Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of waiting times by test centre in England for learner drivers undertaking a (a) Theory test and (b) Practical driving test.

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

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) have a key performance indicator (KPI) requiring that theory test candidates will wait on average no more than 28 calendar days from booking to their appointment. Despite unprecedented levels of high demand for theory tests, this KPI is consistently met.

The average waiting time for a car practical driving test in October 2025 in England was 22.4 weeks.

The attached Excel spreadsheet shows the average waiting time in weeks at driving test centres (DTC) in England, as of October 2025. Please note that this spreadsheet also includes DTCs, such as part-time test centres, which do not count towards the official waiting time measure mentioned above. Also please note that DTCs included in the official measure can change, for example for temporary or permanent closures, or other operational reasons.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of Government procurement of (a) British and (b) non-British made vehicles in each of the last three years.

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

The Department has not made any estimates of these costs as internationally integrated supply chains make detailed comparative cost assessments highly complex.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) male and (b) female prison staff were found to have had (i) inappropriate personal and (ii) criminal relationships with prisoners in each year since 2015.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The overwhelming majority of prison staff are hardworking and honest; we are determined to root out any who are not.

Information in relation to numbers of investigations and conduct and discipline cases can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-probation-service-staff-equalities-report-2023-2024/hm-prison-and-probation-service-annual-staff-equalities-report-2023-to-2024#investigations-and-conduct--discipline-cases.

As investigations and conduct and discipline cases may involve multiple charges, and multiple outcomes in relation the different parts of the case, it would not be possible to obtain the information requested in relation to outcomes without incurring disproportionate cost.

His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) has been working on raising professional standards, with the aim of giving staff greater confidence to report evidence of wrongdoing, and this may have had an impact on case numbers.

HMPPS’s Counter-Corruption Unit detects, disrupts and deters activities of those suspected of wrongdoing. It provides support to prisons and the Probation Service, with specialist staff working with the police to support investigations.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many companies registered with Companies House were a). trading b). dormant and c). pending strike off action for each year from 2015 to date.

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

The following table shows the total size of the Register of Companies and the trading status of companies in the specified periods:

The following table shows the status of entities on the register at the start and end of the reporting period:

Figures in both tables are extracted from management information. They are unaudited and subject to change.

Due to timing differences, discrepancies can occur between the register status statistics and the trading status statistics. Consequently, the trading status statistics have been adjusted proportionally to align with the Official Statistics publication.

A review of the statistics regularly published is ongoing.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many enforcement test purchases have taken place for underage knife sales in England (a) in person at premises and (b) online in each year since 2015.

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

The Home Office does not hold data by year since 2015 of the number of test purchases online and at premises by trading standards undertaken for underage knife sales.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) fatal accidents, (b) serious accidents, (c) minor accidents and (d) near misses were recorded on smart motorways for each year from 2015 to date.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

National Highways reports annually on smart motorway safety performance. The latest report was published in September 2025 using DfT’s most up to date validated STATS19 casualty dataset and annex A contains a breakdown of casualties by severity from 2015.

The latest analysis continues to show that overall, smart motorways remain our safest roads in terms of deaths or serious injuries, but we have been clear that we will not build any new ones.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of bank closures on footfall in (a) town centres and (b) high streets.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Banking is changing, with many customers benefiting from the ease and convenience of remote banking. Whilst the Government does not make estimates regarding the impact of branch closures on town centre footfall, the Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to high streets and is committed to championing sufficient access for customers. That is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs on high streets across the UK by the end of this Parliament. More than 240 hubs have been announced so far, and over 190 are already open.

This Government is fully committed to rejuvenating our high streets and supporting the businesses and communities that make our town centres successful. Alongside the £5bn funding for Pride in Place, we have announced a suite of tools to support communities to improve their high streets, including: High Street Rental Auctions giving councils the power to auction the lease of long-term vacant premises; a Community Right to Buy for communities to take ownership of local buildings they value; and streamlining the compulsory purchase process to help local authorities regenerate high streets.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the point of contact is for the local inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Oldham for victims and survivors; (a) when and (b) how the terms of reference for that inquiry will be consulted on; and what (i) safeguarding and (ii) wellbeing support is in place to support those victims and survivors.

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

In June this year, Baroness Casey published her independent audit into group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, and the Government accepted every recommendation it made, including establishing a new national inquiry. The national inquiry, equipped with statutory powers under the Inquiries Act 2005, will direct targeted local investigations in specific areas.

The former Home Secretary previously committed in January to provide guidance and establish a £5 million fund which would have supported non-statutory local inquiries. Given that we have since committed to establish a national inquiry with statutory powers, undertaking local investigations, we have discontinued work related to the previously announced guidance and £5 million fund.

In relation to Oldham specifically, the former Home Secretary made a commitment to support Oldham Council in undertaking their own local inquiry. The Department has been in discussions with Oldham Council about the right approach for Oldham, in light of the Government’s commitment to a new national inquiry. We intend to confirm the proposed approach for Oldham alongside further details about the national inquiry in due course.

With regards to safeguarding and wellbeing support, we are committed to ensuring specialist support is provided to victims and survivors. We are currently engaging with victims and survivors participating in the consultation group supporting the establishment of the national inquiry, coordinated by the National Working Group (NWG) charity. This includes ensuring they are able to access support, including therapeutic support (via the NWG).

We are also providing £2.59 million in 2025-26 for the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Fund, providing a range of support services with national reach.

The national inquiry, once established, will develop its own plans for engaging and supporting victims and survivors.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the (a) cost and (b) number of HMRC staff undertaking inquiries into online marketplace sellers.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The department is unable to provide an exact breakdown in the cost or number of staff involved in this work. This is because HMRC takes a risk-based approach to compliance, and so tax enquiries into online marketplace sellers can fall into a number of different compliance areas. Staff involved will work across a variety of business types and in most cases will not be solely working on this one trade sector.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many online marketplace sellers have been required to pay a tax liability following a HMRC tax inquiry, and what was the average amount owed.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC does not segment it's data by trade sector, so is not able to accurately identify the number of businesses in any one sector which have been subject to a HMRC Tax Enquiry.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of devolution in England on post 16 education.

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

As set out in the English Devolution White Paper, Strategic Authorities have a key role in ensuring there are clear pathways of progression from education into further and higher education and local employment opportunities. The government values the insight and local accountability of Strategic Authorities and is proceeding with the devolution of adult education functions to tailor training opportunities and drive growth.

Strategic Authorities help shape the training offer in their region through joint ownership of Local Skills Improvement Plans and can work with their constituent councils to plan provision locally.

Education for 16 to 19-year-olds is distinct and forms part of the compulsory education and training system. It offers young people high quality options that enable their transition into apprenticeships, employment, or further learning, such as higher education or higher technical programs. These options support the development of a skilled workforce and break down the barriers to opportunity.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled due to staff shortages in each year since 2015; and whether she has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of those cancellations.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department does not hold a complete historical dataset of cancellations specifically attributed to staff shortages dating back to 2015. However, Network Rail collects management information on the percentage of trains cancelled due to traincrew issues. Network Rail has granted permission for this data to be shared, and these figures are presented in Table 1 alongside the annual cancellations score for context.

The ‘Annual cancellation score’ represents the average cancellation score for each year covering all causes of cancellations. The ‘Cancellations resulting from Traincrew issues’ represents the average cancellations specifically attributable to traincrew-related issues.

Table 1: Annual Average of Train Cancellations and Cancellations as a result of Traincrew Issues in Great Britain (2014/15 to 2024/25)

Source: Network Rail and ORR Table 3124 Trains planned and cancellations by operator and cause (periodic)

Notes:

1. Comparable data for annual cancellations is only available from 2019/20.
2. Figures exclude trains removed from the timetable due to industrial action.
3. Figures are Moving Annual Average (MAA) which reflect the proportion of trains cancelled in the past 12 months.
   

The Department has not made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of cancellations due to traincrew shortages. The Department has been working closely with the industry to increase the number of train drivers. Network Rail report that the proportion of trains cancelled because of traincrew issues has fallen from 1.19% in the year to January 2025 to 0.85% in the year to September (rail period 8). Network Rail report this is the lowest proportion of trains cancelled due to traincrew issues (MAA) in nearly 4 years.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) mopeds, (b) motorbikes, including scramblers, (c) electric scooters, (d) electric bikes and (e) quad bikes; were seized and disposed of by (i) crushing or breaking and (ii) selling for reuse by police forces in England in the most recent year the data is available.

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

The Home Office does not hold data on the number of mopeds, motorbikes, electric scooters, electric bikes, or quad bikes that have been seized or disposed of by police in England and Wales.

Decisions on the seizure and disposal of mopeds, motorbikes, electric scooters, electric bikes, or quad bikes are for police, who have the expertise and knowledge to make operational decisions.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) car boot sale days that were licensed by local authorities and (b) trading standards compliance visits for counterfeit goods that took place for each of the last three years.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The requested information on the number of car boot sale days that were licenced by local authorities and the number of trading standards compliance visits for counterfeit goods is not held centrally.

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 proposals to introduce an automatic approval assumption for developments near train stations on (a) levels and (b) locations of houses in multiple occupation where Article 4 directives are in place; and whether he plans to include light rail tram stations alongside or in the definition of train stations.

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

The proposals in question do not involve granting automatic permission to suitable planning applications.

They will cover development within a reasonable walking distance of well-connected tram stations, including light rail tram stations.

The proposals will not affect existing permitted development rights or Article 4 directions.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Question 86689, what information his Department holds on the number of court cases that (a) did not progress and (b) were delayed due to the non-attendance of professional witnesses in 1). England and 2). Greater Manchester in the last 12 months.

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

An ineffective trial is a trial that does not go ahead on the scheduled trial date, and so a further listing is required. This can be due to action or inaction by one or more of the prosecution, the defence or the court. If a trial is deemed ineffective due to the witness being absent, this would indicate that the trial has been delayed.

The Ministry of Justice publishes ineffective trials statistics by reason including trials that are rescheduled due to “prosecution witness absent – professional/expert” here: Criminal court statistics quarterly: April to June 2025 - GOV.UK. These statistics can be filtered by Local Criminal Justice Board to isolate figures for Greater Manchester. We do not have access to data on ineffective trials due to the absence of a defence professional witness.

The Ministry of Justice cannot provide data on cases that “did not progress” due to the non-attendance of professional witnesses. This information would only be held in the individual court records for cases that are discontinued, and examination of these records would be of disproportionate cost.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many criminal cases were not prosecuted because the offender had diplomatic immunity broken down by nationality from 2015.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS1075) made on 19 November 2025 which sets out the serious and significant offences allegedly committed by those with immunity in the UK. We do not share details of individual cases.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicle registration numbers are held on expired retention certificates; and what the estimated value of those registration numbers is.

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

While the information requested about expired retention certificates may be available, it would need to be extracted from different databases and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what is the total number and value of artwork owned by the UK government is in the national collection which is (a) on public display (b) in storage (c) loaned to organisations, institutions or individuals in the UK (d) loaned to organisations, institutions or individuals outside the UK.

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

Please note that not all artworks owned by the UK government are in the Government Art Collection. 15,118 artworks are in the Government Art Collection (GAC). 8,250 of these are on display in public exhibitions and across the Government’s global estate. These works are seen by hundreds of thousands visitors each year, promoting British art and contributing to cultural diplomacy in over 125 countries. 6,868 are not currently on display; of these some will be awaiting conservation and many will be reserved for a display or exhibition loan. 156 artworks are currently on loan to public exhibitions in the UK and 23 are on loan to public exhibitions outside of the UK.

Under the new government the Government Art Collection has radically expanded its public engagement programme, sharing more of the artworks with communities through partnerships and by participating in local, national and international events. In 2025 the Collection was shown in Bradford for I AM ME, an exhibition curated by 125 young people seen by 22,000 visitors. In 2026 over sixty works will be shown at The Box in Plymouth, selected and co-curated by a group of young people. Since July 2024, 62% more artworks have been loaned from the GAC to public exhibitions.

An estimated value of the Collection cannot be provided. Like other national collections, the GAC is not normally commercially insured nor treated as a financial asset. Against a background of constant fluctuations in the art markets, current valuations of every work of art in the Collection cannot be maintained. By governing legislation the national collections held by DCMS-sponsored museums are held in trust for the nation by trustees, not owned by the Government.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2025 to Question 87814, what proportion of mileage claims are made using a). HMRC Approved Mileage Allowance Payment rates and b). employers own assessment by 1). employees and 2). the self-employed.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The research report can be found here: Research with employers on Benefits in Kind and expenses - GOV.UK

Self-employed people are able to choose whether to use the simplified mileage rates or claim actual expenses and capital allowances for a vehicle. HMRC published research carried out in 2023 which showed that 29% of self-employed people who use vehicles in their business use the simplified mileage rates.

The research report was published on 28 May 2025 and can be found here: HMRC Mileage Rates Research - GOV.UK

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults (b) children are not registered with a dentist in (1) Greater Manchester (2) Oldham.

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

Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend. Some dental practices may operate local waiting list arrangements. Therefore, data is not available on the number of adults and children not registered with a dentist in Greater Manchester and Oldham.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton constituency, this is the Greater Manchester ICB.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps are being taken to expand the number of digitalised MOD history records held by government and third party organisations to support the study and research into military family history.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence has a comprehensive programme to transfer its historical physical Service personnel records to The National Archives. The decision to digitise these records rests with The National Archives.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the value for money of management and service charges paid by academy and free schools to related parties in England.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Academy trusts are permitted to use a proportion of their funding to pay for central services for their schools. This can be more efficient and cheaper than individual academies running or procuring the functions themselves. Where trusts top slice for central services, they must be transparent by disclosing in their annual accounts the services they deliver centrally and the trust’s charging policy.

The ’Academy trust handbook’ sets out the requirements related party transactions (RPTs). The handbook requires that trusts must:

• Report all contracts and other agreements with related parties to the department in advance.
• Obtain approval for RPTs where the contract or agreement exceeds £40,000.
• Pay no more than ‘cost’ for goods or services provided by related parties.
• Agreements to supply goods and services are procured through an open and fair process.

The handbook is available in full at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-handbook.

The department has also published a guide on managing conflicts of interests and RPTs to support trusts, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/related-party-transactions-information-for-academy-trusts/managing-conflicts-of-interests-related-party-relationships-and-related-party-transactions-good-practice-guide.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with TV and film production companies who receive public funding or tax incentives on the inclusion of English regional dialects in their programmes.

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

[I] do not engage with TV and film production companies regarding editorial decisions relating to programming content due their independence from Government.

However, we want British storytelling to reflect the full diversity of people, communities and experiences across the UK so that more people can see themselves reflected on screen and as part of our national story. We are committed to working with the sector to ensure the right framework, conditions and support are in place for this to happen.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of (a) trends in the level of the build-up of traffic congestion and (b) the effectiveness of traffic light sequencing on the A663 Broadway in Chadderton, Oldham.

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

The Department has made no assessment of traffic congestion or the sequencing of traffic lights on this road. Traffic management is the responsibility of the relevant highway authority who are best placed to understand traffic flows and signal sequencing.

Traffic authorities are subject to the statutory network management duty which requires them to manage their roads to secure the ‘expeditious movement’ of all traffic, with a view to reducing congestion, and they have a wide range of tools already available to them to enable this.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of detrunking the A663 Broadway in Chadderton, Oldham.

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

During the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) covering the period 2020-25, National Highways undertook a comprehensive review of the extent of the Strategic Road Network (SRN). The A663 Broadway in Chadderton was not identified for assessment and therefore was not included in that review. As part of the forthcoming third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) for 2026-31, National Highways will revisit the scope of the SRN, and this corridor may therefore be considered for inclusion in a future assessment.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many employer provided payment cards were held by government employees in each year since 2015; and what the average credit limit is of those cards.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This information is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office. However, in April this year, departments and their agencies were instructed to freeze all procurement cards, with a tough new application process to cut the numbers in circulation by at least 50%. Figures announced on 23rd November 2025 show that these measures have successfully reduced expenditure, saving approximately £6 million per month in the initial months.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many government (a) mobile phones (b) laptops (c) tablets were reported lost or stolen for each year from 2015 to date.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This answer only provides information for the Cabinet Office, Government Digital Service (GDS) and the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) IT Provision. This answer is not inclusive of Number 10.

It also only extends back to 3rd July 2018 as records before this date are not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.

The table also lists reported equipment. Some of this equipment may have been recovered after having been reported. Also please note that GDS & CDDO moved to DSIT earlier this year and as such, their contribution to the metrics will have reduced.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government spent on office furniture in each year since 2015.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Spend by the Government on office furniture is a matter for each individual government department and is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times gambling websites were visited by government system users in each year since 2015.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This information is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.

All users are bound by an ICT Acceptable Usage Policy which states that users must not undertake any form of gambling on Cabinet Office IT. Any breach is managed through the Cabinet Office’s disciplinary process.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of total length and number of ancient and historic rights of way not yet added to the national database; and what progress is expected to be made on recording them.

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

The Government intends to repeal the 2031 cut-off date for recording historic rights of way. The legislative change to repeal the cut-off date will be enacted when parliamentary time allows. This will ensure that historic routes are not extinguished simply because an authority has not processed them in time and will give councils greater flexibility to deal with applications. It will also help prevent unrecorded public rights of way from being lost as a result of delays or backlogs.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people were prosecuted for fly tipping waste in England for each year from 2015 to date.

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

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping enforcement action, such as prosecutions, to Defra, which the department have published annually since 2012, Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average value of fines issued for fly tipping offences in England was for each year from 2015 to date.

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

For 2023/24, the average value of fly-tipping fixed penalty notices was £520, based on information provided by 139 councils. This is the first year such information was collected.

The average court fine was £530 in 2023/24. Data on court fines in previous years are available here.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) hate crime and (b) non hate crime arrests have taken place for social media posts, messages and interactions in England in each year since 2015.

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

The Home Office does not hold arrest data specific to social media posts, messages and interactions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding is provided to community based organisations in (a) Greater Manchester (b) Oldham to support men's mental health and wellbeing.

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

Mental health remains a core priority for England, including in Greater Manchester and Oldham. That's why nationally, we're investing £688 million to transform services, including £26 million to support people in mental health crisis. We are introducing Neighbourhood Mental Health Care for adults, which will bring together community, crisis, and inpatient mental health care into a single, seamless offer.

On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community, and family networks, and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention.

Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience. We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk of taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.

Responsibility for onward commissioning of mental health services sits with integrated care boards (ICB). It is the role of local ICB decision-makers to consider the implications of mental health services, specific to each geography and including the perspectives of healthcare professionals, patient advocacy groups, and local authorities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) fines, (b) community punishments, (c) cautions and (d) custodial sentences have been administered for the illegal possession of nitrous oxide in England since November 2023.

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

The Home Office collects information on the number of notifiable offences, and their investigative outcomes, recorded by the police in England and Wales. This includes possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation and possession of nitrous oxide with intent to supply.

Information on the number of the Cautions, Community resolutions and Penalty Notices for Disorder for these offences issued between 1^st November 2023 and 30^th June 2025 are shown in the table below.

Source: Home Office Data Hub, Police Recorded Crime and Outcomes

The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on court sentencing outcomes including for the illegal possession of nitrous oxide in England and Wales. The latest published statistics for the period between 1^st December 2023 and the 30^th June 2025 are presented in the table below.

Source: Outcomes by Offences data tool, which can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to strengthen or update legal rights of the deceased.

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

The Government is currently reviewing the law in two respects which will strengthen and update the rights of deceased persons (and assist their families and beneficiaries).

The first is in relation to responding to the Law Commission’s comprehensive report Modernising Wills Law, published earlier this year. The Government is giving careful consideration to the report and will be announcing next steps in the near future.

Secondly, the Law Commission is currently undertaking a wide-ranging project on the law of burials, cremations and new funerary methods. The final strand of this project, Rights and Obligations relating to Funerary Methods, Funerals and Remains, will commence in early 2026 and is expected to consider whether funeral wishes should be binding, who should have the right to make decisions about the funeral, and how to resolve disputes. The Government will respond to the Law Commission’s recommendations once they are available.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate has been made of the average time to clear fly tipping by local authorities in England from 2015 to date.

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

Local authorities are not required to provide data to Defra on the average time to clear fly-tipping, therefore no estimate has been made.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support new farming entrants in England.

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

Our young farmers are vital to the future of UK farming, and we work closely with the National Federation of Young Farmers to consider how best to support them.

To secure that future for young farmers, we are investing £2.7 billion annually and developing a 25-year roadmap to boost profitability.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of personal allowance threshold freezes on people in each income decile for each year from 2015 to date.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The previous government made the decision to freeze the income tax Personal Allowance at its current level of £12,570 until April 2028.

The previous government published a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) setting out the impacts.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents of inoperable active lane signage were recorded on smart motorways in each year since 2015.

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

It is vital that roadside technology is working as intended to best support driver safety and confidence. Smart motorways have a system of inter-related features that work together to keep drivers moving safely and reduce reliance on one single feature.

The Office of Rail and Road has reported on the availability of roadside technology assets on all lane running smart motorways in its three annual assessments of safety performance on the SRN. Between April 2022 and December 2024, monthly availability for signs has ranged from 88.4% to 92.4%, and from 92.3% to 97.4% for signals.

National Highways is continuing to invest in upgrading roadside technology to further improve performance and availability.

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 value of unclaimed benefits by each benefit in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

On 30 October 2025 the Department published Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2024, covering Pension Credit and Housing Benefit for pensioners in Great Britain. As these estimates are based on survey data, they are not available for lower-level geographies.

On the same day the Department also published Households potentially eligible for Pension Credit, 2023 to 2024, a sub-national analysis of eligible households in receipt of Pension Credit and potentially eligible households not claiming Pension Credit.

Estimates are not currently available for other DWP benefits, however on 15 May 2025 the Department published Unfulfilled eligibility in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates, providing estimates of how much extra money benefit claimants in Great Britain could be getting if they told us accurately about their circumstances. It does not cover take-up of benefits, which is where people could have claimed certain benefits based on their current circumstances but have not done so. As these estimates are based on sample data, they are not available for lower-level geographies.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the local democracy reporting service on providing (a) public service accountability and (b) fact based local reporting.

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

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) supports the vital role of local news, helping communities and local businesses to scrutinise decisions that impact them and holding public services to account through fact-based local reporting. The Government welcomed the recent retendering of LDRS contracts and the extension of the scheme until the end of the current BBC Charter period (December 2027).

Separately, we are developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. As part of this work, we are exploring the role of the BBC in the local news market, including the contribution made by the LDRS, as we move towards the next Charter Review. We are working across Government and with other stakeholders as the Strategy develops. An industry working group was set up in June to consider the issues in more detail and has been meeting regularly since then, including with BBC representatives to discuss the LDRS. More will be announced on the Strategy in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the number of licensed private hire drivers with criminal convictions for (a) sexual and (b) violence against the person in offences in England.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

All licensing authorities in England have a duty to ensure that any person to whom they grant a taxi or private hire vehicle driver’s licence is a fit and proper person to be a licensee and that they remain so throughout the duration of the licence. As part of this assessment all licensing authorities have reported that they undertake an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check and check both the children’s and adults’ barred lists.

Licensing authorities make decisions based on “the balance of probability”, so when determining whether a driver remains fit and proper to hold a licence, a driver should not be given the benefit of the doubt. If a licensing authority is only fifty percent certain as to whether a licensee is fit and proper, they should not hold a licence. The threshold used here is lower than for a criminal conviction (that being beyond reasonable doubt). This means that driver licences may be revoked even if any safety concerns do not result in a criminal conviction.

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 merits of the mandatory displaying of food hygiene ratings on (a) shop fronts and (b) online food ordering platforms.

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

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Evidence from Wales and Northern Ireland demonstrates that mandatory display has improved transparency, which encourages businesses to achieve better levels of compliance with hygiene requirements.

Introducing a statutory scheme in England, with a mandatory display of ratings at premises and online, would require primary legislation and the securing of a suitable legislative vehicle and parliamentary time. Ministers will consider the options in due course, supported by the FSA.

In the meantime, the FSA is working with its local authority partners to maintain and improve the impact and benefits of this highly successful public health scheme.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost of policing public protests in England in each year between 2015 and 2025.

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

The Home Office does not routinely collect information on these areas of police costs.

However, we are exploring ways for the police to improve cost recovery for managing private events, including football matches, and are working with stakeholders to understand the costs involved.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Ministerial Code.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Prime Minister has made clear public service is a privilege and is committed to restoring trust in government by ensuring ministers are held to the highest standards.

Last year the Prime Minister published a new, strengthened, Ministerial Code which sets out the standards expected of all government ministers. It includes a full articulation of the Seven Principles of Public Life, bringing the importance of public service to the front and fore of the Code.

This commitment was further demonstrated in October when the Prime Minister updated the Ministerial Code. This update implemented reforms in relation to ministerial severance payments and changes to the operation of the Business Appointment Rules.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the non-recoverable cost of policing football matches in England in each year between 2015 and 2025.

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

The Home Office does not routinely collect information on these areas of police costs.

However, we are exploring ways for the police to improve cost recovery for managing private events, including football matches, and are working with stakeholders to understand the costs involved.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of police force public procurement in buying British made vehicles.

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

The Home Office does not prescribe requirements on police forces in relation to buying British vehicles.

It is a matter for each Force to assess and procure products and services that are proportionate to local needs to ensure effective policing for their area, and within their existing budget.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to introduce a fit and proper persons test for social media platform ownership.

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

The Online Safety Act enables senior management to be held to account. Action can be taken against senior managers who deliberately fail to ensure companies follow information requests from Ofcom. Ofcom will also be able to hold companies and senior managers (where they are at fault) liable if the provider fails to comply with Ofcom's enforcement notices in relation to specific child safety duties.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of “historic vehicle” status on preserving Britain's motoring heritage.

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

Classic and historic vehicles are a testament to British innovation and the Government is committed to supporting this sector. Following a call for evidence, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) worked closely with historic vehicle stakeholders and in August 2025 new policies were introduced to support vehicles that have been repaired, restored and modified. The new guidance supports historic vehicle keepers and the wider industry with clearer registration processes that reflect modern restoration and modification practices.

The feedback from the historic and classic vehicle sector is that the new policies reflect a pragmatic approach and address the major issues raised. The new policy has alleviated many of the difficulties associated with the previous policies.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicles (a) are taxed, (b) have Statutory Off Road Notifications, (c) are untaxed and (d) are undeclared as having Statutory Off Road Notifications by nation and region.

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

The information requested is shown in the table below. Please note the table includes vehicles for which there is a current registered keeper on record and where a postcode match was found:

The most recent information available shows that 98.7 per cent of vehicles across the UK were properly licensed. More detail can be found at the following link: gov.uk/government/statistics/vehicle-excise-duty-evasion-statistics-2023

Information is not available about vehicles which are being kept off the road but for which no SORN is in place.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of hospital parking charges on (a) staff and (b) visitors to hospitals; and what information he holds on the total cost of such charges in the last 12 months.

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

No assessment has been made of the potential impact of hospital parking charges. Hospitals in England are permitted to charge users for car parking, but those charges must be reasonable and in line with local charges. The revenue from hospital car parking is used to maintain car park facilities and any surplus income is put back into the National Health Service. The following table shows the income from car parking from patients and visitors as well as staff in 2023/24 and 2022/23:

Data on the income from car parking charges is published annually through the NHS Estates Return Information Collection, which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection/summary-page-and-dataset-for-eric-2024-25

In 2025/26, the Department is backing the NHS with over £4 billion in operational capital, enabling local NHS organisations to allocate funding to local priorities, which could include hospital car parking.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department plans to provide to help support hospitals to provide adequate levels of car parking for visitors in the next 12 months.

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

No assessment has been made of the potential impact of hospital parking charges. Hospitals in England are permitted to charge users for car parking, but those charges must be reasonable and in line with local charges. The revenue from hospital car parking is used to maintain car park facilities and any surplus income is put back into the National Health Service. The following table shows the income from car parking from patients and visitors as well as staff in 2023/24 and 2022/23:

Data on the income from car parking charges is published annually through the NHS Estates Return Information Collection, which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection/summary-page-and-dataset-for-eric-2024-25

In 2025/26, the Department is backing the NHS with over £4 billion in operational capital, enabling local NHS organisations to allocate funding to local priorities, which could include hospital car parking.

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 value of car parking income generated by NHS trusts in England; and how much was spent maintaining and operating car parks in those trusts in each year since 2015.

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

No estimate has been made of the car parking income generated by National Health Service trusts in England. The following table shows the income generated for car parking and car parking services costs for England from 2017/18 to 2023/24:

Source: the Estates Returns Information Collection, available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of Ofcom's enforcement of news channel impartiality.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Ofcom, by law, carries out its duties independently of the Government. Ofcom is required by legislation to enforce a Broadcasting Code for television and radio, to ensure that news, in whatever form, is reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality. The Government believes broadcasters should uphold the highest standards and ensure polemic is not presented as fact.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what is the total consumer debt outstanding for each water company in England and Wales for each year from 2015 to date.

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

Ofwat is the economic regulator for the water sector in England and Wales.

In January 2025, Ofwat published a report analysing consumer debt that outlines key statistics on debt for household customers in England and Wales (please see page 49 for a summary of each water company). This information was not collected before 2023.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the nutritional value of food and drinks available to school breakfast clubs in England.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department supports the provision of nutritious food in schools to enable pupils to be well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and to concentrate and learn in school.

The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014 regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day, including at free breakfast clubs, and are available here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made.

Compliance with the school food standards is mandatory for maintained schools, academies and free schools. Alongside the school food standards practical guide, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools/school-food-standards-practical-guide. Our free breakfast clubs guidance includes examples of healthy breakfast offers to help support schools to provide a healthy, balanced breakfast offer to pupils. This guidance has been produced in collaboration with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to expand support for armed forces cadet units in England.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 September 2025 to Question 76173 to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Al Pinkerton).

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department expects bus usage in (a) England (b) Greater Manchester to return to pre-covid levels.

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

The Government is committed to helping local leaders improve local bus services and grow usage across England, including in Greater Manchester, whilst recognising that travel patterns have changed since the COVID pandemic. We are taking action to give local leaders the powers they need to deliver better bus services for passengers, including through the Bus Services Act 2025, and empowering them to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, strengthened Enhanced Partnerships or local authority bus companies.

We are also investing over £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services in England outside London, of which £66.4 million has been allocated to Greater Manchester Combined Authority. This funding can be used to introduce measures to help increase bus usage, for example expanding services and improving reliability.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of import duties on goods entering the UK from the EU on inflation.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Latest data from the Department for Business and Trade shows that 94.9% of goods entering Great Britain from the EU did so tariff-free in 2023, broadly unchanged from 94.7% in 2022. This data is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/preference-utilisation-of-uk-trade-in-goods-2023/preference-utilisation-of-uk-goods-in-2023.

The Government wants to find ways to make it easier for businesses to trade with our partners and so is seeking views on potential UK accession to the Pan-Euro Mediterranean Convention on Rules of Origin through a call for evidence led by the Department for Business and Trade. You can find this information here: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/pan-euro-mediterranean-convention-on-rules-of-origin-pem

Forecasting the economy, including the impact of Government policy decisions, is the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which published its latest forecast on 26 March 2025. HM Treasury does not produce forecasts for the UK economy and has not made an assessment of the impact of import duties on inflation.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of rising energy costs on the viability of grassroots sporting clubs in England.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to supporting grassroots sport and ensuring everyone has access to high quality facilities.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport in England through its Arm’s Length Body Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery Funding. They offer support to clubs impacted by increased energy costs.

Sport England’s Movement Fund allocates 10% of the funding to clubs implementing measures to improve environmental sustainability and reduce energy costs. They also provide detailed guidance to sporting clubs on managing energy costs and making their facilities energy efficient.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of consumer protections relating to private parking companies.

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

The Government is aware of motorist concerns regarding poor practice from some private parking operators and is determined to raise standards.

In accordance with the Private Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, the government is preparing a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities.

The government has recently consulted on its proposals for a new code of practice for private parking operators to follow. The consultation closed on 26 September, and the government will respond in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints of mis-selling of prepayment funeral plans have been made for each year from 2015 to date.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The regulation of pre-paid funeral plans is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Pre-paid funeral plans came under FCA regulation in July 2022, and so the FCA will not hold complaint data from before that date. The FCA will respond to the Honourable Member by letter with further detail, and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House of Commons.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicles have been seized by the DVLA for not having valid vehicle excise duty in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham by vehicle class in each year since 2015.

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

The information requested is not available in the detail or format requested. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) officials will write to the honourable member with the relevant information that is available when it has been extracted and assured.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many gas safety certificates were verified by her Department's contractors for dispersed accommodation in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham in each year since 2015.

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

The Home Office does not hold the information requested. The Home Office expects the highest standards from accommodation providers. A detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by accommodation providers and the standards we expect can be found in the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC) Statement of Requirements: AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdf

All Accommodation must comply with the relevant standards for Accommodation defined in Annex B, and the rules relating to sharing and relocations defined in Annex C of this Schedule 2.

The AASC contracts include robust mechanisms for incentivising the provider to deliver on the contractual requirements set out therein. The Home Office also employs a dedicated contract assurance team whose conduct property inspections and assurance reviews.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many council tax accounts her Department's contractors maintained for dispersed accommodation in (a) England (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham in each year since 2015.

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

The Home Office does not hold the information requested. The Home Office expects the highest standards from accommodation providers. A detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by accommodation providers and the standards we expect can be found in the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC) Statement of Requirements: AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdf

All Accommodation must comply with the relevant standards for Accommodation defined in Annex B, and the rules relating to sharing and relocations defined in Annex C of this Schedule 2.

The AASC contracts include robust mechanisms for incentivising the provider to deliver on the contractual requirements set out therein. The Home Office also employs a dedicated contract assurance team whose conduct property inspections and assurance reviews.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department's contractors have spent on repairs for dispersed accommodation in (a) England (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham in each year since 2015.

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

The Home Office does not hold the information requested. The Home Office expects the highest standards from accommodation providers. A detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by accommodation providers and the standards we expect can be found in the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC) Statement of Requirements: AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdf

All Accommodation must comply with the relevant standards for Accommodation defined in Annex B, and the rules relating to sharing and relocations defined in Annex C of this Schedule 2.

The AASC contracts include robust mechanisms for incentivising the provider to deliver on the contractual requirements set out therein. The Home Office also employs a dedicated contract assurance team whose conduct property inspections and assurance reviews.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal working enforcement visits have been undertaken in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham in each year since 2015.

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

To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.

Our published data on illegal working visits is available as follows: Statistics relating to Illegal Migration - GOV.UK (January 2019 – March 2024) and Illegal working and enforcement activity to the end of September 2025 - GOV.UK (October 2023 – September 2025).

Data prior to 2019 is not available.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government has spent on advertisements and subscriptions with (a) X, (b) Meta, (c) Tiktok and (d) Alphabet Inc. Google in each year since 2015.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The government uses paid advertising to communicate important government announcements and campaigns that affect the public. Please refer to the table below for Government spend on advertisements and subscriptions (please note - figures from 2015-2018 are not available):

*Please note the figures for 2018 are partial year spend due to contract changes.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many fly-tipping incidents were reported and how many prosecutions were secured for each year from 2015 to date.

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

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement action, such as prosecutions, to Defra, which the department have published annually since 2012, at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. This data isn't available at a constituency level and excludes the majority of private-land incidents.  Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected.

Due to methodological changes, incident data for 2018/19 onwards is not comparable to earlier years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate has been made of the proportion of GP practices with (a) AED defibrillators (b) ECGs (electrocardiogram) on the premises.

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

Data on the provision of this equipment is held by local integrated care boards.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of household income is spent on (a) Council tax, (b) Income tax, (c) National Insurance and (d) VAT by income decile.

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 17th November is attached.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate has been made of the average age of (a) passenger carrier vehicle buses and coaches, (b) private hire taxis and (c) Hackney carriages in England for each year from 2015 to date.

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

The Department does not hold data on the average age of buses or coaches.

However, the Department publishes data on the proportion of local buses by year of manufacture in the Annual Bus Statistics. Figures for the latest year are available in Table BUS06f, and data for previous years can be found in earlier publications: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus-statistics-data-tables#vehicles-operated-by-local-bus-operators-bus06. Prior to 2022 average age of the bus fleet was collected instead of year of manufacture.

The Department also publishes data on the average age of taxis and private hire vehicles in the Taxi and Private Hire Statistics. Figures for the latest year are available in Table TAXI0116, and data for previous years can be found in earlier publications: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/taxi01-taxis-private-hire-vehilces-and-their-drivers. The Department does not hold these data for years prior to 2020.

The Department does not hold data on the average age of Hackney carriages.

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 adequacy of tree planting and the provision of public open space for completed residential developments in England since 2015.

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

My Department has made no such assessment. The implementation of national planning policy is a matter for local planning authorities.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out clear policy regarding tree planting and the provision of public open space as part of new development. It outlines that planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the need for open space, sport and recreation facilities and opportunities for new provision, which plans should then seek to accommodate.

In relation to tree planting, the Framework outlines that planning policies and decisions should ensure that new streets are tree-lined (unless, in specific cases, there are clear, justifiable and compelling reasons why this would be inappropriate), that opportunities are taken to incorporate trees elsewhere in developments (such as parks and community orchards), and that existing trees are retained wherever possible.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimare has been made of the average frequency of gully cleaning by highway authorities in England from 2015 to date.

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

Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances.

Although the Government does not monitor the frequency of gully cleaning by highway authorities in England, it does encourage authorities to maintain their drainage assets through guidance and as part of an annual winter survey of authorities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which contracts valued over £25,000 for dispersed accommodation providers have been contracted by Serco in Greater Manchester.

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

The Home Office holds seven Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts across the UK. The Home Office has contracted Serco Ltd as the AASC Provider for the North West region, including Greater Manchester. Responsibility for the provision of all dispersal accommodation in Greater Manchester therefore lies Serco Ltd. This includes the management of all subcontractors.

The Home Office does not hold contracts with other suppliers for the direct provision of dispersal accommodation and support services in Greater Manchester.

Further information on the Home Office’s contract with Serco Ltd is available here: AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NW - Contracts Finder

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many Houses of Multiple Occupation there were in England in each year since 2010.

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

Estimates of the number of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in England in each year since 2000-01 can be found in my Department’s Local Authority Housing Statistics open data, which can be found on gov.uk here.

The latest figures for 2023-24 show an estimated 472,823 HMOs in England.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the effect of local authority fees and charges for pest control services on the reporting of infestations by members of the public since 2015.

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

Defra has not made an assessment of local authority fees and charges for pest control services on the reporting of infestations by members of the public since 2015.

Where rats and mice are concerned, under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949, local authorities have a duty to deal with infestations regardless of any local fees and charges imposed. The Act makes local authorities responsible for ensuring that their districts are kept so far as practicable free from rats and mice.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many commercial food delivery cyclists does the government estimate currently operate in the UK; and how many are assessed to have valid public liability insurance in place.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The department does not collect any information relating to either the number of food delivery cyclists or how many of them might have liability insurance.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many work visa compliance visits were carried out for illegal working in the fast food delivery economy in the most recent year for which data is available; and how many breaches were found for (a) Ubereats, (b) Justeat, (c) Deliveroo, (d) Foodhub, (e) McDonalds/McDelivery and (f) others.

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

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

However, the latest published data that we do have on illegal working and recent enforcement activity focusing on delivery drivers can be found at the links below: Illegal working and enforcement activity to the end of September 2025 - GOV.UK

Hundreds arrested in illegal delivery rider shut down   - GOV.UK

Illegal working activity between 20 July and 26 July 2025 - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing the move-on period for newly recognised refugees from 56 days to 28 days on (a) rates of refugee homelessness and (b) local authority budgets and services.

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

From 1 September 2025, the Home Office took the decision to pause the 56 day move on period pilot for single adults in receipt of a positive asylum decision, with the exception of individuals who are pregnant, over the age of 65 or have a known/evidence disability, as defined by the 2010 Equality Act.

This decision was taken to ensure that the asylum system continues to run efficiently, enabling the Home Office to continue reducing the overall number of asylum hotels in use, and the number of people staying in them.

We continue to work with local authorities and use our Asylum Move On Liaison Officers alongside Migrant Help to support newly recognised refugees during the move on period and to mitigate the risk of homelessness.

The Home Office will continue to monitor the impact of all our policies on the number of hotels in use for accommodating asylum seekers, the overall cost of the asylum accommodation estate, the wider effect on local communities, and any pressures placed on local authorities and public amenities.

Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, whether he plans to introduce measures to prevent Members of Parliament receiving income for posted content from social media platforms.

Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

The Government is committed to restoring a politics of service, consistent with the high standards expected of public officeholders. That is why, within a month of the election, the Government brought forward proposals to tighten the rules around MPs’ outside interests, and deliver on our manifesto commitment to ban paid advocacy. We welcome the ongoing work by the Committee on Standards to review the rules relating to MPs’ outside interests, and look forward to receiving its findings.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of effectiveness of the tax incentives available to increase the formation of Employee Ownership Trusts.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

An evaluation of the Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) tax regime commissioned by HMRC and published in May 2025 found that the tax reliefs encourage company owners to transition their companies to employee ownership under the EOT model. This evaluation can be found at GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/qualitative-evaluation-of-employee-ownership-trusts

However, the cost of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) relief has increased significantly in recent years. The original costing from 2013 suggested the entire EOT tax regime would cost less than £100m in 2018-19. The cost of the CGT relief alone reached £600m in 2021-22 and forecasts suggest it could rise to more than 20 times the original costing to £2 billion by 2028-29 without any action.

The relief also allowed wealthy business owners to sell their shares without paying any CGT, with around half of the relief going to the largest 10% of disposals.

At Budget 2025, the government announced that it will reduce the relief available on these disposals from 100% of the gain to 50%. This will retain a strong incentive for employee ownership whilst ensuring that business owners pay their fair share of tax. The relief remains more generous than alternative reliefs that individuals might use when disposing of their companies, such as Business Asset Disposal Relief.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many further education courses for 16-18 year olds were not completed in the last five years; and what the estimated cost was of providing those placements in England.

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

Education and training achievement rates are available in the ‘Further education and skills’ statistics publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-and-skills/2024-25#content-9.

The department does not hold data on the estimated cost of providing those placements in England.

Funding for students who withdraw from their studies during the academic year is reduced through the retention factor in the 16 to 19 funding formula. This has the effect of funding withdrawn students at 50% of their funding band’s rate. This recognises that there is a cost to institutions in delivering programmes to students who do not complete.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of checks on new company formation with Companies House.

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

Companies House has developed and is continuing to develop capabilities in data analysis and measures to prevent the registration of misleading information and to better understand what measures will prove effective in preventing the registration of misleading information.

As of 31 October 2025, Companies has addressed 148,084 compliance issues involving 85,201 companies. Performance in this reporting period is on track to meet the ministerial target set out in Companies House’s 2025-2026 Business Plan to act against 150,000 companies.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many vehicles were seized as a result of drivers not having the required insurance in place in England for each year from 2015 to date.

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

The Home Office does not centrally collect information on the number of vehicles seized by police forces in England and Wales, as a result of drivers not having the required insurance.

The Home Office publishes information on Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) and other outcomes for motoring offences, including licence, insurance and record-keeping offences, as a part of its annual Police powers and procedures: Roads policing statistical publication.

The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales

Under Section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988, police officers have the power to seize and remove a vehicle if they reasonably believe it is being driven without a valid driving licence or without insurance. Before seizing, the officer should warn the driver that the vehicle will be taken unless the required documents are produced immediately. Once seized, the vehicle is taken to a designated recovery compound, and the owner must provide proof of licence and insurance and pay statutory removal and storage fees to reclaim it. If unclaimed within the set period, the vehicle may be disposed of under Section 165B.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of tool thefts on lost working days to the economy.

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

This Government recognises that tradespeople are often targeted by criminals who seek to steal tools. We also recognise the deeply damaging impact on victims who rely on their tools to earn a living.

Whilst we do not have an official estimate of the costs of tool theft, recent research commissioned by industry indicated that 9% of victims in their cohort lost over three days of work as a result.

In the Government’s Small Business Plan, published on 31 July, we committed to working alongside industry and small business representatives to tackle the problem of tool theft. We are partnering with tradespeople’s representatives, policing and other partners, including retailers and manufacturers, to co-design actions Government and industry can take to encourage theft prevention.

A key part of making acquisitive crime less attractive to criminals is making stolen goods harder to sell on. That is why we work closely with policing and academic leads to examine what more can be done to tackle the disposal markets for stolen goods and reduce the profit from acquisitive crime.

We are providing £2m funding for the National Business Crime Centre over the next three financial years to help tackle the crimes most affecting businesses today, including tackling the sale of stolen goods.

The Chancellor has announced a real terms increase in police spending power over the next three years and more detail on force funding allocations for 2026-27 will be set out at the forthcoming police funding settlement.

The 2025-26 settlement represents a 6.4% cash increase and a 3.9% real terms increase in funding.

The Police Funding Settlement of £200 million will support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood personnel.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the benefits of co-operative enterprise in international development.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 1 April to Question 39533.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with the university sector on research and development in universities; and what support her Department provides to help progress the commercialisation of research and development outcomes.

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

Recent engagement between the Department and university sector has focused on improving the sustainability of university research, improving the Research Excellence Framework, strengthening research and innovation partnerships and implementing recommendations from the 2023 spin-out review to accelerate commercialisation.

The Department supports commercialisation with significant investment, including through the £280 million a year Higher Education Innovation Fund. Additional proof-of-concept funding of £40 million over five years helps researchers translate ideas into high-growth businesses, ensuring UK universities remain globally competitive in innovation and knowledge exchange.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding has been allocated to (a) Greater Manchester (b) Oldham for the installation of retrofit renewable energy.

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

The government implemented the first Integrated Settlements for Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities at the start of the 2025-26 financial year, which includes cover for building retrofits.

For buildings’ retrofit, Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities received the first allocation of their combined £302 million devolved retrofit funding in April 2025. This allocation draws from the Warm Homes: Local Grant, the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, and the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

Oldham forms part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many community assets were registered by local authorities for each year since 2015.

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

The assets of community scheme is administered by local authorities for their areas. Local authorities are responsible for maintaining and publishing their local list of assets of community value and the Government does not hold a central list of this information. You can find out information about your local scheme by contacting your local authority.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total number of calls (a) answered (b) abandoned was for each public helpline number provided by his Department and its executive agencies for each year from 2015 to date.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not held centrally. To provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of (a) co-operative and (b) mutual forms of ownership in the water industry.

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

The Independent Water Commission’s (IWC) final report in July found that there is no clear relationship between water company ownership models and outcomes.

The commission states that ‘With regard to alternative not-for-profit, or similar models that might be proposed by existing or prospective owners (as with Welsh Water and Kelda), the Commission believes that these models are viable and might be beneficial in some cases but that proposals need to be considered on a case-by-case basis’.

The Government is considering the IWC’s recommendations and will provide a full response in a White Paper later this year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of unused medication held by patients in England.

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

No assessment has been made of the cost of unused medication held by patients in England. The Government seeks to have a coordinated approach to prevent wastage as much as possible to improve inefficiencies and reduce costs for the taxpayer.

Primary care networks are required to ensure that Structured Medication Reviews (SMRs) for high-risk cohorts are implemented. SMRs are an evidence based comprehensive review of a person’s medication, their views, concerns, and safety. The use of SMRs can reduce harmful polypharmacy and medicine wastage.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of winter grit salt bins that were provided by local authorities for each year from 2015 to date.

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

Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 places a duty on highway authorities to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice.

It is for local highway authorities to determine what the most appropriate measures are to achieve this, based on local circumstances.

Most local highway authorities publish information about their winter service online. For example, Oldham Council’s website states that it currently maintains over 600 grit bins. Local people can access a map of where these are located and request new grit bins.

The Government also conducts a survey of local highway authorities every year to gather information about their preparations for winter and planning for extreme weather. This survey is mandatory, and includes information about how many continuous days their salt stocks will last for in severe winter conditions. It does not include detailed information about how many grit bins each authority maintains or where these are located.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) licensing authorities in England whose policies permit the licensing of drivers with non-UK driving licences and (b) licensed taxi and private hire vehicle drivers who hold a non-UK driving licence, by the country of issue of those licences.

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

The Department does not hold this information centrally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate has been made of the average number of lost work days for (a) public sector employees (b) private sector employees (c) self employed patients waiting for pre-booked NHS operations and procedures.

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

No recent estimate has been made on the average number of lost work days for public sector employees, private sector employees, or self-employed patients waiting for pre-booked National Health Service operations and procedures.

We recognise the importance of supporting patients to return to work where they can. That is why the Further Faster 20 (FF20) initiative was announced in September 2024, to deploy expert advice to NHS trusts in areas with the highest levels of economic inactivity to get patients treated faster. This programme is part of the plans to reduce the number of people that are unable to work due to long-term sickness, which is at its highest level since the 1990s. FF20 co-exists alongside other interventions, including reducing demand, which are positively impacting the waiting list, and it is challenging to disentangle the impact of one from the other.

The Government is committed to addressing health-related economic inactivity, which is crucial for enhancing public health, strengthening communities, and boosting the economy. By reducing economic inactivity, we can also alleviate demand on the NHS, thereby improving its performance. Analysis conducted by NHS England and the Office of National Statistics demonstrates there could be multi-billion-pound benefits in achieving the Government’s Plan for Change’s ambition to meet the referral-to-treatment standard for elective procedures.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of tool thefts in England have been made in each year since 2015.

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

The Home Office does not routinely collect data on the items stolen in theft offences which are reported to the police.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides estimates of the proportion of theft offences reported to the survey where tools were stolen. This will include incidents which were not reported to the police but will exclude incidents which affected commercial premises.

The most recently published data is presented in the table below

Table 1: Number of incidents and proportion where a tool was stolen, in year ending March 2024

Crime Survey for England and Wales, Office for National Statistics

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 number of (a) clothes banks and (b) clothes bank users in each year since 2015.

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

The Department does not hold official statistics on the number of registered food banks. Food banks are independent organisations, often run by charities, faith groups, or community organisations, and are not regulated or registered centrally by the Government.

Statistics on food bank use are published annually in the Households below average income statistics report and are only available from 2021/22 onwards. The most recent publication is available here: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2024 - GOV.UK

The Government is committed to tackling poverty. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of families falling into poverty. Our Get Britain Working White Paper sets out our reforms to the system to enable greater participation, progression and productivity in the labour market.

We are committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to, to make work pay and tackle poverty. We have already introduced the Fair Repayment Rate, reducing the Universal Credit overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s standard allowance, giving 1.2m households an average of £420 per year. In addition, we will increase the Universal Credit Standard Allowance from April 2026, estimated to be worth £725 annually by 2029/30 in cash terms.

To further support struggling families, we provided £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) in England until 31 March 2026. Enabling local authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food. The Devolved Governments receive consequential funding through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion.

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 number of (a) food banks and (b) food bank users in each year since 2015.

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

The Department does not hold official statistics on the number of registered food banks. Food banks are independent organisations, often run by charities, faith groups, or community organisations, and are not regulated or registered centrally by the Government.

Statistics on food bank use are published annually in the Households below average income statistics report and are only available from 2021/22 onwards. The most recent publication is available here: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2024 - GOV.UK

The Government is committed to tackling poverty. We know that good work can significantly reduce the chances of families falling into poverty. Our Get Britain Working White Paper sets out our reforms to the system to enable greater participation, progression and productivity in the labour market.

We are committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to, to make work pay and tackle poverty. We have already introduced the Fair Repayment Rate, reducing the Universal Credit overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of a customer’s standard allowance, giving 1.2m households an average of £420 per year. In addition, we will increase the Universal Credit Standard Allowance from April 2026, estimated to be worth £725 annually by 2029/30 in cash terms.

To further support struggling families, we provided £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) in England until 31 March 2026. Enabling local authorities to continue to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food. The Devolved Governments receive consequential funding through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many mobile phones were stolen in the most recent year for which data is available; and how many of those were recovered.

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

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides estimates of the number of people who were the victim of mobile phone theft. In the most recent year for which data is available (year ending March 2024), an estimated 235,000 people in England and Wales were the victim of mobile phone theft in the previous 12 months. Data for previous years is available as part of the Property crime tables (Table 13) published by the Office for National Statistics, at the link below:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtables

The CSEW cannot provide an estimate of the number of stolen mobile phones which were later recovered.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of police force forensic analysis capacity and completion times in England.

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

Forensic turnaround times currently vary with discipline. Time taken by forces to examine digital devices for example varies considerably, but urgent requests are always prioritised.

Chief Constables, and ultimately Police and Crime Commissioners, are currently responsible for forensics procurement and delivery, with some regional coordination. We are exploring the creation of a specialist national capability for police forensics, within the proposed National Centre for Policing, and have recruited a Director of Forensic Services to stabilise and reform forensics in the meantime.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of digital inclusion of children living in temporary accommodation in England.

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

We know that digital exclusion is a complex issue and disproportionately impacts certain demographics.

That is why we launched the Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February, which sets out our immediate actions to boost digital inclusion across the UK. Alongside our actions to widen access to devices, drive digital upskilling, break down barriers to participation and get support to people in their own communities, we are also developing robust headline indicators to monitor progress and inform future digital inclusion interventions.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the closure of armed forces recruitment centres on enlistment in those areas.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Defence assesses that the wide variety of available recruitment engagement options it provides affords opportunity for candidates to enlist, regardless of the presence of an Armed Forces Careers Office (AFCO) in any given geographic location. The Armed Forces regularly review their recruiting activities and associated resource in accordance with the requirement.

Whilst AFCOs continue to provide core support to the Armed Forces' national recruiting activities, their geographic footprint across the UK is complemented by dedicated call centres and online recruiting operations. This ensures that members of rural or isolated communities have the same opportunity to apply to the Armed Forces as anyone else.

In addition, the Services conduct outreach engagement programmes across the whole of the UK, delivering events such as career fairs and roadshows, supported by online services and social media campaigns. These recruitment activities are further supported through strategic partnerships such as with JobCentrePlus, which provides additional face-to-face touchpoints with potential applicants.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria determined the order in which asylum accommodation hotels were prioritised for contract termination since 2023.

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

This Government is committed to closing all hotels accommodating asylum seekers and will do so in a controlled, managed and orderly manner. A range of factors are considered when selecting hotels for closure including contractual arrangements, geographical considerations and operational deliverability.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the cost to the public purse of installing new telephone systems in GP practices in England last year; and how many (a) systems (b) handsets were installed.

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

The Department does not hold data on the cost of installing new telephone systems in general practices, nor on how many systems and handsets were installed.

As part of our ambition to end the 8:00am scramble, we want patients to contact their practice by phone, online, or by walking in, and for people to have an equitable experience across these access modes. Since 1 October 2025, practices are required to keep their online consultation tool open for the duration of core hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries, and admin requests.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of dispersed accommodation procured by her Department in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) Oldham is in Selective Landlord Licensing areas.

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

The Home Office holds seven Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts across the UK. The Home Office has contracted Serco Ltd as the AASC Provider for the North West region, including Greater Manchester. Responsibility for the provision of all dispersal accommodation in Greater Manchester therefore lies Serco Ltd. This includes the management of all subcontractors.

The Home Office does not hold contracts with other suppliers for the direct provision of dispersal accommodation and support services in Greater Manchester.

Further information on the Home Office’s contract with Serco Ltd is available here: AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NW - Contracts Finder.

Found: English Devolution Jim McMahon MP, Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, Ministry of

Found: Jim McMahon had been minister for devolution up to 5 September: he was replaced by Miatta Fahnbulleh