Kirsteen Sullivan

On 20 May, the EHRC opened its consultation on the changes made to the draft updated statutory Code of Practice following the Supreme Court ruling. This consultation is open until 30 June.

We will consider the EHRC's final draft Code of Practice once it has been submitted and engage with them to ensure it provides the clarity service providers need, in line with the Supreme Court ruling.

Once the final draft is agreed, we will follow the correct parliamentary process.

I am proud that progress is being made, with 40% of MPs now women, but we want to see this replicated at all levels of Government. Last summer my Ministerial colleague Bridget Philipson met with members of 50:50 Parliament, where they discussed the importance of gender equality in parliament and the barriers that women can face.

The government is committed to commencing the Equality Act 2010’s provision requiring registered political parties to publish anonymised data relating to the diversity of their candidate selections. We are currently exploring when to commence the section 106 provisions. We believe that every party has a duty to demonstrate greater progress towards better representation of the population that they seek to serve.

PPE must meet the essential health and safety requirements as set out in Regulation 2016/425, as assimilated into UK law. The Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018 provide the enforcement framework for that Regulation.

The Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 allows us to update the product safety framework, including by explicitly recognising online marketplace businesses. We plan to consult on new requirements for online marketplaces to take steps to improve product safety on their sites. Product safety specific sector legislation, including the PPE legislation, will be reviewed in due course.

We are creating the Fair Work Agency to deliver a much-needed upgrade to enforcement of employment rights.

Its core function will be to enforce specific employment legislation, set out in Part 1 of Schedule 7 of the Employment Rights Bill.

We have taken steps to ensure the Fair Work Agency can work closely with the Health and Safety Executive, including sharing information that is relevant to the Health and Safety Executive’s statutory role. This is provided for by Schedule 9 of the Employment Rights Bill.

Repurposing existing offshore and onshore infrastructure could make a significant contribution to the UK’s drive to net-zero. In 2022, analysis by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) identified more than 100 pipelines which could be suitable for CCS or hydrogen projects.

The NSTA supports government and others to identify opportunities for repurposing, including for carbon dioxide or offshore hydrogen transportation and storage projects.

We are already seeing this in practice. HyNet will be served by a combination of new and existing infrastructure, with more than 90 miles of offshore and onshore pipeline being repurposed.

The government is working with regulators to ensure that the future telecommunications requirements of the energy, water and transport sectors are understood. And the government will draw on the National Infrastructure Commission’s analysis for the forthcoming 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy.

We are working with stakeholders, including local authorities, on how GBE could support local and community energy.

The UK will work closely with Scottish Government on this matter as part of the Vision Statement signed in October which committed to exploring joint working on community energy.

The government is considering how it can support the development of telecommunications infrastructure for a decarbonised energy system, and whether spectrum access would be appropriate. As part of this, my officials are in regular discussion with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ofgem and Ofcom on energy system telecommunications needs.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The statutory guidance is clear that schools are accountable for what they teach and should ensure that all relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) content is factual, age-appropriate and suitable for their pupils.

The government has commissioned Oak National Academy (Oak) to make lesson materials freely available. Oak is an independent arm’s length body that provides free, optional and adaptable curriculum and teaching resources to schools. As part of its RSHE curriculum resources, Oak has recently published new online safety lessons, covering topics such as misogyny, the prevalence of deepfakes, and reporting unsuitable content, amongst many others. Oak will publish its full RSHE curriculum resources from autumn 2025.

To further support teachers with taking on these important topics, we will be piloting a teacher training grant, starting early 2026.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department does not hold any data on these specific issues. It is for individual schools to deliver the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum, using the statutory guidance which came into force in September 2020.

In July 2025 we updated the RSHE statutory guidance with regard to menstrual and gynaecological health, to include specific examples of period problems, including pre-menstrual syndrome, heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, and to ensure pupils understand when to seek help from healthcare professionals. The new curriculum comes into force from September 2026. The updated statutory guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

We are supporting the UK SAF industry in a range of ways. We are building demand for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) through the SAF Mandate, introduced in January this year. We have introduced legislation to deliver a revenue certainty mechanism to support potential SAF producers across the UK. We also run a grant funding scheme, the Advanced Fuels Fund, for which £63m of funding is available in 2025/26 for the producers of SAF.

Together, these measures will give investors the confidence to support the commercial scale production of SAF in the UK, creating green jobs and developing skills.

We recognise that SAF is more expensive than jet fuel. This is why the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Mandate has been designed to protect against excessive costs. The SAF Mandate also has a built-in review process so the Government can take action to change scheme parameters if necessary. The pricing of SAF are commercial decisions for the market though we are working to further understand interactions between the SAF Mandate and SAF pricing. We are engaging with relevant stakeholders – including airports, airlines, fuel suppliers and trade associations to do this.

When setting SAF policy, we have to carefully balance a range of factors including potential cost impacts on airlines and passengers and the need to drive decarbonisation across the transport sector.

We continue to monitor trends in the SAF market and will review our assumptions where necessary when developing policies such as the revenue certainty mechanism which aims to support SAF production in the UK.

Skills and education policy are devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, whereas employment policy is not devolved, except for in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

DWP in Scotland provides extensive support to young people. This includes flexible provision driven by local need using DWP Flexible Support Fund, and support delivered by specialist youth work coaches based in Jobcentres and through 16 Youth Hubs. Strategic engagement with Scottish Government is fundamental in developing the additional employment support available through their No One Left Behind Policy which is delivered by Local Authorities via Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs). This support is agreed and designed based on local need, with input from DWP and other Stakeholders.

The data requested is not held by the Department.

Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan later this year, we will develop a new national cancer plan. The cancer plan will include more details about how to improve outcomes for all tumour types, including lobular breast cancer. We plan to engage with a wide range of cancer partners on the national cancer plan, including charities and patient representative bodies.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the government committed to an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025.

During Oral Questions on 1 July 2025, Greg Smith MP referred to comments made by an external stakeholder that were shared under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. HMRC Officials do not recognise the allegation that HMRC agreed deals with large employers allowing them to settle disguised remuneration liabilities for less than was legally due.

The Government remains committed to successful implementation of the Deposit Return Scheme, which is a critical step in moving towards a circular economy that delivers sustainable growth and produces less waste, rubbish, and litter.

The Government is keen to ensure that VAT is not a barrier to effective operation of the Deposit Return Scheme. The Government is considering how best to achieve this while maintaining the integrity of the tax, and this work is being supported by engagement with industry representatives, including the British Soft Drinks Association.

National Policy Statements set out the need for the development of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects and the Government's policy for meeting that need. NPSs provide clarity, certainty and transparency on Government policy for scheme promoters, the planning inspectorate, decision makers and the wider public.

As part of this government’s growth agenda, we will publish a cross-cutting 10-year infrastructure strategy, which will communicate to the public our approach to housing, economic and social infrastructure. The government has committed to delivering an infrastructure pipeline to provide a clear sense of the government’s long-term infrastructure priorities.

The Government fully understands the importance of enabling employees to share in the fruits of a company’s success, and for businesses to reward and retain employees effectively. The UK share schemes are popular, generous and internationally competitive.

A call for evidence on Save As You Earn (SAYE) and the Share Incentive Plan (SIP) ran from June to August 2023. It sought views on whether the schemes are meeting their policy objectives and opportunities to improve and simplify them. The Government is considering the responses to the call for evidence, and is grateful to those who took the time to respond.

The Government keeps all tax reliefs under review, to ensure they continue to meet their policy objectives in a way that is fair and effective.

This Government understands the significant and damaging impact freight crime has on businesses and drivers and we are aware of worrying increases in its frequency.

We work closely cross-Government to tackle the problem. The Minister for Police and Crime Prevention recently met with Rachel Taylor MP, and Lilian Greenwood, Minister for the Future of Roads at the Department for Transport (DfT) to discuss this very matter. Parking for HGVs is led by the Department of Transport. The DfT also hosts the Freight Council; this group regularly discusses crime against freight companies, and the Home Office works closely with DfT to engage with the sector on this issue through the Freight Council.

There are strong links between freight crime and serious organised crime, which is a major threat to the national security and prosperity of the UK and estimated to cost the economy at least £47 billion annually.

This Government is committed to tackling serious and organised crime in all its forms. We work closely with Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, which has multiple thematic desks, including a vehicle crime intelligence desk which covers freight crime.

We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies and other invested stakeholders to change the unacceptable perception that freight crime is low risk and high reward and find solutions which will tackle it.

The holdings in the Russian Military Studies Centre are an under-utilised resource. These holdings are currently being catalogued with their future provision, and access to them, subject to review.

The Government recognises the distress felt by those who are victims of theft, and such matters should be reported, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts to provide justice. Theft of goods, regardless of value, is a criminal offence under the Theft Act 1968 and the maximum penalty is seven years’ imprisonment. The sentencing guidelines for theft acknowledge that, where the items stolen were of substantial value to the victim, then regardless of their monetary worth and consequential financial harm to victims and others, this will indicate a higher level of harm, and the offender should be sentenced accordingly.

The government does not intend to introduce a specific offence of theft involving high value goods from haulage or freight vehicles.