Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce (a) delays and (b) administrative burdens on zoos undertaking international animal transfers for conservation purposes.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra continues to work closely with the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) to address immediate challenges to the cross-border movement of endangered species, including the availability of Export Health Certificates and Border Control Post capacity.

An SPS Agreement will establish a UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Zone aimed at reducing trade barriers and facilitating the safe and efficient movement of terrestrial and aquatic zoo animals. Our ambition is to reach an agreement that reduces administrative burdens by streamlining SPS checks and certification, while upholding the UK’s commitment to ensure its biosecurity is protected within this future framework.

Where animals are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), permits will be required to ensure specimens have been legally and sustainable acquired. These are typically valid for 6 months and can be applied for in advance of any planned move to avoid delay. The application process is digital and live animal movements are prioritised to avoid welfare implications. We are currently in the process of reviewing existing CITES regulations to ensure they support conservation and sustainable trade and minimise administrative burdens on businesses.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to close the pay gap between (a) school teachers and (b) college teachers to achieve equity within the higher education sector.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Further education (FE) colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating pay within colleges. Colleges are not bound by the national pay and conditions framework for school teachers but are free to implement their own pay arrangements in line with their own local circumstances.

On 22 May, the department announced an investment of £160 million for colleges and other 16-19 providers in the 2025/26 financial year. This funding will boost opportunities for learners across the country and drive forward delivery of the critical skills needed to grow our economy.

Additional funding of over £30 million will also be included within 16-19 allocations. This funding comes from within the overall funding envelope of £615 million for 2025/26, announced alongside the 2025/26 school teachers’ pay award. Together, this means that a total additional sum of over £190 million will be available for 16-19 funding in the 2025/26 financial year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that place funding for special school pupils is increased in line with (a) inflation and (b) special educational requirements.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Special schools receive £10,000 per place, alongside high needs top-up funding, which is paid directly by local authorities to the schools in which their placements are made. It is the top-up funding which is intended to reflect the cost of special educational provision in excess of the place funding, and the department’s guidance to local authorities is that top-up funding levels should be kept under review to reflect changes in costs, such as those incurred through overall levels of inflation and changes in provision.

High needs funding for children and young people with complex needs will be £1 billion higher this financial year than last year. This £1 billion increase, and the additional funding for special schools to help with staff-related costs, will bring total high needs funding to well over £12 billion in 2025/26.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of developing a dedicated support strategy for smaller manufacturers.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

This Government will continue to support the advanced manufacturing sector, including SMEs, through our forthcoming Industrial Strategy, where advanced manufacturing has been selected as one of eight growth-driving sectors.

Support is available through our Made Smarter Programme where manufacturing SMEs will be able to adopt industrial digital technologies like robotics and autonomous systems to boost their productivity and competitiveness.

Later this year the government will publish its Small Business Strategy, including policies on creating thriving high streets, accessing finance, opening up overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment.

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 support small manufacturing businesses.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

This Government will continue to support the advanced manufacturing sector, including SMEs, through our forthcoming Industrial Strategy, where advanced manufacturing has been selected as one of eight growth-driving sectors.

Support is available through our Made Smarter Programme where manufacturing SMEs will be able to adopt industrial digital technologies like robotics and autonomous systems to boost their productivity and competitiveness.

Later this year the government will publish its Small Business Strategy, including policies on creating thriving high streets, accessing finance, opening up overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment.

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 support small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in the UK.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

This Government will continue to support the advanced manufacturing sector, including SMEs, through our forthcoming Industrial Strategy, where advanced manufacturing has been selected as one of eight growth-driving sectors.

Support is available through our Made Smarter Programme where manufacturing SMEs will be able to adopt industrial digital technologies like robotics and autonomous systems to boost their productivity and competitiveness.

Later this year the government will publish its Small Business Strategy, including policies on creating thriving high streets, accessing finance, opening up overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help tackle ageism in healthcare services.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme on 5 June 2025 to Question 54136.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to improve access to finance for small manufacturers.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Our October 2024 call for evidence on access to finance for small advanced manufacturing firms sought views and evidence on the challenges faced in this area. Since that time, the Government has been considering how best to support more advanced manufacturing scale-ups to access the capital they need. Further details will be contained in the forthcoming Industrial Strategy and the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan within it.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to expand (a) financial support and (b) tax relief for small and medium-sized manufacturing firms.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Small businesses are vital to high streets, local communities, and economic growth. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government recognised this by:

• More than doubling the Employment Allowance to £10,500;
• Maintaining the Small Profits Rate and marginal relief at their current rates and thresholds, as well as maintaining the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance; and
• Freezing the small business multiplier for 2025/26. Taken together with Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), over a million properties will be protected from inflationary bill increases.

Despite the difficult fiscal inheritance, we have also been able to protect key business support programmes like Growth Hubs, while allocating £250 million to the British Business Bank's small business programmes in 2025/26.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to tackle age discrimination in the workplace.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Equality and opportunity for all are at the heart of the Government’s programme of national renewal and the UK has a strong history of protecting against direct and indirect discrimination. The Equality Act 2010 has protections that enable people to challenge age discrimination across a range of fields, including in the provision of services, employment and recruitment processes. Where age discrimination cannot be objectively justified and is unlawful, individuals can seek redress in the courts or, where relevant, at an employment tribunal.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a signer being present at Government news conferences.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

This Government is strongly committed to making our communications accessible and inclusive, and to reducing the barriers Deaf people face in their everyday lives.

Since we have come into power, we have endeavoured to ensure as many of the Prime Minister's speeches as possible have BSL interpretation in vision during live streams. This can be found on the Prime Minister’s social media channels - X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. Where speeches do not have political content, the interpretation is also made available afterwards on gov.uk.

I pay tribute to the outstanding work of the Government’s BSL Advisory Board. We will continue to work with them, and with other members of the Deaf community, on how we can improve further the accessibility of our communications.

Devon Day 2025

Safe sleep standards in early years settings

Role of relationship education in preventing violence against women and girls

Shared Lives Carers

Harmful chemicals in period products

New blood cancer drug

Learning Disability Week 2025

Access to Electric Vehicle charging for social housing residents

Unpaid Care Dashboard

Impact of EU 90/180 day rule on UK citizens

Reform of monetary limits on charity lotteries

Carers Week 2025

National Fish and Chip Day 2025

Reform of NHS dentistry services

Access to Work backlogs

Gaza (No. 2)

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Debbie Abrahams (Chair); Johanna Baxter; Mr Peter Bedford; Steve Darling

Found: ” _30 Dr Ben Spencer Rachael Maskell Graham Stringer Rebecca Paul Adam Jogee Anna Dixon Steve Darling

Found: Munira Wilson Martin Wrigley Monica Harding Max Wilkinson Andrew George Alison Bennett Steve Darling

Found: ” _30 Dr Ben Spencer Rachael Maskell Graham Stringer Rebecca Paul Adam Jogee Anna Dixon Steve Darling

Found: Munira Wilson Martin Wrigley Monica Harding Max Wilkinson Andrew George Alison Bennett Steve Darling

Found: ” _30 Dr Ben Spencer Rachael Maskell Graham Stringer Rebecca Paul Adam Jogee Anna Dixon Steve Darling

Found: Voaden Carla Denyer Mr Lee Dillon Monica Harding Vikki Slade Pippa Heylings Charlotte Cane Steve Darling

Found: Voaden Carla Denyer Mr Lee Dillon Monica Harding Vikki Slade Pippa Heylings Charlotte Cane Steve Darling

Found: ” _30 Dr Ben Spencer Rachael Maskell Graham Stringer Rebecca Paul Adam Jogee Anna Dixon Steve Darling

Found: Voaden Carla Denyer Mr Lee Dillon Monica Harding Vikki Slade Pippa Heylings Charlotte Cane Steve Darling

Found: ” _30 Dr Ben Spencer Rachael Maskell Graham Stringer Rebecca Paul Adam Jogee Anna Dixon Steve Darling

Found: Roger Gale Sarah Olney Shockat Adam Olivia Blake Vikki Slade Pippa Heylings Charlotte Cane Steve Darling

Found: Glover Jess Brown-Fuller Tom Gordon Ben Maguire Vikki Slade Edward Morello Martin Wrigley Steve Darling

Defibrillators APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Tuesday 29th October 2024 Time: 9:45 am -10:15 am Location: Room P , Portcullis House Chair: Steve Darling

Future of Financial Services APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Steve Darling MP (Lab, Torbay) 43.

Hospitality and Tourism APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Stainbank Labour Falkirk Gill German Labour Clwyd North Francesca Randwell Jones on behalf of Steve Darling

Hospitality and Tourism APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Rhodes Labour Glasgow North Max Wilkinson Lib Dem Cheltenham Paul Kohler Lib Dem Wimbledon Steve Darling