Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken with international partners to help prevent human rights abuses in Sudan.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

On 13 August, the former Foreign Secretary issued a statement condemning the Rapid Support Force's (RSF) latest assault on El Fasher and the nearby Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and on 14 August, the UK joined 28 partners in a Joint Donor Statement on El Fasher calling for a humanitarian pause and protection of civilians, including humanitarian operations. We stand united in urging both the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces to uphold their commitments under the Jeddah Declaration and UN Security Council Resolution 2736 (2024), and to allow immediate, unconditional humanitarian access and safe passage for civilians. As penholder at the UN Security Council, we have successfully led ten Council statements calling for an end to hostilities, most recently in a co-penned statement with African partners and Guyana pressing for protection of civilians and improved humanitarian access with respect to international law. On the UN Human Rights Council, we led the establishment and renewal of the UN Fact-Finding Mission to impartially investigate human rights violations and abuses committed by the warring parties. We also support the International Criminal Court's ongoing investigation in Sudan into alleged war crimes committed since April 2023, and the Sudan Witness Project, which gathers open-source evidence of atrocities.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken with international partners to help end the (a) recruitment and (b) exploitation of children by armed groups operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is deeply concerned about the reported increase in human rights violations against children resulting from the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including the recruitment and use of children by armed groups. We have been clear, including at the UN Human Rights Council on 16 June, that this practice is unacceptable, and we continue to call for all such children to be handed over to child protection actors. All parties to the conflict have an obligation under international law to protect children. We work with the UN and others to promote human rights in DRC, and our Ambassador in Kinshasa and Ministers regularly raise human rights issues with the DRC government. UK humanitarian programming in eastern DRC delivers life-saving emergency assistance, strengthens community resilience, especially for women and girls, and provides essential nutritional support to children.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken with international partners to (a) end and (b) assist victims of sexual violence in conflict-affected areas of Sudan.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is a major humanitarian donor to Sudan. We provided over £235 million last financial year, and a further £120 million this year. We support women and girls through the Sudan Free of Female Genital Mutilation 2 programme. This provides protection, prevention, and care services in response to rising gender-based and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). We also support the Women's Integrated Sexual Health programme and fund local responders via the Sudan Humanitarian Fund and the Mercy Corps-led Cash Consortium. This year, the UK PSVI Team is supporting the deployment of a specialist sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) investigator to the UN Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) in Sudan, delivered through our implementing partner UN Women. This contribution supports the UK offer to the FFM and ensures expert input on SGBV to strengthen accountability for conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan. At the UN, the UK has led efforts to spotlight CRSV and other atrocities, including ten Security Council press statements and the renewal of the FFM's mandate.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of children (a) with epilepsy and (b) without an individual healthcare plan in Slough.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department does not collect data on pupils who have specific health issues, such as epilepsy, and only collects information where a pupil has a learning need. As such, we do not hold figures on either the number of children with epilepsy, or the proportion who do not have an education, health and care plan.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of mental health support within schools.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

41% of schools and colleges in Slough constituency were supported by an NHS-funded Mental Health Support Team (MHST) in March 2025. Data on the coverage of MHSTs in England in 2024/25 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision. This has been available since 16 May 2025 at national, regional and local authority level and at constituency level since 10 July 2025.

Data on MHST coverage is collected annually, as part of the government’s commitment to expand MHSTs to every school, so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.

Around six in ten pupils nationally are expected to have access to an MHST by March 2026.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent mental health support her Department has provided within schools for pupils in Slough.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

41% of schools and colleges in Slough constituency were supported by an NHS-funded Mental Health Support Team (MHST) in March 2025. Data on the coverage of MHSTs in England in 2024/25 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision. This has been available since 16 May 2025 at national, regional and local authority level and at constituency level since 10 July 2025.

Data on MHST coverage is collected annually, as part of the government’s commitment to expand MHSTs to every school, so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.

Around six in ten pupils nationally are expected to have access to an MHST by March 2026.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to ensure that imported meat products are slaughtered to animal welfare standards equivalent to those in the UK.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter. Under existing legislation, imports of meat must meet standards at least equivalent to welfare at slaughter requirements set out in assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps she has taken to help tackle illicit financial activities committed by sanctioned individuals.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The UK’s financial sanctions regime places stringent restrictions on the financial activities of individuals who have been designated under sanctions. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), alongside law enforcement partners, takes a proactive approach to investigating suspected breaches of these sanctions. Where there are indications of other forms of criminality, OFSI shares information with relevant authorities to enable further investigation and enforcement. OFSI regularly publishes details of all its activities in an Annual Review for each financial year, information for 24-25 will be available soon.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Computer Misuse Act (CMA), which criminalises unauthorised access to computer systems and data, plays a vital role in ensuring that the UK has the right legislative framework to allow us to tackle cyber harms.

The Government is committed to ensuring the CMA remains up to date and effective to tackle criminality. That is why we are undertaking a review of the act, which is currently ongoing. As part of the review, we are scoping several proposals to update the act and give law enforcement enhanced tools and powers to effectively investigate and prosecute cyber criminality.

We will provide an update in due course once proposals are finalised.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the supply of epilepsy medications.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is working hard with industry to help resolve intermittent supply issues with some epilepsy medications. As a result of ongoing activity and intensive work, including asking manufacturers to expedite deliveries, most issues have been resolved.

We are currently aware of a supply issue affecting topiramate 25mg, 50mg, 100mg and 200mg tablets and phenobarbital 15mg tablets, used in the management of epilepsy, from certain manufacturers. Resupply from the affected manufacturers is yet to be confirmed but stock remains available from alternative manufacturers to meet patient demand, and we have issued management guidance to the National Health Service.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to prevent the use of off-road bikes on common land without lawful authority.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Tackling anti-social behaviour and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.

The Crime and Policing Bill will give police greater powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour involving vehicles, including off-road bikes on common land without lawful authority, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles. This will allow police to put an immediate stop to offending.

The Government has recently consulted on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially more quickly. The consultation closed on 8 July and the Government response will be published in due course.

These combined measures will help tackle the scourge of vehicles ridden anti-socially and will send a clear message to would-be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to prevent the illegal use of off-road bikes.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Tackling anti-social behaviour and the harm it causes is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.

The Crime and Policing Bill will give police greater powers to clamp down on anti-social behaviour involving vehicles, including off-road bikes on common land without lawful authority, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles. This will allow police to put an immediate stop to offending.

The Government has recently consulted on proposals to allow the police to dispose of seized vehicles which have been used anti-socially more quickly. The consultation closed on 8 July and the Government response will be published in due course.

These combined measures will help tackle the scourge of vehicles ridden anti-socially and will send a clear message to would-be offenders and local communities that this behaviour will not be tolerated.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to help protect populations of the (a) House Sparrow and (b) Song Thrush in the South East.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government is committed to restoring and protecting nature. In England, we have four legally binding targets for biodiversity: to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; to reverse declines by at least 10% by 2042, when compared with 2030; to reduce the risk of national species extinction by 2042; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, also by 2042. The actions to reach these targets will support our priority native bird species such as house sparrow and song thrush.

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) will work together to drive action including to create or restore habitats that will enable wildlife to recover and thrive. In early 2024 we introduced mandatory biodiversity net gain, to ensure development has a measurably positive impact (a 10% net gain’) on biodiversity, compared to what was there before development. Responsible authorities are also required to consider national environmental objectives when preparing their LNRS, including the target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030. LNRS will map specific proposals for habitat creation and improvement that will support many species, including the house sparrow and song thrush.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps her Department has taken with local authorities to help tackle pavement parking in (a) Slough and (b) Berkshire.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible. In the meantime, local authorities, like Slough Borough Council and West Berkshire Council, can make use of existing powers to manage pavement parking, and it is up to them to decide where to restrict pavement parking and what enforcement is appropriate.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she had with her Algerian counterpart on (a) religious freedoms and (b) the religious freedoms of the Ahmadiyya community in that country.

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

The UK champions Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all. Our Embassy in Algiers raises FoRB with the Algerian authorities, doing so most recently when our Ambassador met the Minister of Religious Affairs on 10 February. Our Embassy remains in regular contact with minority religious groups on how best to support FoRB. We will continue to raise the issue and advocate for freedom of expression for religious minority communities in Algeria.

Found: EHC0011 - Elections within the House of Commons Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Written Evidence

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