Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on guaranteeing safe access to school for pupils and teachers in Hebron and throughout Palestine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are concerned about reports of restrictions on movement and displacement in Hebron and the impact these have on Palestinian education facilities. Access to educational facilities must be protected. We continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Israel and urge them to fully respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of educational institutions.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help bring empty homes in London into use.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 12 October 2026 (HCWS363).
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on Joshua Wong.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Honourable member to my response to question 36419, answered on 28 October.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he is taking to protect people from emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring that emerging technologies, including AI, are developed and deployed safely and responsibly. Most AI systems are already regulated at the point of use through existing expert regulators and legal safeguards. Government will legislate where needed, based on evidence of serious gaps in the existing framework.
Public sector organisations also have access to guidance and tools to support the responsible use of AI and other data-driven technologies, including the AI and Data Ethics Framework, the Model for Responsible Innovation and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard.
The AI Security Institute provides independent scientific and technical capability to test and assess advanced AI systems and identify vulnerabilities, helping Government understand emerging risks and strengthen safeguards.
The Government keeps its approach under review as technologies develop and will consider whether further guidance or protections are required to support the safe, reliable and accountable deployment of emerging technologies in public services.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure adequate numbers of jobs for Midwifery graduates.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 5 September in response to Question 72922.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress is being made to combat non-physical abuse such as coercive and controlling behaviour as part of our mission to end violence against women and girls.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Controlling or coercive behaviour (CCB) is an insidious form of domestic abuse, and we recognise the long-term emotional and psychological distress it can cause.
‘Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, sets out a range of commitments to improve the response to CCB, including:
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has held discussions with the FCA following reports that a Russian-backed money launderer used an FCA regulated British fintech company to process payments and avoid financial sanctions imposed because of the war in Ukraine.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, assesses every instance of reported non-compliance with UK financial sanctions and takes action in all cases where it concludes that a breach has occurred. OFSI works closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in respect of the enforcement of UK financial sanctions where cases concern FCA-regulated firms. The FCA is responsible for supervising regulated firms to ensure that they maintain adequate systems and controls to mitigate the risk of breaching sanctions and facilitating evasion.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken to speed up Ofsted's voluntary register processing time for home child carer applications.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Friern Barnet directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to (a) encourage Electric Vehicle ownership take-up and (b) improve access to EV charging.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is investing £7.5 billion to support industry and drivers to switch to zero emission vehicles, including the £2 billion Electric Car Grant which has helped over 190,000 drivers choose an electric car. We work closely with industry to address concerns and misconceptions about electric vehicles and promote consumer confidence.
Government and industry are delivering charging infrastructure to match rising demand. There are now more than 123,000 public chargers across the UK, and the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund will deliver another 100,000 charge points in England.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department is making on implementing the Animal Welfare strategy.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal Welfare Strategy sets out the priority issues that this Government will address, focusing on the changes and improvements that Defra aim to achieve by 2030 to improve the lives of millions of animals across the UK.
This Government is determined to deliver these reforms and has already undertaken a number of consultations on phasing out cages for laying hens, improving lamb welfare and trail hunting. Defra are now analysing the responses to these consultations. A call for evidence on gamebirds was also recently published.
This Government has published Animal Welfare Committee Opinions on breeding in commercial livestock and responsible sourcing of fur. The department have also held the first meeting of the fur working group to explore concerns and the different ways in which they could be addressed.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency has been commissioned to conduct a review of the evidence relating to mole traps; corvid traps; and the spring traps listed on the Spring Trap Approval Order as it applies in England. This review is underway and is expected to conclude by April 2027.
As set out in the strategy Defra are working with industry, keepers and farmers to improve resilience to a changing climate. This summer, the department met with the pig sector on this and also with the meat chicken industry to discuss the impact of the heatwaves and to hear from them about the effectiveness of the mitigations they have put in place since the 2022 heatwave.
Defra is continuing to progress implementation of the strategy in a phased way.