Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what action she is taking to support mine clearance, risk education, and safe access to schools, agricultural land, and residential areas in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has long recognised the importance of education for Syria's long-term resilience, stability and prosperity. Since 2022, the UK's Syria Education Programme has trained over 15,000 school staff and provided foundational literacy and numeracy materials to primary school children in Idlib and Aleppo. In the past year, the UK has funded the rehabilitation of 90 schools in Idlib and Aleppo and provided £2.5 million to UNICEF for school rehabilitation across the country.
The UK also places the inclusion of women and girls at the centre of its approach to Syria's recovery. Syria is a priority country under the UK's National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and we are supporting agricultural livelihoods, vocational training and entrepreneurship opportunities with a focus on young people, female-headed households and conflict‑affected communities in economically marginalised regions.
The UK's Global Mine Action Programme is supporting mine clearance and livelihoods programming in North East Syria and our Syria Education Programme provides safety information to children in Idlib and Aleppo, promoting safe behaviours and encouraging the reporting of suspicious or hazardous objects.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help support the inclusion of Syrian youth and women in post-conflict reconstruction and decision-making processes including funding for locally-led initiatives and civic empowerment programmes.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has long recognised the importance of education for Syria's long-term resilience, stability and prosperity. Since 2022, the UK's Syria Education Programme has trained over 15,000 school staff and provided foundational literacy and numeracy materials to primary school children in Idlib and Aleppo. In the past year, the UK has funded the rehabilitation of 90 schools in Idlib and Aleppo and provided £2.5 million to UNICEF for school rehabilitation across the country.
The UK also places the inclusion of women and girls at the centre of its approach to Syria's recovery. Syria is a priority country under the UK's National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and we are supporting agricultural livelihoods, vocational training and entrepreneurship opportunities with a focus on young people, female-headed households and conflict‑affected communities in economically marginalised regions.
The UK's Global Mine Action Programme is supporting mine clearance and livelihoods programming in North East Syria and our Syria Education Programme provides safety information to children in Idlib and Aleppo, promoting safe behaviours and encouraging the reporting of suspicious or hazardous objects.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support employment, vocational training, and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people in Syria, particularly in areas affected by conflict and sanctions.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has long recognised the importance of education for Syria's long-term resilience, stability and prosperity. Since 2022, the UK's Syria Education Programme has trained over 15,000 school staff and provided foundational literacy and numeracy materials to primary school children in Idlib and Aleppo. In the past year, the UK has funded the rehabilitation of 90 schools in Idlib and Aleppo and provided £2.5 million to UNICEF for school rehabilitation across the country.
The UK also places the inclusion of women and girls at the centre of its approach to Syria's recovery. Syria is a priority country under the UK's National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and we are supporting agricultural livelihoods, vocational training and entrepreneurship opportunities with a focus on young people, female-headed households and conflict‑affected communities in economically marginalised regions.
The UK's Global Mine Action Programme is supporting mine clearance and livelihoods programming in North East Syria and our Syria Education Programme provides safety information to children in Idlib and Aleppo, promoting safe behaviours and encouraging the reporting of suspicious or hazardous objects.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the rebuilding of schools, the training of teachers, and the provision of learning materials in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has long recognised the importance of education for Syria's long-term resilience, stability and prosperity. Since 2022, the UK's Syria Education Programme has trained over 15,000 school staff and provided foundational literacy and numeracy materials to primary school children in Idlib and Aleppo. In the past year, the UK has funded the rehabilitation of 90 schools in Idlib and Aleppo and provided £2.5 million to UNICEF for school rehabilitation across the country.
The UK also places the inclusion of women and girls at the centre of its approach to Syria's recovery. Syria is a priority country under the UK's National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and we are supporting agricultural livelihoods, vocational training and entrepreneurship opportunities with a focus on young people, female-headed households and conflict‑affected communities in economically marginalised regions.
The UK's Global Mine Action Programme is supporting mine clearance and livelihoods programming in North East Syria and our Syria Education Programme provides safety information to children in Idlib and Aleppo, promoting safe behaviours and encouraging the reporting of suspicious or hazardous objects.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of market concentration in the food retail industry on (a) consumers and (b) suppliers.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provided an updated assessment of retail competition and profitability in July 2024 which did not find that groceries inflation was being driven at an aggregate level by weak competition between retailers. There was overall growth in revenues, profits, and margins for retailers in the 2023/24 financial year. However, operating profits and margins remained broadly at or below financial years 2019/20 to 2021/22 level.
The CMA’s November 2024 analysis of supermarket loyalty pricing also found limited evidence of price changes which could indicate that supermarkets may have inflated prices to make their loyalty prices appear misleadingly attractive.
Supermarkets relations with suppliers are guided by the Groceries Supply Code of Practice. This imposes various obligations on the largest retailers such as dealing fairly and lawfully with suppliers, not varying supply agreements retrospectively, and providing reasonable notice of any significant changes to supply chain procedures.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many mosques, Islamic centres and Muslim community centres have been subject to criminal damage in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of religious hate crimes targeted at Muslims recorded by the police in England and Wales. It is not possible to tell, from the data held centrally, whether or not the offences were committed against mosques, Islamic centres or Muslim community centres.
The latest published statistics are available here: Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many organisations have applied for funding through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme in every year since it was established; and of these, how many have been successful in obtaining funding.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Protecting the right of all faith communities to worship in peace and without fear is fundamental. The Government continues to support the police in reviewing threats and strengthening protections for faith communities against terrorism and hate crime.
That is why up to £40 million is available through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme in 2026/27. This includes additional funding announced by the Prime Minister of £10 million to further strengthen security at mosques and other Muslim community sites. The scheme provides protective security measures (such as security personnel services, CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing) to mosques, Muslim faith schools and associated Muslim faith community centres.
To protect the integrity of the scheme and ensure the continued safety of vulnerable sites, the Home Office does not publish data on processing of applications or the specific offers made to individual sites. Releasing this information could inadvertently disclose sensitive details about faith communities and their security arrangements.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many people did her department sponsor Chevening scholarships for from (a) Sudan, (b) Cameroon, (c) Myanmar and (d) Afghanistan in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The table below provides the number of Chevening Scholarships awarded to individuals from Sudan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Afghanistan in the last ten years.
Country | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
Afghanistan | 18 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 23 | 29 | 18 | 21 | 13 | 10 |
Cameroon | 18 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Myanmar | 12 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 14 |
Sudan | 12 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 10 |
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with Israeli ministers about the annexation of Sebastia in the West Bank.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to response given on 24 March to question 120656.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the average length of time for applications to the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme to be determined since that Scheme was established.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme receives a high volume of applications, and each is assessed to ensure that public money is used proportionately, fairly, and in line with the Scheme’s eligibility requirements.
Processing times can vary depending on application volumes and the circumstances of individual sites. As such, the Home Office does not hold a published estimate of the average length of time for applications to be determined since the Scheme was established.
We continue to work to improve the consistency and timeliness of decisions while ensuring that assessments remain proportionate and aligned with value‑for‑money considerations.