Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support higher education institutions with health research.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is the United Kingdom’s largest funder of health and care research training. NIHR delivers a comprehensive research career pathway, from internships and predoctoral fellowships through to research professorships, for the full range of clinical and non-clinical academics, providing the skilled research workforce in universities to lead research. The NIHR invests over £220 million each year in research training programmes.
Furthermore, the Department is working with the devolved administrations, other funders, and wider stakeholders to implement the recommendations from the recent Office for the Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research reports, to ensure there is a comprehensive, clear, and rewarding career pathway for clinical academics in health and care research. This includes the introduction of Clinical Future Leaders Fellowships, which will expand national support for clinical academic careers.
The Department, through the NIHR, invests in centres of excellence and collaborations, services, and facilities to enable and deliver research in England. Collectively these form the NIHR infrastructure. NIHR infrastructure helps to support and deliver research across the National Health Service and wider health and care system, including universities. The NIHR infrastructure supports patients and the public to participate in high quality research. The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.
By investing in research across public health and social care, NIHR enables universities to address wider determinants of health, support independence, reduce inequalities, and inform local decision-making. Dedicated NIHR programmes and infrastructure work alongside Higher Education Institutions to conduct research in community, local authority, and other non-clinical settings, ensuring evidence is generated where it is most needed and can be translated into meaningful improvements in care and services.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether consenting determinations for critical energy transmission infrastructure in Scotland will be made in line with the 52 week process needed to support the delivery of Clean Power 2030.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Consenting in Scotland is devolved to Scottish Government. The guidance at Priority Applications for Transmission Infrastructure guidance: Section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 - gov.scot is owned and implemented by Scottish Government.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he expects to publish the findings of the responsible business conduct review.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Soon.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (i) people can access Disabled Person’s Trust accounts from high street banks and (ii) public bodies are using powers to ensure access for families of disabled people to those accounts.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone can access appropriate financial services and products, which is vital for financial resilience and wellbeing and ensuring that individuals are able to fully participate in the economy.
The provision of services such as trust accounts is a commercial decision for individual banks and building societies, and the Government does not intervene in these decisions.
Under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Duty, firms must consider the impact of withdrawing a product and take steps to mitigate harm. However, the FCA cannot compel firms to offer specific products.
The FCA is currently engaging with industry and stakeholders to explore issues around the provision of trust accounts for disabled people, and the Government supports this work.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the LGBT Veterans Independent Review.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I am disgusted by the mistreatment of our brave LGBT veterans who served between 1967 and 2000.
I am pleased that the Government has delivered 48 of the 49 recommendations made by the Lord Etherton’s Independent Review.
One of those was the unveiling of the LGBT+ Armed Forces Community Memorial. I was honoured to attend the dedication in October, alongside His Majesty the King and LGBT Veterans and Service personnel.
The one outstanding recommendation recognises the unique experiences of female veterans. Work is ongoing on a number of initiatives towards this, including launch of a new Women Veterans Forum.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions his Department has had with their Colombian counterparts on the Colombia-UK Bilateral Investment Treaty in the last four years.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My Department regularly engages with Colombia to discuss trade and investment matters, primarily through the UK-Andean countries trade agreement committees which have been meeting annually since 2022 and the UK-Colombia Trade Dialogue. My Department has not received a formal approach by its Colombian counterparts to discuss the UK-Colombia Bilateral Investment Treaty.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what review processes does the Government have in place to assess the adequacy of its trade and investment treaty commitments for the UK-Russia Bilateral Investment Treaty.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK’s International Investment Agreements (IIAs) aim to enhance opportunities for UK businesses to expand overseas, with commitments that seek to limit the barriers they face, make it easier to navigate local rules, and ensure investments are treated lawfully, and protected against unfair or arbitrary action. There is no specific review process within this Agreement.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2025 to Question 89908 on Trade Agreements: Dispute Resolution, what assessment has the Government made of the likely costs of defending the arbitration being brought against it by Mikhail Fridman.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provides an independent means for investors to resolve disputes with states where they believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory, or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation.
The UK has a longstanding track record of supporting foreign investment, including through fulfilling its obligations in the international investment agreements to which it is a party and has never faced a successful ISDS claim.
The Government maintains that it has acted consistently with domestic and international law obligations in the case of the legal challenges. In view of the ongoing proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has the Government made of its overall exposure to further potential Investor-State Dispute Settlement cases over sanctions policy on Russia.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provides an independent means for investors to resolve disputes with states where they believe they have experienced arbitrary, discriminatory, or unfair treatment or expropriation without compensation.
The UK has a longstanding track record of supporting foreign investment, including through fulfilling its obligations in the international investment agreements to which it is a party and has never faced a successful ISDS claim.
The Government maintains that it has acted consistently with domestic and international law obligations in the case of the legal challenges. In view of the ongoing proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2025 to Question 89908 on Trade Agreements: Dispute Resolution, under what arbitral rules were proceedings brought in those two active case.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The arbitral proceedings for HMG’s two active ISDS cases were brought under UNCITRAL (Mr Mikhail Maratovich Fridman) and ICSID (Woodhouse Investment Pte Ltd and West Cumbria Mining (Holdings) Limited) arbitral rules.