Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will commit to making regulations under section 76(1) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 to prohibit employers from making 100% wage deductions where the partial performance in question constitutes protected industrial action.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government response to the consultation on Protection against Detriments for Taking Industrial Action, published 23 June 2026, states that the government does not plan to change the common law rules allowing pay deductions for industrial action, including partial performance. This is an area of law continuing to develop in the courts.
The draft Protection Against Detriment (Industrial Action) Regulations 2026, to be made under section 236A Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, prohibiting the use of detriments to penalise or deter protected industrial action, were laid in Parliament on 24 June 2026 and are consistent with this position.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Government plans to bring into force the remaining provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024; and whether they will publish a timetable for their implementation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 15 July 2026 (HCWS270).
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she held discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on commissioning independent research into the social cost of greyhound racing betting as part of wider gambling reform.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Greyhound racing makes an important contribution to British cultural life and the department’s priority is ensuring the continued growth of the sport.
DCMS engages regularly with DEFRA regarding greyhound racing, but has had no such discussions.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of data from the Migration Advisory Committee report entitled The Fiscal of Immigration, December 2025, which found the actual savings from extending the settlement qualifying period may be approximately £600 million.
Answered by Mike Tapp
The MAC’s December 2025 report concluded that the net fiscal contribution of migrant workers declines after settlement. Their report did not provide the estimated savings from implementing an earned settlement model.
The consultation for the earned settlement model, as proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, was open to the public between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026.
We are now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model, including consideration of any transitional measures for those already on a pathway to settlement.
Once the final model has been decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly. As with all significant policy changes, the proposals will be subject to both economic and equality impact assessments.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 17 March 2026 to Question 119436 on Overseas Students: Sudan, if she will take steps to review the decision on Chevening scholarship recipients.
Answered by Mike Tapp
By year ending September 2025, asylum claims along the affected routes by nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan had risen to over 470% of their 2021 level. The visa brake operates on a nationality-based approach on the Student visa route for Sudan and three other nationalities. This is in order to safeguard the fairness, credibility and sustainability of the immigration system as a whole, and so we are unable provide an exception to individuals who are resident in third countries.
While the terms and conditions of the Chevening Scholarship require scholars to return home for at least two years following the completion of courses, there have been instances of asylum claims made by Chevening scholars for each of the affected nationalities in recent years. Given this continued asylum risk, introducing exceptions from the visa brakes for Chevening scholars of these nationalities would be unfair
The brake will be kept under regular review. The visa brake is not intended to be permanent, but it will only be released once the government considers it appropriate to do so.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the visa brake on applicants who have been long-term residents in third countries.
Answered by Mike Tapp
By year ending September 2025, asylum claims along the affected routes by nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan had risen to over 470% of their 2021 level. The visa brake operates on a nationality-based approach on the Student visa route for Sudan and three other nationalities. This is in order to safeguard the fairness, credibility and sustainability of the immigration system as a whole, and so we are unable provide an exception to individuals who are resident in third countries.
While the terms and conditions of the Chevening Scholarship require scholars to return home for at least two years following the completion of courses, there have been instances of asylum claims made by Chevening scholars for each of the affected nationalities in recent years. Given this continued asylum risk, introducing exceptions from the visa brakes for Chevening scholars of these nationalities would be unfair
The brake will be kept under regular review. The visa brake is not intended to be permanent, but it will only be released once the government considers it appropriate to do so.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Visa brake imposed on 4 countries after widespread visa abuse, published on 4 March 2026, what steps she is taking to improve data sharing, including asylum application data, with sponsors.
Answered by Mike Tapp
The Home Office works closely with sponsors and sector bodies to support compliance with sponsorship duties and the integrity of the immigration system.
The Home Office regularly shares information with sponsors, including data to support monitoring of visa refusal rates, and in 2025 introduced new mechanisms to enhance refusal data sharing. Sponsors must report to the Home Office where a student does not enrol, or has sponsorship withdrawn after enrolment, and therefore already has access to that information.
We continue to explore opportunities to strengthen data sharing in line with data protection legislation, which includes considering our obligations on handling personal and sensitive data.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ask Sheffield Hallam University to reconsider its proposal to close its Collegiate nursery provision.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
I would like to say how sorry I was to read of the proposed closure of Sheffield Hallam’s nursery. I know how devastating such closures can be and the impact this can have on families and the wider community.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.
The department does not regulate the contracts between private businesses and parents buying childcare from them, and it would not be appropriate to become involved in local decision making. We are therefore unfortunately unable to directly intervene in individual cases.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and where needed support them with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. No local authorities
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on the commitment to review early years funding, including national funding formulae, and consult the sector on changes by summer 2026; and when the consultation will launch.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
We remain committed to engaging closely with stakeholders and launching the early years funding consultation in line with our stated timeframe of summer 2026. Further details on the date of publication will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department collects data on (a) track closures, (b) number of races and (c) attendance for greyhound racing.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS engages regularly with the governing body for greyhound racing, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), to keep abreast of developments in the sport, including those relating to tracks, races and attendance.
Data on tracks and attendances are available on the GBGB website.