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.
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, who the parties are in the two active Investor-State Dispute Settlement cases against the UK.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is a respondent in two active arbitrations, (1) Woodhouse Investment Pte Ltd and West Cumbria Mining (Holdings) Limited and; (2) Mr Mikhail Maratovich Fridman.
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 for the Government to comment further at this stage.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to reflect that the (a) rights and (b) needs of older people will be reflected in the work of the High-Level Panel on Social Protection in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The High-Level Panel on Social Protection in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings (FCAS) is exploring why social protection remains neglected in the places that need it most. To support this, the Panel launched a public enquiry to gather evidence, structured around seven questions, one of which focuses on equitable access. We expect evidence submitted to cover a wider range of groups, such as older people and children, as well as women and girls, and displaced populations. The Panel Secretariat has engaged widely with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), UN agencies, academia, and civil society about the public enquiry - including a major age-focused NGO - and remains committed to ensuring an inclusive approach. The evidence enquiry closed on Sunday 13 July and the data is now being processed ahead of the second meeting of the Panel in September, where recommendations will be discussed.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2025 to Question 57552 on Humanitarian Aid: Older People, if he will place in the Library copies of (a) the robust indicators on Sex, Age and Disability (SAD) data disaggregation and (b) any associated guidance required of UN agencies on their application for UK funding.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK's Business Case and Logical Framework for our core humanitarian funding to the UN, covering the indicators on sex, age and disability disaggregated data is available for public access on the Government's Dev Tracker website. Our Humanitarian Response Funding Guidelines for NGOs are likewise available online on gov.uk.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make a comparative assessment of the number of appeals permitted by the (a) Independent Appeals Service, (b) British Parking Association Independent Appeals Service and (c) Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Currently, there are no plans to conduct such assessment. However, the figures for both private and Local Authority second stage appeals services are published on the websites of the Independent Appeals Service (IAS), Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal:
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 that people with disabilities have equitable access to services provided by (a) banks and (b) financial service providers.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
As service providers, banks and building societies are bound under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, where necessary, in the way they deliver their services.
In this context, the Government recognises that access to financial products and services ensures everyone can participate fully in the economy and in society.
This is why the Government has committed to publish a Financial Inclusion Strategy later this year. The strategy is being developed alongside a committee of industry and consumer representatives and will aim to tackle barriers to individuals’ and households’ ability to access affordable and appropriate products. As part of this, the committee is considering the cross-cutting theme of accessibility (alongside the themes of economic abuse and mental health) to ensure this informs the strategy’s development.
For people with disabilities who require in-person services, the Government is also working closely with industry to roll out at least 350 banking hubs which will provide communities with critical cash and banking services. Over 230 hubs have been announced so far, and over 170 are already open. Cash Access UK, who oversee banking hub rollout, work to ensure that their physical premises are fully accessible, and their services promote an inclusive environment.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Government response to House of Lords Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee, Report of Session 2024-25, The Modern Slavery Act 2015: Becoming World-Leading Again, what progress she has made on assessing the best ways to prevent environmental harms, modern slavery and human and labour rights abuses in both private and public sector supply chains, including effective due diligence rules.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In the recently published Trade Strategy, the Government announced a review of its approach to Responsible Business Conduct policy. The review will consider the effectiveness of the current UK regime and alternative means of supporting responsible business practices, including consideration of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence laws and import controls on goods made by forced labour. The Department for Business and Trade will engage regularly with stakeholders to develop findings and provide updates.
Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, businesses who operate in the UK and who have a turnover of £36 million or more are required to report annually on how they have prevented slavery in their operations and supply chains. Alongside the broader Responsible Business Conduct policy review, we are considering how we can strengthen Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, including: the reporting requirements, the turnover threshold, and penalties for non-compliance. We will set out the next steps more broadly in due course. Significant long-term reform will take time, and in the interim the Home Office published updated Section 54 statutory guidance in March. This new guidance is more comprehensive, practical and ambitious – calling on businesses to go further and faster.
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, with reference to the United Nations' framework entitled Protect, respect and remedy and the United Nations document entitled Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, published in June 2011, what steps his Department is taking to fulfil the UK’s duty to (a) protect against business-related human rights abuses in supply chains and (b) provide access to remedy for victims of such abuses.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct (RBC) across the economy. The Government expects all UK companies to respect human rights, workers’ rights and the environment throughout their operations and supply chains in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for RBC.
In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to RBC, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains. The FCDO will also be carrying out a National Baseline Assessment (NBA) on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to inform this review.
We have also established the Office for RBC, to replace the UK's National Contact Point. This enhanced office will support industry to integrate responsible business practices and help victims of corporate malpractice through continuing to operate a non-judicial complaints mechanism for alleged violations of the OECD Guidelines.