Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of HMRC support available for (a) sole traders and (b) landlords to help ensure they can meet the Making Tax Digital deadline.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Making Tax Digital will help businesses and landlords keep on top of their tax affairs. It places small businesses on a more digital footing, with digital tools helping to reduce errors and make annual tax returns easier.
The government is undertaking a range of activities to ensure those needing to use MTD for Income Tax from April 2026 are ready and able to do so successfully.
This includes targeted media campaigns, awareness letters, developing guidance, and working with the software industry to ensure a broad range of MTD-compatible products is available, to suit different needs and budgets. Free options will support those with the simplest affairs.
Supporting its introduction is a dedicated team of fully-trained MTD advisors. From April 2026, new options will be available on HMRC’s Self-Assessment and Agent helplines tailored to the needs of MTD users.
Further support will continue to be offered through webinars, industry engagement and marketing activities targeted to reach those affected by the changes.
HMRC’s latest published assessment of the potential impact of MTD for Income Tax across different taxpayer groups is available at:
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84673, for what reason the Health and Safety Executive is recorded as having not responded to the Prevention of Future Deaths report concerning the death of Graham Faulkner.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) responded directly to the Coroner’s office by email on 3 July 2024. This response was then resent to the Coroner on 11 March 2026.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward secondary legislation to amend the Insolvency Act 1986 so as to enable employees to claim directly against company directors where an insolvent company has knowingly failed to comply with minimum wage legislation.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Employees of companies subject to insolvency proceedings are already able to claim arrears of wages, up to a statutory limit, from the National Insurance Fund through the Insolvency Service. In situations where minimum wage provisions have not been met, this can include an uplift payment.
Knowingly breaching minimum wage provisions is evidence of misconduct, and the Secretary of State may, where public interest criteria are met, seek to disqualify a culpable director. Where a director is disqualified, they may also be required to pay compensation for the benefit of creditors who have been directly harmed by their actions.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ask a) HM Prison and Probation Service and b) HMP Wandsworth, to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Daniel Beckford.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Director General of Operations for HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) responded to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report following the inquest into the death of Daniel Beckford on 8 January 2025. This response addressed the matters of concern raised in the report and a separate response from the prison was not considered necessary. For reasons that are not clear, whilst it is dated 11 June 2024, the report was not received by HMPPS until November 2024, and the response was then provided promptly.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ask a) HM Prison and Probation Service and b) HMP Wandsworth, to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Yuri Hatton.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Director General of Operations for HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) responded to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report following the inquest into the death on 20 January 2025. This response addressed the matters of concern raised in the report and a separate response from the prison was not considered necessary. For reasons that are not clear, whilst it is dated 11 June 2024, the report was not received by HMPPS until November 2024, and the response was then provided promptly.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84672, whether his Department was asked to respond to the Prevention of Future Death report of Stephen Sleaford in its own capacity and separately from the response by HM Prison and Probation Service.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Prevention of Future Deaths report following the death of Stephen Sleaford was addressed to the Lord Chancellor and the Minister of State for Prisons. The Director General of Operations for HM Prison and Probation Service responded on their behalf because the matters of concern raised in the report were of an operational nature.
No separate response from the Ministry of Justice is considered necessary.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to page 92 of the Strategic Defence Review, how many meetings officials from their Department have attended on the national conversation on defence and security; which directorate in their Department is responsible for the departmental contribution to that national conversation; and what the job title is of the official responsible.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Officials from the Northern Ireland Office regularly attend meetings to discuss matters of national security, defence and resilience as well as the associated public communications required to deliver these lines of efforts. The conversation on National Defence was a recommendation in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which the Government accepted. The Ministry of Defence is the lead department for delivering the SDR, with support from the Cabinet Office, and particularly from the National Security Secretariat.
As set out in the Strategic Defence Review, the national conversation will be a multi-year, cross-departmental effort designed to deliver on the whole-of-society approach to national security and defence allowing Government, the private sector and the public to play their part in strengthening the UK’s resilience to any potential future shocks. This work addresses the risks and threats the UK faces, including those below and above the threshold of an armed attack.
The Northern Ireland Office is actively supporting this work across a number of directorates including discussions with defence industry representatives, businesses and academia to better understand the contribution of the defence sector in Northern Ireland. This work is led by the Director for Security, International and NI Politics, and the Director for Growth, Public Service Transformation and NI Fiscal Sustainability.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to paragraph 88 of the policy paper entitled UK Government Resilience Action Plan, published on 14 July 2025, how many meetings have been attended by civil servants within their Department in relation to the Home Defence Programme; which directorate in the Department owns the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme; and what the job title is of the civil servant leading and cohering the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer he was provided on 5 March in response to Question 115943.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to page 92 of the Strategic Defence Review, how many meetings officials from their Department have attended on the national conversation on defence and security; which directorate in their Department is responsible for the departmental contribution to that national conversation; and what the job title is of the official responsible.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer he was provided on 5 March in response to Question 115943.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department intends to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Hayley Cowan.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice sent a preliminary reply, making a point of clarification, to the HM Senior Coroner for Greater Manchester on 3 October 2024, following the Prevention of Future Death report issued after the death of Hayley Cowan. No further action has been requested of the Department at this time.