Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Luke Hall, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
The Government is committed to taking forward neonatal leave and pay when parliamentary time allows. Payment systems for new leave entitlements are large-scale projects which require considerable investment. Officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and HMRC are already engaged in discussions regarding the development of the necessary system.
The Government is committed to introducing new employment measures as we seek to build a high skilled, high productivity, high wage economy that delivers on our ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to work and grow a business. We have recently concluded a consultation containing proposals to reform flexible working regulations (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/making-flexible-working-the-default) and have published a Government response to a consultation regarding the establishment of a single enforcement body for employment rights (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/good-work-plan-establishing-a-new-single-enforcement-body-for-employment-rights).
We will bring forward reforms to our employment framework when Parliamentary time allows it. In the meantime, we will continue to take necessary action to support businesses and protect jobs.
The Government is committed to providing parents with an entitlement to take extended, paid leave for neonatal care, to support those new mothers and fathers who need it during the most stressful days of their lives.
The Government will bring forward legislation when parliamentary time allows.
On 1 March 2020, we published the Government’s Response to the 2019 consultation on Neonatal Leave and Pay which committed to introducing a new entitlement to Neonatal Leave and Pay.
The entitlement will apply to all parents of babies who are admitted into hospital up to the age of 28 days, and who have a continuous stay in hospital of seven days or more. The period of leave and pay available to parents will be capped at 12 weeks. Neonatal Leave will be a ‘day one’ right, available to an employee from the first day of employment in their job.
We will bring forward legislation to introduce Neonatal Leave and Pay when parliamentary time allows.
The Government has committed to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030, backed by an initial £3.7 billion. Together with eight existing schemes, this will mean 48 hospitals by the end of the decade, the biggest hospital building programme in a generation.
In addition to this, multi-year funding to 2024/25 of £1.7 billion has been secured for over 70 hospital upgrades, including health centres, to improve health infrastructure across the country over the long term. The aim of this investment is to modernise and transform the NHS’s buildings and services by funding physical upgrades across the country. We have already completed 65 upgrade schemes since 2017.