Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department had a role in (a) reviewing and (b) overseeing the appointment process for 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.
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 in relation to 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.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to appoint a contractor to undertake works at St Michael’s Church of England School in Paignton.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We are aiming to enter contract later this year and are currently on track. The current planned timescale is for pupils to be in the permanent accommodation from September 2026. This is also on track, but we will need to continue to monitor this as normal throughout the build period.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Sikhs are employed in his Department; and whether they are recorded as (a) an ethnic or (b) a religious group.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Departments should be recording Sikh or Sikhism, as a religion or belief and not as an ethnicity.
Departments are advised to refer to Civil Service Statistics 2024 Table A3 where statistics on religion or belief by department as at 31 March 2024 are published: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2024. This includes statistics on those recorded as ‘Sikh’.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Comprehensive Spending Review 2025, what estimate he has made of the number of new Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisations which will be created.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Proposals for new bodies are subject to the ongoing ALB review, announced by the Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster on 6 April, to ensure their existence can be strongly justified against key principles.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK-EU Summit - Common Understanding, published on 19 May 2025, whether the EU will be entitled to claim damages through arbitration if the UK fails to implement new EU laws.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The details of new agreements described in the Common Understanding are subject to negotiation. The Common Understanding is clear that new agreements will be subject to independent arbitration.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has updated guidance on the use of single-sex facilities in response to the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025.
Answered by Nia Griffith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given on 20 June (PQ UIN 59003).
Asked by: Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of closing social care visas for carers from overseas on vacancies in the care workforce.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Immigration White Paper, visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country with working rights will be permitted for a transition period until 2028. This will be kept under review.
Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them to maintain their quality of life, independence and connection to the things that matter to them. In England, as per the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local government to develop a market that delivers a wide range of sustainable high-quality care and support services, that will be available to their communities. English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.
The care worker route has seen unacceptable levels of abuse and exploitation, between July 2022 and December 2024 the Home Office revoked over 470 sponsor licences, impacting around 40,000 workers in the care sector. The Department of Health and Social Care is providing up to £12.5 million to regional partnerships in 2025/26 to respond to unethical international recruitment practices in the adult social care sector. This includes supporting international recruits impacted by sponsor licence revocations to find alternative employment.
In the technical annex published alongside the Immigration White Paper on 12 May 2025, the Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main visa applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for care workers and senior care workers. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted covering the period March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared with the 12 months ending in March 2024. This analysis will be refined and included within the relevant Impact Assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate.
The Department of Health and Social Care continues to monitor adult social care workforce capacity, bringing together national data sets from Skills for Care’s monthly tracking data, the Capacity Tracker tool and intelligence from key sector partners. The Department of Health and Social Care primarily uses filled posts as the most accurate measure of adult social care workforce capacity rather than number of vacancies. As vacancies are the total number of posts advertised by the adult social care sector’s independent and competing providers, they don’t necessarily reflect the number of workers required to meet adult social care needs. Vacancies are ultimately impacted by other factors such as providers’ ambitions to grow and are not necessarily a good indicator of capacity pressures as a result.
Asked by: Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the discontinuation of care worker visas on care provision.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Immigration White Paper, visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country with working rights will be permitted for a transition period until 2028. This will be kept under review.
Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them to maintain their quality of life, independence and connection to the things that matter to them. In England, as per the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local government to develop a market that delivers a wide range of sustainable high-quality care and support services, that will be available to their communities. English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.
The care worker route has seen unacceptable levels of abuse and exploitation, between July 2022 and December 2024 the Home Office revoked over 470 sponsor licences, impacting around 40,000 workers in the care sector. The Department of Health and Social Care is providing up to £12.5 million to regional partnerships in 2025/26 to respond to unethical international recruitment practices in the adult social care sector. This includes supporting international recruits impacted by sponsor licence revocations to find alternative employment.
In the technical annex published alongside the Immigration White Paper on 12 May 2025, the Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main visa applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for care workers and senior care workers. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted covering the period March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared with the 12 months ending in March 2024. This analysis will be refined and included within the relevant Impact Assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate.
The Department of Health and Social Care continues to monitor adult social care workforce capacity, bringing together national data sets from Skills for Care’s monthly tracking data, the Capacity Tracker tool and intelligence from key sector partners. The Department of Health and Social Care primarily uses filled posts as the most accurate measure of adult social care workforce capacity rather than number of vacancies. As vacancies are the total number of posts advertised by the adult social care sector’s independent and competing providers, they don’t necessarily reflect the number of workers required to meet adult social care needs. Vacancies are ultimately impacted by other factors such as providers’ ambitions to grow and are not necessarily a good indicator of capacity pressures as a result.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implementation of the baby loss certificate scheme, and whether they have plans to extend it further.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The baby loss certificate scheme was launched by the Department in February 2024, initially for losses that occurred after 1 September 2018. In October 2024, the scheme was extended to make the service available for all losses. The scheme has received very positive feedback from families, enabling those who have experienced pregnancy loss to receive a certificate recognising their loss, if they wish to do so. To date, over 100,000 certificates have been issued. The scheme currently only applies to losses that took place in England.
A formal assessment of the implementation of the baby loss certificate scheme has not been made. As part of plans for the future of the scheme, the Department and its Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts have discussed the possibility of the Baby Loss Certificate scheme becoming available in Wales and Northern Ireland. As healthcare in Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of their respective governments, Welsh and Northern Irish officials are leading on this piece of work.