Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve support for female veterans in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Engaging and supporting the women who have served in our Armed Forces is an important part of our new Veterans’ Strategy. As well as our commitments across the strategy, we will specifically be taking forward plans to establish a new women veterans’ forum, which will include women veterans from across the UK and an oral history project to improve public understanding and recognition of the experiences and contribution of women veterans in keeping the nation safe.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that inclusive, safe and accessible youth spaces are available in every area following the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland v. The Scottish Ministers.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My department is committed to ensuring that our youth policies are inclusive and do not exclude any young people.
Our recent consultations with young people as part of our National Youth Strategy informed us that they wanted safe and welcoming spaces. To make sure that young people of all backgrounds can access safe spaces, we are investing £350 million to refurbish or build up to 250 youth facilities through our Better Youth Spaces programme.
We will review and update our policies wherever necessary to ensure legal compliance. We will also continue to uphold the Equality Act’s protections against unlawful discrimination and harassment.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to increase the number of women entering IT specialist fields.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government wants to unlock the full potential of the tech sector, and increasing women’s participation in IT is essential to achieving this. That’s why on Monday 15th December, we launched a Women in Tech Taskforce to identify and address the barriers that prevent women from entering and leading into tech careers.
The group is comprised of 14 prominent and diverse experts and industry leaders spanning technology, investment, entrepreneurship, and policy including BT’s first female chairman Allison Kirkby and Stemettes founder Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon. The taskforce will identify where interventions can have the biggest impact on increasing women’s participation in the sector and will develop practical recommendations for government.
In addition, programmes like the £187million TechFirst programme are helping build a more robust pipeline by providing training in AI and digital skills to support them into careers including cyber security, AI, quantum computing, software, data and more. Specific consideration is given to increasing participation among women and underrepresented groups.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the (a) name, (b) job title, (c) annual remuneration, (d) time commitment and (e) expected end date is for each direct ministerial appointment in her Department.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Please see a list of all the Direct Ministerial Appointments (DMAs) in DSIT to date, including job title, renumeration, time commitment and expected end date.
Live Appointments:
Appointments that have now ended
Appointments made before July 2024 (publicly available information)
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she will publish a monitoring and evaluation framework on disability equality training in order to establish a baseline level of training to meet requirements under Section 36 of the Bus Services Act 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are clear that high‑quality staff training is essential to providing bus services that are accessible for all passengers. That is why the Bus Services Act 2025 will mandate that both bus drivers and passenger-assisting staff undertake disability awareness and assistance training.
Section 36 of the Bus Services Act 2025 provides powers for the Secretary of State for Transport to require carriers and terminal managing bodies to record and publish training statistics in order to ensure that compliance can be monitored. Once commenced, we will expect all relevant operators and terminal managing bodies to comply with their reporting duties. We will engage with relevant stakeholders when developing such requirements, and will provide the industry with more information in due course.
The approach to evaluating the impact of the requirements under Section 36 will be considered as part of a wider monitoring and evaluation plan for the Bus Services Act 2025. In particular, and as stated in our Impact Assessment on the new measures on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), we intend to undertake process evaluation, for example evaluating the mechanisms for developing, delivering and reporting on the new disability training requirements, as part of the process evaluation for the Act’s wider training requirements on VAWG and anti-social behaviour.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the level of discrimination affecting religious-minority women in the garment sector in South Asia; and how this is being addressed through UK development and human-rights programmes.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain concerned by the discrimination that affects religious minority women in South Asia's garment sector, and we continue to advocate for their fair treatment, equal opportunities and safe working conditions. UK-funded programmes across South Asia also support women's entrepreneurship, and inclusive trade benefitting vulnerable groups.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of recent attacks on Afro-Brazilian religious temples in Brazil; and what discussions she has had with her Brazilian counterparts on protecting freedom of religion or belief.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to protecting freedom of religion or belief, as guaranteed under international human rights law. During the G20 Energy and Environment Working Group in October, the Minister for Equalities met Brazilian Minister for Women Marcia Lopes to discuss challenges faced by marginalised communities. In the build-up to COP30 in November, the UK organised a visit for a group of MPs to a 'Quilombo', home to a community targeted with violence and discrimination. This and other Afro-descendant communities are supported by the Amazon Catalyst for Forest Communities (AMCAT) programme, which strengthens tenure security, territorial governance and personal protection for Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in the Amazon Basin. The UK and Brazil remain committed to ensuring the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities are protected.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to reply to the email from the hon. Member for South Shropshire dated 19 June 2025 with case reference number SA34564.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to transparency and accountability, including through clear and timely responses to correspondence. Your correspondence dated 19 June was passed to the Equalities Minister responsible for the UK equality framework; you should have now received the reply.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to make a decision on a compensation scheme for women impacted by State Pension age changes.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in his Oral Statement of 11 November that we will retake the decision made last December as it relates to the communications on state pension age. Information that was not considered at the time of the original decision has come to light. In retaking the decision, we will review this evidence alongside evidence previously considered.
The process to retake the decision is underway and we will update the House on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to decide on a compensation scheme for women impacted by State Pension age changes on those women.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in his Oral Statement of 11 November that we will retake the decision made last December as it relates to the communications on state pension age. Information that was not considered at the time of the original decision has come to light. In retaking the decision, we will review this evidence alongside evidence previously considered.
The process to retake the decision is underway and we will update the House on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.