Afzal Khan Portrait

Afzal Khan

Labour - Manchester, Gorton

First elected: 8th June 2017


Shadow Minister (Exports)
7th Sep 2023 - 15th Nov 2023
Shadow Minister (Justice)
4th Dec 2021 - 7th Sep 2023
Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
10th Apr 2020 - 4th Dec 2021
Shadow Minister (Home Office) (Immigration)
3rd Jul 2017 - 10th Apr 2020


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Afzal Khan has voted in 735 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Afzal Khan Division Votes

Debates during the 2019 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Boris Johnson (Conservative)
(18 debate interactions)
Matt Hancock (Independent)
(18 debate interactions)
Lindsay Hoyle (Speaker)
(17 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Cabinet Office
(37 debate contributions)
Home Office
(24 debate contributions)
Department for Transport
(22 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
View all Afzal Khan's debates

Manchester, Gorton Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Petition Debates Contributed

We want the UK to be neutral in the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and withdraw offers of support for Israel.

We want the Government to seek a ceasefire and also seek to address the root cause of the current conflict by promoting dialogue and advocating for the end of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The UK Government should urge the Israeli Government to stop the blockade of Food, Fuel and Electricity to the already impoverished city of Gaza

Mark Allen, aged 18, drowned after jumping into a freezing reservoir on a hot day in June 2018.

In May 2019 we watched whilst 3 throwlines were installed where he died.

Mark could have possibly been saved if they were in place beforehand.

Currently, it is not compulsory for primary or secondary school students to be educated on Britain's role in colonisation, or the transatlantic slave trade. We petition the government to make education on topics such as these compulsory, with the ultimate aim of a far more inclusive curriculum.

Recognise the state of Palestine to help stop the conflict from Israel. Not recognising the Palestinian state allows Israel to continue their persecution of the Palestinians.

The Government should introduce sanctions against Israel, including blocking all trade, and in particular arms.


Latest EDMs signed by Afzal Khan

7th February 2024
Afzal Khan signed this EDM on Monday 26th February 2024

International Court of Justice Ruling on Gaza and the UK’s duties under the Genocide Convention

Tabled by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
That this House notes the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 26 January 2024, which found that it is plausible that Israel’s ongoing attacks on the Palestinian people in Gaza are in breach of the Genocide Convention; further notes that the ICJ issued provisional measures, including ordering …
66 signatures
(Most recent: 26 Mar 2024)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 31
Scottish National Party: 23
Independent: 6
Plaid Cymru: 3
Social Democratic & Labour Party: 2
Green Party: 1
Alba Party: 1
Alliance: 1
16th January 2024
Afzal Khan signed this EDM on Thursday 25th January 2024

Journalists in Gaza

Tabled by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
That this House is profoundly shocked and saddened by the deaths of over 85 journalists and other media workers in Gaza since the Hamas attacks of October 7, with many more critically injured, missing or in detention without trial; believes that journalists in Gaza are the only ones standing between …
53 signatures
(Most recent: 22 Feb 2024)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 27
Scottish National Party: 17
Independent: 4
Plaid Cymru: 3
Social Democratic & Labour Party: 2
Alliance: 1
Alba Party: 1
View All Afzal Khan's signed Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Afzal Khan, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


Afzal Khan has not been granted any Urgent Questions

3 Adjournment Debates led by Afzal Khan

Monday 13th March 2023
Thursday 20th October 2022

1 Bill introduced by Afzal Khan


The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. To amend the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 to make provision about the number and size of parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom; and for connected purposes.

Commons - 60%

Last Event - Committee Stage: House Of Commons
Wednesday 16th October 2019

Afzal Khan has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 50 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
13 Other Department Questions
19th Oct 2023
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help tackle racial inequality.

We published our ground-breaking race equality strategy last year.

Inclusive Britain set out 74 actions to tackle entrenched ethnic disparities across health, education, employment, policing and criminal justice.

18 months on and we have completed over half of the actions, including:

o publishing new ethnicity pay guidance for employers;

o issuing improved guidance on behaviour in schools and on suspensions and permanent exclusions; and

o improving the stop and search process through new de-escalation skills training for police officers.

A further update will be provided to parliament in Spring 2024

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
13th Oct 2023
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has held meetings in 2023 on (a) Islamophobia and (b) hate crime against Muslims.

This Government is committed to doing everything we can to tackle anti-Muslim hatred and all forms of prejudice in our society. Ministers across Government regularly hold meetings covering these important issues. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
28th Mar 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to provide financial support to grassroots music (a) venues and (b) artists and crew.

The Government is committed to supporting our grassroots music venues, which are the backbone of our world-leading music sector.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in regular discussions with all parts of the music industry, including live venues across the country of all sizes. We work with the industry and across Government to improve the sector's resilience, as demonstrated through the £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the £18 billion Energy Bills Relief Scheme.

We will continue to engage with the sector on the impact of current pressures. As part of this engagement, I met the Music Venues Trust last week to discuss issues facing the live music sector, and further ways to support the growth of the music sector and wider creative industries. The Secretary of State will also meet with music industry leaders this week, including representatives from the grassroots music sector, to further discuss matters affecting the music sector.

Julia Lopez
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
21st Sep 2022
To ask the President of COP26, what his policy is on loss and damage finance for countries particularly vulnerable to climate change at COP27.

At COP26, Parties recognised loss and damage is already impacting lives and livelihoods and agreed to scale-up support. The Glasgow Dialogue was established to discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage.

In June 2022, at the Bonn Intersessional meeting, the Glasgow Dialogue on loss and damage was launched to discuss the funding arrangements for addressing loss and damage. There will be further dialogues taking place every year to 2024, though these are not formal negotiations.This will continue to be a critical forum to discuss practical ways finance can be scaled up and effectively delivered. I regularly discuss Loss and Damage with international counterparts, including non-governmental organisations and the private sector.

The UK is committed to deliver on the Glasgow Climate Pact working with Parties and Civil Society organisations to advance progress through the Glasgow Dialogue and operationalising the Santiago Network.

Alok Sharma
COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
22nd Jun 2022
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of a commencement order under s1 of the Equality Act 2010 on the public sector duty on socio-economic inequalities.

The Government has no plans to commence Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 in England. We have made clear on numerous occasions that this duty would be ineffectual. As merely a “due regard” duty, it requires no specific action from the public body concerned, and risks becoming a tick-box exercise, complied with to minimise the risk of litigation rather than to promote real change in society. The duty is also wrongly focussed on equalising socio-economic outcomes rather than opportunities.

The Government’s preferred approach is to progress specific policies and practical actions that will deliver real change. Our agenda set out in the White Paper ‘Levelling Up the United Kingdom’ is key to this and we are promoting social mobility and tackling inequality through a range of initiatives – for example in education, through reforms to the welfare system, by giving greater developmental devolution in England and rebalancing the economy through schemes such as the Towns Fund.

Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
9th Jun 2022
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to respond to the correspondence of 22 April 2022 from the hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on conversion therapy.

I apologise for the delay in responding to hon. Member’s correspondence. We replied to the hon. Member on 15 June.

Mike Freer
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
14th Apr 2022
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what data her Department holds on the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals who have undergone conversion therapy in (a) the UK, (b) Manchester and (c) Manchester Gorton constituency since 2018.

The most recent data currently available about the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals who have undergone conversion therapy in the UK is from the National LGBT Survey, published in 2018. Evidence from that shows that 5% of the over 108,000 respondents said they had been offered conversion therapy, and a further 2% said they had received it. This data is not available at a local or constituency level.

In October 2021, we published an evidence assessment and qualitative study on conversion therapy undertaken by Coventry University.

The Government’s recent public consultation on how to ban conversion therapy included a question about people’s experiences of conversion therapy in the UK and abroad and we are currently analysing responses.

Mike Freer
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
23rd Apr 2021
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department plans to bring a commencement order for Section 1 Public Sector Duty on Socio-economic Inequalities of the Equality Act 2010.

The Government has no plans to commence Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 in England. We have stated on many occasions that this duty, which requires a public body, in taking strategic decisions, to have due regard to the desirability of exercising them in a way that is designed to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage, would be ineffectual. As merely a “due regard” duty, it requires no specific action from the public body concerned, and risks becoming a tick-box exercise, complied with to minimise the risk of litigation rather than to promote real change in society. The duty is also wrongly focussed on equalising socio-economic outcomes rather than opportunities.

The Government’s preferred approach is to progress specific policies and practical actions that will deliver real change. We are promoting social mobility and tackling inequality through a range of initiatives – for example in education, through reforms to the welfare system, and by giving greater developmental devolution in England and rebalancing the economy through schemes such as the Towns Fund.

Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
12th Apr 2021
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities published on 31 March 2021, to what extent that Commission participated and engaged with (a) people and (b) organisations in order for those people and organisations to be listed in (i) Appendix C: commissioned research and (ii) Appendix D: Stakeholders of that report.

The Commission sought new and existing research and analysis from individuals and organisations to aid their work – they are listed in ‘Appendix C: Commissioned research’ of the Commission’s report.

The Commission met with many individuals and organisations during the course of its work, either to hear evidence or to discuss recommendations – they are listed in ‘Appendix D: Stakeholders’ of the Commission’s report.

To note – the Commission included names of individuals and organisations in the Appendices of the report to acknowledge and thank them for their contributions as a courtesy – and advises that their being named should not be taken as an endorsement.

Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
6th Jul 2020
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to ensure BAME women are not disproportionately affected by the covid-19 outbreak.

This Government is working to support all people through COVID-19, including BAME women. Guided by medical and scientific expertise, we have implemented specific measures to reduce the spread of the virus in all communities for everyone including women from BAME backgrounds.

This Government has taken unprecedented steps to support lives and livelihoods, including increasing the generosity of Universal Credit, introducing the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, and made changes to ensure women do not miss out on parental leave and childcare support. We continue to engage with women’s charities both local and national, and have made available an additional £76 million announced in May, to support survivors of?domestic abuse, sexual violence, modern slavery, and vulnerable children and their families.

The Public Health England (PHE) report, “COVID-19: review of disparities in risks and outcomes”, published on 2 June 2020, looks at the COVID-19 mortality rates of different ethnic groups. I am now leading further work to build on this by analysing the key drivers of disparities in COVID-19 outcomes, the relationships between different risk factors, and what can be done to close the gap, for BAME men and women. This work is supported by the Race Disparity Unit in the Cabinet Office. The recommendations in the second PHE report “Beyond the data: Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on BAME groups” published on 16 June are also being taken forward as part of the terms of reference announced by myself on 4 June.

Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
25th Jun 2020
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2020 to Question 59593 on Gay Conversion Therapy, what her timetable is for reviewing the findings of the draft report; and when she plans to publish the final report.

The Government received a draft of the research report on Friday 12th June 2020, and is currently reviewing the findings. We will publish the report in due course, once the draft has been considered and the report is completed.

Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
23rd Jun 2020
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how her Department measures social mobility.

The Government looks at a wide basket of indicators to measure social mobility. Our principle measure for understanding the outcomes of children based on their socio-economic backgrounds is the disadvantage attainment gap, which captures the difference in test and exam performance between children who are eligible for Free School Meals and those who are not.

On top of this, the Government collects and publishes a range of data that allows us to understand how social mobility and disadvantage relate to educational and other outcomes. These include attainment in the Early Years and at age 19, participation and progression of disadvantaged pupils entering further and higher education, labour market outcomes for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and different indicators of disadvantage such as Care status and Special Educational Needs status. Our ground-breaking Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset has linked education records with tax data to identify the long term labour market outcomes of individual education programmes.

Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
7th Feb 2023
To ask the Attorney General, if she will make an estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of the increase in fees for prosecution barristers acting on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service; and whether her Department has made an impact of assessment of this decision.

The estimated annual cost to keep parity between the prosecution and defence schemes will be around £30 million. The Crown Prosecution Service have modelled where the changes to the scheme need to be made and have been in liaison with the Bar Council.

Michael Tomlinson
Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
24th May 2021
To ask the Attorney General, what proportion of correspondence sent by hon. Members to his Department received a substantive response within the service standard in each month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.

The Government recognises the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.

The Cabinet Office is currently compiling data on the timeliness of responses to Hon. and Rt Hon. members from Government Departments and Agencies. This data will be released, and made available to Members, in due course.

Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
6th Jul 2023
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost of the application for judicial review of the UK covid-19 inquiry.

We do not yet have a figure for the costs incurred. We brought this judicial review to seek clarification on a point of law and we are pleased that the Court agreed that there was an important legal question to consider.

It acknowledged our concerns over respecting the privacy of individuals and ensuring that completely irrelevant information is returned and not retained.

29th Mar 2023
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to monitor departments' performance against the Cabinet Office consultation principles, updated in March 2018.

The consultation principles are high level guidance to help departments manage their consultations. The Cabinet Office provides advice to departments on these principles on request. Individual departments are legally responsible for the consultations they run, and will determine how to practically apply the principles to each of their consultations.

18th May 2022
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of whether goods produced by the slave labour of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang are present in Government procurement contracts.

HM Government is committed to preventing modern slavery occurring in public sector supply chains. The Cabinet Office has published commercial policy and guidance setting out the steps that all Government departments must take to identify and mitigate modern slavery and labour abuse risks throughout the commercial life cycle - focusing on the areas of highest risk. This policy is mandatory for all Central Government Departments, their Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies.

The Government has taken a number of measures to help ensure that no British organisations are profiting from or contributing to human rights violations against the Uyghurs or other minorities. We have introduced new guidance for UK businesses on the risks of conducting business in Xinjiang, implemented enhanced export controls, and committed to introducing new procurement guidance for Government bodies as well as financial penalties for non-compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act.

The Procurement Bill, which was recently introduced to Parliament, will strengthen the approach to exclude suppliers from bidding for public contracts where there is clear evidence of their involvement in forced labour or other Modern Slavery practices.

15th Oct 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2021 to Question 11654, when he plans to the announce the (a) membership and (b) terms of reference of the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration.

While the Government's immediate focus is on protecting lives and livelihoods, the Government fully recognises the need to mourn those who have died and how this period in our history should be remembered and commemorated.

The Government will set out the membership and terms of reference of the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration in due course.

13th Sep 2021
To ask the Prime Minister, what proportion of correspondence sent to him by hon. Members received a substantive response within the service standard in each month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.

This information is not centrally collated in the form requested. Where a Hon. Member writes to me about a matter that is directly the responsibility of another Department, it has been the long-standing practice of successive administrations for that matter to be passed to that Department for a substantive reply, on my behalf.

This means that the data on such response times will be included in that Department’s broader figures.

Further information on departmental performance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers

7th Jun 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his timetable is for announcing the (a) membership and (b) terms of reference of the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration.

While the Government's immediate focus is on protecting the lives and livelihoods of the nation, there is nonetheless the need to mourn those who have died, and to mark and remember this period as one of immense struggle.

The Prime Minister announced on 12 May that the Government will establish a UK Commission on COVID Commemoration to consider the appropriate way to remember those who have lost their lives and to recognise those involved in the unprecedented response. The Government will set out the Commission membership and terms of reference in due course.

Julia Lopez
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
27th May 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to Answer of 27 May 2021 to Question 6457 on Department of Work and Pensions: Correspondence, when data on the timeliness of responses to hon. Members from Government departments and agencies will be made available to hon. Members.

Further to the answer to PQ6450 on 27 May 2021, we expect this data to be released and made available to members ahead of Parliament rising for Summer recess.



Julia Lopez
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
24th May 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of correspondence sent by hon. Members to his Department received a substantive response within the service standard in each month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.

The Government recognises the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.

The Cabinet Office is currently compiling data on the timeliness of responses to Hon. and Rt Hon. members from Government Departments and Agencies. This data will be released, and made available to Members, in due course.

Julia Lopez
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
24th May 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of correspondence sent by hon. Members to the Prime Minister's office received a substantive response within the service standard in each month of (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.

The Government recognises the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.

The Cabinet Office is currently compiling data on the timeliness of responses to Hon. and Rt Hon. members from Government Departments and Agencies. This data will be released, and made available to Members, in due course.

Julia Lopez
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
15th Apr 2021
To ask the Prime Minister, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton of 10 November 2020 on Islamophobia.

My Office has no record of receiving this letter. I have asked my Office to contact the Hon Member’s Office to re-send the correspondence and arrange for a reply to be sent.

26th Jan 2021
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the recommendations of the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union's report entitled, The Shape of Future Parliamentary Scrutiny of UK-EU Relations, published on 14 January 2020, what steps his Department is taking to ensure effective future scrutiny of the UK-EU relationship.

The Government will be responding to the report in due course.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement establishes a set of committees to oversee its operation.

We are committed to facilitating parliamentary scrutiny of our new relationship with the EU as we do with other international agreements.

Penny Mordaunt
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
27th Jan 2020
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many political adverts were placed on online without a digital imprint during the 2019 General Election.

The government does not hold the information requested.

27th Jan 2020
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Government response to the Protecting the Debate: Intimidation, Influence and Information consultation, published May 2019, for what reasons the Government has not yet brought forward proposals to introduce a new digital imprint regime.

The Government is committed to implementing an imprints regime for digital election material. This will ensure greater transparency and make it clearer to the electorate who has produced and promoted online political materials.

The Government is planning to bring forward the technical proposal on the regime and further details will be announced in due course.

27th Jan 2020
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to extend the digital imprint requirement to all online campaign materials.

The Government is committed to implementing an imprints regime for digital election material. This will ensure greater transparency and make it clearer to the electorate who has produced and promoted online political materials.

The Government is planning to bring forward the technical proposal on the regime and further details will be announced in due course.

27th Jan 2020
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to create a publicly available online database of political adverts.

Whilst there are no current plans for a database of online political adverts, we are taking action to increase transparency of wider political advertising online, such as by introducing a digital imprints regime.

Online platforms should take responsibility for content posted on them, and we welcome the steps that several social media companies have taken to improve transparency of political advertisements on their platforms, including through the introduction of ad libraries.

24th Jan 2020
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2020 to Question 4773 on Russia: Subversion, how long the process to establish the new Intelligence and Security Committee will take.

Members are appointed by the Houses of Parliament (having been nominated by the Prime Minister in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition). The Chair of the Committee is elected by its Members.

Nominations require careful consideration and consultation. The committee is being formed in the normal way and at a normal pace.

Oliver Dowden
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
31st Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether an equality impact assessment has been undertaken for the Horizon compensation scheme.

The Post Office does not have specific requirements to carry out an Equality Impact Assessment in delivering compensation. However, the Department has carried out assessments of the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS), Overturned Convictions and Group Litigation Order (GLO) compensation against the Public Sector Equality Duty to ensure that due regard is given to the responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010, including measures to eliminate discrimination and advance equality of opportunity.

Kevin Hollinrake
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
31st Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many sub-postmasters from (a) Manchester Gorton constituency, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) the North West were wrongfully convicted due to the Horizon system; and if she will provide this breakdown by ethnicity.

We do not have the regional breakdown of the number of postmasters with overturned convictions according by ethnicity. So far 101 convictions have been overturned by the Courts across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is the Government’s opinion that there were many more wrongful convictions. We have announced that we will bring forward legislation so that Parliament can overturn them. The number of people whose convictions will be overturned by the legislation will depend on its precise terms.

Kevin Hollinrake
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
31st Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what representations her Department has received from BAME sub-postmasters about the Horizon system.

Individuals making representations do not generally report their ethnicity, therefore, we do not hold this information.

Kevin Hollinrake
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
31st Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will list the number of sub-postmasters affected by Horizon, broken down by ethnicity.

The Department for Business and Trade does not collate information regarding the number of sub-postmasters affected by Horizon according to ethnicity.

Kevin Hollinrake
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
31st Jan 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many sub-postmasters from (a) Manchester Gorton constituency, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) the North West voluntarily left the Post Office due to issues with Horizon, broken down by ethnicity.

We do not have the regional breakdown of the number of postmasters who voluntarily left Post office due to Horizon. However, we know that at least 2,700 overall postmasters have been affected by Horizon issues as there have been 2417 Horizon Shortfall Scheme applicants (and a further 336 eligible late claims to date); 101 overturned convictions; and 492 who are currently eligible for the Group Litigation Order Scheme.

Kevin Hollinrake
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
6th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she plans to take steps to reduce the average length of time for decisions to be made on export licences.

HM Government is committed to maintaining a robust and transparent export control regime. The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) is extremely mindful of the commercial pressures that businesses face – and of the need to process licence applications with minimum delay.

HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics on GOV.UK. This covers licensing decisions back from 2008 onwards and includes data on the average length of time for decisions to be made. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-statistics-quarterly-reports.

We keep the licensing process under continuous review, including the targets we set for processing times for applications.

Nusrat Ghani
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
6th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the average length of time for decisions to be made on export licencing on the competitiveness of British exporters.

HM Government is committed to maintaining a robust and transparent export control regime. The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) is extremely mindful of the commercial pressures that businesses face – and of the need to process licence applications with minimum delay.

HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics on GOV.UK. This covers licensing decisions back from 2008 onwards and includes data on the average length of time for decisions to be made. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-statistics-quarterly-reports.

We keep the licensing process under continuous review, including the targets we set for processing times for applications.

Nusrat Ghani
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
6th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the average length of time for decisions on export licencing has been in each of the last five years.

HM Government is committed to maintaining a robust and transparent export control regime. The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) is extremely mindful of the commercial pressures that businesses face – and of the need to process licence applications with minimum delay.

HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics on GOV.UK. This covers licensing decisions back from 2008 onwards and includes data on the average length of time for decisions to be made. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-statistics-quarterly-reports.

We keep the licensing process under continuous review, including the targets we set for processing times for applications.

Nusrat Ghani
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
6th Dec 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many and what proportion of export licencing decisions were processed within (a) 20 days and (b) 60 days in the latest period for which figures are available.

HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the strategic export controls licensing Official Statistics on GOV.UK, including data on median processing times and the number/percentage of applications processed against our 20 and 60 working day targets.

This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-statistics-quarterly-reports. Table B of each publication provides a break down of median processing times and performance against our 20 and 60 working day targets.

The most recent publication was on 30th August 2023, and covered the period 1st January – 31st March 2023.

Nusrat Ghani
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
13th Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits a statutory duty on insolvency practitioners to pay outstanding (a) wages and (b) notice pay as the first duty when a company ceases to trade as a result of insolvency.

Raising the priority of payment for employee claims would inevitably reduce the sums that may be paid to other unsecured creditors, including small businesses.

Former employees of insolvent employers can claim redundancy payments and other contractual debts from the National Insurance Fund, subject to statutory limits. Those claims will be paid whether or not there are sufficient funds in the insolvent company and will be paid much quicker than if they were elevated higher than other creditors in law.

As part of their statutory duties, Insolvency Practitioners must provide the necessary information to the government administered Redundancy Payments Service to facilitate the processing of employee claims as quickly as possible.

Kevin Hollinrake
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
13th Oct 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many international trade advisors are employed by her Department; and in which regions of the UK they are located.

In England, DBT has 154 International Trade Advisers (ITAs) and at the time of writing a further 10 are currently undergoing the on-boarding process. ITAs are located across our three Super Region teams; Southern England, Midlands and the North. There are currently no DBT ITAs in the Nations, but we are engaging on how to introduce new resource that complements existing services offered by the Devolved Administrations and their agencies.

Nigel Huddleston
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
19th Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) introducing measures to hold company directors to account for businesses going into administration, (b) giving employees more security by way of secured creditor status in respect of redundancy payments and arrears of pay, (c) putting in place a statutory duty on insolvency practitioners to pay out outstanding wages and notice pay as the first duty when a company ceases to trade as a result of an insolvency.

Measures to hold directors to account already exist. When a company enters administration, the administrator has a legal duty to report to the Insolvency Service on the directors’ conduct. The Insolvency Service may seek the directors’ disqualification where there is evidence of their misconduct, and it is in the public interest. Potential criminal offences are referred to the appropriate authority.

To ensure fairness, the law requires that available funds in an insolvency are distributed in a certain order and Government has no current plans to change this.

As part of their statutory duties, Insolvency Practitioners must provide necessary information to the Redundancy Payments Service to facilitate the processing of employee claims when their employer enters insolvency.

The Government recently announced a strengthening of the Insolvency Practitioner regulatory framework aimed at increasing transparency and bolstering confidence in regulation.

Kevin Hollinrake
Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of developing a net-zero local government framework for local authorities.

The Government’s approach to working with local authorities on net zero is set out in the Net Zero Strategy and Net Zero Growth Plan. The Government’s engagement forum with local government, the Local Net Zero Forum, has considered a framework for Local Authority net zero roles and responsibilities but this was not determined to be the best way forward.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what data her Department holds on carbon emission outputs by local authorities.

The UK local and regional greenhouse gas emissions national statistics, 2005 to 2021, set out emissions data at the local authority level.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to ensure there is an equitable distribution of funding amongst local authorities to support their net-zero initiatives.

There is a diverse range of grant funding schemes provided by HM Government to support local net zero delivery. This includes the core local government settlement from which all local authorities receive funding as well as grant programmes with competitions for funding into which local authorities can bid.

Alongside funding opportunities, the Department provides further support to local authorities to deliver net zero, which is outlined in the Net Zero Strategy and Net Zero Growth Plan.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the effectiveness of funding provided to local authorities to help them achieve net-zero.

It is not possible to provide a figure for the total amount of net zero grant funding available to local authorities because this depends on the decisions local authorities make themselves about how they use the funding available to them. Through their core settlement, grant funding schemes, and UK growth funding, Government provides a wide range of funding to support local authorities to tackle net zero goals.

The Government has established the UK Infrastructure Bank with an initial £12 billion of capital. One of the bank’s core objectives is to support regional and local economic growth. This includes a lending facility of £4 billion for local authorities at preferential rates.

Individual Government grant funding schemes each have their own monitoring and evaluation processes.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
1st Sep 2023
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will list all (a) funding schemes and (b) initiatives available for local authorities to help support their transition to net zero.

It is not possible to provide a figure for the total amount of net zero grant funding available to local authorities because this depends on the decisions local authorities make themselves about how they use the funding available to them. Through their core settlement, grant funding schemes, and UK growth funding, Government provides a wide range of funding to support local authorities to tackle net zero goals.

The Government has established the UK Infrastructure Bank with an initial £12 billion of capital. One of the bank’s core objectives is to support regional and local economic growth. This includes a lending facility of £4 billion for local authorities at preferential rates.

Individual Government grant funding schemes each have their own monitoring and evaluation processes.

Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)