Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on (a) disabled and (b) older people in Gaza of (i) delays in, (ii) obstructions of and (iii) the suspension of the delivery of humanitarian aid; and what contingency plans her Department has to respond to such scenarios.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Marginalised groups such as people with disabilities and the elderly are disproportionately impacted by long standing conflicts including the war in Gaza, and by humanitarian provision which only allows those able to carry aid over long distances to secure food. We continue to work, alongside regional partners, including Egypt and Jordan, to enable the UN and non-governmental organisations to ensure aid reaches all those in Gaza, and we continue to urge the Israeli authorities to allow the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of older people, and others.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with international humanitarian organisations on the delivery of humanitarian aid to (a) older women with caring responsibilities and (b) older people generally in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Marginalised groups such as people with disabilities and the elderly are disproportionately impacted by long standing conflicts including the war in Gaza, and by humanitarian provision which only allows those able to carry aid over long distances to secure food. We continue to work, alongside regional partners, including Egypt and Jordan, to enable the UN and non-governmental organisations to ensure aid reaches all those in Gaza, and we continue to urge the Israeli authorities to allow the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of older people, and others.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Israeli counterpart on the potential impact of the conflict in Gaza on older people's (a) mobility, (b) access to healthcare and (c) access to age-appropriate humanitarian assistance.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Marginalised groups such as people with disabilities and the elderly are disproportionately impacted by long standing conflicts including the war in Gaza, and by humanitarian provision which only allows those able to carry aid over long distances to secure food. We continue to work, alongside regional partners, including Egypt and Jordan, to enable the UN and non-governmental organisations to ensure aid reaches all those in Gaza, and we continue to urge the Israeli authorities to allow the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of older people, and others.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Israeli counterpart on the provision of (a) unimpeded and (b) sustained access for humanitarian agencies delivering aid to (i) older people and (ii) others at heightened risk in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Marginalised groups such as people with disabilities and the elderly are disproportionately impacted by long standing conflicts including the war in Gaza, and by humanitarian provision which only allows those able to carry aid over long distances to secure food. We continue to work, alongside regional partners, including Egypt and Jordan, to enable the UN and non-governmental organisations to ensure aid reaches all those in Gaza, and we continue to urge the Israeli authorities to allow the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of older people, and others.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2025 to Question 61511 on F-35 Aircraft: Israel, what information his Department holds on the re-export of UK-made F-35 components from Israeli suppliers to the global F-35 programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We are clear that Israel must stop its military operations in Gaza and immediately lift restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
We have suspended export licences to Israel that could be used in military operations in Gaza.
The UK is the only producer of certain critical components, not least for the F35 global spares pool. Suspending the UK’s contribution to the F-35programme would have serious implications for NATO and international peace and security.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 56288 on Arms Trade: Israel, if he will now publish the Research Report: Long-Range Shootings or Shootings of Minors that was included in evidence in Al-Haq v Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In line with the long-standing practice under successive governments, we do not routinely publish the detailed analysis on which assessments of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) compliance are based.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2025 to Question 61511 on F-35 Aircraft: Israel, whether his Department holds a list of military exports transiting the UK that do not require a licence; and whether the decision on whether a license is needed is made by the ECJU or another body.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Military exports transiting the UK do not require a licence if they comply with certain handling conditions, do not include specific goods and are not bound for specific destinations, as set out in Article 17 of the Export Control Order 2008. Consequently, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not hold any information on these transhipments.
DBT receives advice from multiple government departments when assessing whether exports require a licence, and in reviewing export licence applications. DBT is the decision-making authority and has ultimate responsibility for all export licensing decisions.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the blockages are that are preventing the safe (a) delivery and (b) distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Israeli restrictions on aid have created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza with civilians in desperate need of a variety of aid. We called on Israel to lift restrictions on the flow of aid into Gaza in our statement to the UN Security Council on 16 July. The announcement of "tactical pauses" by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to allow humanitarian corridors to open is essential but long overdue and currently insufficient to address need. We continue to call on Israel to allow for a full and unhindered resumption in the flow of aid into Gaza, including allowing the entry of more types of aid such as medicine, fuel and shelter. We set this out clearly along with 30 other partners in a UK-led joint statement on 21 July. The government of Israel must facilitate the issue and renewal of visas for humanitarians providing vital services on the ground. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar on 22 July to reiterate the importance of facilitating the safe delivery of aid at scale, condemning civilian deaths at aid sites.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans to take steps to reduce the waiting time for appeal hearings in the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support).
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are working to reduce the outstanding caseload across the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal, which includes the Social Security and Child Support jurisdiction. This is key to reducing the waiting time for tribunal hearings.
HMCTS continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, the deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology.
Data on Tribunals performance is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Receipts, disposals and the outstanding caseload for individual Chambers in the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal, the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal can be found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 21325 on Social Security Benefits: Appeals, whether her Department has been able to recover the backlog of mandatory reconsideration cases.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The PIP Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) backlog was on track to be cleared in March 2025. However, intakes have been higher than anticipated, which meant the backlog was not cleared as predicted. We are increasing resources available for PIP MRs by recruiting decision makers.
In April 2025, the median MR clearance time was 61 and 59 calendar days for new claims and DLA reassessments respectively, a reduction of 10 and 12 days respectively in relation to the last quarter.