Written questions by Mohamed.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for how many medical evacuations to the UK of Palestinians in Gaza who are non-British nationals his Department has sought permission from the Israeli authorities since 7 October 2023.

We regularly press Israel at senior levels to re-open safe, regular medical evacuation routes, and to protect healthcare facilities and staff. It is unacceptable that north Gaza now has no functioning hospitals and that medical personnel are being detained without justification.Our support to UK-Med has treated over 300,000 patients in Gaza and we recently provided £1m, delivered through WHO, to support medically evacuated Palestinians in Egypt. We are keeping our policy under constant review to ensure the UK does everything we can to support sick and wounded Palestinian civilians.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for how many evacuations of Palestinians in Gaza with (a) pre-determination and (b) biometric excuse decisions his Department has sought permission from the Israeli authorities since 7 October 2023.

The UK Government has helped 505 people to leave Gaza since October 2023. 306 are British nationals and their Palestinian dependants; 38 are Palestinian nationals who qualified for assistance under the extended eligibility criteria for Gaza published on 14 December 2023. Israeli exit clearance was sought and received in each of those cases. The extended eligibility criteria are published on FCDO Travel Advice and provide for the UK Government to try to support the exit of Palestinian nationals who have a spouse, partner or a child aged 17 or under living in the UK; and who hold valid permission to enter or remain in the UK for longer than 6 months. Border crossings out of Gaza have been closed to civilians since Israel took control of Rafah crossing in May 2024. Nevertheless, the FCDO has helped 21 people to leave Gaza, mostly children, since October 2024.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many medical evacuations to the UK of Palestinians in Gaza who are non-British nationals there have been since 7 October 2023.

We regularly press Israel at senior levels to re-open safe, regular medical evacuation routes, and to protect healthcare facilities and staff. It is unacceptable that north Gaza now has no functioning hospitals and that medical personnel are being detained without justification.Our support to UK-Med has treated over 300,000 patients in Gaza and we recently provided £1m, delivered through WHO, to support medically evacuated Palestinians in Egypt. We are keeping our policy under constant review to ensure the UK does everything we can to support sick and wounded Palestinian civilians.

With reference page 36 of the publication entitled Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led government, published on 5 December 2024, what level of qualification will be considered higher-level.

The Plan for Change sets out the government’s long-term plan to improve the lives of working people and deliver a decade renewal across our country through ambitious, but achievable, milestones by the end of this Parliament. As part of the Plan for Change, the government will build skills for opportunity and growth so that every young person can follow the pathway that is right for them. Whether through high-quality apprenticeships, colleges or universities, skills give people the power to seize opportunity. The department will measure progress through the proportion of young people in education or employment with training, and through the number achieving higher-level qualifications. Higher-level qualifications covers qualifications which are at level 4 and above.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to improve national oversight of local commissioning of (a) specialist led-by and (b) domestic abuse services.

Local authorities have a duty to commission services under Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. The statutory guidance is clear that local authorities must assess the needs of all victims, including those requiring specialist support, and ensure sufficient support is available to meet identified need. Support should be delivered by knowledgeable and experienced specialist domestic abuse providers. The guidance is also clear that commissioning processes should not exclude smaller voluntary organisations, such as those run ‘by and for’ groups with particular protected characteristics.To further support local authorities in meeting these responsibilities, £160 million has been committed for support in safe accommodation in 2025/26, which includes a £30 million uplift to strengthen domestic abuse support services.My department works closely with local authorities, supporting delivery of these duties, including monitoring through quarterly and annual data collections. My officials regularly liaise with organisations such as Women’s Aid, and I am establishing a new Domestic Abuse Housing Group, to be co-chaired by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, to oversee delivery. This will help ensure that services remain responsive, effective, and aligned with the needs of domestic abuse victims.

When NHS England next plans to update its publication entitled Health Building Note 09-03: Neonatal units, first published in March 2013.

Guidance related to the National Health Service Estate is reviewed, prioritised and updated to reflect changing legislative, regulatory, technological and policy requirements. As part of the three-year delivery plan and subsequent for maternity and neonatal service survey, NHS England plans to start the update of this Health Building Note in 2025/26. Usually, guidance notes take between 18 and 24 months to update and so NHS England plans to publish this in 2027/28.

What steps she is taking consult stakeholders during her Department's review of universal credit; and what plans she has for the format of such consultation.

We are committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to, to make work pay and tackle poverty.  We have already begun this work with the announcement of the Fair Repayment Rate in the Budget, giving 1.2m of the poorest households an average of £420 per year. I will lead this work and, over the next year, engage with people and invite views on how we can improve UC and take advantage of missed opportunities which it presents.  We will continue to work closely with stakeholders as we undertake this review and will set out further details in due course.  We will update Parliament regularly on progress and findings.

Pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2024 to Question 15960 on Neonatal Inequalities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) monitoring and (b) reporting on (i) pre-term births and (ii) neonatal brain injuries by (A) ethnicity and (B) deprivation.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all women and babies received safe, personalised, equitable, and compassionate care. I am urgently considering the immediate action needed across maternity and neonatal services to improve outcomes and address the stark inequalities that persist for women and babies across ethnicity and deprivation.The Department’s officials work closely with NHS England and maternity and neonatal sector partners to monitor inequalities in perinatal outcomes by ethnicity and deprivation, including through the published Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK reports. The Office of National Statistics’ report on preterm birth by ethnicity and the recent Imperial College London Brain Injury Surveillance Reports include breakdowns by ethnicity and deprivation. There are no current plans to make a further specific assessment of the merits of monitoring and reporting on pre-term births and neonatal brain injuries by ethnicity and deprivation.

Whether she has received representations on the working conditions of drivers in the private hire industry.

The Department for Transport discusses a range of issues with representatives from the taxi and private hire vehicle sector. Employment law and working practice policy, including working conditions, is outside of my Department’s remit and is owned by the Department for Business and Trade.

If she will have discussions with representatives of private hire companies on the working conditions of drivers.

The Department for Transport discusses a range of issues with representatives from the taxi and private hire vehicle sector. Employment law and working practice policy, including working conditions, is outside of my Department’s remit and is owned by the Department for Business and Trade.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the feasibility of Palestinians in Gaza seeking to make a UK visa application enrolling their biometrics in a Visa Application Centre in (a) Ramallah and (b) Jerusalem.

Biometrics underpin the UK immigration system to support identity assurance and suitability checks on foreign nationals who are subject to immigration control. In most circumstances, foreign nationals who are required to apply for entry clearance to come to the UK are required to enrol their biometrics in the form of a facial image and fingerprints as part of the application process at a visa application centre. We will accept applications from those in Gaza, at any of the UK’s Visa Application Centres. Customers can visit Welcome to VFS Global | vfsglobal for an up to date list of Visa Application Centres in the region.

What steps he plans to take ensure there is sufficient provision of (a) rehabilitation and (b) prehabilitation for cancer patients across all cancer alliances.

National Health Service trusts and cancer alliances are responsible for ensuring that plans are in place to meet the needs of patients in their localities. Therefore, the Department does not have additional plans to ensure there is provision of rehabilitation and prehabilitation for cancer patients across all cancer alliance areas.A range of resources are available to the NHS workforce to support prehabilitation, rehabilitation, and physical activity. For example, NHS England provides the PRosPer Cancer Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation learning programme, which aims to support allied health professionals and the wider healthcare workforce in developing their skills in providing personalised care, prehabilitation, and rehabilitation in the cancer pathway. This programme forms part of the Personalised Care Institute’s library of personalised care training for all healthcare professions.

What his planned timetable is for when cancer sites will have recurrence data collection mandated to align with the collection of breast cancer recurrence data.

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), part of NHS England, collects patient data on cancer as well as congenital anomalies and rare diseases. The NDRS has been collecting recurrence data for non-primary cancers via data submissions as part of the Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset since 2013. Recurrence data can also be obtained from the Cancer Waiting Times treatment dataset for diagnosed cancer patients.The Diagnostic Imaging Data Set (DID) is a central collection of detailed information about diagnostic imaging tests carried out on National Health Service patients, published by NHS England. Development of DIDS version 2.0 has commenced with the gathering of requirements from various stakeholders including NHS England, NHS Data Model and Dictionary, providers, and system suppliers. One of the requirements under consideration is the addition of an alert to identify if the imaging showed a suspected or confirmed cancer, recurrence, or progression. Such an alert could improve recording of the progression to metastatic status or the recurrence of cancer. Development of DIDS version 2.0 provides a window of opportunity to both reduce the burden of data collection, while improving the value of the dataset in assessing clinical outcomes.

What steps he plans to take to help improve (a) access to GP appointments and (b) rates of early-stage cancer diagnosis in areas of socio-economic deprivation in Yorkshire.

We know that patients are struggling to access general practices (GPs), and that these struggles can be particularly acute for patients living in deprived areas. We will support equitable access to GP services, and we have already committed to recruiting over 1,000 newly qualified GPs through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, as part of an initiative to address GP access. In order to ensure that all patients have multiple routes of access, we have committed to introducing a modern booking system, to end the 8:00am scramble. The chances of surviving cancer are higher if diagnosed at an early stage. Therefore, early diagnosis is a key priority for the Government. We will improve cancer survival rates and hit all National Health Service cancer waiting time targets, so no patient waits longer than they should, including in Yorkshire.

If he will have discussions with social care providers on the potential impact of Autumn Budget 2024 on the social care sector.

The Department holds regular meetings with adult social care stakeholders, including service providers and representative bodies, to discuss key issues and developments such as the impact of the Budget on the sector. The Government will make available up to £3.5 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26. We will set out further details at the Local Government Finance Settlement.

Whether she plans to provide additional funding to local authorities to meet the increased costs of social care.

The government considered the cost pressures facing social care services and wider local government spending as part of phase one of the Spending Review process which concluded in October. The government is providing a real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of around 3.2% in 2025-26. This includes £1.3bn of new grant funding – £680 million of which is new grant funding to support social care. Future funding decisions will be considered in the usual way as part of the next phase of the Spending Review.

What steps she is taking to help ensure that legitimate knife manufacturers are not adversely affected by online restrictions intended to reduce knife crime.

We are committed to strengthening the law around online sales which is why we are conducting a rapid review of the online sale and delivery of knives and how controls can be strengthened. The review is being taken forward by Commander Stephen Clayman, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for knife crime. The review will take in to account the position of legitimate businesses alongside the demands of public safety.We are also progressing a manifesto commitment to hold senior executives personally liable for flouting the law on the online sale of knives.We are currently consulting the public on proposals to introduce personal liability measures on senior executives of online platforms and marketplaces who fail to take action to remove illegal content relating to knives and offensive weapons. The consultation will run for 4 weeks until 11 December 2024.Sale of knives: executive sanctions www.gov.uk/government/consultations/sale-of-knives-executive-sanctions

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Committee to Protect Journalists press release entitled, Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war, published 3 December 2024.

Earlier this month, the Foreign Secretary, together with his French and German counterparts, wrote to the Israeli government to urge action on the unacceptable situation in Gaza. The UK has been clear that Israel must act in accordance with International Humanitarian Law and protect civilians, which includes journalists and media workers. The UK calls on all parties to the conflict to comply with international law and guarantee the protection of journalists and media workers covering the conflict. On 02 November, I highlighted the ongoing situation in Gaza and for those that had lost their lives in the name of press freedom. The UK remains committed to Media Freedom and to championing democracy and human rights around the world. Independent media is essential to a functioning society.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help protect (a) journalists and (b) media workers (i) based and (ii) operating in Gaza.

Earlier this month, the Foreign Secretary, together with his French and German counterparts, wrote to the Israeli government to urge action on the unacceptable situation in Gaza. The UK has been clear that Israel must act in accordance with International Humanitarian Law and protect civilians, which includes journalists and media workers, and we call on all parties to the conflict to comply with international law and guarantee the protection of journalists and media workers covering the conflict. On 02 November, I highlighted the ongoing situation in Gaza and those that had lost their lives in the name of press freedom. The UK remains committed to Media Freedom and to championing democracy and human rights around the world. Independent media is essential to a functioning society.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department uses journalistic reporting from Palestinian journalists in Gaza when conducting assessments into (a) the humanitarian situation and (b) Israeli military actions in Gaza.

Our assessments are supported by a wide ranging and detailed evidence base. This includes relevant regional media reporting, including from Palestinian journalists, open-source material, analysis of the conflict by international bodies, NGOs and partner countries and statements and reports by the Israeli Government and military representatives, and the Palestinian Authority.