Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 118165 on the East West Rail Line business case, what progress her Department has made on (a) developing the business case and (b) refining the project; and when her Department expects planning consent to be determined.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following its latest public consultation, which closed on 9 June 2026, the East West Rail Company is now considering feedback as it refines proposals for the project in conjunction with the Department.
An Outline Business Case is being prepared to support Government decision-making on the project ahead of an application for a Development Consent Order, which is expected to be submitted next year.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consideration he has given to infrastructure projects that do not recover their costs through revenue, such as East West Rail, in preparing the Budget for 28 October 2026.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy sets out the Government's long-term approach to economic, housing and social infrastructure, aligning planning and delivery to support it.
HM Treasury does not comment on speculation ahead of Budget. Decisions on tax and spending will be announced by the Chancellor in the usual way at fiscal events.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not routinely collect or publish data on (a) the staffing of arm’s length bodies (ALBs) broken down by earnings band, or (b) what the Hon. Member describes as the ‘total unfunded public sector pension liability’. However, in most cases, the ALBs in question publish their own data on staffing, remuneration, and pension schemes in each body’s annual report and accounts, which are publicly available on GOV.UK.
The Hon. Member can also find details of staff numbers broken down by grade for each ALB, and their overall paybill, in the Workforce Management Information statistics published by the Department each month, the latest edition of which, for June 2026, are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dhsc-workforce-management-information
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many FTE equivalent staff in (a) their Department and (b) each Arm's Length Body it sponsors are dedicated to fulfilment of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED); what the (i) annual employment and (ii) total annual cost incurred is as a result of PSED and compliance with PSED for each of those bodies; what the outputs are from the work of PSED teams and personnel dedicated to PSED; and if they will publish an assessment of their Department's compliance with PSED.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The requested data is not centrally held by the Department, and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
(a) The attached table shows the headcount of employees in Core Defra and Arm's Length Bodies, broken down by salary band, as at June 2026.
(b) This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many FTE equivalent staff in (a) their Department and (b) each Arm's Length Body it sponsors are dedicated to fulfilment of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED); what the (i) annual employment and (ii) total annual cost incurred is as a result of PSED and compliance with PSED for each of those bodies; what the outputs are from the work of PSED teams and personnel dedicated to PSED; and if they will publish an assessment of their Department's compliance with PSED.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is a statutory obligation that applies across the public sector. As a procedural duty to have "due regard" to equality considerations, compliance is an ongoing responsibility rather than a one-off task. It is integrated into the day-to-day development and delivery of all policies and services; as such, it is a core responsibility of all civil servants across government, rather than being restricted to dedicated personnel.
Because it is a continuous, procedural duty applicable to all civil servants, it is impossible to disaggregate the specific fraction of time or cost dedicated solely to Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) compliance versus general policy and operational work. Attempting to calculate an FTE or cost figure would incur disproportionate cost and still be highly inaccurate.
There are small teams that provide advisory support, but their headcount is withheld under standard data protection protocols (teams of five or fewer).
Sponsored Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) are typically independent public authorities directly responsible for their own compliance. Information regarding ALBs’ internal resource allocation is not held by Defra.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how many FTE equivalent staff in (a) their Department and (b) each Arm's Length Body it sponsors are dedicated to fulfilment of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED); what the (i) annual employment and (ii) total annual cost incurred is as a result of PSED and compliance with PSED for each of those bodies; what the outputs are from the work of PSED teams and personnel dedicated to PSED; and if they will publish an assessment of their Department's compliance with PSED.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This table outlines the total people employed for each Arm’s Length Body (ALB) for each salary band of total earnings or nearest equivalent, and the total unfunded public sector pensions liability for each ALB.
Arm’s Length Body | Under £25,000 | £25,001 to £35,000 | £35,001 to £50,270 | £50,271 to £100,000 | £100,001 to £125,140 | Over £125,140 | Total unfunded public sector pensions liability |
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) | 0 | 716 | 1044 | 988 | 15 | 2 | HSE does not hold this information. |
Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) | 129 | 128 | 221 | 361 | 13 | 18 | MaPS does not hold this information. |
The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) | 0 | 7.6 | 111.87 | 52.83 | 1.35 | 2 | TPO does not hold this information. |
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) | 0 | 149 | 269 | 482 | 71 | 26 | TPR does not hold this information. |
Skills England (SE) (based on workforce data of June 2026 and based on estimates) | 0 | 7 | 92 | 151 | 0 | 3 | Skills England does not hold this information. |
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The information requested is not held centrally, and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost to the department.