Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Government response to the earned settlement consultation published on 2 November 2026, whether (a) pharmacists, (b) pharmacy technicians, (c) biomedical scientists and (d) healthcare assistants will qualify for a five-year route to settlement; and whether eligibility will differ between staff employed directly by the NHS and those employed by independent providers of NHS services.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
On 2 November 2026, the Home Secretary announced the Government’s final approach to earned settlement, following a 12-week public consultation which received more than 200,000 responses. The new framework will ensure that the time it takes to qualify for settlement reflects an individual’s character, contribution, integration and residence.
Under the final model, the five-year pathway for public service workers in health and education will apply to specified occupations in healthcare and education, in line with the approach taken by the Migration Advisory Committee. Eligibility will therefore depend on the occupation in which an individual is employed, rather than employment in the relevant sector alone. The qualifying occupations are listed in Annex C of the government’s response to the consultation, which is available here: A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: Government response to the consultation.
We remain committed to publishing economic and equality impact assessments ahead of implementation. We will also publish further guidance setting out additional technical and operational detail, informed by continued engagement with affected groups and stakeholders.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment the Department has made of the effectiveness of local authority opt-out free school meal registration schemes with the requirement for a claim to be made by a pupil, parent or other responsible adult; and if the Department will publish guidance on the basis on which local authorities may operate such schemes.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has now expanded free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit and we want to make sure that every family that is entitled to support can access it. That is why the department has upgraded its eligibility checking system, worked with schools and councils to reach parents directly and provided resources and guidance to support local awareness campaigns.
The department is closely monitoring FSM take-up as the expansion rolls out to ensure this support reaches every family that can benefit from it.
The department is aware that some local authorities choose to operate local arrangements to help identify children who may be eligible for free school meals and to support take-up. The department continues to work closely with local authorities but hasn’t formally assessed the efficacy of this method.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how many small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses based in (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands secured supply contracts for projects in Africa supported by UK Export Finance in 2025–26; and what the total value of those contracts was.
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)
UK Export Finance (UKEF) does not hold information about the businesses in the supply chains of the exporters whom it supports directly. All transactions that UKEF supports must satisfy the department’s eligibility criteria, including the requirement that the contract demonstrates how it is conducive to supporting or developing exports from the UK.
Independent analysis by Oxford Economic (available online at: Analysing_UKEF_supported_Supply_Chains_-_Oxford_Economics_-_Feb_2026.pdf) suggested that there are 115,000 UK businesses in the supply chains of exporters backed by UKEF.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in what way funding for the removal of time restrictions on disabled persons’ concessionary bus passes from 1 April 2027 will be allocated between travel concession authorities; and what estimate the Department has made of the additional reimbursement costs for the West Midlands Combined Authority.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All local authorities will receive additional funding from April 2027 to support the removal of time restrictions on disabled persons’ concessionary bus passes. We are working with MHCLG to explore options for distributing the previously announced £60 million secured to implement this change in 2027/2028. Arrangements will be confirmed as part of the usual government finance processes later in the year.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support Coventry College to strengthen its emergency preparedness.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department provides guidance to support education settings in planning for and responding to emergencies. College corporations hold statutory and fiduciary responsibility for strategic oversight, risk management and accountability, including ensuring that appropriate arrangements are in place to manage emergencies, protect students and staff, and maintain continuity of education.
The department engages regularly with Coventry College’s leadership team and corporation, which informs its ongoing support and monitoring of the college. Through this engagement, we will continue to support the college, as appropriate, in maintaining robust arrangements and responding to any specific issues that arise.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government’s proposed discussions with communities impacted by the transatlantic slave trade will include African and Caribbean diaspora organisations in the UK; and whether the Government will publish the objectives and timetable for those discussions.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister has agreed to engage in a structured, time-bound, inclusive and good-faith dialogue with affected parties addressing the transatlantic slave trade. We want this to be a genuinely collaborative process with affected member states and other partners, including communities in the UK. The Government will update on next steps in due course.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing guidance to health professionals on (a) advice and (b) other support for parents of unborn babies with (i) intersex conditions and (ii) other variations in sex characteristics.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Statutory Guidance on Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education will include (a) variations in sex characteristics and (b) intersex.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Compulsory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) should help pupils to understand that society consists of a diverse range of people. The department is currently consulting on updated RSHE guidance, with a view to finalising it later in the year. The consultation runs until 11 July 2024 and can be found at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/rshe-team/review-of-the-rshe-statutory-guidance/.
The draft guidance includes a requirement that pupils should be taught about equality and the law relating to the protected characteristics by the end of their secondary education. The guidance is also clear that pupils should be taught the importance of respecting others, even when they are very different from them.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to publish her response to her Department's call for evidence on Variations in sex characteristics, which closed on 28 March 2019.
Answered by Stuart Andrew
It is important to understand the experiences of people living with VSC, as well as the impacts on their family and support networks. In order to understand these experiences, it is vital that research and first hand testimony be conducted and made widely available.
That is why the Government is currently monitoring and considering evidence and research specific to people living with VSC, including the evidence provided through the call for evidence. We hope to be in a position to publish the findings of the review in due course.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what medications have been reimbursed to community pharmacies below the market price for pharmacy procurement in (a) 2021, (b) 2022, (c) 2023 and (d) 2024.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The information requested is not held centrally. Community pharmacy reimbursement arrangements, set out in the Drug Tariff, are not designed to pay every individual pharmacy the cost, or more than the cost, of the medicine. This means that at an individual level, there will be instances where a pharmacy pays more than they are reimbursed, and other instances where they are paid less than they are reimbursed.
The medicine margin survey assesses the amount of medicine margin, the difference between the reimbursement price and the price the pharmacy was charged by the supplier, retained by community pharmacies. The survey has found that overall, more than the amount agreed as part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework, has been delivered in total across the previous four financial years.
In addition to this, where a number of pharmacies cannot purchase at or below the Drug Tariff reimbursement price, the Department considers concessionary price requests that come directly from the Community Pharmacy England, on behalf of community pharmacies. From 1 April 2024, we introduced a new retrospective top-up payment for concessionary prices, providing an additional payment to contractors when the margin survey indicates that despite a concessionary price, there was an under payment.