Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the UN in relation to comments by the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council on 22 May 2025 on the (a) Supreme Court judgement in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers and (b) interim guidance issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the practical implications of the UK Supreme Court judgment, published on 25 April 2025.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There have been no discussions with the UN in relation to the Human Rights Council Special Procedures news release on 22 May 2025.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the design of the Chagos Islands flag will change following the ratification of the Chagos treaty.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A British flag will continue to be flown at the UK-US Base on Diego Garcia as it has always done.
The British Indian Ocean Territory will cease to exist as a British Overseas Territory upon ratification of the treaty agreed between the UK and Mauritius.
No decision has yet been taken on any future use or adaptation of the current BIOT flag.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to implement a cross-departmental strategy on improving reading outcomes for children and young people.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child, in every region of the country, the best start in life.
In the 2025/26 financial year, the government has committed £27.7 million to support and drive high and rising standards in reading and writing. This includes supporting the teaching of phonics, early language and reading for pleasure via the English Hubs programme. The 34 English Hubs across England provide support to the schools in their region, with a focus on supporting children who are making the slowest progress in reading, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In the 2025/26 academic year, this funding will also deliver a range of support for schools, including new training for primary schools to help children progress from the early stages of phonics through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school, and new support and training for secondary schools to support reading at key stage 3.
Departmental officials are working with the sector and other departments to consider how we can further encourage reading and reading for pleasure.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the ecological and environmental damage caused by the collision between two ships in the North Sea on 10 March.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra worked with multiple organisations, including the Centre of Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). Cefas’s Premiam Monitoring Coordination Cell (PMCC) was set up immediately following this incident. This cell implements post-incident monitoring to assess the impacts of marine pollution incidents and as part of this, shellfish (seafood) and seawater samples were collected in the days and weeks following the incident. The analysis from these samples has indicated that there were no significant adverse ecological or environmental impacts due to fuel or chemicals released from either vessel, or during the response to the incident.
Plastic nurdles and burned debris washed ashore along the Lincolnshire and North Norfolk coast following the incident. Large quantities of plastic pollution and debris were recovered from the shoreline and the sea. Work is still ongoing regarding this, with Environment Agency staff regularly visiting affected sites to assess and if necessary, remove newly visible pollution.
The PMCC has now been stood down, but the impacts of this incident are continuously monitored as part of routine ongoing water and environmental sampling in the area.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise international awareness and promote accountability in response to reports of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and forced organ harvesting in China.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The environment for freedom of religion or belief in China is restrictive, which includes the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. This Government stands firm on human rights, and we raise our concerns at the highest levels. The Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor and Energy Secretary all raised human rights recently with their counterparts (President Xi, Foreign Minister Wang, Vice Premier He and Vice Premier Ding respectively).
This Government champions freedom of religion or belief for all abroad. We work to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through our position at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora. We continue to closely monitor the situation for Falun Gong practitioners and maintain a dialogue with NGOs and international partners on the issue.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the document entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, March 2025, published on 28 April 2025, what consultancy services were commissioned from UBDS IT Consulting Limited.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG’s March 2025 listing of spending over £25,000 include three entries for UBDS. This spend relates to the provision of specific technical services to deliver a range of improvements to the Department’s data tools and technologies. They are augmenting internal teams.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people aged (a) between 16 and 24 and (b) over 16 are unemployed in Basildon and Billericay constituency; and how many and what proportion were unemployed in June 2024.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest information requested is published and available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp
Guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the transparency data entitled MHCLG: spending over £25,000, April 2025, published on 30 May 2025, if she will publish the research commissioned from the Greater London Authority.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This funding was to cover legal and administrative costs incurred by the Greater London Authority in setting up the Grenfell Assisted Home Ownership Scheme.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to identify (a) undiagnosed patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and (b) COPD patients who are managed in primary care that should have their management escalated to specialist care in Greater Manchester ICB.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Respiratory disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a clinical priority and the National Health Service is investing in the provision of more and better rehabilitation services for respiratory patients. This has the objective of improving outcomes for people with COPD through early diagnosis including via spirometry tests, and through increased access to treatments.
The NHS RightCare COPD pathway has been rolled out nationally and defines the optimal service for people with COPD. Furthermore, the National Respiratory Audit Programme aims to improve quality of care, services, and clinical outcomes for patients with asthma and COPD, by collecting and providing data on a range of indicators and pulmonary rehabilitation activity.
A national programme of work is underway to support systems with improving access to Pulmonary Rehabilitation for the eligible population; increase capacity of provision to reduce waiting lists; and improve the quality and consistency of rehabilitation programmes through accreditation. Pulmonary rehabilitation is effective for people with COPD, improving exercise capacity or increased quality of life in 90% of patients who complete a programme.
Within NHS Greater Manchester, action being taken to address COPD includes:
- improving equity of access to diagnostic spirometry and fractional exhaled nitric oxide, particularly for disadvantaged population groups;
- increasing capacity and reducing waiting times for pulmonary rehabilitation services;
- increasing vaccination uptake and focusing on secondary prevention of pneumonia;
- running smoking cessation services; and
- introducing a respiratory standard to improve quality in general practice in managing COPD.
This standard utilises a tool to identify patients with COPD who are at the highest risk and asks practices to do an enhanced review and management of these patients to help manage their COPD better.
Data on the average time to diagnosis of COPD following patient contact with their general practitioner (GP) is not available. COPD diagnosis typically involves a spirometry test, and data related to such tests may be available at the level of individual GP practices and secondary care providers but is not yet routinely collected in national datasets or in Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board. Furthermore, the test is also used in the diagnosis of other respiratory conditions, not just COPD.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics Team provided advice to the Prime Minister on (a) political donations made by candidates for and (b) other aspects of his role in the appointment of the Chair of the Independent Football Regulator.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As has been the case under successive administrations, it is a long-standing principle that Civil Service advice is given and treated in confidence.
The Commissioner for Public Appointments is carrying out an inquiry into the campaign to appoint a new Chair of the Independent Football Regulator. The Government is co-operating fully with the Commissioner's office.