Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce protections for (a) whistleblowing patients and (b) patient safety advocates.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to bring forward legislation to strengthen protections for patients who raise concerns and patient safety advocates.
National Health Service patients should not experience negative consequences if they raise concerns. The NHS Constitution pledges that patient complaints will not adversely impact future treatment. Patients can raise concerns or provide feedback through channels such as the NHS complaints process, Patient Advice and Liaison Service, and the Friends and Family Test, and can also share experiences of care with the Care Quality Commission. Independent advice and support are available for them from the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service.
Through implementation of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, we will reform the NHS complaints process and strengthen the patient voice by setting clear standards for the quality of responses to complaints and ensure the NHS listens carefully and compassionately, taking forward learnings to ensure high quality care.
Patient safety advocates in the NHS may include Patient Safety Specialists and Freedom to Speak Up Guardians who as workers in the NHS are protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA). They may also include Patient Safety Partners (PSPs) who are usually lay people and include patients, carers, or members of the public who work with NHS organisations to improve patient safety by contributing directly to governance, decision making, and safety improvement activity. As lay people, PSPs are not covered by PIDA.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve safeguarding practices in nurseries and early years settings.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The safety and wellbeing of children in nurseries and early years settings is our priority and we continually monitor and review safeguarding requirements for early years settings to ensure children are kept as safe as possible. Where evidence shows that changes are needed, we take action to strengthen requirements and provide clearer expectations for providers.
In September 2025, the government introduced changes to the safeguarding requirements within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework. These changes were informed by evidence and engagement with the early years sector and were designed to strengthen safeguarding practice across settings, including clearer and more robust expectations around safer recruitment, whistleblowing and staff training.
The department is developing free, online safeguarding training in collaboration with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The training will support providers to meet statutory requirements and promote a strong and open safeguarding culture across early years settings.
In December, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that she will be appointing an expert panel to inform guidance for the sector on the effective and safe use of digital devices and CCTV in relation to safeguarding. The panel will consider the question of whether CCTV should be mandated and will set out best practice, technical information and clear expectations on CCTV and digital device usage. No decisions have been taken in advance of this work.
The safety of the youngest children is our utmost priority, which is why the EYFS statutory framework includes clear requirements on safe sleep. The framework requires that babies are placed down to sleep safely and in line with the latest government guidance and that sleeping children are frequently checked. To make the existing requirements clearer for all, we plan to add in more detail to the EYFS frameworks. We have worked with safe sleep experts, including the Lullaby Trust, on proposed new wording.
Ofsted inspects early years providers against the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the EYFS statutory framework. Through our Best Start in Life strategy, we are investing in raising the quality, frequency and consistency of inspections, including work to strengthen oversight of larger nursery chains.
The government is also strengthening multi-agency safeguarding arrangements through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. These measures place duties on safeguarding partners to ensure education providers and childcare settings are appropriately involved in local safeguarding arrangements, while not changing any existing duties on providers.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of non-disclosure agreements with union safety representatives during (a) insolvency and (b) restructuring on the ability of aviation workforces to raise collective safety concerns with the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Aviation safety is a government priority.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in its capacity as a regulator, does not hold any financial or commercial interest in aviation organisations. The CAA remains independent in its actions, including during any period of insolvency or restructuring.
If an approved maintenance organisation enters insolvency or a period of financial difficulties, the UK CAA may decide to increase the frequency and level of oversight, including unannounced audits, to ensure that it remains compliant.
If the CAA are notified of a senior management change or change in the financial situation of an approved maintenance organisation, that organisation will need to demonstrate to the UK CAA that the Accountable Manager has the necessary funding allocation for the intended maintenance activities carried out under its approval. If an organisation cannot meet these requirements, approval is suspended immediately.
To address concerns raised on the potential impact of non-disclosure agreements in the aviation sector, the aviation workforce has multiple means of raising collective safety concerns. The UK CAA has established a range of reporting channels, including mandatory and voluntary incident reporting and dedicated whistleblowing routes.
Staff working for industries regulated by the CAA can also use the Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP) service at any time to raise concerns confidentially.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what measures are in place to ensure the Civil Aviation Authority retains operational independence when it holds a (a) financial and (b) commercial interest in an aviation organisation undergoing (i) insolvency and (ii) restructuring.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Aviation safety is a government priority.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in its capacity as a regulator, does not hold any financial or commercial interest in aviation organisations. The CAA remains independent in its actions, including during any period of insolvency or restructuring.
If an approved maintenance organisation enters insolvency or a period of financial difficulties, the UK CAA may decide to increase the frequency and level of oversight, including unannounced audits, to ensure that it remains compliant.
If the CAA are notified of a senior management change or change in the financial situation of an approved maintenance organisation, that organisation will need to demonstrate to the UK CAA that the Accountable Manager has the necessary funding allocation for the intended maintenance activities carried out under its approval. If an organisation cannot meet these requirements, approval is suspended immediately.
To address concerns raised on the potential impact of non-disclosure agreements in the aviation sector, the aviation workforce has multiple means of raising collective safety concerns. The UK CAA has established a range of reporting channels, including mandatory and voluntary incident reporting and dedicated whistleblowing routes.
Staff working for industries regulated by the CAA can also use the Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP) service at any time to raise concerns confidentially.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of aviation safety assurance arrangements when an approved maintenance organisation becomes insolvent.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Aviation safety is a government priority.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in its capacity as a regulator, does not hold any financial or commercial interest in aviation organisations. The CAA remains independent in its actions, including during any period of insolvency or restructuring.
If an approved maintenance organisation enters insolvency or a period of financial difficulties, the UK CAA may decide to increase the frequency and level of oversight, including unannounced audits, to ensure that it remains compliant.
If the CAA are notified of a senior management change or change in the financial situation of an approved maintenance organisation, that organisation will need to demonstrate to the UK CAA that the Accountable Manager has the necessary funding allocation for the intended maintenance activities carried out under its approval. If an organisation cannot meet these requirements, approval is suspended immediately.
To address concerns raised on the potential impact of non-disclosure agreements in the aviation sector, the aviation workforce has multiple means of raising collective safety concerns. The UK CAA has established a range of reporting channels, including mandatory and voluntary incident reporting and dedicated whistleblowing routes.
Staff working for industries regulated by the CAA can also use the Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP) service at any time to raise concerns confidentially.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the use of non-disclosure agreements during corporate restructuring in safety-critical sectors; and he plans to ensure that non-disclosure agreements cannot prevent employees and union representatives from participating in statutory consultation processes.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is unable to assess sector-specific trends regarding the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) because they are private contractual arrangements, and data on their use is not collected.
While NDAs can legally require one or more parties to maintain the confidentiality of certain information, such as trade secrets, there are a range of legal limitations on their use. For instance, NDAs cannot stop someone from making a whistleblowing disclosure, known as making a ‘protected disclosure’ or making a disclosure required by law.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of protections for whistle blowers reporting concerns on foreign bribery.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Individuals can report foreign bribery through a range of channels, such as the Serious Fraud Office or National Crime Agency, and workers will be protected from retaliation as a whistleblower under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA) if certain conditions are met.
The government recognises that the whistleblowing framework in the ERA may not be operating as effectively as it should and recently committed to explore opportunities for reform in the UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025.
The government will continue to review its approach to whistleblowing and foreign bribery in line with the recommendations of the OECD Working Group on Bribery.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a dedicated whistleblowing line for NHS staff and patients to report issues with language barriers in the National Health Service.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Speak Up Direct, funded by the Department, is a dedicated, independent helpline offering confidential advice, signposting, and guidance to National Health Service and social care staff on raising work-related concerns. Additional support includes Freedom to Speak Up Guardians, with over 1,300 now available across healthcare settings in England, and a Freedom to Speak Up policy that sets minimum standards for NHS organisations in England.
The NHS complaints process enables patients to give feedback or raise concerns about any aspect of their care.
Translation and interpretation services are available for patients who need language support. Additional support is available for individuals who may have difficulty understanding their care or communicating their needs. Patient advocates can speak on their behalf, facilitate decision-making, clarify care procedures, and help safeguard patient rights.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the prevalence of the use of non-disclosure agreements during corporate restructuring in safety-critical sectors.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is unable to assess the prevalence of the use of non-disclosure agreements across the economy, including in specific sectors, as they are private contractual agreements and data on their use is not collected.
While NDAs can lawfully be used to require one or more parties to keep certain information confidential (for example, trade secrets), there are a range of legal limitations on their use. For example, NDAs cannot prevent someone from making a whistleblowing disclosure (known formally as a “protected disclosure”) or a disclosure required by law.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to review whistleblowing protections for individuals involved in the governance of charities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We recognise that whistleblowing can play an important role in holding charities to account. Charity workers have protections the same as a worker in any sector and are also able to make disclosures to the Charity Commission about their charity. While volunteers, including charity trustees, do not have the same statutory whistleblowing protections as workers, the Department considers the current protections for those who make whistleblowing disclosures, regardless of their status, to be appropriate. The Charity Commission treats whistleblowing disclosures by volunteers and trustees in the same way as disclosures by workers. The Department has no plans to review whistleblowing protections for volunteers or others involved in the governance of charities.