Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Independent - Coventry South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) adequacy of the (i) provision of disabled toilets and (ii) systems that seek to ensure that only disabled people can access disabled toilets using RADAR keys and (b) effectiveness of (A) RADAR keys and (B) the National Key Scheme in offering disabled people independent access to locked public toilets.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government has made no recent assessment of the adequacy of provision of wheelchair-accessible toilets. Research assessing layout and equipment of unisex wheelchair-accessible toilets has been published on GOV.UK but, as RADAR keys are not part of the regulated built fabric, research of their use was not included. RADAR keys involve a management oversight which goes beyond the powers and scope of the Building Act. The Building Act gives no powers to building control bodies over how buildings are operated post completion. RADAR keys are managed by building owners to serve the community of people able to access a RADAR key. The sale or use of RADAR keys is not a government backed scheme, nor is the design and use of RADAR keys an expectation of Part M of the Building Regulations. The functional requirement in Part M of the Building Regulations is for new building works to make reasonable provision for people to access and use a building and its facilities.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Independent - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the additional £880 million allocated to the Social Care Grant.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The £880 million uplift in the Social Care Grant is in recognition of the important role local authorities have in commissioning and delivering social care services. This funding will support social care delivery and will take the total funding in the Social Care Grant to £5.9 billion in 2025/26.
This additional funding forms one part of a wider increase in local government funding, with up to £3.7 billion of additional funding being made available for social care authorities in 2025-26. Overall, the Government is providing an increase to core local government spending power in 2025/26 of 6% in cash terms.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is responsible for ensuring the adequacy of local government budgets. The Department of Health and Social Care will continue working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, local authorities, and the adult social care sector to understand what the impact of cost and demand pressures will be on service delivery and budgets.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Independent - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to the Pakistani government to secure the safe release of Imran Khan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary met with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on 24 October to discuss a range of key issues, including Pakistan's domestic political situation and Imran Khan's detention. I also raised this on my recent visit to Pakistan. While Pakistan's judicial processes are a domestic matter, we have been very clear that the Pakistani authorities need to respect fundamental freedoms, including the right to a fair trial, due process and humane detention. This applies to Imran Khan as it does to all Pakistan's citizens.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Independent - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the human rights situation in Islamabad, in the context of reports of deaths and mass detentions of protesters from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on 26 and 27 November 2024.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK strongly supports individuals' rights to expression without censorship, intimidation or unnecessary restriction. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to respect these fundamental freedoms, underlining that any human rights violations should be fully investigated in line with international human rights law. I raised the importance of upholding civil and political rights with senior Ministers, including the Minister for Human Rights and Interior Minister, on my visit to Pakistan last month. The British High Commission also regularly raises these issues with the Pakistani authorities at a senior level.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Independent - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his Pakistani counterpart for an independent investigation into the deaths of civilians in Islamabad on 26 and 27 November 2024.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK strongly supports individuals' rights to expression without censorship, intimidation or unnecessary restriction. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to respect these fundamental freedoms, underlining that any human rights violations should be fully investigated in line with international human rights law. I raised the importance of upholding civil and political rights with senior Ministers, including the Minister for Human Rights and Interior Minister, on my visit to Pakistan last month. The British High Commission also regularly raises these issues with the Pakistani authorities at a senior level.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Independent - Coventry South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of F-35 components exported from the UK to the US that have since been received by Israel Government since October 2023.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The global distribution of F-35 components is controlled by the US Government led F-35 programme. The Government does not have visibility of F-35 components distributed by the programme to each F-35 nation and is unable to provide an estimate.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Independent - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of (a) buses, (b) trains and (c) other public transport for disabled people; and what steps she plans to take to improve such accessibility.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government is fully committed to our promise to deliver reliable, affordable and accessible transport, with accessibility at the heart of our bold reforms for bus and rail reform and improved passenger standards across the transport network.
The Department has recently published an annual evaluation of accessibility through the Inclusive Transport Strategy scorecard, based upon analysis by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen). In addition to this the department publishes annual statistics on disability, accessibility and blue badge holding, which includes data on public satisfaction with different aspects of public transport provision. The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee is the Department’s expert committee on accessibility, making sure that proper consideration and assessment of disabled people’s views and needs are central to our decision making.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Independent - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including (a) taekwondo and (b) other martial arts in the activity lists for (i) GCSE, (ii) AS and (iii) A-Level physical education.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The current GCSE, AS and A level PE activity lists were last reviewed in 2018. These lists are based upon the reliability and practicality of activities as a basis for assessing whether students had demonstrated the skills required by the relevant qualification specification.
The government has launched an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review covering ages 5–18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review will consider the current qualification pathways available at Key Stages 4 and 5. A call for evidence will be published in the coming weeks which will set out the areas where the review group would particularly welcome input. More information about the Review is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-curriculum-and-assessment-review. Decisions on any possible changes to specifications and assessment arrangements for exams will be taken in the light of the Review.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Independent - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his Israeli counterpart on deaths of Palestinians in Israeli custody since October 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are aware of reports of ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees in military detention. The UK Government is clear that administrative detention should only be used when it is justified in accordance with international law. Those under detention should either be charged or released.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Independent - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his Israeli counterpart on reports of torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are aware of reports of ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees in military detention. The UK Government is clear that administrative detention should only be used when it is justified in accordance with international law. Those under detention should either be charged or released.