Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants are registered under the Motability Scheme.

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

The Motability Scheme operates throughout the UK and is open to recipients of enhanced mobility Personal Independence Payment, higher rate mobility Disability Living Allowance, War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement and Armed Forces Independence Payment (including equivalent Scottish benefits).

We recently announced plans to make changes to eligibility for the Daily Living component of PIP.

In our Green Paper: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working we also set out our intention to carry out a longer-term review of the whole PIP assessment, working closely with stakeholders and those with lived experience.

Motability’s latest annual report shows that there are approximately 815,000 individuals participating in the Scheme.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has for future eligibility criteria for the Motability Scheme.

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

The Motability Scheme operates throughout the UK and is open to recipients of enhanced mobility Personal Independence Payment, higher rate mobility Disability Living Allowance, War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement and Armed Forces Independence Payment (including equivalent Scottish benefits).

We recently announced plans to make changes to eligibility for the Daily Living component of PIP.

In our Green Paper: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working we also set out our intention to carry out a longer-term review of the whole PIP assessment, working closely with stakeholders and those with lived experience.

Motability’s latest annual report shows that there are approximately 815,000 individuals participating in the Scheme.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total cost was of providing translation services in her Department in the last year.

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

The total spend on Translation Services by DFT in the last financial year (2023/24) is £74,575.16

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the total cost was of providing translation services in her Department in the last year.

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

DCMS does not hold information to the level of detail requested within its finance system or procurement system.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets her Department has for staff recruitment.

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

In 2018, the Home Office agreed a series of targets for the representatives of its workforce, which it intended to achieve by 2024. More information on these targets can be found here: Home Office workforce diversity statistics: 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets her Department has for staff recruitment.

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

The Department for Work and Pensions does not have specific targets for diversity, equality and inclusion in recruitment. Instead, the department looks to establish methods of recruitment that give all applicants a fair opportunity to succeed, based on merit. The department looks to build an organisation that is representative of the community that it serves that also fulfils all principles set by the Civil Service Commission.

The exception to this is a DWP ambition to fill 5% of AO/EO vacancies through Going Forward into Employment (GFiE) Life Chance Employment Schemes. This ambition of 5% is held across the whole Civil Service, in a scheme led by Cabinet Office, but is not a fixed target that must be met.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the total cost was of providing translation services in his Department in the last year.

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

This information is not held centrally.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets her Department has for staff recruitment.

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

The Department welcomes job applications from everyone, irrespective of background, identity, experience, or circumstance, and particularly those underrepresented in our workforce.

The Ministry of Justice as a whole does not have diversity staff recruitment targets.

HM Prison and Probation Service uses the proportion of people from ethnic minorities in the economically active population, according to the Labour Force Survey, as a comparator when examining the ethnic minority representation of its workforce and recruitment.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost was of providing translation services in her Department in the last year.

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

The total cost of providing translation services for financial year 24/25 (April 2024 – Feb 2025) was £2,598,485.36.

This figure is representative of the spend by HM Prison and Probation Service under its translation and transcription contract with an external provider.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the total cost was of providing translation services in his Department in the last year.

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

The total for procured translation services for DSIT Commercial last year was £97848.94.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total cost was of providing translation services in her Department in the last year.

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

In the last 12 months the total money spent on interpretation services was £8,496,578.37.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the total cost was of providing translation services in his Department in the last year.

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

We can confirm the Department for Business and Trade spent £53,491.37 on translation services from April 2024 – 25th March 2025.

As the department for economic growth, we support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. This figure includes providing translation services and also where the Department required translations or interpreters.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total cost was of providing translation services in her Department in the last year.

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

The total cost incurred by the department in providing translation services for the period 01/04/2024 to 25/03/2025 is £25,286.79. This is split between £24,820.60 for British sign language and braille support and £318.57 for other translation services.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to re-shore manufacturing.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Reshoring, alongside progressive key trade agreements, will be important of our national resilience, and we are determined to make the UK a prime location for globally competitive manufacturing.

The Industrial Strategy this spring will set out an ambitious long-term vision for UK manufacturing competitiveness and will detail how we intend to boost R&D, skills, and fast track adoption of new manufacturing technologies here in the UK.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost was of providing legal aid to asylum seekers in the last year.

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

Expenditure data for asylum seekers across all legal aid schemes is not held centrally.

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) does, however, publish information regarding legal aid expenditure as part of its official statistics on a quarterly basis, including the cost of legal aid provided in respect of asylum matters funded as Controlled Work. That information can be found at column G of table 5.3. Controlled Work covers the provision of legal advice regarding asylum matters and representation before the First Tier (Immigration and Asylum) Tribunal. The LAA also publishes information about the cost of Legal Representation pertaining to immigration and asylum matters (see tables 6.5 and 6.7).

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets her Department has for staff recruitment.

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

The department has diversity, equality and inclusion targets for Senior Civil Servants from ethnic minority backgrounds (13%) and staff with a disability (12%) only.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of jobs for newly qualified nurses in Nottinghamshire.

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

Decisions about the employment of newly qualified nurses in Nottinghamshire is a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level to ensure they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets her Department has for staff recruitment.

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

MHCLG do not have diversity, equality and inclusion recruitment targets. Our recruitment processes aim to attract a diverse range of applications, with a focus on parity with the economically active population in the places we work. The Economically Active Population (EAP) is published by the Office for National Statistics for the regions in the UK.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets his Department has for staff recruitment.

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

Whilst there are no Civil Service-level Diversity, Equality and Inclusion targets for staff recruitment, the Civil Service is committed to representing the diversity of the UK population. At a Departmental level, the Ministry of Defence has set a number of Levels of Ambition which, amongst other factors, aim to improve the diversity of our workforce by delivering the policy, process, cultural and behavioural changes required to maximise the talent of our people. We also have a target for civilian disability representation of 15.3 per cent by 2030.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets her Department has for staff recruitment.

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

In line with the wider Civil Service, DCMS does not have recruitment targets for EDI, but is committed to represent the diversity of the UK population.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets her Department has for staff recruitment.

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

All recruitment at the Department for Transport (DfT) is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. As such there are no diversity, equality and inclusion targets for recruitment in the Department.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets his Department has for staff recruitment.

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

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) follows the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles guiding fair and open appointments based on merit. We aspire to reflect the population we serve but there are no specific diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) targets for recruitment. As a Disability Confident Level 3 Leader the FCDO implements the Disability Confident Scheme across our recruitment campaigns meaning candidates in the scheme are guaranteed an interview if they meet the minimum criteria for the role. DEI in the Civil Service is an important lever to support the delivery of the Government's Plan for Change and wider Civil Service reform.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets her Department has for staff recruitment.

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

I refer the Hon Member to my response to his previous PQ 40631.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to use Eastwood Hall Hotel to accommodate irregular migrants.

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

As a matter of longstanding policy, the Home Office does not comment publicly on sites which may or may not be utilised to accommodate asylum seekers.

However, if a hotel has been identified for use as contingency accommodation, Home Office officials will write to the local authority Chief Executive and the constituency MP to inform them of any such plans.

It remains our absolute commitment to end the use of hotels over time, as part of our plans to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation.

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 prioritise disabled people on waiting lists for social housing.

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

Local authorities are responsible for designing and managing their own housing allocations policies to meet local need but have to do so within the legislative framework set by government.

As part of this, they are required to ensure they give ‘reasonable preference’ (priority) to people for medical or welfare reasons, which includes a physical or learning disability.

Allocations guidance also encourages local authorities to give additional preference to people who need to move urgently because of a sudden disability. Social housing allocations guidance can be found on gov.uk here.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many disabled people have been allocated council housing in Nottinghamshire since 27 March 2024.

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

The Department does not currently hold figures on allocated council housing since 27 March 2024.

However, the Department has begun collecting data for the 2024/25 financial year as part of our Social Housing Lettings in England statistical series and will publish the 2024/25 report in this series in November 2025 on gov.uk here.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets his Department has for staff recruitment.

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

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero values the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce. We internally monitor our departmental diversity data and seek to increase representation amongst under-represented groups, especially at more senior grades, with a focus on Women, Ethnic Minority and Disability. We do not set targets as part of our recruitment processes but ensure that our processes are fair and equitable.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets his Department has for staff recruitment.

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

Appointments to advertised vacancies in the Department for Business and Trade are made on the basis of fair recruitment open to all. The Department does not operate recruitment targets in relation to diversity, equality and inclusion. The Department does have an internally published Diversity and Inclusion plan that is focussed on embracing fairness for all.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps to reduce administrative requirements for local authorities handling the blue badge digital service.

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

The Blue Badge Digital Service offers a national online application and badge management facility through GOV.UK. Nearly 90% of all badge applications are now made through this service.

The Department for Transport runs a programme of continuous improvement to the digital service to make online badge applications quicker and easier for applicants and local authorities, including undertaking specific research and testing to identify innovative improvements to the online application process. The service also undergoes regular accessibility and assurance testing to guarantee compliance with the Government’s digital standards.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the accessibility of the blue badge digital service for applicants with disabilities.

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

The Blue Badge Digital Service offers a national online application and badge management facility through GOV.UK. Nearly 90% of all badge applications are now made through this service.

The Department for Transport runs a programme of continuous improvement to the digital service to make online badge applications quicker and easier for applicants and local authorities, including undertaking specific research and testing to identify innovative improvements to the online application process. The service also undergoes regular accessibility and assurance testing to guarantee compliance with the Government’s digital standards.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to reduce processing times for applications to the blue badge digital service.

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

The Blue Badge Digital Service offers a national online application and badge management facility through GOV.UK. Nearly 90% of all badge applications are now made through this service.

The Department for Transport runs a programme of continuous improvement to the digital service to make online badge applications quicker and easier for applicants and local authorities, including undertaking specific research and testing to identify innovative improvements to the online application process. The service also undergoes regular accessibility and assurance testing to guarantee compliance with the Government’s digital standards.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total cost was of providing translation services in his Department in the last year.

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

The Department uses external suppliers to meet its requirements for translation and interpretation services. In the 2024 calendar year, the cost to the Department was £16,833.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets his Department has for staff recruitment.

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

Defra complies with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles by ensuring that appointments to the Civil Service are made on the basis of merit following a fair and open competition.

There are four strategic Defra group equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) objectives for 2024-26. One of these objectives is to attract, empower and retain diverse talent. Defra does not have set targets for EDI in relation to recruitment. Defra seeks to draw on talent across all protected characteristics as well as geographical, social and career backgrounds, providing opportunities to build a workforce which is reflective of the communities we serve.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets her Department has for staff recruitment.

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

The Attorney General’s Office does not have a set target for diversity, equality and inclusion (EDI) for staff recruitment or representation. The AGO welcomes applications from those of all backgrounds.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets his Department has for staff recruitment.

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

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology does not currently have DEI recruitment targets.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets his Department has for staff recruitment.

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

The Department does not have any diversity, equality, or inclusion targets for recruitment. The Department does, however, aim to ensure that its staff are drawn from all walks of life and are representative of the public it serves.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support severely disabled people who cannot work.

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

The social security system will always be there for those who can’t work. As part of making changes to the payment rates in Universal Credit, we will ensure that those with the most severe, lifelong conditions who will never be able to work have their incomes protected.

For those who are affected by the new PIP eligibility changes, we are consulting on how best to support this group, including how to make sure health and eligible care needs are met.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the provision of healthcare jobs for British born medical graduates.

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

The Government is committed to growing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join our National Health Service.

Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual NHS employers. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

Internationally educated staff remain an important part of the workforce, and our Code of Practice for International Recruitment ensures stringent ethical standards when recruiting health and social care staff from overseas.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets his Department has for staff recruitment.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office has not set diversity, equality and inclusion targets for staff recruitment, but the Civil Service is committed to representing the diversity of the UK population.