Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Protect student choice: do not withdraw funding for BTEC qualifications
Gov Responded - 17 Aug 2021 Debated on - 18 Jul 2022 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsReverse the plan to withdraw funding for most applied general qualifications such as BTECs and guarantee they will continue to play a major role in the qualifications landscape. Students should not be forced to choose between studying A levels or T levels from the age of 16.
Ban Animal Testing - Fund, accept & promote alternatives to animal testing
Gov Responded - 4 Aug 2021 Debated on - 25 Oct 2021 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsWe would like the Government to ban all animal testing UK, including for the development of cosmetics, household products and medicines. Alternatives need to be actively funded. Many products that are tested on animals end up not being suitable for humans. Animal testing is outmoded and should end.
Plan to phase out animal experiments
Gov Responded - 4 Aug 2021 Debated on - 25 Oct 2021 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsThe Government must recognise the urgent need to use animal-free science and publish a clear and ambitious action plan with timetables and milestones to drive the phase-out of animal experiments. As well as preventing animal suffering, this will benefit public health and business.
Give further financial support to the Events and Hospitality industry
Gov Responded - 15 Oct 2020 Debated on - 11 Jan 2021 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsBeing the first to close and still no clue as to when we can open, this seasonal industry is losing its summer profits that allows them to get through the first quarter of next year.
Even if we are allowed to open in December, 1 months profit won't be enough to keep us open in 2021. We need help
Create a Minister for Hospitality in the UK Government
Gov Responded - 3 Nov 2020 Debated on - 11 Jan 2021 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsThe UK hospitality industry. Responsible for around 3m jobs, generating £130bn in activity, resulting in £38bn in taxation. Yet, unlike the Arts or Sports, we do not have a dedicated Minister.
We are asking that a Minister for Hospitality be created for the current, and successive governments.
Give all key workers a 100% tax and Nat. Ins. holiday through COVID-19 crisis
Gov Responded - 27 Apr 2020 Debated on - 14 Dec 2020 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsThe government is helping private firms to protect jobs by paying up to 80% of staff wages through this crisis. If it can do this why can it not help key workers who will be putting themselves/their families at risk and working extra hard under extremely challenging and unprecedented circumstances.
Give government workers a fair pay rise
Gov Responded - 16 Oct 2020 Debated on - 14 Dec 2020 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsDuring the pandemic government workers have delivered vital public services and kept our country safe and secure. After ten years in which the real value of civil service pay has fallen, many face hardship. The Government must start to restore the real value of their pay with a 10% increase in 2020.
Make nurseries exempt from business rates to support the childcare sector
Gov Responded - 2 Apr 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsAfter owning nurseries for 29 years I have never experienced such damaging times for the sector with rising costs not being met by the funding rates available. Business Rates are a large drain on the sector and can mean the difference between nurseries being able to stay open and having to close.
Government to offer economic assistance to the events industry during COVID-19
Gov Responded - 27 Mar 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsFor the UK government to provide economic assistance to businesses and staff employed in the events industry, who are suffering unforeseen financial challenges that could have a profound effect on hundreds of thousands of people employed in the sector.
Give UK nurseries emergency funding if they have to close down amid COVID-19
Gov Responded - 14 Apr 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsIf nurseries are shut down in view of Covid-19, the Government should set up an emergency fund to ensure their survival and ensure that parents are not charged the full fee by the nurseries to keep children's places.
Provide financial support to performers and creators during the COVID-19 crisis
Gov Responded - 22 Jul 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsThe prospect of widespread cancellations of concerts, theatre productions and exhibitions due to COVID-19 threatens to cause huge financial hardship for Britain's creative community. We ask Parliament to provide a package of emergency financial and practical support during this unpredictable time.
Support the British aviation industry during the COVID-19 outbreak
Gov Responded - 7 May 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsAs a result of the COVID-19 outbreak there are travel bans imposed by many countries, there is a disastrous potential impact on our Aviation Industry. Without the Government’s help there could be an unprecedented crisis, with thousands of jobs under threat.
Extend grants immediately to small businesses outside of SBRR
Gov Responded - 29 May 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsThe cash grants proposed by Government are only for businesses in receipt of the Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Relief, or for particular sectors. Many small businesses fall outside these reliefs desperately need cash grants and support now.
Business Rate Relief to be extended to all small businesses in healthcare.
Gov Responded - 5 Jun 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsTo extend the business rate relief to all dental practices and medical and aesthetics clinics and any small business that’s in healthcare
Provide financial help to zoos, aquariums, & rescue centres during the pandemic.
Gov Responded - 28 Jul 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsZoos, aquariums, and similar organisations across the country carry out all sorts of conservation work, animal rescue, and public education. At the start of the season most rely on visitors (who now won't come) to cover annual costs, yet those costs do not stop while they are closed. They need help.
Offer more support to the arts (particularly Theatres and Music) amidst COVID-19
Gov Responded - 20 Jul 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Navendu Mishra's petition debate contributionsAs we pass the COVID-19 Peak, the Government should: State where the Theatres and Arts fit in the Coronavrius recovery Roadmap, Create a tailor made financial support mechanism for the Arts sector & Clarify how Social Distancing will affect arts spaces like Theatres and Concert Venues.
These initiatives were driven by Navendu Mishra, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Navendu Mishra has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
National Minimum Wage Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Paula Barker (Lab)
Planning and Local Representation Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Rachel Hopkins (Lab)
Abuse of Public-facing Workers (Offences) Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Olivia Blake (Lab)
Transport (Disabled Passenger Charter) Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Charlotte Nichols (Lab)
National Minimum Wage Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Paula Barker (Lab)
In 2018, the then government published the LGBT Action Plan which contained a broad range of commitments designed to improve the lives of people at home and abroad, and the way that public services work for them. Significant progress was made in delivering those commitments including taking action to tackle bullying in schools, and taking steps to ensure the safety of LGBT people at home and abroad.
This Government is determined to continue to take meaningful steps to advance opportunity for all LGBT people in the UK and beyond, including banning conversion practices. More details on this Government’s priorities will be shared in due course.
In March 2019, the Government at the time appointed a 12 person LGBT Advisory Panel for a period of two years to advise on LGBT policies. In April 2021, that two year period came to an end and the Panel ceased to operate.
In 2018, the then government published the LGBT Action Plan which contained a broad range of commitments designed to improve the lives of people at home and abroad, and the way that public services work for them. Significant progress was made in delivering those commitments including taking action to tackle bullying in schools, and taking steps to ensure the safety of LGBT people at home and abroad.
This Government is determined to continue to take meaningful steps to advance opportunity for all LGBT people in the UK and beyond, including banning conversion practices. More details on this Government’s priorities will be shared in due course.
In March 2019, the Government at the time appointed a 12 person LGBT Advisory Panel for a period of two years to advise on LGBT policies. In April 2021, that two year period came to an end and the Panel ceased to operate.
Procurement standards for catering contracts include minimum ethical criteria and the Administration does not plan to keep a record of the scheme relating to each product due to the volume and range of goods purchased.
Catering Services at the House of Commons does not currently record details of all the Fairtrade branded products it purchases. Fairtrade is only one of a number of ethical trading schemes that exist within the food and beverage sectors. Catering Services procurement set minimum ethical criteria pertinent to the category and strong environmental and social commitments with all suppliers demonstrating that they operate to those standards via recognised third-party accreditation.
All fresh coffee served is Fairtrade certified.
100% of our tea is certified under the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) scheme. For black tea and by value, 85% of the tea we purchase carries Fairtrade accreditation. The remainder is either Rainforest Alliance or UTZ certified.
VisitBritain has 14 staff members based in the US across two offices in New York and Los Angeles. This includes their International Director who is based in New York and oversees all of VisitBritain’s international markets and operations.
No one should be refused access to businesses or services because they use a guide or other assistance dog.
Under the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), businesses and public bodies that provide goods and services to the public must not unlawfully discriminate against disabled people, including those with assistance dogs. The Act places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises, buildings and services. This could include allowing the use of assistance dogs so that disabled customers have the same access to goods and services and are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled customers. Taxi and private hire drivers have a specific duty under the Act to carry guide dogs and assistance dogs at no extra cost to the passenger.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published guidance for all businesses, including service providers, on this subject. The guidance explains that assistance dogs should be treated as auxiliary aids and not as pets. The guidance is available at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/assistance-dogs-a-guide-for-all-businesses.pdf and makes clear that businesses and service providers should allow assistance dogs access to buildings where dogs would normally not be permitted whenever this is reasonable.
Anybody who thinks that they have been discriminated against in the services offered to them - including where access to an assistance dog has been refused - can take legal action to resolve the issue. Before doing so, they might first find it useful to contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) which provides free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns via their website - http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/, or by telephone on 0808 800 0082 or by text phone on 0808 800 0084.
There are nine VisitBritain staff based in China. They are located in the British Embassy in Beijing and the British Consulate-General’s office in Shanghai.
There are six VisitBritain staff based in India. They are located in the High Commission Offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.
The Parliamentary Travel Office (PTO) books train tickets through Evolvi. Rail tickets sold in the UK are regulated and the cost of booking tickets is the same irrespective of where the ticket is purchased. Parliament, however, receives commission from individual rail operators, where partnership agreements are in place – which effectively makes the overall cost to Parliament of booking rail tickets cheaper than purchasing elsewhere.
The Commission is aware that the Committee on Standards is currently undertaking a wide-ranging inquiry into the rules relating to All-Party Parliamentary Groups. The Committee has announced that its inquiry will cover the "transparency and appropriateness of funding of APPG activities and secretarial support". The inquiry will also cover other subjects including financial governance and controls, use of passes, the role of external secretariats and the risk of APPGs being used for access by lobbyists, other organisations or foreign governments, and who should be accountable for ensuring that APPGs comply with the rules.
The Committee has taken written evidence in this inquiry, which is available on its website, and plans to announce a series of oral evidence session after the summer recess and making a report to the House as soon as possible. The Commission looks forward to receiving the Committee’s recommendations on this important matter.
The Parliamentary Travel Office (PTO) books train tickets through Trainline.
Rail tickets sold in the UK are regulated and the cost of booking tickets is the same irrespective of where the ticket is purchased.
Parliament, however, receives the 3% commission paid to the PTO service provider by Trainline – which effectively makes the tickets cheaper than purchasing elsewhere.
The Government recognises the value that the voluntary and community sector (VCS) have in improving UK resilience. The UK Government Resilience Framework commits to deepening and strengthening relationships with the sector to maximise their contribution at the local and national levels.
Today (4th December 2023), the Deputy Prime Minister has provided an update on progress made since the publication of the Framework. Steps taken include the voluntary and community sector’s membership of the UK Resilience Forum chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister. The forum brings together national, regional and local government; private and voluntary sectors and other interested parties to consider risk; provide challenge and insight and help align emergency preparedness activities. The Cabinet Office hosts a Voluntary and Community Sector Strategic Discussion Forum to discuss opportunities for greater alignment in more detail. We have also published the 2023 National Risk Register which provides an increasingly transparent resource for relevant bodies including the voluntary and community sector to prepare for the risks to the UK.
To make it easier for more people to volunteer to help before, during and after an emergency, we will also be creating an online volunteering hub. This will be a single place to showcase existing resilience-related volunteering opportunities across the public, voluntary and charitable sectors, locally and nationally. More details can be found in the annual statement and associated publication in the Library.
The Deputy Prime Minister, as Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office, takes decisions under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 in a quasi-judicial capacity. It would therefore not be appropriate to comment on individual cases, given commercial and national security sensitivities.
The Investment Security Unit coordinates expertise from across Government as part of this process.
The Deputy Prime Minister, as Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office, takes decisions under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 in a quasi-judicial capacity. It would therefore not be appropriate to comment on individual cases, given commercial and national security sensitivities.
The Investment Security Unit coordinates expertise from across Government as part of this process.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman Parliamentary Question of 24th April is attached.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 26 January is attached.
The information regarding the Clearing house advice has been provided to the requester in line with the Tribunal’s judgement. Details regarding the clearing house advisory functions are published on GOV.uk.
As this case has only just concluded we are not yet in a position to confirm the cost.
Cabinet Office handles all FOI requests on an applicant blind basis and works with other departments to make sure the rights and obligations embodied in the FOIA are understood fully.
The information regarding the Clearing house advice has been provided to the requester in line with the Tribunal’s judgement. Details regarding the clearing house advisory functions are published on GOV.uk.
As this case has only just concluded we are not yet in a position to confirm the cost.
Cabinet Office handles all FOI requests on an applicant blind basis and works with other departments to make sure the rights and obligations embodied in the FOIA are understood fully.
The information regarding the Clearing house advice has been provided to the requester in line with the Tribunal’s judgement. Details regarding the clearing house advisory functions are published on GOV.uk.
As this case has only just concluded we are not yet in a position to confirm the cost.
Cabinet Office handles all FOI requests on an applicant blind basis and works with other departments to make sure the rights and obligations embodied in the FOIA are understood fully.
The overarching principle in all public procurement is to secure the best value for money for the taxpayer. While individual departments are responsible for their own commercial decisions, including the award and monitoring of contracts, there are rigorous due diligence processes in place.
The Cabinet Office continuously reviews the performance of strategic suppliers and works closely with those suppliers and their customer Departments to improve performance, ensure value for money and deliver policy objectives while reducing risk across outsourced public services.
At the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, we issued guidance (PPN 02/20) on 'supplier relief' measures ensuring service continuity during the pandemic. Further guidance, published in June, updated PPN 02/20 and set out how contracting authorities should put in place transition plans with their suppliers to exit any contractual relief and transition to a new, sustainable, operating model taking into account strategic and reprioritisation needs.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.
As has been the case under successive administrations, contracting Authorities are responsible for their own commercial contracts.
This information is not held centrally.
Suppliers have played a vital role in supporting the Government’s Covid-19 efforts in addition to delivering their existing public sector contracts.
All suppliers must adhere to Health and Safety legislation, as well as relevant departmental policy when staff are working at Government sites.
The UK’s longstanding policy on Taiwan has not changed: the UK has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan but a strong, unofficial relationship based on dynamic commercial, educational and cultural ties.
The Department for Business and Trade is currently working on an Enhanced Trade Partnership with Taiwan; currently there are no plans to negotiate a bilateral investment treaty with Taiwan.
The Government does not hold the data requested.
95 postmasters in England have had their convictions overturned to date. The Government will fast-track legislation to overturn the convictions of all those convicted in England or Wales.
Our focus is on ensuring that all those who lost their Post Office roles or experienced other losses as a result of the Horizon scandal receive the compensation they deserve.
The industry led Retail Sector Council is the key forum to address significant sector issues and define a strategic future for the retail sector. It aims to accelerate positive change, increase productivity, and ensure it remains robust and sustainable, continuing to provide good jobs and a beneficial service to consumers, communities, the economy.
In July 2023 the Council published a discussion paper ‘Retail – The Great Enabler’ exploring the value of and pressures on the sector. The Council is developing a strategic approach for retail that embraces several key areas including sustainability, labour and retail careers, cost of living pressures and impact on supply chains and high street regeneration and investment.
On 31 October 2023 there were 13 UK Based Staff and 90 Country Based Staff working for the Department for Business and Trade located in India.
We understand the many challenges pubs are facing. The Government is supporting pubs with business rates relief, the Brexit Pubs Guarantee, and help with energy costs. We are also working across Government to identify opportunities to ease regulatory and licensing burdens.
We continue to work with businesses, including members of the Hospitality Sector Council, to deliver our 2021 Hospitality Strategy, which aims to support the sector's recovery from COVID-19 and improve longer term resilience.
We are continuing to negotiate with India to secure a comprehensive and ambitious trade deal.
Round 12 of negotiations concluded on 31 August. While visiting India for the G20 Trade Ministers meeting on 24-26 August, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade met with India’s Ministers for Commerce and Finance. They discussed how to make meaningful progress in this complex next phase of talks, which is focused on goods, services, and investment.
The Prime Minister also met with Prime Minister Modi on 9 September while at the G20 Summit. They reaffirmed their joint commitment to work at pace towards an ambitious deal.
The next round will be later this month.
In negotiations with India, as with all our trading partners, the UK’s approach to intellectual property (IP) is to strike a balance between rewarding research, innovation and creativity, which can benefit all countries, whilst ensuring that medicines remain affordable and reflecting wider public interests, such as access to and use of IP on reasonable terms.
The UK considers the TRIPS Agreement as an essential tool to achieve this balance, including our support for flexibilities enshrined in the Agreement.
Government sets the parameters for Post Office to operate in and asks its management to be responsible for running the company day-to-day. Post Office therefore has the freedom to make commercial decisions regarding the composition of its network, providing it fulfils the Government-set access criteria, which ensure that, for example, 99% of the UK population lives within three miles of a post office.
Post Office CEO, Nick Read, has been clear that it’s the business’ ambition to operate the network on a fully franchised basis in time. Directly Managed Branches (also known as Crown branches) represent around 1% of the Post Office network.
Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market. They are useful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For some, a zero hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.
Individuals on zero hours contracts represent a very small proportion of the workforce. The ONS estimates that 122,000 people aged 16 and over were employed on a zero hours contract in North West England in January – March 2023, representing 3.5% of people in employment in the area.
We can find no evidence that the Department was aware of this issue prior to the press reports on 27th May 2023.
The Official Statistics on inward investment at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/department-for-international-trade-inward-investment-results-2021-to-2022 contain details on the number of jobs created from Foreign Direct Investment from India in to the UK, and jobs created from all FDI in to Greater Manchester. However it is not possible to publish figures at a more granular detail due to the risk of disclosing company level details. More information is available in the technical annex.
The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) are a part of the Retail Sector Council where challenges faced by the retail sector are considered. Employment has been identified as a priority area for the Council.
There has been no recent engagement with USDAW specifically on working conditions for retail workers.
The Department for Business and Trade supports Indian businesses to invest in the UK by providing end-to-end project management; help with understanding the commercial opportunities through bespoke proposals and inward visits; a strategic account management offer and links with local and national partners, including Chambers of Commerce, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Mayoral Combined Authorities.
Making the UK the top investment destination in Europe from India, attracting new investment into communities and helping to level-up the country including in the north-west remains one of the Department for Business and Trade’s top priorities. Together, the UK-India investment relationship supports over half a million jobs across both economies.
Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are negotiated at country or trade-bloc level. As such we do not have any state-level free trade agreements with India.
The ‘2030 Roadmap’ outlined our aim of doubling trade by 2030, with the intention to negotiate a forward-looking FTA and lowering barriers to trade through an Enhanced Trade Partnership.
The UK and India are committed to working towards the best deal possible for both sides. Progress is good; however, we are clear we will only sign when we have a deal that is fair, balanced, and in the best interests of the economy.
As the Honourable Member is aware, India is a dynamic, fast-growing trade partner and negotiating a free trade agreement offers the opportunity to deepen our already strong relationship, which was worth £34 billion in the year to end Q3 2022.
The position remains the same and there are currently no plans to appoint a Trade Envoy to India, however, we regularly review countries and markets to identify where the appointment of a Trade Envoy can be of greatest benefit to the trade and investment aims of the UK, alongside the Department’s other support for exporters and investors.
This Government is committed to driving mutual prosperity between the UK and all states of India, including Uttar Pradesh. My Hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham, Minister for Defence Procurement, led a delegation of over 30 UK businesses to Uttar Pradesh’s Global Investor’s Summit 10-12 February. He announced seven Memorandums of Understanding between UK businesses and the state of Uttar Pradesh, with businesses committing £165million of investment into Uttar Pradesh and generating almost a thousand jobs in the state.
The latest statistics for the number of households in fuel poverty in parliamentary constituencies in England, can be found in the published sub-regional fuel poverty Official Statistics, in Table 4: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics
Upgrading electricity network capacity is a matter for the private network companies which build, own, and operate the network. The regulator, Ofgem, uses a price control framework to set the level of infrastructure investment for each network company to ensure sufficient capacity is available. Government is accelerating the delivery of higher voltage electricity infrastructure and improving the connections process so that projects can access the network more quickly through the Transmission Acceleration Action Plan and Connections Action Plan respectively, published in November 2023.
The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) provides all eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users with a baseline discount on high energy bills for 12 months from April 2023 until 31 March 2024. The EBDS is helping businesses locked into contracts signed before substantial falls in wholesale prices manage their costs and provide others with reassurance against the risk of prices rising again.
A higher level of support is provided to some Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETIIs) that are particularly exposed to energy cost increases due to their energy and trade intensity.
Since July 2023, the Government has used the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) to provide a discount, so as to levelise prepayment charges with those for direct debit customers. The EPG discount applies until the end of March 2024 and Ofgem is, at the request of Government, currently consulting on proposals to levelise charges from April on an ongoing basis.
The Government is reviewing what levers can be introduced to help organisations to be more energy efficient. The Energy Efficiency Taskforce was launched to help achieve our target of reducing UK energy demand by 15% from 2021 levels by 2030.
The IETF, which supports industries including the food and drinks sector to cut energy consumption by investing in more efficient technologies, has been extended. Pending business case approval, Phase 3 will launch in early 2023.
Some food manufacturing companies are supported in reducing energy costs through the Climate Change Agreements Scheme and the Combined Heat and Power Quality Assurance Programme.