Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the Cabinet committee on Science and Technology has been replaced with a committee on Digital and Technology; and how matters related to science will be considered.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The membership and terms of reference of Cabinet committees is decided by the Prime Minister, as set out on gov.uk and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology is a member of the Digital and Technology Committee. Matters related to science may be considered by a range of committees as relevant to their terms of reference.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of State Pension age changes on 1950s-born women living in Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West constituency.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
All women born since 6 April 1950 have been affected by changes to State Pension age.
Estimates can be made using ONS 2021 Census Data on how many women born in the 1950s resided in each constituency in that year.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Statement UIN HCWS1044 on 11 November 2025, what procedures and circumstances led to the 2007 research report not being provided to his predecessor.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Secretary of State announced in his oral statement of 11 November 2025 that we will retake the decision made in December 2024 as it relates to the communications on State Pension age.
This was because findings from a 2007 report had not been drawn to the attention of the previous Secretary of State as its potential relevance to the making of her decision was not evident at the time.
The process to retake the decision is underway and it is important that we give this full and proper consideration. Retaking the decision should not be taken as an indication that Government will necessarily decide that it should award financial redress. We will update Parliament on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached and on 2 December 2025 we committed to re-take the decision within three months.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the procurement and contract‑management processes used for the Fuel Finder project; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that public money allocated to this project has been spent effectively and provides value for money.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A competitive and open tender process was run for Fuel Finder in line with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and government procurement policies and guidance. Evaluation criteria included quality, technical criteria and total cost.
The Fuel Finder contract is managed in line with the Government Digital Service Standard and is overseen by Departmental project boards, following established governance arrangements and spend assurance processes that apply to all major digital and commercial projects.
All of the above are steps taken to ensure an effective implementation and the project will continue to be reviewed to ensure value for money, minimising and managing costs carefully.
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, whether recruitment agencies are permitted to sponsor Highly Skilled Worker Visas under current immigration rules.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The basis on which UK employers holding a Skilled Worker sponsor licence can sponsor skilled workers to come to the UK is set out in the relevant Sponsor Guidance. This can be found on Gov.uk at: Sponsorship: guidance for employers and educators - GOV.UK
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, under what mechanisms is InterMarine able to sponsor Highly Skilled Worker Visas .
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The basis on which UK employers holding a Skilled Worker sponsor licence can sponsor skilled workers to come to the UK is set out in the relevant Sponsor Guidance. This can be found on Gov.uk at: Sponsorship: guidance for employers and educators - GOV.UK
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, what discussions she has had with mobile phone companies on improving anti-theft technology.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is determined to crack down on snatch theft and other crimes which target people's mobile devices. It is working closely with industry and law enforcement to help reduce these crimes.
The Government hosted a mobile phone summit on 6 February, at which all participants, including law enforcement, the Mayor of London, mobile manufacturers and other technology companies, agreed to collaborate in tackling this problem. Since the summit, the Government has continued to engage closely with relevant partners as they progress their work to develop solutions to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.
The Minister for Policing and Crime and officials continue to hold discussions to monitor progress with relevant partners, including technology companies; most recently this month.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has she made of the implications for UK waste disposal and consumer product policy of the levels of unwanted electrical items discarded annually by households which could be reused or repaired.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have not undertaken this assessment. The WEEE Regulations 2013 are designed to minimise the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) incinerated or sent to landfill sites. The regulations require producers of electrical equipment to take financial responsibility for products they place on the market when they become waste and to ensure they are properly collected and treated. The Government is committed to move towards a Circular Economy where we keep products in use for longer and waste is designed out. In the new year, we will publish the Circular Economy Growth Plan that sets out how the Government will deliver this transition in sectors right across the economy, including electricals.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December to Question 96656, if she will make an assessment of the a) the proportion of chatbots which use search and b) the characteristics of chatbots which use search.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Chatbots that use search capabilities are designed to generate responses for users by actively searching the live web. This functionality means they would be captured by the Online Safety Act’s duties as a search service.
The Secretary of State confirmed in Parliament that the government is considering how AI chatbots interact with the Act and has also urged Ofcom to use its existing powers to ensure that AI chatbots are safe for children.
As part of this work, the government continues to assess the prevalence and nature of chatbot services.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department provides to school trusts to safeguard against cyber attacks and to protect children's personal data.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department provides guidance to help schools build their cyber resilience in our Cyber Security Standards, which address the core principles of cyber governance, processes and strategy.
We have also introduced a free interactive assessment tool, Plan Your Technology, to help schools understand if they meet our Cyber Security Standards and support schools to achieve them. We have incorporated the cyber security standards into Keeping Children Safe in Education and the Academy Trust Handbook. The department also has a small, dedicated sector cyber security team to support schools. This team provides appropriate advice and guidance via regular targeted and broad communications and more specific incident signposting when required.
The department’s Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) added cover for cyber incidents from 2022. With over 60% of schools RPA members, in the event of a cyber incident they have access to a 24/7 Incident Response Service.
We also work closely with the National Cyber Crime Security Centre (NCSC), who offer cyber security tools and guidance for schools, including free Protective Domain Name Service.