Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the total number of Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority staff; and how many of these staff are a) based in Scotland and b) cover Scotland in their role responsibilities.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The GLAA does not record ‘Complaints’ about licensed entities. Instead, it records ‘General Issues’ (referrals from members of the public, victims, workers, etc.) which may or may not be negative in nature.
Since 1 January 2025, the GLAA has received 11 ‘General Issues’ referrals relating to Scottish farms.
Since 1 January 2025, GLAA Officers have undertaken 16 in person inspection visits to farms in Scotland. These figures include compliance and enforcement inspections, as well as joint operations with other enforcement bodies.
As of November 2025, the GLAA has a total headcount of 117, with 2 members of staff currently based in Scotland.
The GLAA deploys members of staff from all over the UK to support operations wherever they are required. It is therefore not possible to provide an accurate breakdown of the number of staff who cover Scotland as part of their roles and responsibilities, as this will change depending on demand.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many in-person inspections were carried out by the Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate in Scotland in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS) has the budget for 35 members of staff.
EAS currently have one member of staff that is based in Scotland, but all staff can be deployed across the whole of Great Britain as required.
Based on EAS management information, the table below sets out the number of in person or online visits conducted at the time due to covid restrictions.
Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate – Scotland Inspections (Last Five Years)
Financial Year | Number of Inspections |
2020/2021 | 0 (Covid restrictions) |
2021/2022 | 26 (Online inspections due to Covid restrictions) |
2022/2023 | 29 |
2023/2024 | 0 |
2024/2025 | 55 |
Total | 110 |
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Department how many UK Visas and Immigration seasonal worker visa scheme compliance visits were conducted in a) England, b) Scotland and c) Wales in 2025.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
UKVI does not produce published data on seasonal worker visa scheme compliance visits.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff are employed by HMRC in national minimum wage enforcement in 2025-26; and how many of these staff are a) based in Scotland and b) cover Scotland in their role responsibilities.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As of September 2025, HMRC employed 442 people as part of its National Minimum Wage (NMW) Enforcement unit. Of these, 44 are based in Scotland.
The NMW teams which are based in Edinburgh and East Kilbride are part of HMRC’s National NMW compliance function. These team’s work not only incorporates NMW compliance activity within Scotland, but it also covers activity across the UK. Some NMW compliance activity in Scotland is also undertaken by other UK based NMW teams.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Government's Future of Post Office Green Paper, if a date has been set for the planned roundtable with Post Office and key banks on potentially expanding the banking services available at post offices.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of access to cash and banking services for businesses and individuals, including those who may be in vulnerable groups or require assistance and is supportive of industry initiatives that improve access to these vital services.
The Post Office plays a key role in supporting access to banking services. Under the Banking Framework, a commercial agreement between the Post Office and 30 banking firms, personal and business customers can withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. The specific services provided under the Framework are subject to commercial negotiations between individual banks and the Post Office, and the Government has no role in deciding what these arrangements are.
The Government would welcome continued collaboration between Post Office and the banking sector, on a commercial basis and will look to host joint discussions with Post Office and the banking sector in the coming months.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Gambling Commission of the risk profile of charity lotteries, including the People's Postcode Lottery.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The department and the Gambling Commission have regular discussions covering gambling regulation, including society lotteries.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Gambling Commission on the society lotteries sales limit.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The department and the Gambling Commission have regular discussions covering gambling regulation, including society lotteries.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghans were evacuated from Pakistan under the (a) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and (b) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy each month from January 2025 to the latest month for which data is available.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 38,700. people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes.
Afghanistan Resettlement Schemes operational data is published quarterly with the last publication on the 21 August 2025.
Data on recent and planned resettlement is not available due to the operational nature of the schemes. For operational security reasons, we are unable to provide additional information on plans for future resettlement flights.
The data published within: immigration system statistics release (year ending June 2025, published 21 August 2025) provides a breakdown of arrivals by quarter. The number of individuals resettled under the schemes is as follows: 19,048 under ARAP. 10,160 individuals under ACRS Pathway 1, 1,406 individuals under ACRS Pathway 2 and 1,679 individuals under ACRS Pathway 3.
Afghan Operational data is viewable at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when was the most recent evacuation under the (a) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and (b) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy; and when are the next planned evacuations.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 38,700. people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes.
Afghanistan Resettlement Schemes operational data is published quarterly with the last publication on the 21 August 2025.
Data on recent and planned resettlement is not available due to the operational nature of the schemes. For operational security reasons, we are unable to provide additional information on plans for future resettlement flights.
The data published within: immigration system statistics release (year ending June 2025, published 21 August 2025) provides a breakdown of arrivals by quarter. The number of individuals resettled under the schemes is as follows: 19,048 under ARAP. 10,160 individuals under ACRS Pathway 1, 1,406 individuals under ACRS Pathway 2 and 1,679 individuals under ACRS Pathway 3.
Afghan Operational data is viewable at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether ODA spending for Afghanistan will be ringfenced in the upcoming spending decisions.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 17 September to Question 70974.