Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to prioritise individual vehicle approval testing for vehicles commissioned for essential purposes, such as a) emergency healthcare or b) home-to-school education.

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

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has no specific plans to prioritise vehicles commissioned for essential purposes, but should there be a specific need, DVSA would consider this in a similar way to actions taken during the pandemic. DVSA would welcome contact from any customers who are believe they have a specific requirement in relation to essential service vehicles.

DVSA understands the customer base for Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) testing and continue to ensure its network supports those customers and meets their needs. In addition, DVSA is planning a network of vehicle examination facilities that are approved customer sites. This will increase the number of sites nationally where Vehicle Approvals can be conducted.

DVSA is increasing the number of locations where IVA checks can be carried out and ensuring that it has flexibility to meet customer demand. When DVSA is considering the closure of its own testing facilities, DVSA will also ensure suitable service provision is still provided.

The number of Specialist Vehicle Standards Assessors (SVSAs) who conduct IVA testing is shown below.

Northern England and Scotland – 11 SVSAs

Southern England and Southwest – 10 SVSAs

Eastern England and the Southeast – 9 SVSAs

West Midlands and Wales – 12 SVSAs

DVSA can deploy Specialist Standard Assessors on a national basis where required, in response to customer demand.

DVSA is also in the process of recruiting a further six SVSA’s. In line with demand. DVSA keeps recruitment or multi-skilling of existing teams to increase flexibility under review.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate she has made of the number of DVSA employees eligible to conduct Individual Vehicle Approval tests by a) individual test centre and b) region.

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

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has no specific plans to prioritise vehicles commissioned for essential purposes, but should there be a specific need, DVSA would consider this in a similar way to actions taken during the pandemic. DVSA would welcome contact from any customers who are believe they have a specific requirement in relation to essential service vehicles.

DVSA understands the customer base for Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) testing and continue to ensure its network supports those customers and meets their needs. In addition, DVSA is planning a network of vehicle examination facilities that are approved customer sites. This will increase the number of sites nationally where Vehicle Approvals can be conducted.

DVSA is increasing the number of locations where IVA checks can be carried out and ensuring that it has flexibility to meet customer demand. When DVSA is considering the closure of its own testing facilities, DVSA will also ensure suitable service provision is still provided.

The number of Specialist Vehicle Standards Assessors (SVSAs) who conduct IVA testing is shown below.

Northern England and Scotland – 11 SVSAs

Southern England and Southwest – 10 SVSAs

Eastern England and the Southeast – 9 SVSAs

West Midlands and Wales – 12 SVSAs

DVSA can deploy Specialist Standard Assessors on a national basis where required, in response to customer demand.

DVSA is also in the process of recruiting a further six SVSA’s. In line with demand. DVSA keeps recruitment or multi-skilling of existing teams to increase flexibility under review.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of closing test centres on businesses reliant on individual vehicle approval testing.

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

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has no specific plans to prioritise vehicles commissioned for essential purposes, but should there be a specific need, DVSA would consider this in a similar way to actions taken during the pandemic. DVSA would welcome contact from any customers who are believe they have a specific requirement in relation to essential service vehicles.

DVSA understands the customer base for Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) testing and continue to ensure its network supports those customers and meets their needs. In addition, DVSA is planning a network of vehicle examination facilities that are approved customer sites. This will increase the number of sites nationally where Vehicle Approvals can be conducted.

DVSA is increasing the number of locations where IVA checks can be carried out and ensuring that it has flexibility to meet customer demand. When DVSA is considering the closure of its own testing facilities, DVSA will also ensure suitable service provision is still provided.

The number of Specialist Vehicle Standards Assessors (SVSAs) who conduct IVA testing is shown below.

Northern England and Scotland – 11 SVSAs

Southern England and Southwest – 10 SVSAs

Eastern England and the Southeast – 9 SVSAs

West Midlands and Wales – 12 SVSAs

DVSA can deploy Specialist Standard Assessors on a national basis where required, in response to customer demand.

DVSA is also in the process of recruiting a further six SVSA’s. In line with demand. DVSA keeps recruitment or multi-skilling of existing teams to increase flexibility under review.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to increase individual vehicle approval testing capacity.

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

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has no specific plans to prioritise vehicles commissioned for essential purposes, but should there be a specific need, DVSA would consider this in a similar way to actions taken during the pandemic. DVSA would welcome contact from any customers who are believe they have a specific requirement in relation to essential service vehicles.

DVSA understands the customer base for Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) testing and continue to ensure its network supports those customers and meets their needs. In addition, DVSA is planning a network of vehicle examination facilities that are approved customer sites. This will increase the number of sites nationally where Vehicle Approvals can be conducted.

DVSA is increasing the number of locations where IVA checks can be carried out and ensuring that it has flexibility to meet customer demand. When DVSA is considering the closure of its own testing facilities, DVSA will also ensure suitable service provision is still provided.

The number of Specialist Vehicle Standards Assessors (SVSAs) who conduct IVA testing is shown below.

Northern England and Scotland – 11 SVSAs

Southern England and Southwest – 10 SVSAs

Eastern England and the Southeast – 9 SVSAs

West Midlands and Wales – 12 SVSAs

DVSA can deploy Specialist Standard Assessors on a national basis where required, in response to customer demand.

DVSA is also in the process of recruiting a further six SVSA’s. In line with demand. DVSA keeps recruitment or multi-skilling of existing teams to increase flexibility under review.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the level of net migration in the year ending 2025 on (a) overall population growth and (b) population density in major towns and cities.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 8th of December is attached.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the longest inpatient stays were for mental health patients in each age group discharged in 2025.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The information requested for the latest available period (1 January to 30 June 2025) is in the table below. Counts below 5 are suppressed using an asterisk.

Data source: Mental Health Services Dataset, NHS England

¹ Bed type is the bed that the patient was in when they were discharged.

² The length of stay is the patient’s total length of stay during the hospital spell.

³ Where a patient’s bed type is not recorded or cannot be matched to a valid value, the bed type is recorded as unknown.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Employment Tribunal awards remain unpaid in each of the last three years.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government does not collect or publish data on the outcomes of employment tribunal enforcement actions; however we do publish data on the value of awards from the Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal and discrimination claims.

The Department of Business and Trade will collect additional updated data on payment outcomes through the Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications in 2026.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of administering Employment Tribunal cases in which awards are subsequently not paid.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested is not held centrally by HM Courts and Tribunals service.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of current mechanisms for enforcing Employment Tribunal awards where employers refuse to pay compensation.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government is committed to tackling the issue of unpaid employment tribunal awards. The civil courts in England and Wales offer several different enforcement methods that a judgment creditor may apply for to recover money or property owed on a court order or judgment. These processes are individually designed to address different financial circumstances; and collectively they aim to make it as difficult as possible for judgment debtors to avoid their responsibilities. This also includes the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) and Employment Tribunal Fast Track enforcement scheme whereby a claimant can instruct a High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO) to act on their behalf.

We recognise the challenges associated with enforcing employment awards. We are therefore strengthening enforcement options through the Employment Tribunal Penalty scheme which will move to the Fair Work Agency (FWA) once established. The proposed powers of the FWA are set out in the Employment Rights Bill and we are committed to ensuring that it has the appropriate resources to discharge its responsibilities. The FWA will work closely with HMRC, the Insolvency Service and other relevant enforcement bodies to do this as effectively as possible. This will include considering how to use existing powers to tackle misuse of phoenix companies.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to monitor data on (a) conviction rates, (b) sentencing patterns and (c) appeals arising from cases affected by the removal of the right to elect a jury trial; and whether that data will be published.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We will continue to monitor conviction rates, sentencing outcomes and appeals volumes as part of our ongoing assessments of the criminal justice system.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions and sentencing outcomes for a wide range of offences and by defendant characteristics, in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics. The Department will continue to publish this data quarterly.

The Ministry of Justice also publishes data on appeals but does not have access to the reasons for appeal, beyond whether a sentence or verdict has been appealed. Data on appeals volumes can be found as part of the Criminal Courts Statistics release: Criminal court statistics - GOV.UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that the use of return hubs will not be subject to external judicial scrutiny.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government has been clear we will continue to work with international partners to tackle the global migration crisis. Our guiding principle will always be that any partnership must be workable and meet our international obligations.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to Answer of 9 December 2025 to Question 96030 on Level Crossings: Tilbury, what the longest barrier closure recorded at East Tilbury level crossing was during the most recent risk assessment; and what proportion of closures exceeded the average duration.

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

The Department does not hold this information in the format requested. I have asked Network Rail, as the infrastructure manager responsible for East Tilbury Level Crossing, to write to you as soon as the information is available.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of level crossing barrier down time at East Tilbury is attributable to freight services; and what the average and maximum barrier down times are for freight movement compared with passenger services.

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

The Department does not hold this information in the format requested. I have asked Network Rail, as the infrastructure manager responsible for East Tilbury Level Crossing, to write to you as soon as the information is available.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of levels of access to Changing Places toilets in public spaces on the a) dignity and b) wellbeing of people with complex disabilities.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Government and Local Authority policies are made in accordance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.

With this commitment to accessibility and inclusion in mind, through our £30.5 million Changing Places Toilet programme, we have supported the installation of 483 new disabled toilet facilities across 220 local authority areas in England. This targeted investment helped address gaps where provision was limited or non-existent.

Although this programme closed on 31 March 2025, changes to building regulations have made it mandatory to include Changing Places facilities in new public buildings (or those undergoing major redevelopment) that fall above a certain size threshold. This aims to significantly increase the availability of these vital facilities over time and makes accessibility a mainstream consideration in how we plan and build our public spaces.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to increase the number of Changing Places toilets; and what plans he has to set minimum provision requirements for large public venues.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Government and Local Authority policies are made in accordance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.

With this commitment to accessibility and inclusion in mind, through our £30.5 million Changing Places Toilet programme, we have supported the installation of 483 new disabled toilet facilities across 220 local authority areas in England. This targeted investment helped address gaps where provision was limited or non-existent.

Although this programme closed on 31 March 2025, changes to building regulations have made it mandatory to include Changing Places facilities in new public buildings (or those undergoing major redevelopment) that fall above a certain size threshold. This aims to significantly increase the availability of these vital facilities over time and makes accessibility a mainstream consideration in how we plan and build our public spaces.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that local regeneration schemes comply with equality duty by providing adequate facilities for people with complex disabilities, such as Changing Places toilets.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Government and Local Authority policies are made in accordance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.

With this commitment to accessibility and inclusion in mind, through our £30.5 million Changing Places Toilet programme, we have supported the installation of 483 new disabled toilet facilities across 220 local authority areas in England. This targeted investment helped address gaps where provision was limited or non-existent.

Although this programme closed on 31 March 2025, changes to building regulations have made it mandatory to include Changing Places facilities in new public buildings (or those undergoing major redevelopment) that fall above a certain size threshold. This aims to significantly increase the availability of these vital facilities over time and makes accessibility a mainstream consideration in how we plan and build our public spaces.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to issue guidance to local authorities to ensure that Changing Places toilets are included as standard in major town-centre redevelopments.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Government and Local Authority policies are made in accordance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.

With this commitment to accessibility and inclusion in mind, through our £30.5 million Changing Places Toilet programme, we have supported the installation of 483 new disabled toilet facilities across 220 local authority areas in England. This targeted investment helped address gaps where provision was limited or non-existent.

Although this programme closed on 31 March 2025, changes to building regulations have made it mandatory to include Changing Places facilities in new public buildings (or those undergoing major redevelopment) that fall above a certain size threshold. This aims to significantly increase the availability of these vital facilities over time and makes accessibility a mainstream consideration in how we plan and build our public spaces.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support small village primary schools with low pupil numbers to remain financially stable.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities, many of which are in rural areas. The schools national funding formula (NFF) accounts for challenges faced by small schools in rural areas through the lump sum and sparsity factor.

In the 2026/27 financial year, the sparsity factor provides eligible primary schools up to £58,600, and all other eligible schools up to £85,200. This funding recognises that some schools are necessarily small because they are remote and do not have the same opportunities to grow or make efficiency savings as other schools.

In addition to the sparsity factor, all small schools will benefit from the increase to core factors in the NFF in 2026/27, including the NFF lump sum set at £152,700. This provides a fixed amount of funding that is particularly beneficial to small schools, as it is not affected by pupil numbers.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding arrangements for village primary schools with low pupil numbers.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities, many of which are in rural areas. The schools national funding formula (NFF) accounts for challenges faced by small schools in rural areas through the lump sum and sparsity factor.

In the 2026/27 financial year, the sparsity factor provides eligible primary schools up to £58,600, and all other eligible schools up to £85,200. This funding recognises that some schools are necessarily small because they are remote and do not have the same opportunities to grow or make efficiency savings as other schools.

In addition to the sparsity factor, all small schools will benefit from the increase to core factors in the NFF in 2026/27, including the NFF lump sum set at £152,700. This provides a fixed amount of funding that is particularly beneficial to small schools, as it is not affected by pupil numbers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given to Question 97394 on Local Government: Essex, whether local councils were first informed that mayoral elections would not proceed in 2026 (a) on 3 December 2025 or (b) before 3 December 2025.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has taken the opportunity to reflect on the most effective way of ensuring our mayoral institutions are best placed to deliver. Since informing constituent councils on December 3, Ministers have been engaging with local leaders in Greater Essex and elsewhere on the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) setting out the significant powers the Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have to deliver for their communities prior to the inaugural election of the Mayor. We will continue to encourage close collaboration between the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities on the DPP and other Mayoral Strategic Authorities elsewhere in England, ahead of the inaugural mayoral elections. This will assist DPP areas to learn from other Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

As the Government confirmed to Parliament on 4 December, we remain committed to the long-term funding offer to all DPP areas, providing £1 million mayoral capacity funding for all areas for financial year 25/26, and a minimum of £3 million over the following three financial years, subject to the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Government will also provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners will continue in their roles and deliver for their areas, and will be expected to work with local leaders in new mayoral strategic authorities once established. We are working with relevant Government Departments to ensure an effective transfer of police and fire functions at the correct time. The strategic authorities will be required to comply with existing legislation regarding financial controls and be required to set up audit and scrutiny committees to oversee the work of the Strategic Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given to Question 97387 on Local Government: Essex, when discussions began on whether to no longer proceed with the mayoral elections in 2026.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has taken the opportunity to reflect on the most effective way of ensuring our mayoral institutions are best placed to deliver. Since informing constituent councils on December 3, Ministers have been engaging with local leaders in Greater Essex and elsewhere on the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) setting out the significant powers the Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have to deliver for their communities prior to the inaugural election of the Mayor. We will continue to encourage close collaboration between the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities on the DPP and other Mayoral Strategic Authorities elsewhere in England, ahead of the inaugural mayoral elections. This will assist DPP areas to learn from other Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

As the Government confirmed to Parliament on 4 December, we remain committed to the long-term funding offer to all DPP areas, providing £1 million mayoral capacity funding for all areas for financial year 25/26, and a minimum of £3 million over the following three financial years, subject to the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Government will also provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners will continue in their roles and deliver for their areas, and will be expected to work with local leaders in new mayoral strategic authorities once established. We are working with relevant Government Departments to ensure an effective transfer of police and fire functions at the correct time. The strategic authorities will be required to comply with existing legislation regarding financial controls and be required to set up audit and scrutiny committees to oversee the work of the Strategic Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given to Question 97401 on Local Government: Essex, what discussions his Department had with Thurrock Council regarding the costs incurred by their preparations for the 2026 mayoral election in Greater Essex.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has taken the opportunity to reflect on the most effective way of ensuring our mayoral institutions are best placed to deliver. Since informing constituent councils on December 3, Ministers have been engaging with local leaders in Greater Essex and elsewhere on the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) setting out the significant powers the Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have to deliver for their communities prior to the inaugural election of the Mayor. We will continue to encourage close collaboration between the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities on the DPP and other Mayoral Strategic Authorities elsewhere in England, ahead of the inaugural mayoral elections. This will assist DPP areas to learn from other Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

As the Government confirmed to Parliament on 4 December, we remain committed to the long-term funding offer to all DPP areas, providing £1 million mayoral capacity funding for all areas for financial year 25/26, and a minimum of £3 million over the following three financial years, subject to the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Government will also provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners will continue in their roles and deliver for their areas, and will be expected to work with local leaders in new mayoral strategic authorities once established. We are working with relevant Government Departments to ensure an effective transfer of police and fire functions at the correct time. The strategic authorities will be required to comply with existing legislation regarding financial controls and be required to set up audit and scrutiny committees to oversee the work of the Strategic Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given to Question 97447 on Local Government: Essex, whether the planned interim voting arrangements for the mayoral strategic authority were considered prior to the decision to move the mayoral election date to 2028.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has taken the opportunity to reflect on the most effective way of ensuring our mayoral institutions are best placed to deliver. Since informing constituent councils on December 3, Ministers have been engaging with local leaders in Greater Essex and elsewhere on the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) setting out the significant powers the Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have to deliver for their communities prior to the inaugural election of the Mayor. We will continue to encourage close collaboration between the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities on the DPP and other Mayoral Strategic Authorities elsewhere in England, ahead of the inaugural mayoral elections. This will assist DPP areas to learn from other Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

As the Government confirmed to Parliament on 4 December, we remain committed to the long-term funding offer to all DPP areas, providing £1 million mayoral capacity funding for all areas for financial year 25/26, and a minimum of £3 million over the following three financial years, subject to the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Government will also provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners will continue in their roles and deliver for their areas, and will be expected to work with local leaders in new mayoral strategic authorities once established. We are working with relevant Government Departments to ensure an effective transfer of police and fire functions at the correct time. The strategic authorities will be required to comply with existing legislation regarding financial controls and be required to set up audit and scrutiny committees to oversee the work of the Strategic Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given to Question 97401 on Local Government: Essex, what discussions were had with Southend Council regarding the costs incurred by their preparations for the 2026 mayoral election in Greater Essex.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has taken the opportunity to reflect on the most effective way of ensuring our mayoral institutions are best placed to deliver. Since informing constituent councils on December 3, Ministers have been engaging with local leaders in Greater Essex and elsewhere on the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) setting out the significant powers the Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have to deliver for their communities prior to the inaugural election of the Mayor. We will continue to encourage close collaboration between the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities on the DPP and other Mayoral Strategic Authorities elsewhere in England, ahead of the inaugural mayoral elections. This will assist DPP areas to learn from other Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

As the Government confirmed to Parliament on 4 December, we remain committed to the long-term funding offer to all DPP areas, providing £1 million mayoral capacity funding for all areas for financial year 25/26, and a minimum of £3 million over the following three financial years, subject to the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Government will also provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners will continue in their roles and deliver for their areas, and will be expected to work with local leaders in new mayoral strategic authorities once established. We are working with relevant Government Departments to ensure an effective transfer of police and fire functions at the correct time. The strategic authorities will be required to comply with existing legislation regarding financial controls and be required to set up audit and scrutiny committees to oversee the work of the Strategic Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given to Question 97715 on Local Government: Essex, what safeguards will be in place to ensure the initial funding for Greater Essex is fairly spent, in the context of the postponement of the 2026 mayoral election.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has taken the opportunity to reflect on the most effective way of ensuring our mayoral institutions are best placed to deliver. Since informing constituent councils on December 3, Ministers have been engaging with local leaders in Greater Essex and elsewhere on the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) setting out the significant powers the Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have to deliver for their communities prior to the inaugural election of the Mayor. We will continue to encourage close collaboration between the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities on the DPP and other Mayoral Strategic Authorities elsewhere in England, ahead of the inaugural mayoral elections. This will assist DPP areas to learn from other Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

As the Government confirmed to Parliament on 4 December, we remain committed to the long-term funding offer to all DPP areas, providing £1 million mayoral capacity funding for all areas for financial year 25/26, and a minimum of £3 million over the following three financial years, subject to the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Government will also provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners will continue in their roles and deliver for their areas, and will be expected to work with local leaders in new mayoral strategic authorities once established. We are working with relevant Government Departments to ensure an effective transfer of police and fire functions at the correct time. The strategic authorities will be required to comply with existing legislation regarding financial controls and be required to set up audit and scrutiny committees to oversee the work of the Strategic Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given to Question 97401 on Local Government: Essex, what discussions he has had with Essex County Council on the costs incurred by their preparations for the 2026 mayoral election in Greater Essex.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has taken the opportunity to reflect on the most effective way of ensuring our mayoral institutions are best placed to deliver. Since informing constituent councils on December 3, Ministers have been engaging with local leaders in Greater Essex and elsewhere on the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) setting out the significant powers the Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have to deliver for their communities prior to the inaugural election of the Mayor. We will continue to encourage close collaboration between the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities on the DPP and other Mayoral Strategic Authorities elsewhere in England, ahead of the inaugural mayoral elections. This will assist DPP areas to learn from other Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

As the Government confirmed to Parliament on 4 December, we remain committed to the long-term funding offer to all DPP areas, providing £1 million mayoral capacity funding for all areas for financial year 25/26, and a minimum of £3 million over the following three financial years, subject to the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Government will also provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners will continue in their roles and deliver for their areas, and will be expected to work with local leaders in new mayoral strategic authorities once established. We are working with relevant Government Departments to ensure an effective transfer of police and fire functions at the correct time. The strategic authorities will be required to comply with existing legislation regarding financial controls and be required to set up audit and scrutiny committees to oversee the work of the Strategic Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer to Question 97396 on Local Government: Essex, what role Essex's Police, Fire, and Crime Commissioner will be expected to take in Greater Essex's mayoral strategic authority, in the context of the decision to hold the inaugural elections for the proposed Greater Essex Mayoral Strategic Authority in 2028.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has taken the opportunity to reflect on the most effective way of ensuring our mayoral institutions are best placed to deliver. Since informing constituent councils on December 3, Ministers have been engaging with local leaders in Greater Essex and elsewhere on the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) setting out the significant powers the Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have to deliver for their communities prior to the inaugural election of the Mayor. We will continue to encourage close collaboration between the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities on the DPP and other Mayoral Strategic Authorities elsewhere in England, ahead of the inaugural mayoral elections. This will assist DPP areas to learn from other Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

As the Government confirmed to Parliament on 4 December, we remain committed to the long-term funding offer to all DPP areas, providing £1 million mayoral capacity funding for all areas for financial year 25/26, and a minimum of £3 million over the following three financial years, subject to the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Government will also provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners will continue in their roles and deliver for their areas, and will be expected to work with local leaders in new mayoral strategic authorities once established. We are working with relevant Government Departments to ensure an effective transfer of police and fire functions at the correct time. The strategic authorities will be required to comply with existing legislation regarding financial controls and be required to set up audit and scrutiny committees to oversee the work of the Strategic Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given to Question 97400 on Local Government: Essex, what discussions were had prior to the decision taken on the new date of mayoral elections on the potential impact on cooperation between new and existing strategic authorities.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has taken the opportunity to reflect on the most effective way of ensuring our mayoral institutions are best placed to deliver. Since informing constituent councils on December 3, Ministers have been engaging with local leaders in Greater Essex and elsewhere on the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) setting out the significant powers the Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have to deliver for their communities prior to the inaugural election of the Mayor. We will continue to encourage close collaboration between the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities on the DPP and other Mayoral Strategic Authorities elsewhere in England, ahead of the inaugural mayoral elections. This will assist DPP areas to learn from other Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

As the Government confirmed to Parliament on 4 December, we remain committed to the long-term funding offer to all DPP areas, providing £1 million mayoral capacity funding for all areas for financial year 25/26, and a minimum of £3 million over the following three financial years, subject to the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Government will also provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners will continue in their roles and deliver for their areas, and will be expected to work with local leaders in new mayoral strategic authorities once established. We are working with relevant Government Departments to ensure an effective transfer of police and fire functions at the correct time. The strategic authorities will be required to comply with existing legislation regarding financial controls and be required to set up audit and scrutiny committees to oversee the work of the Strategic Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given to Question 97395 on Local Government: Essex, whether local councils in areas due to have their 2026 mayoral election cancelled were consulted before the decision to defer that election until 2028 was taken.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has taken the opportunity to reflect on the most effective way of ensuring our mayoral institutions are best placed to deliver. Since informing constituent councils on December 3, Ministers have been engaging with local leaders in Greater Essex and elsewhere on the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) setting out the significant powers the Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have to deliver for their communities prior to the inaugural election of the Mayor. We will continue to encourage close collaboration between the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities on the DPP and other Mayoral Strategic Authorities elsewhere in England, ahead of the inaugural mayoral elections. This will assist DPP areas to learn from other Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

As the Government confirmed to Parliament on 4 December, we remain committed to the long-term funding offer to all DPP areas, providing £1 million mayoral capacity funding for all areas for financial year 25/26, and a minimum of £3 million over the following three financial years, subject to the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Government will also provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners will continue in their roles and deliver for their areas, and will be expected to work with local leaders in new mayoral strategic authorities once established. We are working with relevant Government Departments to ensure an effective transfer of police and fire functions at the correct time. The strategic authorities will be required to comply with existing legislation regarding financial controls and be required to set up audit and scrutiny committees to oversee the work of the Strategic Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given to Question 97397 on Local Government: Essex, what discussions were had on the option of holding Greater Essex's mayoral election in 2027.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government has taken the opportunity to reflect on the most effective way of ensuring our mayoral institutions are best placed to deliver. Since informing constituent councils on December 3, Ministers have been engaging with local leaders in Greater Essex and elsewhere on the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) setting out the significant powers the Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have to deliver for their communities prior to the inaugural election of the Mayor. We will continue to encourage close collaboration between the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities on the DPP and other Mayoral Strategic Authorities elsewhere in England, ahead of the inaugural mayoral elections. This will assist DPP areas to learn from other Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

As the Government confirmed to Parliament on 4 December, we remain committed to the long-term funding offer to all DPP areas, providing £1 million mayoral capacity funding for all areas for financial year 25/26, and a minimum of £3 million over the following three financial years, subject to the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Government will also provide each area with a proportion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground, ahead of the mayors taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners will continue in their roles and deliver for their areas, and will be expected to work with local leaders in new mayoral strategic authorities once established. We are working with relevant Government Departments to ensure an effective transfer of police and fire functions at the correct time. The strategic authorities will be required to comply with existing legislation regarding financial controls and be required to set up audit and scrutiny committees to oversee the work of the Strategic Authority.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will request that the Office of Rail and Road review Network Rail’s compliance with its statutory duties at East Tilbury level crossing in the context of a) freight-related barrier closures and b) community isolation.

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

ORR is the independent rail safety regulator, and we do not direct it in its role. ORR will review Network Rail’s compliance with its statutory duties at level crossings as part of any inspections of such sites and if deficiencies are found, then it will work with Network Rail to remedy them.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2025 to Question 94583 on Public Bodies: Fines, whether her Department plans to ringfence fines against NHS trusts for health-related spending.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Income from fines, whether imposed by the courts or regulators, is in the most part returned to the Consolidated Fund and this income is not disaggregated by source.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the risk of cost escalation in the Lower Thames Crossing project.

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

While the Development Consent Order (DCO) provides a fixed framework that limits scope-driven changes and offers higher cost certainty for delivery, it is important to note that at this stage of a project of this size and complexity there is always a level of uncertainty on the ultimate final cost of the project.

The government’s decision to proceed under the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model will significantly reduce the financial burden of construction costs to taxpayers, bringing in substantial amounts of private investment.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to confirm the remaining funding necessary to complete the Lower Thames Crossing.

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

The Chancellor has committed a further £891m to complete the publicly funded works for the Lower Thames Crossing, the final tranche of Government support before private sector investment takes forward construction and long-term operation. The total Government investment in the project will stand at £3.1bn. This includes spend to date and funding committed through the Spending Review and Autumn Budget.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to publish regular progress reports detailing (a) expenditure, (b) contractual commitments and (c) updates on the funding position for the Lower Thames Crossing.

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

The Department and National Highways are committed to transparency and will continue to provide updates on the Lower Thames Crossing, including expenditure, contractual commitments, and the funding position, through established reporting mechanisms.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce immigration.

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

In July we began implementing the first set of reforms outlined in the Immigration White Paper. These reforms represent a fundamental shift in the UK’s approach to immigration, focusing on higher skills, lower numbers and tighter controls. Our approach will end the UK’s reliance on overseas recruitment and ensure the system better supports investment in the domestic workforce.

We are now delivering on further commitments from the White Paper, with a range of changes to immigration rules laid on 14 October – focusing on tightening the system further and attracting highly skilled talent to the UK to boost the economy. The changes will come into effect over the following months.

This Government is pursuing a comprehensive plan to tackle illegal immigration, through targeted enforcement against the small boat gangs, stronger action alongside our international partners to prevent Channel crossings, increasing the removal of people with no right to be in the UK, cracking down further on illegal working, and continuing our efforts to clear the asylum backlog and end the use of hotels by the end of this Parliament.

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act received Royal Assent on 2 December 2025. The Act provides new tools, powers and offences aimed at strengthening cross-system working and enabling earlier, more far-reaching interventions against organised immigration crime and serious organised crime.

Furthermore, on 17 November, this Government published a statement entitled “Restoring Order and Control” which set out significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and illegal migration system. The statement outlined the current challenges, the Government’s objectives, and a comprehensive package of measures to restore order, control, fairness and public confidence in the system. In July we began implementing the first set of reforms outlined in the Immigration White Paper. These reforms represent a fundamental shift in the UK’s approach to immigration, focusing on higher skills, lower numbers and tighter controls. Our approach will end the UK’s reliance on overseas recruitment and ensure the system better supports investment in the domestic workforce.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of private finance support for delivering the remainder of the Lower Thames Crossing; and whether she has had discussions with private investors on that subject.

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

A robust assessment of private investment options has been undertaken, with the shortlist outlined in the updated Funding Statement in February 2025. The Government’s preferred financing option at this stage is the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model as it offers an integrated approach that focuses delivery, reduces the financial burden on taxpayers, harnesses the benefits of private investment, and ensures strong regulatory oversight to promote the interests of users. The Department, National Highways and its advisors regularly hold informal discussions with private investment markets on a variety of themes and sectors.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to use (a) public-private partnership, (b) concessions model, and (c) toll-based financing model for the Lower Thames Crossing; and what options remain under consideration.

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

The Government's preferred financing option at this stage is the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model. This funding approach accelerates progress by unlocking private capital, therefore reducing the financial burden on taxpayers and boosting economic growth. This approach was selected following a robust assessment of private investment options, as set out in the updated Funding Statement in February 2025. Other models considered as part of this assessment included full public funding and public funding for the tunnels with DBFOM contracts for the roads.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the total amount of income written off by NHS Trusts as unrecoverable charges owed by overseas visitors in each of the past three years.

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

The Department does not hold the data requested on the number of overseas visitors who receive free National Health Service treatment.

The Department and NHS England annually publish data on the income identified, recovered and written off from chargeable overseas visitors in England in the Departments Annual Report and Accounts annually and in NHS England’s consolidated NHS provider accounts. The information for the last five years is available at the following links:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6745b836e7cf64050b8098c4/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts_annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024_print-ready.pdf (page 79)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/676150ef26a2d1ff18253415/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024-web-accessible.pdf (page 284)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b2a4fc5f8ce2000d3ae544/consolidated-provider-accounts-2022-to-2023-print.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b236c81702b10013cb1289/DHSC-Annual-report-and-accounts-2022-2023-web-accessible.pdf (page 275)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/consolidated-provider-accounts-21-22-final.pdf (page 66)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63e50dc0d3bf7f05c8e947a8/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-2022_web-accessible.pdf (page 319)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Consolidated-NHS-provider-accounts-2020-21.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61fbfacc8fa8f538882511f3/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-2021-web-accessible..pdf (page 249)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-19-20.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6012c98bd3bf7f05bae2237f/Department_of_Health_and_Social_Care_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2019-20.pdf (page 167)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Consolidated_NHS_Provider_Accounts_Web_Accessible.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d2747dfed915d698a04d5a6/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019-print-ready.pdf (pages 32-33)

NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the NHS of treatment provided free of charge to overseas visitors who are not residents of the UK.

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

The Department does not hold the data requested on the number of overseas visitors who receive free National Health Service treatment.

The Department and NHS England annually publish data on the income identified, recovered and written off from chargeable overseas visitors in England in the Departments Annual Report and Accounts annually and in NHS England’s consolidated NHS provider accounts. The information for the last five years is available at the following links:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6745b836e7cf64050b8098c4/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts_annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024_print-ready.pdf (page 79)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/676150ef26a2d1ff18253415/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024-web-accessible.pdf (page 284)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b2a4fc5f8ce2000d3ae544/consolidated-provider-accounts-2022-to-2023-print.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b236c81702b10013cb1289/DHSC-Annual-report-and-accounts-2022-2023-web-accessible.pdf (page 275)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/consolidated-provider-accounts-21-22-final.pdf (page 66)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63e50dc0d3bf7f05c8e947a8/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-2022_web-accessible.pdf (page 319)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Consolidated-NHS-provider-accounts-2020-21.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61fbfacc8fa8f538882511f3/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-2021-web-accessible..pdf (page 249)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-19-20.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6012c98bd3bf7f05bae2237f/Department_of_Health_and_Social_Care_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2019-20.pdf (page 167)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Consolidated_NHS_Provider_Accounts_Web_Accessible.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d2747dfed915d698a04d5a6/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019-print-ready.pdf (pages 32-33)

NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the financial impact on NHS Trusts of unpaid overseas visitor charges.

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

The Department does not hold the data requested on the number of overseas visitors who receive free National Health Service treatment.

The Department and NHS England annually publish data on the income identified, recovered and written off from chargeable overseas visitors in England in the Departments Annual Report and Accounts annually and in NHS England’s consolidated NHS provider accounts. The information for the last five years is available at the following links:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6745b836e7cf64050b8098c4/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts_annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024_print-ready.pdf (page 79)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/676150ef26a2d1ff18253415/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024-web-accessible.pdf (page 284)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b2a4fc5f8ce2000d3ae544/consolidated-provider-accounts-2022-to-2023-print.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b236c81702b10013cb1289/DHSC-Annual-report-and-accounts-2022-2023-web-accessible.pdf (page 275)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/consolidated-provider-accounts-21-22-final.pdf (page 66)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63e50dc0d3bf7f05c8e947a8/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-2022_web-accessible.pdf (page 319)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Consolidated-NHS-provider-accounts-2020-21.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61fbfacc8fa8f538882511f3/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-2021-web-accessible..pdf (page 249)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-19-20.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6012c98bd3bf7f05bae2237f/Department_of_Health_and_Social_Care_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2019-20.pdf (page 167)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Consolidated_NHS_Provider_Accounts_Web_Accessible.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d2747dfed915d698a04d5a6/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019-print-ready.pdf (pages 32-33)

NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data he holds on the number of overseas visitors who received NHS treatment free of charge in the last five years.

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

The Department does not hold the data requested on the number of overseas visitors who receive free National Health Service treatment.

The Department and NHS England annually publish data on the income identified, recovered and written off from chargeable overseas visitors in England in the Departments Annual Report and Accounts annually and in NHS England’s consolidated NHS provider accounts. The information for the last five years is available at the following links:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6745b836e7cf64050b8098c4/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts_annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024_print-ready.pdf (page 79)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/676150ef26a2d1ff18253415/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024-web-accessible.pdf (page 284)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b2a4fc5f8ce2000d3ae544/consolidated-provider-accounts-2022-to-2023-print.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b236c81702b10013cb1289/DHSC-Annual-report-and-accounts-2022-2023-web-accessible.pdf (page 275)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/consolidated-provider-accounts-21-22-final.pdf (page 66)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63e50dc0d3bf7f05c8e947a8/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-2022_web-accessible.pdf (page 319)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Consolidated-NHS-provider-accounts-2020-21.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61fbfacc8fa8f538882511f3/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-2021-web-accessible..pdf (page 249)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-19-20.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6012c98bd3bf7f05bae2237f/Department_of_Health_and_Social_Care_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2019-20.pdf (page 167)

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Consolidated_NHS_Provider_Accounts_Web_Accessible.pdf (page 74)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d2747dfed915d698a04d5a6/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019-print-ready.pdf (pages 32-33)

NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans she has to publish its comparative assessment of the UK’s space sector performance relative to other G7 countries, including trends in a) sector growth and b) global market share over the past three years.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) performs comparative analysis of the UK’s space sector relative to other countries to be used in the formulation of policy and advice to ministers. The data used to produce the analysis is commercially sensitive, and therefore there are no current plans to publish this assessment.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of live facial recognition on security and passenger flow at UK borders and airports; and what evaluation has been undertaken in relation to the accuracy and reliability of facial recognition in those settings.

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

Facial comparison technology is currently in operation at the eGates at the UK border. eGates provide a safe, secure and efficient method for millions of passengers to cross our border each year. Technology deployed at the UK border is rigorously tested to ensure it is robust, resilient and effective.

The Immigration White Paper, published May 2025, sets out our vision to revolutionise the border by using technology to make visible changes to security and the passenger flow.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the proportion of patients treated within 18 weeks in Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board facilities over the past year.

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

We are clear that the extent of waits for treatment is unacceptable, and cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. We have committed to returning by March 2029 to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment (RTT).

Between July 2024 and June 2025, we delivered 5.2 million additional appointments compared to the previous year, more than double our pledge of two million. This marks a vital first step towards delivering the constitutional standard.

As an interim goal, NHS England’s Operational Planning Guidance 2025/26 has set the national ambition for 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum five percentage point improvement in performance, and to reduce the proportion of people waiting over 52 weeks for treatment to less than 1% of the total waiting list.

To support this improvement across all trusts and systems, there is a robust performance management process in place. The new NHS Oversight Framework 2025/26 ensures that there is public accountability for performance and NHS England works with systems and providers to support improvement.

In coordination with the NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board, NHS England has heightened executive oversight and assurance processes in place with the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust to monitor and support recovery plans. An extensive targeted recovery plan focuses on orthopaedic mutual aid, optimising and expanding existing capacity, pathway reform, improvements to validation processes and demand management.

A new interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer have been appointed at the trust, in addition to a dedicated Executive Elective Recovery Director to drive and oversee turnaround of elective care performance.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board to reduce the number of pathways waiting more than 52 weeks for treatment.

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

We are clear that the extent of waits for treatment is unacceptable, and cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. We have committed to returning by March 2029 to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment (RTT).

Between July 2024 and June 2025, we delivered 5.2 million additional appointments compared to the previous year, more than double our pledge of two million. This marks a vital first step towards delivering the constitutional standard.

As an interim goal, NHS England’s Operational Planning Guidance 2025/26 has set the national ambition for 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum five percentage point improvement in performance, and to reduce the proportion of people waiting over 52 weeks for treatment to less than 1% of the total waiting list.

To support this improvement across all trusts and systems, there is a robust performance management process in place. The new NHS Oversight Framework 2025/26 ensures that there is public accountability for performance and NHS England works with systems and providers to support improvement.

In coordination with the NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board, NHS England has heightened executive oversight and assurance processes in place with the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust to monitor and support recovery plans. An extensive targeted recovery plan focuses on orthopaedic mutual aid, optimising and expanding existing capacity, pathway reform, improvements to validation processes and demand management.

A new interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer have been appointed at the trust, in addition to a dedicated Executive Elective Recovery Director to drive and oversee turnaround of elective care performance.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to restore the 18-week referral-to-treatment standard at Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board; and by what timeframe.

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

We are clear that the extent of waits for treatment is unacceptable, and cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. We have committed to returning by March 2029 to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment (RTT).

Between July 2024 and June 2025, we delivered 5.2 million additional appointments compared to the previous year, more than double our pledge of two million. This marks a vital first step towards delivering the constitutional standard.

As an interim goal, NHS England’s Operational Planning Guidance 2025/26 has set the national ambition for 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum five percentage point improvement in performance, and to reduce the proportion of people waiting over 52 weeks for treatment to less than 1% of the total waiting list.

To support this improvement across all trusts and systems, there is a robust performance management process in place. The new NHS Oversight Framework 2025/26 ensures that there is public accountability for performance and NHS England works with systems and providers to support improvement.

In coordination with the NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board, NHS England has heightened executive oversight and assurance processes in place with the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust to monitor and support recovery plans. An extensive targeted recovery plan focuses on orthopaedic mutual aid, optimising and expanding existing capacity, pathway reform, improvements to validation processes and demand management.

A new interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer have been appointed at the trust, in addition to a dedicated Executive Elective Recovery Director to drive and oversee turnaround of elective care performance.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board to reduce its pathways waiting list.

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

We are clear that the extent of waits for treatment is unacceptable, and cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. We have committed to returning by March 2029 to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment (RTT).

Between July 2024 and June 2025, we delivered 5.2 million additional appointments compared to the previous year, more than double our pledge of two million. This marks a vital first step towards delivering the constitutional standard.

As an interim goal, NHS England’s Operational Planning Guidance 2025/26 has set the national ambition for 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for treatment, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum five percentage point improvement in performance, and to reduce the proportion of people waiting over 52 weeks for treatment to less than 1% of the total waiting list.

To support this improvement across all trusts and systems, there is a robust performance management process in place. The new NHS Oversight Framework 2025/26 ensures that there is public accountability for performance and NHS England works with systems and providers to support improvement.

In coordination with the NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board, NHS England has heightened executive oversight and assurance processes in place with the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust to monitor and support recovery plans. An extensive targeted recovery plan focuses on orthopaedic mutual aid, optimising and expanding existing capacity, pathway reform, improvements to validation processes and demand management.

A new interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer have been appointed at the trust, in addition to a dedicated Executive Elective Recovery Director to drive and oversee turnaround of elective care performance.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the First Do No Harm report; and if he will publish an updated timetable for delivery of those recommendations.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Seven of the nine recommendations made in the First Do No Harm report have been previously accepted in full, in part, or in principle. Four of these have been successfully implemented, including appointing Professor Henrietta Hughes as the first ever Patient Safety Commissioner in England in respect of medicines and medical devices, and establishing nine specialist mesh centres, which are in operation across England.

Whilst the Government has no plans to publish a timetable, progress is ongoing in respect of the remaining recommendations. For example, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has undergone an ambitious organisation-wide transformation to ensure it becomes a progressive and responsive patient-focussed regulator of medical products, for recommendation six, the Medical Devices and Outcomes Registry is now live and healthcare providers are required to contribute data, for recommendation seven, and regarding mandatory reporting of payments for the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, the Government intends to publish its response to a public consultation on this topic later this month, for recommendation eight.

Work is also ongoing across the Government to consider the recommendations in the Hughes Report, which looked into, and provided advice on, redress for those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what requirements exist for follow-up contact within 48 hours of discharge from inpatient mental health services; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of NHS compliance with these requirements.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is no requirement that exists for follow-up contact within 48 hours of discharge from inpatient mental health services. There is, however, a follow up requirement for 72 hours post discharge, based on evidence from the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health that there is an increased risk of dying by suicide within this period.

This has been part of the NHS Standard Contract since 1 April 2020, which states that all people discharged from integrated care board (ICB) commissioned inpatient mental health services should be followed up within 72 hours. This applies to everyone who is discharged from an ICB-commissioned adult mental health inpatient bed to their place of residence, care home, residential accommodation, or to non-psychiatric care. All avenues need to be exploited to ensure patients are followed up within 72 hours of discharge.

This follow up requirement is reinforced through national statutory guidance on Discharge from mental health inpatient settings and data on performance is published on a monthly basis, with 73.3% of discharges in September 2025 meeting the ambition.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment his Department has made of (a) adequacy of the (i) performance and (ii) outcomes of Royal Mail’s Optimised Delivery Model trials and (b) whether these trials demonstrate that the model can meet the requirements of the Universal Service Obligation.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Operational implementation of the reforms to the Universal Service Obligation are a matter for Royal Mail’s management working with its workers and unions. The government does not have a role in the operational decisions of the business.

Ofcom is responsible for monitoring Royal Mail’s delivery of its universal service obligations and has committed to monitoring the implementation process closely, to identify any issues with the roll-out of changes, whether the cost savings have been realised, and any impacts on the consumer experience.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether Royal Mail has provided his Department with evidence to substantiate any projected cost savings in relation to the Optimised Delivery Model.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Royal Mail produced its own modelling to estimate the net savings of key elements of its Optimised Delivery Model proposal to support its response to Ofcom’s Call for Input. Royal Mail’s submission is available on Ofcom’s website.

Ofcom, as the independent regulator responsible for securing a financially sustainable and efficient universal postal service, has been clear that realising the benefits of reform is dependent on Royal Mail’s ability to implement them operationally.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Royal Mail meets its statutory service standards and provides accurate reporting on delivery performance.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Ministers and officials have discussions with Royal Mail on a regular basis in its capacity as the universal service provider.

Ofcom has a primary duty to secure the provision of a universal postal service, having regard to its financial sustainability and efficiency. On 10 July this year, Ofcom announced changes to the universal postal service obligation intended to have a significant positive impact on the financial sustainability of the universal service and support its continued provision.

It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to monitor Royal Mail’s service standards with powers to take enforcement action where failures are identified without sufficient justification. Ofcom requires Royal Mail to publish its quality of service performance data on a quarterly basis.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with the Royal Mail on the continued viability of the Universal Service Obligation.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Ministers and officials have discussions with Royal Mail on a regular basis in its capacity as the universal service provider.

Ofcom has a primary duty to secure the provision of a universal postal service, having regard to its financial sustainability and efficiency. On 10 July this year, Ofcom announced changes to the universal postal service obligation intended to have a significant positive impact on the financial sustainability of the universal service and support its continued provision.

It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to monitor Royal Mail’s service standards with powers to take enforcement action where failures are identified without sufficient justification. Ofcom requires Royal Mail to publish its quality of service performance data on a quarterly basis.

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 3 December 2025 to Question 94583 on Public Bodies: Fines, how much revenue has been generated for (a) the consolidated fund and (b) enforcing bodies due to fines against NHS trusts since 2020.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has criminal enforcement powers to fine a health or social care provider where they identify a breach of regulations. The CQC can directly serve a fixed penalty notice to a provider, or a fine may be issued by the court following prosecution brought by the CQC.

No fines as a result of CQC enforcement activity are retained by the CQC. Any fixed penalty paid to the CQC is not retained but must be passed on by the CQC to my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. The CQC transfers the penalties received to the Department of Health and Social Care on a quarterly basis.  The money raised by court fines is paid to HM Treasury.

The following table shows the fines served by the court following prosecution brought by the CQC against National Health Service trusts since 2020:

Note: where an NHS trust is fined more than once in a given fiscal year, the fines relate to individual cases.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to Answer of 5th December 2025 to Question 94817, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) duplicate listings and (b) placeholder vacancies on commercial job platforms on the accuracy of reported vacancy levels.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 11th of December is attached.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 5th December 2025 to Question 94817, what estimate he has made of the proportion of unemployed people included in the most recent unemployment-to-vacancy ratio figures who were classified as long-term unemployed.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Office for National Statistics publishes figures each month on the number of long-term unemployed people and what proportion of people who are unemployed are long-term unemployed in tab 9 of table A01 - A01: Summary of labour market statistics - Office for National Statistics

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the potential number of refugees who will enter the UK on a work and study visa in the next 5 years.

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

The Home Office has not made an estimate of the potential number of refugees who may enter the UK on work or study visas over the next five years.

Student visa applications are rigorously assessed, and any indication of non-genuine intent, such as using the route for purposes other than study, will lead to refusal.

While anyone in the UK has the right to claim asylum, asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor the effectiveness of the Child Poverty Strategy.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We want to see an enduring reduction in child poverty over this parliament as part of long-term, 10-year strategy for lasting change.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out how we will track progress and evaluate success as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability and continued learning. It can be found here: Child Poverty Strategy: Monitoring and Evaluation Framework - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the feasibility of requiring JobCentre Plus districts to report outcomes for (a) full-time work, (b) part-time work and (c) training and skills provision.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department monitors Jobcentre performance through an internal performance framework aligned with the priorities set out in Get Britain Working White Paper. The framework is designed for internal management purposes and the data is not published externally.

The Department recently published data on movements into work amongst people in the Universal Credit (UC) searching for work group - Get Britain Working: Labour Market Insights October 2025 - GOV.UK.

We are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has recently proposed measures to ensure that fines against NHS trusts are ringfenced for spending on health matters.

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

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has criminal enforcement powers to fine a health or social care provider where they identify a breach of regulations. The CQC can directly serve a fixed penalty notice to a provider, or a fine may be issued by the court following prosecution brought by the CQC.

Any fixed penalty paid to the CQC is not retained but must be passed on by the CQC to my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. The CQC transfers the penalties received to the Department on a quarterly basis.

The size of the fine following prosecutions brought by the CQC is a decision made by the court and is informed by sentencing guidelines. The CQC does not have influence over this decision. The money raised by court fines is paid to HM Treasury.

The Department has not recently proposed any measures to change this.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support she is providing to local authorities to help ensure they have a sufficient number of foster carers to meet local demand.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Foster care is one of my top priorities as Minister. The department is already investing £25 million of transformation funding for foster care, which is additional to the £15 million announced at the Autumn Budget covering the 2025/26 financial year. We are already working with over 60% of local authorities in England to transform the way they recruit and retain foster carers. The Spending Review also set aside funding for renovating and extending foster care homes.

However, we know we need to go further and faster with recruiting and retaining more carers and we will set out more detail on our planned investments and reforms for fostering in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients waited more than four hours in Basildon Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department in the past year.

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

The Government acknowledges that urgent and emergency care performance has not consistently met expectations in recent years. We are committed to restoring waiting standards to those set out in the NHS Constitution by the end of this Parliament, as outlined in our Medium Term Planning Framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/medium-term-planning-framework-delivering-change-together-2026-27-to-2028-29.pdf

Basildon Hospital is part of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust. In the financial year 2024/25, 29.1% of patients at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust waited for more than four hours from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge.

We are putting significant funding into expanding urgent and emergency service access for those most in need, including new Urgent Treatment Centres and Same Day Emergency Care facilities. Nationally, this will mean 800,000 fewer accident and emergency patients waiting over four hours this year.

The information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ae-attendances-and-emergency-admissions-2025-26/

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 8th December 2025 to Question 95558, how many of the 153 individuals returned to France under the agreement have subsequently attempted to re-enter the UK illegally.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

Anyone who re-enters illegally may face immediate detention and, where appropriate, we will seek to expedite removal. This will not count as a new removal in the reciprocal scheme.

The system is working: two individuals who returned to the UK having already been removed were detected, detained, and their cases were expedited for return.

We continue close cooperation with France to strengthen border security and disrupt criminal smuggling gangs. Our ongoing partnership with French law enforcement has prevented over 21,000 crossing attempts to the UK this year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to assess how live facial recognition systems are used in other countries and how those approaches may be used in the UK.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office routinely makes international comparisons in policy development work. As part of designing a new legal framework for law enforcement use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies, international comparisons will be considered.

The Government launched a public consultation on this framework on 4 December.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the comparative (a) employment practices and (b) delivery of delivery companies excluding Royal Mail; and what plans he has to ensure similar standards to those applied to Royal Mail to improve delivery outcomes.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Ministers and officials meet with Ofcom regularly to discuss a range of issues in relation to its role as the independent regulator for the postal sector.

Delivery companies are independent businesses, and the government has no role in their operational decisions. Ofcom does not regulate the employment models of delivery companies.

The Government will consult on the topic of employment status generally, as soon as possible in the New Year.

Delivery targets covering all postal operators would be a decision for Ofcom to consider as part of its reviews of postal regulation.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the proportion of claimants who move into work via Jobcentre support who remain in work for more than six months.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department has made no estimate of the proportion of claimants who move into work via Jobcentre support who remain in work for more than six months.

The Department monitors Jobcentre performance through an internal performance framework aligned with the priorities set out in Get Britain Working White Paper.

The Department recently published data on movements into work amongst people in the Universal Credit (UC) searching for work group - Get Britain Working: Labour Market Insights October 2025 - GOV.UK.

We are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of children in deep material poverty that will be lifted out of that level of poverty by 2030 in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department does not hold data on the number of children in deep material poverty broken down by geographical region or constituency. Estimates are available for the number of children and households that are expected to gain from the removal of two-child limit at constituency level here Poverty impacts of social security changes at Budget 2025 - GOV.UK.

As deep material poverty is impacted by a range of un-modellable factors, such as families’ broader resources, support networks and financial resilience, it is not possible to model reductions in deep material poverty in the same way as for relative low income. Instead, we have provided analysis on number of children in deep material poverty who will gain from the strategy, which can be found at the link above.

It is unacceptable that two million children are in deep material poverty, lacking the basic essentials - such as a warm home and healthy food. We estimate that 1.4 million children in deep material poverty will see an increase in household income as a result of the modelled measures in the Strategy.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the geographic distribution of deep material poverty across the UK.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department does not hold data on the number of children in deep material poverty broken down by geographical region or constituency. Estimates are available for the number of children and households that are expected to gain from the removal of two-child limit at constituency level here Poverty impacts of social security changes at Budget 2025 - GOV.UK.

As deep material poverty is impacted by a range of un-modellable factors, such as families’ broader resources, support networks and financial resilience, it is not possible to model reductions in deep material poverty in the same way as for relative low income. Instead, we have provided analysis on number of children in deep material poverty who will gain from the strategy, which can be found at the link above.

It is unacceptable that two million children are in deep material poverty, lacking the basic essentials - such as a warm home and healthy food. We estimate that 1.4 million children in deep material poverty will see an increase in household income as a result of the modelled measures in the Strategy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to ensure that data on illegal migrants whose whereabouts are unknown can be published in a verified form.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The nature of absconding is complicated because individuals frequently come in and out of contact. Whilst the Home Office has processes for the recording of absconder events, and for seeking to bring such individuals back into contact, the recording of information about absconders is complex and the operational systems involved do not currently support the production of robust statistics on this area.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data. The Home Office does not publish data on subjects where the information held is known to be of a quality that would be unsuitable for appropriately supporting public debate.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to establish the number of illegal migrants whose whereabouts are unknown.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The nature of absconding is complicated because individuals frequently come in and out of contact. Whilst the Home Office has processes for the recording of absconder events, and for seeking to bring such individuals back into contact, the recording of information about absconders is complex and the operational systems involved do not currently support the production of robust statistics on this area.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data. The Home Office does not publish data on subjects where the information held is known to be of a quality that would be unsuitable for appropriately supporting public debate.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish data on the number of migrant absconders in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The nature of absconding is complicated because individuals frequently come in and out of contact. Whilst the Home Office has processes for the recording of absconder events, and for seeking to bring such individuals back into contact, the recording of information about absconders is complex and the operational systems involved do not currently support the production of robust statistics on this area.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user requests, the public resources required to compile the statistics, and importantly the quality and availability of data. The Home Office does not publish data on subjects where the information held is known to be of a quality that would be unsuitable for appropriately supporting public debate.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Government's proposed Digital ID implementation, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential for significant data breaches.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The National Cyber Security Centre is advising on how the new credential is built to the highest standard. Ensuring that security arrangements keep pace with the changing threat landscape will be central to the scheme.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the (a) initial cost of implementation of the proposed Digital ID scheme and (b) annual cost of operating that scheme.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the honourable Member to my answer to PQ93098.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent comparative assessment he has made of the effectiveness of digital ID scheme implementation in other countries.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Digital identity schemes differ around the world depending on sovereign decisions taken by other governments.

The UK is keen to learn from international examples of where digital identity schemes are already delivering benefits for the public, and we are engaging actively with other countries for this purpose.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people his Department expects to be enrolled on the digital ID scheme (a) immediately and (b) after one year after it is launched.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The scope of the digital ID scheme is still in development and we are inviting the public to have their say in the upcoming consultation as we develop an inclusive, secure, and useful system.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of rising demand for ambulance services on Category 2 performance in the east of England.

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

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) has experienced sustained growth in demand in recent years. In the current financial year-to-date, to November 2025, the service has responded to over 640,000 incidents. This represents the highest year-to-date total to November since records began in 2018/19, and an increase of more than 40,000 incidents compared to the same period last year.

Despite increased demand, Category 2 performance has improved. In the current financial year to date, to November 2025, the mean Category 2 response time has been 34 minutes 56 seconds.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2025 on the hospitality sector.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

Without our support, the pub sector as a whole would have faced a 45% increase in the total bills they pay next year. Because of the support we’ve put in place, this has fallen to just 4%.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. We are doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties, including those on the high street.

The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

In addition to our business rates support, the Chancellor also announced the first National Licensing Policy Framework at Budget 2025, which sets a new strategic direction for licensing authorities to have more regard for growth when reviewing licensing applications and decisions.

In addition, and responding to sector asks, the government committed to explore further planning reforms to make it easier for pubs and hospitality businesses to expand and grow. To help drive these reforms, we will appoint a new Retail and Hospitality Envoy to champion these sectors across government.

This is on top of measures we have already announced, such as:

• A £1.5m Hospitality fund to support sector initiative like an innovation hub to improve business productivity and help rural pubs diversify to ensure they can continue as vital community hubs;
• Protection against upward only rent clauses, and
• The introduction of strong new ‘Community Right to Buy’ to help communities safeguard valued community assets – such as pubs.

The Government will continue to work closely with the pub and hospitality sector and are committed to help them succeed.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2025 on business costs to the average pub.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

Without our support, the pub sector as a whole would have faced a 45% increase in the total bills they pay next year. Because of the support we’ve put in place, this has fallen to just 4%.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. We are doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties, including those on the high street.

The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

In addition to our business rates support, the Chancellor also announced the first National Licensing Policy Framework at Budget 2025, which sets a new strategic direction for licensing authorities to have more regard for growth when reviewing licensing applications and decisions.

In addition, and responding to sector asks, the government committed to explore further planning reforms to make it easier for pubs and hospitality businesses to expand and grow. To help drive these reforms, we will appoint a new Retail and Hospitality Envoy to champion these sectors across government.

This is on top of measures we have already announced, such as:

• A £1.5m Hospitality fund to support sector initiative like an innovation hub to improve business productivity and help rural pubs diversify to ensure they can continue as vital community hubs;
• Protection against upward only rent clauses, and
• The introduction of strong new ‘Community Right to Buy’ to help communities safeguard valued community assets – such as pubs.

The Government will continue to work closely with the pub and hospitality sector and are committed to help them succeed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Answer of 3 December 2025 to Question 94075 on Health Services: Foreign Nationals, when he last reviewed the operation of the NHS cost-recovery regime with NHS England: and what milestones have been set to measure improvements in the effectiveness of that regime.

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

The Department and NHS England publish data annually on the income identified, recovered, and written off from chargeable overseas visitors in England in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts and in NHS England’s Consolidated NHS provider accounts. The information for the last three years is available at the following links:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692dc4e8345e31ab14ecf846/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-ara-2024-to-2025.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/693a97ef6a12691d48491de0/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-2025-print-ready.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6745b836e7cf64050b8098c4/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts_annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024_print-ready.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/676150ef26a2d1ff18253415/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024-web-accessible.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b2a4fc5f8ce2000d3ae544/consolidated-provider-accounts-2022-to-2023-print.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b236c81702b10013cb1289/DHSC-Annual-report-and-accounts-2022-2023-web-accessible.pdf

National Health Service charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.

No formal review of the system of cost recovery has taken place. However, we continue to work with NHS England to ensure that the system works as effectively and fairly as possible.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much income was (a) invoiced, (b) collected, and( c) written off under the NHS cost-recovery regime in each of the last three financial years.

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

The Department and NHS England publish data annually on the income identified, recovered, and written off from chargeable overseas visitors in England in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts and in NHS England’s Consolidated NHS provider accounts. The information for the last three years is available at the following links:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692dc4e8345e31ab14ecf846/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-ara-2024-to-2025.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/693a97ef6a12691d48491de0/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-2025-print-ready.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6745b836e7cf64050b8098c4/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts_annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024_print-ready.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/676150ef26a2d1ff18253415/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024-web-accessible.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b2a4fc5f8ce2000d3ae544/consolidated-provider-accounts-2022-to-2023-print.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b236c81702b10013cb1289/DHSC-Annual-report-and-accounts-2022-2023-web-accessible.pdf

National Health Service charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.

No formal review of the system of cost recovery has taken place. However, we continue to work with NHS England to ensure that the system works as effectively and fairly as possible.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of NHS provision for complex mesh removal surgery; and what steps he is taking to ensure patients can access specialists with required expertise.

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

There are nine specialist mesh centres in operation across England, ensuring that women in every region with complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse get the right support. Each mesh centre is led by a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) to ensure patients get access to the specialist care and treatment that they need, including pain management.

The specialised services for service users with complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence, vaginal, or internal and external rectal prolapse specification published by NHS England sets out the requirement for an MDT approach to mesh services and suggests membership could include a psychologist. The specification also details that psychology services should be co-located or available to the mesh MDT.

The Department has commissioned, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, a £1.56 million study to develop patient reported outcome measures (PROM) for prolapse, incontinence, and mesh complication surgery. Longer term, the PROM will be integrated into the pelvic floor registry which monitors and improves the safety of mesh patients. It records the surgical mesh implants, and related medical devices, given to patients, and the organisations and surgeons that have carried out the procedures.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of unresolved mesh complications on the mental health of women impacted; and what support is available for those women.

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

There are nine specialist mesh centres in operation across England, ensuring that women in every region with complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse get the right support. Each mesh centre is led by a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) to ensure patients get access to the specialist care and treatment that they need, including pain management.

The specialised services for service users with complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence, vaginal, or internal and external rectal prolapse specification published by NHS England sets out the requirement for an MDT approach to mesh services and suggests membership could include a psychologist. The specification also details that psychology services should be co-located or available to the mesh MDT.

The Department has commissioned, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, a £1.56 million study to develop patient reported outcome measures (PROM) for prolapse, incontinence, and mesh complication surgery. Longer term, the PROM will be integrated into the pelvic floor registry which monitors and improves the safety of mesh patients. It records the surgical mesh implants, and related medical devices, given to patients, and the organisations and surgeons that have carried out the procedures.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans she has to amend inheritance tax legislation to ensure that compensation paid to the estates of deceased victims of the Infected Blood scandal is exempt from inheritance tax.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

At Budget 2025, the government announced that it would extend the existing relief from inheritance tax for compensation payments made from the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme and the Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Scheme (‘infected blood compensation payments’). A Tax Information and Impact Note has been published and can be found here: Inheritance Tax and Infected Blood compensation payments - GOV.UK.

Finance Bill 2025-26 contains a power to make changes to the inheritance tax treatment of infected blood compensation schemes in secondary legislation. The government will lay regulations subject to parliamentary approval of the Bill. More information about what this means in practical terms and what action impacted individuals should take ahead of regulations being made were published in this Written Ministerial Statement: Inheritance tax relief for infected blood compensation payments

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures she will use to evaluate the effect of the National Year of Reading 2026 on closing the gender attainment gap.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Reading for pleasure brings a range of benefits, including strong links with attainment. However, research by the National Literacy Trust shows that in 2025, just one in three children aged 8 to 18 reported enjoying reading, with teenage boys regularly reporting the lowest levels of reading enjoyment.

That is why the department is launching the National Year of Reading, a UK-wide campaign to address the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults

Grounded in existing evidence and new research by an external research agency, the campaign is designed to deliver meaningful impact during 2026 and beyond.

The impact of the National Year of Reading will be measured through an independent external evaluation. The evaluation will examine how the campaign influences reading behaviours, connects with audiences and shapes attitudes towards reading, particularly among the campaign’s priority audiences: teenage boys, early years children, and families from disadvantaged communities. It will also assess the wider impact on the literacy sector and the foundations for long-term change. The findings will be published in 2027.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools provide equal access to school reports, parents’ evening information, and other communications for separated and separating parents.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department’s parental responsibility guidance sets out how schools should communicate with non-resident parents. The guidance states that ’school and local authority staff must treat all parents equally, unless a court order limits a parent’s ability to make educational decisions, participate in school life or receive information about their child’.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the availability of anonymised data relevant to children with irregular migrant status who are enrolled in schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Every child who is resident in England has a right to a school place irrespective of their nationality or immigration status therefore this data is not collected.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had discussions with Ofcom on the application of online advertising regulations for illegal gas work promotions.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Secretary of State has had no discussions with Ofcom on this matter.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 make it a criminal offence for anyone who is not on the Gas Safe Register to carry out gas work in domestic properties.

The Advertising Standards Authority requires all advertising to be legal and socially responsible. It is working with online platforms which have signed up to its Intermediary and Platform Principles to encourage compliance with the advertising codes online.

The Online Advertising Taskforce, chaired by the Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts, is also working to improve transparency and accountability in the online advertising supply chain.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on steps to safeguard against data breaches following the implementation of the proposed Digital ID scheme.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Privacy and security will be core to the design of a new digital credential. We are working with the UK’s leading security experts – including the National Cyber Security Centre – to build a system with higher protections against identity fraud than ever before. Ensuring that security arrangements keep pace with the changing threat landscape will be central to the scheme.

Overall responsibility for the scheme sits with the Cabinet Office who will be launching a public consultation in the new year.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans her Department has made to use decentralised data storage systems in the implementation of the digital ID scheme.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

We will work closely with expert stakeholders, including the Information Commissioner’s Office and the National Cyber Security Centre, to make the programme as effective and secure as possible. Our approach will involve a federated data model, to ensure privacy and security.

Overall responsibility for the scheme sits with the Cabinet Office who will be launching a public consultation in the new year, which will seek views on the design, build and delivery of the system.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to introduce policies requiring schools to give both parents equal access to information about their child’s education, regardless of parental separation status.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department’s parental responsibility guidance sets out how schools should communicate with non-resident parents. The guidance states that ’school and local authority staff must treat all parents equally, unless a court order limits a parent’s ability to make educational decisions, participate in school life or receive information about their child’.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had discussions with social media companies on (a) adverts by unqualified operatives offering gas work and (b) the potential merits of implementing (i) pre‑advertising checks for Gas Safe accreditation and (ii) proactive takedowns of unsafe listings.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Secretary of State has had no discussions with social media companies on this matter.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 make it a criminal offence for anyone who is not on the Gas Safe Register to carry out gas work in domestic properties.

The Advertising Standards Authority requires all advertising to be legal and socially responsible. It is working with online platforms which have signed up to its Intermediary and Platform Principles to encourage compliance with the advertising codes online.

The Online Advertising Taskforce, chaired by the Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts, is also working to improve transparency and accountability in the online advertising supply chain.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Government's proposed Digital ID scheme, what assessment her Department has made on the potential risks of using One Login to support implementation of the scheme.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

As with GOV.UK One Login, privacy and security will be core to the design of a new digital credential. We are working with the UK’s leading security experts – including the National Cyber Security Centre – to build a system with higher protections against identity fraud than ever before. Overall responsibility for the scheme sits with the Cabinet Office who will be launching a public consultation in the new year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer to Question 97399 on Local Government: Essex, what plans his Department has to help increase levels of public engagement with the local government reorganisation process for Greater Essex.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

When we launched the consultation on local government reorganisation in Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock, we asked councils to use their existing mechanisms and forums to seek to bring the consultation to the attention of people and organisations in their local area. This is to facilitate the widest possible awareness of the consultation.

The hon. Member’s constituents are able to respond to the consultation here.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of SEND spaces needed in South Basildon and East Thurrock to meet forecast demand.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), sits with local authorities. To support local authorities with this duty, in December, the department announced at least £3 billion for high needs capital between 2026/27 and 2029/30, to support children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This builds on the £740 million invested in 2025/26, which is on track to create around 10,000 new specialist places. Of this funding, Thurrock council has been allocated just under £2 million, and Essex has been allocated just under £21 million.

This funding is intended to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

It is ultimately up to local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their high needs capital funding to address local priorities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the number of children with EHCPs whose preference was for a specialist school place, but were instead placed in a mainstream school.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), sits with local authorities. To support local authorities with this duty, in December, the department announced at least £3 billion for high needs capital between 2026/27 and 2029/30, to support children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This builds on the £740 million invested in 2025/26, which is on track to create around 10,000 new specialist places. Of this funding, Thurrock council has been allocated just under £2 million, and Essex has been allocated just under £21 million.

This funding is intended to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

It is ultimately up to local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their high needs capital funding to address local priorities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2025 to Question 94577 on Special Educational Needs: Admissions, whether she has provided guidance on the number of additional SEND places required to meet forecast demand in Thurrock.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), sits with local authorities. To support local authorities with this duty, in December, the department announced at least £3 billion for high needs capital between 2026/27 and 2029/30, to support children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This builds on the £740 million invested in 2025/26, which is on track to create around 10,000 new specialist places. Of this funding, Thurrock council has been allocated just under £2 million, and Essex has been allocated just under £21 million.

This funding is intended to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

It is ultimately up to local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their high needs capital funding to address local priorities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the levels of unmet demand for SEND places in (a) Thurrock and (b) Basildon.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), sits with local authorities. To support local authorities with this duty, in December, the department announced at least £3 billion for high needs capital between 2026/27 and 2029/30, to support children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This builds on the £740 million invested in 2025/26, which is on track to create around 10,000 new specialist places. Of this funding, Thurrock council has been allocated just under £2 million, and Essex has been allocated just under £21 million.

This funding is intended to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

It is ultimately up to local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their high needs capital funding to address local priorities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the relationship between enforcement activity and a) arrests, b) convictions and c) sentencing outcomes for immigration offences.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government has made a strategic shift in Border Security, focusing on long-term systemic improvements, smarter, intelligence-led interventions and stronger partnerships across agencies.

The Border Security Command (BSC), established in July 2024, provides cross system leadership—bringing together the National Crime Agency, police, intelligence agencies, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force—to prioritise intelligence led operations that disrupt organised immigration crime, illegal working and associated harms. In May we launched a new Organised Immigration Crime Domestic taskforce to transform the way in which police respond to the threat of organised immigration crime.

There is a clear relationship between enforcement activity and arrests. Published Home Office data shows that, from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025, Immigration Enforcement teams carried out over 11,000 illegal working visits (up 51% year on year) which resulted in more than 8,000 arrests (up 63%). Detentions following those visits rose by 75% and returns recorded after a visit rose by 11%. These figures demonstrate that sustained, intelligence led operational activity leads to more arrests and case progression.

Convictions and sentencing outcomes are a matter for the independent Crown Prosecution Service and the Courts.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish sector-specific data on illegal working enforcement outcomes, including gig-economy sectors.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office takes the issue of illegal working seriously and continues to take robust enforcement action against those who breach immigration laws.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to publish recordings made of trials heard without a jury; and what safeguards will govern the use of those recordings for (a) scrutiny and (b) appeals.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Transcription services are available for all Crown Court cases. We are exploring the potential use of AI to produce transcripts more quickly and cost effectively.

As recommended by Sir Brian Leveson in his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, the Government will introduce audio recording equipment in magistrates’ courts. This measure supports our changes to the appeals process in magistrates’ courts, to mirror the current process in the Crown Court, which will ensure that victims and witnesses are no longer required to go through the trauma of a full re-hearing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil penalties have been issued for illegal working in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

Information on illegal working civil penalty statistics has been published since 2016 as part of the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Transparency Data. This can be found at immigration-enforcement-data-jul-sep-2025 on tab CP02.

This publication covers the period up to 30 September 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 8th December 2025 to Question 95555, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of existing fines in deterring illegal working.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office continues to assess direct impacts of civil penalties for illegal working across all sectors of the labour market, through assessment of any changes in the composition and characteristics of those businesses receiving civil penalties, and their actions as a result.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data he holds on the reoffending rates of individuals convicted of offences relating to illegal entry into the UK.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Providing this would incur disproportionate costs.

More broadly the Government is tackling the root causes of reoffending by investing in a range of services which address offenders’ underlying criminogenic needs and support their rehabilitation journey. This includes education, employment, accommodation and access to substance misuse treatment.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to publish data on convictions and sentencing outcomes for immigration offences.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on prosecutions, convictions and sentencing at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool. This tool includes convictions and sentencing for immigration offences and can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of whether the discretion for courts to depart from sentencing guidelines in the interests of justice affects the (a) consistency and (b) effectiveness of sentencing outcomes.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

All sentencing courts in England and Wales must follow any sentencing guidelines which are relevant to the offender’s case, unless it is in the interests of justice not to do so (by virtue of section 59 of the Sentencing Code).

Whilst there is a high bar for departing from the guidelines, it is necessary, in the interests of justice, that courts retain the discretion to do so, where the individual case and circumstances warrant it. If a court departs from the guidelines, it must give reasons for doing so.

As mentioned in my previous response, the Sentencing Council has a statutory duty to monitor and evaluate all definitive guidelines to assess their impact on sentencing outcomes and ensure they operate as intended. Analysis conducted by the Council between 2010 and 2015 demonstrated that the vast majority of sentences imposed for offences for which there were offence-specific guidelines were within the sentence range set out in the guidelines. The findings are presented in the Council’s annual reports for 2010/11 through 2014/15 which are available on its website. As part of its ongoing monitoring of the use of guidelines, the Council conducts quantitative and qualitative research to determine how the guidelines are being used and the effect they are having on sentencing practice. These evaluations will highlight any issues if departures from guidelines are commonplace for a particular offence(s) or aspect of sentencing.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to Answer of 9th December 2025 to Question 96041, on Reoffenders: Sentencing, what assessment he has made of how frequently courts depart from sentencing guidelines on the basis that it is in the interest of justice to do so.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

All sentencing courts in England and Wales must follow any sentencing guidelines which are relevant to the offender’s case, unless it is in the interests of justice not to do so (by virtue of section 59 of the Sentencing Code).

Whilst there is a high bar for departing from the guidelines, it is necessary, in the interests of justice, that courts retain the discretion to do so, where the individual case and circumstances warrant it. If a court departs from the guidelines, it must give reasons for doing so.

As mentioned in my previous response, the Sentencing Council has a statutory duty to monitor and evaluate all definitive guidelines to assess their impact on sentencing outcomes and ensure they operate as intended. Analysis conducted by the Council between 2010 and 2015 demonstrated that the vast majority of sentences imposed for offences for which there were offence-specific guidelines were within the sentence range set out in the guidelines. The findings are presented in the Council’s annual reports for 2010/11 through 2014/15 which are available on its website. As part of its ongoing monitoring of the use of guidelines, the Council conducts quantitative and qualitative research to determine how the guidelines are being used and the effect they are having on sentencing practice. These evaluations will highlight any issues if departures from guidelines are commonplace for a particular offence(s) or aspect of sentencing.

Speed of deportation of foreign offenders

Reducing emigration of young, skilled British citizens

Incident in Switzerland

Bank holiday for celebrations if England win the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Seventy years of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award

Missing Evri deliveries

Business rates revaluation

Tackling antisemitism and hatred

Christmas (No. 2)

Acquittal of Shaun O’Sullivan, free speech and religious freedom

Changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief in the Autumn Budget 2025

Tackling Islamist extremism