Al Pinkerton

The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. The Act defines ‘long-term’ as having lasted, or likely to last for at least 12 months, or likely to last for the rest of the life of the person. ‘Substantial’ is defined as more than minor or trivial.

Where an employee has an impairment, which falls within the definition outlined above, the Act makes it unlawful for their employer or someone they are seeking work from, to discriminate against them because of their disability. This would include the failure to make a reasonable adjustment as well as less favourable treatment.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission and Acas have published comprehensive guidance for employers on their obligations to disabled employees and job applicants under the 2010 Act and Acas provides a helpline for people who think they have experienced discrimination at work.

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) provides authoritative and impartial advice free to employees or employers in relation to employment discrimination issues via their website. and telephone helpline 0300 123 1100 or text relay service 18001 0300 123 1100. You can access the website here: http://www.acas.org.uk. Acas also provides employees and employers with Early Conciliation to help them resolve/settle their workplace dispute without going to court.

In 2019, when civil partnerships were made available for opposite-sex couples in England and Wales, the Government ran a public consultation on the future of conversion rights between marriage and civil partnerships for both opposite and same-sex couples in England and Wales.

This Government is considering all options, and we will update the House in due course.

All children should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter who they are, where they’re from, or how much their parents earn. The Opportunity Mission will give the next generation the best start in life, help them achieve and thrive in excellent schools, and build skills for opportunity and growth. The mission has taken a number of steps to help ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed. These include expanding government-funded childcare, allocating £1.4bn to rebuild our schools, launching the curriculum review, announcing the creation of Foundation Apprenticeships and launching the first round of funding for 300 school-based nurseries. The government has also set-up a Ministerial Taskforce on Child Poverty, bringing in academia, local government and other sectors to develop a joint strategy on child poverty. There has been no specific assessment by the Cabinet Office of establishing a UK-wide Future Generations Commissioner.

The Government recognises the vital role of pubs and hospitality businesses in our communities and economy, including those in Surrey Heath, and that’s why we’re taking targeted action to support them with the pressures they face.

In April, we launched a Taskforce to consider ways to create a more balanced premises licensing system that not only safeguards communities but also supports responsible businesses. On 7 October the Government issued a Call for Evidence on Reforming the licensing system - GOV.UK (deadline: midday, 6 November 2025). These reforms are part of the Small Business Strategy, which also tackles late payments, improves access to finance, and cuts red tape. We want planning and licensing systems to work fairly for businesses and residents.

Additionally, we’re creating a fairer business rates system, including permanently lower rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties under £500,000 rateable value and continue to work closely with the sector, including through the Hospitality Sector Council to boost productivity and resilience by working together to address the challenges facing businesses.

The government does not collect or hold this information. Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, has a duty to ensure the provision of a financially sustainable and efficient universal postal service. It monitors Royal Mail’s provision of the universal service and has powers to investigate and take enforcement action if Royal Mail fails to achieve its performance targets as appropriate, taking account of all relevant factors.

As of 30 September 2025, approximately £1,229 million has been paid in total redress to over 9,100 claimants across all Horizon redress schemes. This represents a more than fivefold increase since July 2024, with more than 6,300 victims receiving compensation for the first time.

We are taking a variety of measures to increase the pace of the delivery of redress across our schemes. This includes launching the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) and Horizon Shortfall Scheme Appeals process, committing to providing first offers on receipt of detailed claims within 40 working days.

We continue to seek the views of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board to ensure fairness and consider ways we can speed up redress.

As of 30 September 2025, approximately £1,229 million has been paid in total redress to over 9,100 claimants across all Horizon redress schemes. This represents a more than fivefold increase since July 2024, with more than 6,300 victims receiving compensation for the first time.

We are taking a variety of measures to increase the pace of the delivery of redress across our schemes. This includes launching the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) and Horizon Shortfall Scheme Appeals process, committing to providing first offers on receipt of detailed claims within 40 working days.

We continue to seek the views of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board to ensure fairness and consider ways we can speed up redress.

The Department welcomes the findings of Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report which illustrates the significant and wide-ranging impacts on affected postmasters across the UK. As part of our response to that report we have made several changes which will improve postmasters experience in claiming for redress and ensure that the redress they receive is full and fair.

The Government commissioned an independent statistical audit, however this sample was designed to estimate the overall rates of non-compliance across Great Britain. The samples are not large enough to reliably perform any regional analysis. As we continue with further audits, we will seek to begin to collect this data.

The statistical audit was commissioned by Ofgem in April 2025. Two random samples of audits of external (EWI) and internal wall installations (IWI), across the household populations of both schemes were commissioned to understand non‑compliance rates.

98% of EWI audits need to be remediated. For IWI, that number is 29%.

The fuel poverty rate in Surrey Heath constituency in 2023 was estimated to be 7.1% of households.

Tackling fuel poverty is a priority for this Government. We are committed to publishing a new fuel poverty strategy for England which will ensure that many more fuel poor households achieve affordable warmth by 2030, alongside our Warm Homes Plan.

In March we allocated around £1.8 billion to local authorities and social housing providers through the Warm Homes: Local Grant and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund to help upgrade homes and to tackle fuel poverty. Support for home upgrades is also available via the Energy Company Obligation.

Financial support is available through the Warm Home Discount which has been expanded for this winter increasing the total number of households that are estimated to receive the discount from 3.2 million to around 6 million.

Companies installing insulation under the Government’s energy efficiency schemes must be registered with Trustmark and carry out work to the PAS2035 standard.

We have improved the quality assurance and consumer protection systems since identifying the issues with solid wall insulation under ECO4 and GBIS.

We will be offering a comprehensive on-site audit to all households that received external wall insulation under ECO4 and GBIS and any issues will be fixed at no cost to the householder.

TrustMark and certification bodies can suspend companies who do not meet the expected standards, and will continue to enforce the robust, published reinstatement policy.

All customers are entitled to compensation if distribution companies fail to meet Ofgem’s Quality-of-Service Guaranteed Standards. Ofgem clearly outlines the eligibility criteria for compensation on its website and will take action if companies do not meet their obligations in regard to delivering compensation.

Ofgem regularly review and update their compensation arrangements. The most recent changes were made following the Storm Arwen Review which came into effect on 1 September 2023 and enable higher levels of compensation at more regular intervals.

Local communities must be at the centre of local project development and directly benefit from clean energy projects.

GBE, in support of the Local Power Plan, will enhance support for local and community energy by providing funding, capacity and capability support at all stages of project development, driving the growth of the local and community energy sector.

Openreach is delivering a Project Gigabit contract across Surrey. This contract currently includes approximately 1,900 premises in the Surrey Heath constituency.

All Project Gigabit contracts include criteria and obligations regarding time and budget against which suppliers’ performance is monitored. These include measures to manage effective build plans, milestones, risks and issues.

Building Digital UK (BDUK) holds regular meetings with suppliers to discuss their progress. Each supplier’s performance is measured using monthly contractual reporting, reviewing the build progress and payment claims on each contract.

Failure to deliver to a contract milestone on any build phase of a contract can result in the trigger of a rectification plan process and cessation of payments until the milestone is achieved.

Beyond Project Gigabit, in areas where deployment is commercially viable we have created a competition-friendly environment to support the quick roll-out of gigabit technologies.

Artificial intelligence is the defining opportunity of our generation, and the Government is taking action to harness its economic benefits for UK citizens.

As set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan, we believe most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, with our expert regulators best placed to do so. Departments are working with regulators to provide clear strategic direction and support them on their AI capability needs. Through well-designed and implemented regulation, we can fuel fast, wide and safe development and adoption of AI.

The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for all customers across the UK. VoIP requires a minimum connection speed of just 0.5Mbps, and for current landline-only customers it will be possible to order a VoIP landline without purchasing a general internet connection. In November 2024, all major communication providers agreed to additional safeguards to protect vulnerable customers, including those who are landline-dependent due to poor mobile coverage.

We are committed to ensuring at least 99% of premises receive gigabit broadband coverage, which we expect to happen by 2032. More than 99% of UK premises, and more than 95% of the UK’s landmass, have 4G coverage from at least one mobile operator. Our ambition is for all populated areas, including the Surrey Heath constituency, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. We are committed to having the right policy and regulatory framework to support this.

We are committed to ensuring at least 99% of premises can access a gigabit capable connection by 2032, and we are working to achieve this in the Surrey Heath constituency through a Project Gigabit contract with Openreach. The independent website Thinkbroadband.com reports over 86% of premises in Surrey Heath constituency have access to gigabit-capable broadband.

Ofcom reports that 4G geographic coverage is available across 97% of Surrey Heath from all four mobile operators, with 5G available outside 96% of premises from at least one operator.

I am aware that Ofcom’s reporting of mobile coverage does not always reflect consumers’ experience of mobile networks. Ofcom’s improved online coverage checker will go live shortly and will provide data at a higher coverage threshold to better reflect lived experience.

Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030, and we continue to work with industry to deliver this.

Openreach is delivering a Project Gigabit contract across Surrey, targeted at bringing gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas, including approximately 1,900 premises in the Surrey Heath constituency.

As with all Project Gigabit contracts, Building Digital UK (BDUK) collected and analysed information from commercial suppliers about their completed and planned broadband infrastructure in order to identify which premises in Surrey required public subsidy to receive a gigabit-capable connection.

Our Project Gigabit contracts, including the contract for Surrey, target premises which would not normally be commercially viable for suppliers to connect.

The Government is concerned about the sustainability of local journalism and DCMS is developing a Local Media Strategy in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. We also recognise that local press continues to play a vital role in informing local communities, and that public notices can be important in helping inform the public of decisions made by their council which may affect their quality of life, local services or amenities, or their property.

However, we are also aware of concerns from some sectors about the audience reach of these notices and the desire for greater digitalisation. In this context, the sector’s Public Notice Portal is a welcome innovation, taking advantage of print publishers’ growing digital audiences and providing a centralised resource for all types of public notice. We also welcome the Portal's current expansion to include archive and consultation functions to help public bodies and commercial entities engage with the public more effectively.

DCMS is monitoring the progress of the Portal, and the effect that it has on the audience reach of public notices. This type of industry innovation and collaboration is integral to securing the sector’s future. It will be taken into account in our planned review of public notices as part of the Local Media Strategy, which will more broadly consider the merits of making changes to existing requirements to place public notices in print local newspapers, including the impact this has on local transparency and democratic accountability across the country, including in Surrey. More will be announced on the Strategy and the review in the coming months.

The Government recognises that harmful gambling can wreck the lives of individuals, families and communities. Working with the Gambling Commission, we are committed to strengthening protections for those at risk through a range of new safer gambling requirements. We will continue to consider the best available evidence and work with all stakeholders to ensure there are robust protections in place to protect those at risk.

Those experiencing gambling-related harm in England can access specialist treatment through NHS Gambling Clinics available in every region of the country, including the Southern Gambling Service. There is also a range of support available through the National Gambling Support Network.

The Government has introduced a statutory levy on gambling operators to improve and expand the research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms. The levy will raise around £100 million in funding every year to deliver priority projects and services across research, prevention and treatment, including local authority-led initiatives, which together aim to reduce gambling-related harms across Great Britain. The statutory gambling levy is now in force, and funding will start flowing later this year.

The Government recognises that harmful gambling can wreck the lives of individuals, families and communities. Working with the Gambling Commission, we are committed to strengthening protections for those at risk through a range of new safer gambling requirements. We will continue to consider the best available evidence and work with all stakeholders to ensure there are robust protections in place to protect those at risk.

Those experiencing gambling-related harm in England can access specialist treatment through NHS Gambling Clinics available in every region of the country, including the Southern Gambling Service. There is also a range of support available through the National Gambling Support Network.

The Government has introduced a statutory levy on gambling operators to improve and expand the research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms. The levy will raise around £100 million in funding every year to deliver priority projects and services across research, prevention and treatment, including local authority-led initiatives, which together aim to reduce gambling-related harms across Great Britain. The statutory gambling levy is now in force, and funding will start flowing later this year.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent regulator for advertising in the UK and enforces the Advertising Codes. The Codes require that paid advertising content must be recognisable as such. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act 2024 also prohibits unfair commercial practices involving misleading actions or misleading omissions within advertisements. Influencers are required to disclose when they are advertising under both the CAP code and consumer law.

The Influencer Marketing Code of Conduct, co-owned by the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) and the Influencer Marketing Trade Body (IMBT), was launched in 2021 to improve standards in this area of advertising. The Code contains requirements for brands working with influencers, the agencies who represent them, and the influencers themselves, and includes a dedicated section on disclosure. An Influencer Marketing Working Group, established as part of the Government’s Online Advertising Taskforce, has helped provide new standards to be incorporated into the fourth iteration of the Code. This was launched in November 2024, and the group is working to encourage further take-up.

The Government is dedicated to making sport across the country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including d/Deaf people.

Our Arm's Length Body, Sport England, has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to support deaf sport at the grassroots level, build wider participation, and develop strong governance within UK Deaf Sport.

Sport England are also exploring a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore issues around accessibility and suggest potential solutions. Sport England has also awarded UK Deaf Sport £150,000 to fund a specialist Talent Inclusion post to further the work of the pilots.