Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department is collecting to monitor progress towards reducing the level of outsourcing in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not routinely collect data on outsourcing or insourcing arrangements. Outsourcing transactions which involve the creation of new subsidiaries or material changes to existing subsidiaries are reportable to NHS England for review in line with its published subsidiary transaction guidance.
As set out on 26 September 2025, NHS England will shortly consult on updating the subsidiary transaction guidance to confirm that subsidiaries involving the transfer of National Health Service staff will now only be approved in a limited number of circumstances, and only where there is clear local union support and protection of NHS terms and conditions, including pension access.
Subsidiary transaction proposals involving the transfer of NHS staff are paused while NHS England undertakes this consultation, unless they are supported by local unions.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to implement Baroness Casey's recommendation on stopping out of area taxis from the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse report.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government response to Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse committed to legislate to tackle the inconsistent standards of taxi and PHV driver licensing. As a first step, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks a power for the Secretary of State to set national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. The power was approved by the House of Commons, and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords.
If passed, this would enable government to set robust standards for licensing right across England, to keep vulnerable children and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel.
The Department continues to consider further options for reform, including out-of-area working and enforcement. We need to ensure that taxis and PHVs are able to work in a way that facilitates the journeys passengers want and need to make, in a consistently safe way, whilst achieving the best overall outcomes for passenger safety. The Government is currently consulting on making all local transport authorities responsible for taxi and PHV licensing. Administering licensing across larger areas would further increase consistency in licensing and enable better resourced authorities to make better use of their enforcement powers.
The Department’s existing statutory guidance recommends that licensing authorities should require taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers to undertake an enhanced DBS and barred lists check as part of its licensing processes. All licensing authorities in England have advised that they require this.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring licensed taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to obtain a DBS check.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government response to Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse committed to legislate to tackle the inconsistent standards of taxi and PHV driver licensing. As a first step, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks a power for the Secretary of State to set national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. The power was approved by the House of Commons, and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords.
If passed, this would enable government to set robust standards for licensing right across England, to keep vulnerable children and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel.
The Department continues to consider further options for reform, including out-of-area working and enforcement. We need to ensure that taxis and PHVs are able to work in a way that facilitates the journeys passengers want and need to make, in a consistently safe way, whilst achieving the best overall outcomes for passenger safety. The Government is currently consulting on making all local transport authorities responsible for taxi and PHV licensing. Administering licensing across larger areas would further increase consistency in licensing and enable better resourced authorities to make better use of their enforcement powers.
The Department’s existing statutory guidance recommends that licensing authorities should require taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers to undertake an enhanced DBS and barred lists check as part of its licensing processes. All licensing authorities in England have advised that they require this.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of taxi drivers operating outside their licensing area on (a) public safety and (b) compliance monitoring.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government response to Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse committed to legislate to tackle the inconsistent standards of taxi and PHV driver licensing. As a first step, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks a power for the Secretary of State to set national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. The power was approved by the House of Commons, and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords.
If passed, this would enable government to set robust standards for licensing right across England, to keep vulnerable children and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel.
The Department continues to consider further options for reform, including out-of-area working and enforcement. We need to ensure that taxis and PHVs are able to work in a way that facilitates the journeys passengers want and need to make, in a consistently safe way, whilst achieving the best overall outcomes for passenger safety. The Government is currently consulting on making all local transport authorities responsible for taxi and PHV licensing. Administering licensing across larger areas would further increase consistency in licensing and enable better resourced authorities to make better use of their enforcement powers.
The Department’s existing statutory guidance recommends that licensing authorities should require taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers to undertake an enhanced DBS and barred lists check as part of its licensing processes. All licensing authorities in England have advised that they require this.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what legislative steps she plans to take to update taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government response to Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse committed to legislate to tackle the inconsistent standards of taxi and PHV driver licensing. As a first step, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks a power for the Secretary of State to set national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. The power was approved by the House of Commons, and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords.
If passed, this would enable government to set robust standards for licensing right across England, to keep vulnerable children and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel.
The Department continues to consider further options for reform, including out-of-area working and enforcement. We need to ensure that taxis and PHVs are able to work in a way that facilitates the journeys passengers want and need to make, in a consistently safe way, whilst achieving the best overall outcomes for passenger safety. The Government is currently consulting on making all local transport authorities responsible for taxi and PHV licensing. Administering licensing across larger areas would further increase consistency in licensing and enable better resourced authorities to make better use of their enforcement powers.
The Department’s existing statutory guidance recommends that licensing authorities should require taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers to undertake an enhanced DBS and barred lists check as part of its licensing processes. All licensing authorities in England have advised that they require this.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to provide support for the electric motorcycle industry after the end of the Plug-in Motorcycle Grant.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has committed £7.5 billion over the next decade to support industry and the public as they transition to zero emission vehicles.
Ending the £500 Plug-in Motorcycle Grant is not expected to have a significant impact on uptake of zero emission motorcycles or on riders. The Government will continue to work with industry and monitor the development of the zero emission motorcycle market and the need for any further interventions on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what enforcement action his Department plans to take against companies found to be wrongly engaging people as self-employed.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Bogus or false self-employment is unacceptable and we are committed to robustly tackling it. HMRC will investigate evidence that suggests companies may have misclassified individuals for tax purposes. Employers can also be taken to an employment tribunal if they seek to deny people their employment rights and avoid their own legal obligations by claiming someone is self-employed when they are not.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the City of Wolverhampton Council's safeguarding standards for obtaining taxi and private hire vehicle licenses.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department’s statutory guidance sets out a robust set of measures that taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities should act on to safeguard the most vulnerable in society. This recommends that licensing authorities should require taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers to undertake an enhanced DBS and barred lists check as part of its licensing processes. The City of Wolverhampton Council has advised that it requires this important safeguard and carries out automated criminality checks on a daily basis.
We undertake regular surveys of all licensing authorities to better understand how all licensing authorities ensure the safety of their passengers. Data from the Department’s 2026 survey of licensing authorities in England, which includes details on safeguarding polices, will be published in summer.
The Government is legislating to tackle inconsistencies in taxi and PHV licensing. As a first step, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks a power for the Secretary of State to set national minimum standards. The power was approved by the House of Commons, and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords. If passed, this would enable government to set robust standards for licensing right across England, to keep vulnerable children and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what response was provided by DHSC to the consultation by HM Treasury around changes to the VAT treatment of public bodies under Section 41 of the VAT Act.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care did not submit a formal response to HM Treasury’s consultation on proposed changes to the VAT treatment of public bodies under section 41 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994.
The consultation, VAT and the Public Sector: Reform to VAT Refund Rules, was published by HM Treasury on 27 August 2020 and closed on 19 November 2020.
As a central Government department, the Department of Health and Social Care engaged with HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs through cross-Government discussions to consider the potential implications of the proposals for the health and care system, including National Health Service bodies, rather than responding as a stakeholder in its own right.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any NHS Trusts are developing proposals for new SubCos.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service trust proposals to establish subsidiary companies are reviewed by NHS England in line with its published subsidiary transaction guidance. NHS England has one proposal under formal consideration.
As set out on 26 September 2025, NHS England will shortly consult on updating national guidance to confirm that subsidiaries involving the transfer of NHS staff will now only be approved in a limited number of circumstances and only where there is clear local union support and protection of NHS terms and conditions, including pension access.