Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support hospices that rely on charitable donations, in the context of changes to National Insurance thresholds.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The employer National Insurance contributions (ENICs) rise will be implemented in April 2025.

The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, like hospices, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with ENICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Businesses and charities will still be able to claim ENICs reliefs, including those for under 21 and under 25 year old apprentices, where eligible.  The Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve (a) management accountability and (b) the complaints and oversight system for staff at multi-academy trusts.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

All school staff should feel safe and supported at work, and confident in being able to report concerns. We expect school leaders, as employers, to take appropriate action to tackle any issues that are raised.

All school employers, including trusts, have a duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees. The primary duty to take reasonable care for the health and safety of all employees, including school leaders, rests with the employer. The employer is therefore responsible for doing what is reasonably practicable to ensure that employees are adequately supported in relation to wellbeing and should take appropriate action where they are aware of any matters that impact their employee’s welfare. It is the responsibility of individual trusts to have robust staffing policies in place to ensure this is the case.

This includes having complaints guidance and whistleblowing policies and procedures in place. Guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-up-an-academies-complaints-procedure/best-practice-guidance-for-academies-complaints-procedures and here: https://www.gov.uk/whistleblowing.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, is the prescribed person for matters relating to education for whistleblowers who do not want to raise matters directly with their employer. Concerns can be raised with the department using the Customer Help Portal available here: https://customerhelpportal.education.gov.uk.

More widely, as Principal Regulator for academies, the Secretary of State is clear that accountability is non-negotiable. The department holds academies to high standards, setting and enforcing all non-financial standards, and facilitating, supporting and overseeing intervention in multi-academy trusts when it is needed.

Academy trusts are also bound by their funding agreements to conduct their academies within the terms and requirements of their Articles of Association, the Academies Trust Handbook and any legislation or legal requirement that applies to academies. Where concerns about an academy are identified or raised, the department works closely with trusts to ensure statutory requirements are being met.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to respond to the consultation on the Enterprise Act 2002 (Mergers Involving Newspaper Enterprises and Foreign Powers) Regulations 2024, published in May 2024.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

We are currently considering responses to the consultation, and hope to publish a response in the near future.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to reintroduce The Enterprise Act 2002 (Mergers Involving Newspaper Enterprises and Foreign Powers) Regulations 2024.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

We are currently considering responses to the consultation, and hope to publish a response in the near future.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many Foreign State Intervention Notices have been issued in the last six months.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

There have been no Foreign State Intervention Notices issued in the last six months.

Review into breast cancer screening

UN Special Rapporteur's report on atrocity crimes in Iran

Submit Evidence (by 3 Feb 2025)

This inquiry is examining the legal and policy challenges faced in setting up and running the pilot Safer Drugs Consumption Facility (SDCF) which opened in Glasgow in January 2025. This inquiry will examine the case for the facility, as well as its medical effectiveness in reducing drug-related harm in Scotland. The Committee will consider the current legal position of the SDCF, what challenges this presents, and what statutory and policy changes at a UK level might be necessary to enable the facility to operate sustainably beyond its three-year pilot.