Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will have discussions with her Moroccan counterpart on (a) the coastal development projects that entail large-scale land acquisition, (b) the destruction of private property and (c) the displacement of Saharawi.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide, including in Morocco, and consistently urges all states to uphold international law and international human rights standards. In this context, the UK encourages Morocco to ensure that all projects are implemented in a way that respects the rights of local communities. Regarding activities by UK companies operating, or considering operating, overseas, the UK promotes responsible corporate behaviour. This includes respect for the human rights of the people involved in or affected by their operations.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make representations to her Moroccan counterpart on the restrictions on Saharawis’ rights to freedom of (a) expression, (b) association and (c) peaceful assembly.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government consistently urges all states to uphold international law, and we continue to encourage constructive engagement with the political process regarding Western Sahara. We have supported language in relevant UN Security Council Resolutions that encourages the parties to continue their efforts to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in Western Sahara, including the freedoms of expression and association. The UK also shares a bilateral Human Rights Dialogue with Morocco, the third session of which is due to take place in London by the end of the year and will cover a range of topics.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department holds contracts with Straight Flight Nevada Commercial Leasing LLC.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As the hon. Member will recall from the previous answer. I cannot comment on these matters for reasons of operational security.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent with Straight Flight Nevada Commercial Leasing LLC since October 2023.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has been conducting unarmed surveillance flights over Gaza for the sole purpose of locating hostages.
The UK controls what information is passed on to Israeli authorities and only information relating to hostage rescue will be passed to the relevant authority, and only when we believe it will be used in accordance with International Humanitarian Law.
I cannot comment on these matters further for reasons of operational security.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2025 to Question 67736 on Recycling, whether it remains her Department's plan to publish the Circular Economy Strategy for England in the autumn.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy where resources are kept in use for longer and waste is designed out. The Government has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, which we plan to publish for consultation in the coming months.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of abolishing the two-child benefit cap on children in poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which we will publish in the autumn. We are considering all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.
The causes of child poverty are wide-ranging and deep-rooted, and so it is right that the Taskforce carefully considers and assesses the available levers as it develops this Strategy.
In the meantime, we are pressing ahead with action.
As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap.
Last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the two-child benefit cap on levels of child poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which we will publish in the autumn. We are considering all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.
The causes of child poverty are wide-ranging and deep-rooted, and so it is right that the Taskforce carefully considers and assesses the available levers as it develops this Strategy.
In the meantime, we are pressing ahead with action.
As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap.
Last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the remit of the child poverty taskforce includes examining the potential impact of the two-child benefit cap.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which we will publish in the autumn. We are considering all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.
The causes of child poverty are wide-ranging and deep-rooted, and so it is right that the Taskforce carefully considers and assesses the available levers as it develops this Strategy.
In the meantime, we are pressing ahead with action.
As a significant downpayment ahead of strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through the Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament, establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1bn a year including Barnett impact, investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap.
Last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report from the Child Poverty Action Group entitled 'Two-child limit statistics briefing', published on 10 July 2025, what steps she is taking to lift children out of poverty.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.
The Taskforce will continue to explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term action across government to reduce child poverty. The Strategy will tackle overall child poverty as well as going beyond that to focus on children in deepest poverty lacking essentials, and what is needed to give every child the best start in life.
As a significant downpayment ahead of Strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament. We are also establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact), investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2 billion including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.
We’ve also committed to rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority by April 2026 and creating up to 1,000 hubs across the country by the end of 2028. Backed by £500m funding, this vital support will relieve pressure on parents and give half a million more children the very best start in life. And last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.
These commitments come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information his Department holds on the (a) number and (b) type of (i) heat pump and (ii) boiler unit sold by each obligated boiler manufacturer, in the context of the Clean Heat Market Mechanisms; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of publishing these figures on a regular basis.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department will receive independently verified annual gas and oil boiler sales data from scheme participants after the completion of each scheme year via the scheme’s administrator, the Environment Agency. Further detail on these reporting processes can be found in the published scheme guidance. It also has access to heat pump installations data from the Microgeneration Certification Scheme and publishes statistics on Government-supported installations at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/heat-pump-deployment-statistics.
The Department is considering the options to publish some Clean Heat Market Mechanism scheme data, for example aggregated annual verified sales and installation data, but needs to assess commercial sensitivities in doing so.