Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on digitally excluded and vulnerable households of withdrawals of digital terrestrial television services.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is clear that no one should be left behind as television watching increasingly moves online. A core objective of the Department’s work relating to the future of TV distribution is to ensure that any transition is inclusive, and supports both the continued sustainability of the UK’s media ecosystem and the Government’s wider ambitions for digital inclusion. Further information can be found in the Government’s recent Media Green Paper, titled Watch this Space.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consideration she has given to the potential merits of including a pre-licensing integrity assessment within the forthcoming tobacco, vaping and nicotine licensing scheme, akin to the model under the Dutch Bibob system, to prevent organised crime groups from establishing high street premises.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are carefully considering the responses to our October 2025 call for evidence on tobacco and vapes, including on the granting of licences, to inform our proposals for future consultation, and we will set out our plans in the normal way in due course.
The Government is investing up to £10 million of new funding per year in Trading Standards until 2028/29 to support the enforcement of illicit and underage tobacco and vape sales, and the implementation of the measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Act.
However, powers in the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 also allow licensing fees collected from retailers to be used by local authorities to cover the costs of administering and enforcing the scheme. This will minimise burdens on local authorities and central government, and ensure the scheme can be implemented sustainably.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ringfencing revenue raised from the retail licensing scheme to fund Trading Standards enforcement against illicit high street retailers.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are carefully considering the responses to our October 2025 call for evidence on tobacco and vapes, including on the granting of licences, to inform our proposals for future consultation, and we will set out our plans in the normal way in due course.
The Government is investing up to £10 million of new funding per year in Trading Standards until 2028/29 to support the enforcement of illicit and underage tobacco and vape sales, and the implementation of the measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Act.
However, powers in the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 also allow licensing fees collected from retailers to be used by local authorities to cover the costs of administering and enforcing the scheme. This will minimise burdens on local authorities and central government, and ensure the scheme can be implemented sustainably.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will bring forwards the consultation on the retail licensing scheme under the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 to 2026.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are carefully considering the responses to our October 2025 call for evidence on tobacco and vapes, including on the granting of licences, to inform our proposals for future consultation, and we will set out our plans in the normal way in due course.
The Government is investing up to £10 million of new funding per year in Trading Standards until 2028/29 to support the enforcement of illicit and underage tobacco and vape sales, and the implementation of the measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Act.
However, powers in the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 also allow licensing fees collected from retailers to be used by local authorities to cover the costs of administering and enforcing the scheme. This will minimise burdens on local authorities and central government, and ensure the scheme can be implemented sustainably.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to online marketplace VAT liability on small businesses that purchase second hand goods from private individuals for resale.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Government has consulted on extending VAT online marketplace liability to combat non-compliance.
The consultation ran from 23rd June to 18th August 2026, and explored the exclusion of second-hand goods from the scope of any changes to the rules. The consultation can be found at Extending VAT online marketplace liability to combat non-compliance - GOV.UK.
The Government is analysing the responses to the consultation and will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to make a final decision on the future of the former RAF Scampton site.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence transferred ownership of RAF Scampton to the Home Office in early 2023 under the last Government.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made to ban the import of hunting trophies.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern. Defra continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the department can implement a robust ban. Timeframes for introducing legislation will be provided once the Parliamentary timetable for future sessions is determined.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to Review Progress 8 measures and their effectiveness in supporting the outcomes for children with SEND.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s accountability system must promote high standards and good progress for all.
We have recently consulted on an improved version of Progress 8 that maintains a strong academic core alongside breadth and choice for every child. As part of this consultation, we sought views on a possible new progress measure to recognise the progress of children who start secondary school significantly behind their peers.
This measure would sit alongside existing measures such as Progress 8 and is intended to provide additional insight into the progress of this subset of pupils, who are more likely to have special educational needs and disabilities. This measure would also sit alongside other information designed to support inclusion.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of substantive posts for newly qualified midwives at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust; and whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that midwives who train locally are able to remain and work within the Trust following qualification.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Approximately a third of student midwives have no roles to go into when they qualify. We are determined to change that. We will boost maternity care with £10.6 million of investment, funding an additional 1,000 temporary roles to help newly qualified midwives join the National Health Service.
Roles will be created within local maternity services, where the need for safe staffing is greatest. Decisions will be made locally, with NHS England regions working with providers to ensure placements reflect demand, acuity, and access to strong early‑career support like preceptorship and supervision.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions had with housing associations on their responsibilities to shared ownership tenants.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department engages regularly with housing associations about their duties in respect of shared ownership properties.
The new Social and Affordable Homes Programme places new expectations on shared ownership providers to improve customer experience. These include giving greater consideration to long-term customer affordability and increasing transparency and fairness on costs.
The majority of Shared Ownership providers are registered with the Regulator of Social Housing and are required to meet applicable regulatory standards, including relevant consumer standards relating to transparency, influence, and accountability.