Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken recent steps to adapt the Syria sanctions regime to enable (a) humanitarian access and (b) economic stabilisation while maintaining targeted sanctions against individuals responsible for human rights abuses.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In April, the UK lifted sanctions on some sectors, including trade, energy production, transport (aircraft) and finance, to help facilitate essential investment into Syria and support the Syrian people to rebuild their country and economy. Sanctions imposed on 348 individuals and entities linked to the former regime remain in place, allowing the UK to continue to hold Assad and his associates to account. The UK's Syria sanctions regime does not impede delivery of humanitarian aid and will help ensure the Syrian Government has the resources and access necessary to provide for its people.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with international partners to (a) help tackle the (i) humanitarian and (ii) security conditions that cause displacement and to (b) strengthen refugee protection in conflict-affected regions.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office tackles forced displacement through a wide range of interventions which aim to: reduce the drivers of displacement; protect people once they are displaced; support host communities; find long term solutions; and create the conditions that allow people to return home.
This includes working closely with international partners to provide humanitarian assistance in key situations of displacement and using all the diplomatic, development and security levers available to prevent conflict and conflict-related displacement. Our work includes focusing on improving early warning systems, reforming multilateral institutions, and supporting regional mediation and peacebuilding.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to establish the National Care Service; and what his planned timeline is for (a) consultation with stakeholders and (b) implementation.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has taken a critical first step towards a National Care Service by launching an independent commission into adult social care.
The commission will build national consensus to create a National Care Service that is productive, preventative, and gives people who draw on care, and their families and carers, more power in the system.
It will be for the independent commission to determine their approach, but we expect it will include engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including people with lived experience and unpaid carers, as well as building cross-party consensus. Further details will be set out by the commission in due course.
In the short-term, we are laying the foundations for a National Care Service by introducing legislation for the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for the care workforce, expanding the first-ever national career structure for the adult social care workforce, digitising care providers, and setting new standards for care technologies.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to phase out low-welfare farming practices.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.
This will build on the support already available through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, which includes access to testing for priority diseases and advice to continually improve the health, welfare and productivity of farmed animals through funded vet visits.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve support for unpaid carers.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting elderly or disabled relatives or friends. Sometimes unpaid carers will need to turn to the benefit system for financial support, so it is right that we keep Carer’s Allowance (CA) under review, to see if it is meeting its objectives, and giving unpaid carers the help and support they need and deserve.
Unpaid carers may be able to receive financial and/or employment support from the department depending on their circumstances. This includes CA and means tested benefits such as Universal Credit (UC). UC can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the additional amounts for carers. UC pays an extra £2400 a year to unpaid carers.
Carers (providing at least 35 hours per week) of severely disabled people may be eligible for benefit support as set out above. They are not required to undertake any work-related activity but can access employment support on a voluntary basis if they wish.
A part-time carer on UC (providing care for under 35 hours a week) would be supported to combine work and care. They will receive personalised employment support from their work coach, who tailors the number of hours a week they are expected to work or search for work to fit their caring responsibilities and take into account any other barriers to working full time, for example a health condition.
Employment support can include identifying skills gaps and referral to skills training, careers advice, job search support, volunteering opportunities and access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry. Unemployed customers who require more intensive employment support can also be referred to the Restart and Connect to Work programmes.
We also know that some carers are keen to maintain contact with the labour market, so we want to encourage carers to combine some paid work with their caring responsibilities wherever possible, meaning they can increase their overall income (eligibility rules apply).
That’s why we have pegged the CA earnings limit to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. The earnings limit increased to be £196 a week net earnings on 7 April 2025, compared to £151 in 24/25. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since CA was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive CA between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result.
DWP has also begun some scoping work to see whether an earnings taper in CA might be a feasible option in the longer term. This will require significant change to current DWP systems.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to help ensure that children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities continue to have reliable access to home-to-school transport.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for eligible children. This includes children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of their special educational needs (SEN), disability or mobility problem.
We know that challenges in the wider SEN system are creating pressure on home-to-school travel. We have committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools so fewer children need to travel long distances to a school that can meet their needs. The Spending Review announcement on 11 June confirmed significant new funding to support special educational needs and disabilities reform and a White Paper with further details on plans will be published in the autumn. This will reduce the pressure on home-to-school travel over time leaving it better able to meet the needs of those that continue to need it.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Law Commission’s report entitled Hate crime laws: Final report, published on 7 December 2021, whether her Department is taking steps to implement the recommendation to extend aggravated offence provisions to include hostility based on (a) sexual orientation and (b) gender identity.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes.
The Government has committed to ensuring parity of protection for aggravated offences and will bring forward a suitable amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill at the Lords' Committee stage to give effect to that commitment.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve access to NHS dentistry in Warrington South constituency; and what plans he has to increase the number of NHS dentists practising in Warrington.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Warrington South constituency, this is the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.
ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB is expected to deliver 46,617 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.
ICBs have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Recommendation 11 of the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Report, published on 16 June 2025, what legislative proposals her Department is developing to standardise taxi and private hire vehicle licensing across local authorities; and what steps she is taking to prevent the use of out of area taxis.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport will legislate to address the important issues raised in the report, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We will work as quickly as possible and consider all options – including out of area working, national standards and enforcement – seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.
In the interim we will act urgently to make improvements, including consulting on making local transport authorities responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, and determining how existing statutory guidance can be strengthened to further protect the public. We are also reviewing authorities’ compliance with existing guidance and will hold those who do not follow it to account.
Some important protections have already been put in place since earlier inquiries into Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. All licensing authorities in England now undertake extensive driver background checks, and since 2023 they are required to use a single database to prevent a driver refused a licence in one area on safety grounds going elsewhere. Careful consideration of the options is needed as we do not want any change to decrease the availability of highly vetted licensed drivers and vehicles and inadvertently increase the use of those offering illegal services that evade these licensing checks.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of financial losses to consumers caused by cryptocurrency-related scams; and what steps she is taking to improve (a) prevention, (b) enforcement and (c) consumer protection for those scams.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s most recent consumer research publication provides indications of the levels of cryptoasset related fraud in the UK. This research is available online at: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/research-notes/cryptoasset-consumer-research-2024-wave-5.pdf
The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is developing a new and expanded fraud strategy to further protect the public and businesses from this appalling crime.
Relevant cryptoasset firms are already subject to UK financial promotions requirements, and required to register with the FCA for money laundering supervision.
Building on this, the Government is introducing a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets this year. The new regime will provide further protections for UK consumers, by requiring firms offering them services to be authorised and regulated by the FCA.