Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the net financial impact of international students to the economy.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
International students make a very significant contribution to the UK economy. Departmental statistics on education-related exports, published in June, estimated that international students contributed £21.06 billion to the UK economy in 2022 through their tuition fees and living expenditure.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of university-based (a) research and (b) development activities on levels of UK (i) productivity and (ii) economic growth.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Evidence shows that every £1 of public R&D investment leverages around £2 of business R&D investment [1] and generates approximately £7 of net economic benefits in the long term [2].
Universities play a central role in the UK’s R&D ecosystem, receiving around half of the Government’s R&D funding [3]. Their impact is wide-ranging, from advancing scientific knowledge to commercialising innovation. For example, university spin-outs and start-ups – just one channel through which universities contribute to the economy - attracted £20.6 billion in investment between 2014 and 2022 [4].
[1] The relationship between public and private R&D funding | Oxford Economics
[2] ‘Evidence on the balance and effectiveness of research and innovation spending’, written evidence submitted by UK Research and Innovation to the Science and Technology Select Committee, published November 2018
[3] UK gross domestic expenditure on research and development
[4] Intellectual property, start-ups and spin-outs | HESA
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision to restrict TechExpert scholarships to domestic PhD students on the UK’s international competitiveness in Artificial Intelligence innovation.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to strengthening the UK’s position as a global leader in AI. While TechExpert scholarships focus on domestic talent, we continue to attract top international talent through initiatives such as the AI Global Fellowships and the Spärck AI scholarships. These programmes ensure the UK retains world-class expertise, supports frontier research, and sustains its competitive edge in AI innovation. This balance to championing our domestic pipeline while attracting some of the world's best AI minds to the UK is key to maximising our AI ambitions.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken for the consideration of Administrative Reviews of immigration casework.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The allocation of resources across competing demands within the immigration system requires that prioritisation decisions are made, but the Home Office continues to work hard to meet the timescales set out in public guidance for the processing of AR applications.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for administrative reviews relating to immigration casework.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The allocation of resources across competing demands within the immigration system requires that prioritisation decisions are made, but the Home Office continues to work hard to meet the timescales set out in public guidance for the processing of AR applications.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of enabling community energy schemes to sell energy to local households and businesses on the transition to Net Zero.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is considering a range of reforms to unlock renewable investment and pass through the benefits of cheaper renewables to consumers. This includes potential changes to support local and community energy.
All policies within my department and Government undergo appropriate analytical appraisals, which includes an assessment of the impacts on Net Zero.
The Secretary of State previously commissioned Ofgem to explore policy and regulatory barriers to local supply, including route to market challenges.
The Department continues to work with Ofgem and key stakeholders to enhance our community energy offer. We will set out further detail in due course.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Departments plans to implement transitional arrangements for people impacted by the proposals outlined in her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Immigration White Paper, published on 12 May 2025, announced new measures on a wide range of issues.
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year. Further details will be set out in the normal way in due course, and where necessary, will be subject to consultation.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of regulating the level of charges levied by online image rights holders in cases of copyright infringement.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The unauthorised use of copyright material is an infringement. The terms on which permission is granted, including any payments that may be made, is a private commercial matter.
The Government would encourage parties involved in potential litigation proceedings to seek a negotiated settlement and the IPO offers a mediation service which employs accredited mediators who are qualified to mediate across a range of IP rights.
There are also many other individuals and organisations who mediate IP disputes, and the IPO has published a list of providers on its website. Further information regarding mediation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/intellectual-property-mediation
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that home delivery drivers are protected from abuse within the Crime and Policing Bill.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is determined to tackle all forms of hate crime.
We have a robust legislative framework in place to respond to hate crimes which target race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and transgender identity, and we back the police in taking strong action against the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.
The Government funds an online hate crime reporting portal, True Vision, designed so victims of all types of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We are also continuing to fund the National Online Hate Crime Hub, which supports individual local police forces in dealing specifically with online hate crime, providing expert advice to police to support them in investigating these abhorrent offences.
The Government is carefully considering how best to strengthen the response to hate crime going forward so we can continue to tackle this offending head on.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 42191 on University of Sussex: Disciplinary Proceedings and with reference to her oral statement of 15 January 2025 on Higher Education Regulatory Approach, Official Report, column 379-382, when the parts of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 not being amended will come into force; and when she plans to introduce legislation to amend that Act.
Answered by Janet Daby
On Monday 28 April, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education signed commencement regulations for the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. These regulations commence the following provisions in the Act from 1 August 2025:
We are seeking a suitable legislative vehicle to amend and repeal the remaining elements of the Act in due course.