Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has any plans to consider expanding the Digital Services Tax to include Artificial Intelligence (a) products and (b) companies.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The Digital Services Tax (DST) is a 2 per cent tax to ensure that providers of search engines, social media platforms, and online marketplaces pay UK tax on digital services that reflects the value they derive from UK user-related activities. The DST raised around £800 million of revenues in the financial year 2024-25 in support of vital public services.
DST was introduced as an interim solution to the challenges posed by the digitalisation of the economy to the international corporate tax framework. The UK remains committed to withdrawing DST once a suitable global solution to these challenges is established.
The UK has sought to play an active and constructive role in helping to develop that solution over several years of negotiation.
The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review. Any potential tax changes would need to be considered carefully as part of the wider Budget process, with decisions taken by the Chancellor at a fiscal event.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress the Government has made in implementing its strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods to animal testing.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Government published the Replacing Animals in Science strategy in November 2025, which sets out a cross‑government programme to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods. Delivery is underway across departments and partner organisations, with a number of commitments in progress. This includes establishing a preclinical translational models hub, with a funding call launched in March 2026 and activity expected to begin in Autumn 2026, and restarting the survey on public attitudes to animal research, with a competition launched to support delivery. The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators, later in 2026.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2026 to question 7572 titled AQA: Conditions of Employment and Pay, what discussions her Department had had with Ofqual specifically regarding pay and conditions for AQA staff.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As part of its role as the independent regulator of exams and assessments in England, Ofqual provided assurance to officials in the department that AQA had appropriate contingency arrangements in place to mitigate any potential risks to exam delivery.
Whilst Ofqual cannot directly intervene in AQA’s internal disputes, it will continue to monitor the situation to ensure the strike action does not impact AQA’s ability to deliver exams and results this year.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of pausing accrued interest on Plan 2 student loans for graduates while on maternity leave.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Interest accrues on loan balances until the loan has been repaid in full or cancelled, but interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by borrowers.
Borrowers on Plan 2 terms have interest applied at a rate of Retail Price Index only when earnings are below the repayment threshold, such as while on statutory maternity leave, ensuring that the loan’s debt value will not grow in real terms. Additionally, borrowers earning under the repayment threshold are not required to make any repayments.
For all borrowers, any outstanding loan, including interest accrued, will be cancelled after the loan term ends, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will take steps to ensure that measures are put in place during the creation of Great British Railways to ensure that passengers who are less able to access technology are not excluded from (a) purchasing tickets and (b) claiming compensation for delays.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As modern ticketing and payment methods are rolled out more widely across the railways, operators are expected to continue providing a range of ticket retailing channels to meet the needs of all passengers, including those who do not have access to smartphones or the internet. This includes Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs), ticket offices or other in-person purchasing options, alongside pay-as-you-go, online, and app-based retailing.
Currently, passengers who are less able to access the internet can claim Delay Repay by post. There are no plans for this to change under Great British Railways.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce guidance or requirements to ensure that patients’ religious or philosophical dietary preferences, including vegetarian and vegan diets, are prominently flagged in medical records to ensure equitable treatment of vulnerable individuals in health and care settings.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
There is no intention to introduce guidance or requirements in addition to the existing Regulation 14 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, or the Care Quality Commission guidance.
The regulation requires care providers to ensure the nutritional needs of service users are met, which includes meeting any reasonable requirements arising from the service user’s preferences or their religious or cultural background.
The guidance states that people's religious and cultural needs must be identified in their nutrition and hydration assessment, and that when a person has specific dietary requirements relating to moral or ethical beliefs, these must be fully considered and met.