Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to compensate employees of (a) the Post Office, (b) sub-postmasters and (c) shops that fulfilled Post Office functions who were (i) prosecuted, (ii) arrested and (iii) had their employment terminated on the basis of flawed information generated by the Horizon system.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Regardless of employment status, individuals who had their Horizon-related convictions overturned, or were prosecuted but not convicted, are eligible to apply for redress through the Overturned Convictions Scheme or Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme. Postmasters who were part of the 2019 group litigation against the Post Office are eligible for redress via the Group Litigation Order Scheme, whilst those not in any of these groups who suffered mainly shortfall losses may seek redress via the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS).
Individuals who were employees of the Post Office, or those who were employed by a business partner of the Post Office or a postmaster in branch, unfortunately are not eligible for redress under the HSS. This is because they did not have a direct contract with the Post Office. We are, however, continuing to look actively at potential gaps in the provision of redress which may prevent individuals who were affected by the Horizon scandal from being able to claim redress.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on establishing Attendance Hubs; what datasets her Department is collecting to measure the success of that programme; and if she will publish the data collected in relation to that programme to date.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The attendance hubs are established and led by schools with strong practice and intended to give senior leaders in schools a forum to discuss and share effective attendance practice. To date 31 hubs have been established and these have offered support to around 2,000 schools.
Last year, the department shared some of the effective practice from the hubs through our ‘Attendance toolkit for schools’, which can be found here: https://attendancetoolkit.blob.core.windows.net/toolkit-doc/Attendance%20toolkit%20for%20schools.pdf?utm_campaign=Daily%20Briefing%20Emails&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8b6UxxFW90snpeTz6dwjH6sUkBsMfMBDwkOxVCp7I9g1uY5-VXiWWsDjvKIk2YbdGp8qvIfotuo4qIG3GrzkbCWEFw_A&_hsmi=99095029&utm_content=99095029&utm_source=hs_email.
Feedback from the schools who have engaged with an attendance hub has suggested that they have found participation useful. We are using the feedback to evaluate the work of hubs further as it develops.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to prevent companies from polluting (a) Lake Windermere and (b) other national parks.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Labour introduced National Parks 75 years ago, and introduced the Rights of Way Act that secured public access and preserved natural beauty.
A thriving natural world underpins our economy, health and society. That’s why this Government is investing £400 million to protect and restore nature, including in our Nationals Parks.
This Government is committed to making Protected Landscapes, such as the Lake District National Park which contains Windermere, greener, wilder and more accessible. We have just announced our intent to strengthen legislation when parliamentary time allows. We will develop the details of the new legislation with partners, with the intention of ensuring that public bodies deliver better outcomes for people and nature in Protected Landscapes.
The Government is committed to taking action to address water pollution in Lake Windermere and in National Parks. The Water (Special Measures) Bill will deliver on the Government’s commitment to put water companies under special measures. The Bill will drive meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry as a first important step in enabling wider, transformative change across the water sector.
Ofwat has recently published final determinations on PR24. United Utilities’ will invest approximately £200 million in Lake Windermere, with improvements planned at all six storm overflows and nine wastewater treatment works impacting the lake.
Ofwat are also supporting a reduction in phosphorous in Lake Windermere by United Utilities. This includes ensuring United Utilities engage third parties to reduce the phosphorus entering the catchment and improve the water quality.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to push for greater humanitarian access to Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Prime Minister has said, the world will not tolerate any more excuses on humanitarian assistance. We continue to press Israel to end its aid restrictions and ensure that the UN and humanitarian partners can work safely and effectively. The Foreign Secretary recently wrote to Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar, alongside French and German counterparts, calling on Israel to urgently increase aid, and implement the UN's plan to prepare the civilian population for winter. I raised these issues with Deputy Foreign Minister Haskel on 5 December and the Foreign Secretary raised this again with Foreign Minister Sa'ar in their call on 8 December. We continue to work alongside our international partners to press for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of the hostages, better protection of civilians and a significant increase in aid to Gaza. At a UN Security Council meeting on 18 November, the Foreign Secretary reiterated that there is no excuse for Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid and that they must be lifted.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department has taken to improve the (a) visibility and (b) accessibility of the Export Academy for micro businesses looking to export.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Export Academy is here to support all businesses to grow by giving attendees the confidence and know-how to land overseas deals, and it is reaching more micro-businesses than ever before. Already this year, more than 3,700 micro-businesses have registered so far to attend the free training sessions, which is an increase on 2023/24 where 3,639 micro-businesses registered. To make the UK Export Academy more accessible, we are piloting video-on-demand and a catch-up service has been launched so micro-business owners can access session recordings at a time that suits them, online, and from anywhere across the UK.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen partnerships with (a) humanitarian organisations, (b) women-led organisations and (c) local civil society in the UK’s development work.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department has strong relationships with the main humanitarian agencies. The Foreign Secretary and I have met or spoken to the main UN humanitarian agencies and to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The work of grassroots women's rights organisations is critical to advancing gender equality. The UK has a growing number of partnerships with diverse women's rights organisations across the programme portfolio, complemented by diplomatic support to amplify voices and share platforms.
The FCDO recognises that stronger, more inclusive engagement with local civil society better empowers the communities it serves. We continue to modernise and improve our relationships. Our innovative programme 'Shifting the Power' is investing up to £60m into building the capacity of local Civil Society Organisations in Ghana, Zambia and Malawi.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Alzheimer’s Society’s report entitled Because we’re human too: Why dementia training for care workers matters, and how to deliver it, published on 13 November 2024; and if he will make it his policy that adult social care staff should have mandatory dementia training.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department welcomes knowledge sharing across the sector and officials will consider the report in future policy development. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, care providers are required to provide sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled, and experienced staff to meet the needs of the people using the service.
We now have a national career framework for adult social care, the Care Workforce Pathway, which is linked to several existing competency frameworks, including the dementia training standards framework. The Department developed the pathway in partnership with Skills for Care, representatives from the adult social care workforce, and people who draw on care and support.
The Department has also launched a new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification which links to outcomes in the Care Workforce Pathway. This contains the baseline knowledge required to provide quality care and will make sure that those who are starting out their careers in care have an informed awareness of dementia.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to provide export support for small businesses.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Under the umbrella of the recently announced Business Growth Service, UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises an online support offer and a wider network of support including the Export Academy, UK Export Finance, the International Markets network and one-to-one support from International Trade Advisers.
DBT is piloting an enhanced partnership with Greater Manchester Combined Authority, taking a targeted place-based approach to accelerate small business growth through exporting across the region. This will be rolled out to other regions across England over the next 12 months.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many businesses engaged with UK Export Finance in financial years (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) 2023-24.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The numbers of businesses that UK Export Finance (UKEF) supported in the financial years in question are shown in the table below:
| Total exporters supported |
2021/22 | 545 |
2022/23 | 532 |
2023/24 | 650 |
Further information is available in UKEF’s annual report and accounts, available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-export-finance-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what account her strategy to tackle homelessness takes of the findings of the report published by Centrepoint entitled Human costs and lost potential: the real cost of youth homelessness.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected, including young people.
We must address this and deliver long term solutions. The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.
The Minister for Homelessness and Democracy has also established an Expert Group to bring together representatives from across the homelessness and rough sleeping sector, local and combined authorities and wider experts. The role of this expert group is to provide knowledge, analysis and challenge to help Government understand what is working well nationally and locally and where improvements are needed. We will continue to meet with a range of stakeholders, including mayors and MPs, to make sure the strategy is informed by a range of expertise.
As well as work on the Inter-Ministerial Group and Expert Group we are also working closely with the sector to deliver a number of lived experience forums to ensure that the voices of those with lived experience are reflected in the homelessness strategy.