Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has held with his Israeli counterparts on lifting restrictions on international journalists to enable them to report on the situation in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary and I have both paid tribute to journalists risking their lives to report in Gaza. Journalists covering conflicts are afforded protection under humanitarian law. The Media have a right to report freely and we urge all parties to permit journalists to carry out their crucial role. The UK remains committed to Media Freedom and to championing democracy and human rights around the world. Independent media is essential to a functioning society. There must be safe access for journalists to conflict situations in order to independently cover events.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the number of children that live in families with a parent or carer that receives (a) the Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity element, (b) the Personal Independence Payment daily living component, where their claim was awarded less than four points in all daily living activities and (c) both, broken down by constituency.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
(a) Official statistics for the number of households on Universal Credit (UC) are published every three months on Stat-Xplore, with breakdowns available by various geographies including Westminster Parliamentary Constituency. In addition, breakdowns are available by the number of children and the different UC elements, including the Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity payment. The latest statistics are available to November 2024.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access general guidance on how to extract the information required. For guidance on the UC datasets on Stat-Xplore, see the Universal Credit Official Statistics Stat-Xplore User Guide.
(b) (c) Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is an individual-based benefit and therefore DWP does not hold family information on its administrative systems, so this information is not available.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) certificates of competency and (b) certificates of equivalent competency were issued to ships’ cooks by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each year between 2015 and 2024.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Please see below table for the number of certificates of competency issued for ships’ cooks in each year between 2015 to 2024
| Ships Cooks Certificates of Competency issued |
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Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Total |
Certs Issued | 141 | 141 | 190 | 254 | 397 | 134 | 83 | 65 | 75 | 92 | 1572 |
Please be advised that there is no requirement for a certificate of equivalent competency for Ships Cook.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas have been issued to Gazan children seeking medical evacuation to the UK since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The information requested on visas is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
The UK has supported an initiative by Project Pure Hope to bring a small number of children from Gaza to the UK for privately funded specialist care. On 1 May, the Minister for the Middle East announced that two children have arrived in the UK to begin treatment. The Government also announced a £7.5m package of support to bolster vital medical care in Gaza and the region, which includes additional funding for UK-Med, WHO Egypt and the OCHA OPTs Humanitarian Fund.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas have been denied for Gazan children seeking medical evacuation to the UK.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The information requested on visas is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
The UK has supported an initiative by Project Pure Hope to bring a small number of children from Gaza to the UK for privately funded specialist care. On 1 May, the Minister for the Middle East announced that two children have arrived in the UK to begin treatment. The Government also announced a £7.5m package of support to bolster vital medical care in Gaza and the region, which includes additional funding for UK-Med, WHO Egypt and the OCHA OPTs Humanitarian Fund.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, whether the proposed extension of the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain will apply retrospectively to people already in the UK with the appropriate visa.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We will reform our settlement and citizenship rules by expanding the Points-Based System and increasing the standard qualifying period for settlement to ten years. Individuals will have the opportunity to reduce the qualifying period to settlement and citizenship based on contributions to the UK economy and society.
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and will provide further details at that stage.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many skilled worker visas have been issued for marine and waterways transport operatives under the points based system.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office publishes data on sponsored work visas by visa type and occupation in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on grants of visas are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2021 up to the end of December 2024.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who represented her Department at the second annual review of the Cyprus-UK bilateral Memorandum of Understanding in December 2024.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The annual review of the Cyprus-UK bilateral Memorandum of Understanding is led by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Director General for Europe. The Department was not represented during the second annual review which took place in December 2024. However, the Department worked with the FCDO to review the UK-Cyprus Joint Statement and provided written contributions on transport related issues covered in the strategic dialogue as part of the second annual review.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Shipping Deputy Ministry of the Republic of Cyprus in promoting higher standards of seafarer (a) employment and (b) welfare in the short sea ferry industry.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Memorandum of Understanding covers maritime safety, security and environment and is a basis for dialogue of mutual interest to both states, and to exchange information and best practice. It also promotes cooperation on dialogue in the international fora on areas of common interest.
For seafarers, we have seen this most recently in April in our co-operation with Canada, EU member states including Cyprus, and others on important amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention that the UK helped to drive through.
As the flag state for several vessels on the short sea ferry sector, Cyprus complies with all international and EU requirements in terms of employment and welfare of seafarers. Domestic regulations put in place by the coastal state may go over and beyond international requirements. These are compliant with international law and recognise the authority of the flag state.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help mitigate the potential impact of open shipping registers on (a) employment and (b) welfare standards for seafarers working in the shipping industry.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Improving the pay and working conditions of seafarers is a priority for this government. We are committed to working with the sector and our international partners to improve standards.
All vessels visiting the UK must comply with international minimum standards on employment and welfare. We work with like-minded states and our social partners to continue to improve those international standards.
The UK has signed Memoranda of Understanding with Spain, Greece and Cyprus agreeing to coordinate on matters relating to the conditions of seafarers.