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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the mean size in hectares was of businesses ranked in the top 4% of SFI annual revenue payments by October 2025.

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

The mean size of a businesses ranked in the top 4% of Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) annual revenue payments as of October 2025 is 803 hectares.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total annual payments made to businesses under the SFI for actions SAM1, NUM1, IPM1 and HRW1 (broken down by individual action) were at 1 October 2025.

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

As of 1st October 2025, there were 32,405, Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements which included actions (C)SAM1, (C) NUM1, (C)HRW1 or (C)IPM1.

The number of agreements containing these actions and the value of these actions broken down by individual action are shown in the table below.

To Note: An Agreement can have multiple options so for example may have NUM1, SAM1 & IPM1 so may be counted multiple times under number of agreements in the table above.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as of 1st October 2025 how many SFI agreements included actions SAM1, NUM1, HRW1 and IPM1 broken down by individual action.

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

As of 1st October 2025, there were 32,405, Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements which included actions (C)SAM1, (C) NUM1, (C)HRW1 or (C)IPM1.

The number of agreements containing these actions and the value of these actions broken down by individual action are shown in the table below.

To Note: An Agreement can have multiple options so for example may have NUM1, SAM1 & IPM1 so may be counted multiple times under number of agreements in the table above.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the mean and median total income per business for the Sustainable Farming Incentive was in the year to October 2025.

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

Farm businesses can hold multiple Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements under the SFI scheme. As of October 2025, there were 44,474 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreements including SFI 23 and SFI 24. Over the full term of the agreement the mean value of these agreements was £57,000 and the median value of these agreements was £32,000.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to table SOPS 1.1 from the Department's 2024/5 Annual Report and Accounts, what categories of spending are covered by the total of £1,497,088,000 covering administration and programme expenditure in Section A - Department for Business and Trade (Departmental Expenditure Limits).

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The breakdown of Estimate line ‘A DBT – Department for Business and Trade (DEL)’ for RDEL outturn of £1,497,088,000 for 2024-25 is:

¹Difference between this figure and figure in SOPS due to rounding.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, for what reason (a) the number of staff and (b) staff costs have increased at the National Physical Laboratory since April 2017.

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

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is a Public Corporation owned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. NPL manages its staffing levels in response to demand for its services from UK Government, industry and academia, and in line with forecasted revenue.

Staffing numbers and costs at NPL have increased since 2017 because of increased demand from Government and industry to build national capability in measurement and standards, aligned with industry needs and emerging tech.

Staffing costs have also increased through annual pay awards, which is managed by NPL and takes account of Managing Public Money and public sector pay policy.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, for what reason (a) the number of staff and (b) staff costs have increased at the Information Commissioner's Office since April 2017.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is independent of government and sets its own staffing levels to meet its statutory duties. The ICO is funded primarily through the data protection fee and manages its resources in accordance with its regulatory obligations.

The volume and complexity of data protection work have increased significantly in recent years, including implementation of the UK GDPR and an expanded regulatory remit. To fulfil these responsibilities and respond to rising public and business demand, the ICO has required additional specialist capacity. Staffing costs have therefore increased in line with workforce growth and market rates for technical expertise, following the civil service pay guidance.

You can find more information about ICO’s staff number and costs in their annual reports, which can be viewed at: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/our-information/annual-reports/.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what reason (a) the number of staff and (b) staff costs have increased at the Competition and Markets Authority since April 2017.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Changes in staff numbers at the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) since 1 April 2017 have been affected by the expansion of its responsibilities in respect of competition enforcement and merger control following the UK’s departure from the EU; the introduction of new statutory functions and responsibilities, including under the UK Internal Market Act 2020, leading to the creation of the Office for the Internal Market and the Subsidy Advice Unit; and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which established the digital markets competition regime. These factors, together with the implementation of civil service pay awards, have also affected staff costs over this period.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what was the a) mean and b) median amount of housing support claimed by people in each local authority who were on i) Housing Benefit ii) the Housing Element of UC and iii) either Housing Benefit or the Housing Element of UC.

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

I) The information requested for Housing Benefit (HB) mean amounts are available on Stat-Xplore (link below).

II) Universal Credit (UC) is a single integrated benefit made up of different elements, such as Housing. Benefit units receive one combined monthly payment, and any deductions apply to the total award, not individual elements. Breakdowns of the UC Housing Element are available at national level in the Benefit Expenditure Tables (link below). However, the underlying data is not sufficient to produce these breakdowns at a sub-national level, such as local authorities. As a result, it is not possible to robustly estimate mean or median element of UC at a local authority level.

III) Due to data quality limitations that prevent calculation of (ii), it is not possible to estimate the population receiving either HB or the housing element of UC.

Stat-Xplore

Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Answer of 12 January 2026 to WPQ 101070, of the over 100,000 people that the Government estimates could benefit from mobility and partnership opportunities from Erasmus+ participation in 2027-8, how many he expects to be UK students.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Erasmus+ is open to learners, trainees and staff in higher education, further education, vocational education and training, schools, adult education, youth programmes and sport programmes. The department will have detailed information on the UK’s Erasmus+ beneficiaries after our first year of participation.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) convicted for a violence against the person offence and b) did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by year of conviction and number of previous occassions the offender has been convicted for a violence against the person offence.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The information requested is provided in the attached excel tables. These tables include data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on the number of offenders who were convicted of a specified offence but did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by the number of previous convictions for that specified offence.

This data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent judiciary. When deciding what sentence to impose, courts must consider the circumstances of the case, including the culpability of the offender, the harm they caused or intended to cause, and any aggravating and mitigating factors, in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines, developed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) convicted for burglary and b) did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by year of conviction and number of previous occasions the offender has been convicted for burglary.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The information requested is provided in the attached excel tables. These tables include data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on the number of offenders who were convicted of a specified offence but did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by the number of previous convictions for that specified offence.

This data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent judiciary. When deciding what sentence to impose, courts must consider the circumstances of the case, including the culpability of the offender, the harm they caused or intended to cause, and any aggravating and mitigating factors, in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines, developed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) convicted for robbery and b) did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by year of conviction and number of previous occasions the offender has been convicted for robbery.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The information requested is provided in the attached excel tables. These tables include data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on the number of offenders who were convicted of a specified offence but did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by the number of previous convictions for that specified offence.

This data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent judiciary. When deciding what sentence to impose, courts must consider the circumstances of the case, including the culpability of the offender, the harm they caused or intended to cause, and any aggravating and mitigating factors, in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines, developed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) convicted of theft and (b) did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by year of conviction and number of previous occasions the offender has been convicted for theft.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The information requested is provided in the attached excel tables. These tables include data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on the number of offenders who were convicted of a specified offence but did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by the number of previous convictions for that specified offence.

This data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent judiciary. When deciding what sentence to impose, courts must consider the circumstances of the case, including the culpability of the offender, the harm they caused or intended to cause, and any aggravating and mitigating factors, in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines, developed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) convicted for a sexual offence and (b) did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by year of conviction and number of previous occasions the offender has been convicted for sexual offences.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The information requested is provided in the attached excel tables. These tables include data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on the number of offenders who were convicted of a specified offence but did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by the number of previous convictions for that specified offence.

This data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent judiciary. When deciding what sentence to impose, courts must consider the circumstances of the case, including the culpability of the offender, the harm they caused or intended to cause, and any aggravating and mitigating factors, in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines, developed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the operation of the household benefit cap relies on manual administration; and how many people in his Department work on its administration.

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

The benefit cap is calculated automatically as part of the UC calculation on the UC administrative system and no manual processing is involved. A small number of households (340, as of August 2025) are capped via Housing Benefit (HB). The calculations relating to these capping decisions are completed by 1.6 FTE staff in post (SIP) within the department.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the (a) number of staff and (b) operating expenditure have increased at the Animal Plant Health Agency since April 2017.

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

The increase in expenditure is mainly due to variable costs for the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) response to exotic disease outbreaks, principally avian influenza.

When the UK left the EU, staff and costs increased in APHA to resource additional trade and border responsibilities including the management of Sevington which transferred from Defra to APHA in 2025.

APHA required additional operational resource to support the introduction of the new ‘green lane’ schemes, as part of the Windsor Framework in 2023, to simplify requirements for moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the (a) number of staff and (b) and operating expenditure have increased at the Environment Agency since April 2017.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The increase in both staffing levels and operating expenditure at the Environment Agency since April 2017 reflects the expansion of its responsibilities, operational activity, and its role in supporting the Government’s growth agenda. Staff numbers have grown to support increased flood and coastal erosion risk management, strengthened environmental regulation and enforcement, and delivery of additional functions following EU Exit.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people started apprenticeships who were aged a) 16, b) 17, c) 18, d) 19, e) 20, f) 21, g) 22, h) 23, i) 24 in each year since 2017-18.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Apprenticeship starts in England for the individual ages requested are available in the accompanying file.

Further information on apprenticeship starts can be found in the department’s apprenticeships statistics publication, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his answer to question 106583, if he will publish a breakdown of the £2bn in capital spending by his Department in 2024-25 in rows 2578, 2579, 9185 and 9197 of the OSCAR Annual Data 2024-5 (Outturn) spreadsheet, under the PESA Economic Group Codes (a) Capital Support for Local Government (net), (b) Capital Support for Public Corporations, (c) Capital Grants to Private Sector Companies (net) and (d) Capital Support for Public Corporations.

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

It is not possible to provide a breakdown for individual rows within the dataset due to the way the OSCAR system shows monthly data collected during the year from departmental management accounts on a separate line to adjustments made at year-end to align final outturn with the published annual report and accounts.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his answer of 28 January 2026 to Question 107450, if he will publish a breakdown of the administration and programme expenditure for 2024/5 in the categories of "Subsidies to private sector companies" and "Current grants to persons and non-profit (net)".

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The requested breakdowns are below:

CURRENT GRANTS TO PERSONS AND NON-PROFIT (NET)

SUBSIDIES TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES

CAPITAL GRANTS TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES (NET)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his answer of 28 January 2026 Question 107135, if he will publish a breakdown of the £126m in CDEL outturn for 2024/5 in the category of "Capital grants to private sector companies (net)".

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The requested breakdowns are below:

CURRENT GRANTS TO PERSONS AND NON-PROFIT (NET)

SUBSIDIES TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES

CAPITAL GRANTS TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES (NET)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's publication entitled High Street Rental Auctions: Non-statutory guidance, updated 5 June 2025, what steps her Department has taken to commence the use of High Street Rental Auctions powers since the publication of that guidance.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

This Government is firmly committed to tackling high street vacancy. Since publishing the non-statutory guidance on 2 December 2024, we have continued to work closely with the 12 early adopters and other local authorities to implement High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA), in addition to providing support and targeted funding. Uptake continues to grow as more councils adopt the measures and are reporting reductions in long-term vacancies, with landlords taking action even before formal notices or auction processes begin.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to mark the 1,100th anniversary of the unification of England next year.

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

There are no plans at present for the Government to mark the 1,100th anniversary of the unification of England.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many unique offenders were convicted for an indictable offence and did not receive immediate custody in 2024 with i) zero, ii) 1-2, iii) 3-6, iv) 7-10, v) 11-14, vi) 15-25, vii) 26-35, viii) 36-45, ix) 46 - 60, x) 61-75 and xi) 76 or more previous convictions.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The information requested is provided in the attached excel table. The table includes data covering 2024 on the number of offenders who received a conviction but not an immediate custodial sentence split by number of previous convictions. This data is not routinely published or held in an assessable format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the independent judiciary. When deciding what sentence to impose, courts must consider the circumstances of the case, including the culpability of the offender, the harm they caused or intended to cause, and any aggravating and mitigating factors, in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines, developed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to SOPS 1.1. in the Department's 2024/5 Annual Report, if she will publish (a) a breakdown of resource spending on G) Modernising and reforming the work of the Government functions; (b) the £46,366,000 spent in gross administration costs; and (c) the £203,636,000 spent in gross programme costs.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The net resource spending on ‘Modernising and reforming the work of the Government functions’ for 2024-25 was £204.375m. The breakdown of gross expenditure is split between Admin and Programme spend is shown below.

The £46.366m Admin spent in gross administration costs is broken down as below:

The £203.636m spent in gross programme costs is broken down as below:

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to table 1 of Annex A of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25, if he will publish a breakdown of the spending of Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit spending on Deliver an ambitious industrial strategy, net in that financial year.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Please find below breakdown of the ‘Deliver an ambitious industrial strategy’ line outturn for FY 2024-25 per table 1 in Annex A of the DSIT Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25:

Geospatial Commission £147.676m

Met Office £146.027m

National Measurement Service £121.310m

Office for Life Sciences £42.384m

Position, Navigation & Timing (PNT) Office £0.564m

Innovation & Research £0.215m

Research Base Innovation £0.012m

Total £458.188m