Written questions by Sultana.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that local authorities fulfil their statutory duties in respect of Education, Health and Care Plans for children with special educational needs.

The department and NHS England work together to support and challenge local areas to improve their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) service delivery where required. This includes monitoring, supporting and challenging any areas of identified weakness, both following an area SEND inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, or if those areas are identified outside of inspection timescales.Where a local authority does not meet its duties, including in relation to securing provision in accordance with education, health and care plans, the department can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement. This includes a range of universal, targeted and intensive support through departmental programmes, such as our expert advisers and commissioners.

How many hunger strikes in prisons lasted for over 40 days in (a) 2021, (b) 2022, (c) 2023, (d) 2024 and 2025.

None of the requested data are centrally collated. They could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

How many hunger strike incidents in prisons involved (a) three and (b) more persons collectively engaging in the strike in (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025.

None of the requested data are centrally collated. They could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

How long has each hunger strike lasted in prisons in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.

None of the requested data are centrally collated. They could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

How many people participating in hunger strikes in prisons became hospitalised for reasons associated with the strike in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.

None of the requested data are centrally collated. They could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the use of non-medical clinical practitioners in primary care on patients’ ability to see a fully qualified doctor; and what steps he is taking to ensure newly qualified doctors are able to obtain appropriate posts within the NHS.

We hugely value the unique work carried out by general practitioners (GPs). The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure that the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the best care for patients, when they need it.GPs remain at the heart of general practice and primary care. However, there is a wide range of clinicians who are well suited to providing care in general practice as part of a multi-disciplinary team. For example, a patient with osteoarthritis might benefit from seeing a physiotherapist. In relation to physician assistants (still legally known as physician associates), Professor Leng’s recent review was clear that, with changes in line with its recommendations, there remains a place for these roles as supporting, complementary members of medical teams, including in general practice. The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) provides funding for a number of additional roles, to help create bespoke, multi-disciplinary teams. All these roles are in place to assist general practice doctors in reducing their workload and assisting patients directly with their needs, allowing doctors to focus on more complex patients and other priorities, including continuity of care. The Government has highlighted its commitment to GPs, and since October 2024, we have funded primary care networks with an additional £160 million to recruit recently qualified GPs through the ARRS. Over 2,600 individual GPs have now been recruited, preventing them graduating into unemployment. This was a measure to respond to feedback from the profession and to help solve an immediate issue of GP unemployment.Over ten million more general practice appointments have been delivered in the 12 months to September 2025 compared to the same period last year, building capacity for continuity of care and improving access so that patients can be seen when they need to be in primary care.

Pursuant to Question 92229, which courses British armed forces personnel have attended in Israel since October 2023.

Fewer than five British Armed Forces personnel have studied on non-combat military academic courses in Israel since October 2023. Which courses they attended is being withheld in order to protect personal information.

Pursuant to Question 92229, whether his Department paid for British armed forces personnel to attend courses in Israel since October 2023.

The British Armed Forces pay for overseas courses that they attend, unless the host nation offers to do so. The MOD only accepts places on overseas courses following a rigorous vetting process that considers equality obligations, human-rights and legal context, security, medical and risk assurance, and overall alignment with Defence training and operational priorities.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that companies operating and earning revenue in the UK do not offshore jobs to reduce tax liabilities; and whether his Department plans to introduce legislative measures to safeguard UK workers from redundancies linked to such offshoring decisions.

Our Industrial Strategy places jobs at its heart, introducing measures to support growth sectors to create high-quality, well-paid jobs across the country, backed by employment rights fit for a modern economy.The Global Minimum Tax, a 15% effective corporate tax rate on large multinationals in each area they operate in, protects against harmful tax planning and profit shifting.We are updating the law so that employees must be consulted when redundancies are proposed across an organisation. The specifics of this new requirement will be set in regulations following consultation.

If he will require the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board to publish the evidence base, consultation documents and impact assessments for the decision to end the Minor Eye Care Service and Community Urgent Eyecare Service across Coventry and South Warwickshire.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning decisions and for ensuring that those decisions are supported by a clear evidence base, appropriate engagement, and the necessary impact assessments.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board’s decision to end the Minor Eye Care Service and Community Urgent Eyecare Service on (a) hospital ophthalmology waiting times, (b) the ability of GPs and pharmacists to manage urgent eye conditions and (c) patient outcomes, including the risk of avoidable sight loss.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning decisions and for ensuring that those decisions are supported by a clear evidence base, appropriate engagement, and the necessary impact assessments.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has funded any non-governmental or media organisations in Venezuela since 2023.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 15 May 2025 to Question 50066. She can find details of all programmes supported in Venezuela on the GOV.UK Development Tracker (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/).

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether any funds from the UK Integrated Security Fund have been allocated for projects involving Venezuela since 2024.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 15 May 2025 to Question 50066. She can find details of all programmes supported in Venezuela on the GOV.UK Development Tracker (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/).

Whether any British armed forces officers have studied or trained at Israeli military colleges since October 2023.

Fewer than five British Armed Forces personnel have studied on educational staff courses in Israel since October 2023.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) rights and (b) remedies available to tenants affected by (i) nuisance and (ii) overgrown trees on neighbouring land.

Through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, social landlords, the police and local authorities have been given a range of powers and tools to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB), including nuisance. There is also a statutory regime for dealing with a range of nuisances including noise, and it is for individual local authorities to determine the detailed arrangements of the services they provide, taking into account their assessment of local needs and circumstances. Under the new consumer regulation regime, the Regulator of Social Housing will proactively seek assurances that providers are meeting the outcomes set by the Neighbourhood and Community Standard. Providers will be required to collect and publish data on tenants’ satisfaction with their landlord’s approach to handling ASB, which will ensure that tenants can hold registered providers to account. Under common law, a landowner can cut the branches from a neighbour's trees at the boundary between the two properties, whether or not they are causing any damage, if they overhang his or her property and are regarded as a nuisance. If you live in a conservation area, or the trees in the hedge are protected by a ‘tree preservation order’, you might need your council’s permission to trim them.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which (a) financial institutions and (b) private corporations attended the Wilton Park conference on the reconstruction of Gaza.

The UK co-hosted a conference at Wilton Park with the Palestinian Authority and Egypt on mobilising private sector finance in support of Palestinian-led planning for the Recovery and Reconstruction of Gaza. Wilton Park Protocol means that we cannot provide exact names or institutions, but the attendees included international investors with particular focus on development impact, multilateral institutions, Palestinian private sector representatives, and our international partners, including European and Arab Governments.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK is training Palestinian police forces.

As part of our commitment to stability in Israel and Palestine, the UK provides the Palestinian Authority with professional support in helping develop capable and responsible security institutions that respect human rights and are accountable to the Palestinian people. The Foreign Secretary recently announced up to £1 million funding for UK supported training facilities in Jordan, which will train Palestinian Security Forces based in the West Bank to build their capacity and capability to maintain security in the State of Palestine.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending redundancy protection to 18 months for employees experiencing pregnancy loss at any stage of pregnancy.

If an employee experiences pregnancy loss within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, the redundancy protected period ends two weeks from the end of the pregnancy. After a stillbirth from 24 weeks, the protected period ends 18 months from the date of birth.The Employment Rights Bill establishes a new right to bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss, and powers to provide protections around redundancy and dismissal. A primary driver of the existing enhanced redundancy protections is to protect those who take lengthy absences from work on statutory family leave and thus may be at a disadvantage in a redundancy situation.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of her Department's policies on (a) all people seeking asylum and (b) people seeking asylum whose age is disputed who arrived in the UK by irregular means.

The impact of our policies on vulnerable individuals and equalities considerations are at the front and centre of our work. As required through the Public Sector Equality Duty, we consider equality impacts throughout the asylum policy development process, and that includes our policy on age assessment.The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders. All policy development is carried out with regard to section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and in line with our international obligations.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that families of adults with learning disabilities are given a greater role in decisions on their (a) care and (b) support.

Under the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, carers will be actively involved in the care planning of those they care for, mirroring the practices of family group conferencing.Additionally, we are increasing the information captured about unpaid carers throughout the health and care system to help us better understand responsibilities and provide more targeted support. Development of a new ‘MyCarer’ section of the NHS App will also allow people to communicate more easily with relevant clinical team members on behalf of those for whom they care.To provide further support, in April, the Government increased the Carer’s Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the largest ever increase since the Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976.