Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the Race Equality Engagement Group has published any (a) reports and (b) other documents since March 2025.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) held its first meeting in June 2025.

On 25 September 2025 the REEG held its first thematic roundtable covering tackling the barriers to accessing finance and investment for ethnic minority entrepreneurs, and the Police Race Action Plan.

On 9 December 2025 the REEG held its second thematic roundtable and community engagement session, focusing on racial inequalities in maternal and neonatal health and cardiovascular disease.

The Group has met with stakeholders with lived experience, and from key government departments, civil society, community groups and institutions.

In line with the REEG’s Terms of Reference, these meetings are supporting efforts to strengthen the Government’s links with ethnic minority communities and enable constructive dialogue on the Government’s plans to tackle race inequalities.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to publish the (a) evidence received from the consultation on how to implement mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers, and (b) draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As set out in our manifesto and in the King’s Speech in July 2024, the government is committed to introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers and making the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people.

Good progress has been made in developing the policy and legislative approach to ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting following the public consultation last year.

We will publish the government response to the ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting consultation, as well as sharing next steps on the Bill in due course.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will list engagements that the Race Equality Engagement Group has had with (a) stakeholders and (b) community organisations since March 2025; and the output from these engagements.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) held its first meeting in June 2025.

On 25 September 2025 the REEG held its first thematic roundtable covering tackling the barriers to accessing finance and investment for ethnic minority entrepreneurs, and the Police Race Action Plan.

On 9 December 2025 the REEG held its second thematic roundtable and community engagement session, focusing on racial inequalities in maternal and neonatal health and cardiovascular disease.

The Group has met with stakeholders with lived experience, and from key government departments, civil society, community groups and institutions.

In line with the REEG’s Terms of Reference, these meetings are supporting efforts to strengthen the Government’s links with ethnic minority communities and enable constructive dialogue on the Government’s plans to tackle race inequalities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of issuing emergency visas to students in Gaza who have confirmed UK university places; and whether her Department has had recent discussions with UK universities on facilitating safe passage for affected students.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Government provided exceptional support to enable the departure of Chevening Scholars and fully funded scholarship students from Gaza, for students whose courses began before 31 December 2025. This support was for students who met the relevant requirements of the Immigration Rules.

The Government is reviewing the impact of the policy implemented to-date, and any decision on further support will depend on the evolving international situation. We will continue to keep the policy under review.

This has been a cross-Government initiative and the Home Office, Department for Education and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office have engaged with Higher Education Institutions throughout this process.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the length of delays in the DVLA medical licensing process, particularly the time taken for applications to be reviewed by medical caseworkers after receipt; what steps her Department is taking to improve capacity and processing times; and whether (a) service standards and (b) target timeframes are in place for medical licence decisions.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to process all applications as quickly as possible. However, driving licence applications where a medical condition(s) must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer as they vary widely in complexity and the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, including medical professionals, before a licence can be issued.

The DVLA is currently rolling out a new casework system which will deliver significant improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions. This will be fully implemented by March 2026 and will provide improved turnaround times, increased capacity, increased automation, higher levels of digital functionality and increased digital communication. The DVLA is also increasing the number of staff to help reduce application processing and call waiting times.

The DVLA’s most recent annual report and accounts for 2024/25 showed that the DVLA achieved 85 per cent against its customer service measure to make a licensing decision in 90 days in 90 per cent of medical driving licence cases.

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Sinking of SS Tilawa

Public inquiry into Epstein links

Crown Estate (Wales) Bill [Lords]

Found: and Robin Swann MP (UUP); and • On 5 November 2025 from two panels, the first consisting of Kirsty Blackman