The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many enforcement cases have been taken by which local weights and measures authorities since Chapter 15 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 came into force.
Nick Boles
This information is not held centrally.
The speech made by Sharon Hodgson, the Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West, in Westminster Hall, the House of Common, on 6 December 2022.
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Harris. I congratulate the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Jo Gideon) on securing this important debate and giving us the opportunity to discuss the next wave of dormant assets and the possibility of establishing a community wealth fund.
I am proud that in 2008 the Labour Government passed meaningful dormant assets legislation, which began to unlock this crucial source of funding from financial assets such as bank accounts. Although it is important to reiterate that the priority is trying to reunite assets with their owners, where that is not possible the money goes to causes that facilitate real change in our communities. This policy raised over £800 million of funding to support social and environmental causes across the UK, so I am proud of the work that parliamentarians across the House, including many members of the APPG for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods, have carried out. I am pleased that this proposal, in particular the creation of the community wealth fund, is being considered by the Government. However, it is important that this matter is not just considered; it must actually amount to meaningful change.
In England, funding from dormant assets is restricted to youth work, financial inclusion and social investment. It would be good to see that expanded so that the money could be used to finance a wider range of community projects. The design of the proposed community wealth fund has been informed by the success of the Big Local programme. The 2020 evaluation of the programme found that
“The concept of putting residents at the very heart of that change is showing its value up and down the country.”
A community-led approach means that local priorities and desired outcomes would be determined at local level by the people who live there. The importance of that cannot be overstated.
I want to use this opportunity to highlight the important research conducted by the Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion, in collaboration with the APPG, which identified 225 left-behind neighbourhoods. These neighbourhoods face significant deprivation, as we heard from the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central, as well as poor connectivity and lower levels of community engagement and activity. That is especially poignant to me as the neighbourhoods identified include St Anne’s and the Washington North ward in my constituency. For example, in St Anne’s, there are only 25% of registered charities per 1,000 people compared with the English average.
Away from these statistics, I know at first hand the difference a community wealth fund would make in Washington and Sunderland West. This funding pot, which is now estimated to be £880 million, would be transformative in building community confidence and provide the foundations to enable the residents of the most left-behind neighbourhoods to bolster their social infrastructure. Consistent with this, the wards most in need of investment would receive awards, as opposed to having to compete for funding. That would be the right approach. Bids for levelling-up funding and freeports have pitted the poorest in our society against each other, rather than focusing on those in greatest need.
A number of hon. Members in the Chamber were at a meeting of the APPG just last week. I have co-chaired a couple of the meetings of the APPG’s inquiry into levelling up, in which we heard about the power of local communities to take action to improve outcomes for local people, for instance through award-winning community mental health programmes for young people, or through support to strengthen the local economy and support jobs and businesses. Levelling up seems to be cosmetic: if we move people from the bottom rung to the second rung from bottom, we can claim to have succeeded. Labour wants equal opportunity for every part of the country. The APPG inquiry shows that communities can develop themselves despite Whitehall neglect, so imagine what communities like mine could achieve with access to the appropriate resources and long-term support under a Labour Government.
That is why the community wealth fund is vital. I hope that the Government appreciate its importance, and that the community wealth fund will be one of the beneficiaries of the next wave of dormant assets.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many young people in young offenders institutions receive 30 hours education each week.
Andrew Selous
Since 16 August 2015, education providers in public sector Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) are required to provide 27 hours of education a week, which is supplemented by 3 hours of physical exercise. On average, 27 hours of education is being provided in these YOIs.
Although the majority of education time is protected, the number of hours of education actually received by young people is sometimes lower than this due to a variety of necessary interruptions, such as court appearances, family visits, or medical appointments. The number of people in YOIs receiving 27 hours of education each week is not recorded centrally. The Youth Justice Board is currently working with the National Offender Management Service, YOIs and education providers to increase the number of education hours received by young people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library an explanation of the organisational structure, including current post-holders, of the senior management of NHS England.
George Freeman
An organogram and explanation of the roles of the chief executive and the seven national directors of NHS England is attached.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to address the availability of healthy and nutritious food for children during school holidays as part of its new obesity strategy.
Jane Ellison
Tackling obesity including improving diet and healthy food choices, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. We will put forward our plans for action in this area in our childhood obesity strategy in the new year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 11372, how many local authorities have used her Department’s eligibility checking system for free school meals.
Mr Sam Gyimah
The department’s records indicate that all English local authorities have used the eligibility checking system for free school meals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 11372, how many additional children are now in receipt of free school meals since the changes made to her Department’s eligibility checking system.
Mr Sam Gyimah
The eligibility checking system has been revised and updated on a number of occasions, for example to reflect that universal credit had been added to the list of entitling benefits in 2012. Since 2010, the number of pupils entitled to, and claiming for free school meals has decreased from 1,212,320 (16.2%) to 1,198,494 (15.1%) in 2015. We expect the proportion of children eligible for, and claiming free school meals to continue to decrease as the economy continues to improve.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans the Government has to limit the sale of fireworks (a) geographically and (b) seasonally.
Anna Soubry
There are already seasonal limitations on the sale of fireworks. The Fireworks Regulations 2004 restrict their sale to the traditional fireworks periods of 5th November, Diwali, New Year’s Eve and the Chinese New Year. It is possible to buy fireworks at other times of the year, but strict conditions are imposed on retailers wishing to sell them outside the traditional periods.
There are no geographical restrictions on the sale of fireworks, and currently no plans to introduce them, although further restrictions on their sale exist in Northern Ireland where a licence is required for home displays.
The Fireworks Regulations 2004 contain provisions to minimise the risk of fireworks harming people, property and animals, and Government-sponsored advice and guidance on the safe and considerate use of fireworks is freely available on the Safer Fireworks website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information the Government holds on the number of (a) domestic and (b) forest or woodland fires caused by the use of fireworks in each of the last five years.
Greg Clark
The figures in the table show that almost 750 fires attended by fire crews were recorded as having fireworks as the cause of ignition in either dwellings, other residential or forest/woodland fires over the past five years. However, the Department collects information on the source of ignition for primary fires only. Primary fires include all fires in buildings, vehicles and outdoor structures or any fire involving casualties, rescues or fires attended by five or more appliances. The definition also includes “woodland/forest/crops” but other similar land types (eg “grassland, pasture, grazing etc”) are considered secondary fires for which this information is not gathered.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2015-10-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to provide adequate fire service on bonfire night.
Greg Clark
The Government is grateful to all firefighters who continually demonstrate their commitment to protecting their communities, particularly at this busy time of year.
It is for each local fire and rescue authority to ensure the adequacy of its fire and rescue service provision on bonfire night and throughout the year. Each will have in place an Integrated Risk Management Plan, identifying and assessing the risks facing its communities and determining its priorities in relation to prevention, protection and response.