Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Israel on preventing the forced displacement of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta in the West Bank.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This government has been clear that stability in the West Bank is crucial. All sides should work to ensure a lowering of tension in the West Bank at this time. The risk of instability is serious and the need for de-escalation urgent. We continue to call on Israeli authorities to exercise restraint, adhere to international law, and clamp down on the actions of those who seek to inflame tensions. The UK is clear that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and harm prospects for a two-state solution. Israel must clamp down on settler violence and end settlement expansion. We are also clear that in all but the most exceptional of cases, demolitions by an occupying power are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. The Foreign Secretary discussed the West Bank with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar on 15 April and has raised the situation in the West Bank with other international counterparts. During previous visits he has met with Palestinian community members in the West Bank where he heard how communities are affected.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure the perspectives of older people are included in her Department's policy decision-making.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We know that work helps everyone, including older people, play active and fulfilling roles in society while building financial security for retirement. That is why we are reforming
employment support to ensure it helps everyone who needs it.
This includes creating a new Jobs and Careers service that will enable everyone, regardless of age, to access support to find good, meaningful work, and help them progress in work or increase their earnings.
We are also committing to the establishment of ‘collaboration committees’ to further develop the reforms set out in our Pathways to Work Green Paper. These will bring together groups of people for specific work areas, including older people, collaborating with civil servants to provide discussion, challenge, and recommendations.
We have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent “Keep Britain Working” review as a part of the plan to Get Britain Working again. In recognition of employer's vital role, his review is considering recommendations to support and enable employers to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence, and recruit and retain more disabled people and people with health conditions. This includes the perspectives of older people themselves, as well as engaging with the Centre for Ageing Better.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on the Healthy Start Scheme in the (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department spent £86,382,173 on the Healthy Start scheme in 2023/24. Audited data on the Department’s spend on the Healthy Start scheme for the 2024/25 financial year is not yet available.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) Statutory Maternity Pay and (b) Maternity Allowance.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Government spends approximately £3 billion a year on parental payments.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and State Pensions, including Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance. This is based on a review of trends in prices and earnings growth in the preceding year.
From April 2025, the rate for Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance increased by September 2024's CPI figure of 1.7%, from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.
Parental pay is only one element of the support available for parents. Depending on individual circumstances, additional financial support, for example, Universal Credit, Child Benefit and the Sure Start Maternity Grant (a lump sum payment of £500) may also be available.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 help tackle monopolistic practices in the technology sector.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 1 January 2025 the Government implemented the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The Competition and Markets Authority now has new bespoke tools to address the market power of a small number of the largest technology firms and increase competition in digital markets. This will create opportunities for new entrants, allow existing firms to grow, encourage continued investment and innovation and lead to better outcomes for consumers.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will consider including retail home delivery drivers within the definition of assaults on retail workers.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers. We will not stand for this. Everybody has a right to feel safe at their place of work.
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. We want to send a strong message to offenders and would-be offenders that violence against retail workers will not be tolerated.
This Government and the retail sector have long championed the new offence. Our definition of a ‘retail worker’ is intentionally narrow given the vital need to provide legal clarity and ensure there is no ambiguity for courts in identifying whether an individual is a retail worker and impacted during their job. Those workers whose roles are not included within the definition are already covered under other legislation such as the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which also covers more serious violence, including actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.
Section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing cases of assault against public facing workers. It applies where an assault is committed against those providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public. This includes those working in retail and other public-facing roles.
We will use the parliamentary process to scrutinise the provisions in the Bill and will consider carefully amendments tabled as well as evidence put forward in support of such amendments.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published in March 2025, whether people with a terminal illness who do not have a claim under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness will be eligible for the additional premium in Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department supports people nearing the end of life through the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). These rules enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment or serve waiting periods, and in most cases, to receive the highest rate of benefit.
The SREL have been extended to apply to people who have 12 months or less to live, rather than 6 months or less to live, so that people receive vital support through the Special Rules six months earlier, increasing the number of people able to access benefits through the Special Rules.
The Pathways to Work Green paper announced that the Government is considering the appropriate rules for those in specific circumstances, such as being at end of life. It also announced that, after April 2026, the Government plans to protect the incomes of those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who have no prospect of improvement and will never be able to work.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, what the value will be of the additional premium in Universal Credit for people with the most severe, life-long health conditions with no prospect of improvement.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As set out in the Green Paper, we will ensure that those with the most severe, life-long health conditions, who will never be able to work will see their incomes protected. We will also ensure this group face no future reassessment. We will set this out in the forthcoming Bill.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people with a terminal illness who do not have a claim under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness will be exempt from work-related activity requirements following the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are currently consulting on how we should determine which individuals or groups of individuals should be exempt from the requirement to participate in conversations or any work-related requirements following the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people with a claim under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness will be exempt from work-related activity requirements following the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are currently consulting on how we should determine which individuals or groups of individuals should be exempt from the requirement to participate in conversations or any work-related requirements following the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment.