The Minister of State for Trade, Anas Sarwar, leads the Government's policy on responsible business conduct (RBC). The RBC Review assessed the effectiveness of the UK's current framework in addressing harms in global supply chains, including forced labour. The Review considered a range of evidence, including the Joint Committee on Human Rights' recommendations in its July 2025 report, Forced Labour in UK Supply Chains.

The Review has been completed and the Government is considering its findings. We will publish the Review and set out our plans soon.

The Home Office does not centrally collect data on the number of police forces using polygraph tests, the frequency of their use, or their application in specific investigation types. Police forces are operationally independent of Government, and it is for chief constables, working with locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, to determine how best to deploy resources and operational tools.

The Home Office has commissioned research to explore the use of credibility assessment tools within offender management settings. This work identified that credibility assessment tools including polygraphs are being used in some policing and offender management contexts for risk management and intelligence-gathering, rather than evidential purposes. The research identified variation in adoption and use, as well as challenges relating to resources, training, validation and governance.

Through a focused law enforcement working group on Credibility Assessment, stakeholders from policing, the Ministry of Justice and the National Crime Agency have also discussed the need for robust validation, governance and standards surrounding the use of credibility assessment tools to ensure any wider adoption is evidence-led and consistent across organisations, helping to improve understanding of the key considerations associated with their use.

My Department regularly reviews research and evidence related to various aspects of the private rented sector.

The government has no plans to introduce rent controls in the private rented sector.

Rent inflation in England has been easing since the end of 2024. Average rents in England increased by 3.4% in the 12 months to June, down from a peak of 9.2% in November 2024. In England, annual rent inflation was lowest in London, at 2.2%.

The government recognises the vital contribution that the UK defence sector makes to national security and has been clear that investing in defence can be consistent with ethical investing and environmental, social and governance principles.

Last year the government laid secondary legislation to bring the provision of Environmental, Social and Governance ratings into scope of the FCA’s rule making powers. This will allow provide greater transparency around ESG ratings methodologies, support greater investor awareness – including for opportunities relating to defence companies.

The upcoming Defence Finance and Investment Strategy will look at how barriers to investment in defence can be removed while making the sector more attractive for private investment, including venture capital, private equity and pension funds.

The government has no plans to introduce rent controls in the private rented sector.

Rent inflation in England has been easing since the end of 2024. Average rents in England increased by 3.4% in the 12 months to June, down from a peak of 9.2% in November 2024. In England, annual rent inflation was lowest in London, at 2.2%.

My Department regularly reviews research and evidence related to various aspects of the private rented sector.

The government has no plans to introduce rent controls in the private rented sector.

Rent inflation in England has been easing since the end of 2024. Average rents in England increased by 3.4% in the 12 months to June, down from a peak of 9.2% in November 2024. In England, annual rent inflation was lowest in London, at 2.2%.

We will negotiate an electricity agreement with the EU to cut the cost of trading electricity with European partners, strengthen our energy security, drive investment in the North Sea, and help to achieve our Clean Power 2030 Mission.

In line with the outcome of exploratory discussions, the UK and the EU will discuss the relevant rules relating to state aid and environmental protection. Any commitments in these areas remain subject to negotiation and will involve a balance of rights and obligations to ensure a level playing field in the trade of electricity between the Parties.

Following the 2023 consultation ‘Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’, the Government engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders, including manufacturers and upholsterers to build our evidence base, including on the costs associated with chemical flame retardant use.

This engagement led to the consultation ‘Product regulation: fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’ with amended proposals, including ending mandatory open-flame testing and moving to a smoulder-based test consistent with the approaches adopted internationally, and removing re-upholstery and repair from the scope of the regulations so that it is more proportionately regulated under the General Product Safety Regulations.

Following the 2023 consultation ‘Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’, the Government engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders, including manufacturers and upholsterers to build our evidence base, including on the costs associated with chemical flame retardant use.

This engagement led to the consultation ‘Product regulation: fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’ with amended proposals, including ending mandatory open-flame testing and moving to a smoulder-based test consistent with the approaches adopted internationally, and removing re-upholstery and repair from the scope of the regulations so that it is more proportionately regulated under the General Product Safety Regulations.

The Government is considering options for the profit release threshold. We will set out our proposals in the consultation on the draft superfund regulations, which we expect to publish early next year. Following consultation and subject to Parliamentary approval, we anticipate that the legislation will come into force in 2028. Until the superfunds regulations and the code of practice is in place, superfunds will continue to operate under The Pensions Regulator’s interim superfund regime.

The government published further information on its approach to the criteria for Transitional Energy Certificates on 21 April.

The Energy Independence Bill was announced in the King’s Speech, in which the government committed to manage existing oil and gas fields for their lifetime and show climate leadership by meeting the manifesto commitments.

Following the conclusion of the legislative process, the North Sea Transition Authority will set out further guidance.

The review has been completed and Government is considering its findings. We will publish the review and set out our plans soon.

The actuarial profession is regulated by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) which is the relevant professional body. It is possible to raise a concern or complaint relating to an individual member of the IFoA directly to the IFoA.

The Actuaries’ Code is the ethical Code of Conduct to which all IFoA members must adhere. Failure by a member to comply with the ethical requirements set out in the Code may lead to disciplinary proceedings under the IFoA’s Disciplinary Scheme.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the oversight body for the actuarial profession, and this provides a further route for complaints about professional standards and conduct.

Where a pension scheme trustee, sponsoring employer or member believes they have suffered a loss as a result of negligent actuarial advice, redress would normally be sought through the courts under professional negligence or breach of contract.

This Government has recently laid legislation that will replace the light-touch waste carriers, brokers and dealers registration system with a new waste controllers and transporters system under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. This new regime will mean that operators will need to undergo stricter background checks and demonstrate technical competence to be granted a permit.

The Joint Unit for Waste Crime brings together law enforcement partners to tackle serious and organised waste crime and has already developed an enhanced intelligence sharing approach to enable this. Under the Waste Crime Action Plan, Defra is working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office to undertake a review of the end-to-end multi-agency response to waste crime, including areas such as information sharing. The review will identify opportunities to strengthen how agencies work together and will aim to strengthen existing intelligence sharing structures.

Tackling high street criminality is a priority for this Government. That is why, on 19 May, the Government announced a £30 million crackdown targeting cash intensive business such as candy stores and souvenir shops, over three years. This includes dedicated funding for an enhanced law enforcement response supporting the National Crime Agency, HMRC, Trading Standards and others, and the creation of a new cross-government High Street Organised Crime Unit to tackle this threat. The Unit will identify what more is needed – from stronger powers to better coordination – to respond to this criminal activity and stop it from happening in the first place.

As part of the Government’s work on this issue, the Government is currently consulting on extending the duration of Closure Orders to 12 months, to ensure that criminal businesses can be shut down for longer where appropriate.

Further details about the £30 million package can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-05-19/HCWS32