Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
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 his international counterparts on the coordination of (a) trade and (b) investment policies relating to the People’s Republic of China.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The UK regularly engages with international partners regarding trade and investment policies, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora such as the World Trade Organisation.
With regards to China specifically, the UK's overall approach is to cooperate where we can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must. During my visit to China in April, I held frank and honest discussions with my counterparts on the opportunities and challenges in the bilateral trade relationship, including improving overall reciprocity in market access, raising UK concerns on level playing field issues and market distorting practices and discussing economic security issues.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he has taken to prevent hostile state actors from exploiting UK research institutions; and what assessment her Department has made of potential Chinese involvement in sensitive academic collaborations.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We have a robust approach to risk in the research sector, working to ensure that institutions are alert to security risks and able to make informed decisions when collaborating internationally, backed by the government's comprehensive regulatory powers.
We are seeking to bring a consistent, long term and strategic approach to managing our science and technology relations with China, rooted in UK and global interests. Our approach remains to enhance the UK’s long-term prosperity, while never compromising on economic and national security.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government stands firm on human rights in China, including the repression of people in Xinjiang and Tibet.
We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor and Energy Secretary all raised human rights recently with their counterparts (President Xi, Foreign Minister Wang, Vice Premier He and Vice Premier Ding respectively).
This Government continues to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations. For example, joining a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang and Tibet at the UN General Assembly in October.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the state of freedoms in Hong Kong; and what steps the Government is taking to support the rights of British National (Overseas) passport holders.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has deep and longstanding ties with Hong Kong. However, as set out in detail in the Government's successive Six-monthly Reports on Hong Kong, the continued erosion of rights and freedoms threatens Hong Kong's way of life. China's imposition of the National Security Law (NSL) has seen dissent criminalised. The UK has called for the NSL to be repealed and for an end to the prosecution of all individuals charged under it.
The UK has demonstrated our commitment to the people of Hong Kong through the bespoke immigration route for British National (Overseas) status holders and their eligible family members. This Government will continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong and provide a welcoming home to Hong Kongers.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate she has made of the UK’s exposure to Chinese (a) sovereign debt and (b) state-backed entities through (i) public pension funds and (ii) financial institutions.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Seven of the eight largest Public Service Pension Schemes (PSPSs) are unfunded, which means that they do not hold or invest assets against their pension liabilities and instead the Exchequer pays pensions as they come due. The largest funded PSPS is the Local Government Pension Scheme in England & Wales (LGPS). The LGPS is managed locally by 86 Administering Authorities and each publish asset allocation data in their yearly Annual Report and Accounts.
The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee closely monitor risks to the financial system, including those stemming from UK financial institutions’ global exposures. The Bank’s most recent stress test (Financial Stability Report, November 2024), shows that the UK banking system is resilient to severe global scenarios.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of regional disparities in the time taken for education, health and care plan assessments; and what steps she is taking to ensure local authorities meet the statutory deadline.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department wants to ensure that, where required, education, health and care (EHC) plan assessments are progressed promptly and, if needed, plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they need.
Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to assess whether children and young people have special educational needs that require an EHC plan. Plans must be issued within twenty weeks of the needs assessment commencing so that children and young people can access the support they need.
The department knows that local authorities across different regions have seen an increase in the number of assessment requests and that more needs to be done to ensure that local areas deliver effective and timely services. This includes better communication with schools and families.
The department continues to monitor and work closely with local authorities that have issues with EHC plan timeliness. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, we help them to identify the barriers and put in place an effective recovery plan. This includes, where needed, securing the support of a specialist special educational needs and disabilities adviser to help identify the barriers to EHC plan process timeliness and put in place practical plans for recovery.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve access to independent special schools for children with complex needs in regions where maintained provision is (a) limited and (b) oversubscribed.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the vital role that special schools play in providing high-quality education and meeting the needs of children and young people. Independent special schools play their part in this, particularly in meeting low incidence needs. However, independent special schools typically have higher costs than their maintained equivalent, and we need to ensure that placements are used appropriately. Where a local authority has commissioned a place in an independent school, the local authority is responsible for all the funding for supporting that child or young person with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The department wants more children and young people to receive the support they need to thrive in their local mainstream school, reducing the need for pupils to travel a long way to access a specialist placement. Many mainstream settings are already committed to delivering specialist provision locally, including through resourced provision and special educational needs units.
The department has now published allocations for £740 million in high needs provision capital allocations for the 2025/26 financial year to support local authorities to deliver new places in mainstream and state-maintained special schools, reducing reliance on the independent sector to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that UK businesses trading with China are not complicit in the use of forced labour.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
No company in the UK should have forced labour in its supply chains. The UK recognises the importance of ensuring UK businesses are not complicit in forced labour, in line with the UN Guiding Principle on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, commercial businesses operating in the UK with a turnover of £36m or more must report annually on their steps to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains. The Home Office has published new statutory guidance, providing more practical and comprehensive advice for businesses to enhance their fight against modern slavery.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to hospice funding on the sustainability of end-of-life care services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones.
In recognition of this, we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England for 2024/25 and 2025/26, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.
Additionally, children and young people’s hospices will receive £26 million in revenue funding for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.
In February, I met with key palliative care and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format, with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Hong Kong BN(O) visa holders have settled in the UK under the bespoke immigration route since its launch; and what integration support is being provided.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes statistics relating to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the Immigration system statistics publication. Data on the number of grants of ILR to those on the British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route, is published in table Se_D02.
To help those on the route integrate into their new communities, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) has a Welcome Programme through which BN(O)s can access support on a range of issues including employment, education, housing, and access to English language provision. In March 2025, MHCLG announced its fifth year of funding for the UK-wide Welcome Programme.