Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what part of the allocated 2026-27 spend for the Integrated Security Fund will go towards the Gender and National Security Portfolio.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The decrease in the Integrated Security Fund’s (ISF) national security programming budget means that we need to focus resources on the highest priority threats to national security, as set out in the Written Ministerial Statement on 10 February. The Government has therefore taken the decision to close the standalone Gender and National Security (GNS) portfolio in 2026/27.
The ISF will continue to provide £0.8m each year to fund the Women, Peace and Security Helpdesk, which forms part of the GNS portfolio this year. The Helpdesk provides high-impact technical and advisory support to teams across Government, including the ISF. This supports delivery of gender-sensitive activity aligned to UK national security priorities.
Teams across government delivering ISF programming are also expected to continue to mainstream gender throughout their work, including through projects which specifically address gender and social inclusion.
They are also expected to monitor the gender and social inclusion impacts of their activity and in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty obligations, programmes will consider the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations across protected characteristics.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the £4.85 million Integrated Security Fund Package referenced in a 2 December 2025 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office press release refers to the £4.85 million allocation for financial year 2025-26 for the Integrated Security Fund Gender and National Security Portfolio, as outlined in Parliament on 18 November 2025 by The Minister for Security.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
I confirm the £4.85 million referenced in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office press release of 2 December 2025 refers directly to the Integrated Security Fund allocation for the Gender and National Security portfolio. This forms part of the Fund’s overall allocation of £854.82 million in 2025/26.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of retaining the position of gender advisors, alongside standalone funding for Women, Peace and Security.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is currently working through detailed decisions on the organisational and resource changes arising from our FCDO2030 transformation programme. We will make further announcements in the coming months. In the interim, I would refer the Hon Member to the speech made by the Foreign Secretary on 24 November 2025, reiterating the Government's commitment to the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/twenty-five-years-of-women-peace-and-security.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, in which Directorate will the Women, Peace and Security and the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative sit within the new structure of the Foreign Office.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is currently working through detailed decisions on the organisational and resource changes arising from our FCDO2030 transformation programme. We will make further announcements in the coming months. In the interim, I would refer the Hon Member to the speech made by the Foreign Secretary on 24 November 2025, reiterating the Government's commitment to the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/twenty-five-years-of-women-peace-and-security.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the growth of generative AI on creative jobs.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises that AI is transforming workplaces, demanding new skills and augmenting existing roles. The scale of future change remains uncertain. We are therefore planning against a range of plausible outcomes to ensure workers continue to have access to good, meaningful employment.
To aid this, the Government has launched the AI and the Future of Work Unit - a cross‑government function dedicated to ensuring AI delivers positive outcomes for the economy, jobs, and workers.
This Unit is designed to prepare the UK for AI-driven labour market transformation by researching and monitoring AI’s impact on the economic and labour market, to provide timely advice on when new policies should be implemented. For example, we have recently published an assessment of AI capabilities and their impact on the UK labour market evaluates trends in AI driven productivity gains and workforce exposure to AI.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Water Reform White Paper will include consideration for linking better access to blue spaces with improving their water quality.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has set out its intention to respond to the recommendations published in the final report of the Independent Water Commission through a White Paper, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment and deliver the change the public expects. These reforms will form the basis of a new water reform bill to be introduced during this parliament.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken within the last 5 years to assess the compliance of water companies and the Environment Agency against their obligations under the Water and Sewerage (Conservation, Access and Recreation) (Code of Practice) Order 2000.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is water companies’ and the Environment Agency’s responsibility to comply with their respective obligations under the Code of Practice on Conservation, Access and Recreation.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to improve the water quality in blue spaces used recreationally for activities such as paddle boarding, canoeing and kayaking.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department is working on a response to the Independent Water Commission’s final recommendations through a White Paper and a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment and restore trust and accountability. The recommendations intend to cut pollution and restore our rivers, lakes and seas, including those used recreationally, to good health for future generations.
The Environment Agency also has an active Research and Development programme exploring innovative contamination detection at bathing waters. It also participates with other UK and international agencies on the development of analytical techniques, with the aim of improving water quality in blue spaces.
In the November – December 2024 consultation on bathing water reforms, we asked respondents about wider reforms including the expansion of the definition of ‘bathers’ to include other water users.
The Government’s response, published in March 2025, noted a clear majority of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the proposal to expand the definition, with many suggesting which water users to include.
The Department is now exploring how to gather evidence to deliver this reform, considering which users to include and how to set safe classification levels for all. The timeline for detailed policy development will depend on this scoping work. Defra will engage with local and national stakeholders as work progresses and welcomes any information they can provide.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to broaden the definition of bathers within the relevant regulations to include a broader range of recreational water users.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department is working on a response to the Independent Water Commission’s final recommendations through a White Paper and a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment and restore trust and accountability. The recommendations intend to cut pollution and restore our rivers, lakes and seas, including those used recreationally, to good health for future generations.
The Environment Agency also has an active Research and Development programme exploring innovative contamination detection at bathing waters. It also participates with other UK and international agencies on the development of analytical techniques, with the aim of improving water quality in blue spaces.
In the November – December 2024 consultation on bathing water reforms, we asked respondents about wider reforms including the expansion of the definition of ‘bathers’ to include other water users.
The Government’s response, published in March 2025, noted a clear majority of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the proposal to expand the definition, with many suggesting which water users to include.
The Department is now exploring how to gather evidence to deliver this reform, considering which users to include and how to set safe classification levels for all. The timeline for detailed policy development will depend on this scoping work. Defra will engage with local and national stakeholders as work progresses and welcomes any information they can provide.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) potential implications for his policies of trends in the level of profits generated by private care homes in the last three years and (b) potential impact of this has on the funding and sustainability of social care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Provider profits are a necessary component of any healthy industry and play an important role in attracting investment to the sector. The Department monitors financial health using the Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, Amortisation, Rent and Management (EBITDARM) margin, a recognised accountancy measurement for businesses with assets and incomes such as care homes. Latest published data is from the Care Quality Commission’s Market Oversight scheme last year and suggests that non-specialist care homes had an EBITDARM margin of 26.9% as of March 2024.
We have provided the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF) to local authorities since 2023/24, with one of the three target areas local authorities can spend their allocations on being to improve fee rates to providers. MSIF is designed to support increased adult social care capacity and improve market sustainability.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes a duty to work closely with local provider to promote best practice and achieve a sustainable balance of quality, effectiveness, and value for money.