Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to Question 61769 tabled by the hon. Member for Gorton and Denton on 23 June 2025.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The response to Written Parliamentary Question 61769 was published on 23 July 2025.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has she made of the economic impact on kinship carers arising from (a) reduced employment rights compared with biological parents, (b) variations in local kinship care offers and (c) reducing access to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has launched a review of the parental leave system, which will consider whether the current support available meets the needs of working families who do not qualify for existing leave and pay entitlements, including kinship carers.
We are legislating through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to mandate local authorities to publish a local offer for children and families in kinship care arrangements. This will help kinship families better understand what support may be available to them locally. However, the content of the local offer is decided by the local authority, based on their assessment local needs, and therefore the content of local offers may vary significantly between areas.
Eligibility for access to the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) is unchanged, and the revised criteria for the ASGSF will enable as many children and families as possible to access funding.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to reduce (a) racism, (b) sexism and (c) other forms of discrimination within sports.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s stance is unequivocal: racism, sexism, or any other form of discrimination has absolutely no place in our society, and no place in sport and activity. We are committed to stamping it out, from the elite level to the grassroots, ensuring that sport truly is for everyone, regardless of their background or ethnicity.
The Government is working closely with the sector, particularly its Arm’s Length Bodies Sport England and UK Sport, and the national governing bodies, to tackle racism and discrimination in sport.
Implemented by Sport England and UK Sport, the UK Code for Sports Governance has been a powerful tool for improving good governance and diversity in the sector, making these a non-negotiable condition of public funding. It has directly influenced the composition and culture of sports organisations by requiring them to actively address equality, diversity, and inclusion.
It is clear, however, that more needs to be done. The Government will continue to work with the sector and relevant organisations to fight discrimination in sport.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
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 his Israeli counterparts on recent military strikes in (a) Syria and (b) Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to urge the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The Foreign Secretary spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar on 23 August to press for the restoration of humanitarian access in Gaza and to raise serious concerns about the impact of military operations on civilians. We continue to call on Israel to respect Syria's territorial integrity and address security threats through diplomatic means. The Government wants to see a peaceful, secure and stable Syria for the Syrian people. Diplomacy, not hostility, is the best way of achieving this. The UK will continue to pursue a positive future for Syria and the region and we are urging Israel to do the same.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will implement equal parental leave rights between (a) biological, (b) adoption and (c) kinship parents.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has launched a comprehensive review of the parental leave and pay system to ensure it is fairer and easier to use for all types of families.
All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements are in scope of the review, including Maternity, Paternity and Adoption. It will also consider the needs of other working families who do not qualify for existing leave and pay entitlements, such as kinship carers.
The Government will conclude the review with a set of findings and a roadmap, including next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she has taken to (a) minimise rent increases and (b) increase affordable renting provisions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The £39 billion announced at the Spending Review for the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme for 2026-27 to 2035-36 is the biggest long-term investment in social and affordable housing in recent memory.
Our ambition is to deliver up around 300,000 social and affordable homes over the programme’s lifetime. If we achieve this ambition and our target of at least 60% of the homes being for Social Rent, the new programme will deliver around 180,000 homes for Social Rent – approximately a sixfold increase on the number of grant-funded Social Rent homes delivered in the decade up to 2024.
We also announced a 10-year rent settlement (that will permit increases by up to CPI+1% each year), which will give providers the financial certainty to invest in new and existing homes, but also crucially protect tenants from excessive rent increases.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy that (a) countries in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and (b) other developing nations should only pay sustainable amounts to their (i) state (ii) non-state debtors.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to policies that tackle unsustainable debt. We progress this work through international fora and mechanisms, including the G20, Paris Club, the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, and the G20 Common Framework. For example, at the G20 Finance Ministers meetings last month, the Chancellor called for reforms to the international financial architecture, including improvements to debt sustainability frameworks.
For UK lending, UK Export Finance (the UK government’s export credit agency) is committed to ensuring its lending meets international standards of sustainable finance. In line with the UK's commitment to the OECD's sustainable lending practices, the UK considers debt sustainability when providing financing, particularly in cases of lending to countries deemed at high risk of debt distress. In such cases, the UK only supports projects in line with limits set by the IMF and World Bank.
The UK is also engaging with the IMF’s Review of the Debt Sustainability Analysis for Low-Income Countries, and pushing for more detailed analysis of shocks, a better reflection of risks, and greater incorporation of climate factors.
Where required, the UK Government is committed to working with other creditors to address debt challenges in a timely and coordinated way, providing swift debt treatments. The government seeks to build consensus with other official creditors on debt treatments that return countries to moderate risk of debt distress, in line with the IMF and World Bank Debt Sustainability Analyses.
We work closely with the private sector on several aspects of their participation in debt treatments – including to help ensure timely and comparable treatments – through bilateral meetings, engagement with representative institutions, and the Paris Club’s regular discussions with the private sector.
One of the key challenges in restructurings is the complexity of non-bonded debt. These can slow the progress of restructurings as debtor countries need to negotiate restructurings bilaterally with each of the non-bonded creditors. To this end, the Chancellor launched the London Coalition for Sustainable Sovereign Debt, which will work to improve coordination to speed up these negotiations processes, alongside promoting the uptake of UK-led contractual innovations – namely, Climate Resilient Debt Clauses and Majority Voting Provisions – in private lending.
The Government is not currently pursuing legislative changes to enhance private sector participation in debt restructurings for low-income countries or amend the timeframes. The UK, alongside the G20 and Paris Club, expects private creditors to participate in debt restructurings on comparable terms and we have seen bondholders’ willingness to engage and provide debt treatments where needed, including for Zambia and Ghana. The Government does, however, keep this under review.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take legislative steps with Cabinet colleagues to prevent creditors of international debts from imposing unsustainable debt repayment orders on developing nations.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to policies that tackle unsustainable debt. We progress this work through international fora and mechanisms, including the G20, Paris Club, the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, and the G20 Common Framework. For example, at the G20 Finance Ministers meetings last month, the Chancellor called for reforms to the international financial architecture, including improvements to debt sustainability frameworks.
For UK lending, UK Export Finance (the UK government’s export credit agency) is committed to ensuring its lending meets international standards of sustainable finance. In line with the UK's commitment to the OECD's sustainable lending practices, the UK considers debt sustainability when providing financing, particularly in cases of lending to countries deemed at high risk of debt distress. In such cases, the UK only supports projects in line with limits set by the IMF and World Bank.
The UK is also engaging with the IMF’s Review of the Debt Sustainability Analysis for Low-Income Countries, and pushing for more detailed analysis of shocks, a better reflection of risks, and greater incorporation of climate factors.
Where required, the UK Government is committed to working with other creditors to address debt challenges in a timely and coordinated way, providing swift debt treatments. The government seeks to build consensus with other official creditors on debt treatments that return countries to moderate risk of debt distress, in line with the IMF and World Bank Debt Sustainability Analyses.
We work closely with the private sector on several aspects of their participation in debt treatments – including to help ensure timely and comparable treatments – through bilateral meetings, engagement with representative institutions, and the Paris Club’s regular discussions with the private sector.
One of the key challenges in restructurings is the complexity of non-bonded debt. These can slow the progress of restructurings as debtor countries need to negotiate restructurings bilaterally with each of the non-bonded creditors. To this end, the Chancellor launched the London Coalition for Sustainable Sovereign Debt, which will work to improve coordination to speed up these negotiations processes, alongside promoting the uptake of UK-led contractual innovations – namely, Climate Resilient Debt Clauses and Majority Voting Provisions – in private lending.
The Government is not currently pursuing legislative changes to enhance private sector participation in debt restructurings for low-income countries or amend the timeframes. The UK, alongside the G20 and Paris Club, expects private creditors to participate in debt restructurings on comparable terms and we have seen bondholders’ willingness to engage and provide debt treatments where needed, including for Zambia and Ghana. The Government does, however, keep this under review.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will amend the Debt Relief Act (Developing Countries) 2010 to include all (a) current and (b) future qualifying debts.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to policies that tackle unsustainable debt. We progress this work through international fora and mechanisms, including the G20, Paris Club, the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, and the G20 Common Framework. For example, at the G20 Finance Ministers meetings last month, the Chancellor called for reforms to the international financial architecture, including improvements to debt sustainability frameworks.
For UK lending, UK Export Finance (the UK government’s export credit agency) is committed to ensuring its lending meets international standards of sustainable finance. In line with the UK's commitment to the OECD's sustainable lending practices, the UK considers debt sustainability when providing financing, particularly in cases of lending to countries deemed at high risk of debt distress. In such cases, the UK only supports projects in line with limits set by the IMF and World Bank.
The UK is also engaging with the IMF’s Review of the Debt Sustainability Analysis for Low-Income Countries, and pushing for more detailed analysis of shocks, a better reflection of risks, and greater incorporation of climate factors.
Where required, the UK Government is committed to working with other creditors to address debt challenges in a timely and coordinated way, providing swift debt treatments. The government seeks to build consensus with other official creditors on debt treatments that return countries to moderate risk of debt distress, in line with the IMF and World Bank Debt Sustainability Analyses.
We work closely with the private sector on several aspects of their participation in debt treatments – including to help ensure timely and comparable treatments – through bilateral meetings, engagement with representative institutions, and the Paris Club’s regular discussions with the private sector.
One of the key challenges in restructurings is the complexity of non-bonded debt. These can slow the progress of restructurings as debtor countries need to negotiate restructurings bilaterally with each of the non-bonded creditors. To this end, the Chancellor launched the London Coalition for Sustainable Sovereign Debt, which will work to improve coordination to speed up these negotiations processes, alongside promoting the uptake of UK-led contractual innovations – namely, Climate Resilient Debt Clauses and Majority Voting Provisions – in private lending.
The Government is not currently pursuing legislative changes to enhance private sector participation in debt restructurings for low-income countries or amend the timeframes. The UK, alongside the G20 and Paris Club, expects private creditors to participate in debt restructurings on comparable terms and we have seen bondholders’ willingness to engage and provide debt treatments where needed, including for Zambia and Ghana. The Government does, however, keep this under review.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she has taken to help reduce the impact of unsustainable debt on developing nations.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to policies that tackle unsustainable debt. We progress this work through international fora and mechanisms, including the G20, Paris Club, the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, and the G20 Common Framework. For example, at the G20 Finance Ministers meetings last month, the Chancellor called for reforms to the international financial architecture, including improvements to debt sustainability frameworks.
For UK lending, UK Export Finance (the UK government’s export credit agency) is committed to ensuring its lending meets international standards of sustainable finance. In line with the UK's commitment to the OECD's sustainable lending practices, the UK considers debt sustainability when providing financing, particularly in cases of lending to countries deemed at high risk of debt distress. In such cases, the UK only supports projects in line with limits set by the IMF and World Bank.
The UK is also engaging with the IMF’s Review of the Debt Sustainability Analysis for Low-Income Countries, and pushing for more detailed analysis of shocks, a better reflection of risks, and greater incorporation of climate factors.
Where required, the UK Government is committed to working with other creditors to address debt challenges in a timely and coordinated way, providing swift debt treatments. The government seeks to build consensus with other official creditors on debt treatments that return countries to moderate risk of debt distress, in line with the IMF and World Bank Debt Sustainability Analyses.
We work closely with the private sector on several aspects of their participation in debt treatments – including to help ensure timely and comparable treatments – through bilateral meetings, engagement with representative institutions, and the Paris Club’s regular discussions with the private sector.
One of the key challenges in restructurings is the complexity of non-bonded debt. These can slow the progress of restructurings as debtor countries need to negotiate restructurings bilaterally with each of the non-bonded creditors. To this end, the Chancellor launched the London Coalition for Sustainable Sovereign Debt, which will work to improve coordination to speed up these negotiations processes, alongside promoting the uptake of UK-led contractual innovations – namely, Climate Resilient Debt Clauses and Majority Voting Provisions – in private lending.
The Government is not currently pursuing legislative changes to enhance private sector participation in debt restructurings for low-income countries or amend the timeframes. The UK, alongside the G20 and Paris Club, expects private creditors to participate in debt restructurings on comparable terms and we have seen bondholders’ willingness to engage and provide debt treatments where needed, including for Zambia and Ghana. The Government does, however, keep this under review.