered interest
date	07/02/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	NHS: Labour Turnover
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve staff retention in the NHS.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	141411
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2023 answer text <p>Retention within the National Health Service is a complex issue and decisions to leave are taken for a multitude of factors.</p><p> </p><p>The NHS People Plan and the People Promise focus on improving the retention of NHS staff by prioritising staff health and wellbeing. We have set out a comprehensive range of actions to improve staff retention which focuses on creating a more modern, compassionate and inclusive NHS culture by strengthening health and wellbeing, equality and diversity, culture and leadership and flexible working.</p><p>Building on this work, the NHS Retention Programme seeks to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well. To bolster current support, each NHS organisation is prioritising the delivery of five high impact actions that will impact on early career, experience at work, and late career staff, improving the experience and retention of nursing and midwifery staff.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/02/2023 10:40:42 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1584874

registered interest
date	07/02/2023
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	NHS: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to encourage young adults to work for the NHS.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	141412
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2023 answer text <p>The National Health Service has launched its fifth consecutive national recruitment campaign ‘We are the NHS’ to inspire people to consider a career in healthcare and increase applications for healthcare courses. Healthcare students are able to apply for a range of financial support to help them through their studies. For example, eligible nursing, midwifery and allied health professional students can access a non-repayable training grant of at least £5,000 per academic year.</p><p> </p><p>The Government continues to widen access to NHS careers through blended learning and apprenticeship routes, including the recently announced Medical Doctor Apprenticeship.</p><p> </p><p>There were around 20,900 new NHS apprenticeships starts in 2021/22, this makes the NHS the largest employer of apprentices in the public sector by number of starts.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/02/2023 10:47:21 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1584875

registered interest
date	07/02/2023
answering body	Department for Business and Trade
answering dept id	214
answering dept short name	Business and Trade
answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
hansard heading	Conditions of Employment: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to help improve workers’ rights in the period since the UK's departure from the EU.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	141413
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2023 answer text <p>Protecting and enhancing workers’ rights whilst supporting business to grow remains a priority for this Government.</p><p>The Government is backing six Private Members’ Bills helping new parents, unpaid carers, hospitality workers, giving all employees easier access to flexible working, and giving workers’ a right to request a more predictable contract.</p><p>This is in addition to previous reforms we have delivered since leaving the EU including; increasing pay for around 2.5 million workers, extending the ban on exclusivity clauses, quadrupling the maximum fine for employers who treat their workers badly, and creating a new statutory leave for parents who suffer the loss of a child.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake question first answered 15/02/2023 14:47:02 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1584876

registered interest
date	07/02/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Rehabilitation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support prisoners reintegrate into society.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	141414
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2023 answer text <p>Effective resettlement of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce re-offending. This includes making sure someone has a home, family links where appropriate, access to healthcare, a job or further education, and/or access to benefits.</p><p>We know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. The proportion of prisoners released from custody employed at six months rose by almost two thirds between April 2021 and March 2022. That is an increase of nine percentage points, from 14% to 23%.</p><p>We also know that supporting prisoners to tackle addictions is important to reduce reoffending. MoJ is investing up to £120m to support more offenders into treatment – including increasing the number of Incentivised Substance Free Living units to up to 100, and establishing up to 18 new, abstinence-only Drug Recovery Wings.</p><p>Our temporary accommodation service is designed to ensure that prison leavers at risk of homelessness have a stable base on release, improving their opportunities for employment.</p><p>The introduction of Resettlement Passports will bring together the key information and services that are needed to resettle in the community, such as bank accounts, CVs and identity documents to prove the right to work and rent.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 15/02/2023 16:38:53 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1584877

registered interest
date	07/02/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Agriculture: Seasonal Workers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help secure more temporary seasonal workers.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	141415
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2023 answer text <p>Defra continues to speak regularly with the sector and other Government departments to understand labour supply and demand, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, and to make sure that the sector’s workforce requirements are understood across Government.</p><p> </p><p>On 16 December 2022, the Government announced that an allocation of 45,000 visas will be made available in 2023 enabling edible and ornamental horticulture businesses to recruit foreign workers for up to six months. This is an uplift of 15,000 visas compared to the allocation at the start of 2022 and additional Operators have been brought in to add resilience to the route’s operation. A further 10,000 visas are potentially available for horticulture should there be demand and contingent on sponsors and growers continuing to improve worker welfare standards. The Seasonal Worker visa route will continue to operate until at least the end of 2024 and food and farming businesses can continue to draw on EU nationals living in the United Kingdom with settled or pre-settled status to meet their seasonal worker needs.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government has commissioned an independent review of labour shortages in the food supply chain. It will consider how automation, domestic labour and migrant labour can contribute to tackling labour shortages across the farming, processing, and food and drink manufacturing as sectors that are critical for food production and food security. It will report in spring 2023.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 10/02/2023 17:25:37 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1584878

registered interest
date	07/02/2023
answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept id	216
answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
hansard heading	Broadband
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of whether her Department's broadband connectivity targets will be met by 2025.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	141416
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2023 answer text <p>Project Gigabit is the government’s £5 billion mission to deliver lightning-fast, reliable broadband across the UK. Its objective is to level up the UK by giving hard-to-reach areas access to gigabit-capable internet speeds and, coupled with broadband suppliers’ commercial delivery, support the government’s target of nationwide gigabit-capable broadband by 2030.</p><p>Today, more than 73% of UK premises have access to gigabit-capable broadband, up from just 6% in January 2019. We are on track to achieve our milestone target of 85% by the end of 2025.</p><p>Building Digital UK has set out the baseline trajectory to meet this target, and publishes quarterly updates on the progress of Project Gigabit.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 15/02/2023 12:02:39 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1584882

registered interest
date	07/02/2023
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Payment Methods
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will consider the potential merits of taking steps to require providers of (a) goods and (b) services to accept cash payment.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	141418
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2023 answer text <p>As technology and consumer behaviour changes, it should remain the choice of individual organisations as to whether to accept or decline any form of payment, including cash or card, based on their consideration of factors such as customer preference and cost.</p><p> </p><p>Nonetheless, the government recognises that many people continue to transact in cash across the UK and engages closely with financial regulators to monitor and assess trends relating to cash. Research published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2020 found that 98% of small businesses surveyed would never turn away a customer if they needed to pay by cash.</p><p> </p><p>The government is currently taking legislation to protect access to cash across the UK through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The legislation will establish the FCA as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. This will support local businesses to continue accepting cash.</p><p> </p><p>Further details about the Financial Services and Markets Bill can be found on the Parliament website: <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3326" target="_blank">https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3326</a></p> answering member constituency Arundel and South Downs answering member printed Andrew Griffith question first answered 13/02/2023 14:30:09 answering member 4874 label Biography information for Andrew Griffith
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1584883

registered interest
date	07/02/2023
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Organised Crime: Smuggling
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle criminal smuggler gangs.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	141419
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to tackling the ruthless criminal gangs who facilitate illegal immigration, risk lives and damage communities by smuggling people, firearms and drugs into the UK.</p><p>We are working to end small boat crossings and disrupt the organised crime groups behind this activity. Through Project INVIGOR, a multi-agency taskforce, the Home Office is leading efforts to tackle organised immigration crime and the National Crime Agency is responding to and dismantling the business model used by organised criminals to enable illegal entry into the UK.</p><p>We are strengthening the security of the UK border against drug trafficking, increasing disruptions and seizures and dismantling supply chains.</p><p>As part of the Government’s ten-year Drugs Strategy, the Home Office is investing £300m over three years to deliver an end-to-end plan attacking every phase of the supply chain, making the UK a significantly harder place for organised crime groups involved in drugs supply to operate.</p> answering member constituency Derbyshire Dales answering member printed Miss Sarah Dines question first answered 15/02/2023 15:23:23 answering member 4816 label Biography information for Miss Sarah Dines
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

1584885

registered interest
date	07/02/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education and Extracurricular Activities
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to promote the uptake of (a) extracurricular activities and (b) education for children.
tabling member constituency	York Outer
tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
uin	141421
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2023 answer text <p>The Schools White Paper, published in March 2022, sets out the Department’s long-term vision for a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential by ensuring that they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time.</p><p>The White Paper is clear that sport, music and cultural opportunities are an essential part of a broad and balanced curriculum. The Department is committed to ensuring young people have opportunities to participate in high quality enrichment activities. The Department supports a range of initiatives to increase these opportunities.</p><p>The Department’s national plan for music education sets out the vision for music education and details how it can be achieved through partnerships with schools, music hubs, the music and creative sector, and others. The plan can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-power-of-music-to-change-lives-a-national-plan-for-music-education" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-power-of-music-to-change-lives-a-national-plan-for-music-education</a>.</p><p>The Department is also updating the cross-Government school sport and activity action plan, setting out actions to help all pupils take part in sport and keep fit.</p><p>The Department is supporting the National Youth Guarantee by providing £3.4 million between 2021 and 2024 to support the Duke of Edinburgh Award to expand into more schools in the most disadvantaged areas of the country. The Department is also supporting schools to increase participation in cadet schemes.</p><p>Beyond the school day, the Department is providing over £200 million each year to Local Authorities across England for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme. HAF provides free holiday club places with enriching activities and healthy food for children from low income families during the summer, Easter and Christmas school holidays.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 15/02/2023 12:56:33 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy