Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting lists for NHS-funded weight loss programmes.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Department are taking to help tackle abusive purchasing practices in the fashion industry.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for Responsible Business Conduct promotes the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct and provides a non-judicial grievance mechanism for complaints of non-observance by UK businesses. The government also launched a review, through the Trade Strategy, of the UK's approach to responsible business conduct, which is focussed on tackling human rights, labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains, including those in the fashion industry. We will update the House once the review is complete.
We have already announced measures to tackle late payments through additional reporting requirements for large firms and launched a new Fair Payment Code which aims to boost cash flow for small businesses, crucial for their survival, by tackling late payments and lengthy payment terms that can lead to financial strain and failure.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the scope of the independent Groceries Code Adjudicator to include the functions of the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is undertaking the fourth statutory review into the effectiveness of the GCA, and covers the period from 31 March 2022 – 1 April 2025. The review sought input on the GCA’s effectiveness in enforcing the Code, its role alongside the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator and potential unfair practices outside its current remit. The Government is currently analysing responses and other publicly available evidence covering the review period. The review report will be published as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to expand the remit of the Groceries Code Adjudicator to tackle unfair trading practices in supply chains.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is undertaking the fourth statutory review into the effectiveness of the GCA, and covers the period from 31 March 2022 - 1 April 2025. The review sought input on the GCA's effectiveness in enforcing the Code, its role alongside the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator and potential unfair practices outside its current remit. The Government is currently analysing responses and other publicly available evidence covering the review period. The review report will be published as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of fashion watchdog.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for Responsible Business Conduct promotes the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct and provides a non-judicial grievance mechanism for complaints of non-observance by UK businesses. The government also launched a review, through the Trade Strategy, of the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focusing on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains, including those in the fashion industry.
While concerns have been raised about unfair practices, there are currently no plans to introduce a Fashion Watchdog. However, other measures are being considered as part of the responsible business conduct review. We will update the House once the review is complete.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review HM Passport Office's policy on considering urgent government business or compassionate reasons to include (a) scattering of ashes and (b) ritual and prayer ceremonies.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
HM Passport Office policy already allows applications to be considered under compassionate grounds where there is a time-critical requirement arising from religious observance following a death. This includes the scattering of ashes or ritual and prayer ceremonies within a prescribed period.
To ensure staff apply the policy consistently, HM Passport Office is updating its internal guidance to state explicitly that these types of cases may meet the criteria for urgent consideration. Where travel for these purposes is planned but not subject to such time-sensitive requirements, standard processing times will apply.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to include schools in the Erasmus+ programme.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has agreed to work towards association to Erasmus+, on mutually agreed financial terms. Negotiations are under way, and the terms of association are subject to further discussions.
The current Erasmus+ programme is open to a broad audience and provides mobility opportunities for learners and staff across the education, training, youth and sport sectors including for school pupils and school staff. As part of the programme, schools can also develop partnerships and collaborate with other schools or educational organisations.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce the risk of schools in disadvantaged areas excluding pupils from Turing Scheme-funded excursions due to the cap on funding.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the current academic year of the Turing Scheme, we applied a cap to the funding that schools could apply for. Schools could receive funding of up to £50,000 for a single application or, applying as a consortium, up to £50,000 per school to a maximum of £300,000. This will limit how many schools are required to replan their intended placements. Setting a limit means that we can offer schools more certainty that they can be awarded the funding they request, without concentrating the funding in the hands of too few schools.
An estimated 82% of school placements this year will be for students from a disadvantaged background. The proportion of students from a disadvantaged background in a school’s application is a key factor in deciding which applications are funded. More schools than ever before have applied for funding, with 485 applying compared to 333 last year.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what contingency plans his Department has in place to support schools during the transition period from the Turing Scheme to Erasmus+.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The UK and EU have agreed to work towards association to the Erasmus+ programme, on mutually agreed financial terms. Negotiations are underway and the terms of any association will be subject to further discussions. The department will have to consider the implications for other programmes, following the outcome of those discussions.
Details on the Turing Scheme for future years will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support schools in disadvantaged areas with applications to the Turing scheme; and what assessment she has made of the trends in the level of concern that the current design of the application process incentivises schools to outsource applications to profit-making enterprises.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In order to support schools, especially those in disadvantaged areas, the department provided guidance and webinars to enable potential applicants to find out more about the Turing Scheme, what it could offer their students and how to make their application. Since bringing management of the Turing service in-house for the 2024/25 academic year, in response to feedback from the education sector, the department introduced a streamlined digital application service that was co-designed. The service also includes simplified and shorter guidance and a grant calculator tool to help providers work out how much funding to apply for.
It is up to schools to decide whether they choose to use a third party to support them with an application or scheme administration. However, they cannot use Turing Scheme funding towards the cost of appointing an external organisation to write their application.