Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2025 to Question 67326 on Taxation, what reforms to the tax system are being considered to support (a) job creation and (b) economic participation in regions with persistently lower employment levels.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The OBR will produce a new forecast for the annual Budget, and the Chancellor will make decisions in the round based on that forecast.
The Government is focused on unleashing the potential of people across all nations and regions of the UK and growing the economy – a key priority in the Plan for Change.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the impact of the AWS outage on 20 October 2025 on Government Digital Services.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is leading Government’s response to the AWS outage that took place on Monday 20 October 2025. DSIT continues to work across government and with businesses to understand the full impacts of the outage. All AWS services were restored on Monday evening and DSIT is in contact with AWS to understand how such events can be mitigated in the future.
The outage affected a number of suppliers and departments, and it will take some time to fully understand the scale of the impact. DSIT will be gathering a full picture of the impact on government in the coming weeks.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will publish the Government Cyber Action Plan this Winter, which will set out a clear approach for the Government and the Wider Public Sector to manage cyber security and resilience incidents.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the adult oral health survey (a) before and (b) after the decision to no longer include the examination of patients in the survey.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There has been no comparative assessment of the effectiveness of the adult oral health survey (AOHS) before and after the changes in data collection. This decision occurred for the 2021 survey only, to adapt to restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, where face to face examinations were not feasible. The most recent 2023 AOHS survey has reintroduced a clinical examination of participants.
An online and paper survey without an oral examination was undertaken in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results from this survey, published in January 2024, are therefore not comparable to the rest of the survey series. The most recent AOHS, provisionally scheduled to be published on 9 December, is a comprehensive survey that will include results of an oral examination of consenting participants. The survey is similar in content to the one that was conducted in 2009 and published at the time by NHS Digital.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what proportion of Government cloud services are hosted on (a) AWS, (b) Google and (c) Microsoft infrastructure.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The State of Digital Government report estimates up to 60% of the government estate is currently hosted on cloud platforms, mostly using AWS, Microsoft and Google. More granular data on the split between AWS, Google and Microsoft infrastructure is not currently held. However, the Government Digital Service in DSIT is developing a cloud consumption dashboard to provide government with greater visibility of cloud usage and costs across the public sector.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to develop a national strategy to secure aluminium as a critical raw material for the economy.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Building on the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre’s updated 2024 criticality assessment in which aluminium was designated a critical mineral due to supply chain risks and economic vulnerability, the Government has been working with industry to publish a new Critical Minerals Strategy this year. This will focus on securing vital materials for economic growth, national security, and the clean energy transition. The Strategy will refine our approach to domestic production and target UK strengths to support business resilience.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government plans to publish an updated strategy on violence against women and girls; and whether she plans to included policies on (a) improving access to sexual violence services and (b) support for child sexual abuse victims within that strategy.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government has been clear that the level of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in our country is intolerable, and we are treating it as the national emergency that it is.
The new VAWG Strategy will set the direction for the next decade, driving forward the Government’s bold ambition to halve VAWG within ten years. This is a landmark commitment that demands a truly transformational approach. It’s vital we get it right. We’re working towards publication of the Strategy as soon as possible and I will continue to keep the House updated on its development and forthcoming publication.
Support for victims of VAWG crimes will be a core part of the new Strategy. This includes victims of sexual violence and child sexual abuse and exploitation. Tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation will be covered in the VAWG Strategy, as well as being the subject of its own distinctive and transformative workstream specific to those horrendous crimes. That includes acting on the recommendations of both the IICSA and Baroness Casey Audit into the evil of grooming gangs and child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Additionally, the Ministry of Justice has committed funding to the Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Centre in 2025/26 to develop and deliver evidence-based training and resources for those working with victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and continues to invest in specialist sexual violence support services via the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund and ringfenced grants to Police and Crime Commissioners who allocate funds locally.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 merits of requiring Israeli exporters to demonstrate their goods are not produced in illegal settlements before being imported into the UK.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Israeli settlements in Palestine are illegal under international law. The UK Government encourages accurate labelling of goods in order to avoid misleading consumers and promote transparency, including those goods produced in illegal settlements in Palestine. Goods produced in these settlements are not entitled to benefit from preferential tariff treatment under the UK’s current trade agreements with the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Where there are doubts about the declared origin of goods, HMRC undertakes checks to verify the origin and ensure fiscal compliance.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department made of the (a) economic and (b) environmental impact of exporting aluminium scrap from beverage packaging to countries outside the European Union.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business and Trade has not conducted an assessment of the economic and environmental impacts of exporting aluminium scrap to non-EU countries.
However, the Government recognises the importance of a circular economy for aluminium and is actively listening to the perspectives of all involved parties.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on cooperation on aluminium scrap retention.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
To date, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and other ministers at the Department for Business and Trade have not held discussions with EU counterparts regarding co-operation on aluminium scrap retention.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 merits to (a) the environmental and (b) employment opportunities from introducing domestic aluminium rolling capacity.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
To date, the Department for Business and Trade has not assessed the environmental and employment opportunities potentially derived from the introduction of a UK aluminium rolling mill.