Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he takes to ensure that regulations for parental and compassionate leave are communicated to personnel in each branch of the armed forces.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Ministry of Defence recognises that Service personnel must be able to balance the demands of military service with their family and personal responsibilities. We are committed to providing fair, compassionate and accessible parental and compassionate leave policies across the Armed Forces, ensuring personnel receive appropriate support at significant moments in their lives while maintaining operational effectiveness.
It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's Questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the library of The House.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in what way parental and compassionate leave policies differ in terms of (a) practical application and (b) administrative processes between each branch of the armed forces.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Ministry of Defence recognises that Service personnel must be able to balance the demands of military service with their family and personal responsibilities. We are committed to providing fair, compassionate and accessible parental and compassionate leave policies across the Armed Forces, ensuring personnel receive appropriate support at significant moments in their lives while maintaining operational effectiveness.
It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's Questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the library of The House.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the retention rate is for armed forces personnel who (a) have and (b) have not taken paternity leave.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Ministry of Defence recognises that Service personnel must be able to balance the demands of military service with their family and personal responsibilities. We are committed to providing fair, compassionate and accessible parental and compassionate leave policies across the Armed Forces, ensuring personnel receive appropriate support at significant moments in their lives while maintaining operational effectiveness.
It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's Questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the library of The House.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel took paternity leave, broken down by (a) branch of the armed forces and (b) age in each of the last five years.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Ministry of Defence recognises that Service personnel must be able to balance the demands of military service with their family and personal responsibilities. We are committed to providing fair, compassionate and accessible parental and compassionate leave policies across the Armed Forces, ensuring personnel receive appropriate support at significant moments in their lives while maintaining operational effectiveness.
It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's Questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the library of The House.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) parental and (b) compassionate leave requests were (i) refused, (ii) deferred and (iii) recalled in each branch of the armed forces in 2025.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Ministry of Defence recognises that Service personnel must be able to balance the demands of military service with their family and personal responsibilities. We are committed to providing fair, compassionate and accessible parental and compassionate leave policies across the Armed Forces, ensuring personnel receive appropriate support at significant moments in their lives while maintaining operational effectiveness.
It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's Questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the library of The House.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of moving parental and compassionate leave requests outside of the direct chain of command.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Ministry of Defence recognises that Service personnel must be able to balance the demands of military service with their family and personal responsibilities. We are committed to providing fair, compassionate and accessible parental and compassionate leave policies across the Armed Forces, ensuring personnel receive appropriate support at significant moments in their lives while maintaining operational effectiveness.
It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's Questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the library of The House.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether commanding officers receive training on implementing parental and compassionate leave policies.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Ministry of Defence recognises that Service personnel must be able to balance the demands of military service with their family and personal responsibilities. We are committed to providing fair, compassionate and accessible parental and compassionate leave policies across the Armed Forces, ensuring personnel receive appropriate support at significant moments in their lives while maintaining operational effectiveness.
It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's Questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the library of The House.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding her Department has provided to Portsmouth City Council over the past two years for domestic abuse services and to tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Government is committed to supporting victims of domestic abuse as part of its ambition to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.
Since 2021, Tier 1 local authorities in England have had a statutory duty to ensure that victims of domestic abuse and their children can access support in relevant safe accommodation when needed. To support delivery of this duty, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government provided £160 million to local authorities in 2025-26 and has committed a further £499 million over the period 2026-27 to 2028-29.
Portsmouth City Council received £645,233 in 2025-26 and has been allocated £645,233 in 2026-27 to support the provision of domestic abuse safe accommodation services.
While overall funding for the duty has increased, allocations have been updated using the latest population, deprivation and areas cost data to reflect current local need and costs. A funding floor has been applied to guarantee that no local authority receives less than its 2025-26 allocation over the settlement period, while continuing to target funding where need is greatest.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants receiving the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity element have received voluntary support from Pathways to Work Advisers since their introduction in March 2025.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since March 2025 more than 100,000 disabled people and people with health conditions with a Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity decision have received employment support from a Pathways to Work Adviser on a voluntary basis to help them move towards and in to work.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to support small and medium sized businesses through reforms to public procurement.
Answered by Chris Ward
The Government is determined to ensure that public procurement drives economic growth and removes barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We have introduced new powers to allow authorities to reserve lower-value contracts specifically for SMEs or local suppliers, banned burdensome pre-qualification questionnaires for lower-value contracts, and mandated 30-day payment terms throughout public sector supply chains.
Central government departments must also set three-year SME spending targets; these were published in March 2026 alongside action plans to achieve these goals.
Additionally, the Government announced further non-legislative reforms in March including using AI to streamline and simplify procurement and introducing AI tools to a central platform. These tools will help to reduce administrative costs by allowing SMEs to reuse core credentials for multiple tenders.