Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the interest repayments on the loan given to the British Council in response to reduced commercial revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The previous Government made available up to £200 million in loans during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure the British Council remained solvent, to support restructuring, and to help the British Council return to surplus. The loan was made on commercial terms to ensure compliance with the UK subsidy control regime, and therefore interest rates are set at market rates.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is supporting the British Council to deliver a financial turnaround plan to ensure the British Council's finances are returned to a stable footing.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding the British Council is projected to receive in (a) 2025-26, (b) 2026-27, (c) 2027-28 and (d) 2028-29, in the context of the Spending Review 2025.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is providing the British Council with £163.1 million Grant-in-Aid this financial year (2025/26). The British Council's Grant-in-Aid funding for future years was not settled in the Spending Review and will be determined, alongside the FCDO's other Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Non-ODA allocations, in the autumn.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of British Council offices overseas on British soft power.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The British Council is operationally independent from the UK Government. Decisions relating to the size and model of its overseas network are operational matters for the British Council. In a digital age, the British Council's impact should be judged by the outcomes it delivers through its programmes and operations, rather than its physical presence.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce a public health campaign on allergy awareness in children.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

To help promote awareness of allergies, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance on a range of allergy conditions, including food allergy in people under the age of 19 years old, anaphylaxis and drug allergy. NICE promotes its guidance via its website, newsletters and other media.

In June 2023, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), with the support of allergy awareness advocates, launched a safety campaign to raise awareness of anaphylaxis and provide advice on the use of adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs). MHRA produced a toolkit of resources for health and social care professionals to support the safe and effective use of AAIs.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) encourages food businesses to complete the FSA’s allergen e-learning course and recommends that it is retaken annually to refresh knowledge and ensure that businesses are up to date on any changes which may have occurred. The FSA online training is free and offers practical advice to anyone wanting to learn more about food allergy.

Section 100 of The Children and Families Act 2014 places a legal duty on schools to make arrangements for supporting pupils at their school with medical conditions, including allergies. The Department for Education recently reminded schools of their legal duties in their regular schools’ email bulletin, and also alerted schools to the newly created Schools Allergy Code, developed by The Allergy Team, the Independent Schools' Bursars Association and the Benedict Blythe Foundation. The Department for Education has now also added a link to the Code to their online allergy guidance on GOV.UK, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools/allergy-guidance-for-schools

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of single parent lead carers with work requirements meet their Administrative Earnings Threshold.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The number of single parent lead carers on Universal Credit (UC) with work requirements who earn at or above the individual Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) was 289,000 in March 2025. This is equal to 47% of the UC lead carer caseload who have work requirements.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of self-employed (a) single parent lead carers and (b) all lead carers meet their Minimum Income Floor.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In March 2025, 32% of self-employed single parent lead carers on UC were earning at or above their Minimum Income Floor (MIF), compared to 31% of all self-employed lead carers on UC. This only includes claimants who are currently gainfully self-employed and have their MIF applied.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many couples meet the administrative earnings threshold for Universal Credit with (a) one parent and (b) both parents in paid employment.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In March 2025, there were 418,000 couples in receipt of Universal Credit payment who met or exceeded the administrative earnings threshold. Of these, 263,000 did so with one parent earning, and the remaining 155,000 did so with two parents earning.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of (a) single parent lead carers and (b) all lead carers are self-employed.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In March 2025, 8% of single parent lead carers on Universal Credit (UC) were self-employed, compared to 8% of all lead carers on UC. This includes both claimants who are classified as gainfully self-employed and non-gainfully self-employed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to provide targeted funding to HIV voluntary sector organisations to support people living with HIV who have disengaged from care.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to ending new transmissions of HIV in England by 2030 and is developing the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year. The plan will address ways to improve retention and re-engagement in care.

The Government’s successful HIV emergency department opt-out testing programme helps people to re-engage with HIV care. In addition, 10% of the funding allocated to each site is recommended to be used for HIV voluntary sector organisations, to support people living with HIV who have disengaged from care.

NHS England is responsible for delivering HIV care, and in April 2024, it published the updated national Service Specification for Adult HIV services, which requires services to have a policy describing how they aim to ensure retention in care and re-engage those lost to care. NHS England will continue to work with stakeholders to consider what further actions can be taken to address retention and re-engagement in care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ensure access to (a) psychosocial support services and (b) HIV peer support for people receiving HIV care through the next HIV Action Plan for England.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to ending new transmissions of HIV in England by 2030 and is developing the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year. The plan will address ways to optimise rapid access to treatment and retention in care, and will improve the quality of life for people living with HIV, including consideration of peer support services.

A key component of the Government’s successful HIV emergency department opt-out testing programme includes a recommendation that 10% of the funding allocated to each site should be used to support community and peer services for individuals diagnosed with a blood borne virus.

NHS England is responsible for delivering HIV care, including support services for those living with HIV. In April 2024, it published the updated national Service Specification for Adult HIV services, which sets out the standards of care that HIV providers are expected to meet, including the availability of community, psychological, and psychosocial support for patients.

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 adequacy of access to peer support services for people living with HIV.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to ending new transmissions of HIV in England by 2030 and is developing the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year. The plan will address ways to optimise rapid access to treatment and retention in care, and will improve the quality of life for people living with HIV, including consideration of peer support services.

A key component of the Government’s successful HIV emergency department opt-out testing programme includes a recommendation that 10% of the funding allocated to each site should be used to support community and peer services for individuals diagnosed with a blood borne virus.

NHS England is responsible for delivering HIV care, including support services for those living with HIV. In April 2024, it published the updated national Service Specification for Adult HIV services, which sets out the standards of care that HIV providers are expected to meet, including the availability of community, psychological, and psychosocial support for patients.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas have been issued to Ukrainian children seeking medical evacuation to the UK since February 2022.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The requested information is not held by the Home Office. However, a range of data on Ukraine visa applications can be found at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK and Migration transparency data - GOV.UK.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help support the security of former FARC combatants previously based in the Rancho Grande ETCR transitional zone in Caquetá.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We welcome the Colombian government's commitment to provide security guarantees for former Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) combatants and measures to reintegrate them into civilian life following the signing of the 2016 Peace Agreement. Despite overall progress since that agreement, illegal armed groups still pose a high threat to former FARC combatants. We continue to urge Colombian authorities to investigate and tackle the root causes of violence, particularly against peace signatories. At the UN Security Council, we consistently call for the strengthening of protection and reintegration measures for former FARC combatants. Through UK funding, we have long supported the implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement, including the security and reintegration of its signatories, including those in the department of Caquetá through the UN Multi Partner Trust Fund. We maintain close communication with the UN Verification Mission on this issue and support greater state capacity for the safety of former fighters, including those living outside official reincorporation zones.

Prison education insourcing

Mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting and action plans

Impact of upgrading the energy efficiency of private rented homes

Ayman Odeh

Outsourced cleaners on Tyne and Wear Metro

Government policy on the Hillsborough Law

Funding for training of professional journalists

Safe Inside Prisons Charter

Durham Miners' Gala 2025

Found: _NC49 Kim Johnson Bell Ribeiro-Addy Grahame Morris .

Found: multi-storey car parks; and for connected purposes Presented by Peter Dowd supported by Patrick Hurley, Kim Johnson

Found: _NC49 Kim Johnson Bell Ribeiro-Addy .

Found: Mr Adnan Hussain, Shockat Adam, Zarah Sultana, Apsana Begum, Brian Leishman, Richard Burgon, Kim Johnson

Found: COMMITTEE STAGE Monday 30 June 2025 _NC49 Kim Johnson .

Found: COMMITTEE STAGE Friday 27 June 2025 38 _NC49 Kim Johnson .

Found: _NC49 Kim Johnson ★.

Found: Withdrawn after debate_NC26 Olivia Blake Kim Johnson Neil Duncan-Jordan Carla Denyer Ellie Chowns

Found: _NC26 Olivia Blake Kim Johnson Neil Duncan-Jordan Carla Denyer Ellie Chowns Siân Berry Adrian Ramsay

Found: Not called_20 Kirith Entwistle Charlotte Nichols Juliet Campbell Anna Dixon Jess Asato Kim Johnson

Found: Bell Ribeiro-Addy Iqbal Mohamed Apsana Begum Valerie Vaz Marsha De Cordova Mr Bayo Alaba Kim Johnson