Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has had discussions with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on monitoring employer compliance with maternity-related workplace rights.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) regulates equality law across England, Wales and Scotland.
The EHRC is independent of the government and makes its own enforcement and regulation decisions. The Government regularly engages with EHRC on a range of areas covered in their remit.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has had discussions with regulators on ensuring compliance with equality legislation within regulated firms.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government is clear that regulated firms should be aware of their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 both when providing services and as employers. It is a matter for individual regulators as to whether they actively encourage compliance by firms within their supervision, but there is guidance and codes of practice to assist firms in being compliant and we regularly discuss and review these with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of premises without access to gigabit-capable broadband in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Through its Open Market Review (OMR) process, Building Digital UK identifies premises in England and Wales with no gigabit network infrastructure and where none is likely to be developed within the next three years. This information is routinely published on the GOV.UK website. In Scotland, this process is carried out by the Scottish Government, who will hold the most up to date information on the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.
Additionally, the independent website ThinkBroadband.com publishes its own information on broadband coverage at a constituency level. It reports that 67.6% of premises in the hon. Member’s constituency can access a gigabit-capable connection.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the number of mobile phone not-spots in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations Spring Update (8 May 2025), approximately 24% of the constituency of Inverness, Skye and West Ross-Shire has no 4G geographic coverage from any mobile network operator (MNO), and similarly around 20% of premises lack 5G coverage outside.
The government is working closely with the MNOs on improving mobile coverage right across the UK, including in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-Shire. We recently upgraded and activated a Home Office mast near Kyle of Lochalsh for the Shared Rural Network and there will be further coverage improvements to come from that programme.
Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030, and we are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition in the market.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of households with copper-based broadband connections only in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Using Connected Nations 2025 Spring Update data published by Ofcom, we estimate that of the 52,930 residential properties in the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency, approximately 18,540 households (35%) are reliant on copper-based broadband connections, and 34,390 households have access to full fibre broadband. Most of these premises may also have recourse to connectivity through fixed wireless access.
These figures are accurate as of January 2025. The figure for copper-based connections includes broadband delivered by mixed technologies such as fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) as well as solely copper-based technologies such as ADSL.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help ensure enforcement of international humanitarian law protections for journalists in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK strongly condemns all violence directed against journalists and media workers. Civilian reporters covering conflicts are afforded protection under international humanitarian law. We are therefore appalled by the extremely high number of fatalities, arrests and detentions of media workers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In a recent joint statement with 28 other countries, we called on the Israeli authorities and all other parties to make every effort to ensure that media workers in Gaza, Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem can conduct their work freely and safely. The statement also called for all attacks against media workers to be investigated and for those responsible to be prosecuted in compliance with national and international law.
The UK has contributed £3 million to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Global Media Defence Fund, benefitting over 9,000 journalists, including time-sensitive emergency support to journalists and media experiencing sudden major crises in Ukraine, Sudan and Haiti. Earlier this year the UK provided funds to UNESCO's Special Fund for Gaza, supporting locally based journalists with vital equipment.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of (a) urban littering and (b) waste management on the behaviour of gull populations.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Government has not made a recent national assessment on the potential impact of urban littering and waste management on the behaviour of gull populations. The effective management of litter and waste are matters for local authorities in the areas in which they occur.
All wild birds in England, including gulls, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and only in exceptional cases does the law allow for certain exemptions to this protection, such as to preserve public health and safety.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the Ukrainian nationals living in the UK are aware of the information on her Department’s page on gov.uk entitled Immigration information for Ukrainians, British nationals and their family members, last updated on 2 August 2025; and what steps she plans to take to ensure that Ukrainian nationals living in the UK are updated about any future changes to visa (a) schemes and (b) expiration dates.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office provide updates to GOV.UK pages as it is required, updating information to ensure any changes that impact Ukrainians are clearly explained and noted.
The Home Office will continue to update GOV.UK, when necessary, with the latest information so individuals remain informed.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Scottish Government on Scotland’s short-term let regulatory regime.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS Ministers met with the Scottish tourism minister in July 2025 as part of the Devolved Administrations' Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) for Tourism, where Short-Term Lets were briefly discussed. Additionally, DCMS officials meet regularly with their counterparts in the Devolved Administrations, including the Scottish Government, to discuss issues related to tourism, including short-term lets.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that access to public services does not depend exclusively on the use of digital identity systems.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
GOV.UK One Login is being developed by Government Digital Service (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology), as the ‘front door’ for accessing government services online. Our aim is to make it as simple and inclusive as possible for individuals, while protecting them and the government from the risks of fraud.
Inclusion is at the heart of GOV.UK One Login - we provide several ways for individuals to verify their identity, including in person at the Post Office. While we expect it to become the primary method for accessing online government services, departments will continue to provide offline alternatives for those who prefer or are unable to use digital channels.