Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to protect the rights of women in the workplace.
Answered by Bridget Phillipson - Minister for Women and Equalities
We are going further to bolster women’s rights at work. Through the Employment Rights Act, we are strengthening protections against sexual harassment, making flexible working the default from day one and improving dismissal protections for new and expectant mothers.
We have introduced action plans, asking employers to publish the steps they are taking to improve menopause support and address their gender pay gap, which we will make mandatory next year.
Furthermore, we have announced plans to require employers to publish pay information in job adverts, so women looking for work know they are being paid fairly.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to identify and contact young adults with matured Child Trust Funds that remain unclaimed, including those who are unaware they hold an account or have lost track of which provider holds it; and if he will set out the role of , (a) HMRC and (b) the Child Trust Fund Taskforce in this work.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
As published in HMRC’s 2026 annual savings statistics, approximately 22% of matured accounts are unclaimed. This is down from 25% in April 2025, 29% in April 2024 and 35% in April 2023.
HMRC provides a free GOV.UK tracing service and works with providers and other organisations to raise awareness and help young people locate their accounts. HMRC undertakes regular communications activities and works with external partners such as the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service to raise awareness.
Additionally, HMRC is planning to write to all 21 year olds with unclaimed accounts informing of their account provider and how to access their funds. HMRC is also undertaking research to better understand the barriers that prevent some young people from accessing their savings.
The Government has also established a dedicated Child Trust Fund Taskforce, bringing together Government and industry to help reunite young people with their Child Trust Funds. As part of its work, the Taskforce will examine what is most effective in helping young adults understand how to access their Child Trust Funds and encouraging them to take action
HMRC does not hold information on the geographical locations of Child Trust Fund account holders. Therefore, the requested regional breakdowns cannot be provided.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of matured Child Trust Fund accounts that are unclaimed by young people resident in (a) Portsmouth North constituency and (b) Portsmouth.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
As published in HMRC’s 2026 annual savings statistics, approximately 22% of matured accounts are unclaimed. This is down from 25% in April 2025, 29% in April 2024 and 35% in April 2023.
HMRC provides a free GOV.UK tracing service and works with providers and other organisations to raise awareness and help young people locate their accounts. HMRC undertakes regular communications activities and works with external partners such as the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service to raise awareness.
Additionally, HMRC is planning to write to all 21 year olds with unclaimed accounts informing of their account provider and how to access their funds. HMRC is also undertaking research to better understand the barriers that prevent some young people from accessing their savings.
The Government has also established a dedicated Child Trust Fund Taskforce, bringing together Government and industry to help reunite young people with their Child Trust Funds. As part of its work, the Taskforce will examine what is most effective in helping young adults understand how to access their Child Trust Funds and encouraging them to take action
HMRC does not hold information on the geographical locations of Child Trust Fund account holders. Therefore, the requested regional breakdowns cannot be provided.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support is available to help young adults trace and access their Child Trust Fund savings, particularly those who may need additional assistance to do so.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
As published in HMRC’s 2026 annual savings statistics, approximately 22% of matured accounts are unclaimed. This is down from 25% in April 2025, 29% in April 2024 and 35% in April 2023.
HMRC provides a free GOV.UK tracing service and works with providers and other organisations to raise awareness and help young people locate their accounts. HMRC undertakes regular communications activities and works with external partners such as the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service to raise awareness.
Additionally, HMRC is planning to write to all 21 year olds with unclaimed accounts informing of their account provider and how to access their funds. HMRC is also undertaking research to better understand the barriers that prevent some young people from accessing their savings.
The Government has also established a dedicated Child Trust Fund Taskforce, bringing together Government and industry to help reunite young people with their Child Trust Funds. As part of its work, the Taskforce will examine what is most effective in helping young adults understand how to access their Child Trust Funds and encouraging them to take action
HMRC does not hold information on the geographical locations of Child Trust Fund account holders. Therefore, the requested regional breakdowns cannot be provided.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress the Child Trust Fund Taskforce has made in tracking unclaimed savings for young adults; and what further steps it plans to take.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
As published in HMRC’s 2026 annual savings statistics, approximately 22% of matured accounts are unclaimed. This is down from 25% in April 2025, 29% in April 2024 and 35% in April 2023.
HMRC provides a free GOV.UK tracing service and works with providers and other organisations to raise awareness and help young people locate their accounts. HMRC undertakes regular communications activities and works with external partners such as the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service to raise awareness.
Additionally, HMRC is planning to write to all 21 year olds with unclaimed accounts informing of their account provider and how to access their funds. HMRC is also undertaking research to better understand the barriers that prevent some young people from accessing their savings.
The Government has also established a dedicated Child Trust Fund Taskforce, bringing together Government and industry to help reunite young people with their Child Trust Funds. As part of its work, the Taskforce will examine what is most effective in helping young adults understand how to access their Child Trust Funds and encouraging them to take action
HMRC does not hold information on the geographical locations of Child Trust Fund account holders. Therefore, the requested regional breakdowns cannot be provided.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many job advertisements were first published on Find a Job during 2025; and how many contained no numerical salary or pay range in the salary fields, additional salary information or job description, and for the breakdown of these listings by job category and national or English region.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many new UK online job advertisements recorded in the Office for National Statistics dataset in each of 2023, 2024 and 2025 contained (a) a numerical salary or pay range stated by the employer and (b) no such information, using the ONS’s deduplicated new-advert measure and for their breakdown by i) standard occupational classification or group and ii) country and English region.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the hon. lady’s Parliamentary Question of 14th October is attached.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help support self-employed workers.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
This government is committed to strengthening rights and protections to help the self-employed. Through the Commercial Payments Bill, we are legislating to end the scourge of late payments, giving the UK the G7’s toughest laws on late payments. We will also consult on a right to a written statement to give clarity to individuals on their employment status, and separately, on extending health and safety and blacklisting protections to the self-employed. The Business Growth Service will help self-employed people access the advice and support they need to grow. The Parental Leave and Pay Review is considering all forms of leave and pay, including for the self-employed.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department has provided to Portsmouth City Council over the past two years for domestic abuse services and to tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office has allocated funding to Hampshire & Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary to tackle domestic abuse.
The Home Office has not provided funding directly to Portsmouth City Council for tackling domestic abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG)over the last two years.
In addition, the Home Office launched a £74.5 million multi-year funding competition for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in June 2026, for Domestic Abuse and Stalking Perpetrator Interventions to reduce re-offending, providing funding to local police force areas.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will invest nearly £500 million into local authorities to provide support in safe accommodation to victims of domestic abuse over the next three years.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to support women in the workplace with flexible working.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
Through the Employment Rights Act 2025, the government is strengthening the flexible working framework. We are introducing a new requirement that employers must only reject requests where it is reasonable to do so and we will set out a statutory process employers must follow before rejecting a request. Together, these measures will encourage more meaningful discussions about whether flexibility can be accommodated. This will benefit women, particularly mothers, by giving them the chance to balance work alongside their family life and personal circumstances. The government intends to bring these measures into effect in Autumn 2027.