Written questions by Jogee.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the political situation in Japan.

The UK Government does not comment on the internal affairs of foreign governments.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the work of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) are a partner organisation to the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). The ACU provides secretariat services to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK (CSC) - an executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NPDB) - which administers Commonwealth Scholarships funded by the FCDO. The FCDO is the CSC's sponsor department.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had engagement with the African Union since 5 September 2025.

This Government is committed to building a strong relationship with African countries and institutions, including the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Many of the goals of the African Union and the United Kingdom are mutually supportive, for example in our joint backing of the AU-led peace support operations in Somalia. Since taking up office in September, the Foreign Secretary has met the Foreign Minister of South Africa - a leading member of the Southern African Development Community.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had engagement with the Southern African Development Community since 5 September 2025.

This Government is committed to building a strong relationship with African countries and institutions, including the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Many of the goals of the African Union and the United Kingdom are mutually supportive, for example in our joint backing of the AU-led peace support operations in Somalia. Since taking up office in September, the Foreign Secretary has met the Foreign Minister of South Africa - a leading member of the Southern African Development Community.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

This Government is committed to building a strong relationship with African countries and institutions, including the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Many of the goals of the African Union and the United Kingdom are mutually supportive, for example in our joint backing of the AU-led peace support operations in Somalia. Since taking up office in September, the Foreign Secretary has met the Foreign Minister of South Africa - a leading member of the Southern African Development Community.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has met the Secretary General of the Commonwealth since 5 September 2025.

The Foreign Secretary met a number of her overseas counterparts on her visit to the United Nations General Assembly, including at the meeting of the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers on 22 September, and will have further such engagement over the coming weeks and months.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had engagement with the Caribbean Community since 5 September 2025.

The Foreign Secretary met a number of her overseas counterparts on her visit to the United Nations General Assembly, including at the meeting of the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers on 22 September, and will have further such engagement over the coming weeks and months.

What steps she is taking to enhance the (a) security and (b) safety of worshippers at places of worship in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (ii) Staffordshire.

This Government is absolutely committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer, including providing funding through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, the Protective Security for Mosques scheme and the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme.

Food and Rural Affairs, what engagement she has had with the Tenant Farmers Association since her appointment.

Ministers have engaged with the Tenants Farmers Association (TFA) and regularly engage with many farming stakeholders. The Government is committed to ensuring agricultural tenancies are fair and collaborative and will work with the TFA to achieve this.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of palliative care services for people in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire since Rt hon. and hon. Members last considered the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

Irrespective of whether the law changes on assisted dying, we must continue to work towards creating a society where every person who needs it receives high-quality, compassionate palliative care and end of life care.Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB), including Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB, must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.We are committed to shifting more healthcare into the community so that patients and their families receive high-quality, personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative care and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards strategic commissioning of palliative and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.

What plans his Department has to develop a neurology-specific implementation plan to support the 10 year Health Plan for England.

NHS England has established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care to support integrated care boards (ICBs) to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients. This programme is underway now and is due to conclude in March 2026.The Neurology Transformation Programme focuses on providing access equitably across the country, care as close to home as possible, and early intervention to prevent illness and deterioration in patients with long-term neurological conditions. A toolkit is being developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model, which will include components on delivering acute neurology services, improving health equity in neurology, and improving community neurology services.NHS England Specialised Commissioning published a revised National Neurology Service Specification in August 2025, which provides a detailed description of how patients can access specialised neurology care equitably wherever they are in England, particularly for specialised services that are not available in every part of the country.There are currently no plans to develop a neurology-specific implementation plan to support the 10-Year Health Plan, although potential conditions and topics for the new modern service frameworks will be kept under review following the development of the first tranche of three referenced in the 10-Year Health Plan.

How many hospitals have staff who are members of the Parkinson’s UK Excellence Network.

No estimate has been made of the number of people with Parkinson's disease who have access to a Parkinson’s nurse in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire. The Department does not hold data on how many hospitals have staff who are members of the Parkinson’s UK Excellence Network.It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities to meet the care and support needs of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Patients living in the Surrey Heath constituency would be covered by either the NHS Frimley ICB or the NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB. ICBs are responsible for commissioning services to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations and, in doing so, we expect them to have regard to best practice guidance, such as that published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.This Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.The new NHS App will end the 8am rush by providing more flexibility in the way that people contact their general practitioner (GP), enabling better GP appointment booking as long as GPs make appointments available in the App. It will also help people to get care quicker without seeing their GP, for example improved self-care by going to a pharmacy or by self-referring into a specialist pathway or by providing remote consultations with specialists.

What estimate he has made of the number of people with Parkinson's disease who have access to a Parkinson’s nurse in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.

No estimate has been made of the number of people with Parkinson's disease who have access to a Parkinson’s nurse in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire. The Department does not hold data on how many hospitals have staff who are members of the Parkinson’s UK Excellence Network.It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities to meet the care and support needs of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Patients living in the Surrey Heath constituency would be covered by either the NHS Frimley ICB or the NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB. ICBs are responsible for commissioning services to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations and, in doing so, we expect them to have regard to best practice guidance, such as that published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.This Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.The new NHS App will end the 8am rush by providing more flexibility in the way that people contact their general practitioner (GP), enabling better GP appointment booking as long as GPs make appointments available in the App. It will also help people to get care quicker without seeing their GP, for example improved self-care by going to a pharmacy or by self-referring into a specialist pathway or by providing remote consultations with specialists.

What steps she is taking through the tax system to support small businesses in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.

Small businesses are vital to high streets, local communities, and economic growth. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government recognised this by: More than doubling the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities will either gain or see no change this year.Maintaining the Small Profits Rate and marginal relief at their current rates and thresholds, as well as maintaining the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance; andFreezing the small business multiplier for 2025/26, meaning that, taken together with Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), over a million properties are protected from inflationary bill increases.

Whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in Kenya on the sunset clause on investment in the UK-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement.

The UK-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) does not contain expiry provisions or ‘sunset clauses’, so preferential market access will continue indefinitely. The EPA does include a ‘rendez-vous clause’, committing Parties to conclude negotiations on areas such as investment. This was discussed at the UK-Kenya EPA Committee of Senior Officials in 2022.At the 2023 Ministerial EPA Council, both sides agreed to accelerate efforts to remove investment barriers, and the UK held workshops with Kenyan officials in March 2025 to support this.

Whether his Department is taking steps to assess the potential impact of economic partnership agreements made with countries in Africa in the last 5 years on those countries' (a) economic development, (b) level of exports from and (c) capacity to pursue (i) regional integration plans and (ii) the African Continental Free Trade Area.

I refer the member for Newcastle-under-Lyme to the answer my predecessor gave on 3 September 2025 to UIN 71764.

What recent discussion he has had with his Norwegian counterpart on defence co-operation.

There are regular discussions between UK and Norwegian Defence Ministers and our defence and security relationship is stronger than ever. A Norwegian frigate has participated throughout the UK's 2025 Carrier Strike Group deployment and our Royal Marines have trained in Norway for over 50 years.Most recently, the Defence Secretary met his Norwegian counterpart on 4 September 2025 in Stavanger to sign the Capability Framework Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) underpinning Norway’s decision to procure a minimum of five Type 26 frigates. As well as marking the beginning of a new strategic partnership with Norway, this deal will provide a £10 billion boost to the UK economy. It also delivers on the Government’s Plan for Change, supporting over 4,000 jobs and safeguarding ship building on the Clyde until 2040.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of devolution on economic growth in Staffordshire.

We know that giving local leaders who understand their patch greater powers to respond to the specific challenges they face, can unlock the growth potential of places.By empowering areas through devolution, all of our regions, including Staffordshire, can take the decisions that drive the change they want to see.

If he will make an assessment of the impact of the Economic Partnership Agreement on (a) African and (b) Caribbean countries.

The Department for Business and Trade engages closely with partner governments and businesses to gather feedback on tariff arrangements, including Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with African and Caribbean countries. Whilst this feedback is not shared externally, the Government does publish two sets of UK trade data with developing countries: statistics on UK utilisation of tariff preferences under trade agreements, and country factsheets outlining broader trade relationships.These data sources are available on the gov.uk website.

What discussions his Department has had with the African Business Chamber since 5 July 2024.

The Department expects to be represented at the African Business Chamber’s November 2025 Business Forum. The Department is happy to meet with the African Business Chamber to discuss further our work.