Written questions by Uppal.

What steps she plans to take to support integrated public transport in Huddersfield.

We are committed to improving public transport and delivering a transport system that works better for people across the country, enables growth and provides access to opportunities.To support this, we are providing significant investment to West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) including £2.1bn of Transport for City Regions (TCR) funding. This is in addition to the £830m allocated to WYCA through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS), some of which is expected to support the development of transport improvements in Huddersfield town centre, including enhancements to active travel routes and upgrades to Huddersfield Bus Station.At the recent Spending Review, we provided further commitment to the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) which will deliver improvements to rail journeys between Manchester and York, via Huddersfield and Leeds and will provide significant investment at Huddersfield station.We have also brought forward the Bus Services (No.2) Bill, which will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them, including in Huddersfield.In addition, we will be publishing an Integrated National Transport Strategy later this year, which will put people and the journeys they make at the heart of how we plan, build and operate transport.

What steps she is taking to increase the availability of bus services, in the context of the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan.

Increasing the availability of bus services and continuing the rollout of zero emission buses are vital to decarbonising our transport system. We want to ensure that the more sustainable choice is the more convenient choice. The government will deliver an updated Carbon Budget Delivery Plan later this year, detailing policies to decarbonise all sectors, including transport, out to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037.As part of the government’s ambitious plan for bus reform, we introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England.In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million to local authorities across the country. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.The government has reaffirmed its commitment to bus services in this Spending Review by confirming around £900 million each year from 26/27 to maintain and improve vital bus services.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the restoration of (a) the River Colne in Huddersfield and (b) other urban rivers.

We are funding two projects led by the Calder and Colne Rivers Trust this year through the Water Environment Improvement Fund. One project is a three-year project looking at pollution,land and highway management issues on the River Colne and tributaries. The other is a feasibility and design project in the second of its three years, developing solutions for artificial barriers across the Calder and Colne catchment. Through the WEIF, we are committing £3 million of investment this financial year to restore urban rivers. By combining this with rod licence income and working in partnership with organisations like the Wild Trout Trust, the Environment Agency is tackling urban waterway challenges and delivering lasting environmental improvements through collaborative action. Cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas is a top priority for this government. We are putting water companies under special measures through our landmark Water (Special Measures) Act. The Act has introduced new powers to ban the payment of bonuses for polluting water bosses and bring criminal charges against law breakers and made it mandatory for water companies to publish plans to reduce pollution incidents. The Independent Water Commission will recommend reforms to reset the water sector regulatory system and clean up our waterways for good.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement mechanisms to reduce pollution by water companies in local rivers.

The Water (Special Measures) Act (WSMA) provides the most significant increase in enforcement powers for the regulators in a decade, giving the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies. A record 81 criminal investigations into water companies have been launched in England since the election, and the Environment Agency has increased inspections into sewage pollution by nearly 400% since last July. Furthermore, the regulators will be bolstered by at least £55 million additional per year through water company permit charges and implementation of the new cost recovery powers in the WSMA, ensuring that polluters are held to account for breaches of their obligations. The Independent Water Commission will consider the roles and responsibilities of the water industry regulators and how we can ensure our regulators operate as effectively as possible. The Commission’s Interim Report was published on 3 June, and the final report and recommendations will be published later in the summer.

Whether her Department is taking steps to promote green skills programmes as part of the national skills strategy in Huddersfield.

Green skills are crucial to economic growth and the government’s net zero by 2050 target. Clean energy industries have been identified as a priority sector in the Industrial Strategy, alongside other sectors fundamental to clean energy like advanced manufacturing.Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) are employer-led plans setting out priorities to better meet local skills needs. LSIPs must consider the skills needed to meet net zero, climate adaptation, and wider environmental goals. The West Yorkshire LSIP identifies clean energy and green construction as priority sectors. West Yorkshire’s Local Growth Plan reinforces the green economy as a local priority, embedding sustainability as a core principle and setting out actions to achieve net zero.The government will set out a comprehensive strategy for post-16 education and skills later this year, including steps to strengthen the skills pipeline in key sectors. The strategy will set out how the skills system will support the delivery of the Plan for Change.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage other donors to provide aid to Sudan.

The UK is doing all it can to raise the profile of the crisis in Sudan and to encourage other donors to commit funding. In April, at the Sudan London Conference, the Foreign Secretary announced £120 million of new life-saving aid which we anticipate will reach over 650,000 people. Whilst the Conference was not a pledging event we were nonetheless encouraged that other states followed suit with the more than £800 million pledged towards lifesaving operations. Further, we are also working on possible joint funding initiatives with other donors. Whilst funding is important, without a fundamental improvement in access for humanitarian agencies, the required levels of aid cannot be delivered and civilians will continue to bear the brunt of the conflict.

What plans he has to provide multi-year funding for (a) children's and (b) adult hospices through the forthcoming NHS 10 Year Plan.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services, including hospices, will have a big role to play in that shift.The 10-Year Health Plan sets out how the Government will fix our broken National Health Service. Too many people towards the end of their lives are not receiving the support and care they deserve. We are determined to change that, by changing the way services operate, rather than by simply funding more of the same.The plan draws directly from the extensive engagement we have undertaken with the public, patients, staff, and representatives from the palliative care and end-of-life care sector, including those working in the hospice sector. The 10-Year Health Plan reflects the Department’s Spending Review settlement.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to help secure a ceasefire in Sudan.

We are using all levers at our disposal to bring about an end to the conflict in Sudan. As penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council, the UK continues to call out atrocities committed in Sudan and press for a peaceful end to the conflict. On 15 April, the Foreign Secretary gathered Foreign Ministers and high-level representatives from 21 countries and multilateral bodies at the London Sudan Conference. Discussions focussed on how to make progress on shared goals of ending the conflict, protecting civilians and scaling-up the delivery of humanitarian aid. Participants agreed on the need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. As detailed in the co-chairs' statement, this is not the end but the start of a process; the UK remains committed to working with the international community to secure a ceasefire in Sudan.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of funding provided to local authorities for (a) street maintenance and (b) pothole repairs in Kirklees.

Kirklees Council is a constituent authority of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA). Between 2022/23 – 2026/27, WYCA will receive over £167 million a year through its City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), which includes highway maintenance funding. In 2025/26, WYCA received over £14 million in additional funding for highway maintenance as part of the £500 million uplift announced in Budget 2024. It is entirely a matter for WYCA to determine how to allocate this funding to its constituent authorities, including Kirklees Council, based on local needs and priorities.

What steps she is taking to improve (a) investment and (b) connectivity in transport in Huddersfield constituency.

The Government is taking steps to boost investment and improve connectivity in transport as part of its commitment to driving economic growth in all parts of the UK. West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has been allocated £830m through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), a five-year £5.7bn government investment to improve the transport networks across eight city regions in England from 2022/23 to 2026/27. As part of this, funding is expected to support transport improvements in Huddersfield town centre, including enhancements to active travel routes on key approaches and upgrades to Huddersfield Bus Station.While these schemes are in development, it a decision for WYCA whether they will progress to construction.Future funding beyond 2025-26 will be reviewed in the spring multi-year spending review, aligning with the Integrated National Transport Strategy for long-term interests. The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) will deliver faster, greener and more reliable rail journeys, better connecting key northern cities including Manchester to York via Huddersfield and Leeds, transporting people to work, education and leisure opportunities whilst supporting economic growth. TRU will provide an additional two platforms at Huddersfield and extend existing ones to increase capacity, as well as installing a new footbridge and lifts to improve accessibility.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to disburse famine aid quickly across Sudan.

The UK is playing a leading role in response to the crisis in Sudan, including efforts to facilitate more consistent humanitarian access into and within Sudan. During last month's London Sudan Conference, the Foreign Secretary announced a further £120 million towards the crisis which will provide life-saving aid to more than 650,000 people. An urgent improvement in access is required to enable aid to be delivered to those in need.

Media and Sport, what funding her Department provides to help support local cultural (a) events and (b) awards that seek to celebrate the (i) heritage and (ii) creativity of (A) Huddersfield and (B) similar towns.

The department primarily funds such aspects through Arts Council England (ACE) which supports organisations through their National Portfolio (NPOs) programme which provides funding of over £450 million a year to arts organisations across the country, many of which provide programmes that celebrate creativity and heritage. In addition, ACE’s open funding programme, National Lottery Project Grants, is currently accessible to organisations and individuals across the country, including those in Huddersfield and similar sized towns. This programme provides over £100 million of support annually to individuals and organisations. In Huddersfield for example, ACE supports a number of NPOs such as the annual Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Lawrence Batley Theatre which hosts a wide ranging year-round programme which includes dance shows, dramas and top comedians. ACE is also supporting Kirklees council in the creation of a new Cultural Strategy. Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund also distribute funding on behalf of the department aimed at enabling communities to celebrate their heritage and champion historic places. Historic England delivers grant schemes such as Everyday Heritage Grants and History in the Making which focuses on projects that celebrate working class histories and enables communities to celebrate their local history. The National Lottery Heritage Fund funds a broad range of projects that connect people and communities to the UK's heritage. Their funding can be used for a range of heritage projects including commemorations and celebrations of communities, places or events, and exploring cultural traditions within a place.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle operators who do not dispose of waste appropriately despite holding valid waste licences; and whether he plans to take further steps to improve enforcement against licensed waste operators who breach environmental regulations.

Waste sites in England are regulated by the Environment Agency (EA) under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 which include a range of penalties including fines and imprisonment for breaches of conditions. The EA also takes action against illegal operators who abuse and ignore the rules. The Secretary of State has recently announced plans to tighten up the regulation of those who transport and manage waste services, moving them from a light-touch registration system into environmental permitting. Councils to seize and crush fly-tipping vehicles to clean up Britain - GOV.UK. This will give the EA a greater range of powers and more resources to be able to take action against those operating illegally. Additionally, we will reform the waste permit exemptions regime by removing three exemptions and requiring those activities to be fully permitted and tightening the controls around 7 other exemptions. This will ensure greater oversight of activities which are being abused by waste criminals.

Whether additional funding will be made available for youth services in Huddersfield to (a) support early intervention and (b) reduce youth offending.

As part of our Plan for Change, the Safer Streets Mission is driving work across Government to divert young people away from crime.To this end the Government has committed to the creation of a Young Futures Programme jointly led by the Home Office and Department for Education. Under this programme the Government will intervene earlier to ensure children and young people who are facing poorer outcomes and are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way. The programme also aims to create more support and opportunities for them in their communities.As we continue to design the Young Futures Programme, we want to ensure that it learns from and builds on the work of the Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in this regard. In 2025/26 we are investing £47m via the Home Office in core grant funding to VRUs, including making over £4.3m available to the West Yorkshire VRU this year. This funding will support delivery of a range of early intervention and prevention programmes to divert young people away from crime.In addition, the Serious Violence Duty requires a range of specified authorities, such as, the police, local government, youth offending teams, fire, health, and probation services, to work collaboratively, analyse the local problem, and put in place a strategy to prevent and reduce serious violence within their local communities. In 2025/26, the Government has allocated £14.4m to continue the implementation and delivery of this Duty across all 43 police force areas in England and Wales. This includes £162k for West Yorkshire.

What recent steps his Department has taken to help attract green inward investment to (a) Huddersfield and (b) other northern towns.

Green investment is a cornerstone of the UKs drive for growth, as set out in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper. For Huddersfield and towns across the North, we actively showcase investment opportunities to potential investors, and provide account management services for investors already in the region to help them build and scale. This is demonstrated by our work to support the £50m investment of Syngenta in Huddersfield, to build technology that will improve crop yields, announced in March this year.

What steps her Department plans to take with (a) colleges, (b) universities and (c) employers to increase the number of (i) apprenticeships and (ii) skills-based training places for young people from Huddersfield.

As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, the government will launch a new Youth Guarantee for young people aged 18 to 21 in England to ensure that they are supported to access high quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work.This is alongside the launch of Skills England, which will support skills training opportunities for young people, and local skills improvement plans which bring employers, providers and local leaders together to collaboratively identify and address skills needs of local areas.The government supports colleges to provide skills training, including through over £7.5 billion of 16 to 19 programme funding which will be invested during the 2024/25 academic year to ensure young people are developing the skills they need to succeed in work and in life.The government is working with universities on access and participation and we will support the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university, regardless of their background, where they live and their personal circumstances.We are also widening the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer which will include new foundation apprenticeships, giving more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to increase enforcement powers to tackle (a) fly-tipping and (b) littering in (i) Huddersfield and (ii) similar towns.

Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers to tackle fly-tipping and littering. These include fixed penalty notices of up to £1000 for fly-tipping and £500 for littering, and prosecution action which can lead to significant fine or even imprisonment and vehicle seizure. We encourage councils to make good use of these powers and we are taking steps to develop statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support local authorities to consistently and effectively exercise these existing powers. We have also announced a review of their powers to seize and crush vehicles of suspected fly-tippers to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool. We are also committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. Additionally, we will move the regulation of waste carriers, brokers and dealers from light-touch registration into environmental permitting. This will enhance the Envrionment Agency’s ability to take action in this area and make it harder for rogue operators to operate. Penalties set out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990, such as prison sentences of up to 5 years, will also become applicable to breaches of the new regulations.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of town-wide safety campaigns in reducing crime in (a) Huddersfield and (b) other urban centres.

This Government wants town centres to be vibrant, welcoming places where businesses thrive and people feel safe and come to shop, socialise and live.To that end we are working with Police and Crime Commissioners, and essential local partners such as councils, schools, health services, business, transport and community organisations in launching a new programme of work focussed on Keeping Town Centres Safe this Summer, with the aim of driving down street crime, shop theft and anti-social behaviour in town centres. This will help us build on existing data and evidence of what works locally to tackle these issues.The Home Office has not assessed the effectiveness of town-wide safety campaigns in reducing crime. However, as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, and to support making the country’s streets safer for 2025/26 £66.3 million Hotspot Action funding has been awarded to all 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales. As part of the Hotspot Action Fund, West Yorkshire will be in receipt of £ 2,476,420.

What steps his Department is taking to help support (a) high streets and (b) town centre shop fronts in (i) Huddersfield and (ii) similar towns.

This government is supporting high street businesses in Huddersfield and in similar towns by reforming business rates, empowering communities to address vacant high street properties through high street rental auctions and tackling anti-social behaviour and crime in town centres through the Crime and Policing Bill.In April, we announced a Licensing Taskforce that will suggest improvements to our licensing regime to foster vibrant hospitality and cultural sectors on the high street.Government support in Huddersfield includes £16.7m from MHCLG for the Open Market project to provide a new market that is fit for the future and is part of the council’s programme to drive footfall and demand across the high street. The Plan for Neighbourhoods programme, led by MHCLG will also provide £20 million of long-term funding to 75 places over the next decade targeted on local projects prioritised by the community, including those on the high street.

What steps her Department is taking with (a) the University of Huddersfield and (b) other local universities to help promote (i) innovation and (ii) skills development in that region.

Skills development is crucial for economic growth and breaking down the barriers to opportunity.The government is developing a Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy which will set out how the skills system will work to deliver on our Plan for Change, moving towards a more responsive and flexible education system that can adapt to the evolving demands of the economy. This will help ensure that students and workers have access to the training and education they need to thrive in work and life.Through Skills England, the department also oversees local skills improvement plans which provide an ongoing mechanism through which local employers, strategic authorities, further education and higher education providers and other stakeholders can come together locally to identify and resolve skills needs and issues.