Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to increase the uptake of statutory paternity leave.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government is committed to making life better for families. Through the Employment Rights Bill we are making Paternity Leave a ‘day one’ right, which will bring an extra 32,000 fathers and partners into scope of the entitlement. On the first of July we launched the Parental Leave Review, which presents a much-needed opportunity to consider our approach to the system of parental leave and pay. All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements, including Paternity Leave and Pay, will be in scope.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the uptake of Shared Parental Leave.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government know that the arrival of a child, whether through birth or adoption, is a transformative time in a family’s life. On the first of July, we launched the Parental Leave Review, which presents a much-needed opportunity to consider our approach to the system of parental leave and pay. All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements, including Shared Parental Leave and Pay, will be in scope.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to amend the eligibility requirements for free NHS prescriptions, in the context of increases to the State Pension age.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department currently has no plans to align the upper age prescription charge exemption with the State Pension age.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces recruits have received a conditional offer letter within 10 days from the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force since 1 January 2025.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Following the announcement by the Secretary of State for Defence in September 2024 of the ambition to make a conditional offer of employment to candidates within 10 days, and a provisional training start date within 30 days if they desire it, the Armed Forces have been focused on implementing this initiative into their recruitment pipelines. Significant work to expedite basic eligibility checks has been required to ensure an appropriate level of candidate checks is completed before conditional offers are issued, and they are working to expedite checks. I will make further announcements on progress in due course.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Sanctions and Anti‑Money Laundering Act 2018, what steps his Department will take to ensure British Overseas Territories implement public registers of beneficial ownership in a timely fashion; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of legitimate interest access to beneficial ownership registers on levels of transparency.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Please refer to my Written Ministerial Statement of 3 July which provides an update and details of next steps.

We have made very clear to our partners in the remaining Overseas Territories the importance of delivering on the previously committed to deadlines, and have offered technical support to achieve this. We have communicated that we expect rapid and robust action to be taken, given the crucial importance of tackling illicit finance and increasing transparency. We have set out that we expect access to be granted to a wide range of legitimate users, that registers should enable proactive investigations and should act as a deterrent to those seeking to conceal illicit gains.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials have conducted an in-house assessment of the latest policies and proposals from these Overseas Territories against the discussions at the Joint Ministerial Council in November 2024. In addition, we have reviewed feedback from a range of external stakeholders including expert NGOs and parliamentarians. We have also considered emerging international modalities which cover legitimate interest access registers.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of procuring additional E-7A Wedgetail AEW Mk1 aircraft beyond those specified in the 2021 Integrated Defence Review.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence is continuing with its procurement of E-7 Wedgetail in order to meet the national and NATO requirements for an Airborne Early Warning and Control capability which is interoperable with its allies.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps to ensure that serving armed forces personnel living alone in service accommodation who are parents have time with their children.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) remains committed to widening entitlement to family accommodation to support personnel with non-resident children, as set out in the Modernised Accommodation Offer. The policy and timescales for these changes remain under review.

Currently, entitlement to Service Family Accommodation (SFA) is necessarily driven by personnel’s status as accompanied or unaccompanied. Those who are single, whilst retaining “Prime Mover” status for their child(ren), have a prima facie entitlement to SFA. Single parents with child(ren) who do not reside with them permanently are eligible to apply for surplus SFA where capacity allows; moreover, no Service person is required to reside in Service-owned Single Living Accommodation (SLA) or SFA and may choose to rent locally to better accommodate their personal circumstances. Additionally, the MOD offers support for eligible personnel to purchase a home through the Forces Help to Buy Scheme.

If residing in SLA, Serving parents with non-resident children may access Service-provided Contact Houses at minimal cost. Contact Houses are fully furnished ‘homes from home’ which seek to meet the needs of those with family or welfare needs which fall outside of the permanent accommodation entitlement criteria, and without imposing an unsustainable financial burden.

Fairtrade tea campaign

Open Doors 2025

Repair Cafés

Reform of the special educational needs and disabilities system

100 years of RAF Odiham

Funding and role of community pharmacies

Small businesses in North Cornwall

Post Offices in rural areas

Found: present: Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Chair); Alex Baker; Lincoln Jopp; Emma Lewell; Mike Martin; Ian Roome

Found: Manuela Perteghella Luke Taylor Alison Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome

Found: Manuela Perteghella Luke Taylor Alison Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome

Found: Manuela Perteghella Luke Taylor Alison Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome

Found: Manuela Perteghella Luke Taylor Alison Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome

Found: Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome

Found: Murray Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome

Found: Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome

Found: Murray Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome

Found: Manuela Perteghella Luke Taylor Alison Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome

Found: Manuela Perteghella Luke Taylor Alison Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome

Found: Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome

Found: Murray Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome

Found: Manuela Perteghella Luke Taylor Alison Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome

Found: Manuela Perteghella Luke Taylor Alison Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome

Found: Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome

Found: Murray Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome

Found: Manuela Perteghella Luke Taylor Alison Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome

Found: Manuela Perteghella Luke Taylor Alison Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome

Found: Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome

Found: Murray Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome

Found: Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome

Found: Murray Rachel Gilmour Tom Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome