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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has (a) implemented a domestic abuse policy for staff and (b) trained line managers to effectively respond to staff who are experiencing domestic abuse.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DCMS is committed to supporting employees experiencing domestic abuse.

Our domestic abuse charter provides comprehensive advice to employees and their managers including how to identify abuse, actions to take, and links to organisations providing advice and support.

There is currently no dedicated line manager training on responding to domestic abuse. A training product for managers is currently under development in the Cabinet Office. Once available, we will promote the take-up of this training product in our department.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has (a) implemented a domestic abuse policy for staff and (b) trained line managers to effectively respond to staff who are experiencing domestic abuse.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra has implemented employee and manager guidance for domestic abuse. The guidance offers support for

• those experiencing domestic abuse
• those who may have witnessed, or who may be supporting or managing a colleague affected by domestic abuse
• those who may have been accused of domestic abuse

All employees and managers must hold regular one-to-one meetings to ensure personal and wellbeing needs are met and that access to the Employee Assistance Programme is clear and available.

Additional training is available on the internal Learning Hub and covers key leadership and management skills such as effective communication, handling sensitive conversations, supporting wellbeing, and managing people issues.

Once available, we will promote the take-up of the training product for managers currently being developed by the Cabinet Office.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when statutory guidance will be produced on the duty to collaborate under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024; and what plans the Government has to ensure its implementation following the decision to abolish PCCs and the upcoming changes to integrated care boards.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

We will work closely with the Home Office and the Department for Health and Social care as Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Integrated Care Board reforms unfold and this will inform our consideration of implementation of the Duty to Collaborate under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024. The Ministry of Justice has recently announced that it will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date.

We are taking this opportunity to review and strengthen the commissioning and delivery of victims’ services. In light of the announcement to abolish the PCC function in May 2028, we will also explore changes to the delivery of victims funding to ensure this is delivered in the best way in the future.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with Ofcom on the disproportionate impact Physical Infrastructure Access costs have on the deployment of fibre optic broadband in rural areas.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.

DSIT is engaging on this issue with Ofcom at an official level. In July, we published our draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services that sets out the Government’s view on infrastructure sharing in the fixed telecoms sector, including asking Ofcom to demonstrate greater transparency in how they calculate and set PIA prices.

Thanking postal workers

Found: Tuberculosis and Malaria Location • Alex Sobel: Implications of cold and damp homes • Melanie Onn, Jess Asato

Found: Current membership Helen Hayes (Labour; Dulwich and West Norwood) (Chair) Jess Asato (Labour; Lowestoft

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Helen Hayes (Chair); Jess Asato; Sureena Brackenridge; Dr Caroline

Found: Current membership Helen Hayes (Labour; Dulwich and West Norwood) (Chair) Jess Asato (Labour; Lowestoft

Found: transformation across the NHS to prevent VAWG and improve support for victims and survivors, working with Jess Asato

Found: I have asked Jess Asato MP to help me reform NHS culture so that whenever and wherever a victim or survivor

Found: The initiatives follow the appointment of Jess Asato MP as the government’s VAWG Adviser on health, and