Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much her Department has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

This information is not centrally held. The Office has a hybrid working policy and all staff are issued with a laptop and mobile phone to allow remote working where necessary. Staff are expected to spend at least 60 per cent of their time in the office or on official business, which can include conducting site visits or meeting stakeholders.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. However, contractual homeworking is a type of flexible working arrangement where an employee and the department agree to change the employee’s designated place of work to their home address. The Civil Service position on contractual home working agreements is that these are not routinely approved other than for a very small number of relevant roles, or where a workplace adjustment is agreed in respect of a disability under the Equality Act or occasionally as a redundancy mitigation. Civil servants are expected to spend at least 60 percent of their time in the office or on official business, which can include conducting site visits or meeting stakeholders.

The Scotland Office is required by The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 to ensure that workstation users, including those who work from home, perform a suitable and sufficient analysis of their workstation. Before purchasing equipment, users must complete mandatory health and safety training, a homeworking checklist, a Display Screen Equipment self-assessment, and obtain line manager approval.

The Scotland Office spent:

● £110.45 in Financial Year 2022/23;

● £742.85 in Financial Year 2023/24;

● £0 in Financial Year 2024/25.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much her Department has spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport provides equipment that enables staff to work across multiple locations, including from home where appropriate. This includes meeting legal obligations to provide reasonable workplace adjustments for staff who require them.

However, the Department does not record expenditure in a way that separately identifies costs specifically related to home working. Additionally, the Department’s hybrid working policy is non-contractual and does not entitle staff to additional equipment or to be reimbursed for items to facilitate home working.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the (a) total cost to the public purse for, (b) proportion of her Department’s total expenditure that was spent on and (c) spend per head on transport infrastructure in (i) Lincolnshire and (ii) the East Midlands in the last ten years.

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

HM Treasury’s Country and Regional Analysis: 2024 shows the following spend of public money on transport in the East Midlands region, for the five most recent years available. Historic data is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis.

(a) Total cost to the public purse:

The total identifiable expenditure on transport in the East Midlands for the five most recent years available (2019-20 to 2023-24) is as follows:

2019-20: £1,449 million

2020-21: £2,229 million

2021-22: £1,799 million

2022-23: £1,724 million

2023-24: £1,838 million

(b) Proportion of the Department’s total expenditure:

The proportion of the Department for Transport’s total expenditure on transport in the East Midlands for the same period is as follows:

2019-20: 5.3%

2020-21: 5.4%

2021-22: 4.9%

2022-23: 4.6%

2023-24: 4.6%

(c) Spend per head:

The expenditure per head on transport in the East Midlands for the same period is as follows:

2019-20: £299

2020-21: £459

2021-22: £368

2022-23: £349

2023-24: £368

While the above statistics are only available at the regional level, examples of recent Government investment in the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA) area include over £180 million from the Local Transport Grant, £73.5 million in local roads maintenance funding and £18.5 million in local authority bus funding.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much her Department spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

Obtaining this data would require manually reviewing and reclassifying purchases made across multiple systems and procurement channels. Given the broad range of equipment types and purposes — particularly across a large and complex estate such as the Ministry of Justice — this process would be highly resource-intensive and result in a disproportionate cost to the Department.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department has spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Office has spent the following on the provision of equipment for use at home in order to facilitate workplace adjustments:

The Northern Ireland Office has adopted the Civil Service Smarter Working model, with the majority of our staff designated as hybrid workers. As set out by the Cabinet Office, staff are expected to spend a minimum of 3 days a week, or 60% of their time in the office, or on official visits.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

The Department embraces flexible working arrangements where appropriate.

In some cases the Department may provide additional equipment to support flexible working patterns, but to gather the costs of these across the Department would require disproportionate time.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much her Department spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMT only has the ability to track and report the following totals for each of the last 3 financial years on WFH IT kits (screens, headsets, keyboard and mouse);

(i) 2024/25 - £ 218,486

(ii) 2023/24 - £ 87,024

(iii) 2022/23 - £ 36,222

The 24/25 WFH kits shown above were a value for money expenditure where kits were bought in bulk to reduce expenditure in future years. No further purchases have been made in the current financial year.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

We are unable to provide this information without incurring disproportionate costs.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 30 June 2025 on Nuclear Test Veteran records exercise and the Merlin database, HCWS748, which office the staff that are reviewing (a) the Merlin Database and (b) other archives are based in.

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

Teams from across the Ministry of Defence are involved in the Nuclear Test Veterans records exercise, and have reviewed so far over 43,000 files. The files in scope of the records exercise are primarily being reviewed by each of the Single Service Historic Branches and the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). The release of the Merlin database to the National Archives is being led by the Defence Nuclear Organisation with AWE preparing the records for release.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on equipment to enable civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

The information requested is not centrally held in an easily accessible form, and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much his Department has spent on equipment to enable civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

It is not possible to answer this question without incurring a disproportionate cost to accurately refine contract spend for equipment to enable civil servants to work from home by departmental cost centre.

The Department has a 40-60% minimum office attendance policy.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Active Travel England has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

Active Travel England (ATE) staff are provided equipment from the Department for Transport to enable them to work across multiple locations, including from home where appropriate. This includes meeting legal obligations to provide reasonable workplace adjustments for staff who require them.

ATE does not record expenditure in a way that separately identifies costs specifically related to home working. Additionally, ATE’s hybrid working policy is non-contractual and does not entitle staff to additional equipment or to be reimbursed for items to facilitate home working.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time is to process a Personal Independence Payment appeal in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The average time to process a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeal for all PIP appeals in the South Holland and The Deepings constituency, since PIP was introduced, can be found in table 1 below.

Table 1: The mean and median time to process an appeal from time of registration to the time of appeal clearance in weeks

Source: PIP Administrative data

Notes:

• The appeal processing time is calculated as the time between the date of appeal registration and date of appeal clearance.
• Figures include appeals related to initial decisions (including new claims and DLA reassessments), award reviews and changes of circumstance.
• Figures include time taken by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to clear the case.
• Cases are counted if the claimant is resident in the constituency at the point of registering their claim.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to (a) maintain and (b) promote local green spaces in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government is firmly committed to creating better access to parks and green spaces for all sections of society. Green spaces such as South Holland’s Ayscoughfee Gardens are an essential part of local social infrastructure which supports more connected, stronger communities. The MHCLG-owned Green Flag Award sets the national quality standard for parks and green spaces, the scheme aims to meet the needs of the communities they serve and has helped to transform thousands of parks and green spaces across the country

MHCLG has also established the Parks Working Group, which brings together sector experts with government officials to find innovative ways of managing parks, creating employment, hosting economic activities and encouraging inward investment. Finally, the government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) allows communities to designate land as Local Green Space, in order to protect green areas that are important to them.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps she has taken to increase community involvement in the planning process.

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

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 46945 on 30 April 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of access to CAMHS services for special educational needs and disabilities children in Lincolnshire.

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

The Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board is responsible for commissioning National Health Service mental health services to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities across Lincolnshire.

The 10-Year Health Plan for England sets out how we will work with schools and colleges to better identify and meet children's mental health needs by delivering mental health support teams to cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30.

It also sets out the core principle of early intervention and support, without the need for diagnosis, and that this particularly applies for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. In the autumn, the Government will bring forward a white paper for schools setting out the Government’s approach to special educational needs and disabilities reform, ensuring joined-up support for children and young people. This will include education and healthcare providers working together with other local services to plan and deliver evidence-based early interventions for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

The Department has spent the following amounts on equipment for its staff to work from home in each financial year:

• £79,625 in 2022/23;
• £118,757 in 2023/24; and
• £130,745 in 2024/25.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to promote timebanking in job centres.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Our Get Britain Working plan aims to reduce economic inactivity levels and take the first steps to delivering our long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate. We want to ensure that everyone has the opportunities they need to achieve and thrive, to succeed and flourish. Support includes identifying skills gaps and referral to skills training, careers advice, job search support, and volunteering opportunities. Work Coaches will work with customer to identify transferable skills relevant to the opportunities available. Our Employer and Partnership Teams work with employers and partners to bring vacancies and provisions closer to our customers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help improve access to sport for (a) children and (b) young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

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

Every child should have the opportunity to play sport and do regular physical activity including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Prime Minister recently announced a new School Sport Partnerships approach and a new Enrichment Framework for schools to ensure all young people have equal access to high-quality sport and extracurricular activity. The ongoing independent expert-led review of the curriculum will ensure that all children can engage with a broad range of subjects, including PE and sport.

On 20 June 2025, the Culture Secretary announced that following the Spending Review, at least £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will now work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs, including for children and young people, and then set out further plans.

In the last financial year, 2024-25, Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for community sport, invested £43,803 into South Holland and the Deepings constituency to improve access to sport and physical activity.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether (a) wood pellets and (b) other biomass has been imported from North Korea in the last 10 years.

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

The UK does not import wood pellets or biomass from North Korea for fuel or electricity generation. There are no plans to import wood pellets or biomass from North Korea.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the UK has imported (a) wood pellets and (b) other biomass from Afghanistan in the last 10 years.

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

The UK does not import wood pellets or biomass from Afghanistan for fuel or electricity generation. There are no plans to import wood pellets or biomass from Afghanistan.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an estimate of the carbon footprint of importing wood pellets in the last 10 years.

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

Emissions from importing wood pellets are constrained by biomass sustainability requirements. The supply chain emissions threshold for large scale biomass electricity generators to receive support is capped at 55.6gCO2e/MJ. This threshold will be tightened further under proposed future arrangements with Drax to 36.6 gCO2e/MJ.

Compliance with sustainability criteria under the Renewables Obligation and Contracts for Difference schemes are a matter for Ofgem, as the independent energy regulator, and LCCC, as the counterparty to the CfD.

Large scale biomass generators, such as Drax, do also publish emissions data as part of their annual ESG reports.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many VALOUR support centres for veterans he plans to locate in Lincolnshire.

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

This Government remains committed to delivering on our manifesto promise to ensure that veterans achieve the recognition, support and opportunities they deserve. That is why we recently launched VALOUR, our commitment to establish the first-ever UK-wide approach to veteran support. This will be an institutionally resilient system that will reform the system at the local, the regional, and the national level, ensuring that support is available across the country, and that it is tailored to the needs of veterans in the communities where they live.

The first VALOUR pilot was launched on 26 June 2025, in partnership with Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire, and will help to develop a blueprint as VALOUR is rolled out across the country next year.

Details regarding the VALOUR development funding will be released in the coming months. Existing organisations will be able to apply for this funding and, if successful, will be recognised as a VALOUR support centre. This process will recognise existing best practice while maintaining agility and flexibility across the sector.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support the introduction of more vocational education pathways for students in Lincolnshire.

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

As announced in the Spending Review, the department is making over £1 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028/29.

This will support and grow the wide range of technical routes and work-based training available for people of all ages, across the country including in Cambridgeshire. This includes:

• Widening the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer, including new foundation apprenticeships, which will give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working life.

• T levels, a high-quality technical education option for young people, including a valuable workplace industry placement which prepares them work.

• Higher Technical Qualifications, occupation-focussed level 4-5 qualifications, approved and quality marked as providing the skills demanded in the workplace by employers.

• Skills Bootcamps giving learners the chance to build sector-specific skills with a job interview on completion and Free Courses for Jobs giving learners the chance to access high value level 3 qualifications.

We have also strengthened legislation to ensure all secondary pupils have multiple opportunities for meaningful encounters with providers of technical education and apprenticeships.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications have been rejected on the grounds of unknown nationality in each of the last five years.

Answered by Angela Eagle - 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.

The Home Office uses several processes and tools to identify a claimant’s nationality and other identifying features.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications have been rejected on the grounds of disputed nationality in each of the last five years.

Answered by Angela Eagle - 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.

The Home Office uses several processes and tools to identify a claimant’s nationality and other identifying features.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications have been rejected on the grounds of dual nationality in each of the last five years.

Answered by Angela Eagle - 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.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what dates she has raised small boat crossings with the European Commission since 5 July 2024.

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

Home Office ministers and officials speak with overseas counterparts on a regular basis on a wide range of issues, including representatives of the European Commission.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the size of the badger population in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) the East Midlands.

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

The first major national badger population survey in a decade began in February, with the first round of fieldwork now concluded. Further surveying will resume later this year, to estimate badger abundance and population recovery.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to promote timebanking to support social inclusion.

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

Although government does not currently promote a specific form of social action such as timebanking, we are strongly committed to supporting social action in all its forms and recognise its role in supporting social inclusion in local communities. Timebanking can be a fantastic way to encourage more people to get involved and make a difference in their local area and help to foster social connections. It is hugely positive to see just how many organisations offer some form of timebanking or time credits to incentivise people to give their time freely for social good.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will provide additional funding for pothole repair in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government is committed to tackling the poor state of our roads. In 2025-26, we provided an additional £16 million to invest a total of £60 million in improving the condition of Lincolnshire County Council’s local highways. The Spending Review announced that the Government will provide £24 billion of capital funding between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to maintain and improve roads across the country. This funding increase will significantly improve the long-term condition of England’s road network. Future funding allocations for local authorities and their highways, including Lincolnshire, will be announced in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to ensure improved access to schooling for children with (a) visual and (b) hearing impairments in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision sits with local authorities. The department provides local authorities with capital funding to support them to meet this duty and has published allocations for £740 million in High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2025/26 financial year.

Of this £740 million, Lincolnshire Council has been allocated £10.3 million. This funding can be used to improve access to schooling for children and young people with a variety of SEND, including visual and hearing impairments. It is intended to adapt schools to be more accessible, to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much the Competition and Markets Authority has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Competition and Markets Authority has spent the following on equipment for safe and productive home working:

(i) 2022-23 = £44,658.20

(ii) 2023-24 = £42,469.83

(iii) 2024-25 = £40,739.89

This includes home working equipment such as desks, chairs, monitors, keyboards and mice. This does not include laptops or mobile phones.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much the Trade Remedies Authority has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Trade Remedies Authority has spent the following on equipment for safe and productive home working:

(i) 2022-23 = £5,695

(ii) 2023-24 = £2,010

(iii) 2024-25 = £3,672

This includes home working equipment such as desks, chairs, monitors, keyboards and mice. This does not include laptops or mobile phones.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much the British Business Bank has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The British Business Bank has spent the following on equipment for safe and productive home working:

(i) 2022-23 = N/A

(ii) 2023-24 = £9,697

(iii) 2024-25 = £7,857

This includes home working equipment such as desks, chairs, monitors, keyboards and mice. This does not include laptops or mobile phones.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many times the Islamophobia Definition Working Group has met.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The working group has met weekly since it was first established. The meetings included engagement with relevant stakeholders.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much her Department has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The cost to provide Digital equipment to enable staff to work effectively from home for the 3 years 07/07/2022 to 06/07/2025 is £272,301.85.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much Horizon Europe funding has been allocated to organisations in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire since the programme began.

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

Since the UK’s association to Horizon Europe, UK researchers and businesses can confidently participate in this programme which runs until 2027. Making the UK’s association to Horizon Europe a success is the Government’s priority. The Government has been providing extensive assistance to the UK’s R&D communities to maximise their chances of applying and succeeding with Horizon Europe. Constituents in South Holland and the Deepings, and wider Lincolnshire can participate in these initiatives.

The Honourable Member can access the data on how much Horizon Europe funding has been allocated to organisations – across both the South Holland and the Deepings constituency, and Lincolnshire – via the public EU Funding and Tenders Portal: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/horizon-dashboard. This data can be found in the R&I Projects section of the Funding and Tenders Portal, under the Key Figures page, using the relevant filters.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of abolishing the Office for Equality and Opportunity.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

There are no plans of this kind. This Government is proudly ensuring that everyone has equality of opportunity through its Opportunity Mission.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 58153 on Windrush Commissioner: Finance, what budget will be available to the Windrush Commissioner.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

On 16 June, we announced that Reverend Clive Foster MBE had been appointed to be the new Windrush Commissioner. He started his role on 30 June.

Given this is a new appointment, we are discussing with the commissioner his priorities, his working arrangements and what he will need to support him in his role. Following these discussions, we will be in a position to produce a detailed budget, and will confirm this in the normal way in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Health and Safety Executive has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

HSE spend on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years is shown in the table below.

Note – the cost mainly relates to provision of equipment for new starters and HSE has increased its staff numbers in this period mainly due to becoming the Building Safety Regulator.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much Ofgem has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

Ofgem is a non-ministerial government department. It has its own policies regarding the procurement and provision of equipment.

The total spent on ‘working from home’ equipment reflects an increased headcount to deliver additional remit for key government priorities, and steps to reduce its London office footprint to save money. In each of the last three financial years Ofgem spend is:

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Office of Rail and Road has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Office of Rail and Road does not differentiate between equipment purchased for use in the office and for home use, so does not hold this information.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

The department does not hold a complete central record of all spending on equipment to support home working. Information is only centrally recorded where the individual costs exceed £500.

The department spent the following over the last three years on equipment which exceeded £500:

To obtain comprehensive data which included spend on equipment below £500 for each of the last three years, it would be necessary to contact individual teams across the department, which would not be possible within the timeframe for responding to a Written Parliamentary Question, and would incur a disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much the Met Office has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

The Met Office has had the ability to track and report totals for the provision of monitors, mice and keyboards for staff working from home, where required, since August 2024. Since then, the total cost to date is £21,551.95.

For the period preceding August 2024, it is not possible to identify the costs specifically related to home working without incurring disproportionate cost.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how much the Crown Prosecution Service has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spent the below amounts on equipment such as chairs, monitors and desks to enable to staff to work from home effectively in the last three years:

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how much the Serious Fraud Office has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

All Serious Fraud Office (SFO) staff are routinely provided with laptops that enable them to work flexibly in the office, at home or other locations.

In financial year 2024-25, the SFO spent  £1311.77 on  equipment to enable a small number of staff needing workplace adjustments to work from home. No data is recorded specifically on workplace adjustment expenditure for home-working in the previous two years.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how much the Government Legal Department has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

In line with the Government Legal Department’s (GLD) hybrid working policy, the Department has spent the following amounts for each financial year on providing staff with the relevant equipment and furniture to enable them to work effectively at home:

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the National Infrastructure Commission has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

As equipment costs to enable working from home were processed as expenses, and are approved on an individual basis, the information is not readily available and providing it would incur a disproportionate cost to the organization.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the Food Standards Agency has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has a long-established contractual flexible working offer known as Our Ways of Working (OWOW). The 2013 Civil Service Reform project, The Way We Work, required Government organisations to adopt Smarter Working by 2022, leading the FSA to introduce OWOW in 2016. In the past three years, the FSA has spent the following on equipment to enable staff to work from home:

- £54,394 in 2024/25;

- £60,794 in 2023/24; and

- £73,250 in 2022/23.

OWOW supports the Government’s Places for Growth programme by recruiting based on merit, not location. This increases opportunities in regions and nations, and has enabled the FSA to reduce the square meterage of its estate by 50%.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the services provided to irregular migrants by (a) South Holland District Council (b) South Kesteven District Council and (c) Lincolnshire County Council in the last two years.

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

The requested data is not held by the Home Office.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much the UK Space Agency has spent on equipment for staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Obtaining information on how much the UK Space Agency (UKSA) has spent on equipment for staff to work from home in each of the last three years could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

The UKSA has its own policies relating to provision of equipment for working from home in line with Health and Safety legislation and how this is procured or employees reimbursed.

The UKSA have agreed that 40-60% minimum office attendance for staff continues to be the best balance of working for the UKSA.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the estimate in the report by the OBR entitled Fiscal risks and sustainability, published in July 2025 of the fiscal cost of climate change mitigation.

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

In its most recent ‘Fiscal risks and sustainability report’ (2025), the OBR is clear that the costs of climate damage are getting higher, while the cost of the net zero transition is getting lower. Only by investing in the transition now can we reduce costs in future.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has issued a range of equipment to support staff in working from home. Based on available records covering the past three years:

• Monitors: 123 units issued at an approximate cost of £24,600 (£200 each).
• Printers: 8 units issued at an approximate cost of £1,600 (£200 each).

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has spent on equipment for staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

The following table outlines the amounts the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has spent on equipment for staff to work from home in each of the last three financial years.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the Office of the Public Guardian has spent on equipment for staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

Information on the cost of equipment provided specially for home working cannot be obtained without incurring a disproportionate cost, due to the way these costs are recorded.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service has spent on equipment for staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

HM Courts and Tribunals Service provides equipment that enables staff to work across multiple locations, including from home where appropriate. This includes meeting legal obligations to provide reasonable workplace adjustments for staff who require them. All employees are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity.

The Department does not record expenditure in a way that separately identifies costs specifically related to home working. Reviewing individual invoices to collate this information would incur disproportionate costs.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has spent on equipment for staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

Obtaining this information could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the Legal Aid Agency has spent on equipment for staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

This information could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Heads of departments have agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to increase the level of support available to help schools meet the needs of pupils with learning disabilities in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to achieve and thrive in mainstream settings through early identification, effective support, high-quality teaching and effective allocation of resources.

We are engaging extensively with stakeholders, including our Expert Advisory Group for Inclusion, on the best ways to drive inclusive practice and how to improve mainstream education outcomes and experiences for children and young people with SEND.

Details of the government's intended approach to SEND reform will be set out in a Schools White Paper in the autumn.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of fines that were issued to parents for unauthorised school absence in (a) South Holland District Council and (b) South Kesteven District Council in the last 12 months.

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

The information is not held by the department at local authority district level.

Information on penalty notices for unauthorised absence is collected at local authority level. The latest available data, covering the 2023/24 academic year, is available in the parental responsibility measures statistical release, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/parental-responsibility-measures/2023-24.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Rural Payments Agency has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

Rural Payments Agency employees can be reimbursed the cost of purchasing some equipment to help make sure they have the right equipment to work safely from home in line with the department’s working from home policy.

The Rural Payments Agency is unable to respond with how much has been spent specifically to facilitate home working as the information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Heads of departments have agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much the Charity Commission has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

The Charity Commission for England and Wales promotes hybrid working arrangements. Equipment provided to staff (such as laptops) are used for both office working and home working.

The Charity Commission publishes an Annual Report that lists a summary of spending for that year on the Commission’s property and equipment assets.

All the Charity Commission’s equipment purchases are made through Government frameworks.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Pensions Ombudsman has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Pensions Ombudsman operates a hybrid working model. Therefore, the provision of equipment for staff to use when working at home is made in line with Health and Safety legislation and workplace adjustment requirements.

Over the last three years, the following has been contributed to support staff on the days they are not working in the office: £6,868 in in 2022/23, £6,289 in 2023/24 and £2,243 in 2024/25.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department has spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

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

DCMS has spent the below on the provision of equipment for use at home relating to a workplace adjustment in the last 3 years:

22/23: £0

23/24: £2,490.46

24/25: £882.37

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what machine learning models her Department has used to help tackle fraud in the last three years.

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

DWP uses Machine Learning as an analytical tool in the prevention and detection of fraud and error. There is currently one fraud and error machine learning model in full deployment and others at various stages of development, testing and implementation, focused on the highest areas of loss.

35th anniversary of the murder of Ian Gow MP

Consequences of the Equality Act 2010

Historic County Flags Day 2025

Mass deportation of illegal migrants

Found: Questions 1-8 Representations made I: Lizzi Collinge and Rachel Gilmour II: Luke Murphy III: Sir John Hayes

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of food served in military catering contracts was sourced from the UK, in the latest period for which data is available.

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

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