Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help expand the pipeline of qualified floor layers to deliver (a) public housing, (b) hospitals, (c) schools and (d) other infrastructure projects.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Government is investing £625 million in construction skills over this Parliament. This includes Foundation Apprenticeships, expanded Skills Bootcamps, and the launch of Construction Technical Excellence Colleges. These measures aim to deliver up to 60,000 additional skilled workers and support employers to invest in training.

The industry-led Construction Skills Mission Board is working to create construction job opportunities to meet the government's announced 159 infrastructure and built environment (1.5 million homes and retrofitting 5 million existing homes) commitments.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) organisations delivering commercial flooring apprenticeships and (b) other independent specialist training providers can access funding and opportunities at parity with large further education colleges delivering for trades.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The funding band of each apprenticeship standard sets out the maximum amount that the government will contribute to the costs of apprenticeship training and assessment. This is irrespective of the type or size of funding provider.

New training providers can enter the apprenticeship training market under one of the three entry routes in place: where there is a legitimate gap in provision that is generated by unmet employer demand, where a levy paying employer wants to become an employer-provider to train its own workforce, or where the provider is in an area we want to grow or where we identify a capacity issue.

Found: Dr Allison Gardner; Kit Malthouse; Freddie van Mierlo; Samantha Niblett; Dr Lauren Sullivan; Adam Thompson

Found: ; Emily Darlington; Dr Allison Gardner; Kit Malthouse; Samantha Niblett; Dr Lauren Sullivan; Adam Thompson

Hair and beauty products (chemicals applied to the hair or body for cosmetic purposes) and treatments (cosmetic procedures typically performed by specialists) can cause harm to consumers if they contain unregulated ingredients or if they are improperly administered.  The inquiry will respond to recent research which has led to concerns about the current scientific evidence base and regulation for these products, as well as the required training and qualifications of specialists performing treatments.  The inquiry will also investigate the growing concern that certain products that are commonly used by marginalised groups, such as creams to ‘relax’ afro-type hair and synthetic hair, can contain harmful chemicals.

On 15 July 2025 the Defence Secretary told the House of Commons about a large-scale data breach that had taken place in 2022, when a Ministry of Defence official emailed a spreadsheet to an external contact, unaware that it contained details relating to 18,700 Afghan nationals applying for relocation.