Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with Welsh Government officials on the application of relevant measures set out in the violence against women and girls strategy, published on 18 December 2025, in Wales.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Throughout the development of the VAWG Strategy we have engaged with the Welsh Government, Scottish Government, and Northern Ireland Executive, including through roundtables with Welsh stakeholders and representation of the Wales National Advisor on VAWG as part of our Strategy Advisory Board. Each Devolved Government has its own strategy, and ours has been informed by best practices drawn from the approaches of all three, including Wales. We are committed to sharing learning and best practice to make our work complementary. VAWG is a national and international emergency, and we will continue working with the Welsh Government, Scottish Government, and Northern Ireland Executive to ensure a coordinated UK-wide response.

Tackling violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence (VAWDASV) has been a long-standing priority for the Welsh Government, as demonstrated through the ground-breaking Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act. Its second Strategy (May 2022) further set out its vision to end VAWG, domestic abuse and sexual violence in Wales. The VAWDASV Blueprint approach brings together devolved and reserved public authorities, non-governmental organisations, specialist services and survivors whose voices are integral to securing a future without VAWG to deliver this vision. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our Welsh Government colleagues as we deliver on our commitments within the Strategy to ensure a cohesive, joined-up approach.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which specific measures set out in the Tackling violence against women and girls strategy, published on 18 December, apply to (a) England only and (b) England and Wales.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

This Strategy applies to areas under UK Government responsibility. Commitments on crime, policing, and justice apply to England and Wales, while those on health, social care, housing, transport, and education apply to England only, as these are devolved matters. Reserved areas, such as online safety and immigration, apply across the UK.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what Barnett consequential funding will Wales receive as a result of measures set out in the Violence against women and girls strategy, published on 18 December 2025.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

The Barnett formula applies to all increases or decreases to UK Government Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL). Programmes set out in the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy are being funded from within existing unallocated budgets. The Barnett formula has already been applied in the normal way to funding previously allocated at Spending Review 2025.

Spending Review 2025 provided the Welsh Government with their largest spending review settlements in real terms since devolution in 1998. As a result of decisions at Budget 2025, the Welsh Government will receive an additional £320 million RDELex and £185 million CDEL through the operation of the Barnett formula on top of these record settlements.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps his Department has taken to identify and investigate online retailers that misrepresent themselves as UK-based businesses.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 prohibits unfair commercial practices, including misleading actions (such as online retailers that misrepresent themselves as UK-based), that are likely to impact the average consumer’s transactional decision.

The CMA and Trading Standards are responsible for investigating any breaches of misrepresentation (along with HMRC if any breaches of customs rules and duties are indicated).

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he has taken to address fraud by companies in the ECO4 scheme since the publication of the National Audit Office investigation into the performance of ECO in October 2025.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

For existing schemes, we work with Ofgem, TrustMark and energy suppliers to detect, prevent and deter fraud. When Ofgem is notified of suspected fraud, they engage with suppliers, Action Fraud and the Serious Fraud Office to ensure robust investigation.

We are taking on board the lessons identified by the NAO, embedding these into our future consumer protection systems, and applying relevant lessons from grant-funded programmes as part of our revised approach to assurance in all retrofit schemes. We have increased departmental oversight of consumer levy funded schemes and will publish an updated Accounting Officer statement with our 2025-26 annual report.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of conducting a government inquiry into the installation of air source heatpumps and solar panels within the ECO4 scheme.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

ECO4 has played a part in delivering clean heat technologies; however, issues identified by the NAO and PAC support a shift to a more direct, publicly-funded approach focused on technologies that cut bills and accelerate the transition to clean heat such as heat pumps, solar PV and batteries. The government is providing an additional £1.5 billion—taking planned capital investment to almost £15 billion—to upgrade low‑income homes and scale clean home‑energy technologies. Deployment will be further supported through wider policies and details of this will be set out soon in the Warm Homes Plan.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what safeguards are being established to protect people who are waiting for rectification of work carried out under the ECO 4 Scheme by Consumer Energy Solutions following the company entering administration.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

All completed installations under ECO4 and GBIS are covered by a guarantee. Consumers should approach their guarantee provider for support within the bounds of their policy. We are actively and urgently working with Trustmark, MCS and scheme providers to consider how best to support recipients of CES’ work. We will provide further advice as soon as possible. No household should be asked to pay to rectify non-compliant works.

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