Written questions by Maskell.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential risks of the unauthorised placing of flags on lampposts; and whether she has issued guidance to local authorities on (a) their removal and (b) how to de-escalate community tensions.

The Government supports the flying of flags across the country. Flags should be an embodiment of bringing our country and our communities together. Guidance exists, such as ‘Flying flags: a plain English guide” - as set out in the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007 (as amended in 2012 and 2021) – which outlines the regulations related to the flying of flags in England.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he is having with (a) civil society and (b) women's organisations in Sudan on advancing a pathway to peace.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) officials, including our Special Representative to Sudan, regularly meet Sudanese civil society and diaspora groups. We also had extensive engagement with civil society and NGOs prior to the London Sudan Conference on 15 April. This included engagements led by Baroness Chapman who, on 9 April, spoke at a 'Women's Inclusion Roundtable' in London that was attended by Sudanese civil society and academics. The recommendations of the roundtable were used to help shape discussions at the London Sudan Conference.In addition, the UK supports the neutral, anti-war element of the Somoud civilian coalition (formerly known as Taqaddum) with technical facilitation and logistics to help broaden its base and promote a more inclusive and unified civilian vision for Sudan. The UK will continue to champion the importance of Sudanese civilians, especially women and youth, as well as civil society, in any efforts to resolve the conflict and shape the future of Sudan.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Israeli counterpart on allowing the UK to bring aid into Gaza with UN protection.

The Israeli Government's refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused a man-made humanitarian catastrophe, and the UK has been clear that the latest military operation in Gaza City will only worsen the humanitarian crisis and endanger the lives of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. We desperately need an immediate ceasefire to enable the delivery of aid at the speed and volume required to address the scale and urgency of the crisis.The Government has raised these issues consistently with our Israeli counterparts, including summoning the Israeli Ambassador in August to express our opposition to expanded military operations in Gaza, and pressing President Herzog on our humanitarian concerns and the need for an immediate ceasefire in his meetings with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary on 10 September. The Foreign Secretary also raised these issues during a call with Foreign Minister Sa'ar on 17 September, and in her statement to the UN Security Council on 23 September.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to provide safe zones around hospitals and recognised refugee camps in Gaza.

The UK has been clear that hospitals and other essential civilian infrastructure must be protected under International Law. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly all hospitals in Gaza have been partly damaged or destroyed. We have made both private and public representations calling for the protection of healthcare facilities and medical professionals. In his statement to the House of Commons on 1 September, the former Foreign Secretary reminded Israel that International Law requires the protection of healthcare workers, journalists and civilians.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his US counterpart on providing USAID to Sudan.

We have engaged closely and productively with our US colleagues about the crisis in Sudan and the UK greatly values the role played by the US as the largest financial humanitarian donor. The former Foreign Secretary has raised Sudan personally with the US Secretary of State; discussions have focused on bettering humanitarian access and how to push for an end to the fighting. We also continue to engage with the US at official-level on humanitarian issues and to coordinate support for the UN-led push for a humanitarian ceasefire in El Fasher.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he is having with international partners on protecting Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and East Jerusalem.

I refer the Hon Member to the announcements made by the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary on 21 September, further details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-formally-recognises-palestinian-state.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the protection of the Christian communities in (a) Gaza, (b) the Occupied Palestinian Territories and (c) East Jerusalem.

UK officials continue to meet with Church leaders in Jerusalem, and we carefully monitor reports of activity impacting freedom of religion or belief in Gaza and the West Bank. In July, our Consul General to Jerusalem visited Taybeh in the West Bank with church leaders and international partners to express solidarity with the local community following attacks by settlers on their community.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to secure a deal with the Palestinian Authorities which recognises a future Palestine without the presence of Hamas or other terrorist organisations.

I refer the Hon Member to the announcements made by the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary on 21 September, further details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-formally-recognises-palestinian-state.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on Israel's plans to clear Gaza City.

The Israeli Government's refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused a man-made humanitarian catastrophe, and the UK has been clear that the latest military operation in Gaza City will only worsen the humanitarian crisis and endanger the lives of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. We desperately need an immediate ceasefire to enable the delivery of aid at the speed and volume required to address the scale and urgency of the crisis.The Government has raised these issues consistently with our Israeli counterparts, including summoning the Israeli Ambassador in August to express our opposition to expanded military operations in Gaza, and pressing President Herzog on our humanitarian concerns and the need for an immediate ceasefire in his meetings with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary on 10 September. The Foreign Secretary also raised these issues during a call with Foreign Minister Sa'ar on 17 September, and in her statement to the UN Security Council on 23 September.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take at the UN General Assembly to support a ceasefire in Sudan.

The Foreign Secretary's speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) confirmed that the UK will continue to use its leadership at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to advocate for increased international efforts on Sudan, including pushing the warring parties to implement the humanitarian pause, the wider ceasefire and the political transition that the Sudanese people need.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the external actors to the war in Sudan.

The Foreign Secretary's speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) confirmed that the UK will continue to use its leadership at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to advocate for increased international efforts on Sudan, including pushing the warring parties to implement the humanitarian pause, the wider ceasefire and the political transition that the Sudanese people need.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken to convene the talks to end the war in Sudan since the London Sudan Conference.

The Foreign Secretary's speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) confirmed that the UK will continue to use its leadership at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to advocate for increased international efforts on Sudan, including pushing the warring parties to implement the humanitarian pause, the wider ceasefire and the political transition that the Sudanese people need.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of UK Aid is entering Gaza.

The UK is doing all we can to alleviate suffering. All allocations of our Humanitarian Programme are available publicly on Development Tracker. We have published further information on Core Relief Items through the programmes annual review with the next to be published by November 2025. Quantifying how much UK-aid has entered into Gaza is difficult, due to the complex operating environment and limited real-time data, as well as Israel's restrictions on humanitarian workers and monitors. But despite Israel's restrictions on access we know UK Aid is having an impact - our funding to UK-Med has treated nearly 600,000 people in Gaza.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the sustainable impact of the Global Care Reform Campaign, including (a) a long-term strategy up to 2030 and (b) adequate resourcing.

As part of the Children's Care Reform campaign, a new programme was launched earlier this year to provide resources for technical assistance to signatories of the Global Charter and engagement with stakeholders, including young people with lived experience of the care system. The charter includes a commitment by all signatories to seek to monitor and phase out funding streams that incentivise institutionalisation, contribute to unnecessary family separation and undermine efforts to prioritise family care.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to redirect funding for orphanage economies to fund family strengthening.

As part of the Children's Care Reform campaign, a new programme was launched earlier this year to provide resources for technical assistance to signatories of the Global Charter and engagement with stakeholders, including young people with lived experience of the care system. The charter includes a commitment by all signatories to seek to monitor and phase out funding streams that incentivise institutionalisation, contribute to unnecessary family separation and undermine efforts to prioritise family care.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what international commitments he plans to make in relation to the Global Care Reform Campaign.

The Global Charter on Children's Care Reform, led by the UK, sets out a series of commitments including supporting families to prevent unnecessary separation, ensuring safe and nurturing family-based alternative care and progressively ending the institutionalisation of all children.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's consultation document Fair Funding Review 2.0 updated on 23 June 2025, what the funding formula used for the review is.

I refer the hon. Member to chapter 4 of the Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation which sets out the approach to assessing local authority demand through seven formulae. Government have also published detailed technical annexes for each formula. We will publish our response to the consultation in the autumn, which will be followed by the publication of the provisional multi-year Settlement.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on restrictions faced by (a) Christians and (b) underground churches in China.

The environment for freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in China is restrictive, which includes the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities. Chinese regulations on religious activity severely restrict religious and cultural expression in China. This Government stands firm on human rights, including the right to FoRB. We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor and Energy Secretary all raised human rights recently with their Chinese counterparts.More broadly, this Government champions FoRB for all abroad. We work to uphold the right to FoRB through our position at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora, and through bilateral engagement.The recent launch of our FoRB strategy on July 8 outlines our approach to promoting and protecting the right to FoRB globally, of which China is one of ten focus countries. We continue to do all we can to encourage FoRB across China.

What assessment she has made of trends in the level of prospective adopters; and what steps her Department is taking to increase this.

The government inherited a situation marked by a growing disparity between the number of children awaiting adoptive families and the number of approved adopters. In 2024/25, Adoption England launched a national recruitment campaign funded by the government, which led to a modest increase in approved adopters to 2,230, which is a rise of 0.5% from the previous year. We acknowledge that further efforts are needed to close the adopter sufficiency gap. That is why, this year, we have doubled the funding allocated to Adoption England for adopter recruitment, increasing it to £1 million.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the Coram quarterly data reports on adoption and special guardianship, published in March 2025.

Coram’s quarterly statistics on adoption and special guardianship orders provide a critical insight into how well local services are performing. The department regularly takes stock of where improvements are needed and works closely with Adoption England and kinship organisations such as Family Rights Group and Kinship to review policy priorities.