Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Israeli government on the attack on Balata refugee camp in December 2024.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign Secretary has regularly raised issues of International Humanitarian Law compliance with the Israeli Government. Stability in the West Bank is crucial to ensure that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza can last. All sides should work to ensure a lowering of tension in the West Bank at this time. The ceasefire marks the first step in ensuring long-term peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians, and the wider region, bringing much-needed stability. Our attention must turn to how we secure a permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people - grounded in a two-state solution that will guarantee security and stability for Israel, alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine state.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to tackle websites which (a) promote and (b) normalise suicide.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Under the Online Safety Act, websites that allow user-generated content must proactively prevent all users from encountering illegal suicide content, and children of all ages from encountering legal content which encourages, promotes or provides instructions for suicide.

Last year, the Secretary of State wrote to Ofcom to ask about its plans to tackle suicide forums which breach their obligations under the Online Safety Act. The regulator confirmed it stands ready to move to rapid enforcement action, where necessary.

The Act also provides search services with targeted duties to minimise the risk of all users encountering illegal search content either in or via search results.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people claimed asylum by country of origin in each month of 2024.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum claims, by nationality, is published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2024.

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 to support community radio.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

In December 2024, the Community Radio Order 2025 was laid in draft in Parliament. It enables Ofcom to extend community radio licences for a fourth time and to remove restrictions that limit the amount of income a community radio licence can receive from advertisements and sponsorship, except for community radio stations whose coverage area overlaps with small independent commercial stations. These changes are designed to secure the long-term success and financial sustainability of the UK’s community radio stations and, subject to Parliamentary approval, are due to come into force in April 2025.

The Ofcom-administered Community Radio Fund also allows community radio stations to bid for funding to meet their core costs and seeks to support the sector towards self-sustainability. The current annual budget for the Community Radio Fund was set at £400,000 in 2015. We are currently looking at whether there is scope to increase funding as part of the Spending Review.

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 to help ensure that all communities have access to local radio stations.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

There are a wide range of local commercial and community radio services across the UK operating on analogue (FM/AM) and on digital radio. In addition, there are increasing numbers of commercial and community radio stations which are digital-only and have been able to take advantage of DAB and small-scale DAB, allowing more local radio stations to reach their audiences.

Ofcom’s progress report on small-scale DAB published on 22 October 2024 announced that Ofcom was planning to run two additional rounds of SS-DAB licensing in the near future, enabling more communities and prospective businesses to develop new stations and get on air.

Local stations continue to make a significant contribution to local media plurality and choice, providing communities with access to news and local information. We are also considering the role that local commercial and community radio can make in helping to strengthen local media more generally as part of our comprehensive review of local media.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will hold discussions with the Manchester Breast Centre on the potential merits of providing additional support for their research into lobular breast cancer.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Cancer research is a critical priority for the Government. The Government does not ringfence funding for specific cancer types but is committed to supporting cancer research such as that conducted at Manchester Breast Centre. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology invests approximately £200 million into cancer research annually via UK Research and Innovation, and The Department of Health and Social Care spent £121.8 million in 2022/23 on cancer research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The Department of Health and Social Care is currently engaging with the sector to develop a new National Cancer Plan which will outline the Government’s strategy to improve outcomes for cancer patients, including lobular breast cancer.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the cost of procuring (a) audio and (b) tactile voting solutions at every polling station to guarantee blind and partially sighted people a secret and independent vote.

Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government is committed to ensuring eligible disabled electors are supported in being able to register and vote in elections.

The current law requires Returning Officers to take account of what electors want in terms of support and the Electoral Commission gives guidance on how to do this. The Tactile Voting Device, introduced in 2001, has proven effective for some voters with sight loss but we are aware that other options, such as magnifiers, digital reading applications and lighting aids, are also used to support individual elector’s preferences. The aim of the legislation is to support individuals and there is no one-size-fits all solution to achieve that.

To support the changes brought in by the Elections Act 2022, money was made available to local authorities through new burdens funding and to Returning Officers where polls are funded directly by central government.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress his Department has made on strengthening national resilience.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

As my Rt. Hon friend, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, set out in his statement to the House last week, we continue to make improvements to strengthen our national resilience.

• In April the UK Resilience Academy will be launched and will train over 4000 people a year and;

• Later this year we will undertake a full national pandemic response exercise.

The review of national resilience also continues. I will be inviting Members from across this House to attend drop-in sessions to discuss the review.

Found: Sarah Smith Marsha De Cordova Helen Hayes Patricia Ferguson Wera Hobhouse Daniel Francis Melanie Ward

Found: Sarah Smith Marsha De Cordova Helen Hayes Patricia Ferguson Wera Hobhouse Daniel Francis Melanie Ward

Found: Bhatti Ms Diane Abbott Mr James Frith John Lamont Sir Julian Smith Damian Hinds Danny Kruger Melanie Ward

Found: Bhatti Ms Diane Abbott Mr James Frith John Lamont Sir Julian Smith Damian Hinds Danny Kruger Melanie Ward

Found: Rankin Ms Diane Abbott Mr James Frith John Lamont Sir Julian Smith Damian Hinds Danny Kruger Melanie Ward

Found: Paulette Hamilton Sir Julian Lewis Jess Asato Ms Diane Abbott Mr James Frith Danny Kruger Melanie Ward

Found: Stevenson Antonia Bance Dame Harriett Baldwin Mike Wood Mike Amesbury Ms Polly Billington Melanie Ward

Found: Polly Billington Darren Paffey Helen Hayes Dr Scott Arthur Patricia Ferguson Anna Dixon Melanie Ward

Found: Polly Billington Darren Paffey Helen Hayes Dr Scott Arthur Patricia Ferguson Anna Dixon Melanie Ward

Found: Mr James Frith Ms Polly Billington Darren Paffey Helen Hayes Dr Scott Arthur Anna Dixon Melanie Ward

Found: Mr James Frith Ms Polly Billington Darren Paffey Helen Hayes Dr Scott Arthur Anna Dixon Melanie Ward

Found: Mr James Frith Ms Polly Billington Darren Paffey Helen Hayes Dr Scott Arthur Anna Dixon Melanie Ward

Found: McDougall Apsana Begum Mr James Frith Ms Polly Billington Darren Paffey Helen Hayes Anna Dixon Melanie Ward

Found: Mary Kelly Foy Blair McDougall Mr James Frith Ms Polly Billington Darren Paffey Anna Dixon Melanie Ward

Found: Mary Kelly Foy Blair McDougall Mr James Frith Ms Polly Billington Darren Paffey Anna Dixon Melanie Ward

Found: Coyle Maya Ellis Mary Kelly Foy Mr James Frith Ms Polly Billington Darren Paffey Anna Dixon Melanie Ward

Found: Coyle Maya Ellis Mary Kelly Foy Mr James Frith Ms Polly Billington Darren Paffey Anna Dixon Melanie Ward

Found: Maskell Neil Coyle Maya Ellis Mary Kelly Foy Mr James Frith Ms Polly Billington Anna Dixon Melanie Ward