Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, a) what plans her Department has to expand community response services for older people who experience falls in their home to enable prompt assessment and treatment and (b) what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the loss of specialist falls services, including in Nottingham East.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure NHS staff consistently apply NHS Continuing Healthcare eligibility criteria and that eligible patients are identified and assessed promptly.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Further to the answer provided on 14 September in response to Question 25150, NHS England has developed and published a comprehensive set of NHS Continuing Healthcare online learning resources for staff, to support consistency across integrated care boards when making decisions about NHS Continuing Healthcare eligibility.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the processing times of indefinite leave to remain applications for Syrian nationals.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Applications for indefinite leave to remain are considered within 6 months of their submission where possible in accordance with published customer service standards, which are available here Settlement: customer service standards - GOV.UK
If an application is assessed to be complex and will take longer, for example supporting documents need to be verified, an individual needs to attend an interview or because of an individual’s personal circumstances, the individual will be contacted and notified of this.
Additional resource has been deployed to focus on these applications, and the Home Office is working at pace to ensure that the number of outstanding applications and waiting times decrease.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her department is taking to strengthen guidance and enforcement to ensure that wheelchair users can travel with confidence on buses.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to ensuring disabled people, including wheelchair users, can travel safely and with confidence on local bus services.
The Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 require buses and coaches used on local and scheduled services to include accessibility features such as wheelchair spaces and boarding equipment suitable for passengers using a standard “reference wheelchair”. Existing regulations also require drivers to provide assistance to disabled passengers upon request.
The Bus Services Act 2025 strengthens this framework by requiring drivers and other customer-facing staff to complete disability awareness and assistance training at least every five years. The Act also requires local authorities to publish Bus Network Accessibility Plans and strengthens consideration of accessibility within local bus service planning.
In addition, the Department is developing an Accessible Travel Charter which will help establish clear, unified principles for disabled passengers and assist operators and enforcement bodies in upholding accessibility standards.
The Charter will set out cross-cutting commitments and practical pledges, with organisations signing up to go beyond the legislative minimum and work towards a barrier-free transport system.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of taking water utilities into public ownership.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The water industry has not worked for people or the environment for far too long. That is why, in our strengthened Water Bill, we will remove the Thatcher-era restrictions on public ownership in water companies.
This Government will keep all options on the table and will ensure clear consequences for water companies who are failing the communities they serve.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with regards to the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme, if she will publish a) how many applications have been i) received, ii) approved and iii) refused, b) what the average time from application to payment is for those applications approved, and c) how much of the £40 million fund has been paid out to date.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government remains committed to supporting the safety and security of places of worship through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme.
The Home Office does not routinely publish detailed management information relating to the number of applications received, approved or refused, average processing times, or the value of protective security measures implemented under the Scheme. Information on the operation and delivery of the scheme is closely monitored to ensure protective security measures are provided to as many eligible applicants as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to protect Uyghur individuals in the UK from a) refoulement and b) transnational repression.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
All asylum and human rights claims, including those from Uyghur individuals, are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Protection is normally granted where a claimant has a well-founded fear of persecution under the Refugee Convention or a claimant faces a real risk of serious harm. We will not remove anyone to their own or any other country where they are found to have a well-founded fear or persecution or are at risk of serious harm.
The first duty of this Government is to keep the country safe. Any attempt by a foreign state to intimidate, harass or harm individuals in the UK will never be tolerated, irrespective of where the threat emanates.
Wherever a threat to an individual is identified, we use all appropriate measures, including through our world class police and intelligence services, to mitigate risks. A range of support and security assistance is available to individuals at risk of transnational repression, including practical guidance is available on GOV.UK and via the National Protective Security Authority.
Anyone who believes they are a victim of state directed activity should report this to the police via 101, 999, or at a local station.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide multi-year protective security funding for Muslim communities on a similar basis to that announced in July 2026 for Jewish communities.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
Protecting the right of all faith communities to worship in peace and without fear is fundamental.
In 2026/27, the Home Office has made available funding of up to £77.4m for protective security for faith communities. This includes up to £40 million for the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme, which provides protective security measures for mosques, associated Muslim faith community centres and Muslim Faith Schools. Measures available through the scheme include security personnel services, CCTV, intruder alarms and secure fencing. Up to £32.4 million has been made available for protective security at synagogues, Jewish educational establishments and other community sites.
The Government announced £250 million policing package in July 2026 to strengthen policing and provide reassurance for Jewish communities following a series of violent attacks targeting Jewish people and locations.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to paragraphs 278 and 279 of the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024 and his Oral Statement of 8 September 2026 on Israel and Palestine, what steps he plans to take to give effect to the obligations on third States identified by the Court.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary set out on 8 September, the Government's official view is that Israel's occupation is unlawful. Consistent with this, the Government will continue to distinguish between Israel within its internationally recognised borders and the territory that Israel has occupied since 1967. The Foreign Secretary set out on 8 September that we will now in addition refuse all licence applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation. He also set out our belief that the unlawfulness of the occupation should be reflected in the economic relationships we choose to have with the occupied territories and announced a series of measures including an import ban on goods from illegal settlements.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of sponsor licence suspensions and revocations on the immigration status and financial security of sponsored workers and their dependants; and whether she plans to put in place safeguards to protect sponsored workers who may be fearful of raising concerns about their workplace conditions because of the potential impact on their visa and immigration status if they lose their employment.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Sponsored workers have the same rights and protections under employment law as resident workers, and it is a requirement for all sponsors to ensure their workers are aware of these rights.
The suspension or revocation of a sponsor licence does not, in itself, affect a worker’s status, and they can continue working as per their visa conditions until their permission expires. This includes during any 60-day period they are notified of following visa cancellation.
The latest Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules laid on 3 September introduces a provision to protect any Skilled Worker who has been identified by the Home Office Competent Authorities as a victim of modern slavery, allowing them to work for any employer (other than as a professional sportsperson or coach) for the remainder of their permission. This will incentivise victims to come forward early and guard against those who seek to weaponise the sponsorship scheme to exploit vulnerable workers.
As set out in last year’s Immigration White Paper, we are committed to exploring making it easier for sponsored workers to change sponsors, giving them more control over who they work for and reducing the risk of exploitation, and will publish further details in due course.