Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will use the Illicit Finance Summit to press the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to introduce publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership without delay or dilution.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Tackling illicit finance at home and internationally remains a key priority for this Government. We recognise the role of those professional enablers who exploit the integrity of their professions to facilitate serious and organised crime and corruption. That is why the upcoming Illicit Finance Summit will focus on strengthening global enforcement against illicit finance, including forging new partnerships to disrupt such professional enablers and take the profit out of crime and corruption. By driving greater transparency, stronger enforcement and higher global standards, we will also make it harder to hide or misuse money, including through tax evasion. We will confirm details of attendance at the Illicit Finance Summit in the normal way in due course.
We regularly raise our expectations on publicly accessible and legitimate interest access registers of beneficial ownership with Overseas Territories (OTs) and Crown Dependencies, and I most recently discussed this with OT leaders and representatives on 16 July.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to tackle the enablers of illicit finance in the financial and legal services sectors.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Tackling illicit finance at home and internationally remains a key priority for this Government. We recognise the role of those professional enablers who exploit the integrity of their professions to facilitate serious and organised crime and corruption. That is why the upcoming Illicit Finance Summit will focus on strengthening global enforcement against illicit finance, including forging new partnerships to disrupt such professional enablers and take the profit out of crime and corruption. By driving greater transparency, stronger enforcement and higher global standards, we will also make it harder to hide or misuse money, including through tax evasion. We will confirm details of attendance at the Illicit Finance Summit in the normal way in due course.
We regularly raise our expectations on publicly accessible and legitimate interest access registers of beneficial ownership with Overseas Territories (OTs) and Crown Dependencies, and I most recently discussed this with OT leaders and representatives on 16 July.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will expand the remit of the Illicit Finance Summit to include tax abuse.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Tackling illicit finance at home and internationally remains a key priority for this Government. We recognise the role of those professional enablers who exploit the integrity of their professions to facilitate serious and organised crime and corruption. That is why the upcoming Illicit Finance Summit will focus on strengthening global enforcement against illicit finance, including forging new partnerships to disrupt such professional enablers and take the profit out of crime and corruption. By driving greater transparency, stronger enforcement and higher global standards, we will also make it harder to hide or misuse money, including through tax evasion. We will confirm details of attendance at the Illicit Finance Summit in the normal way in due course.
We regularly raise our expectations on publicly accessible and legitimate interest access registers of beneficial ownership with Overseas Territories (OTs) and Crown Dependencies, and I most recently discussed this with OT leaders and representatives on 16 July.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what he is taking, as co-owner of the International Education Strategy, to ensure UK schools expanding overseas do not use non-disclosure agreements to silence harassment or discrimination in ways that would be unlawful in the UK.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to protecting workers from Non-Disclosure Agreement misuse. The Employment Rights Act 2025 includes a measure that void NDAs in cases of workplace harassment and discrimination.
We recently consulted on the measure and are currently analysing responses. A Government response will be issued in due course.
With regards to overseas franchises of UK schools, they must abide by the domestic laws of the host country.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Government's response to the Make Work Pay consultation on non-disclosure agreements will address staff employed by the overseas franchises of UK schools.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to protecting workers from Non-Disclosure Agreement misuse. The Employment Rights Act 2025 includes a measure that void NDAs in cases of workplace harassment and discrimination.
We recently consulted on the measure and are currently analysing responses. A Government response will be issued in due course.
With regards to overseas franchises of UK schools, they must abide by the domestic laws of the host country.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to amend the British Schools Overseas standards to prohibit accredited schools from using non-disclosure agreements to prevent disclosure of harassment or discrimination; and whether the approved inspectorates will be required to assess compliance.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
British Schools Overseas schools must abide by the local laws of the host country. There are no current plans to amend the British Schools Overseas Standards.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider providing funding to support nurseries in upgrading older buildings to make them safer during hot weather.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has published guidance to support education and early years settings during hot weather which is available at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2026/06/hot-weather-and-heatwaves-guidance-for-schools-and-other-education-settings/. This draws on guidance from the UK Health Security Agency.
Early years providers are responsible for managing the needs of very young children during periods of hot weather and for implementing mitigations such as cooling systems and other measures to maintain safe indoor temperatures.
There is no maximum temperature standard set for nurseries and early years settings. Early years providers are responsible for assessing risks and taking appropriate steps to ensure the safety, wellbeing and comfort of children and staff. This may include investing in building upgrades where appropriate.
The department supports maintained nursery schools and other school provision as part of our investment of almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of cooling and heat-management systems in nurseries and early years settings during periods of extreme heat.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has published guidance to support education and early years settings during hot weather which is available at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2026/06/hot-weather-and-heatwaves-guidance-for-schools-and-other-education-settings/. This draws on guidance from the UK Health Security Agency.
Early years providers are responsible for managing the needs of very young children during periods of hot weather and for implementing mitigations such as cooling systems and other measures to maintain safe indoor temperatures.
There is no maximum temperature standard set for nurseries and early years settings. Early years providers are responsible for assessing risks and taking appropriate steps to ensure the safety, wellbeing and comfort of children and staff. This may include investing in building upgrades where appropriate.
The department supports maintained nursery schools and other school provision as part of our investment of almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to issue guidance on the indoor temperatures at which nurseries and early years settings become not safe for young children.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has published guidance to support education and early years settings during hot weather which is available at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2026/06/hot-weather-and-heatwaves-guidance-for-schools-and-other-education-settings/. This draws on guidance from the UK Health Security Agency.
Early years providers are responsible for managing the needs of very young children during periods of hot weather and for implementing mitigations such as cooling systems and other measures to maintain safe indoor temperatures.
There is no maximum temperature standard set for nurseries and early years settings. Early years providers are responsible for assessing risks and taking appropriate steps to ensure the safety, wellbeing and comfort of children and staff. This may include investing in building upgrades where appropriate.
The department supports maintained nursery schools and other school provision as part of our investment of almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider introducing a maximum safe indoor temperature standard for nurseries and early years settings.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has published guidance to support education and early years settings during hot weather which is available at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2026/06/hot-weather-and-heatwaves-guidance-for-schools-and-other-education-settings/. This draws on guidance from the UK Health Security Agency.
Early years providers are responsible for managing the needs of very young children during periods of hot weather and for implementing mitigations such as cooling systems and other measures to maintain safe indoor temperatures.
There is no maximum temperature standard set for nurseries and early years settings. Early years providers are responsible for assessing risks and taking appropriate steps to ensure the safety, wellbeing and comfort of children and staff. This may include investing in building upgrades where appropriate.
The department supports maintained nursery schools and other school provision as part of our investment of almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.