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 proportion of his Department's procurement contracts were awarded to British companies in the last financial year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the last financial year, 2024/25, 95.7% of procurement contracts were awarded to suppliers which reported to the Department that their legal entity is registered in the United Kingdom, in the UK Companies House Register.
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 many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Information on civil servants employed by Defra based overseas is publicly available.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of sex offenders serving a custodial sentence in prison are foreign nationals, broken down by nationality.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, we are unable to provide the requested information at this time, as doing so would disclose a subset of data which is currently intended for future publication by the Ministry of Justice.
Data on the number of Foreign National Offenders in prison by offence group is due for publication on 31 July 2025 in the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason new claimants from (a) Israel and (b) the Occupied Palestinian Territories will be exempt from the Habitual Residence Test for Universal Credit.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Given the circumstances in which British nationals and their eligible families have urgently travelled to the UK following the Government’s evacuations, DWP want to ensure that those arriving can access benefits as soon as possible (where they meet all other eligibility requirements).
This does not enable DWP to pay benefits to anyone who does not already have an underlying entitlement to benefits. For those who are not British or Irish citizens, they must have a valid immigration status that provides recourse to public funds to access benefits, on top of meeting other benefit-specific eligibility criteria.
More detail can be found in the explanatory memorandum for this amendment: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/884/memorandum/contents.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance she has issued to (a) work coaches and (b) case managers on processing claims for new claimants from (i) Israel and (ii) the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Guidance for DWP staff making benefit decisions is available on gov.uk. Specific guidance on new customers arriving in the UK from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories will be published in the usual way.
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 many and what proportion of departmental procurement contracts were awarded to British companies in the last financial year.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There were 508 contracts awarded by Defra as the contract owner in financial year 2024/25 – 500 are to UK-based suppliers, which equates to 98.43% and excludes purchase orders raised for Defra below threshold.
Details of central Government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 including VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service. This includes a note of the winning supplier.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) migrants and (b) asylum seekers are checked for associations with Islamist terror organisations.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The first priority of Government is protecting national security and protecting UK citizens from terrorism. It would not be appropriate to comment in detail on operational security matters or specific cases but the Home Office uses various tools to detect and disrupt travel by those posing a national security risk, and all applications for UK immigration status, including asylum claims, are subject to comprehensive security checks.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her policy to allow people with pending deportation orders to change their name.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave him to Question 58408.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the proportion of local authorities that conduct (a) in-person interviews and (b) English language testing before issuing (i) taxi and (ii) private hire vehicle licences.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Policing and Crime Act 2017 enables the Secretary of State for Transport to issue statutory guidance to licensing authorities on exercising their taxi and private hire vehicle licensing functions to protect children and vulnerable adults. Statutory guidance was published in 2020 under these powers. This statutory guidance includes a recommendation that a licensing authority’s test of a driver’s English language proficiency should cover both oral and written English language skills to ensure that drivers have the ability to understand written documents, such as policies and guidance, relating to the protection of children and vulnerable adults and can identify and act on the signs of potential exploitation.
As of 1 April 2024, 81% of licensing authorities in England reported that they require the taxi drivers that they license to meet a minimum standard of proficiency for either written, oral or both written and oral English language. As of 1 April 2024, 82% of licensing authorities in England reported that they require the private hire vehicle drivers that they license to meet a minimum standard of proficiency for either written, oral or both written and oral English language. We are currently reviewing licensing authorities’ compliance with existing guidance and will hold those who do not follow it to account.
The Department does not hold any information about whether licensing authorities conduct in-person interviews for applicants for taxi or private hire vehicle driver licences.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of departmental procurement contracts were awarded to British companies in the last financial year.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
From April 1st 2024, to March 31st 2025, a total of 135 agreements were executed. Out of these, 131 contracts were awarded to British companies, which equates to approximately 97% of contracts.