Written questions by Cordova.

Innovation and Technology, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve community access to media literacy education.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is improving community access to media literacy through the Digital Inclusion Action Plan, which supports local and community-led initiatives to boost digital participation. Libraries, as trusted and accessible public spaces, play a key role in delivering digital and media literacy support to communities across the UK.DSIT also works closely with Ofcom, which engages civil society and community organisations as part of its role as the online safety regulator.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60089 on Artificial Intelligence: Copyright, when he plans to publish a response to his Department's consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence.

The Government is currently reviewing over 11,500 responses to the consultation on copyright and AI and will publish its response in due course.In addition, as set out in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, the Government has committed to providing a progress report to Parliament by 18 December, and publishing an economic impact assessment, and report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems, by 18 March 2026.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of learning through play in early years education.

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets standards and requirements for all early years providers to ensure every child has the best start in life and is prepared for school. The EYFS is clear that children learn through play and that play is essential for children’s development. For example, singing songs helps to develop language comprehension, vocabulary, self-expression and literacy. Practitioners should organise enabling environments and cultures for high-quality play, create games, and provide opportunity for indoor and outdoor play.The ‘Children of the 2020s’ study is part of a programme of departmental research to improve our understanding of children’s progress throughout key phases of learning and education. The study follows over 8,500 families and their babies, born in England between September and November 2021. The second wave of data is due to be published in autumn, and we will assess that to consider future policy for early education, including learning through play.

What recent steps her Department has taken to improve media literacy education in schools.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report notes the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and trends in digital information and that it is necessary that the curriculum keep pace with these changes, including a renewed focus on digital and media literacy and critical thinking skills.Media literacy is currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship, using non-statutory programmes of study at key stages 1 and 2. Teaching of citizenship equips pupils to understand the identification of misleading and malicious information and to counter the effects of negative and harmful news, events and information, including online. As well as citizenship, media literacy is taught through the computing curriculum at key stages 2 to 4. The computing curriculum ensures, for example, that pupils know how to use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked, and how to be discerning when evaluating digital content, all of which supports the teaching of good media literacy.The department recently appointed a task and finish group to advise on digital, AI and technology. We will consider how best to develop and implement any of their recommendations.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of suspending military training to members of the Israeli Defence Forces.

The UK has a long history of providing assistance to other nations in the security and justice fields and continues to do so around the world. The Ministry of Defence’s provision of such assistance is assessed carefully on a case-by-case basis. Fewer than five Israel Defence Forces personnel are currently enrolled in non-combat military academic courses in the UK. UK training courses promote British values, including human rights, democracy, and compliance with international humanitarian law. We keep all education course participation of overseas nations under review.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he has taken to protect creatives from copyright infringements by Artificial Intelligence developers.

Copying protected material in the UK will infringe copyright unless it is licensed, or an exception to copyright applies.The Government recently consulted on several topics relating to the interaction between copyright and artificial intelligence (AI), including seeking views on the use of copyright material in AI model development. This consultation closed on 25th February.The Government’s priority now is to review all responses to the consultation, to help inform its next steps. The Government will continue to engage extensively on this issue and its proposals will be set out in due course.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help increase the number of black girls participating in sport.

The Government believes that opportunities to play sport and get physically active should be available to everyone.We recognise that there are barriers which prevent some people from getting active with women and girls and those from ethnically diverse communities less likely to be active than other groups.We are committed to breaking down the barriers that contribute to these persisting inequalities in participation and want to ensure that everyone can experience the physical, mental and social benefits that come with being active.As part of this, our Arm's Length Body for grassroots sport, Sport England, prioritises tackling inequalities by targeting investment towards the most inactive groups.Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign has inspired millions of women and girls to get active. The next phase of This Girl Can, Tackling Inequalities, primarily targets women who are most likely to be inactive in society, including those from black backgrounds.Sport England anticipates that 1.6 million women who are less active will be active as a result of the campaign by 2028. This is in addition to already active women who may report being motivated by the campaign.

What recent steps Government Departments have taken to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling on For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.

We will review and update policy wherever necessary to ensure it complies with the latest legal requirements.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure Homes England allocate appropriate funding for developments that provide new wheelchair accessible homes.

Capital funding guidance for the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 sets out that certain categories of supported housing for older and disabled people should be built to be wheelchair accessible. In July 2024, the government published targets for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme which confirmed that 5% of homes delivered in the programme will be for supported housing.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce child poverty in Battersea constituency.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish its strategy as soon as possible. We are exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. The strategy will look 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. The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, improve the adequacy of the standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour to boost the pay of three million workers.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment in the her Department's Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, on levels of poverty among carers in Battersea.

No assessment has been made on this basis. The government's impact assessment regarding Health and Disability Reform is available at Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts.This government is committed to supporting unpaid carers, who provide invaluable support to elderly or disabled people. As the Green Paper sets out, we will consider any impacts our reforms might have on benefits for unpaid carers as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation and as we develop our detailed proposals for change. We will also continue to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care to ensure everyone’s health and care needs are met. We are taking other action to improve Carer’s Allowance separate to the Green Paper. We have pegged the weekly Carer’s Allowance earnings limit to 16 hours’ work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. The Carer’s Allowance earnings limit increased to be £196 a week net earnings on 7 April 2025, compared to £151 in 24/25. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of steps taken by his Department to (a) track the final destination of F-35 components and (b) ensure F-35 components are not used by the Israeli military.

Once parts are exported from the UK to the global F-35 programme, the UK does not have access to information about the movement of individual components, and does not have control over whether components in the global spares pool or aircraft assembly facilities are used for specific customer nations or not. However, the UK has suspended the export of F-35 components directly to Israel, where these are for use by Israel.The only way to prevent UK-produced parts reaching Israel would therefore be for the UK Government to stop the export of parts to the entire F-35 programme, which would prejudice the security of the UK and our allies.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made any (a) formal or (b) informal assessment of the potential risk of genocide in Gaza.

The UK's long-standing policy is that any formal determination as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a competent national or international court, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. It should be decided after consideration of all the evidence available in the context of a credible judicial process.

If the autologous serum eyedrop service will continue following the abolition of NHS England.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is a Special Health Authority, and is responsible for blood donation in England and organ transplantation services in the United Kingdom. It is also responsible for stem cell transplants, tissue, and eye services.Autologous serum eyedrops (ASE) are manufactured by NHSBT and are supplied to patients who experience severe dryness of the eye and who do not obtain relief from conventional pharmaceutical eyedrops. As such, ASE is supplied to patients following a clinical request from a consultant.The Government does not anticipate the changes to NHS England will have any impacton the service NHSBT provides regarding ASE.

Whether her Department collects data on the ethnicity of applicants for (a) settled and (b) pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

A detailed breakdown of the EU Settlement Scheme statistics is available to the public via GOV.UK. Within the latest published statistics, Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK, a list of data fields sets out what data is collected, as part of the EU Settlement Scheme application.

Whether Border Force collects data on the ethnicity of people (a) held or (b) delayed in excess of 30 minutes at the UK border.

Border Force does not collect ethnicity data.

What quality controls her Department has put in place to help ensure that people accessing their digital immigration status receive accurate information.

eVisas are a key part of delivering a border and immigration system which will be more digital and streamlined, a change that will enhance the applicant’s experience and increase the immigration system’s security and efficiency.The transition to eVisas has seen millions of people already receiving and using eVisas successfully. By the end of April 2025 over 4.3 million people had created an online (UKVI) account to access their eVisa. Between Q4 2019 and Q1 2025, the 'view and prove' service has seen over 41.9 million views by individuals and over 6.3 million views by organisations checking immigration status.The rollout of eVisas does not affect a person’s immigration status. The information in an eVisa is based on the information held on a person’s underlying immigration case, which is recorded in the same way as when we issued biometric residence permits. We have been recording this immigration case information digitally for over 20 years, on various caseworking systems, and if someone encounters an issue with their eVisa we can search those records to find their information and confirm their status.If a person believes there is an error with their eVisa, they should report it to the Home Office using the dedicated ‘Report an error with your eVisa’ form which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/report-error-evisa.We are continually improving our systems and welcome feedback on errors and how access to eVisas can be enhanced.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of medical equipment shortages on (a) hospital discharges and (b) patients in community care settings.

At the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Government announced a £22.6 billion increase in day-to-day health spending and a £3.1 billion increase in the capital budget over the financial years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026. Departmental budgets beyond 2025/26 will be set through phase two of the Spending Review, which will conclude and be published in June 2025. Local authorities and National Health Service procuring authorities are responsible for discussing and agreeing contracts with community equipment suppliers, which will take into account the resources available to them. Timely provision of community equipment supports people to remain as independent as possible for as long as possible, and contributes significantly to the priorities of the Department, the NHS, and local authorities in terms of hospital avoidance and discharge.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will have discussions with the Israeli government on the bombing of the European Hospital in Khan Younis on 13 May 2025.

The recent attacks on the European Hospital in Khan Younis are deeply concerning. As the Foreign Secretary outlined in his statement on the 20th of May, Israel has repeatedly struck hospitals, and these have rendered the European hospital non-functional. In March, the UK, France and Germany called on Israel to do more to prevent harm to medical personnel and premises in the course of their military operations.Amid Israel's expanded military operations, the healthcare system in Gaza is now on the brink of collapse. We remain gravely concerned by the lack of adequate medical care in Gaza as nearly all hospitals are damaged or partly destroyed according to the World Health Organization.My officials and I are in regular dialogue with our Israeli counterparts on the protection of healthcare facilities in Gaza. We will continue to make both public and private representations to the Government of Israel to protect healthcare staff and facilities.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing support to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in reviewing (a) guidance and (b) regulations for the (i) licensing and (ii) packaging of medicines to ensure their safe use by blind and partially sighted people.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) already has provision in the current Human Medicines Regulations 2012 No 1916 legislation, to ensure the licensing and packaging of medicines are safe for use by blind and partially sighted people. These require manufacturers of medicines to include braille on their packaging of medicinal products, so that those who are partially sighted or who are blind can effectively identify the product they have been prescribed and dispensed.They also require medicine manufacturers to provide an alternative version of the patient information leaflet (PIL), should the paper version contained in the box not be suitable in meeting the patients’ needs. These alternative versions may include braille or audio versions of the PIL. The MHRA’s best practice guidance also provides manufacturers with guidance on how to ensure they meet the requirements of the legislation.The MHRA recognises that there is opportunity to improve patient information based upon user research, to ensure it fulfils the needs of this patient group and others. They are also committed to embedding patient voices across the regulatory pathways as part of their Patient Involvement Strategy 2021. The current strategy is also being refreshed for 2026 re-launch.