Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans are in place to speed up processes at the Child Maintenance Service, including the resolution of complaints up to and including the scheduling of tribunal hearings.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is delivering a Modernisation Programme to improve customer access, efficiency and transparency. This includes integrated online application services, the My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC) service, which provides customers with online access to case information and payment schedules, and Customer Connect, which enables secure online communication between parents and caseworkers. Telephone and assisted digital support remain available for customers who need additional assistance.

The programme has also introduced improved digital communications, enhanced data sharing to support faster and more accurate maintenance calculations, and predictive analytics to help identify cases at risk of non compliance, which allows us to review the cases more swiftly and take action to ensure compliance is maintained.

The CMS complies with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) complaints service standard, to aim to resolve complaints or set a resolution plan within 15 working days. Where a complaint is complex and requires more time, the CMS will inform the complainant within this period of the next steps and when a response can be expected.

The CMS reviews overall resource supply and takes appropriate steps to ensure that staffing levels meet current demands and regularly reviews complaint data, including insights from the Independent Case Examiner, to identify key themes and trends, which they use to drive improvements to the complaint handling process. Furthermore, lessons learned are regularly presented to operational teams, supporting them to deliver effective interventions at the initial stage of the complaint and thereby improve the overall customer experience.

The CMS remains focussed on taking pro active steps to improve the customer experience, developing its customer service strategy to focus on improving current and future service throughout the customer journey.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is a separate government department and is responsible for the listing, scheduling and management of tribunal hearings. While CMS provides information required in relation to appeals, the timing of tribunal hearings is a matter for HMCTS.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any concerns were identified regarding Capita's suitability to administer the CSPS during the procurement and approval processes.

Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and GOV.UK.

While Capita committed to a complete return to standard contractual service levels by the end of June 2026, they have failed to meet this critical milestone. The Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account. This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita. To enforce strict compliance, independent auditors are being deployed to conduct a technical systems review, and an on-the-ground Remedial Adviser has been appointed at Capita’s expense. Further commercial, legal, and operational options remain on the table during the consideration of long-term structural delivery options.

During the procurement and approval process, the then Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Jeremy Quin MP, had overall responsibility for Civil Service workforce matters at the time and confirmed that the Cabinet Office should proceed to award the contract to Capita. This was further subject to the Cabinet Office’s controls process for which the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, Alex Burghart MP, had oversight.

The contract awarded in November 2023 followed a standardised procurement process with an evaluation process, centred on the core criteria of quality, cost, and social value.

Quality compromised 65% of the assessment, cost 25% and Social Value 10%. The Quality assessment evaluated Capita's response, which included previous experience of transitioning and administering pension schemes.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to reform the rules governing the disclosure of childhood criminal records by the Disclosure and Barring Service so that future opportunities are not impacted.

Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

This Government knows that too many young people with a criminal record are being locked out of education, employment and other opportunities long after they have left their offending behind. That is not in their interests, and it is not in the public interest either.

The Youth Justice White Paper (Cutting youth crime, changing young lives) committed to consulting on a targeted, proportionate package of reforms to the disclosure of youth criminal records by the end of this year. The responses to the consultation will help to inform changes to the current disclosure regime.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to review the Appliance Prescription Management Service.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Through NHS England, the Department is currently reviewing the provision of stoma and continence products and services. This includes provision through an Appliance Prescription Management Service. The aim is to improve patient outcomes, support informed choice, and ensure people are receiving the most appropriate products and care throughout their lives.

I also refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 14 September in response to Question 25179.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what consideration he has given to the location of an AI regulator with responsibility for scrutinising the most advanced AI systems.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

The UK is committed to a context-based regulatory approach where most AI systems are regulated at the point of use by our existing regulators. Government departments are working with regulators to provide strategic direction and support them with their AI capability needs. This is complemented by the work of the AI Security Institute, which deepens our understanding of the critical security risks posed by frontier AI.

The Government keeps the adequacy of existing arrangements under review, including in relation to specific new risks related to cybersecurity and critical national infrastructure.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, for what reason the consultation on the proposed AI Bill has not been published; and when that consultation will be published.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

The Government is ensuring that the UK is ready for both the challenges and opportunities that AI will bring. We have taken important steps to ensure that most AI systems are already regulated at the point of use by our existing expert regulators. This is complemented by the work of the AI Security Institute, which deepens our understanding of the critical security risks posed by frontier AI.

The Government keeps the adequacy of existing arrangements under review, including in relation to specific new risks related to cybersecurity and critical national infrastructure.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, a) what assessment she has made of the regulatory and commercial burden on manufacturers and retailers arising from the application of age verification requirements to sales and deliveries of ordinary non-pointed cutlery knives which are not designed for or capable of being used as dangerous weapons; b) whether she has made an assessment of whether the application of those requirements to such products to be consistent with the policy objective of reducing access to dangerous knives; c) if, in light of forthcoming increased age verification requirements for the sale of knives, she will take urgent steps to clarify that references to 'cutlery knives' for the purposes of section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 do not include cutlery knives that lack the sharpness or pointed features necessary to cut skin or cause injury.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is committed to legislation around knife sales which helps ensure that knives do not fall into the hands of those aged under 18. The new measures being brought in by the Crime and Policing Act 2026 around age verification and safe delivery for online sales of knives will help to achieve this aim.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to review the 1987 police pension scheme and remove the rule under which surviving partners of police officers lose their pension payments if they remarry or enter a new cohabiting relationship.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to the response given to UIN 813 on the 18^th May 2026.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consideration his Department has given to the potential merits of establishing a single statutory supervisory body for voluntary ombudsman and ADR schemes.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government recognises the important role that ombudsman services and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) schemes play in resolving disputes without the need for court proceedings.

The Ministry of Justice keeps the dispute resolution landscape under review and engages regularly with relevant stakeholders to understand the effectiveness of existing mechanisms. However, the Government does not currently intend to establish a single statutory supervisory body for voluntary ombudsman and ADR schemes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans she has for reducing waiting times (a) in GP practices and (b) for accessing routine diagnostic tests, especially for people with aggressive and/or life-limiting conditions.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England’s Medium Term Planning Framework, published in October 2025, sets out a national ambition to improve access to primary care and reduce unwarranted variation. This includes ensuring that 90% of clinically urgent patients, such as those with aggressive and/or life-limiting conditions, are dealt with on the same day.

NHS England is driving the transformation of diagnostics services across the National Health Service. These services will grow their digital capability and become more efficient. They will have new and replacement equipment that will make tests quicker and increase the numbers of patients that get faster access to a test.

NHS England is also expanding community diagnostics centres (CDCs) and other community-based diagnostic services, so more patients can benefit from the increasing numbers of diagnostic services and gain access closer to home and via their general practitioner. CDCs are equipped to provide diagnostic tests for aggressive and/or life-limiting conditions.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the risk of money laundering through cash-intensive businesses such as barbershops.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing 2025 assessed the most common money laundering risks the UK is exposed to and found that criminal cash is often laundered through cash-intensive businesses, including barbershops. The National Crime Agency estimates that around £1 billion of criminal cash is laundered through seemingly legitimate businesses, including rogue barbershops, vape stores, mini-marts and sweet shops.

We are tackling this through the newly published Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery (AMLAR) Strategy. The strategy will tackle this growing threat by combining targeted operational action, improved intelligence, and enhanced enforcement capability. The Government has provided £30 million to strengthen the response to organised crime operating on our high streets, including through a new High Street Organised Crime Unit.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate HM Revenue and Customs has made of tax non-compliance within the hair and barbering sector, including the use of self-employment and rent-a-chair arrangements.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

The ‘rent-a-chair’ model is a legitimate business model used in the hair and beauty sector. Where it is applied correctly, individuals will be self-employed for tax purposes. Whether an individual is employed or self-employed is not a matter of choice but is determined by the actual terms and conditions under which they work. HMRC has published GOV.UK guidance and YouTube videos on tax obligations specific to this sector to enhance understanding and enable businesses to comply with their tax obligations. The latest guidance was published in May 2025; this included the Check Employment Status for Tax tool (CEST).

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether he intends to review the effectiveness of the voluntary register established under the Hairdressers Registration Act 1964.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

There is currently no planned review of the effectiveness of the voluntary register established under the Hairdressers Registration Act 1964. The Hairdressers Registration Act 1964 provides for a UK register of qualified hairdressers and barbers, although registration remains voluntary. Hairdressing salons and barbers are subject to a range of existing requirements, including health and safety and consumer protection legislation.

Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) rescue operations

Publication of Legal Advice on Local Government Reorganisation

Found: Chair); Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths; Leigh Ingham; Charlie Maynard

Found: Chair); Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths; Leigh Ingham; Charlie Maynard

Found: Chair); Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths; Leigh Ingham; Charlie Maynard

Found: Chair); Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths; Leigh Ingham; Charlie Maynard