Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing statutory menstrual leave for people diagnosed with (a) endometriosis, (b) adenomyosis and (c) other chronic reproductive health conditions; and what steps his Department is taking to support women who experience debilitating symptoms that affect their ability to work.

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

The Government takes women’s health issues very seriously; we are committed to supporting women to balance work alongside managing their health. Endometriosis and adenomyosis can classify as disabilities and, in these cases, existing protections under the Equality Act 2010 require employers to make reasonable adjustments where appropriate. By strengthening rights through the Employment Rights Bill, including expanding flexible working and statutory sick pay, the Government is also taking steps to support the wellbeing and work-life balance of all workers. Therefore, there are no plans to introduce a specific leave entitlement.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle online (a) grooming and (b) predatory behaviour on metaverse-type platforms; and what discussions her Department has had with Ofcom on the use of enforcement powers under the Online Safety Act 2023 to hold platforms with significant child user bases accountable.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Online Safety Act (OSA) gives online user-to-user platforms duties to take steps to tackle online grooming and other child sexual abuse and exploitation on their services. These duties extend to user-to-user platforms that use virtual reality technology.

Ofcom is the regulator for the regime. It sets out the steps in codes of practice that different providers can take to fulfil their duties. Ofcom is already enforcing the Act and has investigations into over 60 services for suspected non-compliance with the illegal and child safety duties, including for preventing the sharing of CSAM.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department is taking steps to strengthen fire safety regulations for battery energy storage systems.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

In GB, fires at battery sites are rare and are mitigated by a regulatory framework overseen by the Health and Safety Executive. The latest available 5-year annual average fire incidence rate for GB batteries is 0.7% (2020/21 to 2024 to 2025)[1], lower than for wider non-domestic building fires in England at 0.8% (2019/20 to 2023/24)[2].

To complement this regulation, DEFRA is consulting on including batteries within the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR). EPR requires sites to demonstrate to the Environment Agency that harms are avoided or controlled and provides for ongoing regulatory inspections.

[1] https://modoenergy.com/indices/industry-metrics?r=gb&m=operationalSites

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fire-statistics-monitor

Found: Salisbury) John Grady (Labour; Glasgow East) Dame Siobhain McDonagh (Labour; Mitcham and Morden) Lola McEvoy

Found: meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Bobby Dean; John Glen; Lola McEvoy