Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Entrepreneurship Advisor role on small businesses.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Reducing barriers for business, entrepreneurs and investors is key to boosting economic growth and delivering the government’s Plan for Change.
Alex Depledge has been appointed as the government’s Entrepreneurship Advisor and brings extensive entrepreneurship experience, having successfully built several businesses from the ground up.
Over the coming months, Alex will advise the Chancellor on the government’s entrepreneurship landscape, focusing on addressing the key barriers faced by businesses seeking to start up and scale up in the UK. The impact of any policy decisions taken by the Chancellor as a result of this advice will be assessed in the usual way.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 49532 on NHS Low Income Scheme: Asylum, what the cost to the public purse has been of providing HC2 certificates to people seeking asylum since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not held in the format requested. HC2 certificates are generic and do not have categories such as student or asylum seeker attributed to them. The NHS Business Services Authority does not collect information on what category a patient using the HC2 belongs to for any of the National Health Service charges covered by the scheme. Therefore, it is not possible to calculate the cost to the public purse in terms of lost NHS charge revenue.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54430 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, how many people arriving in small boats have been found to have (a) convictions, (b) pending prosecutions and (c) wanted or missing reports since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office conducts mandatory identity and security checks on all small boat arrivals.
In line with the Refugee Convention, we will deny the benefits of protection status to those who commit particularly serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security.
Anyone convicted of a particularly serious crime resulting in a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, and are considered a danger to the UK, will be denied asylum and will be considered for removal from the UK. Those refused protection status who cannot be removed will be subject to regular review until they can be removed at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54430 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, how many and what proportion of people arriving by small boat undergo further checks on criminality.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office conducts mandatory identity and security checks on all small boat arrivals.
In line with the Refugee Convention, we will deny the benefits of protection status to those who commit particularly serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security.
Anyone convicted of a particularly serious crime resulting in a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, and are considered a danger to the UK, will be denied asylum and will be considered for removal from the UK. Those refused protection status who cannot be removed will be subject to regular review until they can be removed at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54430 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, what steps her Department is taking to remove small boat arrivals who fail criminality checks.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office conducts mandatory identity and security checks on all small boat arrivals.
In line with the Refugee Convention, we will deny the benefits of protection status to those who commit particularly serious crimes and are a danger to the community or those who are a threat to national security.
Anyone convicted of a particularly serious crime resulting in a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, and are considered a danger to the UK, will be denied asylum and will be considered for removal from the UK. Those refused protection status who cannot be removed will be subject to regular review until they can be removed at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's press release entitled, Transport Secretary acts to make thousands of extra driving tests available each month, published on 23 April 2025, whether the measures have been implemented.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since the announcement by the Secretary of State for Transport, 23 April 2025, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has:
As part of the measures announced, 23 April, DVSA also has:
Further information on these actions and progress of DVSA’s plan to reduce driving test waiting times, which was announced in December 2024, can be found on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the target for the number of banking hubs to be opened by the end of this Parliament.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets across the UK, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 230 hubs have been announced so far, and over 160 are already open.
The commitment to open 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament is not a limit. Cash Access UK will deploy a banking hub wherever LINK, the industry coordinating body responsible for making access to cash assessments following a community request or branch closure, suggests one is appropriate.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has considered deploying military assets to assist the Border Force in preventing illegal maritime entry into the UK.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Home Office is the lead Government Department responsible for border security and migration. It has established the Border Security Command to strengthen global partnerships and enhance the UK’s efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute people smugglers profiting from the dangerous movement of people across the channel. This continues to incorporate the lessons identified by Defence when it had primacy for migration operations in the channel, including the procurement and use of task-specific assets.
Defence assets are procured for Defence tasks and are therefore not optimised for the issue the hon. Member raises. These assets play a critical part in preserving UK maritime security through shadowing and monitoring warships transiting the UK Exclusive Economic Zone or territorial waters.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of diversity, equality and inclusion policies on recruitment to the armed forces.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The recruitment and retention of talented personnel to the Armed Forces is mission critical. We must draw from the broadest diversity of thought, skills, and background to ensure we continue to meet the threats we face and safeguard the security, stability, and prosperity of our nation. To do this, we are fostering an inclusive environment, enabling everyone, irrespective of background, to deliver our Defence outputs. Without fostering such an environment, we risk undermining our ability to attract people with valuable contributions to make. The Ministry of Defence is committed to fostering an inclusive environment to ensure that all can thrive when called upon in the most challenging warfighting scenarios.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the annual cost to the public purse for promoting diversity, equality and inclusion policies within the civil service.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Costs for equality, diversity and inclusion in the Civil Service have recently been published on Gov.uk. See the Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Review and Civil Service 2024/2025 External Expenditure on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.