Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will take steps to allow British nationals to register their presence in Iran.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to advise against all travel to Iran and have long made it clear that UK Government support is extremely limited in country. British nationals already in Iran, either resident or visitor, should carefully consider their presence there and the risks they take by staying, with land borders potentially closing at short notice. Due to the current security situation, we have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw our UK staff from Iran. Our Embassy will continue to operate remotely.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to people who suffer with disabilities after retirement.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Attendance Allowance (AA) is a weekly benefit for those over State Pension age who require care or supervision as a result of a physical or mental disability. AA is paid at two rates. A higher rate of £110.40 a week for claimants who need help or supervision for both day and night or who are terminally ill. And a lower rate of £73.90 for claimants who need frequent help or supervision during the day or night.
AA provides financial support towards the extra costs faced by those with a severe disability. It is neither means-tested, nor based on National Insurance contributions paid and recipients can choose how they wish to spend it. Receipt of AA can provide a passport to additional amounts in means-tested benefits (notably Pension Credit and Housing Benefit) for those on low incomes and to Carer’s Allowance for the person providing care for them.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support employment opportunities for ex-offenders.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We know that finding employment after release reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. That is why the Government’s manifesto commits to break the cycle of reoffending by better supporting prisons to link up with employers and the voluntary sector to get more people with convictions into work.
Key employment roles are in place across all 93 resettlement prisons to prepare prisoners for work on release, match them to jobs and provide critical ID documents to secure work and a home.
We have launched regional Employment Councils which, for the first time, brings businesses together with prisons, probation and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support offenders leaving prison. This builds on the work of Employment Advisory Boards linking prisons with business leaders to ensure prisoners have the skills and training employers need to meet labour market demand.
In addition, HM Prison and Probation Service’s Creating Future Opportunities programme offers tailored support for ex-offenders - particularly those who are furthest from the labour market - to secure employment, training and education opportunities for release.
Supporting further, the criminal records regime is designed to strike a balance providing employers with the information they need to make safer recruitment decisions and enabling ex-offenders to rebuild their lives. We also work closely with DWP to ensure support is in place for ex-offenders in the community, for example through co-location of services.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support medical training for transport staff.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the UK, there are well-established legal requirements to support medical training for transport staff and those in safety-critical roles. These statutory duties apply to all employers and include the provision of appropriate training to staff to manage the risks associated with the environment and operations in which they work. My Department will keep these legal requirements under review to ensure they remain fit for purpose. The transport industry will also continue to produce and update guidance to inform the training needs of its workforce including on medical matters.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department holds information on the quantity of UK-supplied aid which has been distributed in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK provides humanitarian aid to Gaza through trusted partners, via Untied Nations agencies and international Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), delivering food, healthcare and shelter. A significant portion of our Financial Year 2024/25 funding has already reached Gaza, including life-saving medical supplies. Some remains prepositioned at border crossings or in regional warehouses. Due to the complex operating environment and limited real-time data, it is difficult to quantify the volume of aid currently awaiting entry. However, partners provide regular updates. On 19 May, the UK issued a joint statement calling for full aid resumption and for Israel to allow UN and NGO partners to operate independently.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he will consider enabling medical evacuations in Gaza for children (a) with life-threatening injuries and (b) with family resident in the UK.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has supported Project Pure Hope's initiative to bring a small number of children from Gaza to the UK for privately funded specialist care. On 1 May, I confirmed that two children had arrived for treatment and also announced a £7.5 million package to strengthen medical care in Gaza and the region, including support for UK-Med, World Health Organization Egypt and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territories Humanitarian Fund. The UK's Immigration Rules allow entry for private medical treatment, with further requests considered case by case. The Government continues to assess support for Palestinians and urges Israel to allow urgent medical evacuations.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 his Israeli counterpart on the forceful closure of schools administered by UNRWA.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We were dismayed to hear of the forcible closure of six United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools in East Jerusalem on 8 May. These closures will deny 800 Palestinian children their right to education. We stated our strong opposition to the closure jointly with 16 other diplomatic missions, in a statement issued on X. The UK is clear that Palestinian children, like all children, deserve safe, uninterrupted access to school. The Israeli order to close these schools is deeply worrying. The vital work of UNRWA in ensuring that Palestinians have access to education and healthcare must be protected in East Jerusalem, as well as in Gaza and the West Bank. The Foreign Secretary continues to raise these issues with his Israeli counterpart.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of applying home tuition fee status to students who hold a British National (Overseas) visa.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Higher education institutions in England are autonomous bodies and it is for them to assess whether the fees for students who do not meet the criteria for automatic home fee status should be reduced or waived in line with individual circumstances.
To qualify for automatic home fee status in England, a person must have settled status or a ‘recognised connection’ to the UK. A recognised connection includes persons who are covered by the EU Withdrawal Agreement, have long residence in this country, or who have been granted international protection by the Home Office. There are also requirements associated with ordinary residence in the UK.
The British National (Overseas) immigration route reflects the UK’s historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong. Subject to meeting the normal eligibility requirements, Hong Kong British National (Overseas) status holders will be able to qualify for student finance and home fee status once they have acquired settled status in the UK.
There are no plans to amend the eligibility requirements for Hong Kong British National (Overseas) status holders as these are in line with those that apply to most other persons on routes to settlement.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring Control over the Immigration System, published on 12 May 2025, on the status of British Nationals Overseas visa holders.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future. The reforms set out in the White Paper will be delivered across this Parliament. Some measures will require primary legislation and further consultation, while others will be brought in more swiftly. There will be consultation on new earned settlement and citizenship rules later this year
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her plans to increase the qualifying period for settled status will apply to British National (Overseas) visa holders.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future. The reforms set out in the White Paper will be delivered across this Parliament. Some measures will require primary legislation and further consultation, while others will be brought in more swiftly. There will be consultation on new earned settlement and citizenship rules later this year