Seamus Logan

Relevant departments are currently considering the Committee’s concluding observations in detail. The Government will give written responses to three priority areas that the Committee has identified for specific follow-up by 2027.

The Government will respond to the rest of the recommendations before the UK’s next reporting cycle starts in 2030.

There are well established whistleblowing processes in place across government. Individual government departments are responsible for determining and setting their whistleblowing arrangements and procedures. In addition, the Civil Service Commission is an independent body that can hear and determine concerns by civil servants that relate to the Civil Service Code, where it has already been raised formally under the Code with the relevant Department.

The National Audit Office made four recommendations in the report following its investigation into whistleblowing in the Civil Service and the Public Accounts Committee made five recommendations in its subsequent report.

Neither report recommended setting up an independent Office of the Whistleblower, and I have since corrected Hansard to clarify that the reports themselves did not refer to a risk of duplication. It is the Government’s position that an independent Office of the Whistleblower would be duplicative.

The full text of the reports are available online.

https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/investigation-whistleblowing-civil-service.pdf

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5804/cmselect/cmpubacc/457/report.html

As per the guidance in the Mobile Device Management policy, we take a careful controlled approach to TikTok usage on government devices to safeguard all government activity. Access is strictly limited to essential purposes only. The existing policy regarding TikTok on government devices remains unchanged.

Relevant departments are currently considering the Committee’s concluding observations in detail. The Government will give written responses to three priority areas that the Committee has identified for specific follow-up by 2027.

The Government will respond to the rest of the recommendations before the UK’s next reporting cycle starts in 2030.

The Government is working closely with DHSC and other relevant departments and organisations to give the recommendations full consideration. We will provide an update to Parliament on the progress we are making to respond to the Inquiry’s recommendations by the end of the year, as the Inquiry recommends. The Government will pay compensation to infected and affected victims of infected blood.

The Government asked Sir Robert Francis KC to hold an engagement exercise with the infected blood community to give recommendations on the composition of the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority is committed to engaging with the infected and affected community in an open and transparent way so that it can deliver the compensation scheme as quickly as possible, and in a way that meets the needs of the community.

On 8 May the UK government announced a landmark economic deal with the United States, making the UK the first country to get an agreement with President Trump.

The US has committed to further negotiations, including on the 10% tariffs introduced on 2 April across our economy which affect Scotch whisky. We are continuing to negotiate in the interests of key sectors for the UK and will seek the best possible outcome. Due to the nature of the deal, negotiations will continue on a range of areas and benefits will be felt over time.

The Government considers that it would potentially help businesses and deliver consumer and environmental benefits if we were to introduce standardised charger requirements for mobile phones and certain other portable electrical/electronic devices across the UK. Accordingly, we sought views through a Call for Evidence from manufacturers, importers, distributors, trade associations, and consumers as to whether it would be helpful to do so. This Call for Evidence closed in December 2024. The Government is considering the evidence received and will respond in due course.

Section 2(5) of the Trade Act already ensures that international trade agreements, within the scope of the Act, cannot include provisions which are inconsistent with maintaining a UK publicly funded healthcare service.

In their meeting on 27 February, the Prime Minister and President Trump agreed to work together on a trade deal focused on tech. The government is clear that we will only ever sign trade agreements that align with the UK's national interests. The NHS will never be on the table for any trade agreement.

The government has announced its support for Acorn and is providing the development funding to advance its delivery. A final investment decision will be taken later this Parliament, subject to project readiness and affordability.

Since the Spending Review, we have worked closely with Acorn to understand what they need to keep them progressing towards FID and are confident we can continue collaborating on that.

We have also established a ministerial led forum, where government, regulators and industry representatives come together on a regular basis to drive forward momentum for the Scottish cluster.

This Government is committed to ensuring drivers get a fair deal which is why we are implementing Fuel Finder as quickly as possible. Subject to parliamentary passage, we aim to launch Fuel Finder by the end of 2025.

In the meantime, a voluntary scheme is in place where fuel retailers are encouraged to share fuel prices until Fuel Finder gains a statutory footing. This is an important first step in increasing competitive pressure on retailers while legislation is finalised.

In addition, we have introduced statutory powers for the Competition and Markets Authority to monitor the market and identify the need further intervention

The Great British Energy (GBE) Supply Chain fund is £1 billion, as announced in the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan published on 23 June 2025. This will help ensure the clean energy revolution is built in Britain.

Up to £300 million of the fund is committed grant funding for manufacturing offshore wind components.

GBE will invest a further £700 million in clean energy supply chains. Where this will be invested will be determined through market engagement and working alongside HMG Public Finance Institutions to develop the right delivery approach according to market needs.

We will publish the Clean Energy Workforce Strategy later this year. This Strategy will be a first for the UK Government, and will set out how government, industry and trade unions will come together to address skills and workforce challenges to deliver the Clean Energy Superpower Mission, including Clean Power 2030.

A response was issued to the hon. Member on 7 May. I appreciate his patience with this matter.

The Government’s strategy commits to create a preclinical translational models hub, supported by £30m of government funding, by the end of 2026. This will bring together data, AI, cell engineering, genomic technology and cutting-edge disease modelling capabilities to generate collaborative research at scale. This will create a pipeline of novel translational medicine models, with opportunities for partnerships across academia and industry. The hub is being developed by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in consultation with stakeholders and more details will be announced at a later date.

The Government’s strategy to support replacing animals in science commits to publish biennially from 2026 a list of alternative-methods research and development priorities, coalescing UK scientists around these areas and incentivising partnerships between research organisations, CROs and industry. These priority areas will be developed collaboratively between academic institutions, industry trade associations, learned societies, the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research’s (NC3Rs) Regulatory Sciences Forum, the New Approaches to Chemical Risk Assessment in the Regulatory Space (NACRARs) Cross Government group and international partners.

The Government has committed to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods with £60 million of new funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology that has not been derived from reallocation of existing budgets. This includes £30 million to set up a translational hub and £30 million for the UK centre for the validation of alternative methods.

£11.4m has also been committed by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Innovate UK’s core budgets as part of routine prioritisation activities, and £4.5m from the Wellcome Trust which is non-Government funding, to advance human in vitro model development.

The Government’s new strategy sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances, achieved by creating a research and innovation system that drives the development and validation of alternative methods to using animals in science. The legal framework in the UK already requires that animals are only ever used in science where there are no validated alternatives available, and we are speeding up the development of alternative methods.

The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal.

On 11th November 2025 the government published “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods” which outlines the steps we will take to achieve this. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/replacing-animals-in-science-strategy/replacing-animals-in-science-a-strategy-to-support-the-development-validation-and-uptake-of-alternative-methods

To improve and expand the services available to understand, tackle and treat gambling-related harm, the Government has introduced a statutory levy on gambling operators to fund research, prevention and treatment. This will include dedicated investment to raise awareness of the risks associated with gambling and facilitating a cultural shift to break down barriers to help-seeking behaviour such as stigma. 30% of the new statutory gambling levy funding will be allocated to prevention activity, including education and early intervention, to help raise awareness of harmful gambling. Furthermore, since 2020, children and young people have been taught about the risks relating to gambling as part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum in England. Education is a devolved matter in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We continue to monitor the best available evidence to inform how we reduce gambling harm amongst children and young people.

To improve and expand the services available to understand, tackle and treat gambling-related harm, the Government has introduced a statutory levy on gambling operators to fund research, prevention and treatment. This will include dedicated investment to raise awareness of the risks associated with gambling and facilitating a cultural shift to break down barriers to help-seeking behaviour such as stigma. 30% of the new statutory gambling levy funding will be allocated to prevention activity, including education and early intervention, to help raise awareness of harmful gambling. Furthermore, since 2020, children and young people have been taught about the risks relating to gambling as part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum in England. Education is a devolved matter in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We continue to monitor the best available evidence to inform how we reduce gambling harm amongst children and young people.

A reply to the hon. Member is being prepared and will be issued as soon as possible.

Defra policies are based on the best available analysis and evidence, including official statistics. All Official Statistics in Defra are produced in line with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics. Defra acknowledges the statement from the OSR and its findings.

The former Secretary of State’s statement on the quality of water in Scotland compared to England was based on statistics from Scottish Water, Water Industry Commission for Scotland, Ofwat, and the Environment Agency.

The accuracy of data and statistics are crucial for the development and monitoring of Defra policies, and crucial for ensuring public trust in those statistics. All Official Statistics in Defra are therefore produced in line with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics.

Funding for the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund is being allocated using the Barnett formula, in line with HM Treasury guidance. Each Devolved Government is responsible for determining how its share of the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund supports its fishing and seafood sectors, including exports. Devolved Governments can choose to target investment in line with their local priorities and economic context.