Josh Fenton-Glynn Portrait

Josh Fenton-Glynn

Labour - Calder Valley

8,991 (18.1%) majority - 2024 General Election

First elected: 4th July 2024


Josh Fenton-Glynn has no previous appointments


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Josh Fenton-Glynn has voted in 96 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Josh Fenton-Glynn Division Votes

Debates during the 2024 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Karin Smyth (Labour)
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
(8 debate interactions)
Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op))
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(6 debate interactions)
Wes Streeting (Labour)
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
(6 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Department of Health and Social Care
(19 debate contributions)
HM Treasury
(14 debate contributions)
Cabinet Office
(13 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Water (Special Measures) Act 2025
(491 words contributed)
Crime and Policing Bill 2024-26
(489 words contributed)
Finance Bill 2024-26
(222 words contributed)
View All Legislation Debates
View all Josh Fenton-Glynn's debates

Calder Valley Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Petitions with highest Calder Valley signature proportion
Petitions with most Calder Valley signatures
Josh Fenton-Glynn has not participated in any petition debates

Latest EDMs signed by Josh Fenton-Glynn

Josh Fenton-Glynn has not signed any Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Josh Fenton-Glynn, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


Josh Fenton-Glynn has not been granted any Urgent Questions

Josh Fenton-Glynn has not been granted any Adjournment Debates

Josh Fenton-Glynn has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

Josh Fenton-Glynn has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 50 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
3rd Mar 2025
To ask the Solicitor General, how many social media accounts their Department operates; and how much their Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact.

Social media is an essential part of government communications and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests.

The Attorney General’s Office operates five social media accounts across X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Threads. It has not spent any money on social media subscriptions or advertisements in the last three years.

Lucy Rigby
Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
19th Dec 2024
To ask the Solicitor General, how many agricultural crime offences in Calderdale District resulted in suspects being (a) charged, (b) convicted and (c) not convicted in each year since 2010.

The Government recognises the impact that crimes of theft have on all our communities, whether rural or urban, and we are committed to tackling the problem.

There is no specific legal definition of agricultural crime and therefore data on it cannot be collated. However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) holds data on the number of prosecutions where the principal offence category was theft and handling stolen goods.

It is important to note that CPS principal offence category data is only extracted from the Case Management Information System once the prosecution case has been finalised, this means that the following offence data only relates to completed prosecutions and not any ongoing prosecutions.

From 2010 to date, the CPS has prosecuted 57,641 cases with a theft and handling stolen goods principal offence category originating from the West Yorkshire police force area. Of these, 52,286 resulted in a conviction and only 5,355 resulted in an acquittal.

Lucy Rigby
Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
3rd Mar 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many social media accounts the Prime Minister's Office operates; and how much the Prime Minister's Office spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact.

The Prime Minister’s Office is a business unit of the Cabinet Office. The Prime Minister’s Office has not spent any money on social media subscriptions or advertising.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
3rd Mar 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many social media accounts their Department operates; and how much their Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact.

Below is the Cabinet Office advertising spend through the GCS Framework. Subscriptions are delegated to team level and not centrally managed.

Platform

2024

2023

2022

LINKEDIN IRELAND LIMITED

£385,239

£577,093

£824,660

META PLATFORMS IRELAND LIMITED

£513,717

£1,229,993

£3,650,904

NEXTDOOR EUROPE UK LIMITED

£0

£110,000

£0

REDDIT INC (GBP)

£0

£0

£287,965

REDDIT UK LIMITED (GBP)

£0

£0

£0

SNAP GROUP LIMITED

£47,396

£349,279

£750,874

TWITTER UK LTD

£0

£216,090

£791,456

TWITTER INTERNATIONAL COMPANY

£0

£0

£225,063

PINTEREST EUROPE LTD

£0

£79,797

£221,703

TIKTOK INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIE

£65,494

£0

£384,111

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
9th Dec 2024
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Departments have social media accounts by social media platform; and how much each Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

Departmental social media accounts and subscriptions are not centrally managed.

As with any media planning approach, channels are selected based on their ability to engage with relevant audiences in alignment with the government's strategic objectives.

The Cabinet Office is consistently tracking and reviewing spending on communications to ensure efficiency and that the appropriate strategy is implemented. We will not spend more than is needed to be effective and ensure best value for the taxpayer.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
3rd Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many social media accounts their Department operates; and how much their Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact. Social media is an essential part of government communications and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests.

DBT's spend for the last three calendar years on social media subscriptions was as follows (table):

2022

2023

2024

X/Twitter Premium annual subscription

£0

£0

£99

DBT's spend for the last three calendar years on social media advertising by platform was as follows (table):

2022

2023

2024

LINKEDIN IRELAND LIMITED

£2,655,074

£2,066,426

£1,979,092

META PLATFORMS IRELAND LIMITED

£432,192

£318,433

£247,498

TWITTER UK LTD

£165,370

£32,554

NEXTDOOR EUROPE UK LIMITED

£12,500

£9,727

SNAP GROUP LIMITED

£8,500

£11,364

TOTAL

£3,252,636

£2,438,413

£2,247,681

Justin Madders
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
25th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many social media accounts his Department operates; and how much his Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

DESNZ operates seven social media accounts. Since the Department was established on 7th February 2023, we can only provide information for the past two years. The department spends £84 annually on subscriptions and allocated £366,928 in 2023 and £545,576 in 2024 for advertisements on social media platform.

Michael Shanks
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
25th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many social media accounts his Department operates; and how much his Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Department is responsible for operating a total of 18 social media accounts. This includes a number of accounts currently under review and operated by the Government Digital Service, which recently became a part of the department.

The Department has spent £201.60 on (a) subscriptions – two payments of £100.80 in 2023 and 2024.

To date, the Department has spent £450,901.04 on (b) social media advertisements.

The Department spent £386,615.04 on LinkedIn and £64,286.00 on META in the financial year 24/25.

In addition, the Department has a shared HR function with DESNZ which has a contractual arrangement with LinkedIn Hiring Solutions for the period June 2023 to June 2025, for the amount of £425,123.31.

The Department holds no data prior to the financial year 23/24 due to DSIT only being formed in February 2023.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact.

Social media is an essential part of government communications and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests. The Government remains committed to scrutiny, transparency and best value for taxpayer money.

Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
25th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many social media accounts her Department operates; and how much her Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact.

Social media is an essential part of government communications and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests.

(a) Subscriptions: DCMS has had a Premium Plus subscription with X (formerly known as Twitter) for two years which costs £168 per annum, and a Reddit subscription since March 2024 at £60 per annum. A breakdown per financial year is as follows:

  • 2024/25 - £228 (X and Reddit).

  • 2023/24 - £178 (X and Reddit).

  • 2022/23 - £0.

  • 2021/22 - £0.

(b) Advertisements: On advertisements, we have calculated figures based on the three previous financial years, excluding 2024/25 given this year has not yet finished. These figures are total amounts spent on advertising and marketing in our campaigns that includes wider campaign costs such as creative development and production, research, evaluation and media channels not limited to social media. We do not have records that give a comprehensive breakdown of each social media platform earlier than FY2023/24 due to the way figures are recorded.

FY2023/24:

  • In 2023/24, DCMS spent a total of £601,129.14 on advertising and marketing in our campaigns, of which £110,000 was spent on social media advertising. £35,000 was spent on YouTube and £75,000 on Meta and Snapchat.

  • DCMS also spent an additional £600 boosting social media posts on DCMS owned channels.

FY2022/23:

  • In 2022/23, DCMS spent a total of £587,958.60 on advertising and marketing in our campaigns, a small contribution of which going to social media advertising. This figure includes campaigns that would now be owned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which were conducted when DCMS still held the Digital portfolio. Social media channels included: Google, Bing, Netmums, YouTube, Facebook, X/Twitter, Giphy, Acast, Spotify, Snapchat, Loop Me, Instagram, Venatus.

  • DCMS also spent an additional £188.53 boosting social media posts on DCMS owned channels.

FY2021/22:

  • In 2021/22, DCMS spent a total of £318,844.21 on advertising and marketing in our campaigns, a smaller contribution of which going to social media advertising. This figure includes campaigns that would now be owned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which were conducted when DCMS still held the Digital portfolio. Social media channels included: Spotify, Acast, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Loop-Me, Venatus, Youtube, Google, LinkedIn.

  • DCMS also spent an additional £639.93 boosting social media posts on DCMS owned channels.

Stephanie Peacock
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
24th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many social media accounts her Department operates; and how much her Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The department uses social media to connect directly and speak with the public on the issues and areas of interest they care most deeply about.

It operates 25 live social media accounts incorporating campaigns and supporting agencies.

The department spends no money on social media platform subscriptions.

The department undertook communications activity across its remit in line with the government’s published communications plans for each year. All spend complies with Cabinet Office spending controls to ensure that, where taxpayer money is being spent on government communications, it is cost-effective, coordinated and reflects functional standards and professional best practices. Activity included delivering joined up, national campaigns to increase supply and demand for technical qualifications, including apprenticeships and T Levels, and skills offers; inspiring more people to teach in schools and colleges; encouraging take up of government-funded childcare; and inspiring more people to become childcare professionals. As part of these campaigns, the department spent the following on paid-for advertising on each social media platform in each complete financial year:

Platform

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

Meta

£ 1,513,264.00

£ 2,170,187.00

£ 3,202,273.00

LinkedIn

£ 223,926.00

£ 476,815.00

£ 486,835.00

Pinterest

£ 95,280.00

£ 99,799.00

£ 175,733.00

Snapchat

£ 598,276.00

£ 821,765.00

£ 1,449,496.00

Twitter

£ 276,397.00

£ 391,616.00

-

Reddit

-

£ 47,644.00

£ 28,145.00

Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
6th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to launch a consultation on (a) reducing the availability of Disabled Students Allowance assistive technology packages and products and (b) removing the needs assessment element of applications for Disabled Students Allowance.

The department is not intending to launch a consultation on reducing the availability of assistive technology support packages and products provided through Disabled Students’ Allowance or the removal of the needs assessment element of applications.

The department has not announced any changes to these areas of the Disabled Students’ Allowance.

Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
5th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential equality impact of changes to the Disabled Students Allowance on (a) the provision of assistive technology support packages and products, and (b) the removal of the needs assessments from the eligibility criteria.

The department has not announced changes to the provision of assistive technology support packages and products through Disabled Students’ Allowances or the removal of needs assessments from the eligibility criteria.

Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
5th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many assistive technology products for spelling and grammar support are funded under the Disabled Students Allowance; and what the total cost to the public purse is of each product.

The average waiting time for a needs assessment from the date of application to the date of the assessment being carried out comprises the time taken by the Student Loans Company (SLC) to process an application and then the time taken by the contracted suppliers Capita and Study Tech to process the needs assessment.

The time taken by SLC to process an application is published online at GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sfe-current-application-timescales. The latest weekly update, for February, shows that the average time taken for SLC to process an application, shown under the heading “a DSA application”, is currently 7 working days. The average time taken for the contracted suppliers to offer and complete the needs assessment is currently 28 days. Each supplier has been set two individual KPIs to cover the offer and completion of the needs assessment. These are KPI 1, “Booking of a Needs Assessment Appointment (Minimum of 95% of offer of needs assessment appointment made within 2 working days of referral of customer by SLC)” and KPI 2, “Completion of a Needs Assessment (Minimum of 95% of needs assessment interviews should be offered and completed within 7 working days of successful contact (excluding those where the customer has requested an alternative date))”.

Following completion of the needs assessment, both suppliers are required to return the needs assessment report to SLC for review within 5 workings days, as stipulated by KPI 3, “Minimum of 95% of NARs made available to SLC within 5 working days of when needs assessments undertaken (excluding those where the customer has requested to review the needs assessment report)”. It is currently taking suppliers on average 14 days to return the needs assessment report to SLC. The needs assessment is then reviewed by SLC, following which confirmation of entitlement is communicated to the customer on the DSA2 letter. It is currently taking SLC 10 working days to complete this stage of the journey, as noted on the GOV.UK page under the heading “a Needs Assessment report”.

Information on the suppliers’ performance against their KPIs is published online on a quarterly basis here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/ds. The next update will be published at the end of February.

All students applying for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) are required to have a needs assessment. This means that assistive software for spelling and grammar support has only been awarded when recommended in a needs assessment and agreed by SLC.

Data on the number of students awarded specific assistive software for spelling and grammar support through DSA for the time periods specified in the question is not immediately available, but in the 2023 calendar year this was around 36,000.

A list of the assistive software products for spelling and grammar support that have previously been awarded through DSA is published online here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/exchange-blog/2017/april/dsa-product-review-process/. This list is for administrative purposes only. Products that are not on the list can also be funded through DSA if they are recommended by a needs assessor and agreed by SLC. Overall, agreed spend on spelling and grammar software through DSA is in the region of £4.5 million to £5 million annually. The total spend on each software product within that varies, as it depends on which products are recommended by needs assessors as being most suitable for students’ needs. As an illustration, in the 2023 calendar year, around 80% of total spend was on non-specialist grammar and spelling products, with Grammarly Premium making up 53% of total spend and Global Autocorrect 24% of total spend. Around 20% of total spend was on specialist grammar and spelling products for specific subject areas such as medicine and law, with Medincle products making up 16% of total spend.

Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
5th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students in receipt of Disabled Students Allowance have been provided with spelling and grammar assistive technology packages (a) as of 5 February 2025 and (b) in each year since 2015.

The average waiting time for a needs assessment from the date of application to the date of the assessment being carried out comprises the time taken by the Student Loans Company (SLC) to process an application and then the time taken by the contracted suppliers Capita and Study Tech to process the needs assessment.

The time taken by SLC to process an application is published online at GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sfe-current-application-timescales. The latest weekly update, for February, shows that the average time taken for SLC to process an application, shown under the heading “a DSA application”, is currently 7 working days. The average time taken for the contracted suppliers to offer and complete the needs assessment is currently 28 days. Each supplier has been set two individual KPIs to cover the offer and completion of the needs assessment. These are KPI 1, “Booking of a Needs Assessment Appointment (Minimum of 95% of offer of needs assessment appointment made within 2 working days of referral of customer by SLC)” and KPI 2, “Completion of a Needs Assessment (Minimum of 95% of needs assessment interviews should be offered and completed within 7 working days of successful contact (excluding those where the customer has requested an alternative date))”.

Following completion of the needs assessment, both suppliers are required to return the needs assessment report to SLC for review within 5 workings days, as stipulated by KPI 3, “Minimum of 95% of NARs made available to SLC within 5 working days of when needs assessments undertaken (excluding those where the customer has requested to review the needs assessment report)”. It is currently taking suppliers on average 14 days to return the needs assessment report to SLC. The needs assessment is then reviewed by SLC, following which confirmation of entitlement is communicated to the customer on the DSA2 letter. It is currently taking SLC 10 working days to complete this stage of the journey, as noted on the GOV.UK page under the heading “a Needs Assessment report”.

Information on the suppliers’ performance against their KPIs is published online on a quarterly basis here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/ds. The next update will be published at the end of February.

All students applying for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) are required to have a needs assessment. This means that assistive software for spelling and grammar support has only been awarded when recommended in a needs assessment and agreed by SLC.

Data on the number of students awarded specific assistive software for spelling and grammar support through DSA for the time periods specified in the question is not immediately available, but in the 2023 calendar year this was around 36,000.

A list of the assistive software products for spelling and grammar support that have previously been awarded through DSA is published online here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/exchange-blog/2017/april/dsa-product-review-process/. This list is for administrative purposes only. Products that are not on the list can also be funded through DSA if they are recommended by a needs assessor and agreed by SLC. Overall, agreed spend on spelling and grammar software through DSA is in the region of £4.5 million to £5 million annually. The total spend on each software product within that varies, as it depends on which products are recommended by needs assessors as being most suitable for students’ needs. As an illustration, in the 2023 calendar year, around 80% of total spend was on non-specialist grammar and spelling products, with Grammarly Premium making up 53% of total spend and Global Autocorrect 24% of total spend. Around 20% of total spend was on specialist grammar and spelling products for specific subject areas such as medicine and law, with Medincle products making up 16% of total spend.

Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
5th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of students in receipt of Disabled Students' Allowance spelling and grammar assistive technology packages were required to undertake a needs assessment in each year since 2015.

The average waiting time for a needs assessment from the date of application to the date of the assessment being carried out comprises the time taken by the Student Loans Company (SLC) to process an application and then the time taken by the contracted suppliers Capita and Study Tech to process the needs assessment.

The time taken by SLC to process an application is published online at GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sfe-current-application-timescales. The latest weekly update, for February, shows that the average time taken for SLC to process an application, shown under the heading “a DSA application”, is currently 7 working days. The average time taken for the contracted suppliers to offer and complete the needs assessment is currently 28 days. Each supplier has been set two individual KPIs to cover the offer and completion of the needs assessment. These are KPI 1, “Booking of a Needs Assessment Appointment (Minimum of 95% of offer of needs assessment appointment made within 2 working days of referral of customer by SLC)” and KPI 2, “Completion of a Needs Assessment (Minimum of 95% of needs assessment interviews should be offered and completed within 7 working days of successful contact (excluding those where the customer has requested an alternative date))”.

Following completion of the needs assessment, both suppliers are required to return the needs assessment report to SLC for review within 5 workings days, as stipulated by KPI 3, “Minimum of 95% of NARs made available to SLC within 5 working days of when needs assessments undertaken (excluding those where the customer has requested to review the needs assessment report)”. It is currently taking suppliers on average 14 days to return the needs assessment report to SLC. The needs assessment is then reviewed by SLC, following which confirmation of entitlement is communicated to the customer on the DSA2 letter. It is currently taking SLC 10 working days to complete this stage of the journey, as noted on the GOV.UK page under the heading “a Needs Assessment report”.

Information on the suppliers’ performance against their KPIs is published online on a quarterly basis here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/ds. The next update will be published at the end of February.

All students applying for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) are required to have a needs assessment. This means that assistive software for spelling and grammar support has only been awarded when recommended in a needs assessment and agreed by SLC.

Data on the number of students awarded specific assistive software for spelling and grammar support through DSA for the time periods specified in the question is not immediately available, but in the 2023 calendar year this was around 36,000.

A list of the assistive software products for spelling and grammar support that have previously been awarded through DSA is published online here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/exchange-blog/2017/april/dsa-product-review-process/. This list is for administrative purposes only. Products that are not on the list can also be funded through DSA if they are recommended by a needs assessor and agreed by SLC. Overall, agreed spend on spelling and grammar software through DSA is in the region of £4.5 million to £5 million annually. The total spend on each software product within that varies, as it depends on which products are recommended by needs assessors as being most suitable for students’ needs. As an illustration, in the 2023 calendar year, around 80% of total spend was on non-specialist grammar and spelling products, with Grammarly Premium making up 53% of total spend and Global Autocorrect 24% of total spend. Around 20% of total spend was on specialist grammar and spelling products for specific subject areas such as medicine and law, with Medincle products making up 16% of total spend.

Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
5th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average waiting time was for a needs assessments for Disabled Students Allowance applications from the date of application to the date of (a) the assessment being carried out and (b) entitlement letters being issued in the latest period for which data is available.

The average waiting time for a needs assessment from the date of application to the date of the assessment being carried out comprises the time taken by the Student Loans Company (SLC) to process an application and then the time taken by the contracted suppliers Capita and Study Tech to process the needs assessment.

The time taken by SLC to process an application is published online at GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sfe-current-application-timescales. The latest weekly update, for February, shows that the average time taken for SLC to process an application, shown under the heading “a DSA application”, is currently 7 working days. The average time taken for the contracted suppliers to offer and complete the needs assessment is currently 28 days. Each supplier has been set two individual KPIs to cover the offer and completion of the needs assessment. These are KPI 1, “Booking of a Needs Assessment Appointment (Minimum of 95% of offer of needs assessment appointment made within 2 working days of referral of customer by SLC)” and KPI 2, “Completion of a Needs Assessment (Minimum of 95% of needs assessment interviews should be offered and completed within 7 working days of successful contact (excluding those where the customer has requested an alternative date))”.

Following completion of the needs assessment, both suppliers are required to return the needs assessment report to SLC for review within 5 workings days, as stipulated by KPI 3, “Minimum of 95% of NARs made available to SLC within 5 working days of when needs assessments undertaken (excluding those where the customer has requested to review the needs assessment report)”. It is currently taking suppliers on average 14 days to return the needs assessment report to SLC. The needs assessment is then reviewed by SLC, following which confirmation of entitlement is communicated to the customer on the DSA2 letter. It is currently taking SLC 10 working days to complete this stage of the journey, as noted on the GOV.UK page under the heading “a Needs Assessment report”.

Information on the suppliers’ performance against their KPIs is published online on a quarterly basis here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/ds. The next update will be published at the end of February.

All students applying for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) are required to have a needs assessment. This means that assistive software for spelling and grammar support has only been awarded when recommended in a needs assessment and agreed by SLC.

Data on the number of students awarded specific assistive software for spelling and grammar support through DSA for the time periods specified in the question is not immediately available, but in the 2023 calendar year this was around 36,000.

A list of the assistive software products for spelling and grammar support that have previously been awarded through DSA is published online here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/exchange-blog/2017/april/dsa-product-review-process/. This list is for administrative purposes only. Products that are not on the list can also be funded through DSA if they are recommended by a needs assessor and agreed by SLC. Overall, agreed spend on spelling and grammar software through DSA is in the region of £4.5 million to £5 million annually. The total spend on each software product within that varies, as it depends on which products are recommended by needs assessors as being most suitable for students’ needs. As an illustration, in the 2023 calendar year, around 80% of total spend was on non-specialist grammar and spelling products, with Grammarly Premium making up 53% of total spend and Global Autocorrect 24% of total spend. Around 20% of total spend was on specialist grammar and spelling products for specific subject areas such as medicine and law, with Medincle products making up 16% of total spend.

Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
25th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many social media accounts her Department operates; and how much her Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact.

Social media is an essential part of government communications and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests.

DfT operates 23 separate social media accounts, and in the last three years it has spent £201.60 on social media subscriptions.

The table below shows how much DfT have spent advertising on social media platforms for each of the last 3 calendar years for public behaviour change campaigns predominantly on road safety and accessibility.

Year

META PLATFORMS IRELAND LIMITED

PINTEREST EUROPE LTD

REDDIT INC

SNAP GROUP LIMITED

TWITTER UK LTD

Total

2021

£661,232

£46,481

£15,927

£149,184

£195,613

£1,068,437

2022

£485,431

£4,642

£54,707

£311,344

£200,741

£1,056,865

2023

£311,333

£2,101

£101,775

£215,300

£41,448

£671,957

2024

£276,223

£158,849

£207,426

£0

£642,498

Total

£1,734,219

£53,224

£331,258

£883,254

£437,802

£3,439,757

Mike Kane
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
24th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many social media accounts her Department operates; and how much her Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

There are a total of 80 social media accounts that are operated across the department. A full list of handles can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-registered-twitter-accounts/dwp-official-twitter-accounts

There are currently no paid for subscriptions to any of these services.

Spending on social media advertising for the last three years is outlined below. This does not include cross-government campaign costs which cannot be disaggregated between Departments:

2022

2023

2024

Totals

LinkedIn

£188,679

£0

£14,381

£203,060

Meta

£1,120,584

£1,556,910

£972,889

£3,650,383

NextDoor

£0

£92,338

£49,225

£141,563

Pinterest

£23,156

£193,854

£117,860

£334,870

Reddit

£0

£0

£38,985

£38,985

Snapchat

£175,414

£60,000

£285,419

£520,833

Twitter

£213,905

£128,584

£0

£342,489

£1,721,738

£2,031,686

£1,478,759

£5,232,183

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
24th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many social media accounts his Department operates; and how much his Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Department operates 25 social media accounts in total. Of these, seven are Department-branded accounts, including two specifically focused on adult social care recruitment. The remaining 18 accounts are operated by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) and are branded according to specific public health campaigns, such as Better Health, Start for Life, Couch to 5K, and FRANK. These accounts operate across various platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Strava.

In terms of social media subscriptions, the Department maintains one premium subscription on X for social listening purposes.

The following table shows the Department's social media advertising spend across platforms for the last three financial years:

Platform

2021/22 (£)

2022/23 (£)

2023/24 (£)

Meta

2,887,477

1,461,522

1,475,286

LinkedIn

790

22,459

7,739

Nextdoor

N/A

N/A

129,908

Pinterest

341,329

116,299

140,685

Snapchat

369,188

450,694

543,388

Twitter

N/A

N/A

N/A

Reddit

N/A

N/A

158,626

Total

3,598,784

2,050,974

2,455,632

Source: Department of Health and Social Care

Note: These figures include spending across Departmental and OHID accounts. Some advertisements were run from NHS England accounts but were funded by the Department/OHID. YouTube advertising spend is not included as this is categorised as online video rather than social media advertising.

Karin Smyth
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
21st Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, of the total additional elective operations statistics published by NHS England on 16 February 2025, how many were performed by treatment function by each (a) NHS Trust and (b) NHS Region.

The information is not held in the format requested.

Karin Smyth
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
21st Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, of the total additional outpatient appointments statistics published by NHS England on 16 February 2025, how many were performed by treatment function by each (a) NHS Trust and (b) NHS Region.

The information is not held in the format requested.

Karin Smyth
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
21st Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, of the total additional diagnostic tests statistics published by NHS England on 16 February 2025, how many were performed by treatment function by each (a) NHS Trust and (b) NHS Region.

The information is not held in the format requested.

Karin Smyth
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many FTE GPs at each (a) main practice and (b) branch surgery in Calder Valley constituency were (i) fully qualified and (ii) in training grades in May 2010.

The following table shows the number of fully qualified and training grade Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) general practitioners (GPs) at each main practice in the Calder Valley constituency, in December 2024:

Practice name

Fully qualified FTE GPs

Training grade FTE GPs

Rydings Hall Surgery

4.3

1.9

Hebden Bridge Group Practice

10.4

2.1

Todmorden Group Practice

7.0

0.5

Brig Royd Surgery

6.5

2.1

The Northolme Practice

6.0

4.9

Stainland Road Medical Centre

5.6

4.1

Church Lane Surgery

3.9

3.6

Rastrick Health Centre

2.0

4.3

Bankfield Surgery

4.2

1.5

Longroyde Surgery

2.2

0.0

Notes:

  1. practices in Calder Valley were identified using the practice postcode and the National Statistics Postcode Lookup;
  2. data does not include estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid staff records;
  3. figures shown do not include staff working in prisons, army bases, educational establishments, specialist care centres, including drug rehabilitation centres, walk-in centres, and other alternative settings outside of traditional GPs, such as urgent treatment centres and minor injury units; and
  4. FTE refers to the proportion of full time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work, so 1 would indicate they work a full set of 37.5 hours, and 0.5 that they worked half that time. In training grade FTE GP contracts, 1 FTE equals 40 hours, and in this table, these FTEs have been converted to the standard Workforce Minimum Data Set measure of 1 FTE equalling 37.5 hours for consistency.

The data requested is not broken down by branch surgery, and the data for 2010 is not held centrally.

Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to review the Care Quality Commission Fundamental Standard on Visiting and Accompanying to include (a) data on and (b) experiences of family and friends visiting vulnerable people in health and social care settings.

The Care Quality Commission Fundamental Standard on Visiting and Accompanying (Regulation 9A) came into force on 6 April 2024 to strengthen the requirements for health and care providers to facilitate visiting, including during pandemics, as long as it is safe to do so. Visiting is essential to supporting the health and wellbeing of patients and residents, and enabling loved ones to provide support and advocacy.

We continue to monitor the situation regarding visiting through Capacity Tracker data and intelligence from external partners. We will conduct a review of Regulation 9A from April 2025, 12 months on from the legislation coming into force, to assess whether the legislation has been effective in addressing concerns about visiting in health and care settings. In conducting the review, we will draw on a wide range of evidence, including data, intelligence, and the perspectives of people and organisations with an interest.

Depending on the outcome of the review we will consider whether further action is needed.

Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Regulation 9A of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 in protecting the physical health of vulnerable people in health and social care settings during pandemic disease outbreaks.

The Care Quality Commission Fundamental Standard on Visiting and Accompanying (Regulation 9A) came into force on 6 April 2024 to strengthen the requirements for health and care providers to facilitate visiting, including during pandemics, as long as it is safe to do so. Visiting is essential to supporting the health and wellbeing of patients and residents, and enabling loved ones to provide support and advocacy.

We continue to monitor the situation regarding visiting through Capacity Tracker data and intelligence from external partners. We will conduct a review of Regulation 9A from April 2025, 12 months on from the legislation coming into force, to assess whether the legislation has been effective in addressing concerns about visiting in health and care settings. In conducting the review, we will draw on a wide range of evidence, including data, intelligence, and the perspectives of people and organisations with an interest.

Depending on the outcome of the review we will consider whether further action is needed.

Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Regulation 9A of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 in protecting the mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable people in health and social care settings during pandemic disease outbreaks.

The Care Quality Commission Fundamental Standard on Visiting and Accompanying (Regulation 9A) came into force on 6 April 2024 to strengthen the requirements for health and care providers to facilitate visiting, including during pandemics, as long as it is safe to do so. Visiting is essential to supporting the health and wellbeing of patients and residents, and enabling loved ones to provide support and advocacy.

We continue to monitor the situation regarding visiting through Capacity Tracker data and intelligence from external partners. We will conduct a review of Regulation 9A from April 2025, 12 months on from the legislation coming into force, to assess whether the legislation has been effective in addressing concerns about visiting in health and care settings. In conducting the review, we will draw on a wide range of evidence, including data, intelligence, and the perspectives of people and organisations with an interest.

Depending on the outcome of the review we will consider whether further action is needed.

Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential risk of introducing a legal right for vulnerable people in health and social care settings to be visited by close family members during (a) pandemic disease outbreaks and (b) other healthcare crises.

The Care Quality Commission Fundamental Standard on Visiting and Accompanying (Regulation 9A) came into force on 6 April 2024 to strengthen the requirements for health and care providers to facilitate visiting, including during pandemics, as long as it is safe to do so. Visiting is essential to supporting the health and wellbeing of patients and residents, and enabling loved ones to provide support and advocacy.

We continue to monitor the situation regarding visiting through Capacity Tracker data and intelligence from external partners. We will conduct a review of Regulation 9A from April 2025, 12 months on from the legislation coming into force, to assess whether the legislation has been effective in addressing concerns about visiting in health and care settings. In conducting the review, we will draw on a wide range of evidence, including data, intelligence, and the perspectives of people and organisations with an interest.

Depending on the outcome of the review we will consider whether further action is needed.

Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had on Regulation 9A of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 with (a) Non-Departmental Public Bodies of his Department, (b) Government Executive Agencies, (c) Care Rights UK and (d) other external stakeholders.

The Care Quality Commission Fundamental Standard on Visiting and Accompanying (Regulation 9A) came into force on 6 April 2024 to strengthen the requirements for health and care providers to facilitate visiting, including during pandemics, as long as it is safe to do so. Visiting is essential to supporting the health and wellbeing of patients and residents, and enabling loved ones to provide support and advocacy.

We continue to monitor the situation regarding visiting through Capacity Tracker data and intelligence from external partners. We will conduct a review of Regulation 9A from April 2025, 12 months on from the legislation coming into force, to assess whether the legislation has been effective in addressing concerns about visiting in health and care settings. In conducting the review, we will draw on a wide range of evidence, including data, intelligence, and the perspectives of people and organisations with an interest.

Depending on the outcome of the review we will consider whether further action is needed.

Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to strengthen the visitation rights of family and friends of vulnerable people in health and social care settings to provide (a) emotional support and (b) advocacy.

The Care Quality Commission Fundamental Standard on Visiting and Accompanying (Regulation 9A) came into force on 6 April 2024 to strengthen the requirements for health and care providers to facilitate visiting, including during pandemics, as long as it is safe to do so. Visiting is essential to supporting the health and wellbeing of patients and residents, and enabling loved ones to provide support and advocacy.

We continue to monitor the situation regarding visiting through Capacity Tracker data and intelligence from external partners. We will conduct a review of Regulation 9A from April 2025, 12 months on from the legislation coming into force, to assess whether the legislation has been effective in addressing concerns about visiting in health and care settings. In conducting the review, we will draw on a wide range of evidence, including data, intelligence, and the perspectives of people and organisations with an interest.

Depending on the outcome of the review we will consider whether further action is needed.

Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many FTE GPs at each (a) main practice and (b) branch surgery in Calder Valley constituency were (i) fully qualified and (ii) in training grades in December 2024.

The following table shows the number of fully qualified and training grade Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) general practitioners (GPs) at each main practice in the Calder Valley constituency, in December 2024:

Practice name

Fully qualified FTE GPs

Training grade FTE GPs

Rydings Hall Surgery

4.3

1.9

Hebden Bridge Group Practice

10.4

2.1

Todmorden Group Practice

7.0

0.5

Brig Royd Surgery

6.5

2.1

The Northolme Practice

6.0

4.9

Stainland Road Medical Centre

5.6

4.1

Church Lane Surgery

3.9

3.6

Rastrick Health Centre

2.0

4.3

Bankfield Surgery

4.2

1.5

Longroyde Surgery

2.2

0.0

Notes:

  1. practices in Calder Valley were identified using the practice postcode and the National Statistics Postcode Lookup;
  2. data does not include estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid staff records;
  3. figures shown do not include staff working in prisons, army bases, educational establishments, specialist care centres, including drug rehabilitation centres, walk-in centres, and other alternative settings outside of traditional GPs, such as urgent treatment centres and minor injury units; and
  4. FTE refers to the proportion of full time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work, so 1 would indicate they work a full set of 37.5 hours, and 0.5 that they worked half that time. In training grade FTE GP contracts, 1 FTE equals 40 hours, and in this table, these FTEs have been converted to the standard Workforce Minimum Data Set measure of 1 FTE equalling 37.5 hours for consistency.

The data requested is not broken down by branch surgery, and the data for 2010 is not held centrally.

Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
27th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients were registered at each (a) main practice and (b) branch surgery in Calder Valley constituency as of December 2024.

The following table shows the number of registered patients at each main general practice in the Calder Valley constituency as of December 2024:

Practice name

Total registered patients

Rydings Hall Surgery

7,873

Hebden Bridge Group Practice

18,541

Todmorden Group Practice

16,185

Brig Royd Surgery

10,677

The Northolme Practice

16,055

Stainland Road Medical Centre

11,562

Church Lane Surgery

11,106

Rastrick Health Centre

5,308

Bankfield Surgery

11,318

Longroyde Surgery

5,006

Source: General Practice Workforce, 30 December 2024, published by NHS England.

Notes:

  1. Practices in the Calder Valley constituency were identified using the practice postcode and the National Statistics Postcode Lookup.
  2. The data does not include the number of registered patients at branch practices as they will instead be registered under the main practice.

The Department does not hold data regarding how many patients were registered at main and branch practices in the Calder Valley constituency for 2010.

Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
20th Nov 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the total value of unused NHS estate per region.

NHS England collects data on the potential value of surplus land on a national, not regional, basis.

Quarter 4 of the National Health Service’s 2023/24 annual report on surplus land showed that 128 plots of land were surplus, with the landowner actively seeking to dispose of the plot, whilst 199 plots were classified as potentially surplus, meaning the plot could be declared surplus by the landowner subject to identified issues or constraints being resolved. The estimated sales receipt for surplus or potentially surplus land stands at £830 million, but the investment required to unlock this potential would be £1.8 billion. Further details on NHS surplus land are available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-surplus-land/quarter-4-2023-24.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 October 2024 to Question 8599 for the information held on the cost of unoccupied whole sites. NHS England’s definition of unoccupied sites covers empty spaces, those not in use, and those closed awaiting disposal, and includes hospitals, health centres, mental health hubs, stores and warehouses, and administrative buildings.

Karin Smyth
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
10th Oct 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of maintaining unused NHS (a) buildings, (b) parts of buildings and (c) other spaces in each of the last five years.

The following table shows data that NHS England has collected and published on occupancy costs, the total expenses associated with occupying and operating buildings, including finance costs, hard and soft facilities management costs, and other management costs, for unoccupied National Health Service sites since 2021/22:

Financial Year

Number of Sites Unoccupied

Occupancy Cost Incurred

2021/22

18

£2,740,553

2022/23

23

£3,468,536

2023/24

27

£4,350,825

Source: NHS England

Note: NHS England does not hold pre-2021 data and is unable to allocate occupancy costs to parts of unused buildings or spaces. As such the above data represents only unoccupied whole sites. The NHS ENgland definition of unoccupied sites covers empty spaces, those not in use, and those closed awaiting disposal, and includes hospitals, health centres, mental health hubs, stores and warehouses, and administrative buildings.

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future. This means not only upgrading but better utilising infrastructure across the entire NHS estate to reduce vacant or unused spaces and their associated costs over time.

Karin Smyth
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
3rd Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many social media accounts their Department operates; and how much their Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact.

Social media is an essential part of government communication and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) central communication team operates 15 active social media accounts for the department including foreign language and travel advice. We will spend £293.77 on subscription to X Premium+ in 2025. We report no spend on social media subscriptions in the preceding two years.

The below table captures social media advertising spend in support of key campaigns run by the FCDO central communication team from 2022 - 2025, broken down by platform.

Year

Meta

LinkedIn

Snapchat

YouTube

Reddit

Pinterest

Total

2022

£7,588.16

£7,588.16

2023

£129,940.59

£22,554.69

£102,625.31

£23,970.91

£59,940.06

£339,031.55

2024

£983,847.59

£717,368.33

£39,331.73

£52,648.02

£9,989.19

£9,990.01

£1,813,174.88

2025

£123,000.00

£111,999.76

£234,999.76

Total

£1,244,376.34

£851,922.78

£141,957.05

£76,618.92

£9,989.19

£69,930.07

£2,394,794.35

Our global network operates their own social media accounts, subscriptions and advertising locally to support bilateral relationships and international delivery of the Government's missions. Some FCDO policy teams also use social media to engage their audiences.

Catherine West
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
3rd Mar 2025
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many social media accounts her Department operates; and how much her Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

HM Treasury communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact.

Social media is an essential part of government communications and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests.

The department currently operates 6 social media accounts in total, on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Instagram and Discord.

HM Treasury has spent £0 on advertisements on social media platforms in each of the last three years.

HM Treasury has a recruiter licence/subscription with LinkedIn which cost £14,800 in the Financial Year 2022-2023, £15,480 in the Financial Year 2023-2024 and £16,500 in the Financial Year 2024-2025.

James Murray
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
9th Sep 2024
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had recent discussions with HMRC on (a) industrial relations at the Benton Park View office in Newcastle and (b) the appropriate use of disciplinary practices in that office.

HMRC has clear policies and processes on conduct which ensure all staff are treated fairly. HMRC is aware that, as Ministers, we value the role of the trade unions in the workplace.

James Murray
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
3rd Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many social media accounts her Department operates; and how much her Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

Government policies and programmes affect the lives of millions of people and in order for them to work, they must be communicated effectively to engage the public and effect positive behaviour change. However, this has to be done with cost efficiency in mind and there are strict rules to ensure value for money on Government advertising.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact. Social media is an essential part of government communications and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests.

The Home office operates the following social media accounts X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin. There are no paid subscriptions linked with these accounts.

The table below sets out the amount the Home Office spent on advertising space on social media platforms over the last 3 years, exclusive of VAT. Advertising was purchased via media buying agency OmniGov.

Home Office

LinkedIn

Meta Platforms

Nextdoor

Pinterest

Reddit Inc.

Snapchat

Tiktok

X (Twitter)

Total

2022

£89,471

£1,196,046

£2,895

£130,995

£472,956

£461,964

£2,354,327

2023

£141,080

£14,784

£6,655

£86,350

£150,644

£48,996

£448,509

2024

£52,093

£260,666

£13,603

£10,381

£203,484

£88,374

£60,235

£688,836

Diana Johnson
Minister of State (Home Office)
19th Dec 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences involving agricultural crime were investigated in each year since 2010 in (a) England and Wales, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) Calderdale District.

Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities. That is why this Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council is expected to publish its next four-year Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy in April. We fully support the aims of the Strategy and are working closely with the NPCC, including to ensure wider Government priorities are reflected.

We are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 and support its intentions to tackle the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting.

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of offences and their investigative outcomes recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis. However, offences involving agricultural crime cannot be separately identified from the data held centrally.

NFU Mutual estimated that the total cost of agricultural vehicle theft claims in 2023 was £10.7 million. This estimate only includes costs of agricultural vehicle thefts where a subsequent claim was made through NFU Mutual.

Diana Johnson
Minister of State (Home Office)
19th Dec 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences involving agricultural crime resulted in (a) charges or summons, (b) evidential difficulties outcomes and (c) investigations completed but no suspects identified. in each year since 2010.

Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities. That is why this Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council is expected to publish its next four-year Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy in April. We fully support the aims of the Strategy and are working closely with the NPCC, including to ensure wider Government priorities are reflected.

We are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 and support its intentions to tackle the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting.

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of offences and their investigative outcomes recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis. However, offences involving agricultural crime cannot be separately identified from the data held centrally.

NFU Mutual estimated that the total cost of agricultural vehicle theft claims in 2023 was £10.7 million. This estimate only includes costs of agricultural vehicle thefts where a subsequent claim was made through NFU Mutual.

Diana Johnson
Minister of State (Home Office)
19th Dec 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the costs associated with the theft of agricultural vehicles in each year since 2010 in (a) cash terms and (b) 2024-25 real terms prices.

Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities. That is why this Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council is expected to publish its next four-year Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy in April. We fully support the aims of the Strategy and are working closely with the NPCC, including to ensure wider Government priorities are reflected.

We are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 and support its intentions to tackle the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting.

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of offences and their investigative outcomes recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis. However, offences involving agricultural crime cannot be separately identified from the data held centrally.

NFU Mutual estimated that the total cost of agricultural vehicle theft claims in 2023 was £10.7 million. This estimate only includes costs of agricultural vehicle thefts where a subsequent claim was made through NFU Mutual.

Diana Johnson
Minister of State (Home Office)
19th Dec 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had on updating the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Rural Crime Strategy to better prevent farm machinery, plant and vehicle theft when the current strategy expires in 2025.

Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities. That is why this Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council is expected to publish its next four-year Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy in April. We fully support the aims of the Strategy and are working closely with the NPCC, including to ensure wider Government priorities are reflected.

We are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 and support its intentions to tackle the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting.

The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of offences and their investigative outcomes recorded by the police in England and Wales on a quarterly basis. However, offences involving agricultural crime cannot be separately identified from the data held centrally.

NFU Mutual estimated that the total cost of agricultural vehicle theft claims in 2023 was £10.7 million. This estimate only includes costs of agricultural vehicle thefts where a subsequent claim was made through NFU Mutual.

Diana Johnson
Minister of State (Home Office)
24th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many social media accounts his Department operates; and how much his Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact. Social media is an essential part of government communications and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests. A full departmental response is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Social media accounts are managed locally across the various departments within the Ministrt of Defence (MOD). Any costs associated with social media platforms including advertisements are also managed within individual teams’ departmental budgets. A list of the main MOD social media accounts are published on Gov.UK via the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence/about/social-media-use.

Al Carns
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
3rd Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many social media accounts her Department operates; and how much her Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

a) MHCLG Communications operate four social media accounts for MHCLG. Comms do not hold any subscriptions for these accounts

b) The MHCLG Communications costs to date (excluding VAT) of advertising on each social media platform over the last 3 years:

2022/23:

Meta - £591,780.28

LinkedIn - £215,043.04

Twitter - £150,037.83

NextDoor - £35,132.37

2023/24:

Meta - £508,648.87

LinkedIn - £199,990.22

Reddit - £160,410.28

Nextdoor - £38,999.29

2024/25:

Meta: £220,533.63

LinkedIn - £493.83

Reddit - £92,056.91

NextDoor - £32,271.44

The total cost of the LinkedIn for recruitment for the years 2023-24 and 2024-25 was £42,034.80 (excluding VAT) per year. The cost includes a recruiter licence, 21 job slots, MHCLG LinkedIn Careers page and dashboard manager seats

Alex Norris
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
21st Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the cumulative level of debt held by local authorities in each of the last 15 years.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government collects data returns from local authorities including their borrowing and investment information. These returns are collated and published by MHCLG on gov.uk. There are various metrics by which debt can be measured. We have provided links to relevant information along with a summary what is available in each:

  • Borrowing and investment live tables - Live tables on local government finance - GOV.UK. This dataset shows all UK local authorities’ borrowing and investment on a quarterly basis. The data is split by each authority dating back to 2014. There is also an annual summary table which shows the cumulative balances on an annual basis.
  • Capital expenditure, receipts and financing - Local authority capital expenditure, receipts and financing - GOV.UK. This dataset is an annual return collected from English authorities only and dates back to 2000. These returns explain in more detail the expenditure of each authority and how these are financed, including each authority’s year end debt position, individually and in aggregate.

Other government departments including HMT and The Office of National Statistics provide their own datasets. One such example would be: LG: Local government gross debt - Office for National Statistics. This is not owned by MHCLG however does provide aggregate local government gross debt from 1966 to 2024.

Jim McMahon
Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
25th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many social media accounts her Department operates; and how much her Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact.

Social media is an essential part of Government communications and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests.

The Ministry of Justice Communications team oversees 33 social media accounts, for HQ and its executive agencies across various platforms as of 28 February 2025, we also support around 91 local Prison social media accounts across X and LinkedIn.

The Department's spending on social media platforms for the last three financial years is detailed below:

Social Media platforms

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

X

£69,765.00

£0.00

£0.00

Linked in

£119,616.73

£65,809.65

£150,846.07

YouTube

£0.00

£0.00

£19,957.00

Gaia

£0.00

£8,500.00

£26,472.10

GDN

£0.00

£463.00

£1,855.13

Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp Threads)

£420,388.00

£582,390.00

£1,138,059.44

Totals

£609,769.73

£657,162.65

£1,337,189.74

Across our Various digital subscription services, our departmental spend, broken down by year is:

FY2021/22 - £101,225

FY2022/23 - £103,636

FY2023/24 - £165,991*

* 2023/24 the Department started managing 91 local prison X accounts.

Nicholas Dakin
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
3rd Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many social media accounts his Department operates; and how much his Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Government communicates across a range of media channels in order to reach its target audience effectively. Channels are selected based on whether they will reach the intended audience on a specific issue to have the most impact.

Social media is an essential part of government communications and is used to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests.

The Northern Ireland Office operates four social media accounts. In the last three years, no budget has been spent on subscriptions to social media sites. In 2023, the department spent £9,866.43 on display advertisements across social media platforms. This was part of a broader marketing campaign to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Hilary Benn
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
3rd Mar 2025
To ask the Leader of the House, how many social media accounts her Department operates; and how much her Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the response provided by the Cabinet Office (35133).

The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons currently operates three social media accounts, with no subscription or advertisement cost.

Lucy Powell
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
3rd Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many social media accounts his Department operates; and how much his Department spent on social media (a) subscriptions and (b) advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years.

The Scotland Office operates 6 social media accounts across X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and Threads. It does not have any paid social media subscriptions.

The amount spent on advertisements on each social media platform in each of the last three years was:

Year

Channel

Amount

2022/3

Facebook/ Instagram

£49,893

2023/4

Facebook/ Instagram

£17,725

2024/5 (to date)

Facebook/ Instagram

£4,019

Ian Murray
Secretary of State for Scotland