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, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the post by the Israeli Government’s Arabic-language X account, published on 25 August 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains steadfast in its commitment to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief globally. We condemn all instances in which social media is used to incite violence, hatred, or discrimination, including on the basis of religion or belief.
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 recent discussions he has had with trade unions on the (a) pay and (b) conditions of NHS support staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has had recent meetings with a number of general secretaries and health leads from trade unions representing staff on the Agenda for Change contract, including Unison, the Royal College of Nursing and GMB. Those meetings have focused on ways Government can continue to work with trade unions to improve working conditions for National Health Service staff, including NHS support staff, and how we can address concerns with pay within the current economic context.
The Department regularly discusses workforce policy and staff experience matters for NHS support staff through the Social Partnership Forum, which is a national forum where NHS employers, trade unions, and the Department work together on issues that affect the NHS. In addition, the Department also engages with the NHS Staff Council, which has responsibility for maintaining the Agenda for Change system of pay and terms and conditions.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions her Department has had with food and drink wholesalers on reforming the business rates system.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury releases a quarterly record of Minister’s meetings with external individuals and organisations. This can be found online: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
At the Autumn Budget, the Government published the Transforming Business Rates Discussion Paper, which set out priority areas for reform. This paper invited stakeholders to help co-design a fairer business rates system that supports investment and is fit for the 21st century.
The Government will publish an interim report that sets out a clear direction of travel for the business rates system, with further policy detail to follow at Autumn Budget 2025.
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 she has had discussions with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service on the time taken to process Subject Access Requests.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Compliance with data protection obligations, including the handling of Subject Access Requests (SARs), is the responsibility of individual police forces. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) produces guidance for organisations on how to comply with data protection law.
The Data (Use and Access) Act received Royal Assent in June 2025 and includes some changes to data protection obligations while maintaining high standards of protection for personal data. As part of the development of that legislation, Home Office officials engaged with policing stakeholders in the usual way.
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 progress the Metropolitan Police has made on abolishing the Gangs Matrix Database.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Metropolitan Police confirmed on their website that they discontinued the Gangs Matrix on 13th February 2024.
Data was retained for 12 months to ensure the force could serve any Right of Access requests and the data was deleted on 13th February 2025.
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 has met with representatives of the Motorcycle Action Group to discuss the role of motorcycling in national transport policy.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The department will publish the Integrated National Transport Strategy later this year and set the long-term vision for transport across England, putting people and the journeys they make at the heart of how transport is planned, built and operated. We have conducted extensive engagement with stakeholders and members of the public at an official level to inform the Strategy and heard directly from motorcyclists and motorcycle representative groups including Motorcycle Action Group (MAG). As the Strategy is still in development, I am unable to comment on specific policy questions, but the insights gathered through our engagement activities have been analysed and are being considered as the Strategy continues to evolve.
On 20 January, I attended the first part of the first meeting of the reconstituted Motorcycle Strategic Focus Group (MSFG), chaired by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, to demonstrate my support and commitment to the motorcycling community and to the work of that group, of which MAG is a member and were in attendance. I think that the MSFG is best placed for MAG to feed in their concerns and requests about Government policy as it affects motorcyclists.
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, what steps her Department is taking to improve road safety for motorcyclists.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Improving road safety is a key priority of this Government. For road users who choose to travel by motorcycle, the Department remains committed to ensuring that they are equipped with the specialist skills necessary to stay safe on the road.
Too many people are killed and seriously injured in road traffic collisions, and this Government will work hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users. The Department is developing the Government’s Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course.
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, what steps her Department is taking to support the transition of motorcyclists from petrol and diesel vehicles to zero-emission alternative.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government supports the transition of L-category vehicles to zero emission and has been helping people transition to zero emission motorcycles. The Plug-in Motorcycle Grant helps bridge the price gap between zero emission and petrol motorcycles and will continue until at least April 2026 for L3-category motorcycles.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
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 in response to publishers disabling video games that have already been sold.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is aware of the Stop Killing Games campaign and concerns relating to the continued access to video games, including licensed, online-only video games, and we appreciate the frustrations of players of some games that have been discontinued. The Government has spoken with the video games industry and has responded to a recent petition on this issue.
There are no plans to amend existing consumer law on disabling video games. Those selling games must comply with existing requirements in consumer law, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) and Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), giving clear advice to consumers. Video game sellers must not omit or hide material information, or provide it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
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 his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) cartoon characters on baby food packaging and (b) other child-directed imagery on baby health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Children’s early years provide an important foundation for their future health and strongly influence many aspects of wellbeing in later life.
The Government has published voluntary industry baby food guidelines as part of our comprehensive strategy to give children the best start in life. The guidelines challenge businesses to reduce the levels of salt and sugar in commercial baby food and drink products aimed at those aged up to 36 months. The guidelines also set out voluntary labelling actions for industry, in addition to reinforcing legislative requirements around labelling and health and nutrition claims. This will help to support parents and carers to make informed choices about what to feed their children.
Businesses have 18 months from the publication of these guidelines, therefore by February 2027, to deliver the required changes. We will monitor industry progress towards implementing the sugar, salt, and labelling guidelines.
It is vital that we maintain the highest standards for foods consumed by babies and infants, which is why we also have regulations in place that set nutritional, compositional, and labelling standards for commercial baby food. These ensure that commercial baby foods are suitable for infants and young children and require businesses to ensure labelling is clear and not misleading. The regulations also set labelling standards to ensure consumers have clear and accurate information about the products they buy.
The Best Start in Life health website has advice for parents and carers on successful weaning of infants to introduce healthy solid foods, and is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/
It has been updated to provide new advice on shop-bought baby food and healthy weaning practices. The update has been made in light of the increased availability and range of commercial baby food products, highlighting the need for clear and consistent advice for parents and carers.
We continue to keep these regulations under review to ensure that the composition of infant food and drinks reflects the latest scientific advice and dietary guidelines. The voluntary industry baby food guidelines should support improvements in this area.