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 assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the UN Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council entitled Situation concerning Western Sahara, published on 30 September 2025; and if she will he call for the renewed United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara mandate to allow unhindered freedom of movement.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government consistently urges all states to uphold international law, and we continue to encourage constructive engagement with the political process led by the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General Mr Staffan de Mistura in support of finding a just, lasting, and mutually agreed resolution to the Western Sahara dispute.
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, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report by the UN Secretary-General entitled Situation concerning Western Sahara, published on 30 September 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government consistently urges all states to uphold international law, and we continue to encourage constructive engagement with the political process led by the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General Mr Staffan de Mistura in support of finding a just, lasting, and mutually agreed resolution to the Western Sahara dispute.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the provisions in the Employment Rights Bill on backlogs in the employment tribunals.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Employment Rights Bill is part of the Government’s commitment to Make Work Pay. The Bill includes measures that strengthens the rights of workers, which we expect will increase demand in the Employment Tribunal.
To address rising demand in the Employment Tribunal, we are working to invest in tribunal productivity measures through the recruitment of additional judges, the deployment of legal officers, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology. This has delivered over 1,500 additional sitting days. The Lord Chancellor allocated 33,900 sitting days for the Employment Tribunals in the financial year 2025/26, the maximum allocation they are able to sit.
We do recognise that there are significant demand pressures on the Employment Tribunals and are therefore working with the judiciary, HMCTS and the Department for Business and Trade on any further actions needed to alleviate pressures on the Employment Tribunals, improve efficiency and reduce waiting times to ensure the Employment Tribunal is able to absorb the impact of the Employment Rights Bill whilst ensuring timely access to justice for claimants and respondents.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many outstanding cases there have been in the Employment (a) Tribunal and (b) Appeal Tribunal in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data on open caseload for the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeals Tribunal is published in Tribunals Statistics Quarterly and data to March 2025 can be found in table S_4 of the main tables here: Tribunals statistics quarterly: January to March 2025 - GOV.UK.
Figures for ET single claims, ET multiple claims and EAT claims are in columns H, J and K respectively.
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 her officials have had with their Saudi counterparts on (a) the execution of Jalal Labbad for offences allegedly committed whilst a minor and (b) other juvenile defendants on death row.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government continues to monitor individual cases of concern in Saudi Arabia, including the cases of Waleed Abu Al-Khair and Mohammed Al-Bejadi. We regularly raise human rights with the Saudi authorities, including at ministerial level.
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 her officials have had with their Saudi counterparts on the continued detention of (a) Waleed Abu al-Khair and (b) Mohammed al-Bejadi.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government continues to monitor individual cases of concern in Saudi Arabia, including the cases of Waleed Abu Al-Khair and Mohammed Al-Bejadi. We regularly raise human rights with the Saudi authorities, including at ministerial level.
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, if he will make it his policy to call on MINURSO to (a) conduct human rights monitoring in Western Sahara and (b) report their finding to the UN Security Council.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide, including in Western Sahara. Our policy regarding the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) is informed by ongoing engagement with the parties and regular meetings and consultation with regional and international partners, including MINURSO, the UN, civil society, and the broader international community. The UK has previously supported language in UN Security Council Resolutions that encourages the parties to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Western Sahara.
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, if he will make his policy to talk to his Moroccan counterpart on the blocking of visits by (a) parliamentarians, (b) researchers, (c) journalists and (d) lawyers to occupied Western Sahara.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government consistently urges all states to uphold international law, and we continue to encourage constructive engagement with the political process regarding Western Sahara. We have supported language in relevant UN Security Council Resolutions that encourages the parties to continue their efforts to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Western Sahara, including the freedoms of expression and association. The UK also shares a bilateral Human Rights Dialogue with Morocco, the third session of which is due to take place in London by the end of the year.
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 assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the UN Secretary General’s designation of Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory in the process of decolonisation.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Western Sahara is a UN Non-Self-Governing Territory with no defined Administering Power. The UK has endorsed Morocco's autonomy plan as the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting solution of the Western Sahara conflict and welcomed Morocco's stated commitment to provide further details of what autonomy within a Moroccan state could entail, with a view to restarting serious negotiations. In that context, we continue to engage with all relevant parties in support of the UN-led process to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution, based on compromise, which conforms with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including the principle of respect for self-determination.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when will legal aid providers be able to submit (a) bills and (b) claims for payments on account following the Legal Aid Agency data breach.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This is an unprecedented event and an evolving situation, and every effort is being made to restore services following the criminal attack on our systems. The Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) digital services have been taken offline to negate the threat and prevent further exposure of legal aid providers and users. We will not reopen the system until the appropriate steps have been taken to enable us to do so. We have been able to return some systems to internal use, enabling an improved ability to support criminal legal aid applications and payments.
In the interim, a number of contingency measures have been implemented to ensure that access to legal aid remains available and that providers are receiving payments. Contingency measures for billing, including an average payment scheme for civil cases, were implemented week commencing 27 May. For crime providers, processing of bills for graduated fee schemes resumed on 28 May, with payments resuming the following week.
On 27 June, emergency legislation came into force enabling the LAA to implement enhanced business continuity arrangements. The new legislation provides for increased delegation of powers to providers and removes civil client contributions. The average payment scheme already operating in civil legal aid will continue.
Our priority remains to maintain access to justice and to ensure legal aid providers can continue to be paid in a timely manner. These enhanced measures are designed to support legal aid providers and their clients and to prevent a significant case backlog while contingency measures are in place.
The recent data breach is the result of serious criminal activity, but it was enabled by the fragility of the LAA’s IT systems as a result of the long years of underinvestment under the last Conservative Government. By contrast, since taking power this Government has prioritised work to reverse the damage of over a decade of under-investment. That includes the allocation of over £20 million in extra funding this year to stabilise and transform the Legal Aid Agency digital services. This investment will make the system more robust and resilient in the face of similar cyber-attacks in future.