Written questions by Jogee.

What recent discussions he has had with Royal Mail.

Ministers and officials have discussions with Royal Mail on a regular basis in its capacity as the universal service provider. In November, I met with Royal Mail’s CEO, Emma Gilthorpe, and stressed the importance of a reliable postal service.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the responsiveness of Royal Mail to enquiries made by Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents.

As Royal Mail is an independent business, the government does not have a role in its operational decisions including its responsiveness to enquiries from Members of Parliament.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a direct train link between Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station and Manchester Airport.

No assessment has been made. However, the Manchester Taskforce has identified a number of infrastructure constraints impacting on the operational deliverability of additional direct services to Manchester Airport, including services that previously operated. Whilst longer term plans are being developed, work continues on improving the passenger experience for those having to change trains.

What discussions she has had with the Institute of Physics since 5 July 2024.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had any meetings with the Institute of Physics since 5 July 2024. However, departmental officials maintain regular engagement with the Institute of Physics.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of (a) physics, (b) chemistry and (c) biology teachers in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (ii) Staffordshire.

As of the department’s latest census data covering the 2023/24 academic year, for the five out of seven secondary schools that returned curriculum data in Newcastle-under-Lyme, there are seven, five and eight teachers of physics, chemistry and biology respectively. For the 47 out of 71 secondary schools that returned curriculum data in the Staffordshire local area, there are 69, 92 and 107 teachers of physics, chemistry and biology respectively. For further key details regarding this data, please see the attached table.

Whether the national resilience review will prioritise national adaptation to extreme weather.

The national resilience review is considering our resilience against the full spectrum of risks the UK faces, including extreme weather. It is considering existing resilience policy and practice to identify what should be kept, changed or improved to ensure we are best prepared now and into the future. The review will conclude in Spring 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many people in Newcastle-under-Lyme have accessed financial support through the (a) Property Flood Resilience grant and (b) Flood Recovery Framework.

Newcastle-under-Lyme has not been eligible for the Flood Recovery Framework or the Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Grant Scheme when they have been activated in recent years. With localised flooding incidents, we expect Local Authorities to have well established contingency arrangements in place and to be able to respond and support their local communities.

Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the (a) number and (b) proportion of people impacted by flooding in homes who have accessed financial support through the (i) Property Flood Resilience grant and (ii) Flood Recovery Framework.

The Flood Recovery Framework (FRF) has been activated four times since its publication in 2017. A total of 13,538 flooded residential properties have been reported by eligible local authorities across all four activations. Of the two MHCLG schemes that provide support to households, 11,689 community recovery grant payments and 9,967 council tax discount payments have been made to date. The Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Grant Scheme is currently running for Babet (6/11/23 - 06/05/25) and Henk (08/01/24 - 08/07/25). Data for these will be available after each of the schemes close later this year.

What steps he is taking to improve early diagnosis of osteoporosis.

Funding was recently announced to boost bone density scanning capacity, to support improvements in bone health and early diagnostics for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, such as osteoporosis. This will provide an estimated 29,000 extra scans per year.As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England’s Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. With a £3.5 million funding boost, GIRFT teams will deploy their proven Further Faster model to work with integrated care board leaders to further reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with osteoporosis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services.

What data her Department holds on the total number of calls Staffordshire Police have received requesting help on domestic abuse incidents between 20 December 2024 and 2 January 2025.

The Home Office does not hold this data.

What recent steps her Department has taken to tackle criminal activity via county lines.

County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. To deliver our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade, it is crucial that we tackle the drug gangs that run county lines through violence and exploitation. Since July 2024, policing activity delivered through the County Lines Programme has resulted in over 400 deal lines being closed, 500 arrests (including the arrest and charge of over 200 deal line holders) and 800 safeguarding referrals for children and vulnerable people. Over 220 children and young people have also received dedicated specialist support through our county lines support service since July. In addition, the Government’s Manifesto included an unambiguous commitment to “introduce a new offence of criminal exploitation of children, to go after the gangs who are luring young people into violence and crime”. A new criminal offence is necessary to increase convictions against exploiters, deter gangs from enlisting children, and improve identification of victims. This will be brought forward as part of the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill.

What her Department's planned timetable is for implementing the recommendations of the Final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published in October 2022.

On 16 January the Home Secretary set out to Parliament the steps the Government is taking forward to tackle the terrible crimes of child sexual exploitation and abuse.This includes setting out a clear timetable, before Easter, for taking forward the 20 recommendations from the final Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) report and implementing all the remaining recommendations in IICSA’s separate standalone report on child sexual exploitation by organised networks from February 2022.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Namibian counterpart on relations between the UK and that country.

The UK enjoys a warm partnership with the Republic of Namibia, built upon our shared interests of driving economic growth, building climate resilience, and promoting Commonwealth values. Namibia recently held elections in November 2024. We are exploring ministerial attendance at the Presidential inauguration in March, to meet the new administration and discuss opportunities that promote economic growth, as well as listening to Namibian views on the new Africa Approach.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to mark World Wetlands Day in 2025.

The theme for World Wetlands Day 2025 is ‘Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future’ and Defra plans to mark World Wetlands Day. In 2021 the UK co-sponsored the United Nations Resolution to designate 2 February as World Wetlands Day and we have since undertaken activities or supported other organisations in their activities to celebrate wetlands where appropriate. World Wetlands Day is an important opportunity to reflect on the value of wetlands in supporting biodiversity and delivering other public benefits. This Government is committed to delivering our legally binding biodiversity targets, including to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2042. Wetlands will be vital in achieving these.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many Ramsar sites have had their ecological character threatened in each of the last 14 years.

In line with Article 3.2 of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (the Ramsar Convention), Contracting Parties are committed to monitor their Ramsar Sites and inform the Secretariat whenever the ecological character of a site has changed, is changing, or is likely to change as a result of human interference. Over the last 14 years, 9 cases have been opened for UK Ramsar Sites under Article 3.2. Following actions to manage these changes or risks of change, the majority have been closed. Three cases remain open with regards to the following sites:Ouse Washes,Dee Estuary andBallynahone Bog. Work is ongoing to address and close these cases.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many times Ministers in his Department have engaged with the leadership of the Southern African Development Community since 5 July 2024.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Ministers, including the Foreign Secretary and I, have enjoyed broad engagement with the leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) during visits to South Africa, Malawi and Zambia. The Minister for Africa, Lord Collins, has had three ministerial engagements with the Tanzanian government and the current Chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Affairs. Lord Collins is due to meet with Southern African Development Community leadership during his upcoming visit to Botswana (14-16 January 2025), discussing areas of mutual interest, including energy reform and regional security.

Media and Sport, what discussions (a) she and (b) her Department has had with the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee since July 2024.

The work of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee is delivered by the Cabinet Office, not by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. While my officials are in regular contact with the Secretariat team in the Cabinet Office and offer their support, any questions relating to the activity of, and approach taken by, the Committee should be addressed by the Cabinet Office.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the level of net migration in the last five years.

Under the previous government, between 2019 and 2023, net migration more than quadrupled, heavily driven by a big increase in overseas recruitment.This Government is clear that net migration must come down and is committed to tackling skills shortages and labour market failures here in the UK.We have already set out a new approach to end the over reliance on international recruitment and boost economic growth to link the UK’s immigration, labour market, and skills systems to train up our homegrown workforceWe have also commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee to review key sectors, and our long-term plan will see departments working across government, alongside other agencies and experts, to build our skills base and reduce our reliance on migration.Furthermore, following the Prime Minister’s speech on migration on 28th November 2024 - the Government will publish a White Paper later this year setting out measures to reduce net migration and link the points-based system with requirements for training in the UK.

What steps she is taking to support youth democracy in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) alternative provision and (d) sixth forms and colleges in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

This government is committed to improving the rates of electoral registration and encouraging the engagement of young people and has committed to lowering the voting age to 16 for all elections in the UK.It is up to schools, sixth forms, further education providers and alternative provision settings to decide what steps to take to support youth democracy in the context of their duty to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Ofsted’s inspection framework assesses how well schools, colleges and independent learning providers promote the values.For secondary schools, democracy is currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which covers parliamentary democracy, the key elements of the constitution of the United Kingdom, the power of government and how citizens and Parliament hold it to account. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship, using non-statutory programmes of study at key stages 1 and 2.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 autumn 2025.The UK Parliament run educational tours for pupils, youth and community groups to see how Parliament works in action. The UK Parliament also produce resources which can be downloaded or ordered for free, tailored to different age groups.The Department for Culture, Media and Sport funds the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) to support young people to engage in the democratic process. Every two years, the UKYP runs ‘Make Your Mark’, open to all 11 to 18-year-olds in the UK, to enable them to vote on what are the most important issues for young people.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness, (b) potential and (c) adequacy of relations between the UK and West Africa.

The UK and West Africa have shared interests from security to investment and development to climate resilience. But West Africa is also a diverse region, with the UK valuing its partnership with each West African nation. For example, the Foreign Secretary visited Nigeria in November and agreed a new Strategic Partnership enabling greater UK-Nigerian cooperation on shared priorities. On 7 January, Lord Collins attended Ghanaian President John Mahama's inauguration, strengthening ties with Ghana and other regional leaders. Lord Collins also visited Ghana and Senegal in September focusing on UK support to boost growth, clean energy, food security and women's empowerment. In his speech at the UK/Francophone West and Central Africa Trade Forum on 4 December, Lord Collins highlighted the Government's desire to strengthen UK trade partnerships across the region.