Written questions by Cordova.

Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ensure that the Charity Commission requires that charities do not invest in illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The Government and the Charity Commission for England and Wales (the Commission) expect charities to act lawfully, in line with the charity’s purpose, and in the charity’s best interest.The Commission provides guidance to help charity trustees understand their legal duties and requirements, as well as how to make decisions in their charity’s best interests.The Commission’s role as independent registrar and regulator of charities is to ensure that trustees comply with their duties as set out in charity law. If the trustees are acting within the law, fulfilling their duties and furthering their charitable purpose, the Commission cannot become involved in a charity’s internal decision making. Any concerns about charities engaging in inappropriate activity should be referred to the Commission.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of processes for transferring animals between the EU and UK for breeding conservation programmes.

Defra continues to work closely with the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) to address immediate challenges to the cross-border movement of animals between the UK and EU. This includes the availability of Export Health Certificates and Border Control Post capacity. As announced at the UK-EU Leaders’ Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area, aimed at reducing trade barriers to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of goods, including zoo animals of conservation significance. We’re expecting to start negotiations in the autumn, once the EU has confirmed their mandate. We want to see businesses benefit from removing barriers to trade as soon as possible, and we will provide further updates in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with international partners to end the conflict in Sudan.

The conflict in Sudan, now into its third year, remains a priority for the UK and the Foreign Secretary. In the months following the April London Sudan Conference UK Ministers and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) officials have been working to sustain momentum and ensure Sudan remains in the spotlight. Our efforts have included joining the EU-convened Consultative Group on Sudan in June, alongside key partners, to progress shared aims on ending the violence and improving humanitarian access. In the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), where the UK is penholder on Sudan, we have consistently called for an end to the fighting, the protection of civilians, and unimpeded humanitarian access. On 13 August, with African partners and Guyana, the UK led a UNSC press statement calling for respect of international law and rejecting moves to form parallel governments, which will only prolong the conflict. We will continue to use all diplomatic levers working in concert with international partners to encourage the warring parties to return to the negotiating table and commit to a meaningful, sustainable ceasefire in Sudan.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of suspending the UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement, in the context of the human rights situation in Gaza and the West Bank.

The UK Government has recently announced a number of measures in relation to the actions of the Netanyahu Government, seeking to reinforce its support for the two-state solution, to pursue a lasting ceasefire, to secure the return of the hostages and ensure greater access to humanitarian aid in Gaza. We remain committed to our existing trading relationship with Israel and the existing UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement (TPA). Our trading relationship underpins key areas of UK life and exports to Israel support thousands of jobs in the UK. Suspension of any trade agreement with another country risks unpredictable consequences and significant economic disruption for British businesses.Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and harm prospects for a two-state solution. Settlements are not part of the State of Israel. Goods produced in these settlements are not entitled to benefit from preferential tariff treatment under the TPA. There are clear risks related to economic and financial activities in the settlements, and we do not encourage or offer support to such activity. We have been clear that if Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to identify potential UK links to the business interests of the (a) Rapid Support Forces and (b) Sudanese Armed Forces.

The UK maintains robust corporate transparency measures, and we monitor this on an ongoing basis. Since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023, the UK has frozen the assets of nine commercial entities linked to the parties involved in the conflict: five entities linked with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and four entities linked with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). These sanctions were designed to press the parties to engage in a sustained and meaningful peace process, allow humanitarian access and to commit to a permanent cessation of hostilities. We do not speculate on future designations as doing so would undermine their effectiveness.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support victims of sexual (a) violence and (b) torture in Sudan.

The UK is a major humanitarian donor to Sudan with £120 million in life-saving aid budgeted this financial year in addition to £235 million allocated in 24/25. The UK's funding to Sudan delivers a range of critical support including protection, prevention, and care services to women and girls in response to rising gender-based and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). This year, the UK is also supporting the deployment of a specialist sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) investigator to the UN Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) in Sudan, delivered through our implementing partner UN Women. This contribution ensures expert input on SGBV to strengthen accountability for conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan. At the UN, the UK has led efforts to spotlight CRSV and other atrocities, including ten Security Council press statements and the renewal of the FFM's mandate.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help tackle the impact of artificial intelligence on the (a) sustainability and (b) accuracy of news media.

Journalism plays an invaluable role in the fabric of our society and we are committed to supporting a free, sustainable and plural news media landscape. In this context, we recognise concerns from the press sector that recent developments in generative AI pose risks, as well as opportunities, to journalism.We are engaging with the press sector on these concerns. Both I and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology have each held roundtables earlier this year with publishers and broadcasters to discuss AI and journalism. DCMS has also provided funding to the Bridging Responsible AI Divides research programme at The University of Edinburgh, which produced the report ‘Generative AI and Journalism: Mapping the Risk Landscape’.We recognise that particular concerns have been raised with regard to the use of copyrighted news content in the training of AI models and how this interacts with UK copyright law. We want to support rightsholders in licensing their work in the digital age while allowing AI developers to benefit from access to creative material in the UK, including that from independent media. The government is analysing responses to the consultation and looking at all options. We will set out a detailed economic impact assessment on all options and a report on the use of copyright material for AI training, transparency and technical standards. This analysis will inform our position, alongside a series of expert working groups launching this week, bringing together people from both the AI and creative sectors.

What information her Department holds on the completion rate for the Universal Credit optional equality questions on the (a) ethnic sub-group, (b) whether the respondent meets the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010 and (c) whether the respondent has (i) health conditions and (ii) illnesses which affect them in specified ways, in the latest period for which data is available.

Since March 2025, the weekly completion rate for the Universal Credit (UC) equality questionnaire was between 75% and 80%. This is the proportion of people who complete the questionnaire when prompted to do so. To complete the questionnaire, claimants must respond to all questions, however, they may select "prefer not to say" as a valid response. Claimants are prompted to complete the questionnaire when they make an initial claim or a reclaim. They have 40 days to complete it before it is removed from their UC To-Do List. The coverage rate, i.e. the proportion of the UC caseload for whom we have a valid response, for the ethnicity questions, including for ethnic sub-groups, has reached over 70% and the Universal Credit statistics have been published with those breakdowns, with the latest statistics to June 2025 published on 15 July 2025. The health and disability questions were only introduced in December 2023, and it will take time for a sufficient proportion of the total UC caseload to respond, before any meaningful analysis is possible. Consequently, the department is currently unable to provide reliable figures on responses to the health and disability questions gathered through the equality questionnaire.

If she will publish Universal Credit sanction statistics broken down by (a) ethnic sub-group, (b) whether a respondent meets the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010, (c) whether the respondent has (i) health conditions or (ii) illnesses which affect them in specified ways and (d) family type.

The Department currently publishes the Universal Credit sanction statistics by ethnicity, with the latest statistics to February 2025 published on 24 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with Homes England on building accessible homes.

Grant funding allocated through the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26, which is delivered by Homes England outside of London, can be used for supported housing, including specialist housing.The government will shortly set out its policies on accessible new build housing, reinforcing our commitment to ensuring everyone has access to a safe, suitable home.

Communities and Local Government, when her Department plans to open the technical consultation on the M4(2) requirement in building regulations.

Housing is one of this government’s top priorities, everyone deserves to live in a decent home that is suitable for them and meets their needs. The government will shortly set out its policies on accessible new build housing, reinforcing our commitment to ensuring everyone has access to a safe, suitable home.

What recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on energy affordability for disabled people.

My Rt. Hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Chancellor of the Exchequer have regular meetings on a range of issues. The Government knows that more needs to be done to support vulnerable households that are struggling with bills whilst we transition to clean power. The Warm Home Discount provides a £150 rebate off winter energy bills for eligible low-income households. On 19 June we announced that we are expanding the Warm Home Discount to around an additional 2.7 million households. This means that from next winter, around 6 million low-income households will receive the £150 support to help with their energy bill costs. The Warm Home Discount regulations expire in 2026, and we will want to consider all options for future bill support beyond this point. I have been clear with suppliers that they should do all that they can to support their customers – including vulnerable consumers – who may be struggling with their bills.

Whether she plans to respond to her Department's consultation entitled Pavement parking: options for change, that closed on 22 November 2020.

The Department has been carefully considering the responses to the consultation and working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. As soon as the Government has decided its preferred way forward, we will announce the next steps and publish our formal response. In the meantime, local authorities can make use of existing powers to restrict and enforce pavement parking.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60089 on Artificial Intelligence: Copyright, when he plans to publish a response to his Department's consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence.

The Government is currently reviewing over 11,500 responses to the consultation on copyright and AI and will publish its response in due course.In addition, as set out in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, the Government has committed to providing a progress report to Parliament by 18 December, and publishing an economic impact assessment, and report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems, by 18 March 2026.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2025 to Question 52657 on Immigration: EU Nationals, whether her Department collects any data on the ethnicity of applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme.

A detailed breakdown of the EU Settlement Scheme statistics is available to the public via GOV.UK. Within the latest published statistics, Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK, a list of data fields sets out what data is collected, as part of the EU Settlement Scheme application.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of learning through play in early years education.

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets standards and requirements for all early years providers to ensure every child has the best start in life and is prepared for school. The EYFS is clear that children learn through play and that play is essential for children’s development. For example, singing songs helps to develop language comprehension, vocabulary, self-expression and literacy. Practitioners should organise enabling environments and cultures for high-quality play, create games, and provide opportunity for indoor and outdoor play.The ‘Children of the 2020s’ study is part of a programme of departmental research to improve our understanding of children’s progress throughout key phases of learning and education. The study follows over 8,500 families and their babies, born in England between September and November 2021. The second wave of data is due to be published in autumn, and we will assess that to consider future policy for early education, including learning through play.

What recent steps her Department has taken to improve media literacy education in schools.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report notes the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and trends in digital information and that it is necessary that the curriculum keep pace with these changes, including a renewed focus on digital and media literacy and critical thinking skills.Media literacy is currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship, using non-statutory programmes of study at key stages 1 and 2. Teaching of citizenship equips pupils to understand the identification of misleading and malicious information and to counter the effects of negative and harmful news, events and information, including online. As well as citizenship, media literacy is taught through the computing curriculum at key stages 2 to 4. The computing curriculum ensures, for example, that pupils know how to use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked, and how to be discerning when evaluating digital content, all of which supports the teaching of good media literacy.The department recently appointed a task and finish group to advise on digital, AI and technology. We will consider how best to develop and implement any of their recommendations.

Whether she is taking steps to roll out family hubs in Battersea constituency.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out plans for spending and public sector reforms through the Spending Review 2025. This announcement confirmed departmental budgets for 2026/27 onwards and committed that the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, working with parents to help give children the best start in life.This builds upon my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, published in December 2024, which outlined the ambition to give children the best start in life by strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood.We are working within the department and with the Department for Health and Social Care to share further information about what the Spending Review settlement means for the continuation and expansion of the programme. We recognise the importance of providing local authorities with certainty of future funding across the whole programme and we will share further information when we are able.

Innovation and Technology, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve community access to media literacy education.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is improving community access to media literacy through the Digital Inclusion Action Plan, which supports local and community-led initiatives to boost digital participation. Libraries, as trusted and accessible public spaces, play a key role in delivering digital and media literacy support to communities across the UK.DSIT also works closely with Ofcom, which engages civil society and community organisations as part of its role as the online safety regulator.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he has taken to protect creatives from copyright infringements by Artificial Intelligence developers.

Copying protected material in the UK will infringe copyright unless it is licensed, or an exception to copyright applies.The Government recently consulted on several topics relating to the interaction between copyright and artificial intelligence (AI), including seeking views on the use of copyright material in AI model development. This consultation closed on 25th February.The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, to help inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively on this issue and its proposals will be set out in due course.