Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he has taken to encourage McDonald's Restaurants UK to take up the offer from the UK National Contact Point to provide mediation with complainants regarding the corporation's compliance with the 2023 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct with respect to gender-based violence and sexual harassment, as recommended in its initial assessment published on 7 January 2026.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Office for Responsible Business Conduct’s (ORBC) Dispute Resolution Service, formerly the UK National Contact Point, operates independently from Ministers. In line with the ORBC’s rules of procedure, mediation has been offered to both parties to the Complaint following the publication of the Initial Assessment on the 7th of January 2026.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of ending the ECO scheme on energy efficiency sector workers and businesses.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that ending ECO presents challenges for the supply chain. The Government will support the transition to opportunities provided by the Warm Homes Plan, including new regulations for renters and new builds treating millions of homes, and the additional £1.5 billion for upgrading low-income households. For this additional funding, the Government will use the procurement regime to support local supply chains and small businesses, working closely with the retrofit sector, housing associations and local authorities. Officials are working with the Department for Business and Trade to develop support for employees and companies in the construction sector.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress he has made on establishing the Warm Homes Plan workforce.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Warm Homes Plan will create high-quality jobs and boost innovation to deliver economic growth. The government, in partnership with the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has established the Warm Homes Plan Workforce Taskforce to facilitate the transition, creation and growth of a diverse, skilled and resilient workforce for existing workers and new entrants. The Taskforce held its inaugural meeting in January this year. The Taskforce supports the government’s ambition to make sure the additional 180,000 jobs in energy efficiency and clean heating, created by the Warm Homes Plan, will be high-quality, well-paid and future-proofed.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the number of SMEs and microbusinesses in the energy efficiency sector and wider supply chains that are dependent on ECO scheme funding.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that ending ECO presents challenges for the supply chain. The Government will support the transition to opportunities provided by the Warm Homes Plan, including new regulations for renters and new builds treating millions of homes, and the additional £1.5 billion for upgrading low-income households. For this additional funding, the Government will use the procurement regime to support local supply chains and small businesses, working closely with the retrofit sector, housing associations and local authorities. Officials are working with the Department for Business and Trade to develop support for employees and companies in the construction sector.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to provide support to energy efficiency (a) SMEs and (b) microbusinesses dependent on ECO scheme funding.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that ending ECO presents challenges for the supply chain. The Government will support the transition to opportunities provided by the Warm Homes Plan, including new regulations for renters and new builds treating millions of homes, and the additional £1.5 billion for upgrading low-income households. For this additional funding, the Government will use the procurement regime to support local supply chains and small businesses, working closely with the retrofit sector, housing associations and local authorities. Officials are working with the Department for Business and Trade to develop support for employees and companies in the construction sector.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress he has made on establishing the Warm Homes Agency.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Following the announcement of the Warm Homes Agency, officials have been working with relevant stakeholders, including Ofgem, Salix, devolved governments and local authorities, to develop the design, scope and functions of the Agency. We will further develop the specifications for the functions that the Agency will deliver during 2026, with the Warm Homes Agency beginning initial operations in 2027.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what funding is currently available for energy efficiency retrofitting of insulation for low-income households; and what funding will be available through the (a) Warm Homes Plan and (b) other scheme after December 2026.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The £15 billion investment in the Warm Homes Plan includes £5 billion allocated to low-income households, delivered initially through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) and the Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG).
These continue to provide fabric measures, alongside clean heat, solar panels and other bill saving measures for low-income households and those in social housing, to improve thermal comfort, cut bills and reduce fuel poverty.
From 2027/28, we intend to integrate the WH:SHF and WH:LG into a single low-income capital scheme which will shift toward area-based delivery. We will say more about the evolution of low-income schemes by Spring 2026.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when he plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Salford of 11 September 2025 on the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The letter in question was transferred to this Department and issues raised were addressed in a response issued on 15 October.
The 15 October letter was a response to correspondence received from my hon Friend on 11 September 2025 and 17 September on the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what external oversight mechanisms are in place to ensure that publicly owned broadcasters investigate whistleblowing concerns independently of senior management.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our public service broadcasters are operationally independent of Government and so probationary periods rightfully remain a matter for them.
Employees of public service broadcasters, like most employees in Great Britain, who blow the whistle on certain types of wrongdoing are protected from retaliatory unfair dismissal and detriment under the Employment Rights Act 1996 if legislative conditions are met. This is a day one right, meaning employees do not need to satisfy any qualifying period of service to seek remedies in employment tribunals.
Employees of publicly owned broadcasters will be protected if they blow the whistle to Ofcom, the independent media regulator, if certain conditions in the legislation are met. Ofcom is a ‘prescribed person’ under the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Person Order) 2014. The Government is also exploring the addition of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) to this list and the Secretary of State continues to call on the television sector and wider creative industries to support the work of CIISA to improve standards of behaviour across industry.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
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 trends in the use of extension of probationary periods in publicly owned broadcasters to detriment whistleblowing employees.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Our public service broadcasters are operationally independent of Government and so probationary periods rightfully remain a matter for them.
Employees of public service broadcasters, like most employees in Great Britain, who blow the whistle on certain types of wrongdoing are protected from retaliatory unfair dismissal and detriment under the Employment Rights Act 1996 if legislative conditions are met. This is a day one right, meaning employees do not need to satisfy any qualifying period of service to seek remedies in employment tribunals.
Employees of publicly owned broadcasters will be protected if they blow the whistle to Ofcom, the independent media regulator, if certain conditions in the legislation are met. Ofcom is a ‘prescribed person’ under the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Person Order) 2014. The Government is also exploring the addition of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) to this list and the Secretary of State continues to call on the television sector and wider creative industries to support the work of CIISA to improve standards of behaviour across industry.