Phil Brickell MP: written questions 2025
110 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Council Tax: Non-paymentMinistry of JusticeTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51610More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many liability orders were (a) sought by local authorities and (b) granted by courts for council tax debt, in each tax year since 2019.
Answer: The information requested is not collated or maintained centrally in a manner that could reliably be reported.
Answered 19 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCouncil Tax: ArrearsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51609More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an estimate on the number of individual households who were in council tax arrears while also in receipt of Council Tax (a) support and (b) reduct
Answer: The Department does not collect data on the number of people or the number of households who are in council tax arrears. Therefore, the Department does not hold data with specific characteristics requested, including those in receipt of council tax suppor...
Answered 16 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCouncil Tax: Debt CollectionTreasuryTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51608More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of including council tax debt collection in the scope of the Government Debt Fairness Charter.
Answer: The Debt Fairness Charter outlines principles for the fair and reasonable treatment of individuals who owe personal debt to central government. The first version was published in March 2024, with a commitment to ongoing review and updates as needed, and a...
Answered 20 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCouncil Tax: ArrearsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51607More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will make an estimate for the number of people who are in council tax arrears broken down by (a) gender, (b) ethnicity, (c) age and (d) family composition in ea
Answer: The Department does not collect data on the number of people or the number of households who are in council tax arrears. Therefore, the Department does not hold data with specific characteristics requested, including those in receipt of council tax suppor...
Answered 16 May 2025
Original Parliament recordChildcare: National Insurance CreditsTreasuryTabled 8 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51009More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the backlog of applications for Specified Adult Childcare Credits.
Answer: HMRC recognises the difficulties that delays can cause customers and are deploying additional resources to process Specified Adult Childcare Credits.
Answered 16 May 2025
Original Parliament recordGeneral PractitionersDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51008More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on General Practice coverage per population (a) in Leigh, (b) in each region and (c) in England.
Answer: The following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) general practitioners (GPs), direct patient care staff (DPC), and nurses per 10,000 registered patients in Leigh and in each region of England:AreaNumber of FTE GPs per 10,000 registered p...
Answered 14 May 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS Walk-in Centres: LeighDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51007More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on levels of patient demand at Leigh walk-in centre.
Answer: The Department does not hold the information requested. NHS England publishes official statistics for accident and emergency attendances at a provider, National Health Service trust level. Information for the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation T...
Answered 14 May 2025
Original Parliament recordAccident and Emergency Departments: StandardsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 8 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51006More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was in accident and emergency (a) at Bolton Hospital, (b) in each region and (c) in the UK in the latest period for which data is available.
Answer: NHS England publishes information on accident and emergency waiting times in England, although not at a hospital site or regional level. The following table shows the provisional median total time waited in accident and emergency at the Bolton NHS Foundat...
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordPeatlands: PenninesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 2 May 2025AnsweredUIN 49987More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help encourage peatland restoration on the West Pennine Moors.
Answer: The Government recognises the importance of England’s peatlands, and in our manifesto, we committed to expanding nature-rich habitats such as peatlands. This will contribute to ensuring nature’s recovery, one of Defra’s five priorities. We have ambitions ...
Answered 13 May 2025
Original Parliament recordFires: PenninesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 2 May 2025AnsweredUIN 49986More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to mitigate against wild fires on the West Pennine Moors.
Answer: I was concerned to see there was a wildfire last month in part of the hon. Member’s constituency, at Longworth Road. Defra encourages landowners and land managers to adopt good quality wildfire management plans and use sustainable methods to manage habita...
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordEthics and Integrity CommissionCabinet OfficeTabled 1 May 2025AnsweredUIN 49825More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 46285 on Ethics and Integrity Commission, when he plans to announce the independent Chair of the Ethics and Integrity Commission.
Answer: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer he was given to PQ UIN 46285 on 28 April 2025.
Answered 8 May 2025
Original Parliament recordKashmir: TerrorismForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 30 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 49584More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the escalation of tensions in the Kashmir region following the attack near Pahalgam on 22 April
Answer: India and Pakistan are both longstanding, important partners of the UK. The UK Government is taking all the steps we can to ensure that recent developments do not lead to uncontrolled escalation. We encourage all to commit to effective channels of engagem...
Answered 12 May 2025
Original Parliament recordPrimary Education: School LibrariesDepartment for EducationTabled 30 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 49583More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the National Literacy Trust's findings that one in seven state primary schools do not have a (a) library or (b) dedicated library space.
Answer: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Bolton West to the answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 27959.
Answered 12 May 2025
Original Parliament recordMobile Phones: Bolton WestDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46287More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of mobile phone signal coverage in Chew Moor; and what steps he is taking to improve mobile phone signal coverage in Bolton West
Answer: Ofcom does not publish coverage data at the local level, but their WebChecker indicates that while outdoor 4G coverage is available from all four mobile operators in Chew Moor, large parts of the village have limited 4G indoor coverage. According to Ofcom...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordHousingMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46286More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of using of Empty Dwelling Management Orders to help increase available housing.
Answer: Local authorities can use an Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMO) to increase available housing by bringing empty homes back into use. Local authorities can apply for an EDMO when a property has been empty for more than two years. This is subject to th...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordEthics and Integrity CommissionCabinet OfficeTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46285More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress his Department has made on establishing an ethics and integrity commission.
Answer: We are restoring confidence in government and the highest standards in public life and have already taken steps to improve probity and transparency, including through issuing a new Ministerial Code which highlights the importance of the principles of publ...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordOrigin Marking: Occupied TerritoriesDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45255More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of goods labelled as originating from within Israel’s pre-1967 borders which actually originate from Israeli settlements.
Answer: HMRC are responsible for the conduct of origin verification checks on imported goods. Where there are doubts about the declared origin of goods, HMRC will undertake checks to verify the origin of those goods to ensure fiscal compliance. Data on imports fr...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordWater CompaniesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45254More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) investigations have been opened and (b) enforcement action taken under the Water Industries Act 1991, section 3(3)(a).
Answer: Section 3(3)(a) of the Water Industry Act 1991 sets a requirement on water companies ‘to have regard to the desirability of preserving for the public any freedom of access to areas of woodland, mountains, moor, heath, down, cliff or foreshore and other pl...
Answered 24 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordInland Waterways: AccessDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44736More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of inland waters that have a statutory right of access for recreational users.
Answer: Current estimates are that around 4%, or 1,400 miles, of rivers in England and Wales have a public right of navigation. There are around 3,500 miles of canal and river navigations that have a public right of access through the licensing regimes operated b...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordInland Waterways: AccessDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44735More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to extend rights of responsible access to include more inland waters for recreational use.
Answer: The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors, including blue spaces, for people’s health and wellbeing and is working to ensure this is safe and appropriate. This is why we have set out our ambitious manifesto commitments t...
Answered 25 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordWater and Sewerage (Conservation, Access and Recreation) (Code of Practice) Order 2000Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44734More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the water sector meets its obligations under the Water and Sewerage (Conservation, Access and Recreation) (Code of Practice) Ord
Answer: It is water companies’ responsibility to comply with their obligations in respect of the Code of Practice on Conservation, Access and Recreation. The Secretary of State will take companies’ actual or likely non-compliance with the Code of Practice into ac...
Answered 25 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordWater and Sewerage (Conservation, Access and Recreation) (Code of Practice) Order 2000Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44733More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the compliance of water companies with the Water and Sewerage (Conservation, Access and Recreation) (Code of Practice) Order 2000.
Answer: It is water companies’ responsibility to comply with their obligations in respect of the Code of Practice on Conservation, Access and Recreation. The Secretary of State will take companies’ actual or likely non-compliance with the Code of Practice into ac...
Answered 25 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordMental Health Services: SurveysDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44732More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to implement the findings of the Care Quality Commission Community Mental Health Survey 2024, published on 4 April 2025.
Answer: We welcome the Care Quality Commission’s Community Mental Health Survey 2024, and we are carefully considering its findings.Too many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care that they need. The Government is committed to changi...
Answered 23 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordRailways: Greater ManchesterDepartment for TransportTabled 7 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 44731More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with Northern Rail on the potential impact of the proposed reduction in (a) Sunday and (b) late evening services between Westhoughton Station and Manchester central stations on l
Answer: Northern trains have no plans to reduce services on the Manchester-Southport line that serves Westhoughton. Some Sunday services have been temporarily removed from the timetable. This was agreed by Northern leaders as part of Northern’s work to stabilise ...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordBritish National (Overseas): PensionsForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 2 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 43764More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that UK residents with British National (Overseas) Visas are able to access pension savings held abroad.
Answer: We are aware that individuals who have moved to the UK on the British National (Overseas) visa route are having difficulties in drawing down early their pension savings held in Hong Kong. We are committed to supporting the valued BN(O) community in the UK...
Answered 9 Apr 2025
Original Parliament record
Published records only — not a full account of an MP’s work. How we work →