Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the human rights situation in Somalia.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain deeply concerned by the human rights situation in Somalia, including the devastating conflict-related violence against women and children, and deteriorating media freedom.
The UK advocates for greater respect for human rights through targeted programmes and sustained engagement, holding the Federal Government of Somalia and other actors to account.
As co-chair of a Somalia-focused Human Rights Working Group, and joint penholder for the United Nations Human Rights Council mandate, the UK plays a leading role in keeping international partners’ attention and efforts focused on human rights issues in Somalia.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the equity of the Early Years funding formula on families and childcare providers in Sheffield.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department uses the early years national funding formulae (EYNFF) to allocate early years entitlement funding to local authorities in a fair and transparent way.
The formulae ensure each area receives a base rate for each age group individually, regardless of location or individual need. On top of this, additional needs funding is allocated to reflect the proportion of children in each area who are disadvantaged, have English as an additional language, or have more complex special educational needs, recognising the higher costs of supporting these groups. An area cost adjustment is also applied to account for local variations in staffing and premises costs.
Through this approach, the department aims to ensure funding reflects children’s needs and local cost pressures throughout England, including in Sheffield.
We have committed to reviewing early years funding, including the national funding formulae, to ensure funding continues to match needs. We will consult the sector on changes by summer 2026.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the Government’s response to the Modernising and improving the administration of council tax consultation, and if he will make a statement confirming the Government’s proposed approach to the consultation’s recommendations on reforming liability order timeframes.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is grateful to the Money Advice Trust and the important work carried out by the National Debt line to support people facing financial difficulties.
We acknowledge the concerns and issues raised in the report regarding council tax collection and enforcement practices. The Government’s recent consultation on improving and modernising council tax administration was intended to make the system fairer for taxpayers by improving how council tax is collected and enforced. This included seeking views on the time before the full became liable and suggestions on other ways for councils to support vulnerable people in council tax debt before moving to formal enforcement.
The Government’s response to the consultation will set out details on any policy recommendations and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the findings of the Money Advice Trust’s Lost in the system report; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is grateful to the Money Advice Trust and the important work carried out by the National Debt line to support people facing financial difficulties.
We acknowledge the concerns and issues raised in the report regarding council tax collection and enforcement practices. The Government’s recent consultation on improving and modernising council tax administration was intended to make the system fairer for taxpayers by improving how council tax is collected and enforced. This included seeking views on the time before the full became liable and suggestions on other ways for councils to support vulnerable people in council tax debt before moving to formal enforcement.
The Government’s response to the consultation will set out details on any policy recommendations and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to improve a) universal, b) targeted and c) specialist speech, language and communication support.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
On 23 February, we published the ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper, alongside a ‘SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First’ consultation. We announced an investment of over £40 million to increase support available from speech and language therapists and educational psychologists, including for those with speech, language and communication needs.
We are providing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and integrated care boards, to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer, designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings by providing access to universal and targeted support from key services, including speech and language therapists.
The government is investing £200 million to give all staff in schools, colleges and nurseries the training needed to better support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream settings.
We are extending the Early Language and Support for Every Child programme, trialling new ways of working to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs in early years settings and primary schools.
We are continuing to invest in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, which significantly impacts oral language and early literacy, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the overseas scale rates.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Where employers reimburse allowable travel expenses, tax relief is available provided the expenses are wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for work purposes.
Ordinarily, employers must hold evidence of the employee’s actual expenditure. However, to reduce administrative burdens on employers, HMRC allows expenses for travel outside the UK to be reimbursed without evidence up to the levels contained within the Overseas Scale Rates. Where the Overseas Scale Rates do not cover the expense incurred by employees, employers can still reimburse and provide tax relief provided they have appropriate evidence.
The government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Warrington North, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, on what dates, and in what form, have IPSA asked hon. Members to provide information about (a) the volume of casework being undertaken by their offices and (b) any other such data referred to at the SCIPSA oral evidence session which took place on 4 March 2026.
Answered by Charlotte Nichols
IPSA regularly engages and communicates with both Members and Members’ staff through informal and formal channels.
IPSA has discussed the need for information and evidence relating to casework volumes and other pressures experienced by offices, including through regular informal engagement with proxies and office managers, as well as via account manager liaison with offices. For instance, as part of IPSA’s consultation ahead of 2026-27 budget decisions, IPSA encouraged office managers to provide data on casework volumes at a Members’ Office Managers’ meeting on 22 October 2025. A written follow-up with this request was also distributed.
IPSA’s consultation on staffing was open from 6 October until 31 October 2025. In total, IPSA received over 440 responses. Of those, 60 responses referred to casework.
The regular engagement IPSA has with offices is an invaluable opportunity in which IPSA is able to informally seek and receive feedback, outside, or as part, of formal consultation cycles.
IPSA has listened to the feedback received in the wake of the announcement of 2026-27 staffing funding and will be setting up a joint working group with House services that will aim to assess the evidence of need and agree a practical, deliverable plan to accelerate efforts to help MPs manage workloads and secure value for money beyond the additional funding provided, reporting back to the Speaker in four months’ time.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Warrington North, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if the transcript of the meeting titled Staffing budget drop in - session 1 held on Monday 23 February 2026 will be placed in the Library.
Answered by Charlotte Nichols
The transcript of that meeting will be placed in the Library and sent to the hon. Member once it has been reviewed for any personal data.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 humanitarian aid organisations operating in Yemen.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to working towards lasting peace and prosperity for the Yemeni people. We continue to support the work of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen and use our role as penholder for Yemen at the UN Security Council to galvanise international support and advance progress towards an inclusive political settlement.
We also continue to urge the international community to respond to the rapidly deteriorating levels of food security in Yemen. The UK is currently the largest donor to the UN-led Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, delivering £139 million in aid through the UN and other agencies in 2025/26, including dedicated support to enable those organisations to carry out their work.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 a peaceful political settlement in Yemen.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to working towards lasting peace and prosperity for the Yemeni people. We continue to support the work of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen and use our role as penholder for Yemen at the UN Security Council to galvanise international support and advance progress towards an inclusive political settlement.
We also continue to urge the international community to respond to the rapidly deteriorating levels of food security in Yemen. The UK is currently the largest donor to the UN-led Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, delivering £139 million in aid through the UN and other agencies in 2025/26, including dedicated support to enable those organisations to carry out their work.