Justin Madders

The government is considering whether these existing remedies offer appropriate legal protection for victims of caste discrimination.

The full list of Cabinet committees and their membership is available on Gov.uk (List of Cabinet Committees and their membership - GOV.UK).

The Future of Work Committee was chaired by the former Deputy Prime Minister, and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Exact changes are yet to be confirmed. Parliament will be updated on changes to Cabinet committees in the usual way before being published on Gov.uk.

The government is committed to protecting consumers who enter into subscription contracts. We consulted on the implementation of the new subscription contracts regime in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act and have engaged closely with stakeholders. We are carefully considering the points raised and a government response will be published in due course.

The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, which received Royal Assent in July 2025, enables the government to modernise, replace and simplify regulations. The Act’s powers have already been used to update the Outdoor Noise Regulations and the Government recently confirmed it will use the Act’s powers to update the Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, following a call for evidence. Further reviews of regulations will follow.

In particular, as announced in November’s Budget, the Government intends to publish a consultation shortly on major reforms to level the playing field between online and physical retailers, improve consumer safety and streamline enforcement powers.

The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, which received Royal Assent in July 2025, enables the government to modernise, replace and simplify regulations. The Act’s powers have already been used to update the Outdoor Noise Regulations and the Government recently confirmed it will use the Act’s powers to update the Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, following a call for evidence. Further reviews of regulations will follow.

In particular, as announced in November’s Budget, the Government intends to publish a consultation shortly on major reforms to level the playing field between online and physical retailers, improve consumer safety and streamline enforcement powers.

This Government has not made an assessment of the British Franchise Association's effectiveness at enforcing its Code of Conduct. However, DBT Ministers and officials have recently met with MPs and Fairer Franchisees representatives to listen and understand views regarding practices within the franchising industry. We will continue to remain engaged with relevant stakeholders on this issue.

Our Small Business Plan, launched in July 2025, outlines how we will support small and medium sized businesses, including franchisees, to grow and thrive across the UK.

The plan includes the most significant package of legislation in 25 years to tackle late payments; unlocking billions of pounds in finance to support start-ups and scale ups; removing unnecessary red tape; revitalising the High Street as a place to do business; and boosting support for Digital and AI Adoption. The new Business Growth Service makes it easier for SMEs to access the right support for any stage of their growth journey.

The Government recognises the challenges facing the refining sector in the UK. The Government continues to engage with the fuel industry to explore what steps can be taken to further support the sector, including considering the feasibility and impacts of including refined products in the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in the future.

The government has just launched a call for evidence to shape the UK’s long-term strategy for the downstream oil sector. This will gather industry views on the opportunities and barriers to transition, issues and risks to energy security and what Government support may be needed to promote a managed transition.

High quality early years is central to our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity and give every child the best possible start in life and is essential to our Plan for Change. This government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, supporting school led provision and private, voluntary and independent providers and childminders operating from school sites.

Phase 1 is already delivering results. We awarded £37 million to 300 schools, creating up to 6,000 new childcare places with the majority available in the 2025/26 academic year. Schools have reported that 160 of these nurseries have opened on or before 9 September and we remain on track to have more than 4,000 additional childcare available places by the end of September.

There are two permits issued to manufacturers on the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex by the Environment Agency (EA): Argent Biodiesel LP3233DK and Essar Oil UK (Stanlow Manufacturing Complex) (FP3139FN). Both have permits under Environmental Permitting Regulations, determined and issued following due process.

For Argent, the most recent variation and consolidated permit was issued on 18 November 2024. For Essar, the most recent variation and consolidated permit was issued on 24 June 2025. In addition, there is a local authority regulated part B permit for Stanlow Terminals Limited for storage, unloading and loading petrol at road terminal.

A programme of inspection and audit by the EA’s local team checks compliance with permit conditions, including monitoring emissions to air, water and land, operating procedures reviewing reports, and verifying self-monitoring. If significant non-compliance is detected, then this is, and has been, addressed by follow-up inspection and appropriate enforcement response.

The Environment Agency (EA) has initiated an investigation into the source and cause of odours in the area, visiting Stanlow refinery and other regulated businesses. EA officers have undertaken odour checking in the community, through scheduled visits and in response to complaints. The refinery environmental permit sets out emission limits as well as requiring the operator to take action to minimise odours by using appropriate measures.

The EA identified one potential source of odour, and the operator is installing equipment to reduce odorous emissions from this source. The EA further directed the company to review their plant operations, to identify any other potential causes of the odour and to update their management systems including a comprehensive revision of their Odour Management Plan. The EA is assessing available air quality, emissions, and meteorological data and has engaged with the UKHSA and Local Authority Cheshire West and Chester on this.

In May 2016 the Department for Transport (DfT) commissioned Ipsos MORI and Risk Solutions to undertake an evaluation of the Roads Reform programme, which included the establishment of what is now National Highways, to inform future Road Investment Strategies and other policy decisions relating to the strategic road network. Ipsos MORI published a third evaluation report in 2022, following two earlier evaluation reports in 2017 and 2019. All three reports are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-roads-reform

The reports evaluated the extent to which the reforms have contributed, as intended, to a better experience for road users and better value for money for taxpayers. A fourth evaluation report has been commissioned and is due to be published this year.

The performance of National Highways is reviewed regularly, including by the Office of Rail and Road that published an annual assessment of the second road period (2020-2025), available here https://www.orr.gov.uk/annual-assessment-national-highways-performance-end-second-road-period-april-2020-march-2025

In July 2025 the Department for Transport laid in Parliament its annual report covering National Highways’ performance during 2024/25, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-highways-performance-report-2024-to-2025

The Youth Guarantee Advisory Panel is made up of young people aged 18-24 from diverse backgrounds who bring valuable lived experience of overcoming barriers to accessing and participating in education, employment or training. Its purpose is to provide direct insight from young people with lived experience of not being in education, employment or training, ensuring their voices shape policy development.

The panel has been established jointly by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Education (DfE) in collaboration with our partners, Youth Futures Foundation (YFF) and Youth Employment UK (YEUK), who are responsible for recruiting and safeguarding young people involved.

DWP recognises the important role that the trade unions can play in a modern workplace, including the benefits that effective engagement between employers and unions can bring. The Department continues to engage regularly with trade unions on a range of areas of policy development.

On 29^th January 2026, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced in Parliament the Government’s new response to the PHSO report on State Pension age communications.

We have set out our detailed reasoning for our new decision in our decision document, including consideration of the 2007 report. This can be read in full in the House library. The decision document is also available here: Government response to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s Investigation into Women’s State Pension age communications and associated issues - GOV.UK

The report in question was published in 2007. We have now placed it in the House library, where it can be read in full. This report is also available here: Evaluation of Automatic State Pension Forecasts

Based on the information held, since December 2024, the recorded legal costs on litigation brought by WASPI including disbursements and VAT are £149,409.74.

DWP recognises the important role that the trade unions can play in a modern workplace, including the benefits that effective engagement between employers and unions can bring.

Colleagues working on the Young People and Work Report continue to engage with trade union representatives.

As part of the report, Alan Milburn is engaging with a range of fellow experts in the labour market, education, welfare and health spheres, as well as employers and people with lived experience to inform the findings and recommendations.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) are committed to delivering the best possible service to all customers within our growing caseload.

Through the Service Modernisation Programme, CMS is expanding digital channels and self-service options, including online tools like Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance and My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC), available 24/7. It has improved speed of communications via use of SMS, email, and clearer letters, and introduced online messaging for certain processes, with plans to extend this further.

Our telephony service is available to 8am to 6pm on weekdays to meet demand. We continuously monitor telephony performance and through this fully recognise that call waiting times are at times longer than we would like. To address this, we are working to improve the efficiency of our customer interactions through both the telephone and digital channels. We have introduced a Digital Assist Telephony Service, which has been a significant step forward in our mission to support and encourage customers to use our online services.

We restructured our call routing to make more caseworkers available to answer telephone calls. By promoting self-service options online and efficient call routing, we have freed up valuable resources to deliver a more responsive service and allow caseworkers more time to better assist customers who need to reach out to us via telephone.

CMS continues to exceed key performance indicators, including application clearances, change of circumstances clearances, demonstrating improved outcomes for customers.

The Department continues to take forward work to explore redress for those affected by pelvic mesh and sodium valproate, which includes recommendations made by the Patient Safety Commissioner in the Hughes Report. We recognise the importance of these issues for all those affected. This remains a cross-Government policy area involving multiple organisations, and given the complexity of the issues involved, it is important we get this right.

I met with the Patient Safety Commissioner in December 2025, to discuss progress following the Hughes Report and have made clear the Department’s expectation of continued, proactive engagement with the Patient Safety Commissioner and key stakeholders.

The Department’s Community Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Fund delivered 3080 new AEDs to local communities between September 2023 and February 2025.

The Government’s position is that local communities are best placed to make decisions about procuring, locating and maintaining AEDs. Over 110,000 defibrillators are registered in the United Kingdom on The Circuit, the independent AED database. Over 30,000 of these have been added in the past two years, many as a result of local community-led action.

More broadly, Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board is taking a whole system approach to improving cardiovascular health including improving the detection and treatment of key cardiac risk factors. The action being taken aims to lower the incidence of sudden cardiac arrest associated with unmanaged arrhythmia, high blood pressure and advanced coronary disease.

The Government is committed to reducing premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next 10 years. To accelerate progress towards this ambition, we will publish a Modern Service Framework for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) in 2026, which will identify the best evidenced interventions, and drive innovation in prevention, treatment, and care. The Department and NHS England are working closely to deliver the CVD modern service framework and will engage widely throughout its development.

Alongside this, the NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s CVD prevention programme which aims to detect those at risk of heart disease and stroke aged between 40 and 74 years old, engages over 1.4 million people and through behavioural and clinical interventions, prevents approximately 500 heart attacks and strokes a year. To improve access with the programme, we are piloting an NHS Health Check online service so that people can undertake a check at a time and place that is convenient to them.

We have invested in hypertension case-finding for those over 40 years old in community pharmacies, and nearly 4.2 million people have received a free blood pressure check through the service since October 2021.

We recognise that there is more to do to improve cardiac arrest survival, including in the North West. The 10-Year Health Plan sets out the reforms and radical shifts needed to improve National Health Services and deliver better patient outcomes and includes a focus on improving cardiovascular disease detection and prevention. Key initiatives include improving the early detection and treatment of high-risk conditions like atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, known as 'the ABCs', to prevent heart attacks and strokes, which can lead to cardiac arrest.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative care services to meet the reasonable needs of their population, which can include hospice services available within the ICB catchment. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and a service specification.

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.

The Government takes illegal working and worker exploitation very seriously and is committed to tackling non-compliance in high-risk sectors, including car washes. Immigration Enforcement activity has intensified over the past year, with enforcement teams carrying out over 11,000 visits to businesses across all sectors suspected of using illegal workers, marking a 51% increase. These resulted in more than 8,000 arrests, a 63% increase on the same period 12 months prior.

These figures demonstrate that enforcement is having a significant impact in disrupting this illegal activity. However, challenges remain, including the informal nature of the sector. To strengthen outcomes, the forthcoming Fair Work Agency will bring a cross-government response to improve intelligence sharing to increase co-ordination across enforcement bodes.

The Government recognises that car washes can present a risk of being exploited for money laundering and other illicit financial activity. Recent enforcement activity led by the National Crime Agency (Operation MACHINIZE) has identified links between some car washes being used for money laundering and grey economy. As part of targeted enforcement, the National Crime Agency works closely with law enforcement partners, including immigration enforcement to disrupt these activities and strengthen compliance. This approach forms part of a wider strategy to tackle organised crime, protect vulnerable workers, and ensure the integrity of the financial system.

Civil penalties for illegal working remain the principal sanctions for tackling non-compliance and are designed to hold non-compliant employers to account and disrupt illegal working activity. The Home Office will actively pursue debt recovery action in every case. If the employer does not pay the penalty in full or by instalments when due, the penalty will be passed to our external specialist debt recovery agents, registered with the civil court, after which enforcement action will commence. This includes a pre-legal and legal debt recovery strategy where enforcement officers have the powers to apply a range of additional tools including Charging Orders, Attachment of Earnings, Third Party Debt Orders and Orders to Obtain Information.

The Home Office publishes online, on a quarterly basis, details of all employers who have been found liable for a civil penalty and have not paid or are not making regular payments towards the penalty.

Immigration Enforcement acts on intelligence and applies sanctions where immigration offences occur, including civil penalties up to £60,000 per illegal worker, criminal convictions with up to 5 years’ imprisonment, business closure, director disqualification, loss of sponsorship rights, and seizure of illegal earnings. We also work closely with the Insolvency Service to hold non-compliant directors to account and consider them for disqualification. Migrants working illegally face up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment (England and Wales) or 6 months (Scotland and Northern Ireland) and/or a fine.

The Home Office does not hold centrally collated data on the number of car washes that have been permanently closed or the number of owners jailed for employing illegal workers in each year.

The Government takes illegal working and worker exploitation very seriously and is committed to tackling non-compliance in high-risk sectors, including car washes. Immigration Enforcement activity has intensified over the past year, with enforcement teams carrying out over 11,000 visits to businesses across all sectors suspected of using illegal workers, marking a 51% increase. These resulted in more than 8,000 arrests, a 63% increase on the same period 12 months prior.

These figures demonstrate that enforcement is having a significant impact in disrupting this illegal activity. However, challenges remain, including the informal nature of the sector. To strengthen outcomes, the forthcoming Fair Work Agency will bring a cross-government response to improve intelligence sharing to increase co-ordination across enforcement bodes.

The Government recognises that car washes can present a risk of being exploited for money laundering and other illicit financial activity. Recent enforcement activity led by the National Crime Agency (Operation MACHINIZE) has identified links between some car washes being used for money laundering and grey economy. As part of targeted enforcement, the National Crime Agency works closely with law enforcement partners, including immigration enforcement to disrupt these activities and strengthen compliance. This approach forms part of a wider strategy to tackle organised crime, protect vulnerable workers, and ensure the integrity of the financial system.

Civil penalties for illegal working remain the principal sanctions for tackling non-compliance and are designed to hold non-compliant employers to account and disrupt illegal working activity. The Home Office will actively pursue debt recovery action in every case. If the employer does not pay the penalty in full or by instalments when due, the penalty will be passed to our external specialist debt recovery agents, registered with the civil court, after which enforcement action will commence. This includes a pre-legal and legal debt recovery strategy where enforcement officers have the powers to apply a range of additional tools including Charging Orders, Attachment of Earnings, Third Party Debt Orders and Orders to Obtain Information.

The Home Office publishes online, on a quarterly basis, details of all employers who have been found liable for a civil penalty and have not paid or are not making regular payments towards the penalty.

Immigration Enforcement acts on intelligence and applies sanctions where immigration offences occur, including civil penalties up to £60,000 per illegal worker, criminal convictions with up to 5 years’ imprisonment, business closure, director disqualification, loss of sponsorship rights, and seizure of illegal earnings. We also work closely with the Insolvency Service to hold non-compliant directors to account and consider them for disqualification. Migrants working illegally face up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment (England and Wales) or 6 months (Scotland and Northern Ireland) and/or a fine.

The Home Office does not hold centrally collated data on the number of car washes that have been permanently closed or the number of owners jailed for employing illegal workers in each year.

The Government takes illegal working and worker exploitation very seriously and is committed to tackling non-compliance in high-risk sectors, including car washes. Immigration Enforcement activity has intensified over the past year, with enforcement teams carrying out over 11,000 visits to businesses across all sectors suspected of using illegal workers, marking a 51% increase. These resulted in more than 8,000 arrests, a 63% increase on the same period 12 months prior.

These figures demonstrate that enforcement is having a significant impact in disrupting this illegal activity. However, challenges remain, including the informal nature of the sector. To strengthen outcomes, the forthcoming Fair Work Agency will bring a cross-government response to improve intelligence sharing to increase co-ordination across enforcement bodes.

The Government recognises that car washes can present a risk of being exploited for money laundering and other illicit financial activity. Recent enforcement activity led by the National Crime Agency (Operation MACHINIZE) has identified links between some car washes being used for money laundering and grey economy. As part of targeted enforcement, the National Crime Agency works closely with law enforcement partners, including immigration enforcement to disrupt these activities and strengthen compliance. This approach forms part of a wider strategy to tackle organised crime, protect vulnerable workers, and ensure the integrity of the financial system.

Civil penalties for illegal working remain the principal sanctions for tackling non-compliance and are designed to hold non-compliant employers to account and disrupt illegal working activity. The Home Office will actively pursue debt recovery action in every case. If the employer does not pay the penalty in full or by instalments when due, the penalty will be passed to our external specialist debt recovery agents, registered with the civil court, after which enforcement action will commence. This includes a pre-legal and legal debt recovery strategy where enforcement officers have the powers to apply a range of additional tools including Charging Orders, Attachment of Earnings, Third Party Debt Orders and Orders to Obtain Information.

The Home Office publishes online, on a quarterly basis, details of all employers who have been found liable for a civil penalty and have not paid or are not making regular payments towards the penalty.

Immigration Enforcement acts on intelligence and applies sanctions where immigration offences occur, including civil penalties up to £60,000 per illegal worker, criminal convictions with up to 5 years’ imprisonment, business closure, director disqualification, loss of sponsorship rights, and seizure of illegal earnings. We also work closely with the Insolvency Service to hold non-compliant directors to account and consider them for disqualification. Migrants working illegally face up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment (England and Wales) or 6 months (Scotland and Northern Ireland) and/or a fine.

The Home Office does not hold centrally collated data on the number of car washes that have been permanently closed or the number of owners jailed for employing illegal workers in each year.

The Government takes illegal working and worker exploitation very seriously and is committed to tackling non-compliance in high-risk sectors, including car washes. Immigration Enforcement activity has intensified over the past year, with enforcement teams carrying out over 11,000 visits to businesses across all sectors suspected of using illegal workers, marking a 51% increase. These resulted in more than 8,000 arrests, a 63% increase on the same period 12 months prior.

These figures demonstrate that enforcement is having a significant impact in disrupting this illegal activity. However, challenges remain, including the informal nature of the sector. To strengthen outcomes, the forthcoming Fair Work Agency will bring a cross-government response to improve intelligence sharing to increase co-ordination across enforcement bodes.

The Government recognises that car washes can present a risk of being exploited for money laundering and other illicit financial activity. Recent enforcement activity led by the National Crime Agency (Operation MACHINIZE) has identified links between some car washes being used for money laundering and grey economy. As part of targeted enforcement, the National Crime Agency works closely with law enforcement partners, including immigration enforcement to disrupt these activities and strengthen compliance. This approach forms part of a wider strategy to tackle organised crime, protect vulnerable workers, and ensure the integrity of the financial system.

Civil penalties for illegal working remain the principal sanctions for tackling non-compliance and are designed to hold non-compliant employers to account and disrupt illegal working activity. The Home Office will actively pursue debt recovery action in every case. If the employer does not pay the penalty in full or by instalments when due, the penalty will be passed to our external specialist debt recovery agents, registered with the civil court, after which enforcement action will commence. This includes a pre-legal and legal debt recovery strategy where enforcement officers have the powers to apply a range of additional tools including Charging Orders, Attachment of Earnings, Third Party Debt Orders and Orders to Obtain Information.

The Home Office publishes online, on a quarterly basis, details of all employers who have been found liable for a civil penalty and have not paid or are not making regular payments towards the penalty.

Immigration Enforcement acts on intelligence and applies sanctions where immigration offences occur, including civil penalties up to £60,000 per illegal worker, criminal convictions with up to 5 years’ imprisonment, business closure, director disqualification, loss of sponsorship rights, and seizure of illegal earnings. We also work closely with the Insolvency Service to hold non-compliant directors to account and consider them for disqualification. Migrants working illegally face up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment (England and Wales) or 6 months (Scotland and Northern Ireland) and/or a fine.

The Home Office does not hold centrally collated data on the number of car washes that have been permanently closed or the number of owners jailed for employing illegal workers in each year.

The Home Office applies small discretionary payments, where appropriate, to prevent the failure of returns. These payments facilitate returns by making them quicker and cheaper, helping to avoid delays and additional costs. Decisions on their use are operational in nature.

As always with expenditure on returns, these one-off costs must be set against the much higher long-term costs that would result from the same individuals remaining in the UK, including, where necessary, ongoing expenditure on accommodation or detention and the legal processes required to authorise their removal.

This Government’s priority is keeping the people of this country safe, and we make no apology for seeking to remove dangerous foreign criminals and other immigration offenders.

It is, and always will be, an absolute priority to protect our democratic processes from both mis- and disinformation and from foreign interference. Any new regulation addressing mis and disinformation must be carefully balanced with the need to protect freedom of expression and the legitimate public debate which is also crucial to a thriving democracy. Since March, the Online Safety Act has required services to take steps to remove illegal disinformation content. Illegal disinformation content includes state-sponsored disinformation in scope of the Foreign Interference Offence, and disinformation aimed at disrupting elections where it is a criminal offence in scope of the regulatory framework. This can include false statements of fact about a candidate’s personal character or conduct and undue influence on voters.

The Defending Democracy Taskforce, which coordinates work to protect UK political parties, elected officials and electoral infrastructure from threats including foreign interference and the Joint Election Security and Preparedness unit coordinates work to protect UK elections and referendums. The Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan launched last month to disrupt and deter spying from states.

The Government’s strategy for modern, secure and inclusive elections, published in July, sets out our plan to strengthen oversight of and safeguards against known and emerging threats, including foreign interference. We will deliver a robust and proportionate response to known risks, protecting the integrity of our system and reinforcing public trust in democracy.

Under existing regulations, campaigners are required to include an imprint with their name and address on printed and digital campaigning material. Imprint rules play an important role in promoting trust in our democratic process by ensuring voters can clearly see who is behind political campaigning material.

The Government is committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections. As part of this, we intend to add unregistered third-party campaigning organisations to the list of entities who are required to include a digital imprint on their organic digital campaigning material and extend the Electoral Commission’s remit to be the primary enforcer of all imprint rules.

The Government has no plans at this time to introduce a public database for online political advertisements, but welcome the steps taken by social media companies to create “advert libraries”.

Under existing regulations, campaigners are required to include an imprint with their name and address on printed and digital campaigning material. Imprint rules play an important role in promoting trust in our democratic process by ensuring voters can clearly see who is behind political campaigning material.

The Government is committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections. As part of this, we intend to add unregistered third-party campaigning organisations to the list of entities who are required to include a digital imprint on their organic digital campaigning material and extend the Electoral Commission’s remit to be the primary enforcer of all imprint rules.

The Government has no plans at this time to introduce a public database for online political advertisements, but welcome the steps taken by social media companies to create “advert libraries”.