Written questions by Bailey.

What funding is currently available for energy efficiency retrofitting of insulation for low-income households; and what funding will be available through the (a) Warm Homes Plan and (b) other scheme after December 2026.

The £15 billion investment in the Warm Homes Plan includes £5 billion allocated to low-income households, delivered initially through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) and the Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG). These continue to provide fabric measures, alongside clean heat, solar panels and other bill saving measures for low-income households and those in social housing, to improve thermal comfort, cut bills and reduce fuel poverty. From 2027/28, we intend to integrate the WH:SHF and WH:LG into a single low-income capital scheme which will shift toward area-based delivery. We will say more about the evolution of low-income schemes by Spring 2026.

What steps he is taking to provide support to energy efficiency (a) SMEs and (b) microbusinesses dependent on ECO scheme funding.

The Government recognises that ending ECO presents challenges for the supply chain. The Government will support the transition to opportunities provided by the Warm Homes Plan, including new regulations for renters and new builds treating millions of homes, and the additional £1.5 billion for upgrading low-income households. For this additional funding, the Government will use the procurement regime to support local supply chains and small businesses, working closely with the retrofit sector, housing associations and local authorities. Officials are working with the Department for Business and Trade to develop support for employees and companies in the construction sector.

What steps he has taken to encourage McDonald's Restaurants UK to take up the offer from the UK National Contact Point to provide mediation with complainants regarding the corporation's compliance with the 2023 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct with respect to gender-based violence and sexual harassment, as recommended in its initial assessment published on 7 January 2026.

The Office for Responsible Business Conduct’s (ORBC) Dispute Resolution Service, formerly the UK National Contact Point, operates independently from Ministers. In line with the ORBC’s rules of procedure, mediation has been offered to both parties to the Complaint following the publication of the Initial Assessment on the 7th of January 2026.

When he plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Salford of 30 October 2025 on deaths in custody and prison management at HMP Forest Bank, reference number MC128673.

The Department apologises for the delay in responding on this occasion and we regret that this falls short of expected standards. We are prioritising this and a response will be issued within the coming week.

Media and Sport, what external oversight mechanisms are in place to ensure that publicly owned broadcasters investigate whistleblowing concerns independently of senior management.

Our public service broadcasters are operationally independent of Government and so probationary periods rightfully remain a matter for them.Employees of public service broadcasters, like most employees in Great Britain, who blow the whistle on certain types of wrongdoing are protected from retaliatory unfair dismissal and detriment under the Employment Rights Act 1996 if legislative conditions are met. This is a day one right, meaning employees do not need to satisfy any qualifying period of service to seek remedies in employment tribunals.Employees of publicly owned broadcasters will be protected if they blow the whistle to Ofcom, the independent media regulator, if certain conditions in the legislation are met. Ofcom is a ‘prescribed person’ under the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Person Order) 2014. The Government is also exploring the addition of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) to this list and the Secretary of State continues to call on the television sector and wider creative industries to support the work of CIISA to improve standards of behaviour across industry.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of trends in the use of extension of probationary periods in publicly owned broadcasters to detriment whistleblowing employees.

Our public service broadcasters are operationally independent of Government and so probationary periods rightfully remain a matter for them.Employees of public service broadcasters, like most employees in Great Britain, who blow the whistle on certain types of wrongdoing are protected from retaliatory unfair dismissal and detriment under the Employment Rights Act 1996 if legislative conditions are met. This is a day one right, meaning employees do not need to satisfy any qualifying period of service to seek remedies in employment tribunals.Employees of publicly owned broadcasters will be protected if they blow the whistle to Ofcom, the independent media regulator, if certain conditions in the legislation are met. Ofcom is a ‘prescribed person’ under the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Person Order) 2014. The Government is also exploring the addition of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) to this list and the Secretary of State continues to call on the television sector and wider creative industries to support the work of CIISA to improve standards of behaviour across industry.

When he plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Salford of 11 September 2025 on the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme.

The letter in question was transferred to this Department and issues raised were addressed in a response issued on 15 October. The 15 October letter was a response to correspondence received from my hon Friend on 11 September 2025 and 17 September on the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of whistleblowing protections for employees of publicly owned broadcasters under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

Our public service broadcasters, publicly owned or otherwise, rightfully remain independent of Government, but their employees like most in Great Britain are protected under the whistleblowing framework in the Employment Rights Act 1996 (as amended by the Public Interest and Disclosure Act 1998). This protects employees from detriment and dismissal if they blow the whistle on wrongdoing and certain conditions in the legislation are met.More broadly, the Government acknowledges concerns that the UK whistleblowing framework may not be operating as effectively as it should be and recently announced, through the Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025, that it will explore opportunities to reform that framework.

If he will publish a list of organisations represented at his Department's conference on food poverty on 14 and 15 January 2026.

The DWP Food Poverty Conference took place at the Abbey Centre on 15 January 2026.Our aim was to bring together a range of local authorities, other government departments, charities and academics to share and discuss a range of good practice happening on the ground to respond to increasing need in relation to food poverty. We received a high level of interest in the conference. Due to venue capacity, places were offered on a first come first served basis. We saw over 30 local authorities represented from different regions across England. Examples include the Greater London Authority, Medway Council, Bristol City Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, North Yorkshire Council, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk and East Lindsey District Council. Local government sat alongside over a dozen national third sector organisations – such as Trussell, Feeding Britain, Sustain and Community Shop – as well as officials from across five government departments, including DWP, DfE, Defra, DHSC and MHCLG. We’ve been encouraged by the positive feedback on the conference and the strong engagement shown across sectors. As a result, we are exploring the possibility of hosting a second conference online later in the year to enable more organisations to participate. We will provide further details as plans materialise.

Which Horizon Shortfall Scheme payments are 1) exempt from tax and 2) subject to tax, and whether these taxation rules apply to all historical payments already paid out.

The Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) is designed to put postmasters back into the position they would have been in ‘but for’ Horizon, and no one will pay more tax than at the time of the shortfalls. All fully assessed HSS awards are paid gross and taxable in the year in which redress is paid, unlike other schemes where awards are paid after tax deductions. To avoid claimants being unduly affected, HSS provides a tax top-up, so redress is not reduced. Postmasters also receive £1,200 for independent tax advice and help with tax returns. Payments related to the fixed-sum option on HSS, and associated top-ups, are tax exempt.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress her Department has made in ensuring British-Egyptian national Alaa Abd El-Fattah's safe travel to the UK.

As I stated in the latest session of FCDO Oral Questions on 2 December, the Prime Minister raised this case with President Sisi on 18 November, and the Foreign Secretary has pressed for Mr el-Fattah's return on multiple occasions with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, most recently on 25 November. Mr el-Fattah must be allowed to return to the UK and be reunited with his family.

Which train companies contracted to her Department utilise Withdrawal of Implied Permission notices.

Usage of Withdrawal of Implied Permission (WIP) notices are an operational matter for the train operating company or Network Rail. The Department does not hold data on which operators utilise WIPs.

Whether the sanction of a Withdrawal of Implied Permission notice by one Train Operating Company is confined to the services of the train operating company applying that sanction.

Individuals who have been issued with a full Withdrawal of Implied Permission (WIP) will be banned from accessing the station the WIP was issued from and will be prohibited from using any train of that particular train operating company that passes through the same station.

What data she holds on the use of Withdrawal of Implied Permission notices by train operating companies.

Use of Withdrawal of Implied Permission (WIP) notices is an operational matter for the train operating companies. The Department does not hold data on WIP notices.

What guidance she has given to train companies contracted to her Department on the usage of Withdrawal of Implied Permission notices.

Usage of Withdrawal of Implied Permission (WIP) notices are an operational matter for the train operating company or Network Rail and the Department does not issue guidance.The Rail Delivery Group are able to provide guidance to operators on WIP notices.

What steps she is taking to support the development of a railway-wide Withdrawal of Implied Permission notice.

The Department keeps security under constant review, however no change of policy for Withdrawal of Implied Permission (WIP) is planned at this stage.

What plans he has to allow for an adequate level of parliamentary scrutiny of the delivery of the planned child poverty strategy.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The Child Poverty Taskforce will publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. The Strategy publication will set out how we intend to monitor and evaluate delivery of the strategy from this year and in future years.

Whether he plans to include targets on reducing child poverty within the planned child poverty strategy.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. The publication will set out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the strategy from this year and in future years. Our focus is on bringing about an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, as part of a 10-year Strategy for lasting change. More details will be set out in the strategy publication.

Whether the Child Poverty Strategy will end the two-child limit on Universal Credit.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The Child Poverty Taskforce will publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. The Strategy will look at all available levers, including social security changes, across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and better local support especially in the early years. The commitments we have made at the 2025 Spending Review and since are a downpayment on our Child Poverty Strategy, which will build on the expansion of free breakfast clubs, extension of free school meals to all households claiming Universal Credit, national minimum wage boost and the cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.

What funding his Department is providing to support the development of reliable prostate cancer screening tests.

The UK National Screening Committee reviewed the evidence for prostate cancer screening in 2020 and recommended against it due to the insufficient reliability of the best available test, the prostate specific antigen test (PSA test).The committee is currently undertaking a new evidence review of prostate cancer screening at both a population level and for targeted high-risk groups such as black men and men with a family history of prostate cancer.However, the reliability of the PSA test remains an issue, which is why the Government has invested £16 million into Prostate Cancer UK’s TRANSFORM trial to investigate whether different tests and more modern treatments can both detect important prostate cancers and reduce the harm of a large scale, population screening programme.