Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the powers conferred by the Harbours Act 1964, as amended by the Transport and Works Act 1992, allow Ministers to amend the text of primary legislation by Harbour Revision Order.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Harbour Revision Orders (HROs) are normally initiated by a harbour authority, but the Secretary of State can seek to impose a HRO under the Harbours Act 1964. The department is consulted on all HRO applications, but the Secretary of State does not have the power to directly amend orders that have been applied for by a harbour authority.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the net zero targets for the Department and its arm’s-length bodies are; and what guidance has been issued on adopting net zero targets earlier than 2050.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Net Zero target in the Climate Change Act 2008, is a target for the whole of the UK, not individual departments or arms-length bodies.
Greening Government Commitments are the central framework setting out the actions UK government departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment, including setting targets to reduce emissions, during the framework period.
Defra are reviewing the Greening Government Commitments to ensure that they remain aligned with government priorities.
DWP and its arms-length bodies support national Net Zero targets via the Greening Government Commitments (GGCs), which are set and administered by Defra and DESNZ. DWP together with its arms-length bodies has to date met its Greening Government Commitments carbon targets, and progress is reported both in Defra’s Greening Government Commitments reports and in DWP’s Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much her Department has spent on (a) purchasing and (b) installing soundproof meeting pods for its headquarters in London since 17 October 2024; and how much of this relates to meeting pods for the Ministerial private office.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) up-front and (b) ongoing costs are for the corporate initiatives underpinning the projected efficiency saving by 2028–29; and how much of those costs relate to (i) AI, (ii) digital tools and (iii) shared services programmes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the projected efficiency saving from corporate initiatives by 2028–29 represents cash reductions in Departmental expenditure, as opposed to productivity improvements, cost avoidance or spending reclassification.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) full time equivalent police officers and (b) headcount police officers there were in Essex Police as at 31 March in each financial year since 2019-20; and how many police officers (i) joined and (ii) left Essex Police in each of those years.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of police officers in post, and police officers joining and leaving the police service, on both a headcount and full-time equivalent basis, in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
Information on the number of police officers in post in Essex Police as at 31 March 2007 to 2025 can be found in the ‘Workforce Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687f314d8adf4250705c96fa/open-data-table-police-workforce-230725.ods.
Information on the number of police officers joining Essex Police between the years ending 31 March 2007 to 2025 can be found in the ‘Joiners Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687a363b312ee8a5f0806b7b/open-data-table-police-workforce-joiners-230725.ods.
Information on the number of police officers leaving Essex Police between the years ending 31 March 2007 to 2025 can be found in the ‘Leavers Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687a364d312ee8a5f0806b7c/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers-230725.ods.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 2 September 2025 to WPQ 69365, if he will publish a list of the changes made between the previous published version of the framework and the new version published on 16 June 2025.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We do not routinely publish the list of changes made to the document, as the most up to date version is the one we are measuring the performance of the function against.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 19 December 2025 to Question 99967, whether he will place copies of the training modules on close relative marriage and genetic risk for midwives and health visitors, and the associated guidance on submitting data on consanguinity and pregnancy to the Maternity Services Dataset, in the Library of the House of Commons.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to place the training modules on close relative marriage and genetic risk for midwives and health visitors, or the associated guidance on submitting data on consanguinity and pregnancy to the Maternity Services Dataset, in the library of the House of Commons.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 17 December 2025 to WPQ 96699, if he will provide a hyperlink to that information.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Guidance on how to submit data about consanguinity and pregnancy to the Maternity Services Dataset is available at the following link:
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to improve oversight and enforcement action against the use of unregulated informal value transfer systems.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Informal transfer value systems (IVTS) is a type of Money Service Business (MSB) activity. HM Revenue & Customs is the main supervisor of MSBs and leads inter-agency work to tackle the money laundering and illicit finance risks faced by the sector. That work includes a specific focus on IVTS.
Any entity engaging in IVTS without being registered with and supervised by HMRC (or another UK AML supervisor) is doing so illegally. HMRC supervision activity that identifies breaches of the MLR 2017 may result in warnings, civil sanctions, or criminal prosecution, depending on the severity and nature of the breaches.
HMRC works closely with partners to ensure a joined-up approach to tackling risks in the sector, including from unregistered MSBs. In the last 2 years, HMRC issued 27 financial penalties to MSBs and cancelled the registration of 12 others (meaning they can no longer lawfully engage in MSB activity). HMRC also issued 248 warning letters to MSBs which needed to improve their AML compliance.