Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what is the expectation for the office attendance rate of Land Registry staff to attend the office; and what are the addresses of each office of the Land Registry.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
HM Land Registry operates a hybrid working model in line with standard practice across the Civil Service.
All staff are contracted to work from one of their 14 registered offices and are expected to spend at least 60% of their time on average (100% for colleagues undergoing training) working in an office.
HM Land Registry office addresses are published on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much Homes England has spent on public affairs services provided by Lexington since July 2024; and for what purposes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homes England has not incurred any expenditure on public affairs services provided by Lexington since July 2024.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2026, to Question 32857, on European Social Fund, if he will set out the detailed rationale for each of the financial correction made against the Education and Skills Funding Agency.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The European Social Fund (ESF) was a European Union funding programme which supported employment, skills and social inclusion. In England, the 2014-2020 Programme provided funding to help people into work, improve workforce skills and support those facing barriers to employment.
In the final accounting period (2023-24) of the European Social Fund (ESF) England 2014-2020 Programme, 1,047 financial corrections were made in respect of irregular expenditure, totalling approximately £13.5 million. The majority of corrections were recovered to the UK Government from the grant recipient's next claim and where this was not possible it was repaid via demand note.
This response addresses both questions concerning European Social Fund (ESF) financial corrections.
The breakdown of corrections for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is set out in the attached annex. DWP was a co-financing organisation, providing national match funding alongside European Union funding across multiple projects in England and the Isles of Scilly. DWP’s role as applicant and grant recipient was separate from that of the ESF Managing Authority designated by the European Commission. All eight corrections were self-reported corrections, and the majority were offset from the next claim.
The breakdown of corrections for the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) which at the time was an executive agency of the Department for Education is set out in the attached annex. ESFA was another co-financing organisation for ESF, providing national “match” funding across multiple projects in England and the Isles of Scilly. The ESFA corrections are a mix of self-reported adjustments (SDAs) and irregular expenditure identified on audit. The recovery of these corrections was either offset from the next claim or direct repayment (demand note).
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the Interdepartmental Liaison Group on Risk Assessment’s guidance on the precautionary principle.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
A copy can be found online at The National Archives here: Interdepartmental Liaison Group on Risk Assessment’s guidance on the precautionary principle.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2026 to Question 32857, on European Social Fund, what was the nature of the ineligible expenditure relating to his Department's financial correction of -£120,314.72; and what steps his Department took to recover the money.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The European Social Fund (ESF) was a European Union funding programme which supported employment, skills and social inclusion. In England, the 2014-2020 Programme provided funding to help people into work, improve workforce skills and support those facing barriers to employment.
In the final accounting period (2023-24) of the European Social Fund (ESF) England 2014-2020 Programme, 1,047 financial corrections were made in respect of irregular expenditure, totalling approximately £13.5 million. The majority of corrections were recovered to the UK Government from the grant recipient's next claim and where this was not possible it was repaid via demand note.
This response addresses both questions concerning European Social Fund (ESF) financial corrections.
The breakdown of corrections for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is set out in the attached annex. DWP was a co-financing organisation, providing national match funding alongside European Union funding across multiple projects in England and the Isles of Scilly. DWP’s role as applicant and grant recipient was separate from that of the ESF Managing Authority designated by the European Commission. All eight corrections were self-reported corrections, and the majority were offset from the next claim.
The breakdown of corrections for the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) which at the time was an executive agency of the Department for Education is set out in the attached annex. ESFA was another co-financing organisation for ESF, providing national “match” funding across multiple projects in England and the Isles of Scilly. The ESFA corrections are a mix of self-reported adjustments (SDAs) and irregular expenditure identified on audit. The recovery of these corrections was either offset from the next claim or direct repayment (demand note).
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Civil Service job vacancy, Senior Event Operations and Front of House Manager, No10 North, Reference 483705, how many jobs in total will be recruited for No10 North, on (a) the Civil Service jobs public website and (b) internal Civil Service and Departmental job websites.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Civil Service roles in No10 North are advertised in the usual way.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment has the Prime Minister made of the appropriateness of changing policies which have previously been endorsed through a nationwide referendum (a) with and (b) without a subsequent referendum.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answers by my Hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, during the Oral Statement, International Update, on 12 October 2026, Official Report, Columns 23-57.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2026 to Question 32857 on European Social Fund, what was the nature of the ineligible expenditure that led to his Department issuing a financial correction against the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The European Social Fund (ESF) was a European Union funding programme which supported employment, skills and social inclusion. In England, the 2014-2020 Programme provided funding to help people into work, improve workforce skills and support those facing barriers to employment.
In the final accounting period (2023-24) of the European Social Fund (ESF) England 2014-2020 Programme, 1,047 financial corrections were made in respect of irregular expenditure, totalling approximately £13.5 million. The majority of corrections were recovered to the UK Government from the grant recipient's next claim and where this was not possible it was repaid via demand note.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has authorised a payment to Oliver Robbins following the legal action initiated by the First Division Association.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The settlement with Sir Oliver was subject to normal HR processes within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), including the requirements set out in the Guidance on Public Sector Exit Payments.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Budget 2026 document, HC 726, October 2026, para 6.133, whether EU higher education students participating in Erasmus+ will be eligible for student loans; and what is the total budgeted cost of Erasmus+ in (a) 2026-27, (b) 2027-28 and (c) 2028-29.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Studying in the UK on Erasmus+ does not make EU students eligible for UK student finance support, including maintenance loans.
We have negotiated a 30% discount, securing participation for the 2027 programme year at a cost of approximately £570 million. The department will report the costs arising from our participation to Parliament, including costs related to the implementation of the programme, in its annual accounts.
No decision has been taken on UK participation from 2028 and therefore it would be inappropriate to score those costs at this stage.