Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with international financial institutions on mechanisms to mobilise private capital to support developing economies.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government firmly believes that mobilising private capital is critical to raise the finance needed to achieve our development and climate objectives and helping drive economic growth both in developing economies and at home here in the UK. That is why the UK is shifting from donor to investor and the International Financial Institutions are among our most important partners for mobilising private capital at scale.

We have regular engagement with them both through our representation on their Boards and through Ministerial engagement, such as at the recent World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings, which the Chancellor and Minister for Development both attended.

We want to support Multilateral Development Banks to reform their business model to further scale financing to developing countries, help build strong project pipelines and mitigate risks to attract more private capital. We also want them to help improve investment conditions and build local financial sector and local currency markets and to share more data on their investments.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the role of employee-owned business models in reducing the gender pay gap.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support energy security through international co-operation following discussions at the IMF Spring Meetings.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what role the UK is playing in international efforts to reform global debt frameworks.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 1 April in response to Question 122705.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to accelerate investment in electrification infrastructure for HGV charging in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The £171 million Depot Charging Scheme will support the uptake of zero emission vans, coaches, and HGVs by part-funding the installation of charging infrastructure at fleet depots up to £1 million. This builds on the Zero Emission HGV Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme, which has already provided more than £120 million in funding to deploy hundreds of zero emission HGVs and their associated charging and refueling sites. The Government is also working with National Highways to deliver a series of webinars to support truck stop operators to prepare for zero emission HGV charging.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve the health and wellbeing of workers in the logistics sector in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport is working with industry and across government to support workforce health in the logistics sector. Specifically, the department has been raising awareness among the road freight sector of a driver health training module, approved by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, which forms part of Driver Certificate of Professional Competence training. In addition, the Department of Health and Social Care is working with the road freight sector, through the Men’s Health Strategy, to increase uptake of NHS Health Checks by HGV drivers.

With industry, the Department for Transport and National Highways are investing in improvements to lorry parking facilities, including better welfare provision, additional capacity and enhanced security, which can contribute to the physical and mental wellbeing of drivers.

More widely, the government is working with employers through initiatives such as the Keep Britain Working programme to support workforce health and help people to remain in work, including within the logistics sector and encourages industry-led efforts to improve working conditions and employee wellbeing.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of employee-owned business models on reducing the level of the gender pay gap.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The research surrounding effective actions employers can take to close the gender pay gap makes it clear that a positive workplace culture, in combination with support from leadership, underpins the success of actions to close the gap.

While have not made an assessment of the impact of ownership structure on the gender pay gap in an organisation, the research available and the consultation we have undertaken forms the basis of voluntary action plans, with this government now encouraging large employers to publish the steps they are taking to close their gap, and support employees during the menopause, alongside their gender pay gap figures.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support energy security through international co-operation following the 2026 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The International Financial Institutions (IFIs) are the primary financing mechanism to respond to the impacts of the Middle East crisis on developing countries, including for energy security. They have an unparalleled ability to deliver emergency finance at scale to help deal with the immediate impacts in a crisis, as well as longer term policy reforms and investments that build resilience for the future.

Thanks in part to UK pressure, the IFI crisis toolkit is stronger than ever. The World Bank has made $20-25 billion of additional financing available and the International Monetary Fund has roughly $300 billion in total financing capacity to response to balance of payments crises. At the Spring meetings in Washington, the Minister of State for International Development pushed for a forward leaning, coordinated IFI response. The UK continued this work at the Global Partnerships Conference in London on 19-20 May.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the clean energy sector procures UK manufactured steel.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Our Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan gives investors the certainty and stability they need to invest in and expand UK supply chains.

We are committed to supporting and growing clean energy supply chains, creating good jobs across the UK. This includes ensuring there are opportunities for domestic products, including UK steel, to be used in our UK deployment projects; as well as leveraging our strong deployment trajectories to unlock even more investment into UK supply chains.

We have recently set out our approach to supporting the UK steel industry in the Steel Strategy and have announced revisions to tariffs and quotas to protect UK producers. Additionally, the National Wealth Fund has at least £5.8 billion for investing in some clean energy sectors, and green steel.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help prison staff combat substance misuse by inmates in the prison estate.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

We recognise that levels of illicit drug use in prisons remain too high, and we are committed to creating safe, stable environments where staff are equipped with the tools and support they need to promote recovery and drug-free living. We have invested over £40 million in physical security across 34 prisons, including £10 million on drone countermeasures, to help prevent drugs entering prisons in the first place.

We work closely with our health partners to ensure that prisoners with a drug and alcohol dependency are identified at the earliest opportunity. This helps create the conditions in which their addictions can be effectively addressed, and aims to ensure access to consistent, high-quality treatment and care across the estate. Our Incentivised Substance Free Living units, now funded in 88 prisons, provide structured pathways to recovery using incentives and regular drug testing. We are also increasing access to mutual aid groups across the estate, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics anonymous, and have taken steps to review our drug testing regime as a whole to ensure it supports the best outcomes.

We are committed to ensuring that our staff in specialist roles have the skills they need, including our 54 Drug Strategy Leads in key prisons, who work to implement local drug strategies effectively. At prison group level, we have recruited 17 Drug and Alcohol Leads to support joint working with health commissioners across wider geographies. Alongside this, naloxone, a drug used for suspected opioid overdose, is now available in every prison, with over 10,000 prison staff trained in the emergency use of nasal naloxone. Naloxone training is also embedded into foundation training for all new prison officers, strengthening frontline capability to prevent harm.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has assessed the potential impact of prison overcrowding on staff safety.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Ministry of Justice research on crowding and violence in the adult closed estate in 2022 shows that prisoners in overcrowded cells are 19% more likely to be involved in an assault over a one-year period than those in cells that are not overcrowded.

The details of this report can be found here: The impact of overcrowding on assaults in closed adult public prisons - GOV.UK

As set out in the December 2024 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy, we have committed to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places and aim to do so by 2031. We are investing £4.7 billion over the spending review period (2026/27 to 2029/30) towards the delivery of these additional prison places, and we have already delivered c.3,100 since taking office. Alongside increasing capacity at record rates, our Sentencing Act 2026 will place the prison population on a more sustainable footing and pave the way for further reforms.

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