Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the rise in disguised employment in the hair and beauty sector.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC is committed to ensuring that the tax system operates fairly and efficiently and creates a level playing field for compliant businesses. Most businesses pay what they owe but a minority fail to register with HMRC or only declare a portion of their earnings.
HMRC is committed to tackling false self-employment and will investigate evidence suggesting businesses have misclassified individuals for tax purposes. In these cases, HMRC will take steps to ensure they pay the right Income Tax and National Insurance contributions.
HMRC recognises that some customers can find it hard to understand their tax obligations. HMRC is developing and testing new educational material specific to the hair and beauty sector to explain better the rent-a-chair model, making it easier for customers to get things right.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the proportion of NHS expenditure allocated to primary care dentistry net of patient charge revenue compared with other areas of NHS primary care in each financial year since 2010/11.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Prior to 2023/24, there was no specific dental budget allocation and dentistry formed part of a wider budget including community pharmacy and optometry. Since 2023/24, there has been a specific dental ringfence allocation for integrated care boards. This includes primary, secondary and community dentistry and is set net of patient charges.
The attached table sets out actual spend on different aspects of primary care for 2013/14 onwards, with previous comparable figures not being available as they predate the creation of NHS England.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made towards publishing the family engagement strategy and methodology for the National Maternity Investigation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The national maternity and neonatal investigation is operationally independent of the Department and, therefore, we do not hold this information.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2025 to Question 74400 on Juries: Childcare, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the amount jurors can claim for childcare to ensure that it remains in line with those costs.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Jurors can claim allowances to help cover additional costs arising from jury service, including the full additional cost of childcare within the overall daily financial loss allowance cap. Informal childcare can also be reimbursed at a set hourly rate, subject to the same allowance cap. Jurors can apply for a deferral or excusal based on childcare issues. These allowances are kept under review to ensure support remains appropriate and accessible. At present, there are no plans to increase the juror childcare allowance rate.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress the Government has made on reviewing how future MPS surpluses should be shared.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The previous Minister of State for Industry met the MPS Trustees on 9 July and confirmed the Government’s commitment to considering their proposals regarding the future of the scheme. DESNZ will now engage HM Treasury with a view to agreeing a way forward.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that delays to broadband rollout are minimised when a Building Digital UK contract is terminated.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Project Gigabit is designed to adapt in the event a contracted supplier can no longer complete its planned delivery, utilising a mix of contracts and interventions to enable us to continue to bring fast, reliable broadband to hard-to-reach premises across the UK. This process is intended to mitigate the potential impact of contract terminations on rural communities and to ensure that delays to the rollout of Project Gigabit are minimised.
In May 2025, Building Digital UK (BDUK) and Full Fibre mutually agreed to terminate the Project Gigabit contract for the Peak District, which included some premises in the Derbyshire Dales constituency.
BDUK is now engaging with suppliers to review alternative options for extending coverage in this region. The coverage that can be provided, and the timescale for its delivery, will depend on what suppliers are able to offer within the public funding that can be made available, and we are keen to ensure this happens as quickly as possible.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the early termination of the Building Digital UK Full Fibre contract on rural communities in Derbyshire.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Project Gigabit is designed to adapt in the event a contracted supplier can no longer complete its planned delivery, utilising a mix of contracts and interventions to enable us to continue to bring fast, reliable broadband to hard-to-reach premises across the UK. This process is intended to mitigate the potential impact of contract terminations on rural communities and to ensure that delays to the rollout of Project Gigabit are minimised.
In May 2025, Building Digital UK (BDUK) and Full Fibre mutually agreed to terminate the Project Gigabit contract for the Peak District, which included some premises in the Derbyshire Dales constituency.
BDUK is now engaging with suppliers to review alternative options for extending coverage in this region. The coverage that can be provided, and the timescale for its delivery, will depend on what suppliers are able to offer within the public funding that can be made available, and we are keen to ensure this happens as quickly as possible.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 April 2025 to Question 57518 on Farms: Tenants, if she will make it her policy to prevent agricultural landlords participating in the (a) Sustainable Farming Incentive, (b) Countryside Stewardship Scheme, (c) Landscape Recovery Scheme and (d) other similar schemes for a period of 12 months after they have taken land back from a tenant farmer.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government remains committed to ensuring agricultural tenancies are fair and collaborative. Agricultural tenancy agreements grant tenant farmers statutory protections. Where tenancies end, all parties are encouraged to employ the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Code of Practice, which sets out expected standards for constructive tenancy negotiations.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that the proposed short-term let registration scheme will ensure all properties are clean and safe.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The registration scheme will make short-term let providers aware of their legal responsibilities, particularly around safety, helping to raise standards of accommodation, build consumer confidence, and support fair competition.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that, with the exception of the F-35, no British arms being exported to Israel are being used in the conflict in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All export licences are assessed on a case-by-case basis. All licences for exports to the Israeli Defence Forces are kept under careful ongoing review to ensure they are not being used for military operations in Gaza or the West Bank.