Written questions by Morton.

How much funding her Department plans to allocate to Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council for fixing potholes in each of the next three financial years.

The West Midlands Combined Authority, of which Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council is a constituent authority, is in receipt of £1.05bn of devolved City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) funding for the period 2022/23 to 2026/27, and has been allocated £2.4bn of Transport for City Regions (TCR) funding for the period up until 2031/32. These funding settlements are for investment in the West Midlands’ local transport network and consolidate local highways maintenance funding. It is for the Combined Authority to determine how this funding is allocated across the city region in line with local priorities.

With reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Transport of 8 July 2025 on Road and Rail Projects, Official Report, columns 822-3, whether it is her policy that the full cost of the midlands rail hub should be paid for by her Department; and when she expects the midlands rail hub to be completed.

A sum of £123m has been allocated by the Government to deliver detailed designs of the first phase of MRH. The designs will produce a more accurate cost estimate, a delivery schedule and subsequently form the basis of a ‘Final Investment Decision’. This phase is due to enter service in the early 2030s. The costs and delivery timescales for later phases are subject to further development work and subsequent investment decisions.

What infrastructure projects the National Wealth Fund has (a) funded, (b) initiated and (c) delivered in the West Midlands since October 2024.

The National Wealth Fund (NWF) has a strong regional mandate and proactively identifies investment opportunities across the UK to ensure the benefits of investment are felt nationwide.In March 2025, the NWF’s local authority function provided a £9.6 million loan to Solihull Council to help deliver its innovative new town centre energy network.

With reference to p.99 of The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy 2025, published on 23 June 2025, what strategic partnerships are being trialled by The National Wealth Fund in the West Midlands.

The National Wealth Fund (NWF) is trialling a Strategic Partnership with West Midlands – as well as Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Glasgow City Region – to provide enhanced, hands-on support to help it develop and finance long-term investment opportunities. The Strategic Partnerships will offer a closer, enhanced relationship with a small number of places to test whether this approach is more effective at building investment pipelines. They are bespoke arrangements, tailored to unique local requirements. This will include specific support at the early stages of project development to address capability and capacity gaps. Alongside these, the NWF continues to provide financial and commercial advice and financing to local authority projects across the UK.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of funding the National Association of Local Councils.

The government welcomes the work of the National Association of Local Councils to support and represent town and parish councils in England. The government has not assessed the merits of providing general funding to the National Association of Local Councils.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that neighbourhood plans effectively safeguard the environment and green belt in local areas.

By designating Local Green Spaces and setting expectations for development in their area, neighbourhood plans can ensure development is environmentally acceptable and preserves access to nature. Local planning authorities, in consultation with their communities and any neighbourhood planning bodies, decide whether land should be designated as green belt in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The Framework permits neighbourhood plans to amend green belt boundaries where strategic policies set out in a local development plan or spatial development strategy justify changes.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Africa has had with trade unions on women’s empowerment; and on what dates those discussions were held.

The Minister for Africa had two official engagements on the topic of women's empowerment during the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Firstly, a meeting with a senior delegation from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on 12 March 2025, comprising Paola Simonetti, Director of the ITUC, Siobhan Vipond from the ITUC Canada and Dur e Shawar from the Pakistan Workers Party. Secondly, a meeting with Christina McAnea, General Secretary of UNISON, on 13 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 62958 on Affordable Housing: West Midlands, when he will publish a figure for the funding that has been allocated to the West Midlands as part of the 10‑year Affordable Homes Programme.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).

Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes she plans to deliver in this Parliament.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 2 July (HCWS771).

Food and Rural Affairs, whether additional funding has been allocated to the Environment Agency to tackle waste crime in the current financial year.

Defra works closely with the Environment Agency (EA) to ensure it is equipped to carry out its functions effectively and deliver for the public and the environment. The EA’s total budget for 2025 to 2026 has increased to £2,274 million and includes £10 million baselined for waste crime enforcement and additional £5.6 million this financial year to tackle waste crime.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of prosecutions for waste crime offences in England and Wales.

Of the additional £5.6 million allocated to the Environment Agency (EA) this year to tackle waste crime, £2 million has allowed the EA to recruit an additional 43 operational staff and achieve focus on enforcement. Prosecution is not always the most effective way of stopping waste crime and the EA will continue to use a variety of approaches to disrupt and prevent waste crime, whilst prosecuting the worst offences and offenders, in line with its strategy for reducing crime in the waste sector.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the conviction rate was for waste crime offences in each of the last five years.

The conviction rates for the last five years are as follows: 2020 – 82%2021 – 81%2022 – 86%2023 – 83%2024 – 84%

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of energy costs on energy intensive industries.

Government is well aware of the issue of high industrial energy costs, and the challenges that poses for Energy Intensive Industries (EII). That is why we continue to offer support to electro-intensives through the EII compensation scheme and the Supercharger. We will also soon be consulting on an uplift of the Network Charges Compensation scheme. The recent Industrial Strategy also committed to consulting on the establishment of a new support scheme, British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) which will exempt up to 7,000 businesses from some of policy costs included within electricity bills.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Oral Contribution of the Secretary of State for Transport: Road and Rail Projects delivered on 8 July 2025, how many of the 39,000 new properties will be built (a) in the West Midlands combined authority area and (b) in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.

The 39,000-figure cited by the Secretary of State for Transport is an estimate of the number of new homes that will be supported by the road and rail projects announced on 8 July 2025. My Department is working with others across government to ensure that investment in transport infrastructure maximises opportunities to support new homes across England.

What steps his Department is taking to help reduce industrial electricity prices.

Government is well aware of the issue of high industrial energy costs, and the challenges that poses for Energy Intensive Industries (EII). That is why we continue to offer support to electro-intensives through the EII compensation scheme and the Supercharger. We will also soon be consulting on an uplift of the Network Charges Compensation scheme. The recent Industrial Strategy also committed to consulting on the establishment of a new support scheme, British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) which will exempt up to 7,000 businesses from some of policy costs included within electricity bills.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Oral Contribution of the Secretary of State for Transport: Road and Rail Projects delivered on 8 July 2025, when the 39,000 new properties will be built.

The 39,000-figure cited by the Secretary of State for Transport is an estimate of the number of new homes that will be supported by the road and rail projects announced on 8 July 2025. My Department is working with others across government to ensure that investment in transport infrastructure maximises opportunities to support new homes across England.

What information his Department holds on the number of businesses which have ceased trading each day since July 2024.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 15th July is attached.

Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes have been built since July 2024.

Statistics on gross additional affordable housing supply in England between April 2024 and March 2025, including the number of affordable homes built, will be published by December 2025.

What assessment he made of the potential impact of delaying the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill’s provisions on unfair dismissal protections on levels of business confidence.

There is no delay to implementation. On 1 July the Government published “Implementing the Employment Rights Bill: Roadmap”. It provides clarity for employers and workers on when Government will consult on the implementation of Bill measures, and when measures will take effect. Feedback from businesses is that this clarity has improved confidence. The Roadmap sets out our initial view that day one unfair dismissal protections will take effect in 2027, after regulations have been made and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service has considered to what extent , to reflect day one rights in the Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of resources available to local authorities to enforce waste disposal regulations.

This question has been interpreted as relating to whether an assessment has been made regarding adequate infrastructure availability for local authorities to meet their Simpler Recycling requirements. We are working with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) and waste industry representatives to support readiness for the Simpler Recycling requirements. Specifically, we have engaged with Materials Recycling Facilities (MRF) operators and local authorities to identify challenges with MRF capacity, investment and upgrade timelines, and to work with the sector to identify interventions to support MRFs as they prepare for Simpler Recycling. Those engaged with us are aware of their obligations and are working hard to upgrade their facilities to ensure they can separate the target materials as required by Simpler Recycling. Further workstreams have included engagement with the organics processing sector who are also clear of the obligations on them and the increase in food waste material which will be generated in the coming years.