Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Question 85812, whether he plans to introduce his Department's proposed reforms to alcohol licensing through (a) legislative changes to the Licensing Act 2003 or (b) regulatory guidance.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is undertaking activity to implement the initial announcements made by the Chancellor on 26 November. Those include a guidance document (the National Licensing Policy Framework) which is already available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-licensing-policy-framework-for-the-hospitality-and-leisure-sectors and taking forward legislation to reform the Temporary Event Notices available to on-trade licensed premises. In addition, plans are being developed to assess the remaining recommendations made by the Taskforce and in relation to these the need for further legislation and guidance will be considered in due course.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Questions 85811 and 85813, if he will publish all evidence received by the Licensing Taskforce (a) during meetings and (b) through written evidence or other stakeholder engagement.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is undertaking activity to implement the initial announcements made by the Chancellor on 26 November. Those include a guidance document (the National Licensing Policy Framework) which is already available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-licensing-policy-framework-for-the-hospitality-and-leisure-sectors and taking forward legislation to reform the Temporary Event Notices available to on-trade licensed premises. In addition, plans are being developed to assess the remaining recommendations made by the Taskforce and in relation to these the need for further legislation and guidance will be considered in due course.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Question 85808, if he will publish all responses received to the call for evidence on proposed licensing reforms.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 26 November an initial analysis of responses to a number of the Call for Evidence questions was published, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/reforming-the-licensing-system. We will be publishing a summary of responses received to all of the call for evidence on proposed licensing reforms in the New Year.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Question 85806, on what evidential basis his Department chose to issue a call for evidence rather than a consultation.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government invited views and evidence to inform the development of a modern, proportionate and enabling licensing system. A Call for Evidence ran for four weeks, primarily via an online survey, and this attracted a significant number of responses. Alongside discussions were held with key stakeholders to supplement the evidence we received. This process enabled us to elicit views and draw on evidence in relation to the key recommendations of the Licensing Taskforce.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to support (a) LGBTQ+ clergy and (b) people considering entering ministry.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
Many dioceses now offer specific LGBT+ chaplaincy teams to offer specialised support to LGBT+ candidates, ordinands and clergy, with more in development. Dioceses work on this to locally developed plans, not national guidance or advice.
All candidates, ordinands and clergy receive support to discern and develop their vocation through their local church and clergy, through Diocesan Directors of Ordinands, Theological Education Institutions, and through archdeacons and bishops.
Dioceses also offer appropriate support, where required, for the wellbeing of clergy, including offers of counselling, retreats and sabbaticals.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make it her policy to support efforts to create a Special Rapporteur for Women and Girls Living Under Occupation at the United Nations.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In our discussions with the United Nations and other international bodies, the UK continues to push for greater priority to be given to the risks facing women and girls in conflict, as set out in the Foreign Secretary's speech on 24 November, available at the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/twenty-five-years-of-women-peace-and-security.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions the Church of England has had with Church of England academies with admission processes that exclude potential pupils of another faith or none.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
In a voluntary aided (VA) school or former VA school that has converted to become an academy, school admissions are the responsibility of the governing body or trust directors. Church of England schools, as Church Schools, have to consult with the Diocesan Board of Education as they set their admissions policy and oversubscription criteria. In doing so they will be mindful of the need to be true to their foundation principles and respond to parental preference, whilst meeting their desire to serve the community for which the school was established.
The Church of England Vision for Education sets out our aspiration to be ‘deeply Christian, serving the common good’, and schools, in consultation with their dioceses, will consider how best to achieve this at a local level.
Schools cannot and do not exclude pupils on the basis of faith, but when a school is oversubscribed, they apply oversubscription criteria which have to be fair, clear and objective. It is right for such policies to be set locally (following regular consultation) because each local context varies enormously. For example, a school which is the only school serving a particular community is likely to take a different approach to admissions compared to a context where there are several schools available and where parental demand for the ethos and type of education offered by a Church of England school is more pronounced.
The National Church Institutions can only comment on best practice, I would suggest that if the Hon. Member for Lancaster and Wyre has a specific school in mind, the local diocese education team would be best placed to discuss the matter with her. The details of Blackburn Diocese’s Education team can be found here: https://www.bdeducation.org.uk/schools/
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to rebuild trust with survivors of abuse within the Church of England.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
The Church of England recognises that trust among victims and survivors varies greatly, as each survivor is on a different journey. We engage with a high number of people with lived experience, and we are committed to learning with those with lived experience and rebuilding trust, relationships, and steps to healing and recovery.
Some survivors are rebuilding trust through support services such as the Interim Support Service, and diocesan support provision, while others actively shape safeguarding improvements by co-developing policies and practices. We recognise that for many survivors developing trust is hard to do, and we acknowledge that reality and seek a victim-led approach.
In recent years the Church has created multiple opportunities for survivors to speak out and influence change, through survivor participation opportunities, feedback forms, questionnaires, and involvement in interview panels, project boards, and audits, including the National Safeguarding Team audit last summer.
We regularly update the survivor participation webpage and send a monthly newsletter to maintain open communication and transparency.
Last year, we co-developed a National Survivor Participation Framework with victims and survivors, which now guides engagement across the Church, and we achieved a milestone of having the Redress Scheme – also co-designed with survivors at the heart of it- to be approved by the General Synod.
Looking ahead, we plan to activate a framework tailored to listening to children and young people, create a national system to capture the impact of survivor engagement, and embed the Framework across dioceses and cathedrals. Building trust is a long-term commitment, and we continue to work with victims and survivors, and external agencies, to build on the work we have started.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether registered social workers will be eligible for the 5 year pathway to settlement for skilled frontline public service workers.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In May 2025, the Immigration White Paper set out an increase in the baseline qualification period for settlement from five years to ten, which was collectively agreed across government.
A Fairer Pathway to Settlement sets out the Government’s proposed model for earned settlement and accompanies the current public consultation on settlement reform, which is open until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on the proposal that there should be a shorter pathway to settlement for those working in vital public services, particularly where earnings are based on national pay scales and may not meet the proposed threshold for an income-based reduction in the qualifying period. This might include, for example, medical and teaching professionals working in public services. However, it is envisaged that the above reduction in the qualifying period for public service roles would apply only to those working in skilled occupations (at RQF Level 6 or above).
Full details on earned settlement will be finalised following the conclusion of the public consultation.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data her department holds on the number of road traffic collisions involving both electric vehicles and pedestrians.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The number of road traffic collisions involving both battery electric vehicles and pedestrians in Great Britain, for the last 5 years is shown in the table below:
Year | Collisions |
2020 | 59 |
2021 | 139 |
2022 | 292 |
2023 | 448 |
2024 | 591 |
Data and statistics on personal injury road collisions and casualties in Great Britain are based on data reported to the Department by police forces via the STATS19 data collection system. Data on vehicle propulsion are sourced from DVLA vehicle registration figures.