Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will (a) complete a full skills audit of staff within her Department and (b) share that audit with trade unions.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department supports 15 professions to which we encourage staff to align themselves, and we collect data monthly on the number of members of each. As part of the Government Skills Campus platform, which is currently in development, the department is exploring the most effective ways to capture the live skills of staff. The department will then seek to agree with trade unions an appropriate approach to sharing this data.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the savings targets are for each directorate in her Department for (a) 2026-27, (b) 2027-28 and (c) 2028-29.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Each year, the department must make tough decisions to ensure every pound of taxpayers’ money is driving high and rising standards for our children, ensuring every child has the best start in life.
The department considers priorities across the department to determine how best to allocate its available funding.
A breakdown of the department’s funding for 2026/27 will be published in due course in the 2026/27 Main Estimate and in each subsequent year. This will be published on GOV.UK.
The 2025/26 Main Estimate can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/main-supply-estimates-2025-to-2026.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to publish plans for office closures within her Department.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
As part of the department’s People Strategy and in line with the government's commitment to a more productive, agile and efficient civil service, the department has developed a long-term locations strategy. This includes closing six of our smaller sites and moving towards a focused 8-site model, with locations at Bristol, Cambridge, Coventry, Darlington, London, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield. My noble Friend, the Secretary of State for Education does not plan to publish plans for office closures. Our external communications are focused on the department's strategy, delivery and changes impacting the sector. This is an internal issue for the department.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's consultation entitled Cage reform: proposed ban on keeping laying hens, pullets and breeder layers in cages, published on 12 January 2026, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposals to ban all cage systems for laying hens, pullets and breeder layers on the level of imports of (a) eggs and (b) egg products from (i) EU and (ii) non-EU countries.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has carried out an assessment and, as part of the recent consultation on laying hen cage reform, sought views on that assessment. The consultation also sought additional evidence on how the proposals will affect egg production costs and current levels of imports and exports. We are now analysing the consultation responses and will publish a formal response in due course.
As set out in the UK’s trade strategy, the Government will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage. Where necessary, the Government will be prepared to use the full range of powers at the Government’s disposal to protect UK’s most sensitive sectors.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's consultation entitled Cage reform: proposed ban on keeping laying hens, pullets and breeder layers in cages, published on 12 January 2026, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of banning caged (a) eggs and (b) egg products from (i) EU and (ii) non-EU countries.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has carried out an assessment and, as part of the recent consultation on laying hen cage reform, sought views on that assessment. The consultation also sought additional evidence on how the proposals will affect egg production costs and current levels of imports and exports. We are now analysing the consultation responses and will publish a formal response in due course.
As set out in the UK’s trade strategy, the Government will always consider whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage. Where necessary, the Government will be prepared to use the full range of powers at the Government’s disposal to protect UK’s most sensitive sectors.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with Ofcom on the adequacy of internal investigations into (a) parcels and (b) replacement parcels that are determined missing by (i) Evri and (ii) other delivery companies.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I met senior officials from Ofcom on 17 December and again on 11 March.
I am clear delivery companies must do more to meet the rightful expectations of customers.
Ofcom has written to delivery operators to remind them of their obligations and is gathering evidence of compliance with applicable Consumer Protection Conditions.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, sellers are responsible for the delivery of goods bought online until they are in the consumer’s physical possession and is responsible if anything goes wrong with the consumer’s parcel, including goods delivered damaged or lost in transit, to liaise with the courier to find out what went wrong.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish her Department's (a) business case, (b) workforce plan, (c) equality impact assessment and (d) redundancy mitigation measures for the plans to close six offices.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education does not plan to publish the business case, workforce plan, equality impact assessment or redundancy mitigation measures for the department’s plans to close six offices. This is an internal business decision and does not impact the department’s remit, strategy or delivery plans, nor have any direct impact on the sector. As such, it is not appropriate for the department to comment on the plans externally.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the difference is between the proposed Public-Private Partnership model for Neighbourhood Health Centres and the Private Finance Initiative.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Public Private Partnership (PPP) is the umbrella term for various public-private partnerships. Private Finance Initiative is a specific, strict form of PPP.
We are developing a new PPP model for neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) which is being led by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), and supported by the Department. NISTA and the Department will continue to work with the market to further develop the new PPP model for NHCs with further engagement later this year. The new model will build on lessons from the past, including the National Audit Office’s 2025 report on private finance and other models currently in use. To ensure they are managed transparently and are fiscally sustainable, any NHC PPP projects will be budgeted for as if they are on balance sheet.
We are not bringing back PFI for the new PPP model for NHCs.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to make interim payments to people affected by sodium valproate.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which sets out options for redress for those harmed by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue, and the Government's priority is to ensure that any response is fair, balanced and sensitive to those affected. The Department is carefully considering the recommendations within the Hughes Report, including providing interim payments, in collaboration with relevant departments, and we aim to provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of employers using ordinary unfair dismissals ahead of the extension of unfair dismissal rights on 1 January 2027.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government does not collect data on the level of ordinary unfair dismissals made by employers. The Government does publish data on the number of unfair dismissal claims awarded compensation at Employment Tribunal:
Tribunals statistics quarterly: April to June 2024 - GOV.UK
Note that from September 2022, the Employment Tribunal has moved to a new case management system (Reform ECM). Cases in the new system are not included in these statistics.