Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he is taking to protect workers' rights to 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 the Act provides powers to set out a statutory process employers must follow before rejecting a request. These changes are intended to improve transparency and accountability by ensuring employees receive a clear explanation of decisions while supporting more meaningful discussion about whether flexibility can be accommodated. The government intends to bring these measures into effect in Autumn 2027.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve the quality of water for recreational use.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Clean Water Bill will deliver cleaner rivers, lakes, and seas by providing the legislative tools to ensure targets are ambitious, enabling pre-pipe solutions to reduce spills, and consolidating and strengthening agricultural pollution rules.
The Public Health Water Taskforce, a scientific and technical advisory group with expertise in public health and water, will provide independent advice to Government on public health risks associated with recreational water quality and opportunities for mitigation. This work will inform future policy.
The EA has action plans in place to identify and deliver cross-sector improvements where bathing water quality is not meeting satisfactory standards.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve access to mental health services for adopted children and their families.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is investing Ā£55 million in 2026/2027, a 10% increase, in the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund, which provides support to address mental health challenges.
We are considering responses to our consultation āAdoption Support that Works for Allā, which closed on 5 May and asks what works to improve adopted childrenās mental health.
The consultation explains that we are funding Regional Adoption Agencies to pilot multi-disciplinary teams that bring together social care, health and educational partners to deliver assessment and support to adopted children and families, including access to mental health services.
We are working with the Department of Health and Social Care to pilot mental health support, including support for adoptive families. This will test a fully integrated model of mental health support for all children and families involved with childrenās social care when they need it. Expressions of interest were invited from Integrated Care Boards by 1 September.