Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2025 to Question 54390 on Data Statistics Research on Sex and Gender Independent Review, if he will make a statement to Parliament with a formal government response to that report.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As outlined in previous Answers of 3 June to Question 54390 and 2 May 2025 to Question 47834, relevant departments and policy teams will consider the findings in light of their ongoing policy work.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what funding (a) the Government Digital Service and (b) his Department has provided to DigiGov Expo 2025.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
No funding has been provided to DigiGov Expo 2025 by either the Government Digital Service or the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to paragraph 2 of the document entitled DSR 2: General Principles of Conduct of the Diplomatic Service Code, if he will publish a copy of any supplementary guidance on political activities in addition to the guidance in DSR 36.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
No such supplementary guidance has been published, nor is any considered necessary.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what guidance the National Protective Security Authority has provided on using Virtual Private Networks.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As part of our ongoing monitoring of the potential impact of circumvention techniques on the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act, Government is engaging with relevant bodies. However, the National Protective Security Authority has not provided the department with guidance on the use of VPNs.
The child safety duties are newly implemented and represent a major milestone in the protection of children online. It is now much harder for children to accidentally or intentionally access harmful content. Services that deliberately target UK children and promote VPNs to circumvent online safety measures could face enforcement action under the Act.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference the UK Visas and Immigration guidance entitled (a) Skilled Worker visa: going rates for eligible occupation codes and (b) Skilled Worker visa: temporary shortage list, updated on 22 July 2025, what the evidential basis is for (i) a shortage of Equality, diversity and inclusion managers and (ii) the impact on the UK economy of granting visas for such roles; and whether the Migration Advisory Committee has advised on the matter.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 12 May, we published our Immigration White Paper, outlining our future approach to legal migration routes and the 22 July changes to the Immigration Rules delivered key steps, including raising the skills threshold governing Skilled Worker route to RQF 6, which removed access to over 100 occupations.
The Skilled Worker system relies on Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes, which are managed by the Office for National Statistics. Occupations which are recognised as meeting the skills threshold for the Skilled Worker immigration route can continue to be sponsored through the route.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the written statement of 13 March 2025, HCWS517, on Board of Trade, when the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations last met.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Board of Trade last met on the 21st May 2025.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Department's register of board members' interests 2024-2025, updated on 16 January 2025, whether Alan Milburn has recused himself from (a) discussions and (b) activity relating to NHS dentistry.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Mr Milburn has agreed to recuse himself from discussions and activity relating to National Health Service dentistry. Declarations of interest and any updates to them are published in the Register of Interests in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, and on the GOV.UK website, in alignment with Government policy.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's press release entitled New mapping tool launched to help bring healthy food to those who need it most, published on 8 July 2025, who will run the state-subsidised eateries in (a) Dundee and (b) Nottingham; and if he will publish the project (a) specification and (b) plan for the DISHED: co-designing innovative infrastructure for sustainable healthy and equitable diets’ piloting public restaurants scheme.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has funded six projects under its “Health inequalities in the food system” programme, announced on 8 July 2025. These projects aim to understand the causes of dietary health inequalities and explore interventions for equitable, healthy consumption. ‘DISHED: co-designing innovative infrastructure for sustainable healthy and equitable diets’ is a funded project within this programme, which will examine different models of public restaurants in Dundee and Nottingham to assess their feasibility in current UK contexts. The project is led by an academic principal investigator. Full grant details will be published on the UKRI Gateway to Research website in due course.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of joining the European Defence Security Fund.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This Government has delivered an ambitious security and defence partnership with the European Union. The Strategic Defence Review will strengthen NATO, the cornerstone of the UK’s defence, and it will help grow the economy. It allows us to step up on Euro-Atlantic security together and ensures we are able to explore UK access to Security Action for Europe (SAFE). We are working with our European partners to understand how an arrangement might work. The exact detail of UK participation will be subject to discussions on the specific terms of a UK-EU bilateral participation agreement; we do not wish to pre-empt the outcome of any such negotiations. This Government wants the right deal on the right terms.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether applicants for company directorships on the Companies House register can nominate Palestinian as their nationality.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
‘Palestinian’ is included in the list of nationalities permitted for the purposes of company filings. The full list of nationalities and geographical names is available at the link below:
Nationalities and countries for company filings - GOV.UK