Written questions by Khan.

Whether the child poverty taskforce will consider the impact of proposed reforms to the health and disability benefit system on child poverty rates in the UK.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity, and the Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce is working to publish a Child Poverty Strategy to deliver lasting change. The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments. As part of the Strategy's development, the Taskforce is considering the potential impact of policies across government. We are committed to reforming the system of health and disability benefits so that it promotes and enables employment among as many people as possible. The system must also work to support disabled people to live independently and be financially sustainable in the long term. We will set out our proposals for reform in a Green Paper ahead of the Spring Statement later this year.

Whether her Department plans to publish an Equality Impact Assessment of proposed reforms to the health and benefit system.

As with all policies, we will ensure that considerations about their impact are at the heart of the policy making process. We will consider the publication of any future Equality Impact Assessments on a case by case basis as usual.

What assessment she has made of (a) the adequacy of and (b) levels of adherence to (i) human rights and (ii) public order obligations in the policing of recent protests.

The police have a fundamental duty under the Human Rights Act 1998 to act in a way that is compatible with human rights, including the rights to freedom of assembly and expression. The police also have a duty to ensure that public order and public safety is maintained. This is made clear to all police officers through police guidance, such as the Authorised Professional Practice on Public Order and Public Safety and the National Protest Operational Advice.The police must therefore strike a fair balance between individual rights to protest and the general interests of the community.The use of police powers to achieve this is a decision for the police, who are operationally independent from Government. As such, Government Ministers cannot comment on the use of these powers in a specific public order context, as to do so may undermine their operational independence.

Innovation and Technology, whether the Government is taking steps to encourage (a) social media and (b) search platforms to go beyond the requirements of the Online Safety Act 2023 in reducing access to harmful suicide and self-harm content.

The government engages regularly with social media and search services and is clear that they should be taking action now to make their services safe for users.Under the Online Safety Act, in-scope services must prevent all users from encountering illegal suicide and self-harm content, and children from legal content which encourages, promotes or provides instructions for suicide and self-harm.The government are committed to continuing to engage with those with lived experience and keeping online safety policy under review and will take whatever steps are needed to protect the public.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness of the provisions of the Online Safety Act 2023 to help tackle suicide and self-harm content on smaller online platforms.

The Online Safety Act will require in-scope user-to-user and search services – regardless of their size or reach – to prevent all users from encountering illegal suicide and self-harm content, and children from legal content which encourages, promotes or provides instructions for suicide and self-harm.In September 2024, the Secretary of State wrote to Ofcom to ask them about their plans to regulate ‘small but risky’ services. Ofcom have set up a designated taskforce to supervise these services. Ofcom will undertake enforcement action against these services if they do not comply with the Act’s duties. Ofcom also has a programme of outreach work to help services understand their new duties.

Innovation and Technology, when the Small but Risky taskforce will meet; and how the group will tackle the risk posed by dangerous online platforms.

In September 2024, a public exchange of letters between the Secretary of State and Ofcom’s CEO outlined information about the taskforce: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/about-ofcom/public-correspondence/2024/letter-from-dame-melanie-dawes-to-the-secretary-of-state-11-september-2024.pdf?v=380026. The taskforce is a dedicated supervision team within Ofcom which is developing and delivering a workplan, focusing on high priority themes (such as terror, hate and offences against women and girls) on small but risky services. Such services will be regulated by the illegal content and child safety duties of the Act. If there is evidence of non-compliance Ofcom will undertake enforcement action.

Innovation and Technology, what steps the Government is taking to ensure people with lived experience of (a) self harm and (b) suicide are involved in the implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023.

The government engages regularly with social media and search services and is clear that they should be taking action now to make their services safe for users.Under the Online Safety Act, in-scope services must prevent all users from encountering illegal suicide and self-harm content, and children from legal content which encourages, promotes or provides instructions for suicide and self-harm.The government are committed to continuing to engage with those with lived experience and keeping online safety policy under review and will take whatever steps are needed to protect the public.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his US counterpart on the revocation of sanctions against Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that decision on UK sanctions.

As the Prime Minister said in the House on 22nd January, we are deeply concerned by what is happening in the West Bank. The Government continues to engage with the US at all levels on all our priorities, including security and stability in the Middle East. Sanctions are part of wider UK efforts to support a more stable West Bank and help bring accountability to those who have supported and perpetrated heinous abuses of human rights in the West Bank. Sanctions remain part of our broader political strategy and are designed to effect change, to pressurise, and send a clear signal regarding behaviours.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an estimate of the lives lost in Gaza since 7 October 2023.

Since October 2023, over 47,000 have been killed in Gaza and more than 90% of the population has been displaced, many people repeatedly so. Like many of our partners, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office uses United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) figures to report on daily casualties in the current Gaza conflict. OCHA draws on figures issued from the Gazan Ministry of Health (MoH), which collates information on casualty statistics using a health information system derived from eight major hospitals across Gaza.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of economic inequality on (a) Gross Domestic Product and (b) GDP growth.

While income and wealth are not always directly correlated, distributional analysis shows that Government decisions at Autumn Budget 2024 and Spending Review 2025, Phase 1 are progressive and benefit households in the lowest income deciles the most, on average as a percentage of income in 2025-26. The Government is committed to making sure the wealthiest in our society pay their fair share of tax. That is why the Chancellor announced a series of reforms at Autumn Budget 2024 to help fix the public finances in as fair a way as possible. The increases in tax are concentrated on the highest income households. Overall, on average, all but the richest 10% of households will benefit from policy decisions in 2025-26.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to protect green spaces in the urban areas of Birmingham Perry Barr constituency.

The Government recognises the value of that parks and green spaces, especially within urban areas, provide vibrant and inclusive locations for communities to socialise, volunteer, work, and exercise. I commend Perry Bar for its impressive upkeep of Perry Barr Playing Fields, which achieved the renowned Green Flag Award in 2021 and 2022. This MHCLG-owned award scheme sets the national standard for parks and green spaces that are welcoming, safe, well-maintained and promote biodiversity and community participation. MHCLG has established the Parks Working Group, which brings together sector experts with government officials to find innovative ways of managing parks, creating employment, hosting economic activities and encouraging inward investment. Finally, the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) allows communities to designate land as Local Green Space, in order to protect green areas that are important to them.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues, to help tackle child poverty in (a) Birmingham Perry Barr constituency and (b) the West Midlands.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The Child Poverty Taskforce is developing the Government’s plan to bring about an enduring reduction in child poverty this Parliament, as part of a 10-year strategy for lasting change. The Minister for Employment visited the West Midlands in January 2025 and heard from key local stakeholders about challenges facing the area and how they think poverty can be better tackled. As a down payment on the child poverty strategy, the Government has already taken action at Autumn Budget 2024 which will benefit all constituencies. This action includes the Fair Repayment Rate which lowers the cap on deductions in Universal Credit to 15% of the standard allowance from April 2025. This will benefit 1.2m households by an average of £420 per year, including 700,000 of the poorest families with children benefiting as a result of this change. In addition, the Government will provide £1 billion (including Barnett impact) to extend the Household Support Fund in England and Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales in 2025-26. This will help individuals and families facing the greatest hardship, including supporting them with the cost of essentials such as food, energy and housing. This builds on the previous investment of £500 million (including Barnett impact) to extend the Household Support Fund to 31 March 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussions with Birmingham City Council on child poverty.

This Government is committed to reducing and alleviating child poverty. The Deputy Prime Minister is a member of the ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce that has engaged extensively across regions and nations, recognising that tackling child poverty requires a national effort. As Chair of the Mayoral Council, the Deputy Prime Minister met with mayors in January, including the Mayor of the West Midlands, to discuss shared priorities for the strategy. Combined and local authorities are key partners in this effort, and we will continue to engage with them to ensure the strategy supports and enables shared solutions.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of including the preservation of nature as priority in the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan.

Government is fully committed to protecting nature. That’s why as part of the SSEP we are requiring NESO to give due consideration to environmental impacts and statutory environmental duties throughout all stages of its production. This will include environmental data sets, a robust governance framework and stakeholder engagement. The SSEP will also be subject to a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and plan-level Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA).

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Israeli counterpart on (a) the killing of Sondos Jamal Muhammed Shalabi and (b) other actions in Nur Shams refugee camp.

We cannot comment on individual cases, but we remain concerned by the situation in the West Bank and reiterate that Israel must ensure that civilians are protected. The Foreign Secretary has raised the situation in the West Bank and issues of international law compliance directly at the highest levels of the Israeli Government. This government is clear that international law must be upheld, and civilians protected.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Israeli counterpart on the killing of (a) Saher al-Qaran and (b) other Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect.

We cannot comment on individual cases, but we remain concerned by the situation in the West Bank and reiterate that Israel must ensure that civilians are protected. The Foreign Secretary has raised the situation in the West Bank and issues of international law compliance directly at the highest levels of the Israeli Government. This government is clear that international law must be upheld, and civilians protected.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his US counterpart on British citizens and their families impacted by that country's sanctions on the International Criminal Court.

Successive UK and US administrations have taken a different view on the ICC - for example, the UK are signatories to the Rome Statute, the US are not. We support the independence of the ICC. Imposing sanctions against ICC officials impedes the Court's ability to carry out its important work prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern. We will continue to engage with the US administration on all our priorities.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many medical evacuations from Gaza to the UK have been (a) requested by the UK and (b) successfully conducted since 7 October 2023.

Officials from all relevant Whitehall departments are exploring avenues to ensure our support best meets the needs of the critically ill in Gaza, and we continue to support the provision of healthcare in Gaza and the region. The Government is keeping our humanitarian programme and existing policies on medical evacuations and visa pathways under review in response to events in Gaza.The ceasefire provides a vital opportunity to increase the number of medical evacuations from Gaza. It is very positive that the Rafah crossing has reopened to support this. It is vital that Israel ensures that there is a sustained passage for patients who need treatment not available in Gaza, and the UK frequently engages with Israel to ensure critically ill patients receive the medical treatment they need.We have announced £1 million for the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population, delivered through World Health Organisation (WHO) Egypt, to support medically evacuated Palestinians from Gaza. The UK is also supporting the provision of essential healthcare to civilians in Gaza, including support to UK-MED who have now provided vital care to over 330,000 Gazans since the start of the conflict.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will establish a mechanism to monitor the impact of USAID cuts on programmes to (a) conflict-affected countries and (b) multilateral organisations; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the withdrawal of American funding from UNRWA on levels of UK funding.

We are currently working to assess the implications of the US funding pause across development sectors, geographic regions and multilateral organisations. We are gathering information and working with other donor partners to share analysis of the pause before making any decisions.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his correspondence of 8 January 2024 to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, if he will list the steps his Department takes to monitor the risk of genocide being committed as part of the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria process.

Criterion 1 of the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria states that the Government will not grant a licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the UK's international obligations and commitments. This includes the duty to prevent genocide under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention. We draw on a range of sources in making assessments, including NGOs, international organisations, and reporting from our overseas network. All licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard.