Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterpart to Bahrain on (a) the protection of the rights of and (b) access to medical treatment for (i) Ebrahim Sharif, (ii) Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace and (iii) Hassan Mushaima and his family.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answers provided to questions 100851 on 6 January 2026, and HL12137 on 2 December 2025.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take legislative steps to reverse the effects of R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and provide for the changes to apply retrospectively.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We intend to introduce legislation to clarify that Litigation Funding Agreements (LFAs) are not Damages-Based Agreements when Parliamentary time allows. This will mitigate the effect of the PACCAR judgment and improve access to justice by reassuring funders that LFAs can be used to fund cases. We intend to make this change with prospective effect.
The Government recognises the critical role third-party litigation funding plays in access to justice and is committed to ensuring it works fairly for all. We will outline next steps in due course.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has set a timeline for publication of legislation to reverse the effects of R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We intend to introduce legislation to clarify that Litigation Funding Agreements (LFAs) are not Damages-Based Agreements when Parliamentary time allows. This will mitigate the effect of the PACCAR judgment and improve access to justice by reassuring funders that LFAs can be used to fund cases. We intend to make this change with prospective effect.
The Government recognises the critical role third-party litigation funding plays in access to justice and is committed to ensuring it works fairly for all. We will outline next steps in due course.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to implement proportionate regulation of third-party litigation funding agreements in this parliament.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have carefully considered the recommendations from the Civil Justice Council's review and, as well as seeking to mitigate the effects of the PACCAR judgment, we wanted to tighten up regulation of third-party litigation funding.
We intend to introduce legislation to implement proportionate regulation of Litigation Funding Agreements when Parliamentary time allows. The new regulatory framework will aim to enhance claimant protection, transparency and the effectiveness of the litigation funding market. The Government recognises the critical role third-party litigation funding plays in access to justice and is committed to ensuring it works fairly for all. We will outline next steps in due course.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assurances the UK has received from the US authorities that CMCC drone surveillance monitoring the ceasefire in Gaza will identify and record potential violations whether by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, other militias or Israel.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The small team of UK personnel embedded in US-led Civil Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) engages continually with their US counterparts to ensure a sustainable ceasefire, delivery of humanitarian aid and progress in building Gaza's stability.
Drone surveillance is one of a range of US capabilities used for ceasefire monitoring. The UK contribution to the CMCC does not include monitoring the ceasefire.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assurances the UK has received from the US authorities that UK personnel at the Civil Military Co-ordination Centre will not be assisting or participating in actions that could breach International Law or International Humanitarian Law.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Civil Military Co-ordination Centre (CMCC) is a US-led body supporting the humanitarian response to Gaza and delivery of the 20-point plan. The UK team engage routinely with their US and other international counterparts to understand and monitor the work of the CMCC and can raise concerns if required. UK personnel are briefed on their responsibilities under International Law and International Humanitarian Law.
The UK is fully committed to upholding our responsibilities under domestic and international law and we act at all times in a manner consistent with our legal obligations.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's planned timelines are for considering the introduction of a national social tariff for water bills; and whether she is taking steps to ensure that the potential design for a national social tariff reaches those most in need.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable and is working with industry to keep support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported.
As such, we have carried out a consultation on reforms to WaterSure - the statutory scheme which caps water bills for low-income customers with higher water usage due to medical conditions or large households, including whether additional customers should be brought into scope of the scheme.
The Government also expects all water companies to put appropriate support in place for customers struggling to pay their bills and to proactively engage with their customers to ensure they know what support schemes are available and how to use them if they need help. All companies have measures in place such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to release the White Paper on water reform in January 2026.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will respond to the Independent Water Commission’s final recommendations in full via a White Paper shortly and a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment and restore trust and accountability.
Together with the building blocks the Government has already put in place, this will mark the most fundamental reset to our water system in a generation. A new partnership between Government, the sector, investors and communities will deliver the change the public expects.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his department is taking steps to deliver the recommendation from the Independent Sentencing Review of increased funding for the voluntary sector to support the Probation Service.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
I recognise the valuable role of the thousands of Voluntary Sector organisations that work in partnership with Prisons and Probation to provide vital support to people serving their sentence in prison and returning to the community.
We welcome the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendation to explore how we can better harness the value of the Third Sector and build even stronger partnerships to enable better targeting of probation resource and improve outcomes for offenders.
We are currently in the process of re-procuring our commissioned rehabilitative services (CRS) contracts. 76% of current CRS contracts are led by the Third Sector. Our new contracts will improve on our current offering with expanded and improved consistency of service available in both custody and community.
We will continue to work with the Voluntary Sector as implementation of the Independent Sentencing Review progresses.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure the effectiveness of the proposed expansion of electronic monitoring of offenders in helping to (a) reduce reoffending and (b) support rehabilitation.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
In support of the Sentencing Bill, the Ministry of Justice will significantly expand the use of electronic monitoring as a vital tool for probation to ensure offenders are managed safely in the community.
This expansion builds on the Department’s long-standing commitment to building the evidence base for electronic monitoring. Our evaluations, alongside external research commissioned by the Department, have provided clear evidence that targeted electronic monitoring conditions can reduce reoffending and support reintegration by providing an effective alternative to custody. A recent study has found that curfew tags reduce reoffending by 20% when used as part of a community sentence. Further to this, our Acquisitive Crime pilot evaluation shows that burglars, robbers, and thieves given a constant whereabouts monitoring condition with a GPS tag were around 20% less likely to reoffend while on the tag.