Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential economic impact of constructing F-35 aircraft in the UK.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The benefit of procuring UK F-35 aircraft from the USA is the value derived from the economies of scale. UK industry makes a significant contribution to the F-35 programme, where it is estimated that at least 15% by value of every aircraft manufactured is produced in the UK. Establishing an F-35 final assembly and check out facility to construct F-35 aircraft in the UK at this stage of the programme would drive significant costs for the UK F-35 programme.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37371 on F-35 Aircraft: Procurement, whether he has considered taking steps to start procuring the F-35A variant in future tranches.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave him on 20 March 2025 to Question 37763.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37371 on F-35 Aircraft: Procurement, what steps he is taking to procure additional F-35 aircraft.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave him on 20 March 2025 to Question 37763.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37374 on Warrior Vehicles, which regiments are currently (a) equipped with and (b) trained to use the Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicles; and in which roles.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The following regiments currently operate the Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicle:

The Warrior IFV is a versatile capability that can be used to provide various roles.

There are no additional regiments that are trained to use the capability.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his planned timetable is for the Challenger 2 modernisation programme.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Through the Armour Main Battle Tank (Armour MBT) programme, 148 existing Challenger 2 platforms will be upgraded to Challenger 3 standard.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr Pollard) on 11 October 2024 to Question 5407 to the hon. Member for East Wiltshire (Mr Kruger), which explains that the Initial Operating Capability and Full Operating Capability for the Armour MBT programme is 2027 and 2030 respectively.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37774 on Armed Forces: Protective Clothing and his Answer of 11 March to Question 36209 on Armed Forces: Protective Clothing what level of protection is provided by (a) Peltor Comtac XPI and (b) Peltor General Service ear muffs.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave him on 11 March 2025, to Question 36209, and on 20 March 2025, to Question 37772.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March to Question 35836 on NHS: Negligence, how many patient (a) deaths and (b) life-changing injuries resulted from those instances of clinical negligence in each year financial year since 2019-20, broken down by speciality.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England. A table showing the number of clinical negligence claims where payments have been made between the financial years 2019/20 and 2023/24, where the injury 'fatality' is present at any level, broken down by year and specialty, is in the document attached, under Table 1.

In addition, a table showing the number of clinical negligence claims where periodical payment orders or settlements above the £4.7 million threshold, where payments were made between the financial years 2019/20 and 2023/24 for 'life-changing' injuries, but excluding 'fatality' at any level, and broken down by year and specialty, is in the document attached, under Table 2.

NHSR is unable to break down fatalities by a mother/child split, as they often receive claims from both the mother and child for the same incident, and their coding does not distinguish who has died in those instances. In terms of life-changing injuries, NHSR does not code for this and therefore cannot provide data. The term life-changing injuries could also have various meanings. They have, however, provided data using the actuarial value for Periodical Payment Order (PPO) payments, which is over £4.7 million. Any case which is estimated to settle over this value will have life changing injuries. There will be claims below that level that have life changing injuries, but this is the best way NHSR can try and provide this data.

As the data relates to payments made during the relevant financial years, it is also possible that the same claim may appear more than once in the dataset. For example, one payment is made in 2021/22, and a separate payment is made in 2022/23 for the same claim.

In respect of PPO cases that have been resolved, the information provided here includes lump sum damages, costs, and any PPO damages paid up to the end of the financial year 2023/24. It does not include PPO damages which have been committed to, but which are due to be paid after the financial year 2023/24.

NHSR has supressed low figures as the disclosure of information with this level of granularity is exempt under Section 40(2) by virtue of section 40(3A) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act. NHSR believes it has a greater responsibility to protect those individuals’ identities, as disclosure could potentially cause damage and/or distress to those involved. Where we are in the territory of such small numbers in the attached document, NHSR has used a ‘#’ symbol in the relevant field. However, you should still be able to see aggregate/total details for higher level fields containing this data.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department provides support to SurvivorsUK’s webchat.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

For FY 2024-25 the Ministry of Justice has allocated grant funding of £127,463 to SurvivorsUK to deliver the National Male Survivors’ Online Helpline.

The grant for the National Male Survivors’ Online Helpline, delivered by SurvivorsUK, will expire on 31 March 2025. The Ministry of Justice has worked with SurvivorsUK on their exit planning arrangements for our grant funding and the Department was informed that the online helpline service will continue due to SurvivorsUK securing alternative funding.

The 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line, funded by the Department and currently delivered by Rape Crisis England and Wales, will be extended until 31 March 2026. This service supports all victims of sexual violence, regardless of their gender.

We inherited a criminal justice system in crisis as well as an incredibly challenging financial inheritance meaning difficult decisions across the board. These are not calls we have taken lightly - but by continuing to protect funding for sexual violence and domestic abuse services, we will make sure brave victims can get the vital help they need to rebuild their lives.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department provides support to Safeline’s national male rape helpline.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

For FY 2024-25 the Ministry of Justice has allocated grant funding of £244,887 to Safeline to deliver the National Male Survivor Helpline and Online Support Service.

The grant for the National Male Survivor Helpline and Online Support Service, delivered by Safeline, will expire on 31 March 2025. The Ministry of Justice has worked with Safeline on their exit planning arrangements for our grant funding and the Department was informed that the helpline service will continue due to Safeline securing alternative funding.

The 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line, funded by the Department and currently delivered by Rape Crisis England and Wales, will be extended until 31 March 2026. This service supports all victims of sexual violence, regardless of their gender.

We inherited a criminal justice system in crisis as well as an incredibly challenging financial inheritance meaning difficult decisions are needed across the board. These are not calls we have taken lightly - but by continuing to protect funding for sexual violence and domestic abuse services, we will make sure brave victims can get the vital help they need to rebuild their lives.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding was available to Sure Start (a) in each year and (b) adjusted for inflation.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Annual expenditure figures for the Sure Start programme are published in the following reports:

• Department for Education and Skills departmental report 2007, found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-education-and-skills-departmental-report-2007. This report includes an annual breakdown of Sure Start expenditure for the period between 1998/99 and 2005/06.
• Department for Children, Schools and Families resource accounts 2009 to 2010, found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-children-schools-and-families-resource-accounts-2009-to-2010. This report includes an annual breakdown of Sure Start expenditure for the period between 2004/05 and 2009/10.
• Department for Education Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11, found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/193544/HC_983.pdf. This report includes an annual breakdown of Sure Start expenditure in 2010/11 and 2009/10.

Since April 2010, local authorities have reported expenditure on Sure Start children’s centres through annual section 251 returns. Annual expenditure figures on Sure Start children’s centres for the period between 2010/11 and 2023/24 are published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-local-authority-school-finance-data#local-authority-and-school-finance and https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure.

The department does not maintain records of annual Sure Start expenditure figures adjusted for inflation.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding is available to the Male Rape Fund in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF) was recommissioned in 2023. To streamline the funding schemes that specialist sexual abuse organisations needed to apply to, the Ministry of Justice amalgamated the Male Rape Support Services Fund into one RASASF.

£21 million is committed to the RASASF in each year: 2024-25 and 2025-26. Grant funded activities support all victims of rape and sexual abuse, including men and boys, to cope with their experiences and move forward with their lives.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 38437 on NHS: Negligence, what the tariff system used to determine payments for medical negligence by NHS Resolution is.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England. There is no singular tariff system that is used to calculate compensation awards. The legal principle in English law is that the harmed individual is put back into the position they would be had the harm not occurred. Therefore, each individual claim has to be considered on its own factual circumstances.

However, there are some statutory limits in certain cases, such as fatalities, and guidelines for the awards in respect of the actual injuries suffered, namely the Judicial College Guidelines. NHSR uses these guidelines to determine the appropriate award for the injuries suffered. In respect to the consequential losses that flow from the harm suffered, such as loss of earnings or care costs, these are assessed based on individual circumstances, informed by expert evidence.

Future losses are calculated using the Ogden tables, based on the personal injury discount rate, which is set by the Lord Chancellor. Common law precedent is also used to determine if certain heads of loss are recoverable, and if so, what value is placed upon them. In certain circumstances, for example when dealing with a large group of claims, we may agree a tariff system with claimant representatives to facilitate swift and efficient resolutions for patients.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to reduce instances of clinical negligence by NHS medical staff.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to advancing patient safety and creating a safety learning culture across the health system to stop harmful events from ever happening.

Our commitment is demonstrated by the ongoing implementation of key programmes under the NHS Patient Safety Strategy, to support continuous improvement in patient safety across the National Health Service. The Government has also introduced death certification reform and medical examiners, is committed to introducing professional standards for and regulating NHS managers, is reviewing the statutory duty of candour on providers, and is improving maternity safety. This includes investing almost £7.8 million in the Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth programme and supporting all trusts to implement the third version of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle, which provides maternity units with detailed guidance to reduce stillbirths and neonatal deaths.

We are taking a fresh look at how to make the current system effective and efficient, to protect quality of care and improve patient safety. Following last year’s review by Dr Penny Dash into the operational effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the CQC is rebuilding its approach and trust in its regulation. Dr Dash is conducting a second review of patient safety across the health and care landscape. The conclusions of the review will be published shortly and will inform our 10-Year Health Plan to transform the NHS and social care system.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of levels of sustainability of the fishing industry in the South Atlantic on fish imports.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The volume of fish caught in the South Atlantic, which are then imported into the UK, is low when compared with the primary sources of UK seafood imports. All seafood imported into the UK has to be accompanied by appropriate documentation, demonstrating that the fish have been caught legally and in line with the relevant governance arrangements.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS medical staff were struck off for clinical negligence in each year between 2019 and 2024.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold this information. If there is a concern that a regulated healthcare professional has been clinically negligent, we would expect them to be referred to their regulator. All healthcare professional regulators have a statutory duty to consider any concerns that are referred to them and to investigate and take appropriate action to protect the public when they meet the threshold for regulatory action. In the most serious cases, the outcome of these investigations may be that the professional is erased from the register, meaning they can no longer legally practise.

There are multiple healthcare professional regulators in the United Kingdom, each holding their own register. Data on the outcomes of fitness to practice proceedings, including the number of individuals erased or ”struck off” from the register, can be found at the respective regulators' websites.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 35836 on NHS: Negligence, what the breakdown of categorisation for Obstetrics Clinical Negligence Claims between financial years (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2023-24 was for claimants by (i) amount paid out, (ii) ethnicity and (iii) age.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Resolution manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England. NHS Resolution does not record ethnicity data and therefore this information is not held in the format requested as it is not required for claims management purposes. NHS Resolution’s new case management system will collect the NHS number for claimants where possible, which will allow it to work with others to identify ethnicity and other protected characteristics in its data.

NHS Resolution has provided the attached information which shows: total payments for clinical negligence claims between 2019/20 and 2023/24 where the specialty is Obstetrics, broken down by year and patient age range at the time of the incident; the number of clinical negligence claims where payments have been made between 2019/20 and 2023/24 where the specialty is obstetrics, broken down by year and patient age range at the time of the incident, including interim and final payments; total payments for clinical negligence claims between 2019/20 and 2023/24 where the specialty is Obstetrics, and the injury 'Fatality' is present at any level, broken down by year; and the number of clinical negligence claims where payments have been made between 2019/20 and 2023/24 where the specialty is obstetrics and the injury 'Fatality' is present at any level, broken down by year.

NHS Resolution is unable to break down fatality by the requested mother/child split as it often receives claims from both the mother and child for the same incident. NHS Resolution’s coding of claims will only allow it to record fatality and does not distinguish who has died in those instances.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer 11 March 2025 to Question 35836 on NHS: Negligence, how many instances of Obstetrics Clinical Negligence between financial years(a) 2019-20 and (b) 2023-24 resulted in the death of (i) the mother, (ii) the child or children and (iii) both.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Resolution manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England. NHS Resolution does not record ethnicity data and therefore this information is not held in the format requested as it is not required for claims management purposes. NHS Resolution’s new case management system will collect the NHS number for claimants where possible, which will allow it to work with others to identify ethnicity and other protected characteristics in its data.

NHS Resolution has provided the attached information which shows: total payments for clinical negligence claims between 2019/20 and 2023/24 where the specialty is Obstetrics, broken down by year and patient age range at the time of the incident; the number of clinical negligence claims where payments have been made between 2019/20 and 2023/24 where the specialty is obstetrics, broken down by year and patient age range at the time of the incident, including interim and final payments; total payments for clinical negligence claims between 2019/20 and 2023/24 where the specialty is Obstetrics, and the injury 'Fatality' is present at any level, broken down by year; and the number of clinical negligence claims where payments have been made between 2019/20 and 2023/24 where the specialty is obstetrics and the injury 'Fatality' is present at any level, broken down by year.

NHS Resolution is unable to break down fatality by the requested mother/child split as it often receives claims from both the mother and child for the same incident. NHS Resolution’s coding of claims will only allow it to record fatality and does not distinguish who has died in those instances.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2025 to Question 37760 on Solar Power, how many new solar installations excluding those below 50kW have been consented since 2008; and what capacity each one had.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government does not hold the precise data requested. However, relevant information is available in the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), which provides details of individual solar projects that have received planning consent, including the capacity of each. It covers projects larger than 150kW, dating from 2010 onwards.

The REPD is publicly available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewable-energy-planning-database-monthly-extract.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of NHS staff who have been sacked for clinical negligence in each year between 2019 and 2024.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold information on the number of National Health Service staff who have been dismissed for clinical negligence.

NHS England publishes monthly statistics detailing information on NHS staff recorded within the Electronic Staff Record, the human resource system for the NHS. Each quarter, these statistics include data on ‘reasons for leaving’, where these have been recorded upon a member of staff leaving or moving employment. The published data is available as part of the data each March, June, September, and December, at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics

Data on dismissals is available in four categories, namely those due to ‘capability’, ‘conduct’, ‘some other substantial reason’, and ‘statutory reason’. There is no way to report those specifically for clinical negligence.

Any interpretation of data should be made with the understanding that not all assignments that finish in the NHS result in a ‘reason for leaving’ being recorded. Therefore, the data presented can be viewed as a minimum number of leavers in any giving category. From analysis of the records of staff who leave NHS employment entirely, it is estimated that approximately one third of leavers do not have a reason recorded.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37762 on British Indian Ocean Territory: Seas and Oceans, whether the Marine Protected Area established by Mauritius under the terms of the agreement between the UK and Mauritius will be supported by his Department's Blue Belt Programme.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The enhanced partnership will prioritise high conservation standards, with the UK supporting Mauritius' ambitions to establish a Marine Protected Area (MPA) that protects the globally significant ecosystems in the Chagos Archipelago. Further engagement on the details of the MPA will take place as part of the implementation of the Agreement post-signature.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress she has made with Cabinet colleagues on implementing the strategy on tackling violence against women and girls.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government is treating it as the national emergency that it is.

We are going further than ever before to deliver a cross-Government transformative approach to halving violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published before summer recess. The new strategy will set out the concrete actions being taken across Government to deliver our ambition to tackle VAWG in all its forms.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 35425 on GP Practice Lists, whether the Carr-Hill formula has been updated since its introduction.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Carr-Hill formula weightings have not been updated since the introduction of the formula in 2004.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 35425 on General Practitioners: Finance, whether data other than the (a) Standardised Limited Long-Standing Illness and (b) Standardised Mortality Ratio is used to calculate the formula; how unavoidable costs based on geographical area are calculated; what the additional costs are of delivering services in rural areas; and how those additional costs are calculated.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Global sum payments to general practices (GPs) are based on the number of patients registered at each GP. The Carr-Hill formula adjusts these payments to take account of the differences in workload between practices, over the differences due to variations in the number of registered patients. As well as the Standardised Limited Long-Standing Illness and Standardised Mortality Ratio, the formula uses data on the number of patients in each age-sex group, the number of patients in nursing and residential homes, and the number of new patient registrations.

The two components of the unavoidable costs adjustments in the formula are the staff market forces factor, to take account of the higher cost of employing staff in some parts of the country, estimated from earnings data, and the higher cost of providing services in rural areas, such as longer travel times for patients’ home and care home visits. The rurality adjustment is based on GPs’ expenses data, the distance from the patients’ homes to the GP surgery, and population density.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 36473 on Human Trafficking: Cambridgeshire, how many of the (a) 56 cases flagged for modern slavery and (b) 11 cases with a monitoring flag for child abuse, involved (i) victims and (ii) perpetrators from (A) Guinea-Bissau and (B) Portugal.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has conducted a full manual review of the 11 case files with a monitoring flag for child abuse. It could not ascertain whether the defendants and victims were from Guinea-Bissau or Portugal from the information provided by the police.

The CPS were unable to undertake a full manual review of the remaining cases with a monitoring flag for modern slavery as to obtain this information would incur a disproportionate cost.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled Global Clean Power Alliance: finance mission statement, published on 20 November 2024, what progress he has made on the finance mission.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We have been working closely with Brazil, our co-chair for the Finance Mission, to develop a set of time-bound deliverables which will focus the Finance Mission's activity. The proposals will be shared after further consultation with Mission members and delivery partners, reflecting the collaborative approach of the Global Clean Power Alliance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to help tackle the skills shortage in the defence workforce.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government recognises the critical role that a skilled workforce plays in supporting national defence, including meeting the needs of the armed forces and of a vibrant, innovative and competitive defence industry.

The department funds a range of high quality qualifications and apprenticeships that support learners wishing to pursue a career in technical occupations in areas such as defence. These include, for example:

• A number of apprenticeships in the defence sector to support the development of skilled workforces, including level 2 HM forces serviceperson and level 4 intelligence analyst, with the armed forces offering a range of apprenticeships across the frontline commands.
• 20 T Levels, including a range of science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects such as engineering, science, and digital, which can open up great career opportunities in the defence sector.
• ​Higher technical qualifications (HTQs), which are occupation-focused level 4-5 qualifications, approved and quality marked as providing the skills demanded in the workplace by employers. To date, 263 have been approved across thirteen occupational routes, covering occupations relevant to defence, such as engineering manufacturing technician, space engineering technician and cybersecurity technologist.

More generally, higher education contributes to defence through technical fields such as aerospace engineering and cybersecurity, as well as social science fields such as politics, military strategy, and international relations.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the Government spent on housing asylum seekers in (a) hotels and (b) other forms of temporary accommodation on (i) 3 July 2024 and (ii) 24 March 2025.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

Information on asylum expenditure is published on gov.uk in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an estimate of the number of foreign nationals from (a) Guinea-Bissau and (b) Portugal that have been convicted in the UK since 2010.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide data on how many Bissau-Guinean nationals and Portuguese nationals have been convicted at court. This is because it is not possible to identify an offender's nationality from the centrally collated convictions data.

However, the Department is able to provide data on foreign nationals in prison and also those under probation supervision in the community.

(a) The nationality of foreign offenders in prison is published quarterly in table 1_Q_12 of Offender Management Statistics, with the latest data (31 December 2024) available from prison-population-31-Dec-2024.ods. As of the 31 December 2024, there was one Bissau-Guinean national and 260 Portuguese nationals in HMPPS custody.

(b) The nationality of foreign offenders under probation supervision can be found in table 6_9 of Offender Management Statistics, with the latest data (30 September 2024) available from Probation-Jul-to-Sep-2024.ods. As of the 30 September 2024, there are 474 Portuguese nationals under probation supervision in the community and no records of Bissau-Guinean nationals under probation supervision.

Previous publications of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly bulletin can be found at Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2025 to Question 38727 on MOD Ashchurch: Vehicles, if he will list all vehicles held at MOD Ashchurch including their readiness state by (a) type of vehicle and (b) timescale to be made operational.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence does not routinely disclose a breakdown of the location of equipment capabilities, and the operational readiness of our fleets, in the interests of safeguarding security and operational effectiveness.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total cost to the public purse was of personal injury compensation payments in each year from 2014-15 to 2023-24 broken down by (a) type of injury, (b) arm/service, (c) gender, (d) number of claimants, (e) total cost and (f) minimum/maximum payout.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The tables below show the total amounts paid out under the War Pensions Scheme (WPS) and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) by financial year.

Providing the further breakdowns would require information from three different data systems to be combined and individual files to be manually reviewed meaning it could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Table 1 below provides the total compensation expenditure under the AFCS from 1 April 2014 to the 31 March 2024 by financial year.

Table 2 below provides the total compensation expenditure under the WPS from 1 April 2014 to the 31 March 2024 by financial year.

Figures presented in these tables include accrued expenditure where a claim was awarded in the last few days but was processed and paid after year end. Therefore, expenditure figures may differ to the amount of actual monies paid out in the financial year.

Figures have been rounded to the nearest £100,000. Therefore, totals and sub-totals may not equal the sum of their parts.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Home Office has conducted any investigation into child-trafficking between Guinea-Bissau and the UK since 2010.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office has a network of policy and operational officers posted across West Africa to engage host countries on home affairs issues, including child trafficking, and provide cooperation on investigations where necessary.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the trafficking of children to the UK from West Africa.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office has a network of policy and operational officers posted across West Africa to engage host countries on home affairs issues, including child trafficking, and provide cooperation on investigations where necessary.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of child trafficking by (a) nationality and (b) arresting police force in each year since 2010.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions for a wide range of offences, including human trafficking up to and including June 2024 in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK.

These include all human trafficking offences convicted, not just those against children. It is not possible to separately identify all such convictions that relate to children as the information on the victim age is not recorded in the Court Proceedings Database held by the Ministry of Justice.

Data held centrally does not include the nationality of the offender. The police force recorded in the Court Proceedings Database relates to the police force area associated with the court where the case was heard and not the arresting police force. The arresting police force is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings Database.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what figures her Department uses for the population of (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Peterborough; and if she will publish those figures.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Department uses a range of statistics that have already been published by the Office for National Statistics. These published statistics include the national and subnational Estimates of the Population for England and Wales (available on gov.uk here), which are routinely published by the Office for National Statistics and include figures on the populations of both Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

For some of our analysis that require figures at household-level, such as our homelessness and rough sleeping analysis, we make use of the Office for National Statistics’ published 2018-Based Household Projections (available on gov.uk here).

Finally, we also make use of the Office for National Statistics’ census data (available on gov.uk here).

The Department does not use unpublished population figures generally or for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough specifically.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of clinical staff who have been prosecuted in relation to their conduct within the workplace in each year between 2019 and 2024.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold information on the number of clinical staff who have been prosecuted in relation to their conduct within the workplace.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the difference in (a) purchase and (b) running cost between the (i) F-35A and (ii) F-35B variants.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The purchase price of an F-35A is estimated to be 15% less than the cost of an F-35B.

The running cost of an F-35A is estimated to be 8% less than an F-35B.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the capacity for solar energy generation is; and what his target capacity is in each year between 2025 and 2030.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

As at Q3 2024, solar generation capacity stood at 17.4GW.

The Clean Power Action Plan set out an ambition for a rapid increase in solar deployment to 45-47GW by 2030, with scope to exceed 47GW, subject to system need, noting the potential of rooftop solar to boost deployment.

The Government has not set a target for capacity each year to 2030. However, the Solar Roadmap will set out potential deployment pathways commensurate with the Clean Power 2030 ambition.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer 19 March 2025 to Question 37370 on Infrastructure, what the evidential basis is for his decision to raise the solar threshold for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects from 50MW to 100MW.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Last year, the Government held an 8-week consultation which included a proposal to increase the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects threshold for solar. Consultation responses, sector engagement, and internal analysis contributed to the decision to increase the threshold to 100 megawatts.

Evidence suggests the current threshold is no longer reflective of improvements in panel efficiency, with contemporary solar projects covering less area per megawatt yield. Increasing the threshold ensures mid-sized projects have access to a more proportionate planning route, while also addressing the market distortion of projects capped at 49.9 megawatts, allowing sites and grid connections to be used more efficiently.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37365 on Photovoltaics: Import Controls, what steps he has taken with Cabinet colleagues to tackle forced labour in global supply chains in the manufacture of solar panels.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Through the reconvened Solar Taskforce, we have been working closely across Government and industry stakeholders to take forward the actions needed to develop supply chains that are resilient, sustainable, innovative and free from forced labour.

The Government is considering how Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 can be strengthened, including possible penalties for non-compliance, and is working to update statutory guidance. The Procurement Act 2023, which came into force on 24 February, enables public sector contracting authorities to reject bids and terminate contracts with suppliers which are known to use forced labour themselves or anywhere in their supply chain.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March to Question 37365 on Photovoltaics: Import Controls, what steps he is taking to monitor the Solar Stewardship Initiative.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government keeps its level of engagement with the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI) under close review, maintaining regular contact with Solar Energy UK and Solar Power Europe, who jointly developed the scheme.

We are following the results of the SSI’s first round of traceability audits. These are being analysed thoroughly to assess the extent to which the scheme enables and supports the Government’s goal of securing a resilient, sustainable and just solar supply chain that is free from forced labour.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2025 to Question 38728 on Solar Power: Infrastructure, what the average size was of consented nationally significant infrastructure projects (a) between 4 July 2008 and 2024, (b) since 4 July 2024 and (c) since 4 July 2008.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The average size of consented nationally significant infrastructure projects (A) between 4 July 2008 and 2024 was:

963.71 acres

The average size of consented nationally significant infrastructure projects (B) since 4 July 2024 was:

2116.62 acres

The average size of consented nationally significant infrastructure projects (C) since 4 July 2008 was:

1732.32 acres

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 36426 on General Practitioners, how the additional 6,716,007 appointments were created.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Increased appointment volumes are largely driven by growth in the general practice workforce. Between June 2023 and June 2024, there was an increase of 1,042 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors in general practice and 5,954 other FTE clinical staff, allowing for the delivery of additional appointments from July 2024 onwards.

We continue to work to grow the general practice workforce; as part of changes to the 2025/26 GP contract, we have increased flexibilities in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), including merging funding pots and expanding reimbursable roles, and we are recruiting an additional 1,000 general practitioners through a £82 million boost to the ARRS.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 37367 on Armed Forces: Protective Clothing, what categories of items were purchased through the Tactical Hearing Protection System since 2015.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Equipment has been procured through the Tactical Hearing Protection System programme since its introduction in 2015 to the present. This equipment can be described as falling within the category of 'hearing protection'.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what percentage of the capacity of the Eaton Socon sub-station will be used by the proposed new town at Tempsford.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to him on 3 March to Question UIN 35005.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of food supplied to armed forces personnel is sourced from British farms.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 March 2025 to Question 36360 to the hon. Member for South Holland and the Deepings (The Rt Hon Sir John Hayes MP CBE).

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to question 36205, whether the Dreadnought-class submarine programme will use the Trident 2 D5 missile.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Yes. The Dreadnought Class submarines will carry nuclear-armed Trident II D5 ballistic missiles.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what types of ear defence equipment are issued across all three armed forces; and how many of each type are in use.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 20 March 2025 to Question 38440. Information on how many of each type of hearing protection are in use is not held centrally.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 35843 on Marshall Bioresources: Audit, what the outcome was of the unannounced audit by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit of Marshall BioResources in April 2024.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

The outcome of the last unannounced audit carried out in April 2024 was that there were no critical, major or minor findings, and no low-level concerns identified.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 35843 on Marshall Bioresources: Audit, on what dates did (a) announced and (b) unannounced audits by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit of Marshall BioResources take place between 2016 and 2025 inclusive.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)

Marshall BioResources was granted an establishment licence in October 2017. Since then, the Animals in Science Regulation Unit have conducted 8 announced inspections/audits and 7 unannounced as set out below.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 35009 on Diego Garcia: Military Bases and with reference to the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs' Oral Statement of 7 October 2024 on British Indian Ocean Territory: Negotiations, Official Report, column 46, what steps he is taking to ensure that operations at Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia remain under UK control into the next century.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia is a United States defence facility. The 1966 UK-US Exchange of Notes, including the 1976 amendment, sets out that the right to operate and maintain the Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia is held by the Government of the United States. This includes functions as are necessary for the development, use, maintenance, operation and security of the facility.

The 1966 Exchange of Notes has been subject to routine amendments and supplementation since signature. The key objective of the negotiations has always been to ensure the long-term, secure and effective operation of the base on Diego Garcia and any routine future amendments to the Exchange of Notes resulting from the proposed agreement with Mauritius will be undertaken in accordance with the existing process.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of food supplied to the prison estate is sourced from British farms.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The information is not held centrally.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the National Violence Disorder Programme became operational.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The National Violent Disorder Programme consisted of the police’s activation of the National Mobilisation Plan on 1st August; the Government commitment that the Police Special Grant would be used to support forces with the additional costs incurred in policing the disorder; and the criminal justice system moving at pace to bring swift justice to offenders.

We are committed to working with the police to ensure that the future of the Programme is suitably designed to tackle policing challenges of the future.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for male victims of (a) rape and (b) sexual assault.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

This Government was elected on its landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. VAWG crimes disproportionately affect women and girls, but we know that men and boys are also often victims, and this Government is absolutely committed to stopping sexual violence against all victims. I recently chaired a roundtable, which brought together key voices from the victim’s sector to ensure men’s voices are heard, and I am working closely with my ministerial counterparts in the Home Office and across government to make sure that the Safer Streets mission, and our upcoming strategy, addresses the needs of all victims.

Support services such as the 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support line, and services funded through Department’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund, are available to all victims regardless of their gender. Similarly, new policies, such as Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, and the incoming Independent Legal Advice service, apply to all victims.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 36866 on Internal Drainage Boards: Cambridgeshire, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the pumping infrastructure at St Germans Pumping Station in King's Lynn.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

St. Germans Pumping Station was completed in 2011 and is the largest pumping station in Britain. The pumping station drains an area of 700km² which is mostly grade 1 agricultural land and encompasses 22,500 houses and 3,500 business. The fully automated pumping station plays a key part in the network of 17,000 Environment Agency and IDB assets which manage water levels to make it possible to live and work within the catchment. The asset is owned and operated by the Middle Level Commissioners who lead on identifying future capital investment needs. IDBs are eligible to bid for funding from the flood investment programme.

We expect all those responsible for flood risk management assets, including IDBs and other risk management authorities to invest in ongoing maintenance and ensure timely repairs where necessary.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 36866 on Internal Drainage Boards: Cambridgeshire, what the nature is of the Bevill’s Leam Pumping Station Resilience Works Phase 1; and when they are scheduled for completion.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Bevill’s Leam Pumping Station Resilience Works Phase 1 is a project which is being delivered through Tranche 2A of the Internal Drainage Board (IDB) Fund. This funding is focused on modern replacement and improvements to IDB assets.

The Bevill’s Leam project aims to deliver repairs and improvements to the pumping station after Winter 2023/24 flooding to improve the reliability and resilience of the asset. The scope of works includes improvements to the weed screens and repairs/replacements to engine and electrical components within the pumping stations. The project has received £254,596 of grant funding to be delivered by 31 March 2025.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March to Question 36204 on James Scott Rhys Anderson, what discussions he has had with (a) the Russian ambassador to the UK and (b) senior Russian officials on the imprisonment of James Anderson.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Ukrainian authorities have confirmed British national James Anderson was serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, meaning he holds Prisoner of War (PoW) status. Ukraine holds responsibility for engagement on any members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who are captured as PoWs, regardless of their nationality. We strongly condemn the sentencing of Mr. Anderson in a Russian court on false charges. Under international law, PoWs cannot be prosecuted for participating in hostilities. We demand that Russia respect its obligations under the Geneva Conventions, including that PoWs are treated humanely, and condemn the exploitation of prisoners of war for political and propaganda purposes. The UK regularly raises Mr Anderson's case with our Ukrainian partners. We recently raised Mr Anderson's case with the Russian Ambassador, making it clear that Mr. Anderson must be treated as a PoW, in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. We remain in close contact with Mr Anderson's family and are providing consular support.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 37373 on Ajax Vehicles: Procurement, how many operationally deployable platforms has the Armoured Cavalry Programme taken delivery of since 1 January 2025.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As at 19 March 2025, 19 Ajax platforms have been accepted by the Ministry of Defence since 1 January 2025. Deliveries started before 2025 and a total of 91 vehicles have been accepted so far.

We would not routinely disclose figures relating to operationally deployable Ajax platforms in the interests of security and operational effectiveness.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS staff have been prosecuted in relation to clinical negligence each year between 2019 and 2024.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Resolution manages clinical negligence and other claims against the NHS in England. NHS Resolution does not hold the information requested. Criminal proceedings can arise either before, during or after damages have been paid, and are therefore not recorded by NHS Resolution. It does not manage criminal prosecutions as part of its indemnity schemes.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the new homes her Department has committed to delivering over the course of this Parliament have been (a) planned, (b) started and (c) completed.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government publishes quarterly data on planning applications and housing starts and completions.

The latest data on planning application statistics can be found on gov.uk here.

Data on housing starts and completions can be found on gov.uk here. The main measure of housing supply is net additional dwellings, the latest data on which can be found on gov.uk here.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the budget for victim and witness support services was in 2024-25.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

We do not routinely publish the full Ministry of Justice budget for victim and witness support services, as funding awards are subject to change and many services will receive funding from multiple sources. At the end of the financial year, a breakdown of grant funding is made publicly available on the Government Grants Information System, covering the previous financial period of grant spending.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with (a) the RAF and (b) defence suppliers on he future of the RAF fast jet training aircraft.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 December 2024 to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) to Question 15292.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with (a) the RAF and (b) defence industry suppliers on the replacement of the Hawk training jet.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 December 2024 to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) to Question 15292.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many F-35 aircraft are currently in service with the Royal Air Force and how many remain to be delivered.

Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given to Question 37371 to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) on 18 March 2025 in the House of Commons.

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