Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, What assessment has she made of the training provided to frontline rail workers on dealing with conflict at work.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Train operating companies must comply with the law, which includes the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The Office of Rail and Road, as the independent railway safety regulator for the UK, oversees these legal requirements. Its enforcement powers derive from the 1974 Act, and range from giving advice and information, through to prosecution in the courts. This covers issues such as lone working, violence at work etc.
The Secretary of State also requests, through National Rail Contracts, that train operating companies measure perceptions of staff safety and develop action plans accordingly.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Government has authorised any export licences for military equipment or dual-use items to Pakistan that could be used in drone operations or internal security actions in Balochistan.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK remains deeply concerned by reports of human rights abuses in Pakistan, including in Balochistan. Advocating for civil and political rights is a core part of the UK's diplomatic engagement with Pakistan. To that end, the Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan has raised human rights issues on several occasions with Ministers in Pakistan. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people in Pakistan in accordance with its constitution and international standards.
All export licences for military and dual-use equipment are assessed on a case-by-case basis against our Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. Once granted, all our licences are kept under close and continual review and can be revoked or suspended if necessary.
As our most recent data on export licences show, last year licences have been refused to Pakistan both where there has been a risk of diversion for an undesirable end use, and due to concerns the items may be used to commit or facilitate internal repression.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the level of the risk that UK-supplied equipment could contribute to human rights violations in Balochistan.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK remains deeply concerned by reports of human rights abuses in Pakistan, including in Balochistan. Advocating for civil and political rights is a core part of the UK's diplomatic engagement with Pakistan. To that end, the Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan has raised human rights issues on several occasions with Ministers in Pakistan. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people in Pakistan in accordance with its constitution and international standards.
All export licences for military and dual-use equipment are assessed on a case-by-case basis against our Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. Once granted, all our licences are kept under close and continual review and can be revoked or suspended if necessary.
As our most recent data on export licences show, last year licences have been refused to Pakistan both where there has been a risk of diversion for an undesirable end use, and due to concerns the items may be used to commit or facilitate internal repression.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to review Gurkha pay and pensions in accordance with the 1947 Tripartite Agreement.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Government holds the Gurkhas in the highest regard and deeply values their unique and enduring contribution to the United Kingdom. Their bravery, loyalty, and dedication have been an integral part of the British Armed Forces for over two centuries. The Government remains fully committed to recognising their service and ensuring they are treated with fairness and respect.
Gurkha terms and conditions of service were originally established under the 1947 Tripartite Agreement and have been adapted over time to reflect changes in the Brigade’s circumstances. Since 2007, Gurkhas have served under the same terms as the rest of the British Army, with certain provisions retained to preserve the unique identity of the Brigade of Gurkhas.
The Defence Secretary has not engaged in discussions with Cabinet colleagues regarding the uprating of legacy Gurkha pensions, as retrospective changes or enhancements are generally not applied to public service pension schemes. This principle is consistently upheld across the public sector.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made recent representations to her Pakistani counterparts on reports of escalating human rights violations in Balochistan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given on 2 June to Question 51410.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to consult on the implementation of Unemployment Insurance Benefit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We announced the introduction of a new contributory benefit, provisionally called ‘Unemployment Insurance' (UI) in the Pathways to Work green paper, and consulted specifically on the time limit and what support should be available whilst on UI. We published our summary of responses to the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation on 30 October 2025. We are now considering responses and will set out our plans in due course.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of how much the NHS budget will need to grow to keep pace with patient need, drug prices, inflation and private finance debt in each of the next five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The financial pressures and the cost of new commitments for the National Health Service are analysed as part of the Spending Review process. The outcome of the most recent Spending Review is given in the policy paper Spending Review 2025, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2025-document/spending-review-2025-html
As set out in the document, this level of funding growth will support the NHS to deliver on the Government's priorities, including delivery of the Government’s Plan for Change commitment, meaning that by the end of this Parliament, 92% of patients will start consultant led treatment for nonurgent conditions within 18 weeks of referral.
At the 2025 Autumn Budget, the Government protected the NHS envelope announced at the 2025 Spending Review. This will see the NHS in England receive an over £15 billion real terms increase in annual resource budgets by the end of the period, between 2025/26 and 2028/29.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of renegotiating current private finance debt to fund neighbourhood health centres with any potential savings.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Private finance initiative contracts are not held by the Department. Contracts are held between the local National Health Service trust and their respective private finance company.
The Department’s Private Finance Centre of Best Practice (CoBP) team, together with the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, provides expert support and advice to public authorities with private finance initiative contracts, to improve the performance of existing contracts and manage their expiry.
The Department focuses on supporting trusts to assess the costs and performance of their contracts, to help maximise support for frontline services and make every penny of our NHS funding count. The Department supports trusts on a case-by-case basis considering all options available whilst maintaining contractual compliance. The contracts were let for a prescribed period of time, with the terms set at the outset with limited areas for renegotiation. The CoPB team, however, continues to assess opportunities to refinance debt where possible and where it would provide value for money.
As set out in the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy (the Strategy) and the 10-Year Health Plan, in addition to significant capital investment, the Government would explore the feasibility of using new Public Private Partnership (PPP) Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs).
The Budget, published on 26 November 2025, builds on the Strategy and the 10-Year Health Plan by confirming that the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme will deliver new NHCs through upgrading and repurposing existing buildings and building new facilities through a combination of public sector investment and a new model of PPPs.
To ensure the NHC PPPs are managed transparently and are fiscally sustainable, these partnerships will be budgeted for as if they are on a balance sheet.
Delivering new NHCs through a combination of public investment and PPPs will also allow, for the first time, for evidence to be built and compared between different delivery models.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the (a) vetting and (b) due diligence carried out for employees of the British Embassy in Tel Aviv includes assessments of whether they (i) reside in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and (ii) have (A) membership of and (B) ties to Israeli settler organisations; and what her Department's policy is on the employment of people in sensitive roles with conflicts of interest.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has been the longstanding policy under successive governments not to comment on personnel and security matters in relation to individual members of staff.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what her Department's policy is on the employment of staff at (a) the British Embassy in Tel Aviv and (b) other government missions that reside in illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian Territory.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has been the longstanding policy under successive governments not to comment on personnel and security matters in relation to individual members of staff.