Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many prisons in England have undertaken voluntary self-assessment against the Dying Well in Custody Charter since 2024, and (b) what plans are in place to ensure that the Charter is implemented consistently by all prisons and prison healthcare providers, as recommended by the Chief Medical Officer, and how implementation will be monitored.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
HM Prison & Probation Service, in partnership with the NHS, has revised the Dying Well in Custody Charter Self-Assessment Toolkit. This voluntary toolkit includes good practice examples and is designed to support local partnership activity.
Information on how many prisons have undertaken voluntary self-assessment using the toolkit is not held centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
In addition, the Ministry of Justice is developing an Older Prisoners Strategy which will include advice on arrangements for supporting elderly prisoners including end of life care.
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, with reference to answer given to Question UIN 97116 on 5 December 2025, what discussions her officials have had with their Saudi counterparts regarding (a) the execution of another individual, Ali al-Subaiti, for offences allegedly committed while he was a minor and (b) other juvenile defendants currently on death row at imminent risk of execution.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 11 December 2025 in response to Question 97116. The UK continues to oppose the use of capital punishment in all circumstances.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed UK–Gulf Cooperation Council trade agreement on (a) labour standards in partner countries and (b) what steps were taken to ensure that the agreement does not undermine UK employment protections or make UK companies at risk of being complicit in labour rights abuses.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is a staunch defender of worker protections and has made clear that we will not compromise on these through our FTA programme.
As part of the UK-GCC FTA, we are seeking commitments which reaffirm our international obligations at the International Labour Organisation, including a safe and healthy working environment, freedom of association and the elimination of forced labour.
Nothing in the potential agreement will supersede or undermine UK domestic legislation or employment protections. Additionally, UK companies operating in the GCC are bound by UK legislation, including the Modern Slavery Act, which has extraterritorial reach.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March to Question UIN 113475 on Western Sahara: Self Determination of States, if will she raise with the UN Security Council that any autonomy plan must respect international law and the principle of self-determination.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answers provided on 2 April to Question 121704, and on 4 March to his own Question 113475.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March to Question UIN 113475 on Western Sahara: Self Determination of States, whether she has received information on the expanded autonomy proposal that Morocco has now presented.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answers provided on 2 April to Question 121704, and on 4 March to his own Question 113475.
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 joint letter by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and 25 partner organisations in May 2025 for the immediate and unconditional release of individuals detained in Bahrain for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including Abduljalil al-Singace and Hassan Mushaima.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided to Question 100851 on 6 January 2026.
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 criteria her Department uses when determining whether to call for the release of individuals detained overseas for activities related to the exercise of their human rights.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Each case reported to the UK Government is assessed on its own merits, and there are no fixed criteria of the type the Hon Member describes.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September to Question UIN 74744 on Western Sahara: Self Determination of States, whether she has received any information from Morocco on the details of what autonomy within the Moroccan State could entail.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No. 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. The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office continues to engage extensively with the Moroccan government to request expanded details on its 2007 autonomy proposal.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September to Question UIN 74747 on Western Sahara: Visits Abroad, whether the blocking of visits by (a) parliamentarians, (b) researchers, (c) journalists and (d) lawyers to occupied Western Sahara was discussed in the bilateral Human Rights Dialogue with Morocco in December 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains firmly committed to the promotion and protection of human rights globally, including in Morocco and Western Sahara.
In the joint UK-Morocco strategic dialogue communiqué of 1 June 2025, both countries reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate on human rights issues. The third iteration of the UK-Morocco Human Rights Dialogue took place on 24 November 2025 in London, where senior officials discussed areas including freedom of expression, rights of minorities, and judicial reforms.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of Critical Time Intervention programmes for local authorities on preventing homelessness amongst people leaving prison.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We recognise the importance of public sector organisations working closely together to support people during key transition points. Within the National Plan to End Homelessness, we have worked collaboratively across Government to set ambitious targets to reduce the number of people leaving institutions into homelessness, enabling local authorities and local partners to deliver better support at transition points.
This includes a commitment to a 50% reduction in the proportion of people who become homeless on their first night out of prison and are subject to probation supervision by the end of this parliament.
To deliver on this commitment, we want to ensure the right support is available as people transition out of prison. This includes continued investing in Community Accommodation Service models and embedding as standard practice local partnerships, co-location and pre-release planning.