Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will include retail delivery drivers within the standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to tackling retail crime. Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
Assaults against delivery drivers are already an offence (common assault) under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, and are covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This includes those delivering goods to customers and other public-facing roles.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure the safety of retail delivery drivers when they are carrying out government-mandated enforcement checks with customers.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to tackling retail crime. Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.
Assaults against delivery drivers are already an offence (common assault) under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, and are covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This includes those delivering goods to customers and other public-facing roles.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support UK businesses seeking to (a) enter and (b) expand in the Moroccan market in (i) green energy, (ii) agritech and (iii) other high growth sectors.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Department for Business and Trade is committed to helping UK businesses export to Morocco. Supported by the UK-Morocco Association Agreement bilateral trade has been rising and reached £4.2 billion in 2024.
During the Foreign Secretary’s visit to Rabat on 1st June, he co-chaired the 5th session of the UK-Morocco Strategic Dialogue with the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs. They signed a series of Memoranda of Understanding to deepen collaboration in priority sectors, including healthcare, water, transport, defence and procurement. These will enable commercial engagement, supporting UK firms expanding in Morocco’s high-growth sectors, such as digital health, infrastructure, and ports.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of issuing fines to drivers who do not hold (a) a valid driving license and (b) vehicle insurance on revenues to the Exchequer.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Revenue generated from fines for motoring offences is retained by Departments or directed into the Consolidated Fund. The consolidated fund is administered by HM Treasury and is used to support general expenditure on public services such as policing, healthcare, local government grants and transport. Government departments that receive income for onward surrender to the Consolidated Fund are responsible for the detailed record keeping related to it. They are not required to provide HM Treasury with this detail.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps with NHS England to publish guidance on (a) safe and (b) effective pain relief for outpatient hysteroscopy procedures.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that some procedures, such as a hysteroscopy, can result in pain, and the level of pain experienced will vary between individual women. It is important that healthcare professionals provide women with information prior to their procedure so that women can make an informed decisions about the procedure and pain relief options, including the option of local or general anaesthetic.
Clinical guidelines support healthcare professionals to provide evidence-based care. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published an updated guideline on outpatient hysteroscopy in September 2024. The updated guideline has particular reference to minimising pain and discomfort during hysteroscopy procedures. While the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ guidelines are not mandatory, they are designed to support high-quality care, and the Department and the National Health Service encourage local implementation tailored to patient needs. This guidance is available at the following link:
The NHS website also provides information for patients. The page on hysteroscopy provides information on preparing for and recovering from a hysteroscopy, including pain relief options.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is taking steps to help develop female-specific body armour.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Defence is an active participant in NATO work to explore options to further optimise body armour for our Service personnel, including for females. The current Tactical Ballistic Plate (TBP) project will deliver hard armour plates in a range of different sizes, thus ensuring greater comfort and integration for all users across Defence. Multiple Human Factors Integration (HFI) trials have been completed with female representation.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help ensure improved (a) interoperability and (b) coordination between drone systems procured by his Department.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Uncrewed systems are changing the character of warfare. The pace of military and civilian uncrewed technology evolution means our traditional approaches to acquisition, regulation and operation need to adapt. Learning lessons from the conflict in Ukraine to optimise capabilities, programmes like the RAF StormShroud is evidence of this. The Department seeks to ensure that all its capabilities have the necessary interoperability with systems and allies. Further development and investment will be directed by the Strategic Defence Review recommendations.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of appointing trade envoys to Nordic countries.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We carry out analyses of suitable countries, regions, and markets to identify where the appointment of a Trade Envoy can be of greatest benefit to our trade and investment objectives.
We remain committed to strengthening our long, positive and wide-ranging trading relationship with each of the Nordic Countries, but there are no plans at present to add any Nordic Countries to the Trade Envoy Programme.
Markets such as these already have significant diplomatic, trade and investment networks, as well as receiving regular high-level visits by Ministers.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason she has made changes to the levels of payments made out of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund; if she will publish a risk assessment for this funding change; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the funding change on future numbers and proportions of looked-after children being diverted into (a) adoptive families and (b) other types of care.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The changes made to the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) were made so that funding can be accessed by the maximum number of children and families. The level of funding per child in 2025/26 will still allow adoptive and kinship families to access a significant package of therapeutic support.
The department always considers the impact of decisions on vulnerable children and reviews the risks of any policy changes.
The ASGSF is an important package of support, which is why we have continued to fund it. However, it is not the only support available to adoptive and kinship families. The department is funding Adoption England with £8.8 million this year to improve adopter recruitment and support, including innovative approaches to matching and the establishment of Centres of Excellence. We are also continuing to improve the support available to kinship families, including a £40 million package to trial a new kinship allowance to support family members and friends who take in children.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to update Personal Independence Payment application forms to ask whether applicants are veterans; and if she will meet the hon. Member for Swindon North to discuss the potential merits of (a) data collection and (b) tailored support for veterans.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim forms do not ask for an individual’s occupation, past or present as it is legally immaterial to the decision to award benefit or not. PIP is based on the daily living and mobility needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability.
We do not currently have plans to update the PIP forms.
The honourable member is welcome to write to me to set out the potential merits of the changes he envisages, including the case for a meeting to discuss them.