Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

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

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

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential risk of infectious diseases from immigrants who arrive illegally on boats.

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

The UK Health Security Agency routinely monitors infectious disease risk across England and manages any public health action required following notification of infectious diseases.

The Migrant Health Guide recommends that all new arrivals to the United Kingdom, including people seeking asylum, should have access to an initial health assessment, which includes infectious disease screening and routine vaccine catch-up. The guide is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migrant-health-guide

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

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

The Department for Business and Trade does not routinely record the costs for translation of documents into other languages separately from other translation and interpretation costs. We can confirm the Department for Business and Trade spent £14,085.54 on translating documents into other languages from April 2023 - July 2025. Other expenses may be excluded from this as they are not recorded at this level of detail.

As the department for economic growth, we support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. DBT employs teams based in priority markets around the world and those teams often use local language skills to help UK businesses access opportunities to export their goods and services globally. Likewise, they will use local language skills to promote the UK to a global audience, and in particular to attract high value investment to the UK.

Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

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

The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users for whom English is not their first language and those who require visual and tactile services, under the provision of the Equality Act.

Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

In FY 23/24 the total contracted spend was £915,037.52.

In FY 24/25 the total contracted spend was £1,003,283.32.

In FY 25/26 so far, the total contracted spend is £256,707.82.

The languages in this data exclude written translations into English, Welsh and Braille.

The languages translated into from English (United Kingdom) are:

Albanian (Albania)

Amharic (Ethiopia)

Arabic (Classical)

Arabic (Egypt)

Arabic (Modern Standard) Middle Eastern

Arabic (Modern Standard) North African

Arabic (Morocco)

Armenian (Armenia)

Bangla (Bangladesh)

Bosnian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Bulgarian (Bulgaria)

Burmese

Burmese (Myanmar)

Catalan (Catalan)

Chinese (Simplified)

Chinese (Traditional)

Croatian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Czech (Czech Republic)

Danish (Denmark)

Dari (Afghanistan)

Dutch (Netherlands)

Estonian (Estonia)

Filipino (Philippines)

Finnish (Finland)

French (Belgium)

French (France)

Georgian (Georgia)

German (Austria)

German (Germany)

Greek (Greece)

Gujarati (India)

Hebrew (Israel)

Hindi (India)

Hungarian (Hungary)

Icelandic (Iceland)

Indonesian (Indonesia)

Italian (Italy)

Japanese (Japan)

Kinyarwanda (Rwanda)

Kiswahili (Kenya)

Korean (Korea)

Kurdish (Bahdini)

Kurdish (Sorani)

Latvian (Latvia)

Lingala (Congo DRC)

Lithuanian (Lithuania)

Macedonian (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)

Malay (Malaysia)

Malayalam (India)

Maltese (Malta)

Mirpuri (Central Asia)

Mongolian (Cyrillic, Mongolia)

Nepali (Nepal)

Norwegian, Bokmål (Norway)

Norwegian, Nynorsk (Norway)

Oromo (Ethiopia)

PahariPotwari (Central Asia)

Pashto (Afghanistan)

Persian (Afghanistan)

Persian (Iran)

Polish (Poland)

Portuguese (Brazil)

Portuguese (Portugal)

Punjabi (India)

Punjabi (Pakistan)

Romanian (Romania)

Romany (Europe)

Russian (Russia)

Serbian (Cyrillic, Serbia)

Serbian (Latin, Serbia)

Shona (Latin, Zimbabwe)

Sinhala (Sri Lanka)

Slovak (Slovakia)

Slovenian (Slovenia)

Somali (Somalia)

Spanish (Argentina)

Spanish (Latin America)

Spanish (Mexico)

Spanish (Spain)

Swedish (Sweden)

Tajik (Cyrillic, Tajikistan)

Tamazight (Latin, Algeria)

Tamil (India)

Tetum (Timor)

Thai (Thailand)

Tigrinya (Eritrea)

Turkish (Turkey)

Ukranian (Ukraine)

Urdu (Islamic Republic of Pakistan)

Uzbek (Latin, Uzbekistan)

Vietnamese (Vietnam)

Wolof (Senegal)

Yoruba (Nigeria)

The Languages translated into from English (United States) are:

Arabic (Egypt)

Hungarian (Hungary)

Polish (Poland)

Romanian (Romania)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

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

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have awarded two contracts for the total value of £97,848.94 since 2023 on translating documents into languages other than English and other native UK languages.

These languages were: French, Korean, Arabic and Mandarin

These translation services related to research on AI and Large Language Models and the material was not published.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of levels of immigration on the availability of (a) social housing and (b) private rental housing stock over the next Parliament.

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

The government is determined to address the dire inheritance left by its predecessor and restore order to the asylum and immigration systems, delivering lower net migration.

The factors affecting supply and demand in the private rented sector are complex and difficult to disentangle. As well as demographic change, they include house prices, rent levels, taxation policy, interest rates, and the movement of tenants into homeownership and social rented housing. It is not possible to isolate the specific impact of each of these factors.

Eligibility for social housing is already tightly controlled. If a person’s visa means that they cannot access state benefits or local authority housing assistance, they are not eligible for an allocation of social housing. Migrants arriving in the UK on student or work visas are not eligible and nor are those who arrive in the country illegally with no leave to remain.

The most sustainable long-term method to improve housing availability and affordability is to increase the supply of housing. That is why the government’s Plan for Change includes a hugely ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

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

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not record this data in a way in which we can determine what proportion of the spend on translation services was for translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

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

The Department has spent £212,027.69 on translation services since 2023 (this covers the period from 1st January 2023 to 18 July 2025). The table below outlines the split of costs by calendar year.

It should be noted that information is not held at the level requested.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMT cannot identify any costs relating to translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

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.

Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has considered the potential merits of requiring prisoners convicted for (a) murder, (b) rape and (c) terrorism offences to work in prison to repay legal aid.

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

Legal aid is not paid directly to the defendant. It is paid to lawyers and ensures defendants have a fair trial and can be punished for their crimes.

The Legal Aid Agency ensures public money is used efficiently by applying means and merits (the interests of justice test) tests, except where exempt by regulation, to all defendants before the magistrates’ and Crown courts, when they make an application for legal aid funding. Where a defendant’s income is above the minimum income threshold, they are required to pay contributions for up to six months during the case. If convicted, they may be required to pay contributions from their capital assets up to the full amount of their defence costs.

The Court of Appeal can also make ‘Recovery of Defence Costs Order’ after upholding a conviction to recover legal aid costs where the defendant has been assessed to have the financial means to do so.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to recommendation 8 of part 1 report of the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, published on 9 July 2025, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of adopting the recommendation on trends in the level of (a) theft and (b) drug dealing.

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

The Government will carefully consider Sir Brian’s recommendations in detail before setting out a full response to the report in the autumn.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was given in legal aid to foreign nationals accused of (a) murder, (b) rape and (c) terrorism offences in each of the last five years.

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

The requested information relating to legal aid expenditure in respect of specific criminal offences could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse was for legal aid for cases in relation to immigration offences in each of the last five years.

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

The requested information relating to legal aid expenditure in respect of specific criminal offences could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been given legal aid for cases in relation to immigration offences in each of the last five years.

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

The requested information relating to legal aid expenditure in respect of specific criminal offences could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will consider the potential merits of conducting a review of the legal aid policy.

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

The previous Government commissioned the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR), chaired by Lord Bellamy KC in 2021, to provide analysis of the criminal legal aid system and explore the ways in which the Government could support its long-term sustainability. This Government continues to keep the Review’s findings under consideration as we look at options for reform in the criminal legal aid sector.

On 19 December 2024, we announced that criminal legal aid solicitors will receive up to £92 million more a year, subject to consultation, to help address the ongoing challenges in the criminal justice system. The consultation for this has now closed. Additionally, in November 2024, we announced our response to the Crime Lower consultation, confirming an uplift to the lowest police station fees, introducing a new Youth Court fee scheme, and paying for travel in certain circumstances. Together, these changes amounted to a £24 million investment for criminal legal aid providers.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was given in legal aid to foreign nationals in each of the last five years.

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

Legal aid expenditure since 2010 is published as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s official statistics. The most recent publication can be viewed here [see table 1.0] and includes expenditure up to 31 March 2025.

Information about legal aid expenditure in respect of foreign nationals is not centrally recorded.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse was of legal aid in each of the last five years.

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

Legal aid expenditure since 2010 is published as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s official statistics. The most recent publication can be viewed here [see table 1.0] and includes expenditure up to 31 March 2025.

Information about legal aid expenditure in respect of foreign nationals is not centrally recorded.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting foreign nationals from being eligible for legal aid.

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

Decisions about who receives legal aid are made in accordance with the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and regulations made under that Act.

Anyone applying for legal aid in England and Wales is subject to strict eligibility criteria, and as a result, their legal issue must generally be in scope, and they must satisfy means and merit tests, unless specifically exempt by regulation.

Legal aid can play an important role in ensuring the smooth running of the courts, by providing timely advice to the individuals concerned, reducing the likelihood of delays and adjournments and helping to tackle court backlogs.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was given in legal aid to people accused of (a) murder, (b) rape and (c) terrorism offences in each of the last five years.

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

The requested information relating to legal aid expenditure in respect of specific criminal offences could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has considered the potential merits of a direct train service between stations on the Robin Hood Line and London.

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

There has been no consideration to East Midlands Railway providing a direct service between London and stations on the Robin Hood Line. However, the Department is happy to work with operators as they develop demand-led timetables that can adapt to passengers’ evolving needs, whilst also making the running of the railways financially sustainable, to ensure that taxpayers’ money is used in the most efficient way amid the current financial constraints.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

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

MHCLG has spent £76,995 on translating documents since 2023.

The languages that documents were translated into are: Amharic, Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Italian, Pashto, Portuguese, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve East-West connectivity (a) in the Midlands and (b) nationwide.

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

The first phase of Midlands Rail Hub (‘Western’ scope) would enable additional trains each hour between Birmingham and South Wales and the South West, and on Birmingham’s Cross City Line. This includes extending Chiltern services from Moor Street to Snow Hill station by improving connectivity across the region.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any convicted paedophiles have been released from prison through the early release scheme; and if she will make it her policy not to release convicted paedophiles through the early release scheme.

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

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe. On 10 September 2024, the Government therefore took the unavoidable step to move the release point for certain standard determinate sentences from 50% to 40% (‘SDS40’).

All sex offences including those committed against a child are automatically excluded from SDS40.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of deporting all foreign criminals currently in prison.

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

The removal of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) is an important priority of this Government. We refer all FNOs in receipt of custodial sentences to the Home Office to consider deportation and we are taking decisive steps to increase removals.

In the past year, 5,179 FNOs have been deported. This is a 14% increase in returns compared to the same period 12 months prior.

We have accepted the recommendations of the sentencing review to enable earlier deportation of FNOs. On 25 June 2025, we laid legislation to expand the Early Release Scheme to allow FNOs to be removed up to 4 years before the earliest release point of their sentence (increased from 18 months now), subject to having served 30% of the custodial element of their sentence (allowing earlier removal compared to the 50% minimum time needed to serve now). This is estimated to further increase deportations and reduce demand by up to 500 prison places per year.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what meetings she has had with the victims of people released from prison through the early release scheme.

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

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We have had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe. SDS40 was a necessary measure introduced to relieve pressure on the prison estate. This involved changes to some offender’s automatic release dates.

In designing SDS40, we carefully considered the impact on victims and public safety, ensuring that the most serious offenders were excluded from the scheme. The implementation of SDS40 was considered at a victim support sector roundtable, and then subsequently through meetings with a sector engagement group, which included a broad range of victims’ groups and representatives. We also published an explanation of the policy on GOV.UK and provided victim support organisations with frequently asked questions and answers to support them when engaging with victims who may be affected by the measure. Ministers regularly meet with victims and engage with the victims’ sector to inform relevant areas of policy.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

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

The total cost incurred by the department in providing translation services from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, other than English and languages native to the UK, is £16,594.18 and these are broken down as follows:

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 Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans he has to meet with his counterparts in (a) the EU and (b) Spain to discuss the status of Gibraltar.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We have no plans to meet with the EU, Spain, or any other party to discuss the status of Gibraltar. This Government is fully committed to the double lock: we will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another State against their freely and democratically expressed wishes. And we will never enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content. The Foreign Secretary and I continue, side by side with the Government of Gibraltar, to work with the EU and Spain to finalise a Treaty governing Gibraltar's relationship with the EU. Political agreement, including on a clause which safeguards Gibraltar's sovereignty, was reached on 11 June and all sides are working together to finalise the Treaty as soon as possible.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

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

There has been no expenditure by the Department on translating documents into any languages other than English and other languages native to the United Kingdom since 2023.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

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

The amount of expenditure recorded for translation services in the 2023/24 financial year, which runs from 1 April to 31 March, is £1,699.13. For the 2024/25 financial year, the provisional expenditure is £2,703.84.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Iranian irregular migrants are currently being housed in hotel accommodation.

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

The Home Office publishes data on a quarterly basis on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation. The data, which can be broken down by nationality, UK region and accommodation type, is located within Asy_D09 tab of the Immigration statistics data tables - Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on where Iranian migrants are being housed in asylum hotels.

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

The Home Office publishes data on a quarterly basis on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation. The data, which can be broken down by nationality, UK region and accommodation type, is located within Asy_D09 tab of the Immigration statistics data tables - Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle antisocial drug smoking.

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

Tackling anti-social behaviour, including drug misuse, is a top priority for this Government and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission.

That’s why we have committed to recruiting an additional 13,000 neighbourhood police officers and community support officers by the end of the Parliament and will ensure that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong. It is unlawful to possess or supply controlled drugs without a Home Office licence and we expect the police to enforce the law.

The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other relevant agencies with a range of flexible tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to all forms of anti-social behaviour, including drug misuse.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his department holds on how much health tourism has cost the NHS in each of the last 5 years.

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

The Department does not currently hold data on the overall cost to the National Health Service of treating complications arising from procedures carried out overseas. However, we are actively exploring ways to better understand the scale and impact of these costs on NHS services.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve exam results for children with dyslexia.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

I refer the hon. member for Ashfield to the answer of 1 August 2025 to Question 61402.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is providing to children with dyslexia.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

I refer the hon. member for Ashfield to the answer of 1 August 2025 to Question 61402.