Vikki Slade

The Government has set out our expectation that organisations follow the clarity the Supreme Court ruling provides. The EHRC has committed to support organisations with its updated statutory Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations which they are consulting on. We encourage people to ensure their views are heard by submitting a response to the consultation which launched on Tuesday 20th May.

Trans people should have access to the services and facilities they need. It is also vitally important that trans people receive the care and support they need when accessing NHS services, and that they are treated with dignity and respect.

We are a mission-led government and women’s equality is at the heart of all our missions.

This means tackling the gender pay gap, where we are taking action much wider than just pay transparency. We are taking the first steps towards requiring employers to publish action plans alongside their figures, detailing the steps they are taking to narrow their gender pay gap and support employees during the menopause, as well as introducing stronger protections against sexual harassment.

Our plan to Make Work Pay will move further and faster to tackle the gender pay gap, improve access to flexible working and provide stronger protections at work. We are also expanding access to high-quality, accessible early years education with more free hours for working families.

Many employers understand that when women succeed, so does their business. As women’s equality and economic growth go hand in hand we need to ensure that every organisation is harnessing the talent, creativity and brilliance of women in their workforce.

The Government believes that the Recall of MPs Act 2015 is operating well and as intended. There are no plans to increase the number of conditions that can trigger a recall petition.

HMG officials and Ministers, including myself, regularly engage the EU and EU Member State counterparts on a range of issues affecting UK nationals. The UK and the EU allow for visa-free, short-term travel in line with their respective arrangements for third country nationals.

The UK allows EU citizens visa-free travel for up to six months; the EU allows for visa-free travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period which is standard for third nationals travelling visa-free to the EU. UK nationals planning to stay longer will need permission from the relevant Member State. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 3rd July is attached.

The UK Statistics Authority published their recommendation on the next (2031) Census on 17 June. The recommendation outlines the consultation they undertook in order to reach their recommendation.

The Government will publish their response in due course.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon Lady’s Parliamentary Question of 17th June is attached.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has not made a specific assessment of the potential merits of moving the BVRLA guidelines on Fair Wear and Tear onto a statutory basis for people hiring cars.

BVLRA members are bound by the BVLRA's Code of Conduct which ensures fair treatment in assessing vehicle condition upon return. Failure to do so could represent a breach of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.

The Competition and Markets Authority published guidance in 2018 to support car rental companies to comply with consumer law. The department does not intend to impose specific obligations on car rental companies regarding how they monitor the vehicle's condition. Consumers are advised to keep their own records regarding the state of the vehicle before and after the hire, so that they can dispute any damage claims if required.

The Government recognises the significant economic and social role that the hairdressing and barbering industry plays in high streets and communities across the UK.

The Hairdressers Registration Act of 1964 provides for a UK register of qualified hairdressers, although registration remains voluntary. Hairdressing salons and barbers, like other employers, are subject to normal business regulations such as health and safety requirements, employer and public liability insurance.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have set up a forum with the industry on informing the hair and beauty sector on good compliance. However, the government has no current plans to introduce further regulation of the industry, but we will always remain open to evidence.

On 30 June 2025, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade took the decision to vary the steel safeguard quotas for the final year of the steel safeguard. As recommended by the independent Trade Remedies Authority, this included preventing any unused quarterly quotas from being made available in the following quarter.

This decision was taken to ensure the overall effectiveness of the UK’s steel safeguard measure for domestic producers whilst balancing the need for security of supply for the UK market. I am not considering restoring the quota rollover as part of the steel safeguard.

The UK applies a steel safeguard measure to protect domestic producers against injury caused by unforeseen surges in imports. The decision in June 2025 to vary the steel safeguard, including category 13 (rebar), was made to ensure the measure continues to effectively protect domestic producers whilst balancing the need for security of supply for the UK market.

Steel is a top priority for this Government and is essential for a modern and secure economy, underpinning many sectors which are critical for secure economic growth. The Government is determined to reverse the years of decline and neglect in the steel industry, caused in large part by global excess capacity and market distortions. We will publish our Steel Strategy in early 2026 which will set out an ambitious vision for the sector and a more competitive business landscape.

The Government welcomes the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee’s report, following the committee’s inquiry into the cost of energy, and is grateful to the charities, think tanks, energy suppliers, members of the public, and all others who provided evidence to support it.

The Government is considering all recommendations set out in the report and will submit our response, which responds to each recommendation in turn, to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee later this month.

EPC’s are an important metric to ensure that small businesses are as energy efficient as possible, allowing them to understand where bill savings and carbon emission reductions can be achieved. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme continues to provide grants of up to £7,500 for small non-domestic property owners, with the threshold for single heat pump installations set at 45kWh. This helps install low carbon heating systems and improve EPC ratings.

Additionally, the Government’s Business Energy Advice Service pilot scheme has so far supported nearly 3000 SMEs in the West Midlands with expert energy efficiency and decarbonisation advice. 340 grants have been awarded with a value of £8.7m.

The Government has agreed new Heads of Terms with Drax for short term support from 2027 to 2031. It halves the subsidy paid to Drax, strengthens the sustainability arrangements to require 100% sustainable biomass, and reduces Drax’s generation so that it only operates when absolutely necessary on the system.

Duties and obligations relating to telecommunications installations are included in the Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003, which include requirements to share apparatus where practicable. This is supported by the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice 2016 and the recently published Telecommunications Poles Working Group Best Practice Recommendations, published by the Internet Services Providers’ Association.

The Communications (Access to Infrastructure) Regulations 2016 give operators the right to request access to another operator’s infrastructure. Furthermore, the government supports Ofcom’s Physical Infrastructure Access framework, which facilitates the sharing of Openreach’s infrastructure, such as ducts and poles.

We have encouraged the use of public sector assets for digital infrastructure, including via the £7 million Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Accelerator programme, which helped councils and industry identify publicly owned assets suitable for telecoms deployment. Our £1.3m Smart Infrastructure Pilots Programme funded six local authorities to install "smart" multi-purpose columns or lamp posts that provide wireless connectivity services and other uses, such as EV charging and WiFi.

The Advanced Research and Invention Agency’s (ARIA) ‘Exploring Climate Cooling’ programme, backed by £56.8 million, has been designed to build an evidence base which will enable scientists to better understand and properly assess whether or not Earth cooling approaches could help to mitigate climate change safely.

ARIA is an independent research body, and they are conducting cautious, controlled research aimed at improving understanding of the risks and impacts of Solar Radiation Modification. This will produce important information for decisions around the world.

Whilst ARIA is not intending to hold a public consultation on the Exploring Climate Cooling programme, ARIA has put in place an independent oversight committee, made up of international experts, to support governance of outdoor experiments and communication of their findings. Projects with field trial components will be subjected to risk and impact assessment by an independent team of experts and subjected to a degree of co-design with local communities; the results of both exercises will be publicly available prior to any outdoor experiment taking place. An independent assessment will also take place on completion of any outdoor experiment, also to be made publicly available.

The Government is keen that negotiations for Electronic Communications Code agreements are developed as collaboratively as possible. We recognise the benefits of all parties having access to sufficient information and advice to support this.

We endorse the work of the National Connectivity Alliance, an alliance of telecommunications providers, infrastructure providers, landowners and their professional advisers who are brought together to collaborate on areas of mutual interest. Their activity includes a working group specifically aimed at developing guidance notes to provide education around issues in telecoms leases, with a view to assisting in the timely conclusion of wayleaves and code agreements for mobile sites.

Project Gigabit is designed to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to premises that will not be built to by the market without subsidy. The significant majority of these premises will be in rural areas.

More than £2.3 billion of Project Gigabit contracts have already been signed to connect over 1 million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband. This includes two contracts being delivered by Wessex Internet benefiting the Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency.

Competition in the broadband market leads to positive outcomes for consumers, including widespread coverage and competitive pricing. We do not intervene in commercial deployment decisions.

We are aware that having multiple operators can mean deployment of overlapping networks. The sharing of ducts and poles between operators can minimise the disruption this can cause. To support, this Ofcom has put regulations in place to require Openreach to give access to its physical infrastructure to other networks. The Access to Infrastructure (ATI) Regulations 2016 also gives operators the right to request access to another operator’s physical infrastructure to facilitate sharing across utility, transport and communications sectors.

Scheduled Monuments are protected under the terms of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, for which the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is responsible.

DCMS officials liaise closely with their counterparts in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that relevant aspects of national planning policy recognise the national importance of Scheduled Monuments.

DCMS keeps under review as part of its general policy function whether its policies and procedures are effective. No explicit assessment of the adequacy of statutory protections for Scheduled Monuments has been undertaken.

To ensure the BBC is on a stable financial footing, the Government has committed to the current licence fee model for the remainder of the current Charter period. Currently, TV licence concessions are available to people who are registered blind or severely sight impaired, people over-75 and in receipt of pension credit, and people living in qualifying residential care who are disabled or over 60 years old. The BBC, rather than the Government, is responsible for the concession for over-75s in receipt of pension credit.

Looking further ahead, the Secretary of State has been clear that the BBC must be funded by a model that is sustainable and fair to all those that are paying it. The Government is keeping an open mind about the future of the licence fee, and the forthcoming Charter Review is a key opportunity to set the BBC up for success long into the future.

Providing support or military supplies to any foreign armed force is not a charitable purpose, and no UK charity can legally undertake such activity. There are no plans to change this. The Charity Commission for England and Wales published guidance in 2022 after the full-scale invasion on how charities and trustees can respond to the crises in Ukraine.

Decisions on the specific scope of accommodation types covered by the registration scheme are still being finalised. Now that the second phase of development is underway, the Government is collaborating with industry leaders, including platforms, local authorities, and trade bodies, to create a robust scheme. Secondary legislation will be required to enact the scheme, and we aim to roll this out as efficiently as possible. Further details on which accommodation types will be included will be confirmed when an Impact Assessment has been completed.

The registration scheme will provide local authorities with valuable data to identify short-term lets in their area and help them address community and housing impacts. We continue to work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government to create a balanced, thriving accommodation market that supports local economic growth and enables communities to benefit from both tourism opportunities and sustainable housing options. The government is considering what further powers might be given to local authorities to enable them to respond to the pressures that can be created by short-term lets.