Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to support the (a) mandate and (b) recommendations of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports both the mandate and recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. As penholder on Myanmar at the UN Security Council, we have convened four meetings this year to maintain international focus and press for accountability. We co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution in April and coordinated a joint statement in May calling for an end to violence. We remain deeply concerned by ongoing violations committed by the Myanmar military, including airstrikes on civilians, sexual violence, and forced recruitment of children. Since the coup, the UK has provided over £190 million in humanitarian aid, including healthcare, education, and support for civil society. The UK continues to lead efforts to keep Myanmar on the international agenda and advocate for human rights.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to review Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions in UK trade and investment agreements.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provides an independent means for investors to resolve disputes with states where they believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation.
The Government is aware of the interest in this important policy area and, in line with HMG’s Trade Strategy, the UK will continue to work with trading partners multilaterally, such as the OECD and the UN, to pursue opportunities to improve ISDS practice.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of reports of attacks on the Indigenous community of Cuahuayula, Mexico on 20 October 2025.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to promoting and protecting human rights globally, including the rights of Indigenous communities. We are concerned by reports of violence against Indigenous communities in Mexico, including the recent attack in Coahuayula on 20 October. Any violence against Indigenous communities must be fully investigated. We regularly engage with the Mexican authorities and civil society on the issue of protection of civilians, as well as the UN in Mexico on the effective investigation of crimes against human rights defenders.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will introduce secondary legislation under the Environment Act 2021 for due diligence rules for forest-risk commodities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the urgency of taking action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation. The Government is actively considering the best regulatory approach to address deforestation in UK supply chains; we will set out this approach in due course.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to regulate the use of supply teacher agencies by schools, including (a) measures to ensure fair pay, (b) pension access, and (c) transparency in agency fees.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are responsible for recruiting supply teachers, which includes deciding whether to use supply teacher agencies.
The department, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, has established the agency supply deal, which supports schools to obtain value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. The deal has established a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which will be transparent about the rates they charge.
The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) Regulations 2014, which set out the rules for the TPS, determine that for teachers to be eligible, their employment must be with an accepted employer, usually a school. Where supply teachers are self-employed, or employed by a supply agency and their services are provided under a contract for services, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS. This is because there is no organisation to undertake the employer role, including remitting contributions to the scheme.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of British Transport Police’s recent changes to its policies on responding to bicycle thefts at railway stations; and what steps she is taking to ensure that cycle security is prioritised for (a) promoting active travel and (b) supporting the her cycling and walking strategy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Everyone should be confident in choosing active travel, including cycling, as part of their everyday journeys.
Ensuring the railway remains safe for passengers and staff, and creating a hostile environment for criminals on the network is a priority for both the Department for Transport and the British Transport Police (BTP). Decisions on the use of resource and deployment of officers across the railway are for the BTP, as an operationally independent police service.
I would like to reassure you that the BTP have not taken the decision to stop investigating bike theft that cannot be narrowed to a two-hour window, which was reported in the media. The BTP’s screening policy, introduced in August 2024, takes into account factors including the possible time window an incident could have taken place in, but also the availability of witnesses and CCTV, the realistic prospect of a successful outcome, and a range of other factors. In some instances this may mean that an investigation is not progressed, but there is no blanket ruling and each case is judged on its own merits.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 74995 on Covid: Vaccination, for what reason (a) spousal household contacts aged under 75 years of immunosuppressed individuals and (b) other household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals are not eligible for the NHS covid-19 autumn booster programme during the autumn and winter of 2025/26.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of severe illness, involving hospitalisation and/or death, arising from COVID-19.
The JCVI’s advice for autumn 2024 noted that in the era of high population immunity to COVID-19, and with all cases due to highly transmissible Omicron sub-variants, any protection offered by the vaccine against the transmission of infection from one person to another was expected to be extremely limited. On this basis, the JCVI did not advise offering vaccination to any household contacts. The Government accepted the JCVI’s advice for autumn 2024, with both the advice and the Government’s response available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-accepts-advice-on-2024-autumn-covid-vaccine-programme
Household contacts were therefore not offered vaccination in the autumn 2024 campaign. On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme covering vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026. In line with its advice for the autumn 2024 campaign, the JCVI did not advise COVID-19 vaccination for household contacts. This advice is available at the following link:
The Government accepted the JCVI’s advice on eligibility for the spring and autumn 2025 COVID-19 vaccination programme. The Government is considering the advice for spring 2026 carefully, and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) farmers and (b) exporters are protected from unfair supermarket practices not covered by the (i) Groceries Code Adjudicator and (ii) Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA) is responsible for enforcing regulations developed under the Agriculture Act 2020 'Fair Dealing' powers (section 29). Regulations introduced using these powers promote fair contractual dealing and contribute to a more equitable relationship between producers and purchasers. To date, the powers have been used to create the Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024 and the Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) Regulations 2025.
The ASCA can investigate relevant complaints around compliance with these regulations. This is distinct from the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), which regulates the relationship between large retailers and their direct suppliers.
The Government is committed to an evidence-based approach to regulating the supply chain and providing opportunities to assess the effectiveness of the approach.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to improve (a) oversight and (b) enforcement of performance standards in the Civil Service Pension Scheme administration.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The government has taken significant steps to improve both the oversight and enforcement of performance standards in the Civil Service Pension Scheme administration, primarily through the new contract with Capita and enhanced internal controls. Capita has been contracted to assume full administrative responsibilities from 1 December 2025.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the pension remediation work under the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 will be completed.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The McCloud remedy under the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 took effect from October 2023 and will deliver a full remedy to all affected public service pension scheme members. As part of this, all affected members are receiving a remediable service statement setting out the details of their pension entitlements. Pensioner members can make their remedy choice on receipt of this statement, while active and deferred members will make their choice at the point at which they retire. Schemes are currently working hard to ensure the remedy is delivered to all affected members as quickly as possible.