Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of the number of apprenticeships delivered by the hair and beauty sector.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of ‘hair and beauty’ related apprenticeship starts in England is published in the Apprenticeship accredited official statistics publication, which can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/66bd1260-5cd4-4769-1f8e-08dd8e2f6934. These were last published in March 2025. They include full year figures from 2019/20 to 2023/24, and year to date figures for 2024/25 (August 2024 to January 2025).
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of workers in the nail salon industry who are victims of modern slavery or human trafficking; what data her Department holds on the total number of such victims identified in this sector in the last five years; and what steps she is taking to (a) identify and (b) support victims within this industry.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government takes reports of labour exploitation in the beauty sector and nail bars very seriously, and we remain committed to tackling the crime of modern slavery – wherever it occurs.
The Government is establishing the Fair Work Agency, which will bring under one roof multiple agencies and bodies, including the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, and HMRC’s National Minimum and Living Wage Team. This will ensure a more cohesive and streamlined response to exploitation across the economy. The Fair Work Agency will have enhanced powers and resources to identify and address labour exploitation more effectively. It will be a strong, recognisable brand so individuals know where to go for help.
We do not currently hold data for the number of victims of modern slavery and human trafficking within the nail salon industry. Nonetheless, we will continue to monitor the sector closely alongside the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, including emerging intelligence and trends, to ensure we target our work effectively.
The National Referral Mechanism is the UK’s framework for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. Once identified, victims are entitled to support under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract - regardless of their nationality and where their modern slavery experience has occurred, unless the public order or bad faith disqualifications apply.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of terrestrial television and radio services on the resilience of communications infrastructure.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government understands how important it is that everyone can access information in times of national emergency. Television and radio both play an important role in providing such access in a range of different emergency scenarios, including scenarios where other communications may be disrupted.
The BBC has specific requirements under its Framework Agreement in relation to broadcast security and resilience, and works closely with DCMS in ensuring its networks are able to support emergency communications.
The Government’s project looking into the future of TV distribution is considering a range of relevant factors, including the future resilience requirements for broadcast networks.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the reliability of (a) digital terrestrial television and (b) IPTV.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government’s project on the future of TV distribution is seeking to understand how people receive their television now and in the next decade. We want audiences to continue to receive consistent levels of service regardless of how they receive their television, and ensuring that this can happen will be a priority for the Government.
Reliability is one of the issues that is being considered by the Future of TV Distribution stakeholder forum. The forum brings together the Government, the TV industry, the infrastructure sectors, and audience advocacy groups to share ideas and develop solutions.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the length of time GPs take to process medical records for the armed forces.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working across Government to increase efficiency in general practices (GPs) and the patient experience by removing red tape and streamlining, or removing, requests to GPs for medical evidence where possible, aiming to free up more GP time to care for patients. This includes improving and helping speed up processes through digital solutions for the sharing of medical records for recruitment to the armed forces, whilst work continues towards the introduction of a new Armed Forces Recruitment Service by 2027.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of delays in GPs providing medical records on armed forces recruitment.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The current Government inherited a crisis in recruitment and retention from the last administration, and this Government is focused upon improving Armed Forces recruitment, modernising and refining our policies and processes to attract the best possible talent. Defence is committed to reducing the time taken for candidates to pass through Armed Forces recruitment processes and enter service. Access to medical records is one of the main frictions in current Armed Forces recruitment processes, adding time into candidates’ progress through their application journey. To reduce this friction we are actively taking steps to optimise relevant processes working with the Department for Health and Social Care. This is already delivering results with shorter wait times.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase women’s safety in Gosport Town Centre.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Through our Safer Streets Mission, we are driving action across Government to achieve our unprecedented mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. That means working to tackle threats to women's safety in all areas of their lives, including in public places.
We are investing £13.1m this financial year (25/26) in a new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection, to drive national coordination and improvement in the police response. This includes delivering our manifesto commitment for strengthened specialist training for officers across England and Wales, including in Hampshire, to ensure that they offer consistent protection for victims and relentlessly pursue perpetrators.
Our VAWG strategy, due to be published later this summer, will set out further measures designed to keep women and girls safe in the streets, in their homes, and online.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the annual value of money laundering operations conducted through businesses presenting as Turkish barber shops; what proportion this represents of total estimated money laundering activity; and what steps she is taking to help tackle this financial crime.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The National Crime Agency estimates that over £12bn in criminal cash is generated each year in the UK and the Government recognises that cash intensive businesses that are exploited by criminals such as barber shops, can contribute to this.
Addressing cash-based money laundering is one of the strategic priorities of the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), which sits within the National Crime Agency. In March the NECC coordinated a three-week crackdown against barbershops and other cash intensive businesses across England and Wales involving 19 different police forces and Regional Organised Crime Units, as well as national agencies including HMRC, Trading Standards and Home Office Immigration Enforcement.
In total, 380 premises were visited across the three-week operation, with officers securing freezing orders over bank accounts totalling more than £1m, executing 84 warrants and arrested 35 individuals. Officers also seized more than £40,000 in cash, 200,000 cigarettes, 7,000 packs of tobacco, over 8,000 illegal vapes and two vehicles.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of tax receipts from the hair and beauty sector.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) does not hold readily available analysis on tax receipts from the hair and beauty sector.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the impact of the Business Rates Review on live entertainment venues.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues. The Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties from 2026-27. To provide further support, the government has extended RHL relief at 40% for 2025-26. The Government is prioritising the creative industries, including live music, as part of the Industrial Strategy.