Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of lifting the trade embargo on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In accordance with the rest of the international community, with the sole exception of Turkey, the UK does not recognise the self-declared 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' as an independent state. Several UN Security Council Resolutions, other multilateral agreements and domestic and international court rulings limit links between the UK and the north. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has not made a formal assessment of the merits of lifting the trade embargo. However, within the constraints outlined above, we support measures to reduce the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community and, in the interests of working towards a just and lasting Settlement, to promote intercommunal contact. Increasing intra-island trade is an important part of such efforts and we urge both sides to continue to work to remove obstacles to it. FCDO officials have previously facilitated discussions between the Department for Business and Trade and the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce about the onwards export to the UK of products crossing the Green Line.
I recently met with the Turkish Cypriot leader to discuss the next round of talks at the United Nations later this month. I also met a range of business and civil society representatives from Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities on my visit to Cyprus.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to increase maximum licensing fees for Track Betting Premises to local authorities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The fees that licensing authorities collect for premises licence applications and annual renewals are used to cover administration and enforcement costs. In England and Wales, local authorities can set their own licensing fees for gambling premises, including track betting premises, up to a statutory maximum. In Scotland, licensing fees are set at a flat rate by Scottish Ministers.
The 2023 gambling white paper proposed increasing the cap on licensing authority premises fees in England and Wales. We are considering the best available evidence from a wide range of sources to make decisions on key measures from the gambling white paper.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of PE provision in the national curriculum.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Barking, to the answer of 28 March to Question 40068.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on confirming the site for the planned Photographic Reconnaissance Unit Memorial.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Royal Parks wrote to DCMS on 11 April 2025 regarding the site for the planned Photographic Reconnaissance Unit memorial. Officials from DCMS have since been in discussion with The Royal Parks regarding the proposed site, which is under The Royal Parks’ management.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of trends in levels of improvements to diagnostic services for pancreatic cancer since July 2024.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will support the National Health Service to transform diagnostic services by spending £1.65 billion on additional capacity, including new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners, to support the delivery of over 30,000 more procedures and 1.25 million diagnostic tests as they come online.
Performance against the Faster Diagnosis Standard for upper gastrointestinal cancer for the period July 2024 to February 2025 was 76.2%. This is a 3.1% increase over the same period in the previous year, from July 2023 to February 2024.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to fund the Music and Dance Scheme in 2025-26.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department will inform Music and Dance Scheme providers about funding for the 2025/26 academic year following the conclusion of the spending review in the spring.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to provide further aid to (a) the Occupied Palestinian Territories and (b) Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Prime Minister made clear in the House on 25 February, this Government is proud of the UK's pioneering record on overseas development, and we will continue to play a key humanitarian role in Gaza. As with all Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend, any new allocations to humanitarian partners will be announced in the usual way. The UK has now announced £129 million for the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) this financial year, including £41 million for the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), providing essential services to civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Palestinian refugees across the region delivered through partner agencies.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to help secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary said to the House on 20 March, we strongly oppose Israel's resumption of hostilities. We urgently want to see a return to a ceasefire. More bloodshed is in no-one's interest. Hamas must release all the hostages and negotiations must resume. We want Israel and Hamas to re-engage with negotiations, we continue to condemn Hamas, of course, for their actions on 7 October 2023, their refusal to release the hostages, and their ongoing threat to Israel, but we are also resolute in calling on Israel to abide by international law and to lift the unacceptable restrictions on aid and demand the protection of civilians. Since the renewed outbreak of hostilities, the Foreign Secretary has spoken to Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer on 20 March and to his Israeli counterpart Foreign Minister Sa'ar on 21 March.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on the amount of UK aid that has reached Gaza since 15 January 2025.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) does not have a breakdown of the specific amount of UK aid that has reached Gaza since 15 January 2025, but the UN reports that over 4,000 trucks of aid entered Gaza per week during the ceasefire, reaching over 2 million people. In the first days of the ceasefire, we released £17 million in additional emergency humanitarian funding for the promised surge in aid, bringing our total support this financial year for Palestinians across the region to £129 million. The UK remains strongly opposed to Israel's halt of the flow of aid into Gaza since 2 March, which risks undoing the vital progress made during the ceasefire. Since 7 October 2023, UK support has meant over half a million people have received essential healthcare, over 647,000 have received food, and over 284,000 people have improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene services.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Commonhold White Paper: The proposed new commonhold model for homeownership in England and Wales, published on 3 March 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of those proposals on commonhold on (a) existing leaseholders and (b) Right to Manage arrangements.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statements I made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244) and 3 March 2025 (HCWS488).
The government will consult this year on the best approach to banning new leasehold flats. We are also reviewing the Law Commission’s recommendations to make it easier for existing leaseholders to choose to convert to commonhold and will set out next steps in due course.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to providing leaseholders with greater rights, powers and protections over their homes. Alongside the extensive programme of detailed secondary legislation that we are bringing forward to implement the remaining provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, we will further reform the existing leasehold system by legislating to tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents; removing the disproportionate and draconian threat of forfeiture; acting to protect leaseholders from abuse and poor service at the hands of unscrupulous managing agents; and enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations on enfranchisement and the Right to Manage.