Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure audit requirements are accessible and affordable for small and mid-sized quoted companies.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has announced plans to modernise and simplify the corporate reporting framework and expects to publish its Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation shortly. The consultation will consider financial, non-financial, remuneration and corporate governance reporting, as well as proposals to reduce burdens on business and to simplify the preparation and audit of accounts and reports, including for quoted companies. The consultation will also consider the appropriateness of the UK’s framework for reporting and auditing by small and medium-sized companies.
Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the burden of annual reporting for small and mid-sized quoted companies.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has announced plans to modernise and simplify the corporate reporting framework and expects to publish its Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation shortly. The consultation will consider financial, non-financial, remuneration and corporate governance reporting, as well as proposals to reduce burdens on business and to simplify the preparation and audit of accounts and reports, including for quoted companies. The consultation will also consider the appropriateness of the UK’s framework for reporting and auditing by small and medium-sized companies.
Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the British Business Bank supports stocks traded on AIM and Aquis.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The British Business Bank’s mission is to drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK.
Through its equity and debt programmes, the Bank supports privately held businesses in the earlier stages of their growth journey, helping to strengthen the pipeline of companies that reach sufficient scale to access public markets including AIM and Aquis.
Once businesses are traded on a public market, they can access liquidity from existing and new investors by issuing new equity or debt securities.
Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using wasted and stranded renewable energy to mine bitcoin as an alternative DSR capability.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No such assessment has been made.
Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what demographic data in relation to ethnicity, gender and age his Department holds on convictions and cautions over the last 30 years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice holds an extract of the Police National Computer (PNC) which holds data on ethnicity, gender and age for convictions and cautions since 2000. A breakdown of this information is published annually in the First Time Entrants and Offenders History publication here: First Time Entrants and Offenders History publication
In addition, the Ministry of Justice holds data on convictions in the Court Proceedings database which includes details of gender and age from 1984. Ethnicity data is included from 2005 onwards. This information, along with a technical guide for each report containing further details around demographic information, is routinely published in Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK Information on cautions from the PNC extract is also published within the reports.
Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what research he has undertaken into (a) inequalities in the criminal justice system and (b) the impact of DBS checks on those inequalities.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Equality before the law is a fundamental principle of our criminal justice system. We are committed to working in partnership with ethnic minority communities, stakeholders and delivery partners to seize opportunities and remove barriers to racial equality across the UK and to hear people’s lived experiences.
Data First is a pioneering data-linkage, research and academic engagement programme, led by the Ministry of Justice. By making linked data across courts, prison and probation services available to accredited academic researchers, Data First continues to facilitate new research on the nature and extent of ethnic disparities in sentencing outcomes that has not been possible before.
DBS checks and the wider criminal records regime must strike a balance between safeguarding and rehabilitation, but we recognise the different ways that they can impact on an individual’s life. Sir Brian Leveson’s recent independent review of the Criminal Courts also highlighted these impacts. On 2 December 2025, the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed in a Written Ministerial Statement, that we are considering Sir Brian’s recommendation, including opportunities to simplify the regime to ensure it is clear and proportionate, particularly in relation to childhood offences.
Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to prevent UK companies from sell and profit from hunts, in addition to banning trophy hunters.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern, which is the most effective approach the Government can take on this matter. The department continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can implement a robust ban. Timeframes for introducing legislation will be provided once the Parliamentary timetable for future sessions is determined.
Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
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 tackle UK companies profiting from the trophy hunting of endangered animals.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern. Defra continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can implement a robust ban. Timeframes for introducing legislation will be provided once the Parliamentary timetable for future sessions is determined.
Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a national strategy for palliative and end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to increase levels of housebuilding.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is taking concerted action to significantly boost housing supply in England including undertaking the biggest overhaul of the planning system in decades; speeding up the delivery of stalled sites through our New Homes Accelerator; and making the biggest boost to social and affordable grant funding in a generation.