Written questions by Law.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department officially recognises the Tibetan people as having a distinct (a) religious, (b) cultural, (c) linguistic and (d) historical identity.

This Government stands firm on human rights, including China's repression of the people of Tibet, and the erosion of Tibetan language, history and culture.We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor, Energy Secretary and I all raised human rights recently with our Chinese counterparts. We also continue to work closely with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations. On July 2 the UK convened an event in the Human Rights Council to reaffirm the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief for all, including Tibetan Buddhists.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to encourage China to (a) ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and (b) uphold commitments under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

As UN member states, both the UK and China have a responsibility to uphold core pillars of the UN, including universal human rights. We continue to encourage China to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to uphold the various international obligations they have freely signed up to.We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor, Energy Secretary and I all raised human rights recently with our Chinese counterparts. We also continue to work closely with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations. For example, joining a statement led by Australia on Xinjiang and Tibet at the UN General Assembly in October.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Government's policy on the 2030 roadmap for UK-Israel bilateral relations.

As the Foreign Secretary said in his statement to the house on 20 May, the UK will be reviewing our cooperation with Israel on the UK-Israel 2030 Bilateral roadmap. The continued actions of this Israeli Government mean that it is necessary for the UK Government to take this step. We have been clear that we need to see an immediate ceasefire in Gaza with the release of all hostages and significantly more aid consistently entering Gaza.

When the Government plans to respond to the correspondence of 28 April 2025 from the hon. Member for Dundee Central.

There are no plans to respond to the letter dated 28 April 2025.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Government's policies on child poverty on children in Scotland.

The Honourable Member will be aware of recent announcements about Best Start Family Hubs, free school meals and affordable childcare - actions made possible because of a budget he and his colleagues voted against. A key way to tackle poverty is through decent work which is why I'm proud that more than 4,000 workers in Dundee got a pay rise through this government’s plans to Make Work Pay. The Child Poverty Taskforce is considering all available levers to give every child the best start in life as part of the strategy.

How many Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority claims from Scottish applicants remain unresolved more than (a) 12, (b) 24 and (c) 36 months after a judicial‑review judgment quashing the original decision.

The table below shows the number of applications for criminal injuries compensation which are unresolved more than (a) 12 months, (b) 24 months, and (c) 36 months after the Court of Session quashed the decision of the First-tier Tribunal in judicial review proceedings.TimeNumber unresolved12 months to 24 months5 or fewerOver 24 months to 36 months5 or fewerOver 36 months5 or fewerThe Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 contains safeguards where an applicant is dissatisfied with the outcome of their application. All applicants have the right to request that their initial decision is reviewed by a different claims officer. If the applicant remains dissatisfied following review, they have the right to appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal. Thereafter, an applicant can apply for ‘judicial review’ of the First-tier Tribunal’s decision. In Scotland, judicial review claims are heard by the Court of Session. In England & Wales, judicial review claims are heard by the Upper Tribunal.We have answered ‘5 or fewer’ to mitigate the risk of individuals being identifiable from our response.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the Global Rights Compliance report entitled Risk at the Source: Critical Mineral Supply Chains and State-Imposed Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region, published on 11 June 2025.

This government will continue to speak up on human rights in China, including the repression of people in Xinjiang, and will continue to hold China to account.The new Critical Minerals Strategy will help secure the supply of critical minerals vital for the UK's economic growth and clean energy transition. The strategy will promote responsible and transparent supply chains, including through greater adoption of responsible business practices to protect local communities and the environment.We will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK's existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools, to ensure we can best promote responsible business practices and take action where appropriate.

What steps her Department is taking to secure an agreement on a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU; when the Balanced Youth Experience Scheme for 18-30 year olds between the EU and UK will become operational; who will be eligible to participate; and what support her Department will provide to UK nationals who wish to participate in it.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 12 June to Question 57692.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 42554 on Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority: Complaints, whether North West includes Scotland, Northern Ireland, North Wales and geographical areas of North West England.

“North West” in this instance includes Scotland, Northern Ireland, North Wales and North West England.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 42556 on Visas: Seasonal Workers, whether Scheme Operators provide written reports to her Department in relation to their work in enforcing welfare on farms.

There is no such requirement at present.UKVI Seasonal Agricultural Worker Officers visit farms, interviewing both workers and farm managers to ensure that worker welfare, accommodation standards, as well as pay and conditions meet the requirements of the route. Regular bi-monthly meetings are held with the licensed sponsors to ensure any complaints raised or issues identified are addressed as soon as possible.Should systemic issues relating to worker welfare be identified that are not acted upon, UKVI will consider taking punitive action against the associated provider, up to and including the revocation of their licence.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure humanitarian access in Sudan.

The UK is playing a leading role in response to the crisis in Sudan, including efforts to facilitate more consistent humanitarian access into and within the country. On 13 February, the previous Development Minister convened a Development Ministers' meeting, alongside the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, to focus on how we can accelerate and improve the UN-led international humanitarian response and better coordinate donor advocacy and engagement. At the April London Sudan Conference, the Foreign Secretary highlighted the importance of humanitarian access and the co-chairs' statement from the Conference called on the warring parties to facilitate rapid, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access in accordance with the commitments made in the Jeddah Declaration, and in adherence with their obligations under international humanitarian law. He also announced £120 million which will deliver life-saving services to more than 650,000 people.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to provide (a) humanitarian assistance, (b) support to (i) local and (ii) regional responders and (c) food aid to people in Sudan.

At the recent London Sudan Conference, the Foreign Secretary announced £120 million which will deliver life-saving services to more than 650,000 people. The majority of this funding will be delivered through key UN agencies, including the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Food Programme who will provide life-saving food and nutrition supplies as well as vital water, sanitation, maternal, and hygiene programmes. This uplift also provides support to local responders both through the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, which supports the Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), and the Mercy Corps-led Cash Consortium for Sudan which provides direct cash assistance to Mutual Aid Groups and ERRs on the ground. Our funding will also support displaced people across Sudan and regional countries affected by conflict.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with (a) the UN, (b) the African Union, (c) Arab states and (d) other multilateral groups to help tackle hunger in Sudan.

The UK continues to work closely with multiple multilateral organisations to tackle Sudan's grave humanitarian crisis. At last month's London Sudan Conference, which the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), the League of Arab States (LAS), and others attended, discussions focused on efforts to address spiralling humanitarian aid needs as well as how to bring about a political resolution to the conflict. At the Conference the UK pledged £120 million in new humanitarian funding, which will provide lifesaving aid for over 650,000 people. The UK is also working with both the AU and LAS to align international efforts to ensure unhindered humanitarian access.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that (a) parties to and (b) foreign backers of the conflict in Sudan (i) comply with international humanitarian law and (ii) are held accountable for violations.

In response to the brutal conflict in Sudan the UK is doing all it can to strengthen adherence to international humanitarian law (IHL), to promote accountability for violations and to improve the protection context for civilians. The UK is using its position as penholder at the UN Security Council and leader of the core group on Sudan at the Human Rights Council to keep a spotlight on, and take actions in response to, the human rights situation in Sudan. To bolster our monitoring capacity we are funding the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) who are leading efforts to gather open-source evidence about attacks against civilians and infrastructure as well as leading work to monitor hate speech and incitement of violence across the country. We are also providing support to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to enable their human rights monitoring and reporting, and in October, led the renewal of the UN Fact Finding Mission for Sudan's mandate as part of the Sudan 'Core Group' in the Human Rights Council. These are vital mechanisms to ensure that evidence of human rights violations and abuses are collected, preserved, and can be used to hold perpetrators to account.  The UK also strongly supports the International Criminal Court's active investigation into the situation in Darfur, including allegations of crimes committed since April 2023.

Whether it is her Department's policy that existing PIP claimants of pension age who are subject to a planned award review from November 2026 will be required to score at least four points in one daily living activity in order to maintain their award.

Our intention is for the new eligibility requirement for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)—requiring individuals to score at least four points in a single daily living activity—to apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026, subject to parliamentary approval. In line with current policy, individuals over State Pension Age are not routinely subject to full award reviews and are therefore not expected to be affected by the proposed changes.

Whether it is her Department's policy that existing PIP claimants of pension age who request a change of circumstances review from November 2026 are required to score at least four points in one daily living activity in order to (a) maintain and (b) increase their award.

In keeping with existing policy, people on state pension age are not routinely fully reviewed and will not be affected by these changes. We are considering further how the 4-point minimum requirement will affect claimants over state pension age who report a change of circumstances, and we will provide further information in due course.

How many bullets has been shipped to Israel since October 2023.

DBT does not hold records of final exports of strategically controlled goods, and the fact that a licence is granted does not mean that an export takes place. For specific goods export data, you should refer to HMRC. The Government has however published extensive information relating to export licensing decisions in relation to Israel. On 10 December, an ad hoc data release was published on ‘Export control licensing management information for Israel’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-control-licensing-management-information-for-israel/israel-export-control-licensing-data-6-december-2024https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-control-licensing-management-information-for-israel/israel-export-control-licensing-data-6-december-2024) which provides information on export licences to Israel to 6 December 2024.

How many shipments of military items have been made from the UK to Israel since October 2023.

DBT does not hold records of final exports of strategically controlled goods, and the fact that a licence is granted does not mean that an export takes place. For specific goods export data, you should refer to HMRC. The Government has however published extensive information relating to export licensing decisions in relation to Israel. On 10 December, an ad hoc data release was published on ‘Export control licensing management information for Israel’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-control-licensing-management-information-for-israel/israel-export-control-licensing-data-6-december-2024https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-control-licensing-management-information-for-israel/israel-export-control-licensing-data-6-december-2024) which provides information on export licences to Israel to 6 December 2024.

How many shipments under commodity code 87 10 00 00 were made to Israel since October 2023.

DBT does not hold records of final exports of strategically controlled goods, and the fact that a licence is granted does not mean that an export takes place. For specific goods export data, you should refer to HMRC. The Government has however published extensive information relating to export licensing decisions in relation to Israel. On 10 December, an ad hoc data release was published on ‘Export control licensing management information for Israel’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-control-licensing-management-information-for-israel/israel-export-control-licensing-data-6-december-2024https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/export-control-licensing-management-information-for-israel/israel-export-control-licensing-data-6-december-2024) which provides information on export licences to Israel to 6 December 2024.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the governments of (a) Kazakhstan and (b) Yemen on the potential transfer of (i) Sabry Quaraishi and (ii) Mohammed Al-Gbari.

UK officials have discussed the cases of Sabry Quaraishi and Mohammed Al-Gbari with representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They will remain in contact with the UNHCR and continue to track these cases.The Foreign Secretary has not raised these cases with the governments of Kazakhstan or Yemen but has consistently called on partners to respect their obligations not to force persons to return to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing they would be in danger of being subjected to torture.