Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of current statutory rest break entitlements under the Working Time Regulations 1998; and whether he plans to review these provisions to improve working conditions for hourly paid workers.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Working Time Regulations establish minimum standards for rest periods, including a 20-minute rest break after every 6 hours’ work, a minimum rest period of 11 hours each 24-hour period and a minimum rest period of 24 hours in any 7-day period. The government encourages employers to provide more rest breaks where appropriate for them and their workers, but the law seeks to guarantee minimum rest breaks for all workers, including those paid hourly, while also providing flexibility for businesses. The government has no current plans to review these provisions.
Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to work with young people in developing policies on restrictions to social media use for under-16s.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Government has engaged extensively with children and young people as part of the Growing up in the Online World consultation and National Conversation, including through a dedicated version of the consultation for young people, alongside youth‑led sessions and workshops to hear directly from them.
Ministers and officials have also engaged in schools, youth settings and community groups, working with trusted organisations to reach diverse groups of young people.
The Government will continue to work closely with organisations representing the voices of children and young people as policy is developed.
Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the current system whereby proof of posting is treated as proof of delivery for notices of intended prosecution for speeding offences; and whether she has considered introducing additional measures in cases where delivery is disputed.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Notices of Intended Prosecution are issued by the police, not by the Department for Transport. The Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 requires, for certain offences including speeding, that a person is warned at the time of the offence, or that a summons or notice of intended prosecution is served within 14 days, and provides that compliance with those requirements is presumed unless and until the contrary is proved.
Where service of a Notice of Intended Prosecution is disputed, it is for the court to consider the evidence in the individual case. The Department does not issue Notices of Intended Prosecution and enforcement is a matter for the police.
The Department has not made a separate assessment of this issue and has no current plans to introduce additional measures, but keeps the relevant legislative framework under review.
Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what evidence her Department has considered in determining whether video-sharing platforms pose different risks to children's wellbeing than social networking platforms; and what assessment she has made of the extent to which features identified in the Government's consultation apply to both categories.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Protecting children online is a priority for the Secretary of State and this government. The Online Safety Act provides strong foundations for protecting children across the UK. We have always been clear that we will build on that foundation and published a consultation and national conversation which sought views and evidence from people across the UK on measures that could further protect children online and enhance their wellbeing.
The government published a progress report on the consultation on 15 June, outlining plans to restrict social media services from providing access to under 16s alongside restrictions on functionalities for wider services. Further details will be published in July.
Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of Ofcom's recent findings on TikTok and YouTube; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of those findings on the decision to exempt those platforms from proposed age-based restrictions on children's access to social media.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Protecting children online is a priority for the Secretary of State and this government. The Online Safety Act provides strong foundations for protecting children across the UK. We have always been clear that we will build on that foundation and published a consultation and national conversation which sought views and evidence from people across the UK on measures that could further protect children online and enhance their wellbeing.
The government published a progress report on the consultation on 15 June, outlining plans to restrict social media services from providing access to under 16s alongside restrictions on functionalities for wider services. Further details will be published in July.
Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, for what reason YouTube has not been included in the Government’s online safety and age assurance pilot programmes; and whether YouTube is expected to be included in any future iterations of those pilots.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The decision not to include YouTube as part of the Government’s child social media pilot study was due to the use of the platform by schools and youth organisations for teaching and other educational purposes.
Next steps will be considered once the current studies have concluded.
Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, for what reason wholesale electricity prices are set by gas‑fired generation under the marginal pricing system; and what assessment he has made of the impact of this pricing structure on household energy bills.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our recent announcement on 21 April set out several measures that will help break the link between the price of gas and the price of electricity. These measures include voluntary long term fixed contracts and an updated Electricity Generators Levy.
Marginal pricing is a description of how competitive commodity markets function. It is the foundation of all commodity markets across the OECD. Marginal pricing incentivises the cheapest sources of energy production to provide as much power as possible, more expensive producers are only used when it is necessary to meet demand. The issue is that we are too often relying on gas to provide our power.
Accelerating the deployment of renewable generation, as we are through our Clean Power 2030 Mission, will reduce the amount of time when gas is setting the price and will help to rapidly decouple electricity from gas prices without the need for more complex arrangements. This will in turn reduce the exposure of consumer bills to volatile international prices.
Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what contingency plans are in place to protect fuel supply, heating oil availability, fertiliser supplies and food distribution in Wales in the event of prolonged disruption to global oil and gas supply routes, including through the Strait of Hormuz.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK benefits from a diverse and resilient fuel supply chain and remains well supplied across all fuel types. The Government works closely with industry to monitor supply, demand, and market conditions.
Government’s long-standing contingency plans include the National Emergency Plan for Fuel. A summary of the plan is published on gov.uk and sets out measures to respond to supply and distribution disruption, ensuring that, in the unlikely event of a sustained disruption, fuel can be prioritised for essential services and critical supply chains.
The Government does not assess that the current situation warrants, or is approaching, the threshold for the use of emergency powers.
Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the scale of spoofing scams using UK telephone numbers; and whether she plans to strengthen obligations on network operators to prevent fraudulent number allocation and misuse.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The most recent Ofcom research on the scale of spoofing calls reveals that in February 2025, two in five phone users said they received a suspicious call in the last three months. Tackling fraud and pursuing the criminals behind it is a priority for the government. We are working closely with industry and regulators to reduce spoofing and other forms of telecoms-enabled fraud.
In November 2025, the Government published the second Telecommunications Fraud Sector Charter, signed by major mobile network operators including BT EE, Virgin Media O2, and VodafoneThree. Through the Charter, signatories' committed to measures to tackle spoofing, including adopting common standards to reduce fraud and abuse across all network-originated messaging channels.
As the independent regulator, Ofcom also consulted in 2025 on proposals to strengthen rules on overseas calls that falsely present UK numbers, including updates to its Calling Line Identification Guidance. The Government supports this work and continues to engage with Ofcom and industry to protect customers. More recently, on 9 March 2026, the Home Office also published its new Fraud Strategy which sets out how the Government will work with all partners, including law enforcement and industry, to make the UK a much harder place for criminals to operate.
Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of online safety protections for vulnerable adults, including neurodivergent adults such as those with autism and ADHD; and whether she plans to take steps to improve safeguarding and platform accountability.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Online Safety Act places legal duties on platforms to make their services safer for all users, including vulnerable adults and those that are neurodivergent.
Services are required to protect users from illegal content and activity online, which may impact vulnerable adults disproportionately. In addition, the largest services will also have additional duties put on them, to offer adults user empowerment tools. These will allow adults to have greater control over their online experience.
Ofcom has robust enforcement powers and we have been clear that Ofcom has the government’s full backing to take enforcement action.
We continue to build on the Act to keep users safe online, such as making content that promotes self-harm priority offences.