Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to recognise the principles of (a) legitimate expectation, (b) adequate notice and (c) procedural fairness in its response to women born in the 1950s affected by delayed notification of state pension age changes.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Secretary of State announced in his oral statement of 11 November 2025 that we will retake the decision made in December 2024 as it relates to the communications on State Pension age. Retaking the decision should not be taken as an indication that Government will necessarily decide that it should award financial redress.
The process to retake the decision is underway and it is important that we give this full and proper consideration. We will update Parliament on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached and on 2 December 2025 we committed to re-take the decision within three months.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the UK’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in relation to women born in the 1950s affected by changes to the state pension age.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is fully compliant with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, including in relation to women born in the 1950s affected by changes to the State Pension age.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
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 locksmiths meet (a) legal, (b) professional and (c) security standards.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK’s framework for occupational regulation upholds public protection, while ensuring regulatory burdens on industry are proportionate. Although the locksmithing profession is not subject to statutory regulation, several self-regulating trade associations and accreditation schemes exist within the industry and provide training, conduct criminal record checks, and inspect their members.
The government keeps the occupational regulation regime under review and continues to monitor any concerns raised by the public or the industry, including those related to locksmithing.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Statement of the House of Bishops on Living in Love and Faith, published in January 2026.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is for the General Synod, as the elected assembly of the Church of England, to decide matters of doctrine rather than Parliament.
More widely, churches and other religious organisations are required to comply with the provisions in the Equality Act 2010 relating to direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safeguards are in place to protect individuals on the Health and Care Worker visa who report that they have been asked to pay additional sums to their employer in order to maintain their visa sponsorship and continue residing and working in the UK; and what steps are being taken to investigate and penalise employers unlawfully extracting such payments and ensure migrants in this situation can (a) report safely without fear of visa cancellation, (b) access alternative sponsorship or settlement options and (c) receive compensation or redress for exploitation.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
All reports of H&C visa holders being forced to pay additional sums are investigated. The sponsor guidance expressly prohibits certain specific costs being passed onto workers. Since the introduction of care workers to the Health and Care Worker visa, UKVI have revoked the licence of more than 1000 sponsors who were operating in the social care sector.
The Home Office continues to work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) funded Regional Partnerships to support care workers, who have been impacted by exploitative employers.
DHSC are funding 15 regional hubs in England, made up of Local Authorities and Directors of Adult Social Services. UKVI work very closely with the Regional Partnerships in order to fund working together to support displaced workers gain new roles within the care sector and to respond to unethical practices. Where broader concerns are identified, these are referred to the relevant authorities.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how their department can work with others across Government to ensure there are the right skills and workforce in place to support local authorities in developing careers in amenity horticulture and parks.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is working alongside sector-owning departments to ensure people have access to training to acquire the skills needed by employers, including Local Authorities.
Local agencies and local government are well placed to understand their local labour market, build connections with employers, and help knit together local services to address the barriers their citizens face to securing and succeeding in good work.
To achieve this, we are already delivering Local Get Britain Working plans in all areas of England. Led by local government and co-developed with local NHS, Jobcentre Plus and wider stakeholders, these plans will identify local labour market challenges/priorities and support the integration of locally-delivered services.
We know that a key part of unlocking local growth is ensuring that skills provision is matched to employer need at all skills levels. Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), overseen by Skills England, bring together employers, local leaders, colleges, universities and independent training providers to identify and address skills gaps from entry level to postgraduate qualifications. They are three-year Plans, with the second cycle now in development.
Your constituency is covered by the East Midlands LSIP. The designated Employer Representative Body is the Federation of Small Businesses, who are working closely with Skills England and the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA). This will ensure employer views continue to shape the LSIP whilst drawing on the deep local economic insight of EMCCA and its ability to influence and implement key interventions across priority local sectors.
Skills England have developed several occupational standards, apprenticeships and technical qualifications that support career development in horticulture, landscaping, parks management, and associated technical services. These span entry-level through to advanced management roles and include,
There are qualifications and Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQ) available that are developed and approved by Skills England based on the above occupational standards. These include the T Level in Agriculture, Land Management and Production, which has a specific occupational specialism in Ornamental and Environmental Horticulture and Landscaping, and a Higher Technical Qualification in Horticulture and Applied Science.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the consultation on firearms will be published.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We intend to publish this consultation shortly.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans she has to extend the current section 33 Value Added Tax Act 1994 rule for school sixth forms to include further education colleges.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises that Further Education (FE) funding is vital to ensure people are being trained in the skills they need to thrive in the modern labour market. The 2025 Spending Review provided an additional £1.2 billion per year by 2028-29 for skills and £1.7 billion of capital funding to help colleges maintain the condition of their estate. In addition, the Government is providing £375 million of capital investment to support the FE system to accommodate increasing student numbers.
For their non-business activity, FE colleges are unable to reclaim VAT incurred. We operate several VAT refund schemes for schools and academies. FE colleges do not meet the criteria for either scheme.
In relation to business activity, FE colleges enjoy an exemption from VAT which means that they do not have to charge VAT to students, but cannot recover it either. The Government is not currently planning to introduce a VAT refund scheme for FE institutions.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to introduce VAT exemptions for counsellors and psychotherapists, in line with those for art and dance therapy practitioners.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Many services provided directly or supervised by registered health professionals are exempt from VAT, meaning no VAT is charged to the final consumer. This does not apply to professionals who do not have statutory registers, such as counsellors and psychotherapists.
The UK’s approach of linking VAT exemption to statutory registration provides a clear and objective criterion for defining ‘health professionals’ for VAT purposes, ensuring that VAT reliefs are tightly targeted. While the Government keeps all taxes under review, there are no current plans to introduce VAT exemptions for counsellors and psychotherapists without statutory registration.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what methods she and her Department are using to monitor and assess levels of freight crime; what steps are being taken to engage with law enforcement agencies and the haulage industry to identify effective prevention measures; and how her Department plans to ensure robust enforcement against those responsible.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We fully recognise the serious and growing threat that freight crime poses to businesses, drivers, and the wider economy. This Government is determined to crack down on it. The incidence of cargo theft, where criminals rip the sides of lorries and take the goods inside, is frightening for drivers. The perception this crime is low risk and high reward is completely unacceptable.
We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies and invested stakeholders to find solutions to tackle these crimes.
Freight crimes are not currently separately identifiable in the centrally held police recorded crime data. Crimes involving the theft of freight are recorded by the police within broader vehicle-related theft categories. In order to monitor trends, we are piloting the use of a flag on police crime recording systems which officers can use to indicate that the crime they are investigating is freight crime.
We also work closely with Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, including freight crime, and with the National Vehicle Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), a policing unit set up to investigate vehicle crime, including freight crime. We have regular discussions with both units about tackling organised freight crime.