Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many sexual assaults there were in NHS hospitals by staff by the nationality of the assailant in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling the appalling crimes of rape and sexual assault. NHS England has introduced a comprehensive package of measures to improve sexual safety across the National Health Service. NHS England has made tackling sexual misconduct in the NHS a priority, with all trusts and integrated care boards (ICBs) now signed up to the Sexual Safety Charter for the NHS.
NHS England is investing in improving the collection and analysis of sexual violence data to support organisations to implement policies that reduce incidents of sexual misconduct in the NHS. NHS providers have a mandatory duty to notify the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of all incidents that affect the health, safety, and welfare of people who use services, including allegations of sexual assault. The provider must also notify the police if a crime has been committed. The CQC uses the information to monitor the safety of services and to ensure that providers have dealt with incidents appropriately. The CQC publishes reports about the services they inspect on their website.
Data relating to sexual assault in NHS hospitals is currently held at NHS trust level. Local police forces hold data where there has been a report to the police of sexual assault. For assaults on NHS staff, the NHS Staff Survey now includes questions about staff experiences of sexual misconduct. Results from the 2024 staff survey show 3.66% experienced unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature from colleagues.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff in their Department have been on mental health leave for six months or more; and for what reason.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department records sickness absence categorised to show the broad reason for the absence, with one option titled ‘anxiety, stress, depression and other psychiatric illnesses’. As of 31 October 2025, five or fewer members of staff in the department were on sickness absence for six months or more, and were still absent on that date, with a recorded reason for the sickness absence of ‘anxiety, stress, depression and other psychiatric illnesses’. Due to the small numbers involved, figures are rounded to the nearest five and are not reported separately. The department does not hold more detailed information on the individual circumstances of these cases.
Statistics on mental ill-health related absence across the Civil Service, including for the department, are publicly available in the Civil Service sickness absence reports on GOV.UK. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence. The next release is due on 18 December.
The department is committed to supporting staff wellbeing and provides a range of services, including occupational health support, access to an Employee Assistance Programme, and trained Mental Health First Aiders.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what amount of charges were issued by NHS trusts for treatment to non-UK residents not entitled to free secondary healthcare in each of the last three financial years; how much of that amount was successfully recovered in each of the last three financial years; and what the outstanding amount is.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have taken ‘non-UK residents’ to mean chargeable overseas visitors. The Department publishes data on the income identified from chargeable overseas visitors in England as part of the Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts. The cash payments received by the National Health Service from overseas visitors are also published annually in the consolidated NHS provider accounts. The information for the last three years is available at the following links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/consolidated-provider-accounts-21-22-final.pdf (page 66)
NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the total annual cost of legal aid issued in cases where one party subsequently (a) breaches court orders, (b) refuses contact arrangements and (c) obstructs proceedings.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information is not centrally held.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of family court cases did only one party receiving legal aid in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information is not centrally held.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what was the average cost per case to the public purse of providing legal aid in family proceedings for which the latest data is available.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
For financial year 2024-2025 the average legal aid expenditure in family proceedings(1) was £4,551 for private family law cases e.g. proceedings concerning child arrangements orders and £10,058 for public family law cases e.g. care and supervision proceedings brought by the local authority. These figures are derived from Civil Representation expenditure data published as part of the LAA’s official statistics.
Under the 2013 Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations individuals may be assessed as liable to make a contribution towards the cost of their legal aid case from either income or capital. In 2024-2025, in cases where an individual was assessed as liable to make a contribution, the average contribution collected in relation to family cases was £1,019.
Under section 25 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 individuals who recover or preserve money in civil legal aid proceedings are required to repay the cost of their legal aid case from the money recovered (unless exempt under regulations). This is known as the statutory charge. In 2024-2025, for cases subject to the statutory charge, the average amount recovered in respect of family cases was £7,409. Recovery of the statutory charge can be postponed in certain limited circumstances and so recoveries made may not necessarily relate to cases funded in the same period.
(1) As defined in the 2024 Standard Civil Contract: Category Definitions.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what was the average amount repaid by people who had received legal aid in family court cases in each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
For financial year 2024-2025 the average legal aid expenditure in family proceedings(1) was £4,551 for private family law cases e.g. proceedings concerning child arrangements orders and £10,058 for public family law cases e.g. care and supervision proceedings brought by the local authority. These figures are derived from Civil Representation expenditure data published as part of the LAA’s official statistics.
Under the 2013 Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations individuals may be assessed as liable to make a contribution towards the cost of their legal aid case from either income or capital. In 2024-2025, in cases where an individual was assessed as liable to make a contribution, the average contribution collected in relation to family cases was £1,019.
Under section 25 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 individuals who recover or preserve money in civil legal aid proceedings are required to repay the cost of their legal aid case from the money recovered (unless exempt under regulations). This is known as the statutory charge. In 2024-2025, for cases subject to the statutory charge, the average amount recovered in respect of family cases was £7,409. Recovery of the statutory charge can be postponed in certain limited circumstances and so recoveries made may not necessarily relate to cases funded in the same period.
(1) As defined in the 2024 Standard Civil Contract: Category Definitions.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, for the total spend on (a) LinkedIn membership fees and (b) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The department has no spend on LinkedIn membership fees, and has a total spend in 2024/25 of £4,322.00 on other subscriptions.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In line with other large employers, The Cabinet Office utilises LinkedIn subscriptions for business purposes including recruitment across government and managing the wider Civil Service talent pipeline.
It is not possible to provide a definitive figure for subscriptions for the last financial year (and to do so would incur disproportionate costs.) Heads of Business Units review all subscriptions and other internal expenditure to ensure value for tax payer money.