Written questions by Allin-Khan.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure society lotteries are being run in the public interest.

The department and the Gambling Commission have regular discussions covering gambling regulation, including society lotteries. The department has not held recent discussions with the Gambling Commission on the Health Lottery’s arrangements for distributing funds.The Gambling Act 2005 provides for the definition of a non-commercial society lottery and how proceeds can be used. All licensed lottery operators are expected to put in place arrangements to make sure that the proceeds of each lottery are distributed in a lawful and compliant way. That includes ensuring that a minimum of 20% of proceeds are awarded to good causes.The oversight of licences for society lotteries, including ensuring operators remain compliant with its statutory responsibilities, is a matter for the Gambling Commission.More information about the Gambling Commission’s principles for licensing and regulation, compliance and enforcement under the Gambling Act 2005 can be found on the Commission’s website.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decline in the People's Health Trust's turnover and funding on local public health initiatives.

The Government recognises the valuable part played by third sector organisations in tackling health inequalities and the social determinants of health, and commends the work of the People’s Health Trust in providing funding and support to left-behind communities.Much of what determines our health and wellbeing is influenced by factors other than health services. The roots of sickness too often lie in poverty, poor housing, poor education, poor work, and poor access to the things that make life worth living like culture, sport, and recreation. We are taking action on the social determinants of health, through our Health Mission, to reduce the gap in healthy life expectancy.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Health Lottery's decisions to (a) divest from the People's Health Trust and (b) create its own funding distribution vehicle on organisations receiving funding from that lottery.

The department and the Gambling Commission have regular discussions covering gambling regulation, including society lotteries. The department has not held recent discussions with the Gambling Commission on the Health Lottery’s arrangements for distributing funds.The Gambling Act 2005 provides for the definition of a non-commercial society lottery and how proceeds can be used. All licensed lottery operators are expected to put in place arrangements to make sure that the proceeds of each lottery are distributed in a lawful and compliant way. That includes ensuring that a minimum of 20% of proceeds are awarded to good causes.The oversight of licences for society lotteries, including ensuring operators remain compliant with its statutory responsibilities, is a matter for the Gambling Commission.More information about the Gambling Commission’s principles for licensing and regulation, compliance and enforcement under the Gambling Act 2005 can be found on the Commission’s website.

Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the Gambling Commission on The Health Lottery’s new arrangements for distributing funds.

The department and the Gambling Commission have regular discussions covering gambling regulation, including society lotteries. The department has not held recent discussions with the Gambling Commission on the Health Lottery’s arrangements for distributing funds.The Gambling Act 2005 provides for the definition of a non-commercial society lottery and how proceeds can be used. All licensed lottery operators are expected to put in place arrangements to make sure that the proceeds of each lottery are distributed in a lawful and compliant way. That includes ensuring that a minimum of 20% of proceeds are awarded to good causes.The oversight of licences for society lotteries, including ensuring operators remain compliant with its statutory responsibilities, is a matter for the Gambling Commission.More information about the Gambling Commission’s principles for licensing and regulation, compliance and enforcement under the Gambling Act 2005 can be found on the Commission’s website.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 10451 on Israel: Occupied Territories, whether he plans to publish a formal response.

The UK Government condemns settler violence. We regularly raise settler violence with Israeli ministers and officials, and we are clear that the Israeli government must clamp down on settler violence and settlement expansion. The UK has taken action to hold perpetrators and supporters of settler violence to account. On 10 June, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions against Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in their personal capacity for inciting violence towards Palestinians. This was alongside action from our partners Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway. On 20 May, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions targeting individuals, illegal settler outposts and organisations supporting violence against Palestinian Communities in the West Bank.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with international partners to help ensure an adequate supply of fuel to Gaza.

No fuel has entered Gaza for over four months, putting vital services such as water supply, hospitals and ambulances at imminent risk of shutting down. This is unacceptable. We continue to be in regular contact with the Government of Israel about the importance of allowing fuel to reach Gaza. In our statement to the UN Security Council on 13 May, we called on Israel to allow the full resumption of aid into Gaza, including fuel. We reiterated this in our joint donor's statement with 26 other signatories on 19 May.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of fuel shortages in Gaza on the civilian population.

No fuel has entered Gaza for over four months, putting vital services such as water supply, hospitals and ambulances at imminent risk of shutting down. This is unacceptable. We continue to be in regular contact with the Government of Israel about the importance of allowing fuel to reach Gaza. In our statement to the UN Security Council on 13 May, we called on Israel to allow the full resumption of aid into Gaza, including fuel. We reiterated this in our joint donor's statement with 26 other signatories on 19 May.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the entry of fuel into Gaza.

No fuel has entered Gaza for over four months, putting vital services such as water supply, hospitals and ambulances at imminent risk of shutting down. This is unacceptable. We continue to be in regular contact with the Government of Israel about the importance of allowing fuel to reach Gaza. In our statement to the UN Security Council on 13 May, we called on Israel to allow the full resumption of aid into Gaza, including fuel. We reiterated this in our joint donor's statement with 26 other signatories on 19 May.

What assessment she has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) clarity of HM Revenue & Customs guidance for employers on workplace nursery schemes.

The workplace nursery scheme exemption allows employers to offer childcare support to employees without incurring income tax or National Insurance (NI) charges, provided certain conditions are met. HMRC publishes online guidance on the use of workplace nursery schemes which is reviewed frequently and was last updated in August 2024. In July 2024 HMRC published an article in its Agent Update as a reminder to businesses of the conditions to be met for the tax exemption to apply following increased awareness of a number of scheme operators advertising their service as having HMRC approval were the partnership requirements were not met. The article can be found here: Issue 121 of Agent Update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Employer Supported Childcare schemes are voluntary arrangements. The Government supports these initiatives through relevant tax and NICs reliefs, but it is up to the employer to decide whether or not to offer childcare support to its employees. The schemes primarily operate through salary sacrifice arrangements, as childcare is one of the few areas where salary sacrifice tax reliefs are still available. Employers can choose to offer a workplace nursery scheme as part of their employee benefits package to attract and retain skilled employees. With Tax-Free Childcare, eligible parents can simply open an online account and make payments directly to their childcare provider. For every £8 a parent deposits into their account, the government adds £2 to help with the cost of childcare. As such, there is no requirement for employers to adopt the schemes.

What steps she is taking to encourage employers to adopt (a) tax-free childcare and (b) other workplace nursery schemes.

The workplace nursery scheme exemption allows employers to offer childcare support to employees without incurring income tax or National Insurance (NI) charges, provided certain conditions are met. HMRC publishes online guidance on the use of workplace nursery schemes which is reviewed frequently and was last updated in August 2024. In July 2024 HMRC published an article in its Agent Update as a reminder to businesses of the conditions to be met for the tax exemption to apply following increased awareness of a number of scheme operators advertising their service as having HMRC approval were the partnership requirements were not met. The article can be found here: Issue 121 of Agent Update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Employer Supported Childcare schemes are voluntary arrangements. The Government supports these initiatives through relevant tax and NICs reliefs, but it is up to the employer to decide whether or not to offer childcare support to its employees. The schemes primarily operate through salary sacrifice arrangements, as childcare is one of the few areas where salary sacrifice tax reliefs are still available. Employers can choose to offer a workplace nursery scheme as part of their employee benefits package to attract and retain skilled employees. With Tax-Free Childcare, eligible parents can simply open an online account and make payments directly to their childcare provider. For every £8 a parent deposits into their account, the government adds £2 to help with the cost of childcare. As such, there is no requirement for employers to adopt the schemes.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help ensure all signatory companies from the Seoul AI Safety Summit honour their commitments made at that summit.

We expect all signatories to the Seoul commitments to stand by their agreements. The AI Security Institute, within DSIT, has ongoing discussions will all major developers, about the implementation of frontier AI frameworks that guide the safe development of AI.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of Google's compliance with the AI safety commitments made at the Seoul AI Safety Summit in May 2024 in relation to its Gemini 2.5 Pro model.

We expect all signatories to the Seoul commitments to stand by their agreements. The AI Security Institute, within DSIT, has ongoing discussions will all major developers, including Google DeepMind, about the implementation of frontier AI frameworks that guide the safe development of AI.The government welcomes Google's recently published framework that prioritises the emerging risk of deception in AI models and their plans to publish safety cases.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding Jobcentre access to people not in receipt of benefits.

We are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. The new Jobs and Careers Service will offer employment and careers support for all - not just those on benefits - who want support to find or progress in work.Supporting our 'Get Britian Working' agenda, we have funded several measures to help unemployed people not in receipt of benefits to find employment:£115 million funding for 2025/26 for the Connect to Work programme, a voluntary, locally led Supported Employment programme in England and Wales, which will support disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment.£125 million for 2025/26 to deliver 9 place-based economic inactivity trailblazers across England and Wales, of which £45 million is for NHS England Health Accelerators. Tailored to the needs of local areas, these trailblazers are testing different ways of reducing economic inactivity.Working with the Department for Education, £45 million for 2025/26 for our 8 Youth Guarantee trailblazers which are testing a cohesive education, training and employment support offer for young people aged 18-21.£34m funding for 2025/26 for WorkWell pilots for 15 areas to design and deliver integrated work and health support.Continuing with the Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies programme to provide people with common mental health conditions the support they need to enter, re-enter or return to work and improve mental health.

What steps she is taking to support unemployed people not in receipt of benefits to find employment.

We are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. The new Jobs and Careers Service will offer employment and careers support for all – not just those on benefits - who want support to find or progress in work. Supporting our ‘Get Britian Working’ agenda, we have funded several measures to help unemployed people not in receipt of benefits to find employment: £115 million funding for 2025/26 for the Connect to Work programme, a voluntary, locally led Supported Employment programme in England and Wales, which will support disabled people, people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to employment.£125 million for 2025/26 to deliver 9 place-based economic inactivity trailblazers across England and Wales, of which £45 million is for NHS England Health Accelerators. Tailored to the needs of local areas, these trailblazers are testing different ways of reducing economic inactivity.Working with the Department for Education, £45 million for 2025/26 for our 8 Youth Guarantee trailblazers which are testing a cohesive education, training and employment support offer for young people aged 18-21.£34m funding for 2025/26 for WorkWell pilots for 15 areas to design and deliver integrated work and health support.Continuing with the Employment Advisers in NHS Talking Therapies programme to provide people with common mental health conditions the support they need to enter, re-enter or return to work and improve mental health.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support British citizens in Iran.

Our Embassy in Tehran which continues to operate remotely, is closely monitoring the situation in Iran. We remain committed to ensuring the safety and security of our nationals, including those detained.However we have long advised against all travel to Iran and warned British Nationals that in an emergency the UK government will not be able to evacuate or provide face-to-face assistance.

What assessment has he made of the potential impact of the closure of 83 beds at St George's Hospital on patients.

The Department has not made an assessment. Integrated care boards are responsible for delivery, implementation, and funding decisions for local services, rather than the Department.

What steps she is taking to improve pension replacement rates.

Our system of state, private and workplace pensions provide the basis for security in retirement. The State Pension provides a foundation to support people’s individual savings for retirement. The Government has made a commitment to the Triple Lock for the entirety of this Parliament which means annual spending on people’s State Pensions is forecast to rise by over £31 billion over this Parliament. This will see pensioners’ yearly incomes being up to £1,900 higher. Automatic Enrolment (AE) has succeeded in transforming workplace retirement saving. Over 11 million employees have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension since 2012. However, we know we need to do more to build on the success of AE. The government will soon be launching the next phase of the Pensions Review, which will focus on improving pensions outcomes.

What comparative assessment she has made of the adequacy of pension replacement rates in (a) the UK and (b) other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

The Government committed to carry out a landmark Pensions Review to deliver better outcomes for savers and the UK economy. Our focus is on building a system that supports people to save effectively throughout their working lives and provides a strong foundation for income in retirement. Automatic Enrolment (AE) has helped over 11 million workers start saving into a pension since 2012, but we know some people still are not saving enough. In March 2023, DWP published new analysis into future pensioner incomes, showing that 38% of working age people (equivalent to 12.5 million people) are under saving for retirement when measured against Target Replacement Rates before housing costs and 12% are not saving enough to meet the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association’s minimum living standard. That is why the second phase of our Pensions Review will in the coming months look at further steps to improve pension outcomes. OECD rankings show that the UK’s pensions system of the new State Pension and Automatic Enrolment will provide future workers with income replacement rates which are comparable to the OECD average, alongside countries such as Germany and Norway.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the level of prisoner phone call charges included in current contracts for HMP Wandsworth on prisoners..

This Government is aware of the importance of allowing prisoners to maintain contact with family and other positive relationships, and the positive influence this can have on their wellbeing and rehabilitation. Provision of in-cell telephony is one of several ways that we enable that contact to take place and we aim to make this affordable for prisoners.We have negotiated a 20% reduction in call costs to all UK landline and UK mobile numbers which came into effect from 1 April 2025, which will make communication more affordable.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of making the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline on waiting times for autism assessments a statutory requirement.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessment services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. In doing so, ICBs should take account of waiting lists, considering how local funding can be deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.NICE guidelines are not mandatory, but National Health Service commissioners and healthcare providers are expected to take them fully into account in designing services that meet the needs of their local populations.Lord Darzi’s independent review of the NHS, published in September 2024, highlighted that demand for autism assessments has grown significantly in recent years. Waiting times for an assessment will be impacted by a range of factors, which may differ between areas, including the level of demand and the capacity within autism assessment services to meet that demand.The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our NHS needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention.