Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the FCA regarding the timeline for reviewing listing rules on related party transactions in investment trusts; and if she will ask the FCA to bring forward that review, in the context of the potential implications for retail investors.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Conduct Authority is a non-governmental body which is independent from the Treasury.
The Financial Conduct Authority announced its intention to consult on some aspects of the UK Listings Rules for investment entities and to complete the work by the end of the year. Further detail is available at:
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/uk-listing-rules-investment-entities-review.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide training to police forces in connection with the commencement of the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act on 1 April 2026.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Public sexual harassment is a crime that often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women, feeling very unsafe. That is why tackling it is an important part of our mission on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
Our “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls”, published on 18th December 2025, committed to commence the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 on 1 April 2026. This includes publication of the statutory guidance for police on the same day, which is a requirement of Section 2 of the Act. We are working directly with policing to ensure everything is in place to support them in enforcing the aggravated offence from 1 April 2026.
The Government recognises the importance of challenging and changing the behaviour of perpetrators of public sexual harassment. That is why we are exploring opportunities to further raise public awareness of the Act and are exploring introducing a public sexual harassment awareness course to be offered to perpetrators to challenge and address their behaviours and reduce offending.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of a public awareness campaign around the commencement of the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act on 1 April 2026 in (a) deterring perpetrators, and (b) encouraging victims to come forward.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Public sexual harassment is a crime that often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women, feeling very unsafe. That is why tackling it is an important part of our mission on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
Our “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls”, published on 18th December 2025, committed to commence the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 on 1 April 2026. This includes publication of the statutory guidance for police on the same day, which is a requirement of Section 2 of the Act. We are working directly with policing to ensure everything is in place to support them in enforcing the aggravated offence from 1 April 2026.
The Government recognises the importance of challenging and changing the behaviour of perpetrators of public sexual harassment. That is why we are exploring opportunities to further raise public awareness of the Act and are exploring introducing a public sexual harassment awareness course to be offered to perpetrators to challenge and address their behaviours and reduce offending.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to make (a) the police, and (b) the public aware of the commencement of the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act on 1 April 2026.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Public sexual harassment is a crime that often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women, feeling very unsafe. That is why tackling it is an important part of our mission on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
Our “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls”, published on 18th December 2025, committed to commence the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 on 1 April 2026. This includes publication of the statutory guidance for police on the same day, which is a requirement of Section 2 of the Act. We are working directly with policing to ensure everything is in place to support them in enforcing the aggravated offence from 1 April 2026.
The Government recognises the importance of challenging and changing the behaviour of perpetrators of public sexual harassment. That is why we are exploring opportunities to further raise public awareness of the Act and are exploring introducing a public sexual harassment awareness course to be offered to perpetrators to challenge and address their behaviours and reduce offending.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her proposed timeline is for issuing guidance to police forces on the commencement of the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act on 1 April 2026.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Public sexual harassment is a crime that often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women, feeling very unsafe. That is why tackling it is an important part of our mission on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
Our “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls”, published on 18th December 2025, committed to commence the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 on 1 April 2026. This includes publication of the statutory guidance for police on the same day, which is a requirement of Section 2 of the Act. We are working directly with policing to ensure everything is in place to support them in enforcing the aggravated offence from 1 April 2026.
The Government recognises the importance of challenging and changing the behaviour of perpetrators of public sexual harassment. That is why we are exploring opportunities to further raise public awareness of the Act and are exploring introducing a public sexual harassment awareness course to be offered to perpetrators to challenge and address their behaviours and reduce offending.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has allocated funding towards a public awareness campaign for the commencement of the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act on 1st April 2026.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Public sexual harassment is a crime that often leaves victims, who are disproportionately likely to be women, feeling very unsafe. That is why tackling it is an important part of our mission on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
Our “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls”, published on 18th December 2025, committed to commence the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Act 2023 on 1 April 2026. This includes publication of the statutory guidance for police on the same day, which is a requirement of Section 2 of the Act. We are working directly with policing to ensure everything is in place to support them in enforcing the aggravated offence from 1 April 2026.
The Government recognises the importance of challenging and changing the behaviour of perpetrators of public sexual harassment. That is why we are exploring opportunities to further raise public awareness of the Act and are exploring introducing a public sexual harassment awareness course to be offered to perpetrators to challenge and address their behaviours and reduce offending.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of introducing Making Tax Digital at the same time as removing the wear and tear allowance on childminders.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is taking a range of measures to support the financial sustainability of childminding businesses and other early years providers. From April 2026, local authorities will be required to pass at least 97% of their funding directly to providers.
In addition, the expansion of the early years entitlements is set to benefit childminders. The national average three and four-year-old hourly funding rate for local authorities is increasing by 4.1%, the two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.3%, and the nine months to two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.4%. Childminders may also benefit from the expected increase in demand for places.
Making Tax Digital standardises the way that sole traders record and claim business expenses. It could benefit childminders as it means that any business expenses related to childminding will be included in their tax calculations. We are however aware of the strength of feeling amongst childminders and those who work with them. The department has been talking regularly to Coram Pacey, HMRC and others to understand the issue, the effect that it is having on the childminding sector and to make sure that the concerns of childminders are clearly understood. The department emphasises its strong support for childminders, who continue to provide high quality and flexible early education, and do so in a way that families across the country greatly value.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of withdrawing the visa concession for temporary employment as shearers on the welfare of (i) sheep and (ii) alpacas.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We understand the importance of safe and timely shearing to protect animal welfare. The sheep shearing concession had been operating for 14 years and closed after the 2025 shearing season as it is reasonable to expect that over this period a long-term sustainable solution had been found to identify this workforce gap.
The Government expects the sector to meet these needs through the domestic workforce and individuals with existing general work rights, such as dependants or Youth Mobility Scheme visa holders, who are free to take up work as a sheep or alpaca shearer subject to the relevant visa restrictions.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
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 potential merits of expanding NHS IVF funding criteria to cover individuals whose infertility results directly from medically necessary procedures, such as hysterectomy.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No recent assessments have been undertaken by the Department.
Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. We expect these organisations to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.
NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guideline and will consider whether its current recommendations for access to National Health Service-funded treatment are still appropriate. The draft guidance was consulted on between 10 September and 21 October 2025, and final guidance is expected to be published in March 2026. We expect ICBs to consider and reflect the updated NICE fertility guideline in their commissioning decisions when it is published, and we are working with NHS England to support greater consistency in provision.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding funding for cultural organisations to include independent cinemas.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I am very proud to have announced in January a significant package of funding for arts and cultural organisations. I do, however, understand the sector's disappointment that funding for cinemas was not included in that announcement. We are still operating within a challenging fiscal climate, and across government we have had to make very difficult decisions about where to direct available funding.
We know that, very often, a local cinema is one of the few - if not the only - cultural offer in a place, and the government does not underestimate the challenges that continue to face cinemas across the country. My department will continue to work closely with the BFI, UK Cinema Association, and the sector more widely to actively explore how we can best support our cinemas, and in doing so increase opportunities for people to access cultural experiences.