Written questions by Mohamed.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on tackling increases in levels of settler violence in the West Bank.

The UK's position on settlements is clear. They are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and threaten the physical viability of a two-state solution.  To date, we have sanctioned eight individuals responsible for inciting and perpetrating human rights abuses against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.  We have also designated two groups known to have supported, incited and promoted violence against these communities.  We do not comment on future sanctions.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Saudi counterpart on the use of the death penalty by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as our joint statement on 10 October made clear; the Saudi authorities are well aware of our opposition. We will continue to raise human rights with the Saudi authorities through a range of diplomatic channels.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to increase the levels of aid it provides to Lebanon.

The UK is one of the largest donors to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair's Lebanon Humanitarian Fund and the Central Emergency Response Fund. We have announced £10 million of aid to Lebanon, which includes essential medicine, hygiene kits, fuel for water stations and support for emergency teams. This is in addition to the £5 million already provided to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. UK bilateral humanitarian support for this financial year is up to £31 million. A first shipment of UK aid for people in need in Lebanon arrived in Beirut on 06 October.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia complies with international human rights obligations.

The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as our joint statement on 10 October made clear; the Saudi authorities are well aware of our opposition. We will continue to raise human rights with the Saudi authorities through a range of diplomatic channels.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to issue further sanctions against groups and individuals for settler violence in the West Bank.

The UK's position on settlements is clear. They are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and threaten the physical viability of a two-state solution.  To date, we have sanctioned eight individuals responsible for inciting and perpetrating human rights abuses against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.  We have also designated two groups known to have supported, incited and promoted violence against these communities.  We do not comment on future sanctions.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, steps he is taking with international partners to help increase levels of aid entering into Gaza.

The UK Government is very concerned about the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the deteriorating access to northern Gaza.As set out in the Foreign Secretary's statement on 2 September, Israel could and must do more to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches civilians in Gaza. The Prime Minister reaffirmed the need for greater aid access in his statement to the UN General Assembly on 26 September. The Foreign Secretary, working with international partners, continues to press Israeli leaders to ensure aid can flow freely into and through Gaza.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to make an assessment of Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law in the context of the conflict in Lebanon.

Following the 2 September suspension, there are currently no existing UK arms licences to Israel for use in Lebanon, apart from exempt F35 components, so there is no legal requirement to assess IHL compliance. This Government is clear that International Humanitarian Law must be upheld, and civilians protected. The UK's robust export licensing criteria state that the Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law. Exports to the F-35 programme are exempted from this suspension. This is due to the F-35 programme's broader strategic role in NATO and wider implications for international peace and security. This exemption should not in principle apply to licences for F-35 components which could be identified as going to Israel.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law in the context of the conflict in Gaza.

Following a review of Israel's compliance with International Humanitarian Law, we took decisive action on 2 September, suspending all the export licences that we assess might be used by the Israeli Defense Forces for military operations in Gaza: around 30 licences. The Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, and I have raised issues of International Humanitarian Law compliance on several occasions with the Israeli government. With mounting civilian casualties and hundreds of thousands of displaced people, all parties must do everything possible to protect civilians and fully respect International Humanitarian Law. We continue to urge Israel to fulfil its promise to flood Gaza with aid, and to permit immediate and unfettered access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to detention centres. Ministers will continue to raise these issues due with urgency with the Israeli Government.

What plans she has to launch a consultation on cross-border working in the private hire vehicle industry.

The Government keeps all policies under review and is aware of stakeholder concerns about the current legislative and regulatory framework for taxis and private hire vehicles, including cross-border working. The Government is considering how to improve the current regulatory position, whilst still enabling the sector to deliver safe and accessible services that meet a wide range of passenger needs.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the eligibility threshold for Pension Credit.

The rates of Pension Credit were last reviewed in Autumn 2023 as part of the Secretary of State’s annual statutory review of State pension and benefit rates. Following that review, the Pension Credit standard minimum guarantee was increased by 8.5%, in line with the percentage increase in average earnings, to £218.15 a week for a single pensioner and £332.95 a week for a pensioner couple, with effect from 8 April 2024. Other Pension Credit amounts, including the maximum rate of Savings Credit and additional amounts for those with a severe disability or caring responsibilities, were increased by 6.7% in line with price inflation. The next review will be undertaken later this month, following the publication by the Office of National Statistics of the earnings and prices indices used to inform the review, with the new rates taking effect from 7 April 2025.

If she will bring forward legislative proposals to strengthen the right to peaceful protest.

Peaceful protest is a vital part of our democratic society, which must be protected. The Government keeps all relevant legislation under regular review.

What steps his Department is taking to build growth in community energy.

Community energy will play an essential role in meeting our mission for clean power by 2030, and Government recognises the important role community groups, including those in Sheffield play. Great British Energy will provide support to deliver the Local Power Plan, putting local authorities and communities at the heart of restructuring our energy economy. The Local Power Plan will help crowd‑in investment while ensuring benefits flow directly back into local communities.

What steps his Department is taking to boost energy efficiency of homes in Sheffield Central constituency.

Support for boosting energy efficiency in homes is currently available through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Scheme, Home Upgrade Grant, Energy Company Obligation Scheme and the Great British Insulation scheme. These schemes are available across the country, including to those based in Sheffield. The Warm Homes Plan will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation, low carbon heating and other home improvements to cut bills. We will partner with combined authorities and local and devolved governments to roll out this plan.

What steps his Department has taken to develop a warm homes plan.

The Government’s Warm Homes Plan will transform homes across the country by making them cheaper and cleaner to run, rolling out upgrades from new insulation to solar and heat pumps. We have already announced the new Warm Homes: Local Grant to help low-income homeowners and private tenants with energy performance upgrades including insulation, as well as the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, to support social housing providers and tenants. More detail will be provided next spring.

If she will take steps to repeal Part III of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.

Sections 73, 74 and 79 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (PCSC Act 2022) are currently being reviewed by the Government in line with commitments made in Parliament when the Act was passed. In addition, the Act itself will be subject to post-legislative parliamentary scrutiny between 3 and 5 years after Royal Assent, i.e., between April 2025 and April 2027.

Whether she plans to take steps to increase legal aid fee rates.

Legal aid is a vital part of the justice system. It underpins our plans to build a justice system that works for victims, supports access to justice, and ultimately upholds the rule of law.The Government is committed to ensuring an effective and sustainable legal aid system and is keen to work closely with practitioners and their representative bodies on this. We are carefully considering options for reform following evidence gathered on the health of the system, including, for example, information gathered as part of the Review of Civil Legal Aid.To support housing legal aid work, we are providing £1.5 million in grant funding for the recruitment of trainee housing solicitors until November 2025.We also recognise the importance of the broader legal support system, beyond legal aid, in helping people to access justice. We are providing over £10 million of grant funding, up to March 2025, to identify what works best in the delivery and provision of legal support for people with social welfare legal problems. This includes the ‘Improving Outcomes Through Legal Support’ grant, which supports the work of 59 organisations to sustain and improve access to early legal support and support at court.It also includes the ‘Online Support and Advice’ Grant, which ensures the provision of online support across a range of civil, family and tribunal problems.

What steps she is taking to protect the right to peaceful protest.

This Government is committed to protecting and preserving the fundamental rights to freedom of assembly and expression because peaceful protest is a vital part of our democratic society.The Government committed to undertake expedited post-legislative scrutiny on all aspects of the Public Order Act 2023 next year. That review will also consider the Public Order Act 1986 (Serious Disruption to the Life of the Community) Regulations 2023.

What steps his Department is taking to build growth in community energy in Sheffield Central constituency.

Community energy will play an essential role in meeting our mission for clean power by 2030, and Government recognises the important role community groups, including those in Sheffield play. Great British Energy will provide support to deliver the Local Power Plan, putting local authorities and communities at the heart of restructuring our energy economy. The Local Power Plan will help crowd‑in investment while ensuring benefits flow directly back into local communities.

Communities and Local Government, if her Department will take steps to replace the leasehold system with commonhold.

Over the course of this Parliament, the Government will further reform the leasehold system. We will enact remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to enfranchisement and the Right to Manage, tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, reinvigorate commonhold through a comprehensive new legal framework, and ban the sale of new leasehold flats so commonhold becomes the default tenure.The Government has made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny. We will announce further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to tackle unreasonable service charges for leaseholders.

The Government intend to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. These include measures that will make it easier for leaseholders to exercise their right to take over the management of their properties; enable the introduction of a new valuation scheme that leaseholders must follow to calculate how much they should pay to enfranchise, which includes the removal of the requirement for leaseholders to pay marriage value; and deliver reforms to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. We will set out details in due course about the extensive programme of secondary legislation needed to bring the Act into force. An impact assessment for the Act, including on the removal of marriage value, was published in December 2023 and received a green rating from the independent Regulatory Policy Committee.Over the course of this Parliament, the Government will further reform the leasehold system. We will enact remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to enfranchisement and the Right to Manage, tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, reinvigorate commonhold through a comprehensive new legal framework, and ban the sale of new leasehold flats so commonhold becomes the default tenure. The Government has made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny. We will announce further details in due course.