Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people waiting to sit a Dental Overseas Registration Examination.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on exactly how many candidates are waiting to sit the General Dental Council’s (GDC) Overseas Registration Exam (ORE), as this data is held by the GDC.
In April 2025, we understand from the GDC that there were approximately 5,000 candidates on the combined waiting lists for both parts of the ORE exam.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
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 increase food security.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are investing over £2.7 billion a year in farming and nature recovery, cutting EU export costs for food producers, and ensuring farmers are well-placed to bid for a fair share of public sector food contracts.
We will make reforms to ensure farmers receive fair payment for food production and have appointed former National Farmers Union president and cross-bench peer Baroness Minette Batters to review barriers to farming profitability.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, on the UK Ancestry Visa.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The UK Government values its close cultural and historical ties with its fellow Commonwealth countries and this is reflected by the UK Ancestry visa, which allows Commonwealth citizens with a UK-born grandparent to live and work in the UK.
Further details of all measures announced in the Immigration White Paper will be set out in the normal way in due course and, where necessary, will be subject to consultation.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, whether she plans to change the 12-month qualifying period between the grant of indefinite leave to remain and the right to apply for naturalisation.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We will be consulting on the earned settlement and citizenship schemes later this year and further details on the proposed schemes will be provided at that time.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has undertaken preparatory work on a potential youth mobility scheme with the EU.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We have agreed that we will work towards the establishment of a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU. We have agreed that any scheme will be time-limited and capped, and we have also been clear that it should be in line with the UK’s existing schemes with countries like Australia and New Zealand. The exact parameters will be subject to negotiation.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
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 reduce the number of fraudulent companies registered with Companies House.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In October 2023, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 was enacted with the primary purpose of bearing down on the fraudulent use of corporate structures in the UK. The process of implementing that legislation is underway but strengthened powers have already enabled the registrar of companies to intervene against 100,400 companies – equivalent to 2% of the register. This is further helped by expanded data sharing powers to collaborate with Law Enforcement partners to tackle strategic threats. Furthermore, this year Companies House is implementing mandatory Identity Verification to prevent false or hijacked identities being used.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
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 impact of lifting tariffs on non-folding Chinese e-bikes on British manufacturers.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
On 6 February the government extended the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on Chinese e-bikes but only for folding e-bikes. The independent Trade Remedies Authority assessed the annual impact of removing the measures on non-folding Chinese e-bikes, as can be found in their Final Recommendation to the Secretary of State. The Trade Remedy Authority’s assessment was considered by the Secretary of State as part of his decision.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2024 to Question 2198 on District Heating, when his Department plans to bring forward regulations to implement the Heat Network Market Framework.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The first part of the Heat Networks (Market Framework) (Great Britain) Regulations 2025 was signed into law on the 2nd of March 2025. The remaining parts of this regulatory framework will be laid in Parliament later this year, and Ofgem will assume its role as heat network market regulator on the 27th of January 2026.
On the 1st of April, the redress, advice and advocacy functions of the Heat Networks Market Framework came into force. Under these schemes, the Energy Ombudsman, Citizens Advice, and Consumer Scotland will monitor the market and have powers to take enforcement action against operators that break the rules on metering and billing.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships the Construction Industry Training Board supported in (a) Edinburgh North and Leith constituency and (b) Scotland in (i) 2023 and (ii) 2024.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) supported 36 registered employers in 2023, and 47 registered employers in 2024. A CITB registered employer may access more than one grant or fund, and the cumulative count of support for registered employers within the constituency was 58 and 113 respectively.
Across Scotland, the CITB supported 2,864 registered employers in 2023, and 3414 registered employers in 2024, with 6,683 and 9,076 cumulative counts of support respectively.
The number of apprentices supported is not routinely captured at constituency level, so the CITB is unable to provide this figure from currently available data.
Through the CITB’s contract with Skills Development Scotland, it supported an average of 4,440 apprentices per month in 2023, and an average of 4,500 apprentices per month in 2024.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many businesses the Construction Industry Training Board supported in (a) Edinburgh North and Leith constituency and (b) Scotland in (i) 2023 and (ii) 2024.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) supported 36 registered employers in 2023, and 47 registered employers in 2024. A CITB registered employer may access more than one grant or fund, and the cumulative count of support for registered employers within the constituency was 58 and 113 respectively.
Across Scotland, the CITB supported 2,864 registered employers in 2023, and 3414 registered employers in 2024, with 6,683 and 9,076 cumulative counts of support respectively.
The number of apprentices supported is not routinely captured at constituency level, so the CITB is unable to provide this figure from currently available data.
Through the CITB’s contract with Skills Development Scotland, it supported an average of 4,440 apprentices per month in 2023, and an average of 4,500 apprentices per month in 2024.