Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the (a) United Nations and (b) International Maritime Organisation on the access of the Global Sumed Flotilla into Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain in close contact with our Israeli counterparts over the status of vessels seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, and as the Prime Minister said on 21 September, the UK continues to demand that the Israeli Government permits the full and unhindered resumption of aid into Gaza immediately. By far the most effective way to meet the desperate needs of the Gazan people at the speed and scale that is needed is via overland routes, and we reiterate that Israel must immediately allow the UN and other agencies to deliver lifesaving aid to those in Gaza who so desperately need it.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
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 protect British (a) vessels and (b) civilians when en route to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain in close contact with our Israeli counterparts over the status of vessels seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, and as the Prime Minister said on 21 September, the UK continues to demand that the Israeli Government permits the full and unhindered resumption of aid into Gaza immediately. By far the most effective way to meet the desperate needs of the Gazan people at the speed and scale that is needed is via overland routes, and we reiterate that Israel must immediately allow the UN and other agencies to deliver lifesaving aid to those in Gaza who so desperately need it.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help support small and medium-sized charities, in the context of increased competition for limited grant funding.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This government recognises the vital role that charities play in providing crucial support to different groups and communities. The Civil Society Covenant sets out the terms of a new relationship between government and civil society, and is a clear statement that government sees civil society as an indispensable partner in building a better Britain.
DCMS is promoting the availability of funding for smaller charities in several ways. This includes delivery of a number of grant schemes, such as the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund and the £25.5 million Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Energy Efficiency Scheme, which is supporting frontline organisations across England to improve their energy efficiency and sustainability.
Support for charities is also available through social investment which provides a range of tools – from grants to investments – to help charities and social enterprises grow their trading income, strengthen their resilience, and access financial support that works for them. The Dormant Assets Scheme Strategy, published in June 2025, announced that the Scheme is expected to release £440 million for England over 2024-28, with £87.5 million of this funding allocated towards social investment.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to introduce skills retraining and workforce support measures, in the context of the deployment of AI technologies in workplaces.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We want to ensure that people have access to good, meaningful work. AI will impact the labour market and Government is working to harness its benefits in terms of boosting growth, productivity, living standards, and worker wellbeing, while mitigating the risks. We’re planning for varied outcomes and monitoring data to track and prepare for these. The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out how we will address key challenges and that includes giving people the skills to get those jobs and spread opportunity to fix the foundations of our economy to seize AI’s potential.
The Government is supporting workforce readiness for AI through a range of initiatives. The new AI Skills Hub, developed by Innovate UK and PwC, provides streamlined access to digital training. This will support government priorities through tackling critical skills gaps and improving workforce readiness. We are also partnering with 11 major companies to train 7.5 million UK workers in essential AI skills by 2030.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support workers whose roles have been displaced due to offshoring by UK-based firms.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. member to the answer I gave on 10 September to PQ 72893.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of artificial intelligence on employment levels in the next (a) five and (b) ten years.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No current assessment has been made by the Department for Work and Pensions on the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on employment.
We are starting to witness AI’s impact within the labour market: transforming the workplace, demanding new skills and augmenting old ones. But there is uncertainty over the future scale of AI’s impact on the labour market. Given the recent rapid pace of AI development, government is planning against a range of plausible future outcomes and closely monitoring the data that will help track if we are heading towards any of these outcomes.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his oral statement of 21 July 2025 on Middle East, Official Report, column 595, whether UK made arms components were used in the incident at the Project HOPE health clinic in Deir al Balah.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary has said, we utterly condemn the killing of civilians seeking to meet their basic needs. Our assessment of this strike, drawing on the available evidence, including eyewitness reports in the media, is that it was a drone strike. The Government suspended all export licences for IDF drones on 2 September 2024, and we categorically do not export any bombs or ammunition for use in military operations in Gaza.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on the (a) development and (b) procurement of AI-enabled defence systems in each of the last three years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold specific figures on the development and procurement of AI-enabled defence systems. AI is not a standalone capability, but an enabling technology embedded across projects in both defence systems and in the business space across the Ministry. Over the last three financial years (FY) spending within the Chief Scientific Adviser's research portfolio on AI has been:
· FY2022-23 - £46.20 million
· FY2023-24 - £52.13 million
· FY2024-25 - £37.44 million
Procurement costs are not separately recorded and are integrated within wider programme budgets.
In August the MOD announced a procurement plan worth up to £180 million for digital decision capabilities to enable scalable operations involving autonomy, including using AI and machine learning to speed up decision making. Further detail on MOD's plans for investment in AI-enabled capabilities will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with Ofgem on reducing electricity and gas standing charges.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government knows that, for many consumers, too much of the burden of the bill is placed on standing charges. We are committed to lowering the cost of standing charges and are working constructively with Ofgem, on this issue. Ofgem have conducted a broad public consultation to understand the views of consumers on this issue, receiving over 5,000 responses on their 2024 discussion paper. Since then, Ofgem have been continuing work in two areas.
Firstly, Ofgem have been working to ensure that domestic consumers can choose tariffs with low or no standing charges. Ofgem took a further step towards this goal on 24th July, announcing proposals to require suppliers to offer their customers low or no standing charge tariffs from early 2026. You can read about this here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/policy/standing-charges-energy-price-cap-variant-next-steps.
Secondly, Ofgem have been reviewing how ‘fixed’ costs, which tend to be funded through standing charges, should be recovered in the future energy system. This includes whether those fixed costs could be recovered in more progressive ways, and we are working closely with the regulator on this.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has cooperated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation; whether his Department plans to cooperate with this organisation; and whether it is his policy that UK humanitarian aid support for Palestine should be delivered solely by (a) the UN and (b) established humanitarian partners.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has not cooperated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. We have been clear that we will not cooperate with any aid delivery mechanism that does not fully respect humanitarian principles. In a joint statement on 19 May with 26 partners, we highlighted our concerns that Israel's new mechanisms for aid delivery in Gaza place beneficiaries and aid workers at risk, undermine the role and independence of the UN and our trusted partners, and link humanitarian aid to political and military objectives. We continue to call on Israel to enable the UN and humanitarian non-governmental organisations to do their work safely and effectively, in line with the humanitarian principles.