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 implications for her policies towards Nicaragua of requirements for Catholic and Protestant religious leaders to report regularly to police authorities and obtain permission for all religious activities; and whether she plans to raise these restrictions through bilateral or multilateral channels.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A number of Parliamentary Questions have been asked in recent months around the persecution of members and leaders of Christian congregations and other religious groups in Nicaragua, Colombia, Mexico and Cuba, and these are issues the Government continues to take very seriously as part of our commitment to promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief around the world. Specifically, on each of the countries raised by the Hon Member, I refer her to the answers provided to Questions 5332 and 5388 on 8 June, Question 5283 on 4 June, and Question 66106 on 17 July 2025.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his department has made an assessment of the potential merits of delivering the Synergy payroll service in-house.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Bringing Business Process Services in-house was considered as part of the 2020/21 delivery options assessment for Synergy, which concluded that maintaining an outsourced model offered the best value for money.
Cabinet Office and Treasury controls on civil service headcount were a key consideration, as full insourcing would have required over 1,600 additional FTEs.
The assessment also reflected the existing outsourced shared services model, the availability of a mature supplier market, and the Strategy’s requirement to separate technology delivery from transaction service delivery.
Synergy is, however, establishing an in-house Shared Services Hub to manage end-to-end service delivery, partner contracts, and continuous improvement.
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 representations she has made to the Government of Nicaragua on the detention of Protestant Pastor Efren Vilchez.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A number of Parliamentary Questions have been asked in recent months around the persecution of members and leaders of Christian congregations and other religious groups in Nicaragua, Colombia, Mexico and Cuba, and these are issues the Government continues to take very seriously as part of our commitment to promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief around the world. Specifically, on each of the countries raised by the Hon Member, I refer her to the answers provided to Questions 5332 and 5388 on 8 June, Question 5283 on 4 June, and Question 66106 on 17 July 2025.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 2 March 2026 to Question 113919 on Equality: Gender and Intersex, what the timetable is for the Gender Identity and Intersex Policy Package review following the publication of the Equality Act 2010: Draft Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
New model Policy and Guidance: Supporting Trans and Non-binary Employees was issued to departments on 22 May 2026. These may be used by departments as templates for their own departmental guidance.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question
To ask the Right hon. Member for Kenilworth and Southam, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has made an assessment of the average cost to a local authority of holding and administering a (a) Parliamentary, (b) combined authority mayoral and (c) local council ward by-election.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Electoral Commission has not made an assessment on the average cost of holding and administering elections, as it is not responsible for funding elections. The UK Government, through the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, provides funding for the administration of parliamentary by-elections. The Combined authority and local authority will fund the cost of running their own by-elections respectively.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many retail, hospitality and leisure businesses have ceased trading in Fylde constituency and Lancashire since April 2025.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 2nd June is attached.
Asked by: Katrina Murray (Labour - Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the Net Migrant figure was accounted for by international students in each year over the last 5 years.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the lady’s Parliamentary Question of 20th May is attached.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his department is taking to support increased participation in higher apprenticeships among young people in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is transforming the Apprenticeships Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy in England, backed by £1 billion of additional investment, which will support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships and give employers, including in South Holland and the Deepings, greater flexibility to develop the workforce they need to grow and succeed.
To support non-levy paying employers (typically SMEs) to meet the additional costs associated with employing young apprentices, we are introducing a new apprenticeship hiring payment of £2,000 when they take on eligible 16–24-year-old apprentices, at all levels, as new employees.
Additionally, the government will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers for all eligible young people aged under 25 from the next academic year, to boost small business starts. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16 to 21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care.
We also provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care.
The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN) which comprises over 3,000 employers and apprentices who volunteer to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England, including in Lincolnshire, through nine regional networks. These networks provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.
For young people, aged 16-24, on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we are also introducing a new Youth Guarantee Journey. As part of the journey, every young person will be provided with tailored employment support and a structured path into a job, apprenticeship, work experience, SWAP, learning or training from their first appointment in the Jobcentre. This support can also be delivered at a Youth Hub.
Over the next three years we are establishing Youth Hubs in over 360 locations so that all young people – including those not on benefits – can access opportunities and wider support in every local area of Great Britain. Youth Hubs will bring together partners from health, skills and the voluntary sector, working closely with Mayors and local authorities to deliver joined-up community-based support. Young people in areas where Youth Hubs will open later in the three year period will still receive the full breadth of Youth Guarantee support.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what support his Department is offering to protect businesses from tariffs where it is not possible to source steel products domestically in the context of the Steel Trade Measures.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The measure has been designed to strike a balance between securing domestic steelmaking while maintaining secure supply for downstream users.
It is designed to only cover requirements that can be met in the UK. Where not feasible for technical reasons, quotas have been designed to allow for sufficient imports to be available to downstream users.
To ease short-term impacts, we are introducing a transitional arrangement under which the new measure would not apply to goods agreed under contract before 14 March 2026 and imported between 1 July and 30 September 2026. Further details are available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether an agreement has been made between her Department and Universal Destinations and Experiences on transport links for workers during the construction of the Universal Theme Park in Bedfordshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has not entered a specific agreement with Universal Destinations and Experiences (UDX) regarding transport links for construction workers. The Department is, however, working closely with UDX, Bedford Borough Council and other local partners to support the transport arrangements associated with the development. This includes ongoing consideration of how construction workers can access the site safely and efficiently through the construction phase, including by public transport and other sustainable travel options where appropriate.