Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of procurement contracts awarded by each Government Department were to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.
The Cabinet Office does not hold a central record of the proportion of procurement contracts awarded by each Government Department to SMEs over the last five financial years. The Government is, however, introducing targets for SME spend going forwards.
The Government is also taking a number of further steps to support SMEs.
We have published a National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) which requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).
The Crown Commercial Service has also published an SME Action Plan which sets out the steps it is taking to support Government Departments maximise their procurement spend with SMEs, by removing barriers to participation and opening up opportunities to SMEs through their commercial agreements.
We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.
We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course. These reforms will further support British SMEs to bid for contracts.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many responses her Department received to the consultation entitled Amending the hydrofluorocarbon phasedown schedule.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
137 responses to the consultation were received. Defra is currently considering their contents.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the role of media literacy in helping children identify misleading or harmful online content.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Media literacy is currently covered in the citizenship, relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) and computing curricula.
Following publication of the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report on 5 November 2025, vital applied knowledge and skills in media and digital literacy relevant to identify misleading or harmful online content will be embedded into the revised curriculum from 2028.
The department will engage with sector experts in working out how best to reflect this in the updated curriculum. There will be public consultation on the updated curriculum programmes of study, to seek views on the content before they are finalised.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether (a) Judges' Lodgings and (b) other workplace accommodation are within the scope of the proposed overnight visitor levy.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We have published a consultation running until 18 February, so that the public, businesses, and local government can shape the design of the power to introduce a levy that will be devolved to local leaders, including potential exemptions. The scope of the levy, which will cover short‑term overnight stays in commercially let visitor accommodation, will be set out in future legislation.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her department has made of the potential impact of implementing retrospective a increase in the 5 year ILR route to 10 years on the wellbeing of children and families currently in the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing transitional arrangements for people on the 5 year ILR route.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Government’s proposed Special Category Mechanism on access to enhanced awards and appeals for infected and affected people, including individuals who were unable to enrol in post‑2017 support schemes due to their death prior to those schemes’ introduction.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government launched a public consultation on proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme on 30 October 2025 that ran for the standard 12 weeks and closed on 22 January. This consultation adhered to the Cabinet Office Consultation Principles and was open to the public, with responses particularly encouraged from those in the infected blood community. The Government is considering each response to the consultation with the seriousness the issue deserves, and will publish its response within 12 weeks of the consultation’s closing date. An Equality Impact Assessment is not required to be carried out for public consultations, but the Government will provide one alongside any legislation arising from the implementation of the consultation’s outcome.
In its Additional Report, the Inquiry recommended that the Government reconsider how the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme provides compensation to those currently receiving Special Category Mechanism (SCM) payments or its equivalents. The Government accepted this recommendation.
The public consultation proposed that anyone currently receiving SCM or equivalent payments through the Infected Blood Support Schemes would be automatically eligible for a Severe Health Condition award. The Government has also consulted on how eligibility should be established for people who are not registered with an Infected Blood Support Scheme (IBSS) but who experience the same impact on their day-to-day life for the same reasons.
The Technical Expert Group (TEG) is convening a series of roundtables with key organisations and charity representatives to discuss aspects of the Infected Blood Inquiry Additional Report recommendations for the compensation scheme, to inform their advice to the Government. This targeted engagement is separate to the Government’s consultation. The TEG held roundtables on 15 and 17 December 2025, which focused on establishing the eligibility criteria for living infected people who are not currently registered with an IBSS, in relation to the award to recognise impacts associated with SCM, and its equivalents. The attendee list was informed by the key representatives in the infected blood community that the Government regularly engages with. To ensure transparency, the minutes of meetings of the TEG are published on GOV.UK. The minutes of these roundtable meetings were published on 29 January 2026.
The TEG invited further written responses from the representatives to supplement the discussion of the roundtables. The TEG therefore received written responses after the initial roundtables on SCM had been held. The TEG have, since then, reviewed these written responses and will be making sure they too are properly reflected in a summary document which will be published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the cumulative impact of the extension and retrospective application of settlement requirements, including impacts on (a) workforce retention, (b) industrial productivity and (c) overall economic security.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed Earned Settlement framework on the (a) family stability, (b) day-to-day security and (c) ability to access credit of Skilled Worker visa holders.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the retrospective increase in ILR on skill levels in key industries such as health and social care.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.