Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment the Cabinet Committee on the Future of Work has made of the potential merits of improving employment rights for kinship carers.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government greatly values kinship carers who come forward to care for children who cannot live with their parents.
The Government has committed in the Plan to Make Work Pay to review the system of parental leave to ensure that it better supports working families.
It is a long established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place at Cabinet and its committees is not normally made public.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment her Department has made of the viability of the universal service obligation; and if she will hold discussions with the Leader of the House on making parliamentary time to debate the universal service obligation.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Government’s objective continues to be ensuring the provision of a sustainable, accessible, and affordable universal postal service. It is the responsibility of Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to ensure the provision of a financially sustainable and efficient universal postal service.
Ofcom recently published a discussion document setting out potential options to reform the service, to ensure it remains affordable and sustainable in the future as well as meeting consumers’ needs. The Government will consider any recommendations that Ofcom puts forward, but Ministers are not currently minded to introduce new legislation to change the obligations on postal deliveries.