Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies of the report by Marie Curie, entitled Dying in Poverty, published in 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government acknowledges the findings of Marie Curie’s Dying in Poverty report (2025), which highlights the financial insecurity experienced by individuals at the end of life.
This Government is committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it including for those nearing the end of their life. For these claimants, the Government’s priority is to provide financial support quickly and compassionately. The main way this is applied is through the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) which enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain welfare benefits without needing to attend a medical assessment or serve waiting periods, and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has considered establishing a dedicated regulator for the video games industry.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has not considered establishing a dedicated regulator for the video games industry. Video games are already regulated by a number of legislative and voluntary measures, governed by several enforcement bodies.
Video games are regulated with age ratings, which protect children and vulnerable people from inappropriate content. The Government works closely with the Games Rating Authority (GRA) who are designated by Government to ensure games are appropriately rated and include information for buyers on potentially harmful content, for example violence or bad language.
The Online Safety Act, made law on 26 October 2023, applies to online services which allow users to share content and interact with one another. This definition includes some video games, for example those with in-game chat functions. The Act is enforced by Ofcom.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) are responsible for setting and enforcing the UK Advertising Codes; which includes online and in-game advertisements, such as advertising of microtransactions or loot boxes.
Finally, where video game products amount to unlicensed gambling, such as skins gambling, the Gambling Commission has shown it will take strong enforcement action.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had recent discussions with Marie Curie on funding for the hospice sector.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Last year, I met key palliative care and end-of-life care stakeholders, including Marie Curie, in a roundtable format with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England, and we will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements as part of this work. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting integrated care boards to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.
Officials are working closely with Marie Curie and a number of other stakeholders from the hospice sector in the development of the MSF.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contractual expectations are placed on landlords providing asylum accommodation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office expects the highest standards of cleanliness, safety and hygiene in all asylum accommodation and holds providers to account through the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services (AASC) contracts.
Contractual expectations are set out in the AASC Statement of Requirements (Schedule 2) which requires accommodation providers and their landlords to ensure that properties are safe, habitable and fit for purpose at all times, including meeting standards on cleanliness, hygiene, repairs and health and safety compliance.
Monitoring of accommodation standards is carried out through Home Office contract management and assurance activity, including inspections and performance reporting against contractual requirements.
Reporting routes are available to asylum seekers through the Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) service, delivered by Migrant Help, which allows issues or complaints relating to accommodation to be raised.
Investigation and resolution of complaints are managed by the Home Office once issues are escalated by Migrant Help. Providers are required to investigate concerns promptly, take remedial action within contractual timescales, and report outcomes to the Home Office.
Independent customer satisfaction and assurance activity further informs performance management and continuous improvement.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will set out how complaints relating to (a) cleanliness, (b) safety and (c) hygiene in landlord-provided asylum accommodation are (i) monitored, (ii) reported and (iii) investigated to ensure such accommodation is fit for purpose.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office expects the highest standards of cleanliness, safety and hygiene in all asylum accommodation and holds providers to account through the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services (AASC) contracts.
Contractual expectations are set out in the AASC Statement of Requirements (Schedule 2) which requires accommodation providers and their landlords to ensure that properties are safe, habitable and fit for purpose at all times, including meeting standards on cleanliness, hygiene, repairs and health and safety compliance.
Monitoring of accommodation standards is carried out through Home Office contract management and assurance activity, including inspections and performance reporting against contractual requirements.
Reporting routes are available to asylum seekers through the Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE) service, delivered by Migrant Help, which allows issues or complaints relating to accommodation to be raised.
Investigation and resolution of complaints are managed by the Home Office once issues are escalated by Migrant Help. Providers are required to investigate concerns promptly, take remedial action within contractual timescales, and report outcomes to the Home Office.
Independent customer satisfaction and assurance activity further informs performance management and continuous improvement.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with the Glasgow 2026 Organising Company on ensuring an effective community legacy from the Commonwealth Games.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department is in regular contact with the Organising Company and Scottish Government to support Glasgow 2026. I was pleased to be able to visit Glasgow this summer and discuss with the Commonwealth Sport Coordination Commission and other partners the excellent work that is being done to ensure a successful event and legacy.
The Organising Company will publish further details in late 2025 on how the event will deliver lasting community benefits, alongside a range of other positive outcomes.
As a Government, we are proud to support the Glasgow Games, which will drive economic growth, showcase Scotland and the UK to the world, and build on the legacy of Glasgow 2014.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time is to process an application for (a) Leave to Remain and (b) Indefinite Leave to Remain; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time to process such applications.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
UKVI are currently processing applications on all of its routes where a customer service standard is operated within their published customer service standards. As previously announced by the Home Secretary, Family Reunion applications are currently paused. Visa processing times are published on the UKVI website at Visa processing times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK and Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK.
It may take longer to process an application if:
we need more information on personal circumstances (for example if there is a criminal conviction)
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding from the Growth Mission fund to Springburn Winter Gardens.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
In her recent Spending Review speech, the Chancellor announced that the Government would be establishing a Growth Mission Fund to expedite local projects that are important for growth.
Whilst we cannot confirm funding allocations yet, our £240 million Growth Mission Fund should support transformative projects that give local leaders real investment to deliver real change.
Details regarding funding criteria will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce processing times for applications for Graduate visas.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our published transparency statistics can be found here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK, including data on service standards.
The current publication covers to end of March 2025: Visas, status and immigration data: Q1 2025 - 98% of standard Graduate cases are considered within service standard.
We continue to operate within our service standard of 8 weeks for straightforward applications, with even faster times for our priority services.
We encourage applicants to apply as early as possible and ensure they have provided all required documents, and their university has reported successful course completion to UKVI, to avoid any delay in processing.
Where applications are complex or there is missing information, decisions may take longer. Applicants will have been informed by email if this is the case, but these emails can be missed or ignored. We encourage applicants to check their junk or spam folders and respond promptly to any request for further information. Further information on processing times is available here: Visa processing times - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the application window for international students to apply for a Graduate visa in the event of their university exam results being delayed.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
If a student’s results are not expected before their current visa expires, and they need more time to demonstrate successful course completion, they may apply to extend their Student visa as set out in the Immigration Rules Appendix Student.