Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to prevent public contracts being awarded to companies that blacklist workers.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 contain exclusion grounds which allow contracting authorities to exclude suppliers from procurements where their tender does not comply with labour law or where the supplier is guilty of grave professional misconduct.
For example, a breach of the The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010, which prohibit the compilation, usage, sale or supply of blacklists of trade union members and activists, would render the supplier liable to potential exclusion.
In all cases, individual departments and other public sector bodies are responsible for their own decisions on these matters.
The Procurement Act, which is expected to go live in October 2024, builds on and clarifies the exclusions measures in the existing regime. This includes specific measures enabling the exclusion of suppliers for professional misconduct.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of alkaline hydrolysis as an alternative to cremation on the UK's ability to achieve its energy security and net zero emissions targets.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government currently has no plans to make such an assessment.
At present, burial and cremation are the only regulated funerary methods in England and Wales. However, we are aware of the growing interest in alternative funerary methods. The Law Commission are considering, as part of its Burial, Cremation and New Funerary Methods project, the disposal of human remains. This work will consider the creation of a regulatory framework for safe and dignified new funerary methods.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of a four-day working week on gender equality.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The government routinely considers the implications of evidence from a range of sources when assessing policies on working practices. The government has no plans to implement a four-day week but has recently introduced the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023.
The Act makes changes to the right to request flexible working to better support employers and employees to agree flexible working arrangements that work for everyone.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many chapters of a prospective free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council have been concluded.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Six rounds of negotiations have been successfully concluded as part of negotiations on a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Department for Business and Trade regularly engages with the GCC at both Chief Negotiator and ministerial level and is making good progress on agreeing chapters including in areas such as Customs, Technical Barriers to Trade and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The department cannot comment any further as negotiations are ongoing.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Competition and Market Authority investigation into the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three Mobile.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Competition and Markets Authority is the UK’s independent competition regulator and its merger investigations are independent of Government.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Millions to take home more cash as new guidance on Tipping is published, published on 22 April 2024, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delaying the implementation of the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 to 1 October 2024.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act will require employers to pass all tips on to workers, without deductions. The implementation date for the Act, and the accompanying statutory Code of Practice, was revised from 1st July to 1st October to ensure sufficient time for those affected by the changes to prepare.
The impacts of the new requirements were considered in the impact assessment for the Act: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3197/publications.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the benefit cap on people living in regions with high housing costs outside of Greater London; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) aligning the benefit cap with Local Housing Allowance rates and (b) exempting housing-related benefits from a benefits cap set at a lower rate.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made and there are no current plans to change the policy.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will take steps to increase domestic steel production to levels that would make the UK self-sufficient.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government recognises the importance of steelmaking in the UK. However, there are many types of steel products needed by consumers, and it is not always economically viable for any nation to be wholly self-sufficient. This means that the UK imports certain types of steel and also exports certain steel product to other countries.
We have taken action to enable a competitive landscape and level playing field, including reducing energy costs through the British Industry Supercharger, access to energy efficiency and decarbonisation funding, and remedies against unfair trading practices, while balancing the need to remain a fair and open market.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has plans to distinguish between (a) studio and (b) one bedroom apartments in Local Housing Allowance rates.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A one-bedroom rate for the calculation of Local Housing Allowance is defined as accommodation where the tenant has the exclusive use of only one bedroom and exclusive use of a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet and a room suitable for living in. This includes studio apartments. There are no plans to change this definition.
Housing support is calculated according to the number of bedrooms a person needs based on the size of their household.
The maximum housing costs support is the lower of the actual rent and service charges or the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to encourage a greater emphasis on developing essential skills for life in schools and colleges.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department wants all children to leave school with the knowledge, skills and values that will prepare them to be citizens in modern Britain. There are many aspects of the curriculum that help young people develop essential life skills, including through the teaching of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), citizenship, mathematics and design and technology (D&T).
In primary schools, age-appropriate relationships education involves supporting children to learn how to develop mutually respectful relationships in all contexts, including online. In secondary schools, this broadens to become age-appropriate relationships and sex education. In health education, there is a strong focus on mental wellbeing, including a recognition that mental wellbeing and physical health are linked. The statutory guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
The department is currently reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance. The review has been informed by an independent expert panel to advise the Secretary of State for Education on the introduction of age limits for sensitive subjects. A draft of the amended guidance will be published for consultation as soon as possible.
The national curriculum for secondary citizenship develops pupils’ awareness and understanding of democracy, government and how laws are made and upheld. Teaching should equip pupils with the skills and knowledge to explore political and social issues critically, to weigh evidence, debate and make reasoned arguments. The citizenship programmes of study are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-citizenship-programmes-of-study.
Primary maintained schools and all academies are encouraged to cover citizenship as part of their duty to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum following the non-statutory framework for citizenship.
Pupils should be prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed.
Financial knowledge is a compulsory part of the national curriculum for mathematics at key stages 1 to 4 and citizenship at key stages 3 and 4. The mathematics curriculum provides young people with the mathematical knowledge that underpins their ability to make important financial decisions. At primary schools, there is a strong emphasis on enabling pupils to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. At secondary schools and in GCSE mathematics, pupils solve problems in financial contexts. The mathematics programme of study can be found on GOV.UK.
Through primary citizenship curriculum, pupils should be taught to realise that money comes from different sources and can be used for different purposes. They should also be taught how to spend and save money sensibly and that economic choices affect individuals and communities. This is expanded in secondary citizenship where pupils are taught the function and uses of money, how to budget, and manage credit and debt, as well as concepts like insurance, savings and pensions.
Cooking and nutrition is a discrete strand of the national curriculum for D&T. This was introduced as part of the 2014 D&T curriculum and is compulsory for key stages 1 to 3. The curriculum aims to teach children how to cook, with an emphasis on savoury dishes, and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and nutrition. It recognises that cooking is an important life skill that will help children to feed themselves and others healthy and affordable food.
RSHE and citizenship sit alongside extra-curricular programmes to develop a variety of life skills such as resilience, leadership, persistence, and teamwork. Schools are best placed to understand and meet the needs of their pupils and so have flexibility to decide how they deliver the curriculum and what range of extra-curricular activities to offer. The department supports a range of initiatives to expand access to extra-curricular activities through schools, such as working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to offer the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to all state secondary schools in England.