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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to publish the findings of the 2023-24 Learning from Lives and Deaths – People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People report.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England commissions Kings College London and its partners to analyse data from the Learning from Lives and Deaths - people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) reports. The annual LeDeR report is published by Kings College London, who are currently working on the next annual report, which NHS England advises will be published shortly. The last report was published in November 2023, and can be found at the following link:

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/assets/fans-dept/leder-2022-v2.0.pdf

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 help (a) tackle threats and abuse faced by and (b) promote respectful behaviour towards veterinary professionals.

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

We value the vital work of the veterinary profession and the commitment and dedication of the veterinary workforce towards animal health and welfare.

Abuse towards the veterinary sector is taken very seriously; monitoring of this is conducted by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as the regulator for the profession.

We are aware of the numerous challenges faced across the veterinary industry. The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) is undertaking a market investigation into the sector, and we will consider any recommendations for the department when they are available.

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 (a) monitor and (b) help tackle the abuse and harassment of veterinary professionals.

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

We value the vital work of the veterinary profession and the commitment and dedication of the veterinary workforce towards animal health and welfare.

Abuse towards the veterinary sector is taken very seriously; monitoring of this is conducted by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as the regulator for the profession.

We are aware of the numerous challenges faced across the veterinary industry. The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) is undertaking a market investigation into the sector, and we will consider any recommendations for the department when they are available.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of recent trends in levels of (a) abuse and (b) harassment in the veterinary sector levels on recruitment and retention in that sector.

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

The Government is aware of the high demand for veterinary capacity across the UK and is taking action to support the industry. Defra is exploring various avenues to improve both short- and long-term capacity issues.

We will continue to support the vital work of the veterinary profession and acknowledge the commitment and dedication of the veterinary workforce towards animal health and welfare.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of pensioners who will exceed the £35,000 income threshold for receiving the Winter Fuel Payment, in each year from 2025 to 2030; and what estimate she has made of the annual financial yield resulting from that measure in each of those years.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

On 9 June the Government announced that, from this winter 2025-26, Winter Fuel Payment eligibility will be expanded in England and Wales. Pensioners with incomes below or equal to £35,000 will benefit from a Winter Fuel Payment.

This will mean that the vast majority of pensioners - over three quarters, or 9 million individuals - will benefit from a Winter Fuel Payment throughout this parliament. This change ensures that the means-testing of winter fuel payments has no effect on pensioner poverty.

We estimate that around £450m per year will be recovered via the tax system or from individuals opting out of receiving the Winter Fuel Payment. This is subject to OBR certification when this policy is scored this Autumn.

Glaucoma Awareness Week

Hannah Beaton-Hawryluk MBE

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

Found: Q113 Steve Darling: Thank you so much for joining us today.

Found: Taylor Andrew George Tessa Munt Steff Aquarone Alison Bennett Chris Coghlan Mr Paul Kohler Steve Darling

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

Found: Taylor Andrew George Tessa Munt Steff Aquarone Alison Bennett Chris Coghlan Mr Paul Kohler Steve Darling

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

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

Found: 2025 _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: ” _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: ” _30 Dr Ben Spencer Rachael Maskell Graham Stringer Rebecca Paul Adam Jogee Anna Dixon 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