Lord Hain

The number of small fire outbreaks in the Palace of Westminster each year from 2014 to 2024 are as follows:

The R&R Client Board published the strategic case for the R&R Programme in March 2024. This set out that three options for how to deliver the R&R works to the Palace (including full decant, continued presence and enhanced maintenance and improvement) will be developed in detail. This detailed work, which will include estimated costs and timescales as well as risks and mitigations for all three options, is expected to be presented to the Houses by the end of 2025 to enable an evidence-based decision on how best to restore the Palace.

Since 2004, His Majesty’s Government has established 21 non-statutory inquiries, 24 statutory inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005, and one inquiry under other legislation, on a broad range of subject matters. 30 of the total 46 inquiries have formally completed. Several of these statutory inquiries had previously been established as non-statutory inquiries or inquests.

The length of completed inquiries in this period ranges from 1 to 99 months, and published costs vary significantly from between £0.2m and £194m. The Cabinet Office does not centrally hold data on legal costs. Further information can be found on inquiry and departmental websites and in the National Archives.

On 17 December, the Government published its response to the independent report into Capture, committing to offer redress to affected postmasters. We will develop our proposals through engagement with postmasters and key stakeholders.

The Kroll report does not make conclusions on whether Capture led to unsafe convictions The scale of convictions relating to Capture is so far unknown and no convictions have been overturned by the courts to date. The Criminal Cases Review Commission and its Scottish equivalent are actively reviewing cases which have been submitted, and the Government expects Post Office Ltd to fully engage with any ongoing or future investigations into Capture.

On 17 December, the Government published its response to the independent report into Capture, committing to offer redress to affected postmasters. We will develop our proposals through engagement with postmasters and key stakeholders.

The Kroll report does not make conclusions on whether Capture led to unsafe convictions The scale of convictions relating to Capture is so far unknown and no convictions have been overturned by the courts to date. The Criminal Cases Review Commission and its Scottish equivalent are actively reviewing cases which have been submitted, and the Government expects Post Office Ltd to fully engage with any ongoing or future investigations into Capture.

On 17 December, the Government published its response to the independent report into Capture, committing to offer redress to affected postmasters. We will develop our proposals through engagement with postmasters and key stakeholders.

The Kroll report does not make conclusions on whether Capture led to unsafe convictions The scale of convictions relating to Capture is so far unknown and no convictions have been overturned by the courts to date. The Criminal Cases Review Commission and its Scottish equivalent are actively reviewing cases which have been submitted, and the Government expects Post Office Ltd to fully engage with any ongoing or future investigations into Capture.

The UK Government is responsible for rail infrastructure across England and Wales. Decisions on investment in rail infrastructure are taken to ensure that the railways are funded to operate safely and efficiently and in line with the strategic goals of the government.

From 2011/12 until 2023/24, the population of Wales represented, on average, 5.26% of the total population in England and Wales. For the same period, an average of 5.03% of the total investment on the conventional rail network in England and Wales (i.e. excluding HS2) was spent on rail infrastructure in Wales.

The table below shows the percentage in each year:

There are no specific regulations that govern the payment of Universal Credit (UC) to a prisoner upon release. They are treated like every other customer when they make a claim to UC. If they need urgent financial assistance when they have completed their online UC claim they can ask for a new claim advance payment which is offered to all new customers. There are provisions (Claims and Payments Regulations 2013) that allow prisoners to start to prepare their UC claim before their release, however the date of entitlement starts on the release date, and first payment is usually made around five weeks after the claim is made.

The UK has taken extensive action to limit energy revenues that are funding Russia's war. The UK prohibited the import of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in January 2023 and banned the export of energy related goods. In September 2024 we used new powers to sanction carriers transporting Russian LNG, followed by a second set of vessels in October. These carriers were shipping LNG from Russia's flagship Arctic LNG 2 project which has ceased production as a result of UK and partner sanctions. We are committed to working with partners, including the EU, to take further steps to constrain Russian revenue.

Heavy rail infrastructure is not devolved in Wales, hence the UK Government is responsible for spending on heavy rail infrastructure across England and Wales. The Government is committed to rail schemes in Wales, by providing funding for operations, maintenance and infrastructure, and enhancement schemes such as modernising Cardiff Central Station.

The approach to heavy rail infrastructure is consistent with the funding arrangements for other policy areas, such as the construction of prisons, where the UK Government is responsible for spending in Wales, as Justice is Reserved.

The Welsh Government is receiving at least 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in England. That translates into over £4 billion more in 2025-26.

At spending reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to changes in a department’s overall budget (at department-level) rather than to specific programmes like HS2 (at programme-level). It is for the devolved governments to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit and they are accountable to the devolved legislatures for their decisions.

The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding since the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023.

The Barnett formula will continue to apply as set out in the published Statement of Funding Policy.

The UK Government is responsible for much of the rail infrastructure in Wales, and therefore spends money on this infrastructure rather than funding the Welsh Government to do so through the Barnett formula. In line with this responsibility, the UK Government is currently delivering an ambitious programme to upgrade Welsh railways.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, rail infrastructure is a devolved responsibility, so the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive receive funding through Barnett formula. The Barnett formula is applied at fiscal events when UK Government departmental budgets are set rather than being applied when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.

The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023.

Overall, the devolved governments’ funding is at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK and the devolved governments can allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit.

The Home Office collects information on the number of religious hate crimes by targeted religion on a monthly basis from police forces in England and Wales. However, information is only available for 31 police forces, including the Metropolitan and Greater Manchester Police, for the time period asked about. The available data broken down by month from September 2023 to March 2024 are given in the table below:

The prison education curriculum enables prisoners to gain the skills they need to get employment on release. In addition to English, maths and vocational training we offer bespoke, local training via the Dynamic Purchasing System. We are developing other training through our Future Skills Programme in a variety of sectors, such as construction and hospitality with employers guaranteeing interviews to prisoners on completion of the course. Prisoners may also undertake other work placements during their sentence which prepares them for work on release. Some are within the prison setting e.g. prison kitchens, but prisoners in open prisons may also go out to work in a variety of sectors under Release on Temporary Licence conditions. We also work with the Department for Education who fund a ‘skills bootcamp’ to deliver training in skills needed to work in the rail industry alongside continuing to develop the opportunities for serving prisoners to undertake apprenticeships.

Prison Education delivered by HMPPS is underpinned by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, the Prison Rules 1999 and the Prison Education and Libraries Framework. The delivery of apprenticeships to prisoners is governed by the Apprenticeships (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2017. All aspects of education, skills and work are inspected by Ofsted alongside HMIP.

This Government is reducing reoffending by giving prison leavers the tools to move away from crime.

The latest available data for England and Wales shows that 37.0% of adults released from custody between April 2021 and March 2022 were proven to have reoffended within 12 months of release.

We do not currently measure reoffending rates for released prisoners receiving benefits, on training schemes for job placements or in work (although the latter will be featured in future publications of proven reoffending statistics, with the first due for release in October 2024).

We do, however, know from previous research that offenders who leave custody into employment are up to nine percentage points less likely to reoffend, and there is a similar percentage point reduction in reoffending for those who have engaged in any form of in-prison education.

This Government is reducing reoffending by giving prison leavers the tools to move away from crime.

The latest available data for England and Wales shows that 37.0% of adults released from custody between April 2021 and March 2022 were proven to have reoffended within 12 months of release.

We do not currently measure reoffending rates for released prisoners receiving benefits, on training schemes for job placements or in work (although the latter will be featured in future publications of proven reoffending statistics, with the first due for release in October 2024).

We do, however, know from previous research that offenders who leave custody into employment are up to nine percentage points less likely to reoffend, and there is a similar percentage point reduction in reoffending for those who have engaged in any form of in-prison education.

This Government is reducing reoffending by giving prison leavers the tools to move away from crime.

The latest available data for England and Wales shows that 37.0% of adults released from custody between April 2021 and March 2022 were proven to have reoffended within 12 months of release.

We do not currently measure reoffending rates for released prisoners receiving benefits, on training schemes for job placements or in work (although the latter will be featured in future publications of proven reoffending statistics, with the first due for release in October 2024).

We do, however, know from previous research that offenders who leave custody into employment are up to nine percentage points less likely to reoffend, and there is a similar percentage point reduction in reoffending for those who have engaged in any form of in-prison education.

This Government is reducing reoffending by giving prison leavers the tools to move away from crime.

The latest available data for England and Wales shows that 37.0% of adults released from custody between April 2021 and March 2022 were proven to have reoffended within 12 months of release.

We do not currently measure reoffending rates for released prisoners receiving benefits, on training schemes for job placements or in work (although the latter will be featured in future publications of proven reoffending statistics, with the first due for release in October 2024).

We do, however, know from previous research that offenders who leave custody into employment are up to nine percentage points less likely to reoffend, and there is a similar percentage point reduction in reoffending for those who have engaged in any form of in-prison education.