Mark Ferguson MP: written questions
23 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Driving Instruction: QualificationsDepartment for TransportTabled 1 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 73902More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps she has taken to help reduce waiting lists for Approved Driving Instructor exams; and what recent progress her Department has made in reducing those backlogs.
Answer: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is seeing an increased demand for Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) tests for those wishing to qualify as driving instructors. Since 2018-19, DVSA has seen a 152% increase in the number of those applying to s...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordTrade Agreements: IndiaScotland OfficeTabled 22 May 2025AnsweredUIN 904329More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK-India free trade agreement on Scotland.
Answer: Our trade deal with India is great news for Scotland, increasing exports, growing our economy and securing jobs. Scottish products will benefit from significant tariff reductions. That includes whisky, where the current 150% tariff will be halved from day...
Answered 4 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordVoluntary Work: SafetyDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 28 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 48584More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of workplace safeguarding rights for volunteers in the third sector.
Answer: Volunteers serve at the heart of our communities nationwide, dedicating their time to create positive change and enhance the lives of those around them. The Government is committed to supporting volunteering, which is critical to a vibrant, connected and ...
Answered 12 May 2025
Original Parliament recordGeorgia: DemocracyForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 9 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23007More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support democracy in Georgia.
Answer: On 16 December I spoke with Georgian Dream's Foreign Minister, Maka Bochorishvili, about recent events in Georgia, and about Georgia's negative democratic trajectory. I stressed that police violence targeting peaceful demonstrators, opposition figures and...
Answered 16 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordTransport: InfrastructureDepartment for TransportTabled 9 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23006More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the (a) total cost to the public purse for, (b) proportion of her Department’s total expenditure that was spent on and (c) spend per head for transport infrastructure in (a) the No
Answer: Figures on public sector expenditure at national and regional levels are published as part of HM Treasury’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics (Available here for current and previous publications: https://www.gov.uk/government/c...
Answered 16 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: InfrastructureDepartment for TransportTabled 9 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23005More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of spending on road infrastructure in (a) the North East and (b) England over the last 15 years by (i) percentage of total Departmental spe
Answer: Figures on public sector expenditure at national and regional levels are published as part of HM Treasury’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics (available here for current and previous publications: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cou...
Answered 16 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordFutibatinibDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 5 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18238More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the NHS supply of Futibatinib.
Answer: NHS England funds the use of licensed medicines that have been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Futibatinib is licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and has been recommended by the ...
Answered 11 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordFutibatinibDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 5 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18237More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding is available for patients to receive the immunotherapy drug Futibatinib through the NHS; and what criteria his Department uses to determine whether a patient is eligible for any fundin
Answer: NHS England funds the use of licensed medicines that have been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Futibatinib is licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and has been recommended by the ...
Answered 11 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordTeachers: StandardsDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 14356More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of qualified teacher status on the quality of teaching.
Answer: Evidence shows that high quality teaching is the most important in-school factor for improving the outcomes of children, which is why qualified teacher status (QTS) is so important. The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and ...
Answered 22 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordFree School Meals: Gateshead Central and WhickhamDepartment for EducationTabled 8 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13265More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary school children are (a) eligible for and (b) registered to receive free school meals in Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency.
Answer: The most recently published figures on free school meals (FSM) eligibility are from the January 2024 school census, published in June 2024 here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.Th...
Answered 18 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordKinship Care: Gateshead Central and WhickhamDepartment for EducationTabled 8 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13263More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many kinship carers are registered in Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency; and if she will make an estimate of the average number of kinship carers registered per constituency.
Answer: The information is not available as requested. The department does not collect information on the number of kinship carers or the average number of registrations per constituency. We do collect information on the numbers of foster care placements with fam...
Answered 15 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordLife Expectancy: Gateshead Central and WhickhamDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 13262More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average life expectancy is in (a) Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency and (b) each ward of that constituency.
Answer: Life expectancy estimates for Parliamentary constituencies are not available. Life expectancy estimates for local authorities in England are produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The latest available figures from the ONS are for the three-...
Answered 14 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordMozambique: HomicideForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 23 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 10816More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his (a) French and (b) Mozambique counterpart on the alleged massacre of civilians by Mozambican military personnel at the TotalEne
Answer: Our High Commissioner in Mozambique has raised the alleged massacre of civilians at the TotalEnergies plant in 2021 with representatives of the Government of Mozambique and local counterparts, alongside France and the US. The UK is offering continued supp...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCare Quality CommissionDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 17 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9803More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been (a) budgeted and (b) spent by the Care Quality Commission on the (i) design, (ii) development and (iii) rollout of its new regulatory platform.
Answer: The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) budget for its new regulatory platform was £88.3 million. The actual cost of the regulatory platform is £92.4 million, including the utilisation of contingency, which isn’t accounted for in the budget, and so is the rea...
Answered 4 Nov 2024
Original Parliament recordCrown Court: FinanceMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 8507More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department takes to determine the level of funding required to facilitate an adequate number of crown court sitting days in each financial year.
Answer: Every year, the Government and the Judiciary agree a number of sitting days and an overall budget in what is known as the Concordat process.In June, the Judiciary reached an agreement with the former Lord Chancellor to sit 106,000 days in the Crown Court ...
Answered 18 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBuildings: Fire PreventionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5714More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it is her policy that developers are responsible for financing (a) aluminium composite material assessments and (b) subsequent fire safety remedial modifications other th
Answer: The department collects data on the number of residential buildings over 18 metres in height in England with unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding. In the Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency, fewer than 10 such buildings have been ide...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordBuildings: InsulationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5713More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that leaseholders do not have to fund remedial building modifications associated with aluminium composite material cladding.
Answer: The department collects data on the number of residential buildings over 18 metres in height in England with unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding. In the Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency, fewer than 10 such buildings have been ide...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordHigh Rise Flats: InsulationMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Sept 2024AnsweredUIN 5712More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data her Department holds on the number of buildings over (a) 11 and (b) 18 metres in Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency that have aluminium composite material clad
Answer: The department collects data on the number of residential buildings over 18 metres in height in England with unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding. In the Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency, fewer than 10 such buildings have been ide...
Answered 8 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordSchools: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3283More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average funding per pupil was in mainstream schools in (a) Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency, (b) the North East Combined Authority Area and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Answer: The table below sets out funding statistics for the North East and England in each of the last five years. The figures represent the funding provided through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). All of the figures in the table exclude g...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordApprentices: Gateshead Central and WhickhamDepartment for EducationTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3282More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships started in Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency in each of the last five years.
Answer: Apprenticeship starts are published at parliamentary constituency level in the Apprenticeships official statistics, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/apprenticeships. Data for Gateshead Central and Wh...
Answered 12 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordGeneral Practitioners: Gateshead Central and WhickhamDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3281More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of open GP practices in Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency (a) on the most recent date for which figures are available and (b) in 2010.
Answer: The data provided has been sourced from NHS Digital and shows the number of open practices as of August 2024, and in August 2014 as no data is available prior to this. The data only includes main practices in the Gateshead Central and Whickham constituenc...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordMental Health Services: GatesheadDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3280More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals have been accepted by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Gateshead in each of the last five years.
Answer: The following table shows the number of referrals for those children aged between 0 and 17 years old at the time of referral to mental health services in Gateshead local authority between 2019/20 and 2023/24:Reporting PeriodNumber of new referralsNumber o...
Answered 9 Sept 2024
Original Parliament recordMental Health Services: GatesheadDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 30 Aug 2024AnsweredUIN 3279More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been waiting to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services support in Gateshead for more than six months.
Answer: The following table shows the number of referrals that subsequently received a first contact over six months from the referral request date from 2019/20 to 2023/24, and the number of referrals still waiting for a contact having waited at least six months,...
Answered 10 Sept 2024
Original Parliament record
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