Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security has had discussions with his Egyptian counterpart on the detention of Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Government is committed to securing Mr El-Fattah’s release, and we continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government. The Prime Minister raised the case in a letter to President Sisi on 4 May. The National Security Adviser also raised Mr-El Fattah’s case with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 27 April and the Foreign Secretary raised with Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 9 April.

Our strong bilateral relationship with Egypt enables us to raise our human rights concerns. We will continue to act in standing up for human rights around the world, providing support to open societies and drawing on our full range of tools and levers, including our independent global human rights sanctions regime to hold to account those involved in serious human rights violations and abuses. HM Government continues, in London and through British Embassies worldwide, to discuss and advocate for human rights.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make it his policy to ensure that the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah is included in any trade agreement with Egypt.

Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Government is committed to securing Mr El-Fattah’s release, and we continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government. The Prime Minister raised the case in a letter to President Sisi on 4 May. The National Security Adviser also raised Mr-El Fattah’s case with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 27 April and the Foreign Secretary raised with Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 9 April.

Our strong bilateral relationship with Egypt enables us to raise our human rights concerns. We will continue to act in standing up for human rights around the world, providing support to open societies and drawing on our full range of tools and levers, including our independent global human rights sanctions regime to hold to account those involved in serious human rights violations and abuses. HM Government continues, in London and through British Embassies worldwide, to discuss and advocate for human rights.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's white paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, how her Department defines a contribution for the purpose of considering a persons contribution to society and the economy; how this will be measured; and whether the measurements will be conducted in house by her Department.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at the time.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system published on 12 May 2025, in relation to which visa routes she is considering an increase in the standard qualifying period for settlement from 5 to 10 years.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at the time.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) an Equality Impact Assessment and (b) a Human Rights Impact Assessment have recently been made in relation to the 10-year immigration pathway to settlement.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at the time.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the changes to “Good Character” guidance for UK citizenship applications made on 10 February 2025, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) parents and (b) guardians of UK-born children will have citizenship entitlements different from their (i) children and (ii) wards.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The requested data is not held by the Home Office.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) an Equality Impact Assessment and (b) a Human Rights Impact Assessment have been made of the impact of changes made on 10 February 2025 to “Good Character” guidance in relation to UK citizenship applications on long-term UK residents and their UK-based family members.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The requested data is not held by the Home Office.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, whether the proposals will apply retrospectively to people already on five or 10 year routes to settlement.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at the time.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's white paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system published 12 May 2025, in relation to which visa routes she is considering increasing the level of English language required from B1 to B2 under the Common European Framework for Reference for Languages.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The White Paper states our intention to increase language requirements for Skilled Workers and workers where a language requirement already applies from B1 to B2 levels.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, by how much has the level of funding for the Access to Work scheme changed in the last 12 months.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Access to Work expenditure data is published in the annual Access to Work Official Statistics publication. The most recently available data available is for the financial year 2023/24: Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2024 - GOV.UK.

The Department intends to publish expenditure data for the financial year 2024/25 in the next official statistics release which we expect to publish in September or October 2025. Forecast expenditure for this period, which includes some outturn data, is published in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables 2025: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment has been made of the (a) Equality Impact and (b) Human Rights Impact of the No Recourse to Public Funds condition on people following the 10-year settlement route.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to reduce wait times for Access to Work support.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are committed to reducing waiting times for Access to Work and are considering the best way to deliver that for customers. Delivery practices have been streamlined, and the number of staff processing claims increased. Since May 2024, 118 additional staff have been redeployed to support Access to Work.

We prioritise applications from customers due to start a role within four weeks.

In March 2025, the department published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, to consult on the future of Access to Work. We will review all aspects of the Scheme following the conclusion of the consultation.

Future of the UK baking industry

UK Government recognition of the state of Palestine

Reductions to CrossCountry trains catering services

Found: McDonnell Kate Osborne Siân Berry Jeremy Corbyn Brian Leishman Apsana Begum Ayoub Khan Rebecca Long Bailey

Found: McDonnell Kate Osborne Siân Berry Jeremy Corbyn Brian Leishman Apsana Begum Ayoub Khan Rebecca Long Bailey

Found: Manuela Perteghella Max Wilkinson Sarah Gibson Jess Brown-Fuller Tessa Munt Ellie Chowns Rebecca Long Bailey