Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the potential cost of implementing the Equality and Human Rights Commission proposed code of practice for services, public functions and associations, published on 20 May 2025, in context of the provision of single-sex spaces in healthcare settings.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the cost, including any associated legal costs, of implementing the Code of Practice. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is currently consulting on text for an updated statutory Code of Practice. The English language version closes on 30 June. The Welsh language survey closes on 15 July.
The Supreme Court’s ruling gives clarity to service providers, and we expect all providers to follow the clarity it provides.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the legal costs of implementing the EHRC’s proposed Code of Practise for Primary Care Networks.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the cost, including any associated legal costs, of implementing the Code of Practice. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is currently consulting on text for an updated statutory Code of Practice. The English language version closes on 30 June. The Welsh language survey closes on 15 July.
The Supreme Court’s ruling gives clarity to service providers, and we expect all providers to follow the clarity it provides.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the potential costs of implementing the Equality and Human Rights Commission proposed code of practice for services, public functions and associations, published on 20 May 2025, to local authority-run buildings.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We have not yet made an assessment of the cost and impact on local authorities of implementing the proposed updates to the Equality and Human Rights Commission Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations, which is still open for consultation.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the Equality and Human Rights Commission proposed code of practice for services, public functions and associations, published on 20 May 2025, on costs of litigation to local authorities.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We have not yet made an assessment of the cost and impact on local authorities of implementing the proposed updates to the Equality and Human Rights Commission Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations, which is still open for consultation.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the legal costs of implementing the EHRC’s proposed Code of Practise for GPs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the cost, including any associated legal costs, of implementing the Code of Practice. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is currently consulting on text for an updated statutory Code of Practice. The English language version closes on 30 June. The Welsh language survey closes on 15 July.
The Supreme Court’s ruling gives clarity to service providers, and we expect all providers to follow the clarity it provides.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment has she made of the potential impact of (a) co-operatives and (b) co-operation in the UK's apporach to international development.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government recognises the important contribution cooperatives have made in serving local communities around the world. Cooperatives are a tried-and-tested model in international development, that can enable citizens and producers to access services or markets and strengthen their voice in local processes. Cooperatives can enable sustainable and inclusive development centred on self-help, democratic ownership, and concern for the community. The UK has supported cooperatives and producer organisations in developing countries, including, for example in agriculture through funding to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), which supports producer organisations, and the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness Programme (CASA), which partners with cooperatives and small agribusinesses in low-income countries to improve smallholder farmers' access to markets.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with (a) charities, (b) private sector organisations and (c) other non-government organisations on the implementation of changes to practice following the Supreme Court judgment on legal definitions of sex within the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Government has set out our expectation that organisations follow the clarity the Supreme Court ruling provides. The EHRC has already committed to supporting organisations with its updated statutory Code of Practice which they are consulting on. We will continue to engage with stakeholders across the board as we have always done.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 38671 on Means-tested Benefits: Veterans, whether her Department has considered requiring local authorities to disregard payments from the (a) Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, (b) Service Invalidity Pension, (c) Service Attributable Pension and (d) War Pension when assessing entitlement to (i) Housing Benefit, (ii) Council Tax Support, (iii) Discretionary Housing Payments and (iv) Disabled Facilities Grants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Housing Benefit regulations permit local authorities to disregard beyond the standard disregard of £10 a week the whole or part of any war disablement pensions, war widow’s pensions, war widower’s pensions and guaranteed income payments under the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Compensation Scheme.
(a) Armed Forces Compensation Scheme £10 disregard with local discretion
(b) Service Invalidity Pension no disregard is applied and it is treated as income
(c) Service Attributable Pension is treated the same as a War Pension so subject to the £10 disregard and local discretion.
(d) War Pension - £10 disregard with local discretion
There are no plans to make changes to the discretionary scheme.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the devolved administrations are responsible for Council Tax Support and Disabled Facilities Grants policy.
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) can be paid to veterans entitled to Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. Local authorities administer the Discretionary Housing Payments scheme as they are best placed to make informed judgements about relative priorities and needs in their area to ensure that the most vulnerable are supported and the funds are targeted effectively. There are no prescribed resources tests; local authorities simply have to be satisfied that the person concerned needs further financial assistance towards housing costs. The payments are entirely at local authority discretion, including the amount and duration of any award.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment eligibility criteria on veterans with service-related (a) mental and (b) physical health conditions (i) with and (ii) without fluctuating symptoms.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not centrally record the veteran status of PIP claimants.
In our recent Pathways to Work Green Paper, published on the 18 March 2025, we announced a broad package of reforms to the health and disability benefit and support system. No changes are proposed to Armed Forces Independence Payments which provide support to some of the most severely disabled veterans.
For those who receive PIP and are affected by the eligibility changes, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met. We also intend to launch a wider review of the PIP assessment, and we will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this. We will provide further details as plans progress.
As we develop proposals further, we will consider the impacts of changes as part of our wider consideration of responses to the Green Paper consultation. We would encourage organisations supporting and representing veterans, such as the Royal British Legion, SSAFA, and many others, to respond to the consultation setting out their thoughts and views on how wounded, injured and sick veterans can best be supported.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the criteria for Armed Forces Independence Payments to include veterans with service-related mental health conditions who may be impacted by changes to Personal Independence Payment criteria.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Veterans with service-related mental health conditions may, depending on the severity of their condition, already be eligible for Armed Forces Independence Payments. Officials in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Ministry of Defence continue to work closely to ensure that where DWP benefits interface with the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and War Pension Scheme, they are taken into consideration as work on welfare reform continues.