Every parliamentary written question tabled by Blake Stephenson this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 181–200 of 1,536 · this parliament
Communities and Local Government, whether social housing delivered through new towns will be owned by local authorities.
I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.
Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities will have lower funding from Government grants in 2028-29 than 2024-25.
We are investing in local government. The Spending Review 2025 provides over £5 billion of new grant funding over the next three years, which includes £3.4 billion of new grant funding delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27 to 2028-29. Core Spending Power is the government’s measure of the resources available to local authorities to fund service delivery through the Local Government Finance Settlement. By 2028-29, we will have made available a 23.6% increase in Core Spending Power compared to 2024-25, worth over £16 billion. The vast majority of upper-tier councils will see their Core Spending Power increase in real terms over the next three-years. Detailed local authority allocations were published through the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 and are being consulted on until 14 January 2026.
Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities will receive powers to set planning fees locally for the 2026/27 financial year.
The Planning and Infrastructure Act provides the Secretary of State with the power to delegate the setting of planning fees to local planning authorities. The process for local fee setting will be set out in regulations this year. We will shortly also be consulting on a national default fee, which will be the baseline from which local planning authorities can vary and set their own fees.
With reference to the press release entitled Schools to save millions as Government launches agency profit cap, published on 4 December 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that policy on the availability of agency staff for schools.
Supply teachers and supply staff perform a valuable role, and the department is grateful for their important contribution to schools across the country.Schools, academies and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply staff, which includes deciding whether to use private supply agencies to fill temporary posts or cover teacher absence.The measure will cap profits of private agencies and does not affect supply teacher pay. Therefore, we should not see any negative impact on the availability and number of supply teachers as a direct result of this policy.
Communities and Local Government, whether he has considered the potential implications for his policies of paragraph 31 of page 8 of the New Towns Taskforce report to Government.
I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.
If she will make a comparative assessment of trends in the level of delay and cancellations by rail companies nationalised in 2025 a) before and b) after nationalisation.
Public ownership is not a silver bullet, but it is a vital step towards rebuilding trust and pride in our railways. Due to seasonal variations and the impact of things like service level changes and introduction of new rolling stock, it will take time for the impact of public ownership to be fully reflected in performance trend data. The Department expects all operators, both public and private, to deliver good performance for passengers. However, recent data published by the Office of Rail and Road shows that overall reliability is higher for operators currently in public ownership than for private sector operators contracted by the Department. Data on rail performance and other industry statistics is available on the Office of Rail and Road data portal: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/.
How many primary schools do not have a library.
I refer the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire to the answer of 22 October 2025 to Question 81502.
With reference to the Autumn Budget 2025, whether his policy to fully fund SME apprenticeships for under 25s will include level 7 apprenticeships.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer of I gave on 10 December 2025 to Question UIN 95355.
Communities and Local Government, if his Department will ask the Local Government Boundary Commission for England to vary local authorities' boundaries where they would be spanned by a new town.
I refer the hon. Member to the independent New Towns Taskforce final report as well as the government’s initial response to it. Both can be found on gov.uk here.
If she will make an estimate of the average number of dependent visas sponsored by Minister of Religion visa holders.
The Home Office publishes data on dependants sponsored by holders of Minister of Religion visas in the ‘Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK’.Data on dependants sponsored by holders of Minister of Religion visas is published in table Data_Vis_D02 of the ‘Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed datasets, year ending September 2025’.
How many civil penalties have been issued to employers sponsoring workers under work‑related visa routes since 4 July 2024 by a) visa route and b) sector.
Information on illegal working civil penalty statistics has been published since 2016 as part of the Home Office Immigration Transparency Data. This can be found at immigration-enforcement-data-jul-sep-2025 on tab CP02.To identify specific employers sponsoring workers under work‑related visa routes would require collating and verifying individual data from different records, which could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.
Whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the capacity of the construction industry to deliver planned housing and infrastructure projects in Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes.
Government is investing £625 million in construction skills over this Parliament, with the aim of delivering up to 60,000 additional skilled workers and support employers to invest in training.The industry-led Construction Skills Mission Board is working to create construction job opportunities to meet the government’s announced infrastructure and built environment commitments.The Construction Leadership Council’s Material’s Supply Chain Group, in October 2025, noted that product availability was generally good, with isolated reports of shortages, some caused by manufacturing issues.
Pursuant to the answer of 6 November 2025 to written question 79826, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the national security implications of the creation of a large database of genomic data.
Data is the driving force of modern economies and technology and is strategically important nationally and globally. However, we know this data can be exploited by those seeking to counter United Kingdom interests and we are taking action to secure our data and its supporting infrastructure to support the UK's long-term growth.The UK has strong safeguards and world-leading investigation and enforcement to ensure that data is collected and handled responsibly and securely. I am engaging with my Cabinet Office colleagues to ensure our protocols adapt as technology develops to protect the UK’s national security.
How many cases of (a) suspected and (b) confirmed exploitation involving holders of work‑related visas have been recorded since 4 July 2024 by (i) visa route and (ii) month.
The Home Office publishes data on Visa Sponsors that are B rated in the ‘Register of licensed sponsors: workers - GOV.UK’.Please note - published data shows the number of licensed sponsors over time but does not include the number of visas associated with each organisation. The Home Office publishes data on the number of visas sponsored by organisations over the past 10 years, as well as data since 4 July 2024, in the ‘Migration transparency data - GOV.UK’.Data on the number of visas sponsored by licensed organisations is published in table SP_01 of the ‘Sponsorship transparency data: July to September 2025’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from 2014 Q1 up to the end of 2025 Q3.
Whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of safeguards in AI when dealing with mental health based queries.
The Department recognises the importance of safeguards when using artificial intelligence (AI) for mental health queries. The United Kingdom has a world-leading regulatory system, and the National Health Service operates within a comprehensive regulatory framework for AI, underpinned by rigorous standards established by bodies including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Health Research Authority, and the Care Quality Commission. These agencies ensure that AI technologies are safe, effective, and ethically deployed within healthcare settings.Publicly available AI applications that are not deployed by the NHS, such as ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, are not regulated as medical technologies and may offer incorrect or harmful information. Users are strongly advised to be careful when using these technologies. The Department recommends that individuals seek advice from the NHS website, which provides clinically approved guidance on mental health-based queries, or that they reach out to healthcare professionals.The Department continues to work with NHS England and regulators to strengthen oversight and ensure AI in health and care is safe, effective, and accountable.
Pursuant to the answer of 8 October 2025 to written question 75742, if he will make an estimate of the resources required for continuous monitoring.
Detailed planning is still underway for the Spending Review period, which would include the continuous monitoring of all elements of the NHS App, including artificial intelligence assisted triage functionality. At this stage no estimate has been made of the resources required for the continuous monitoring of the triage functions of the NHS App specifically, but it is being included and is a key element when considering how to deliver this change.
If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing (a) vouchers and (b) tax rebates to parents who send children to independent schools of a value less than the cost to the public purse per year of putting a pupil through a state school on (i) the cost to the public purse, (ii) class sizes in state schools, (iii) the wellbeing of state school pupils subject to bullying and (d) pupils with SEND.
The department does not hold this information. Decisions on private school fees are for private schools to make as private businesses. Matters of taxation are for HMRC.
How many immigrants found to have been working illegally since 2020 have been making National Insurance payments.
The Home Office does not hold the data you have requested.The Home Office takes the issue of illegal working seriously and continues to take robust enforcement action against those who breach immigration laws.
If she will make an estimate of the annual impact of one child attending an independent school on the public purse.
The department does not hold this information. Decisions on private school fees are for private schools to make as private businesses. Matters of taxation are for HMRC.
Whether she has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of re-introducing maintenance grants.
Targeted, means-tested maintenance grants will be funded by a new International Student Levy, with both being introduced in the 2028/29 academic year. The International Student Levy will require higher education providers to pay a flat fee of £925 per international student per year, with proceeds being fully reinvested into higher education and skills. This will make sure that revenue from international students directly benefits domestic students from low-income households.