Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had discussions with the Scottish Government regarding the standard response time for Police Scotland to provide a response to an MP’s correspondence and when the hon Member for Harrow West might expect a reply to his correspondence to Police Scotland dated the 10th July, 12th August and 27th August.
Answered by Melanie Ward - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
Policing and police operational matters are devolved to the Scottish Government, and Police Scotland operates independently under the governance of the Scottish Police Authority. As such, the UK Government does not hold information regarding specific correspondence sent to Police Scotland. The Hon. Member may wish to direct his query to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the Scottish Government.
The Secretary of State has not held discussions with the Scottish Government regarding the standard response time for Police Scotland to provide a response to an MP’s correspondence.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the expected timetable is for bringing into force the announced prohibition on the advertising and promotion in the UK of land and property in illegal Israeli settlements, and what steps he is taking to ensure its implementation.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Honourable Member to the statement made by the Foreign Secretary to the House on 8 September.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department provides on reporting alleged document fraud by regulated solicitors, including when both the police and the regulator decline to act; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure such allegations are not left without substantive examination by any body.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The police are operationally independent of Government, and legal services regulators exercise their regulatory functions independently of Government. Decisions on whether to investigate suspected criminal offences are operational matters for the police, while legal services regulators determine how concerns within their regulatory remit are handled and set the guidance on reporting them. In relation to regulated solicitors in England and Wales, such regulatory guidance is therefore a matter for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
It is possible for certain regulatory investigations to take place alongside criminal investigations, as reflected, for example, in the SRA’s published guidance: https://referral.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/investigations-parallel/. Legal services regulators may have arrangements in place with law enforcement to support cooperation and share information where appropriate.
The Ministry of Justice has not made a specific assessment of the interface between the police and legal services regulators in the circumstances described. The Government expects allegations of misconduct and criminality to be appropriately considered by the bodies responsible, while recognising that it is for each body to determine whether investigation is warranted within its remit.
The Legal Services Board holds legal services regulators to account for their performance, including the overall effectiveness of their enforcement and operational delivery. If the evidence were to indicate a systemic gap in the effectiveness of the regulatory framework that resulted in allegations not being appropriately considered, the Government would consider this with the Legal Services Board and other relevant bodies.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the changes introduced in May 2026 to prevent third parties and automated bots from booking and reselling practical driving test appointments; and how many cases of test reselling have been identified since those changes came into force.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since the changes to the booking reforms were introduced in May 2026, evidence continues to suggest that the measures implemented are having the intended effect.
Since 9 June, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has cancelled over 1,350 tests it detected as having been booked in breach of the terms and conditions and placed over 7,600 online booking suspensions on the system. High-volume booking activity has fallen sharply with test swaps reducing by around 63%.
Enforcement activity has increased substantially against those seeking to misuse the booking system. These reforms continue to help ensure that appointments are increasingly being accessed by genuine learners rather than by those seeking to profit from the system. DVSA is closely monitoring changes in behaviour to identify potential fraud.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of expanding the remit of the Community Finance Taskforce to support Community Development Finance Institutions providing personal lending.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Community Finance Taskforce was established with a specific aim of supporting additional lending to SMEs from Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). The Taskforce builds on existing cooperation between banks and community lenders and the British Business Bank’s Community ENABLE Funding programme, which seeks to increase CDFI capacity for SME lending.
The Taskforce has been asked to focus on developing a roadmap for the SME community lending sector. There are therefore currently no plans to expand the remit to cover personal lending.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, if he would consider extending the remit of the Community Finance Taskforce to include CDFIs providing affordable personal lending.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Community Finance Taskforce was established with a specific aim of supporting additional lending to SMEs from Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). The Taskforce builds on existing cooperation between banks and community lenders and the British Business Bank’s Community ENABLE Funding programme, which seeks to increase CDFI capacity for SME lending.
The Taskforce has been asked to focus on developing a roadmap for the SME community lending sector. There are therefore currently no plans to expand the remit to cover personal lending.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of levels of school funding on the provision of (a) physical education, (b) extracurricular sporting activities and (c) sporting facilities in secondary schools in England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government recognises the important role of PE, school sport and physical activity in supporting children and young people’s health, wellbeing and attainment.
Curriculum PE is funded through schools’ core budgets, which schools can allocate according to pupils’ needs. The government is investing over £1 billion in PE and school sport over the next three years, including £530 million for the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network and almost £200 million to improve sporting facilities. The network will support primary and secondary schools through universal and targeted provision, including coaching, swimming and stronger links with extracurricular sport and local clubs.
The £22.5 million Enrichment Expansion Programme will support over 400 schools in the most deprived areas of England to meet the Enrichment Framework benchmarks. In addition, the ‘Every Child Can’ programme will provide £132.5 million from dormant assets for enrichment activities in schools, communities, weekends and holidays.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether his Department will publish a biennial environmental impact report of the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2027; and if he will set out a timetable for its publication.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department will publish a single monitoring report on the UK's accession to CPTPP in 2027, once two years of post-accession data is available and has been analysed. UK trade agreement monitoring reports track early-stage implementation and utilisation and are not designed to assess medium- to long-term impacts. Those impacts are assessed in later evaluation reports. For CPTPP, the Department will publish an evaluation report once five years of post-accession data is available and has been robustly analysed. We will consider a range of areas for inclusion in these reports, including the environment.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with banks on participation in the small sum lending pilot set out in the Financial Inclusion Strategy; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of small sum lending on reducing household reliance on high-cost lending and alleviating the cost of living.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises that, when provided responsibly, credit can play an important role in helping people manage unexpected expenses and smooth their cash flow. Access to suitable, affordable credit products can support people’s financial resilience and wellbeing and help them achieve their financial goals. For this reason, improving access to affordable credit is a key area of focus in the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, published last year.
The Strategy sets out an ambitious package of measures to improve access to affordable credit, including a pilot small-sum lending scheme to help encourage the role of mainstream lenders in the provision of affordable credit to underserved groups. The scheme is being ran by Fair4All Finance, with Monzo Bank announced as the first participant in June 2026.
HM Treasury are engaging closely with key delivery partners in relation to the Strategy’s implementation, including Fair4All Finance, to understand progress to date and how we can continue to build on interventions. This includes examining the success of pilots and relevant next steps, which will also be considered as part of the Strategy’s two-year review process.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support collaboration between credit unions and local authorities to improve household financial resilience.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Local authorities and credit unions can be effective partners in supporting financial resilience in their local communities. Examples include credit unions facilitating payroll savings at local councils, local authorities signposting local residents to affordable credit they could access at credit unions, and collaboration on financial education initiatives.
While it is for each local authority to determine their own local partnership arrangements, the Government and the financial services regulators are focused on creating the conditions for credit unions to grow and succeed. For example, the Government is making growth-focused reforms to the common bond framework and establishing a £30m Credit Union Transformation Fund, while the FCA and the PRA are reviewing credit union regulation to ensure it remains proportionate.