Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure small and mid-sized quoted companies (a) invest in and (b) are listed in the UK.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK’s capital markets play a key role in delivering on the government’s growth mission. We have already delivered an ambitious set of reforms to make it easier for firms to start, scale, list and stay on UK markets, and capital markets are a core pillar of the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, launched at Mansion House.
The UK is also a hub for growth capital, with UK growth markets providing funding to growing companies from across the world. Over the last 10 years, over half of all capital raised on European growth markets was raised on AIM.
The government maintains a range of targeted tax reliefs for growth market shares, supporting capital raising for listed businesses, and investors in those shares. This supports growth in the broader UK economy.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK objected to the recent election of Abbas Tajik of Iran as a Vice-Chair to the Bureau for the sixty-fifth session of the UN's Commission for Social Development.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Iran put forward the only candidate so there was no vote.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
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 ensure that audit requirements are accessible and affordable for small and mid-sized quoted companies.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has previously announced its plans to modernise and simplify the corporate reporting framework and expects to publish a consultation on the Modernising Corporate Reporting shortly. The consultation will consider financial, non-financial, remuneration and corporate governance reporting, as well as proposals to reduce burdens on business and to simplify the preparation and audit of accounts and reports, including for quoted companies. The consultation will also consider the appropriateness of the UK’s framework for reporting and auditing by small and medium-sized companies.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans his Department has to reform corporate reporting requirements to support economic growth and competitiveness.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has previously announced its plans to modernise and simplify the corporate reporting framework and expects to publish a consultation on the Modernising Corporate Reporting shortly. The consultation will consider financial, non-financial, remuneration and corporate governance reporting, as well as proposals to reduce burdens on business and to simplify the preparation and audit of accounts and reports, including for quoted companies. The consultation will also consider the appropriateness of the UK’s framework for reporting and auditing by small and medium-sized companies.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
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 simplify audit requirements for quoted companies.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has previously announced its plans to modernise and simplify the corporate reporting framework and expects to publish a consultation on the Modernising Corporate Reporting shortly. The consultation will consider financial, non-financial, remuneration and corporate governance reporting, as well as proposals to reduce burdens on business and to simplify the preparation and audit of accounts and reports, including for quoted companies. The consultation will also consider the appropriateness of the UK’s framework for reporting and auditing by small and medium-sized companies.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has carried out scenario testing of the potential impact of the switch-off of digital terrestrial television on emergency communications.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government understands the importance of everyone being able to access information in times of national emergency. Both television and radio play a vital role in providing such access for a range of different emergency scenarios, including scenarios where other communications may be disrupted.
The BBC has specific requirements under its Framework Agreement in relation to broadcast security and resilience, and works closely with DCMS in ensuring its networks are able to support emergency communications in a range of scenarios.
The Government’s project looking into the future of TV distribution is considering a range of relevant factors, including the future resilience requirements for broadcast networks. It is important that audiences continue to receive consistent levels of service regardless of how they receive their television, and ensuring that this can happen will be a priority for the project.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
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 implications for his policies of the Association of British Neurologists’ Workforce Report 2025, which shows that the UK has approximately 1–2 consultant neurologists per 100,000 population compared with a European average of around 6 per 100,000.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July 2025, set out that over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. The Government will set out its next steps on this in due course.
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
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 increased funding and planning for the neurology workforce; and what steps his Department is taking to increase neurology specialty training posts and consultant numbers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July 2025, set out that over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. The Government will set out its next steps on this in due course.
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is his Department taking to increase neurology specialty training posts and consultant neurologist numbers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July 2025, set out that over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. The Government will set out its next steps on this in due course.
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
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 impact of the absence of a regular, comprehensive national workforce census on neurology workforce planning; and if he will commit to establishing such a census.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made. NHS England already publishes well-established official statistics on the medical neurology workforce, therefore there are no plans to introduce a census.
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.