Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (i) people can access Disabled Person’s Trust accounts from high street banks and (ii) public bodies are using powers to ensure access for families of disabled people to those accounts.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone can access appropriate financial services and products, which is vital for financial resilience and wellbeing and ensuring that individuals are able to fully participate in the economy.
The provision of services such as trust accounts is a commercial decision for individual banks and building societies, and the Government does not intervene in these decisions.
Under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Duty, firms must consider the impact of withdrawing a product and take steps to mitigate harm. However, the FCA cannot compel firms to offer specific products.
The FCA is currently engaging with industry and stakeholders to explore issues around the provision of trust accounts for disabled people, and the Government supports this work.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the LGBT Veterans Independent Review.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I am disgusted by the mistreatment of our brave LGBT veterans who served between 1967 and 2000.
I am pleased that the Government has delivered 48 of the 49 recommendations made by the Lord Etherton’s Independent Review.
One of those was the unveiling of the LGBT+ Armed Forces Community Memorial. I was honoured to attend the dedication in October, alongside His Majesty the King and LGBT Veterans and Service personnel.
The one outstanding recommendation recognises the unique experiences of female veterans. Work is ongoing on a number of initiatives towards this, including launch of a new Women Veterans Forum.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions his Department has had with their Colombian counterparts on the Colombia-UK Bilateral Investment Treaty in the last four years.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My Department regularly engages with Colombia to discuss trade and investment matters, primarily through the UK-Andean countries trade agreement committees which have been meeting annually since 2022 and the UK-Colombia Trade Dialogue. My Department has not received a formal approach by its Colombian counterparts to discuss the UK-Colombia Bilateral Investment Treaty.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what review processes does the Government have in place to assess the adequacy of its trade and investment treaty commitments for the UK-Russia Bilateral Investment Treaty.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK’s International Investment Agreements (IIAs) aim to enhance opportunities for UK businesses to expand overseas, with commitments that seek to limit the barriers they face, make it easier to navigate local rules, and ensure investments are treated lawfully, and protected against unfair or arbitrary action. There is no specific review process within this Agreement.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2025 to Question 89908 on Trade Agreements: Dispute Resolution, what assessment has the Government made of the likely costs of defending the arbitration being brought against it by Mikhail Fridman.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provides an independent means for investors to resolve disputes with states where they believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory, or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation.
The UK has a longstanding track record of supporting foreign investment, including through fulfilling its obligations in the international investment agreements to which it is a party and has never faced a successful ISDS claim.
The Government maintains that it has acted consistently with domestic and international law obligations in the case of the legal challenges. In view of the ongoing proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has the Government made of its overall exposure to further potential Investor-State Dispute Settlement cases over sanctions policy on Russia.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provides an independent means for investors to resolve disputes with states where they believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory, or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation.
The UK has a longstanding track record of supporting foreign investment, including through fulfilling its obligations in the international investment agreements to which it is a party and has never faced a successful ISDS claim.
The Government maintains that it has acted consistently with domestic and international law obligations in the case of the legal challenges. In view of the ongoing proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2025 to Question 89908 on Trade Agreements: Dispute Resolution, under what arbitral rules were proceedings brought in those two active case.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The arbitral proceedings for HMG’s two active ISDS cases were brought under UNCITRAL (Mr Mikhail Maratovich Fridman) and ICSID (Woodhouse Investment Pte Ltd and West Cumbria Mining (Holdings) Limited) arbitral rules.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, who the parties are in the two active Investor-State Dispute Settlement cases against the UK.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is a respondent in two active arbitrations, (1) Woodhouse Investment Pte Ltd and West Cumbria Mining (Holdings) Limited and; (2) Mr Mikhail Maratovich Fridman.
The Government maintains that it has acted consistently with domestic and international law obligations in the case of the legal challenges. In view of the ongoing proceedings, it would be inappropriate for the Government to comment further at this stage.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to reflect that the (a) rights and (b) needs of older people will be reflected in the work of the High-Level Panel on Social Protection in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The High-Level Panel on Social Protection in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings (FCAS) is exploring why social protection remains neglected in the places that need it most. To support this, the Panel launched a public enquiry to gather evidence, structured around seven questions, one of which focuses on equitable access. We expect evidence submitted to cover a wider range of groups, such as older people and children, as well as women and girls, and displaced populations. The Panel Secretariat has engaged widely with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), UN agencies, academia, and civil society about the public enquiry - including a major age-focused NGO - and remains committed to ensuring an inclusive approach. The evidence enquiry closed on Sunday 13 July and the data is now being processed ahead of the second meeting of the Panel in September, where recommendations will be discussed.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2025 to Question 57552 on Humanitarian Aid: Older People, if he will place in the Library copies of (a) the robust indicators on Sex, Age and Disability (SAD) data disaggregation and (b) any associated guidance required of UN agencies on their application for UK funding.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK's Business Case and Logical Framework for our core humanitarian funding to the UN, covering the indicators on sex, age and disability disaggregated data is available for public access on the Government's Dev Tracker website. Our Humanitarian Response Funding Guidelines for NGOs are likewise available online on gov.uk.