Teachers: Pay
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 117426, Teachers: Pay, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of binding collective bargaining arrangements in further education.
Poultry: Animal Housing
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with animal welfare organisations on the potential merits of prohibiting the import of eggs produced using caged systems for laying hens.
Teachers: Pay
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 117426, Teachers: Pay, what assessment she has made of the impact of differences in pay between further education college lecturers and school teachers on sta
Parcels: Import Duties
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has considered the potential impact of changes to EU customs duties for small parcels on the responsibility to promote knowledge exchange under the Florence Agreement.
Poultry: Animal Housing
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the British Veterinary Association's press release entitled British Veterinary Association calls for an end to all cages for laying hens, published on 27 April 2026,
The Department continues to consider the latest scientific research and evidence to improve the welfare of farmed animals, including laying hens. A UK-wide consultation, on a proposed ban on keeping laying hens, pullets and breeder layers in cages, closed...
Counselling and Psychiatry: Regulation
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the regulation of counselling and psychotherapy, including legal protections for the titles 'counsellor' and 'psychotherapist'.
UK Biobank
To ask His Majesty's Government, for each month since UK Biobank first detected de-identified participant data on GitHub in 2022, (1) how many instances there have been of participant-level UK Biobank data being identified on GitHub, and (2) in each case,
Robotics: Manufacturing Industries
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the University of Leeds report entitled Why doesn’t the UK make more Robots?, published in November 2025, what steps she is taking to help reduce skills gaps within th
In February 2026, Government launched the Robotics Adoption Skills Development Programme which will provide up to £2.5m for projects to develop and deliver course content and materials to support skills, talent and training in robotics. This seeks to addr...
Occupied Territories: Women's Rights
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to provide (a) financial and (b) diplomatic support to women's rights organisations operating in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Cats: Animal Breeding
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the impact on the welfare of cats arising from the absence of regulations on cat breeding.
Anyone in the business of selling cats and kittens as pets should already have a pet selling licence and must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences...
Young Offenders: Crime Prevention
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what metrics will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of early intervention programmes in preventing youth offending.
Individual early intervention programmes are evaluated using metrics most relevant to delivery and intended outcomes. The Ministry of Justice’s Turnaround programme, which was rolled out in 2022, closely monitors data including on numbers of children prog...
Parcels: Fees and Charges
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the cumulative costs of VAT and associated handling fees applied to parcels sent from distribution centres in Great Britain to customers in the European Union
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and is normally due in the country where the consumer of the goods or services is located. The application of this destination principle in VAT achieves neutrality in international trade. The VAT rate applied is a m...
UK Trade with EU: Republic of Ireland
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of EU de minimis charges and associated handling fees on UK retailers fulfilling consumer orders to customers in the Republic of Ireland from distribution sites
The Government have been following the development of the EU’s customs reforms closely, including the removal of the €150 customs duty relief for imports into the EU (including from the UK). These changes do not impact the rules for claiming preferential ...
Prisoners' Release
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the statistical analysis of prison leavers in England entitled Prison leavers in substance misuse treatment: 4-week outcomes – report,
Eyesight: Children
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consideration his Department has given to reviewing NHS optical voucher values for children with complex visual needs, particularly those with conditions such as Albanism.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that children, including those with complex visual needs such as albinism, can access appropriate optical care and appliances.National Health Service optical vouchers are designed to support eligible gr...
Police: Languages
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2026 to Question 472, whether any of the enhanced technical solutions and technological tools rely on Chinese (a) technology and (b) equipment.
Infected Blood Inquiry: Costs
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 22 April 2026 to Question 126586 on Infected Blood Inquiry: Costs and with reference to the Infected Blood Inquiry Finance Report 2025-26, whether the Infected Blood Inquiry finan
Ian Horobin
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 18 March 2026 to Question 119406 on Ian Horobin, how are conventions on such peerage matters (a) established and (b) amended.
Conventions form part of our uncodified constitution. They are rules of constitutional practice that are generally accepted, and regarded as binding in operation, but not in law. Conventions are not static, but are developed and evolve to reflect changing...
Public Appointments
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many direct ministerial appointments currently in post have not had details of their appointment added to the direct ministerial appointment portal on gov.uk.
As set out in the responses to questions 116770 and 123216, the responsibility for the publication of information on Direct Ministerial Appointments rests with individual sponsor departments. The Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments states t...
Youth Mobility Scheme: EU Countries
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of an EU youth mobility scheme on (a) domestic unemployment levels, (b) domestic welfare dependency and (c) the number of young UK nationals in work.
This Government is committed to ensuring opportunities for young British citizens to live, work, study, and travel across the European Union. That is why at the 2025 UK-EU Summit, we agreed to negotiate a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU. We h...
Prime Minister: Diaries
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 29 April 2026 to Question 129162 on Cabinet Office: Written Questions and further to the ICO Decision Notice IC-382003-M4X6 issued to the Cabinet Office on 29 January 2026, how ma
Details of official meetings held in a ministerial capacity with external organisations or individuals are declared quarterly on GOV.UK. Party political meetings and events are a matter for the Labour Party.
Lord Mandelson
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 4 March 2026 to Question 115552 on Public Appointments, if he will publish the due diligence processes agreed by the Cabinet Office's Accounting Officer that were used as the basi
I refer the hon Member to ‘Part of a Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons dated 4 February 2026 relating to the appointment of Lord Mandelson as HM Ambassador to Washington - Volume I’, pages 10-14 and to the letter from the former ...
Lord Mandelson
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 27 April 2026, to Question 124843, on Civil Servants: Dismissal, whether his Department considers that Lord Mandelson gave false information or withheld relevant details during hi
I refer the Hon Member to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, the statement made by the Prime Minister on 20 April, and the Government’s response to the debate of 21 April, providing an update on the response to the Humble...
EU Cohesion Fund
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 15 April 2026 to Question 123696 on EU Cohesion Fund, for what reason joining the EU electricity market requires payments to reduce economic and social disparities.
The UK is not currently contributing to EU Cohesion Funds as a consequence of the UK/EU reset. The EU is seeking an appropriate UK financial contribution to the EU’s cohesion policy, alongside an electricity agreement. Any UK financial contribution would ...
EU Cohesion Fund
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 15 April 2026, to Question 123696, on EU Cohesion Fund, in which policy areas could the UK make payments towards EU cohesion or structural funds, following the EU/UK reset.
The UK is not currently contributing to EU Cohesion Funds as a consequence of the UK/EU reset. Whilst the EU is seeking an appropriate UK financial contribution to the EU’s cohesion policy, alongside an electricity agreement, any contribution would be sub...