theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Mr Mark Francois:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which departmental budgets will provide the funds to complete the purchase of the Annington estate; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that spending on other defence priorities. \p Al Carns: Funding for the deal is being provided by His Majesty’s Treasury, not the Ministry of Defence budget.

As the purchase has no impact on other Defence priorities, no financial assessment has been made.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2024 to Question 16219 on Military Aircraft: Helicopters, what the timetable is for introduction into service of the New Medium Helicopter. \p Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Defence is continuing with the established procurement process, managed by Defence Equipment and Support, for the New Medium Helicopter programme. The competition remains commercially sensitive, and the evaluation and approval process must complete before further details, including the timetable for introduction into service, can be confirmed. The proposal will be evaluated through 2025 when, subject to Government approvals, a contract award is anticipated.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to allocate additional funding for the Long-Range Area Affects Programme in financial year (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26. \p Maria Eagle: The Long-Range Area Effects (LRAE) project is currently pre-concept. Defence is considering its wider Deep Fires options subject to outcomes of the Strategic Defence Review.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his timetable is for publishing the Infrastructure and Projects Authority annual report for 2023-2024. \p Georgia Gould: The IPA Annual Report is due to be published in early 2025.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister and the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East discussed (a) delivering UNRWA operations in Hamas-controlled areas and (b) steps UNRWA is taking to ensure the political neutrality of its staff during their meeting on 11 December 2024. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: I refer the Hon Member to the read-out of the meeting on GOV.UK
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister’s speech of 5 December 2024 on Plan for Change at Pinewood Studios, what the cost to the public purse was of that event, including the cost of the backdrop and branding. \p Georgia Gould: In line with successive governments, departmental spending on official events that meet the criteria are published online quarterly.
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Alex Mayer:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the number of working hours lost as a result of (a) extreme heat and (b) flooding in 2024. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon. Lady’s Parliamentary Question of 16 December is attached.

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 119.2KB)
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on whether the former Leader of the Opposition, the Rt. hon. Member for Doncaster North, accepted a severance payment upon his departure as Leader of the Opposition via the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991. \p Georgia Gould: Certain office-holders, including the Leader of the Opposition, are entitled to a severance payment when they leave office under the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991. Under this provision, the Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP received a severance payment when he left the office of Leader of the Opposition in 2015.

Severance payments to office-holders are paid from the Consolidated Fund and published in the Consolidated Fund Annual Account. The relevant account is available on gov.uk at the following address:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a75a0dfe5274a545822cfbe/consolidated_funds_web.pdf.
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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 12890 on Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Ministers’ Private Offices, what items were purchased to equip the office of the additional Minister. \p Georgia Gould: All furniture and AV equipment has been, and must be, sourced from the GPA's Approved Supplier's catalogue.

An itemised breakdown of spending is as follows (all costs are excluding VAT unless otherwise specified):

Furniture for existing Ministerial Offices:

Two of the chairs are in use within the Secretary of State's office and the other four are used in other areas of the office.

Furniture for new Ministerial Offices:

The number of Ministers in DESNZ increased by one following the general election, the result of which was a higher than usual spend to facilitate the creation of an additional office.

Cost of Other Refurbishment of Ministerial Offices including moves:

Porterage was carried out between 5-15 July. All other work was commissioned on, or after, 15 July and completed by, or before, 19 October.

The Floor Power Alterations were to install additional power boxes within the floor due to the increased space utilisation. Please note this item was not correctly identified and included in the response to PQ UIN 12890.
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Alex Burghart:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many referrals to his Department under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 of acquisitions of UK firms in the (a) defence, (b) cybersecurity and (c) AI sectors have resulted in a transaction being (i) modified, (ii) delayed and (iii) blocked since 5 July 2024. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Transparency is a crucial part of the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, whilst also balancing commercial and reputational considerations.

Information related to publication of final orders is available on GOV.UK. The Government also publishes annual reports to provide information about the transactions that it has been notified about and those it subsequently called in for a national security assessment. The NSI Annual Report 2023-24 was published on 10 September 2024. The period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 will be covered in next year’s annual report.

The annual reports include the proportion of notifications for each sector, however, cybersecurity falls under the artificial intelligence sector and is not reported separately.

The reports do not specifically include the number or proportion of transactions that relate to links to a company owned in (a) part or (b) whole by a foreign state, however, they include the number of accepted notifications, call-in notices issued, final notifications issued, withdrawals from a called in acquisition and final orders issued by origin of investment.
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Clive Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times prisons in Norfolk operated an (a) amber and (b) red regime in each the last 10 years. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: As this information demonstrates, the new Government inherited a criminal justice system in crisis, with prisons on the point of collapse.

All public sector prisons have systems in place for the day-to-day management of staff resources and regime delivery, to ensure that regimes are safe, decent, secure, resilient and sustainable.

The recorded information relating to regimes in prisons in Norfolk is available from September 2022 onwards, and is as follows:

Red Regime – None

Amber/Red – 151 times

Green/Amber – 450 times.
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Ann Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the sizing of electronic monitoring equipment. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Ministry of Justice set out its requirements relating to Electronic Monitoring devices as part of a procurement process that saw contracts awarded in October 2023 for the provision of Electronic Monitoring services. The Secretary of State is satisfied that the devices in use meet the standards required whilst acknowledging there will be circumstances when Electronic Monitoring is not a viable option.

To maintain the integrity of the equipment, including anti-tamper measures, and taking account of the necessarily robust nature of the equipment, there is a minimum strap size for the secure and safe fitting of monitoring devices. Field staff carry a range of strap sizes with them when conducting installation visits.

Ministry of Justice staff continue to work with suppliers to develop innovations and solutions in both technology and processes to expand the use of Electronic Monitoring.
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Catherine Fookes:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessments her Department has made of the adequacy of Personal Independence Payment tribunal wait times; and what steps she is taking to reduce them. \p Sarah Sackman: We are working to reduce the outstanding caseload in the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal. Reducing the outstanding caseload is the key measure to bringing down the waiting times for tribunal hearings.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology as appropriate. If an expedited hearing is requested, a Judge or Legal Officer will make a decision on that issue, taking all the circumstances into account.

Data on Tribunals performance is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Receipts, disposals and the outstanding caseload for individual Chambers in the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal, the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the size of the current court case backlog is in England and Wales. \p Sarah Sackman: We publish court open caseloads across the criminal court, family court, and tribunals jurisdictions in the following publications:

Criminal court statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 - GOV.UK.

HMCTS management information - September 2024 - GOV.UK.

Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 - GOV.UK.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of officials in her Department were hired via positive action schemes in the last financial year. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The Ministry of Justice works within the Civil Service Recruitment Principles, as regulated by the Civil Service Commission, to recruit using a fair and open process and appoint on merit. The Department will only limit a campaign to a specific group as a form of positive action as a proportionate response to achieve a legitimate aim as defined in section 159 of the Equality Act 2010.

The Ministry of Justice does not currently utilise any positive action schemes, as defined by the Equality Act, to support the hiring of those with protected characteristics.

The Civil Service is committed to a diverse workforce and culture of openness and inclusivity - not as ends in themselves but as means of delivering better outcomes to the citizens we serve.

The Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-25 Promoting Fairness and Performance, published in February 2022, is positioned as an essential lever to deliver a Modern Civil Service, where our values are to serve with integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality; driving our vision to be a skilled, innovative and ambitious Civil Service equipped for the future. This strategy sets out a broader definition of diversity, to include geographical, social and career backgrounds alongside the protected groups.

As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, we are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds, to create a modern Civil Service, now and for the future.
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Dr Ben Spencer:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for Tribunal cases to be heard for (a) Social Security and Child Support, (b) Immigration and Asylum and (c) SEN appeals. \p Sarah Sackman: We are working to reduce the outstanding caseload in the Social Entitlement Chamber, the Immigration and Asylum Chamber and the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal. Reducing outstanding caseloads is the key measure to bringing down the waiting times for tribunal hearings.

HMCTS continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology as appropriate. If an expedited hearing is requested, a Judge or Legal Officer will make a decision on that issue, taking all the circumstances into account.

The Ministry of Justice has recently undertaken a comprehensive review of civil legal aid and, having considered the evidence collected, we acknowledge that the sector is facing a number of challenges. We are committed to improving the experience of users and providers and, as an important first step towards this, we intend to consult on uplifts to housing and immigration legal aid fees in January 2025.

This Government wants a justice system that is effective, efficient, and sustainable, and this funding boost is an important step towards that.

Data on Tribunals performance is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Receipts, disposals and the outstanding caseload for individual Chambers in the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal, the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal can be found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what her planned timescale is for responding to the Law Commission's scoping report on Financial remedies on divorce and dissolution, published on 18 December 2024. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The Government is grateful to the Law Commission for its work on this important and complex area. We will carefully consider the details and will provide a response in due course.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the recommendations by Resolution in its report entitled Domestic Abuse in Financial Remedy Proceedings, published in October 2024. \p Alex Davies-Jones: Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this Government, which includes addressing issues of domestic and economic abuse in financial remedy proceedings. The Government will consider Resolution’s recommendations alongside the Law Commission’s recently published scoping report on financial remedies.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made and assessment of the potential merits of the reform of super-injunctions; and whether she has had recent discussions with 10 Downing Street on the matter. \p Sarah Sackman: There are no plans to reform the law. The courts determine individual applications for interim injunctions to restrain publication of confidential information (and the existence of the injunction) on the merits of each case, and in accordance with the law and specific Practice Guidance.

The Practice Guidance on Interim Non-Disclosure Orders was issued by the then Master of the Rolls as part of the implementation of the Superinjunctions Committee’s recommendations, which he chaired and whose final report was published in 2011. It provides detailed guidance on the law, principle of open justice and model court orders.

The Ministry of Justice has had no recent discussions with the Prime Minister’s Office on this matter.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to help protect funding streams for specialist domestic abuse services. \p Alex Davies-Jones: Supporting victims and witnesses remains a priority focus for the Department and ministers. Collectively we are committed to the Government’s pledge to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a decade.

As such, I have decided to protect VAWG victims’ spending in the Department by maintaining the same levels of funding for domestic abuse and sexual violence support for the next financial year (2025/26). Furthermore, in addition to providing a ‘core’ grant for services to support victims of all crime, I am providing ringfenced funding for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to commission domestic abuse and sexual violence support services, according to local need.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the gambling research, education and treatment sector; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the new statutory levy on that sector. \p Stephanie Peacock: Ministers and officials have undertaken significant engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, including those with lived experience of gambling-related harm, to inform the government’s work to reduce gambling harm in line with its manifesto commitment.

As set out in the Government’s response to the consultation on the statutory levy, it is a priority that in this crucial transition period, the valuable experience and services in the current system, particularly treatment and support services which help people in need across Great Britain, are protected. We are clear that operators must continue to provide financial contributions at their current levels until the levy is in force, and have received reassurances from the industry that this will be delivered. The Government is also clear that the third sector, which has delivered important work to tackle gambling harm, will continue to play a key role in the future system and contribute to the research, prevention and treatment supported by levy funding.
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Mr Calvin Bailey:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. \p Chris Bryant: Yes, we will announce the outcomes of the Business Planning process, including any implications for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme soon.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps with the shadow Football Regulator to prevent English football clubs from joining breakaway leagues. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Football Governance Bill will create a Regulator that will be able to prevent English clubs from joining a future breakaway competition, taking into account factors like sustainability, heritage, fairness and meritocracy.

The Regulator will be obliged to gather the views of fans and consult the FA before it prohibits a competition.

This approach is the most effective way of stopping unwanted competitions that do not adhere to the principles of how sport operates in this country, are not supported by fans, and that risk undermining the English football pyramid.

The Shadow Football Regulator is a transition team that is working in parallel with the passage of the Football Governance Bill to set up the Independent Football Regulator. It does not have powers to regulate or take forward the provisions in the Football Governance Bill until after Royal Assent.
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Claire Coutinho:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will remove Germany from the Gender Recognition Certificate: list of approved countries and territories. \p Anneliese Dodds: The Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023 was approved by Parliament in April 2024, the first update to the list of approved countries in 13 years.

We are committed to more regularly updating the list of approved countries and territories when applying for gender recognition in the UK. We continue to work with our counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensure that any changes internationally are monitored and noted for future updates.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will take steps to ensure that employers offering internship programmes do not discriminate against applicants based on (a) sex, (b) ethnicity and (c) sexual orientation. \p Anneliese Dodds: Part 5 of the Equality Act 2010 provides protection against direct and indirect discrimination in employment and makes it unlawful for an employer or a recruitment agency to discriminate against an employee or someone applying for employment because of a protected characteristic.

Interns with, or applying for, a contract of employment that falls within the definition of “employment” are covered by the Equality Act 2010’s protections against discrimination based on sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, amongst other protected characteristics.

There are some circumstances in which employers may provide additional help to groups of people who share a protected characteristic, including interns. This is permitted by the positive action provisions in the Equality Act 2010. Whether positive action is permitted will depend on whether the test in those provisions is met.

Government guidance to help employers understand the difference between positive action and positive discrimination can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/positive-action-in-the-workplace-guidance-for-employers. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Code of Practice provides employers with support and can be found at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/equality/equality-act-2010/codes-practice/employment-code-practice-0.
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Matt Bishop:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help improve accessibility for disabled passengers on public transport in Forest of Dean constituency. \p Simon Lightwood: The government is committed to improving public transport services so they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. On 1st October 2024, the first phase of the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 came into force, meaning that newer vehicles providing local services must provide audible and visible information on stops, destinations and diversions. The majority of services will need to comply by October 2026.

On 17th December, the government introduced a new Bus Services Bill that will give local leaders the freedom to take decisions to deliver their local transport priorities and ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them, including for disabled people. The Bill includes measures which will make bus travel more accessible and inclusive.

Ensuring the rail network is also accessible is at the heart of our passenger-focused approach to improving rail services. We know that the experience for disabled people when traveling by rail too often falls short of what is expected and what passengers deserve. We are committed to improving the experience for disabled passengers and have committed to publishing an accessibility roadmap to explain the actions we are taking to improve accessibility ahead of Great British Rail.
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Dan Tomlinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing regulations similar to disabled parking on parent and child parking spaces. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Department for Transport has no current plans to regulate the use of parent and child parking spaces, which typically operate in privately owned car parks such as supermarkets.

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, for which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has responsibility, places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. This government is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector and will announce its plans for the new Code in due course.
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Mr Paul Kohler:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the lack of clarity on the northern leg of HS2 on the the train manufacturing industry in the UK. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Department for Transport is developing a Rolling Stock Strategy. This will align with the wider objectives of the industry in ending the current variability in production rates and ensuring a stable pipeline of work for the rolling stock supply chain.

Once established, Great British Railways will take the strategy forward providing a long-term approach to future rolling stock needs and helping to secure better value from the private rolling stock market.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of access to public electric vehicle charging points. \p Lilian Greenwood: As of 1 December 2024, the Government and industry have supported the installation of over 72,271 publicly available charging devices.

The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle. Through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund almost £400m government funding is being provided to local authorities in England to support the delivery of over 100,000 public chargepoints. These chargepoints will transform the public charging network to ensure that everyone can access and charge their electric vehicle.
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Greg Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will conduct modelling on the potential impact of increases in the use of (a) low carbon-emitting and (b) synthetic fuels by vehicles in the logistics sector on carbon emissions. \p Lilian Greenwood: Low carbon fuels, including synthetics, are helping decarbonise the logistics sector and are supported by the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. Any future policy decisions on the support for low carbon fuels in transport will be developed and informed by modelling potential impacts.

In the logistics sector, delivering net zero will require the adoption of zero emission vehicles and this is why we are turbocharging the rollout of zero emission HGVs and their charging and fuelling infrastructure through our Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator programme.

The logistics sector is vital to drive economic growth and achieve net zero and we are committed to working with the sector to achieve these aims.
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Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of recent trends in the number of coach companies that have ceased trading. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department recognises the importance of good transport links and this Government aims to improve connections between towns and cities across the country. We recognise the important role the coach sector can play in making these connections across the country for education, business and leisure travel.

Coaches are a deregulated sector, so commercial decisions, such as whether to cease trading, are a matter for the operators concerned. The Department does not have the data to estimate the number of coach companies that have ceased trading. We are, however, working with the sector to hear their concerns and address the challenges they face.
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Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department issues guidance to local authorities on running good-quality bus stops. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department for Transport has published Local Transport Note (LTN) 1/24 Bus User Priority which provides guidance on good practice in the design of bus stops. The Department has also published guidance to Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) and bus operators on developing Bus Service Improvement Plans. This guidance encourages all LTAs to set priorities for improving their bus stops, stations and interchanges.

On 17th December 2024, the Government introduced a new Bus Services Bill that will give local leaders the freedom to take decisions to deliver their local transport priorities and ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them. The Bill will provide powers for the Secretary of State to issue statutory guidance on the inclusivity of the design of bus and coach stations and stops, and to require authorities commissioning work to provide new or upgrade existing facilities to have due regard to this guidance.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what payments her Department has made to Birmingham City Council in support of the Birmingham roads PFI contract in each financial year from 2020-21 to 2024-25; and what was the total value of payments to the primary contractor under that contract in each of those years. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Department has paid Birmingham City Council (BCC) a little over £50 million a year, broken down into quarterly payments of £12.6 million, from 2020-21 to 2024-25 in support of its PFI contract for its local highways. Payments from the council to its primary contractor are a matter for BCC.
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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what is the projected annual budget of the Fair Work Agency. \p Justin Madders: The Employment Rights Bill is the first phase of delivering our plan to Make Work Pay, supporting employers, workers, and unions to get Britain moving forward.

Establishing the Fair Work Agency will create a strong, recognisable single brand so individuals know where to go for help and lead to a more effective use of resources

We are committed to ensuring that the Fair Work Agency is established on a sound financial footing and operates effectively in fulfilling its mandate. Detailed annual budgets for the proposed Fair Work Agency are currently under development and will be communicated in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of potential efficiency savings (a) his Department and (b) in arms length bodies for which his Department is responsible. \p Justin Madders: At the announcement of Phase 2 of the 2025 Spending Review, departments have been set a target of identifying efficiency savings of 5% by 2029. Through the spending review process my department will be carrying out the required work to identify options for delivering my priorities while maximising value for money for the taxpayer.

Phase 2 will focus on supporting the government's missions by utilising technology and reforming public services to support delivery of the government's plans for a decade of national renewal.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-06 conversation_62

Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what meetings officials in his Department have had with representatives from the European Union since 5 July; and for what purpose. \p Justin Madders: My officials meet regularly with their counterparts in the European Commission to discuss areas such as implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the Competition Cooperation Agreement, and trade. Officials have also recently presented the Industrial Strategy Green Paper to the EU Delegation and Member State representatives.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) officials also co-chair three UK-EU Trade Specialised Committees for Services, Investment and Digital, Regulatory Cooperation, and Technical Barriers to Trade, as well as the working groups that support them. The Committees last met in the autumn.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-06 conversation_63

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department were hired via positive action schemes in the last financial year. \p Justin Madders: All Civil Service departments work within the Recruitment Principles, as regulated by

the Civil Service Commission, to recruit using a fair and open process and appoint on

Departments will only limit a campaign to a specific group as a form of positive action

as a proportionate response to achieve a legitimate aim as defined in section 159 of

the Equality Act 2010.

The Civil Service is committed to a diverse workforce and culture of openness and

inclusivity - not as ends in themselves but as means of delivering better outcomes to

the citizens we serve.

The Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-25 Promoting Fairness and Performance,

published in February 2022, is positioned as an essential lever to deliver a Modern

Civil Service, where our values are to serve with integrity, honesty, objectivity and

impartiality; driving our vision to be a skilled, innovative and ambitious Civil Service

equipped for the future. This strategy sets out a broader definition of diversity, to

include geographical, social and career backgrounds alongside the protected groups.

As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, we are committed to

ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of

backgrounds, to create a modern Civil Service, now and for the future.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-06 conversation_64

Mike Amesbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support women in the engineering sector. \p Sarah Jones: According to Engineering UK, the engineering and technology industry employed approximately 6.3m people in 2023, with approximately 15.7% women.

There are a number of services supporting women into engineering, for example, Royal Academy Engineering and the National Careers Services. However, there is clearly more to be done.

I will be convening a group of senior energy leaders in early 2025 to discuss how diversity can be improved to help deliver the clean energy superpower mission, which will need significantly more engineers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-06 conversation_65

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the number of employers in the (a) private and (b) public sector that have recognised a trade union in 2024. \p Justin Madders: The Management and Wellbeing Practices Survey estimates the percentage of employers with recognised unions and employers with union members included within the table below:

Estimated employer size (number of workers) with recognised unions and workers in unions

% of employers with recognised unions

5 to 9

4%

10 to 19

5%

20 to 49

15%

50 to 99

20%

100 to 249

46%

250 to 499

62%

500 or more

73%
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-06 conversation_66

Dr Neil Hudson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on forced labour involving Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang; and what steps he is taking to help prevent goods produced by forced labour entering the UK market. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: The UK will stand firm on human rights, including China's repression of the peoples of Xinjiang. This has included raising concerns at the highest levels of the Chinese government. The Prime Minister raised human rights with President Xi at their meeting in the G20 Summit in November.

No company in the UK should have forced labour in its supply chain. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more to report annually on steps taken to combat modern slavery. The Government continues to review how we can best tackle forced labour in supply chains.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-06 conversation_67

Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will have discussions with (a) eBay, (b) Etsy, (c) Folksy and (d) other online suppliers and platforms on steps to help ensure that consumers placing orders in Northern Ireland are not disadvantaged compared to other UK based consumers. \p Justin Madders: We continue to support businesses in ensuring a smooth flow of goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, including through regular engagement with online suppliers and platforms.

DBT regularly talks to online suppliers and platforms, and works with the NI Department for the Economy to support people in Northern Ireland.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-06 conversation_68

Chi Onwurah:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Institution of Civil Engineers' report entitled ICE policy position statement: How can the UK’s infrastructure system be made more climate resilient?, published in March 2023, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using digital twins to improve understanding of risks to infrastructure assets. \p Sarah Jones: The National Digital Twin Programme aims to determine how digital twins can support improvements in all aspects of the operation and performance of individual infrastructure assets, as well as networks and systems. This includes climate resilience in relation to both specific events, as well as the longer term impacts of changing weather patterns. Information about the NDTP can be found at National Digital Twin Programme NDTP - GOV.UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-06 conversation_69

Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on (a) small businesses and (b) insurance premiums of changes in the levels of high street thefts. \p Gareth Thomas: Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. We will not stand for this, everybody has a right to feel safe on the job.

We will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200.

We have announced £100 million of new funding to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood officers, community support officers and special constables into neighbourhood policing teams, as announced by the Prime Minister earlier this month.

Whilst Government does not generally intervene in the commercial pricing decisions of insurers, we are determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority rules.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-06 conversation_70

Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer prior to sending his letter dated 21 November 2024 to the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board. \p Gareth Thomas: My Rt. Hon. friend the Secretary of State works closely with all his Cabinet colleagues and has regular discussions with them, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-06 conversation_71

John Milne:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if (a) she and (b) the Minister for Housing and Planning will meet the hon. Member for Horsham to discuss Horsham's Local Plan, the hearing process and water neutrality. \p Matthew Pennycook: Due to the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in the planning system, it would not be appropriate for me to discuss the details of the Horsham Local Plan and its progress through examination. However, I am happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss general principles in relation to local development plans and water neutrality and I have asked my officials to contact his constituency office with a view to finding a mutually convenient date and time.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-06)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-06 conversation_72

Neil Coyle:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure almshouse providers who do not have 1,000 homes but are willing to become registered social landlords are able to do so. \p Matthew Pennycook: As part of the recent consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, the government sought views on whether changes were needed to the definition of ‘affordable housing for rent’ to make it easier for organisations that are not Registered Providers, including almshouses, to develop new affordable homes.

While the government are committed to making it easier for almshouses to develop new affordable homes, we ultimately decided against extending the definition to capture almshouses for the reasons set out in our response to the consultation which can be found on gov.uk here.

Informed by the points raised in the consultation, the government will actively explore options in future changes to national policy related to decision making.

For those landlords who wish to register with the Regulator of Social Housing, there is no bar to registration because of size. Registered providers of social housing must meet standards that ensure tenants live in homes that are good quality and well-maintained and that landlords are well-managed and remain financially viable. The Regulator is operationally independent and has designed a registration process that seeks to ensure providers are able to meet its standards once registered.