Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the Defense for Children International – Palestine's report entitled Starving a generation: Israel’s famine campaign targeting Palestinian children in Gaza, published on 24 June 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are appalled by the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where famine is now unfolding, as confirmed by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) on 29 July. This is unacceptable. While the Israeli Defence Forces' "tactical pauses" are a necessary step, they are long overdue. We highlighted the critical situation for Gaza's children through our statement at the UN Security Council on 30 June and at the International Development Committee on 16 July. The UK continues to demand that a full and unhindered resumption of aid into Gaza takes place immediately. Israel must immediately allow the UN and aid partners to safely deliver aid at scale and in line with humanitarian principles. We remain committed to ensuring UK support reaches those who need it - including our £101 million package of financial support to the Occupied Palestinian Territories this Financial Year.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including specialist dementia nurses as part of the Neighbourhood Health Service.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Neighbourhood Health Service will bring together teams of professionals, closer to people’s homes, to work together to provide comprehensive care in the community. We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations, and so they could include dementia nurses. While we will be clear on the outcomes we expect, we will give significant licence to tailor the approach to local need. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, services may look different in rural communities, coastal towns, and deprived inner cities, depending on local need.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to instruct the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct an investigation into the safety of Boeing aircraft models that are in service in the UK.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No. The UK Civil Aviation Authority, as the UK’s aviation safety regulator, are responsible for regulatory oversight of UK airlines and operations. It is for them to assess whether further action is required within the UK. At this time they have ruled out the need for further checks in the UK.
In regard to the recent accident involving Air India flight AI171, currently, we are not aware of any evidence regarding this incident to suggest there is an unsafe condition with any commercial Boeing aircraft types. The preliminary report of this accident ruled out the need for wider action against this aircraft type, engine or manufacturer.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps with international aviation regulators to oversee Boeing’s (a) manufacturing and (b) safety practices.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport (DfT) and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regularly engage with international counterparts on safety issues.
The primary responsibility for Boeing aircraft is through the Type Certificate Holder and their certificating authority. The certificating authority for Boeing aircraft is the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The FAA informed the CAA and DfT that they have increased oversight and directed Boeing to create an action plan to address issues identified which was submitted in May 2024. The FAA continue to actively monitor Boeing and delivery of their action plan.
In relation to the recent accident involving Air India flight AI171, the preliminary report ruled out the need for wider action against this aircraft type, engine or manufacturer.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the absence of service standards on all applications under the (a) family and (b) private life routes on applicants accessing (i) work, (ii) healthcare and (c) education.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Family and private life applications based on exceptionality are not subject to a service standard, however we do update GOV.UK with our average processing times and information is available in the published transparency data around consideration times.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to introduce service standards for all applications for settlement made under the (a) family and (b) private life route.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain based on Family or Private life will be decided within six months.
Full details of current service standards can be found here:
Settlement: customer service standards - GOV.UK
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve the availability of tuberculosis medication.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated, and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and are outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues, and regulatory issues. There are approximately 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. Where there are supply issues, these are managed at a national level across the UK rather than at a regional level.
NHS England has been notified of some issues with medicines used to treat tuberculosis (TB), however there is sufficient stock available from alternative suppliers to meet normal demand for most of them. The products facing current disruptions include Voractiv tablets until late June 2025, and rifampicin 150 milligram capsules until mid-August 2025, both due to manufacturing delays. Comprehensive management plans were communicated to healthcare professionals on 1 June 2025, highlighting issues with TB medicines and advising of the actions to take during this time.
NHS England is actively working with the affected suppliers to address these supply issues as quickly as possible to ensure that UK patients have access to the medications they need.
The team are working intensively to improve the availability of TB medicines, which includes co-ordinating with the British Thoracic Society to ensure centres treating active TB have access to available supplies, and directing trusts to build buffer stocks of unlicensed imports of TB medicines whilst there is a supply issue with some UK licensed products. The team are also supporting the impacted supplier and trusts to ensure that the available TB medicine supplies are equitably distributed and allocated fairly across the UK. The team is continuing to explore medium to long term solutions to the supply issues, working with those mentioned as well as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and clinicians within the NHS.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the availability of tuberculosis medication on the provision of healthcare in London.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated, and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and are outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues, and regulatory issues. There are approximately 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. Where there are supply issues, these are managed at a national level across the UK rather than at a regional level.
NHS England has been notified of some issues with medicines used to treat tuberculosis (TB), however there is sufficient stock available from alternative suppliers to meet normal demand for most of them. The products facing current disruptions include Voractiv tablets until late June 2025, and rifampicin 150 milligram capsules until mid-August 2025, both due to manufacturing delays. Comprehensive management plans were communicated to healthcare professionals on 1 June 2025, highlighting issues with TB medicines and advising of the actions to take during this time.
NHS England is actively working with the affected suppliers to address these supply issues as quickly as possible to ensure that UK patients have access to the medications they need.
The team are working intensively to improve the availability of TB medicines, which includes co-ordinating with the British Thoracic Society to ensure centres treating active TB have access to available supplies, and directing trusts to build buffer stocks of unlicensed imports of TB medicines whilst there is a supply issue with some UK licensed products. The team are also supporting the impacted supplier and trusts to ensure that the available TB medicine supplies are equitably distributed and allocated fairly across the UK. The team is continuing to explore medium to long term solutions to the supply issues, working with those mentioned as well as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and clinicians within the NHS.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of uprating in line with inflation the income threshold for Free School Meals eligibility for children in families with No Recourse to Public Funds.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Children from households with no recourse to public funds can receive free meals in school, subject to meeting income criteria set by the department in our published guidance.
As with all government programmes, we continue to keep free school meals under review.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's report entitled Triggers to claiming personal independence payment, published on 2 May 2025, whether she plans to revise the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payments in light of that report.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable and giving everyone a better future, and that is at the heart of our welfare reforms. We are ensuring that our welfare state is there for people who need it now, and can be there for those who need it long into the future too.
Our intention is that the PIP changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026. This means there will be no immediate changes, and we are consulting on how best to support those impacted by the new eligibility changes.
The changes to PIP will help better target support towards those with the highest needs. This includes introducing a new requirement that, in addition to existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score at least four points in one daily living activity to qualify for the daily living component of PIP.
We have launched a review of the PIP assessment to ensure it is fair and fit for the future and we are working with disabled people and key organisations representing them to consider how best to do this.