Andrew Snowden MP: written questions

Written questions

• General PractitionersDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55167More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 42350 on General Practitioners: Employers' Contributions, what steps he is taking to improve patient access to GPs in (a) Fylde, (b) Lancashire an

  Answer: The Government is determined to work with the National Health Service to fix the front door of our health service and to ensure that everyone can access general practice (GP) appointments nationally, including in Lancashire and Fylde. That’s why in Octo...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• General Practitioners: Employers' ContributionsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55166More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 42350 on General Practitioners: Employers' Contributions, what assessment he has made of the merits of feedback received from the General Practiti

  Answer: Every year the Department and NHS England consult with the General Practitioners’ Committee (GPC), of the British Medical Association (BMA), to discuss the services general practitioners (GPs) will be expected to provide and the funding they will receive ...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• General Practitioners: Employers' ContributionsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55165More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 42350 on General Practitioners: Employers' Contributions, how much and what proportion of the £889 million will be spent on (a) staffing, (b) tech

  Answer: We are investing an additional £889 million in general practices (GPs) to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we a...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• General Practitioners: Employers' ContributionsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55164More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 42350 on General Practitioners: Employers' Contributions, how much and what proportion of the £22.6 billion will be allocated to (a) frontline hea

  Answer: The £22.6 billion funding increase announced in the 2024 Autumn Budget provided an above inflation increase for all health spending, with an average growth of 3.4% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.The funding is not ringfenced and becomes part of the overall De...

  Answered 6 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Social Security BenefitsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55163More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the White Paper entitled Get Britain Working, published on 26 November 2024, what discussions she has held with (a) disabled people, (b) advocacy groups and (c) healthcare professional

  Answer: This Government is committed to championing the rights of disabled people and the principles of working with them and disability organisations. This approach ensures we can design and deliver better support to help disabled people find and stay in work an...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Occupational Health: Small BusinessesDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55162More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the White Paper entitled Get Britain Working, published on 26 November 2024, what steps her Department is taking to provide support to small and medium-sized enterprises to improve acc

  Answer: The Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Health and Social Care are committed to supporting people with their employment journey. Expert-led impartial advice, and interventions such as Occupational Health, can help employers provide appropr...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Employment: Chronic Illnesses and DisabilityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55161More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the White Paper entitled Get Britain Working, published 26 November 2024, what metrics her Department is using to measure progress in increasing employment among (a) disabled people an

  Answer: The Government has a clear ambition to raise the employment rate to 80% and has published a set of key indicators that it will monitor closely as it carries out this work. These will build on aims set out in the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change and the Ge...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Government Departments: Data ProtectionDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55160More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to protect people's data held by government departments.

  Answer: All Departments must adhere to the UK Data Protection legislation to protect personal data held by their departments. All departments are controllers of the personal data they hold and are individually responsible for demonstrating compliance with the dat...

  Answered 12 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Legal Aid Agency: CybercrimeMinistry of JusticeTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55159More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to protect people whose criminal histories were made public as a result of the recent Legal Aid data breach.

  Answer: To reach as many potentially impacted individuals as possible, the Ministry of Justice published a notice at 08:15 on 19 May on GOV.UK. The statement provides information about the cyber-attack and directs concerned members of the public to the National C...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Legal Aid Agency: CybercrimeMinistry of JusticeTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55158More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support residents of Fylde who were impacted by the recent Legal Aid data leak.

  Answer: To reach as many potentially impacted individuals as possible, the Ministry of Justice published a notice at 08:15 on 19 May on GOV.UK. The statement provides information about the cyber-attack and directs concerned members of the public to the National C...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Construction and Social Services: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55157More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to encourage pupils to undertake courses in (a) construction and (b) social care skills.

  Answer: High quality, careers information, advice and guidance (CIAG) is key to helping young people make informed decisions about their future. The department funds person-centred and impartial careers information and advice across all employment sectors, includ...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Apprentices: DisadvantagedDepartment for EducationTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55156More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeships in (a) construction and (b) social care sectors; and what steps she is taking to ensure that these will be targeted at disadvantaged communitie

  Answer: The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity. To support this, the department is reforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, providing greater flexibility for employers and learners.From August 2025, the...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Construction: ApprenticesDepartment for EducationTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55155More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support construction companies to take on apprenticeships.

  Answer: To address skills shortages within the construction industry, this government will invest £600 million over this Parliament to deliver up to 60,000 skilled construction workers.The department is introducing new foundation apprenticeships for young people ...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Children: InternetDepartment for EducationTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55151More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to provide training to teachers to support their understanding (a) of and (b) the risks of (i) the use of emojis and (ii) other digital communication symbols by pupils.

  Answer: In 2023, the department updated the guidance on ‘Teaching online safety in schools’. This advice brings together all aspects of internet safety information for schools so that they can confidently deliver online safety content within their curriculum and ...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Internet: Crimes of ViolenceHome OfficeTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55150More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of online content on trends in (a) youth violence and (b) knife crime.

  Answer: We are continously working to enhance our understanding of how social media platforms are being used by gangs, and how content translates to ‘real-world’ violence. We are investing in targeted law enforcement capabilities to disrupt online gang operations...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Social Media: GangsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55149More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of (a) resources and (b) personnel required by Ofcom to protect users of online platforms from content promoting gang violence.

  Answer: The Online Safety Act gives user-to-user platforms and search services duties to take steps to protect all users from illegal content and children from harmful or age-inappropriate content. This includes duties to take down illegal content which provokes ...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Social Media: GangsHome OfficeTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55148More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with major social media companies on their obligations under the Online Safety Act 2023 to remove content inciting gang violence.

  Answer: We are continously working to enhance our understanding of how social media platforms are being used by gangs, and how content translates to ‘real-world’ violence. We are investing in targeted law enforcement capabilities to disrupt online gang operations...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Social Media: GangsHome OfficeTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55147More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mechanisms are in place currently to monitor (a) gang-related content and (b) violence scoreboards on social media platforms.

  Answer: We are continously working to enhance our understanding of how social media platforms are being used by gangs, and how content translates to ‘real-world’ violence. We are investing in targeted law enforcement capabilities to disrupt online gang operations...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Food: HygieneDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55143More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department provides to help small and micro food businesses to (a) understand and (b) comply with food hygiene certification requirements.

  Answer: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has developed and published many materials on the FSA website to support businesses to meet the requirements set out in food hygiene legislation. The website is available at the following link:http://www.food.gov.uk/We know...

  Answered 12 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Food: HygieneDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55142More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure consistent enforcement of food hygiene certification standards by local authorities in England.

  Answer: To support food law enforcement consistency, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) publishes a Food Law Code of Practice. This provides statutory guidance to local authorities on how to meet their legal obligations as regulators of food law.The FSA operates the...

  Answered 6 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Special Educational Needs: FyldeDepartment for EducationTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55141More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support children with SEND following the application of VAT to private school fees in Fylde constituency.

  Answer: The majority of children with special educational needs (SEN), including most with education, health and care (EHC) plans, are already educated in mainstream state-funded schools where their needs are met. The department works to support local authorities...

  Answered 7 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Bus Services: LancashireDepartment for TransportTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55140More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many settlements do not have a daily bus service in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

  Answer: The Department for Transport does not readily hold this information, however local bus timetable data is available to download from the Bus Open Data Service: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-and-use-bus-open-data.The government believes that local transp...

  Answered 4 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Young Futures Hubs: LancashireDepartment for EducationTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55139More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Young Futures Hubs will there be in (a) Lancashire and (b) Fylde constituency.

  Answer: The government has committed to the creation of a new Young Futures Programme, which will establish a network of Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships. Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportuniti...

  Answered 10 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Skilled Workers: LancashireDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55137More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the availability of skilled workers in (a) technical and (b) engineering roles in (i) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

  Answer: DfE continues to make available education and training opportunities in technical and engineering sectors across the country including in Fylde and Lancashire.DfE’s levy-funded growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart, is aligned with th...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record
• Investment Zones: North WestMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55136More

  Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress her Department has made on implementing Investment Zones in the North West.

  Answer: Investment Zones in England reflect the unique strengths and opportunities in each place and day-to-day delivery is led by accountable Mayoral Combine Authorities (MCAs). There are two Investment Zones in the North West, both of which entered delivery in ...

  Answered 9 Jun 2025

  Original Parliament record