Written questions by Osamor.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking in response to publishers disabling video games that have already been sold.

The Government is aware of the Stop Killing Games campaign and concerns relating to the continued access to video games, including licensed, online-only video games, and we appreciate the frustrations of players of some games that have been discontinued. The Government has spoken with the video games industry and has responded to a recent petition on this issue. There are no plans to amend existing consumer law on disabling video games. Those selling games must comply with existing requirements in consumer law, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) and Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), giving clear advice to consumers. Video game sellers must not omit or hide material information, or provide it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.

What steps her Department is taking to support the transition of motorcyclists from petrol and diesel vehicles to zero-emission alternative.

The Government supports the transition of L-category vehicles to zero emission and has been helping people transition to zero emission motorcycles. The Plug-in Motorcycle Grant helps bridge the price gap between zero emission and petrol motorcycles and will continue until at least April 2026 for L3-category motorcycles.

Whether she has had discussions with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service on the time taken to process Subject Access Requests.

Compliance with data protection obligations, including the handling of Subject Access Requests (SARs), is the responsibility of individual police forces. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) produces guidance for organisations on how to comply with data protection law.The Data (Use and Access) Act received Royal Assent in June 2025 and includes some changes to data protection obligations while maintaining high standards of protection for personal data. As part of the development of that legislation, Home Office officials engaged with policing stakeholders in the usual way.

Whether she has met with representatives of the Motorcycle Action Group to discuss the role of motorcycling in national transport policy.

The department will publish the Integrated National Transport Strategy later this year and set the long-term vision for transport across England, putting people and the journeys they make at the heart of how transport is planned, built and operated. We have conducted extensive engagement with stakeholders and members of the public at an official level to inform the Strategy and heard directly from motorcyclists and motorcycle representative groups including Motorcycle Action Group (MAG). As the Strategy is still in development, I am unable to comment on specific policy questions, but the insights gathered through our engagement activities have been analysed and are being considered as the Strategy continues to evolve. On 20 January, I attended the first part of the first meeting of the reconstituted Motorcycle Strategic Focus Group (MSFG), chaired by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, to demonstrate my support and commitment to the motorcycling community and to the work of that group, of which MAG is a member and were in attendance. I think that the MSFG is best placed for MAG to feed in their concerns and requests about Government policy as it affects motorcyclists.

What steps her Department is taking to improve road safety for motorcyclists.

Improving road safety is a key priority of this Government. For road users who choose to travel by motorcycle, the Department remains committed to ensuring that they are equipped with the specialist skills necessary to stay safe on the road. Too many people are killed and seriously injured in road traffic collisions, and this Government will work hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users. The Department is developing the Government’s Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course.

What progress the Metropolitan Police has made on abolishing the Gangs Matrix Database.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed on their website that they discontinued the Gangs Matrix on 13th February 2024.Data was retained for 12 months to ensure the force could serve any Right of Access requests and the data was deleted on 13th February 2025.

Whether she plans to instruct the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct an investigation into the safety of Boeing aircraft models that are in service in the UK.

No. The UK Civil Aviation Authority, as the UK’s aviation safety regulator, are responsible for regulatory oversight of UK airlines and operations. It is for them to assess whether further action is required within the UK. At this time they have ruled out the need for further checks in the UK. In regard to the recent accident involving Air India flight AI171, currently, we are not aware of any evidence regarding this incident to suggest there is an unsafe condition with any commercial Boeing aircraft types. The preliminary report of this accident ruled out the need for wider action against this aircraft type, engine or manufacturer.

Whether her Department is taking steps with international aviation regulators to oversee Boeing’s (a) manufacturing and (b) safety practices.

The Department for Transport (DfT) and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regularly engage with international counterparts on safety issues. The primary responsibility for Boeing aircraft is through the Type Certificate Holder and their certificating authority. The certificating authority for Boeing aircraft is the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA informed the CAA and DfT that they have increased oversight and directed Boeing to create an action plan to address issues identified which was submitted in May 2024. The FAA continue to actively monitor Boeing and delivery of their action plan. In relation to the recent accident involving Air India flight AI171, the preliminary report ruled out the need for wider action against this aircraft type, engine or manufacturer.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of including specialist dementia nurses as part of the Neighbourhood Health Service.

The Neighbourhood Health Service will bring together teams of professionals, closer to people’s homes, to work together to provide comprehensive care in the community. We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations, and so they could include dementia nurses. While we will be clear on the outcomes we expect, we will give significant licence to tailor the approach to local need. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, services may look different in rural communities, coastal towns, and deprived inner cities, depending on local need.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the Defense for Children International – Palestine's report entitled Starving a generation: Israel’s famine campaign targeting Palestinian children in Gaza, published on 24 June 2025.

We are appalled by the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where famine is now unfolding, as confirmed by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) on 29 July. This is unacceptable. While the Israeli Defence Forces' "tactical pauses" are a necessary step, they are long overdue. We highlighted the critical situation for Gaza's children through our statement at the UN Security Council on 30 June and at the International Development Committee on 16 July. The UK continues to demand that a full and unhindered resumption of aid into Gaza takes place immediately. Israel must immediately allow the UN and aid partners to safely deliver aid at scale and in line with humanitarian principles. We remain committed to ensuring UK support reaches those who need it - including our £101 million package of financial support to the Occupied Palestinian Territories this Financial Year.

Whether her Department has plans to introduce service standards for all applications for settlement made under the (a) family and (b) private life route.

Applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain based on Family or Private life will be decided within six months.Full details of current service standards can be found here:Settlement: customer service standards - GOV.UK

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the absence of service standards on all applications under the (a) family and (b) private life routes on applicants accessing (i) work, (ii) healthcare and (c) education.

Family and private life applications based on exceptionality are not subject to a service standard, however we do update GOV.UK with our average processing times and information is available in the published transparency data around consideration times.

What steps he is taking to help improve the availability of tuberculosis medication.

Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated, and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and are outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues, and regulatory issues. There are approximately 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. Where there are supply issues, these are managed at a national level across the UK rather than at a regional level.NHS England has been notified of some issues with medicines used to treat tuberculosis (TB), however there is sufficient stock available from alternative suppliers to meet normal demand for most of them. The products facing current disruptions include Voractiv tablets until late June 2025, and rifampicin 150 milligram capsules until mid-August 2025, both due to manufacturing delays. Comprehensive management plans were communicated to healthcare professionals on 1 June 2025, highlighting issues with TB medicines and advising of the actions to take during this time. NHS England is actively working with the affected suppliers to address these supply issues as quickly as possible to ensure that UK patients have access to the medications they need.The team are working intensively to improve the availability of TB medicines, which includes co-ordinating with the British Thoracic Society to ensure centres treating active TB have access to available supplies, and directing trusts to build buffer stocks of unlicensed imports of TB medicines whilst there is a supply issue with some UK licensed products. The team are also supporting the impacted supplier and trusts to ensure that the available TB medicine supplies are equitably distributed and allocated fairly across the UK. The team is continuing to explore medium to long term solutions to the supply issues, working with those mentioned as well as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and clinicians within the NHS.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the availability of tuberculosis medication on the provision of healthcare in London.

Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated, and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and are outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues, and regulatory issues. There are approximately 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. Where there are supply issues, these are managed at a national level across the UK rather than at a regional level.NHS England has been notified of some issues with medicines used to treat tuberculosis (TB), however there is sufficient stock available from alternative suppliers to meet normal demand for most of them. The products facing current disruptions include Voractiv tablets until late June 2025, and rifampicin 150 milligram capsules until mid-August 2025, both due to manufacturing delays. Comprehensive management plans were communicated to healthcare professionals on 1 June 2025, highlighting issues with TB medicines and advising of the actions to take during this time. NHS England is actively working with the affected suppliers to address these supply issues as quickly as possible to ensure that UK patients have access to the medications they need.The team are working intensively to improve the availability of TB medicines, which includes co-ordinating with the British Thoracic Society to ensure centres treating active TB have access to available supplies, and directing trusts to build buffer stocks of unlicensed imports of TB medicines whilst there is a supply issue with some UK licensed products. The team are also supporting the impacted supplier and trusts to ensure that the available TB medicine supplies are equitably distributed and allocated fairly across the UK. The team is continuing to explore medium to long term solutions to the supply issues, working with those mentioned as well as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and clinicians within the NHS.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending eligibility to the Winter Fuel Payment to households in receipt of Housing Benefit on pensioner poverty.

The Government wants to expand eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments, recognising the goals of supporting these pensioners, meeting need and of sustainable public finances. Any change will be announced to Parliament in the normal way.

Whether she plans to negotiate reciprocal social security agreements with countries where UK pensioners do not receive annual state pension uprating.

The Department has no plans to negotiate such reciprocal social security agreements.

What steps his Department is taking to increase public awareness of the role of naloxone in preventing opioid-related deaths.

The Government has amended the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to expand access to naloxone. The legislation means more services and professionals can supply this medication without prescription, which in turn means easier access to it for people at risk, and for their loved ones. The Department has recently published guidance that sets out essential practical information such as who can supply naloxone, the products available, how to use naloxone and other basic lifesaving tools, and the training required. Additionally, guidance is also available for local areas to prepare for potent synthetic opioid incidents and to strengthen their preparedness.Local authorities are responsible for commissioning drug treatment services as part of their public health responsibilities, and they provide funding for naloxone supplied through drug treatment services based on their assessment of local need. In addition to the Public Health Grant, in 2025/26 the Department is providing a total of £310 million in additional targeted grants to improve drug and alcohol services and recovery support, including naloxone provision.Raising awareness of naloxone and its lifesaving potential amongst the general public is important. The Government has a drug and alcohol information and advice service called Talk to FRANK which aims to reduce drug and alcohol use and their harms by providing information and increasing awareness for young people, parents, and concerned others. This website has a page providing detailed information on when and how to use naloxone, which is available at the following link:https://www.talktofrank.com/get-help/what-to-do-in-an-emergencyDepartment of Health and Social Care and Home Office ministers have written to festival organisers, asking them to work closely with police and health partners on their harm reduction and first aid measures, which includes ensuring that naloxone is readily available. The Department has also worked with the National Police Chiefs’ Council on a joint letter and advice for the police and local authorities about festivals, drugs, and alcohol, to minimise the risk of harm to individuals at these events. The advice highlights that naloxone remains an effective, life-saving tool in the face of a synthetic opioid overdose.

For what reason her Department will not review the decision to provide full compensation to victims of the Equitable Life.

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016 and there are no plans to reopen any decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 47556 on Animal Housing, what his Department's planned timeline is for sharing the findings of their review into banning the use of cages.

This is a multifaceted issue with many factors that need to be carefully considered. The Department has initiated a series of meetings with key stakeholders as part of the development of an overarching approach to animal welfare. We will be outlining more detail of plans in due course.

With reference to her Department's report entitled Triggers to claiming personal independence payment, published on 2 May 2025, whether she will publish (a) an updated version of her Department's report entitled Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Impacts, updated on 28 March 2025, (b) a full impact assessment of the proposed reforms to disability benefits in light of that report.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper has been published here ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’(opens in a new tab). A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months. Where relevant, findings included in the report Triggers to claiming Personal Independence Payment - GOV.UK, as well as the numerous other pieces of research and analysis commissioned or undertaken by the Department, have been factored into the impacts analysis already published, and will also feed into future analytical work.