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 information his Department holds on the number of Safe Surgeries held by GPs in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information regarding the number of Safe Surgeries.
GPs are independent business that hold contracts with the National Health Service to perform essential services to the public, and as independent businesses, it is for each practice to decide whether to register as a Safe Surgery.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has provided any (a) grants, (b) contracts and (c) other funding to (i) Stand Up to Racism, (ii) Unite the Union,(ii) Migrants Organise, (iv) the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, (v) the Refugee Council and (vi) Care4Calais since 2020; and how much funding was provided to each for what purposes.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office made grant payments to the Refugee Council totalling £ 3.2m for the purpose of Children’s Advisory Projects to support Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) through the asylum process., with a further £ 215,244 for Asylum Seeker Mental Health and Wellbeing Grant to provide assistance to vulnerable adult asylum seekers.
The figures represent budgeted values which may not have been spent in full.
Since 2020 the Home Office has provided contract and other funding payments to the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants totalling £47,015.
Further, the Home Office provided contract and other funding to the Refugee Council totalling £8,026,673 for the same time period.
Information on purpose has been withheld and related contracts as it would only be available at disproportionate cost.
Outside of Home Office funding, for the period FY 21/22 to FY 24/25 inclusive Home Office facilitated £5.37m of EU financed AMIF Integration Funding to the Refugee Council.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of diverting spending on foreign aid towards establishing a veterans support network including (a) guaranteed fast-track treatment and mental health support, (b) ring fenced housing priority funds for veterans in every local authority and (c) an employment fund to retrain and reintegrate people leaving the armed forces.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Government is completely dedicated to recognising our veterans and is keenly aware of the debt that we as a country owe to them for their service and sacrifice. Just this week we launched a new cross government Veterans' Strategy to fundamentally reset how we, as a nation think about these remarkable men and women. At its heart is VALOUR, a new national programme designed to make it easier for veterans across the UK to access the care and support they deserve, with £27 million in VALOUR development funding programme to deliver support hubs across the country for veterans who need them.
In England, NHS England provides Op COURAGE, providing a broad range of specialist mental health wellbeing care and support for service leavers, reservists, and veterans. Op RESTORE provides specialist care and support to veterans who have physical health problems as a result of their time in the Armed Forces. Separate provision is available for veterans living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
For veterans in need of housing support, existing regulations state they must be given 'additional priority' status when there is an urgent housing need. We also changed the law to exempt all veterans of the Regular Armed Forces from local connection tests when applying for social housing in England. We recently committed an additional £12 million to vital homelessness services through the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme, and awarded £4.5 million to organisations supporting hundreds of veterans across the UK, to ensure there is a sustainable supply of veteran accommodation in the long term. Moreover, we have extended Op FORTITUDE, the single referral pathway for veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness, which has already housed over 1,000 veterans.
For employment support, the Ministry of Defence-hosted Career Transition Partnership provides support for those within two years before and after leaving service. Op ASCEND is the employment pathway for veterans, available from two years post-service. As of 13 June 2025, Op ASCEND has already successfully engaged over 420 employers and supported over 4600 veterans and family members.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing detention capacity to a level that would facilitate the deportation of between 100,000 and 150,000 people per year.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office (specifically Immigration Enforcement), is currently expanding detention capacity through an active programme that will deliver an additional 1,000 beds over the coming years at Campsfield (Oxfordshire) and Haslar (Hampshire). This expansion will significantly increase the number of enforced returns once operational.
Decisions on the required estate size will be based on several factors, including:
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 and what proportion of NHS staff have not met minimum English language proficiency standards in the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where legally required, healthcare professionals must be registered with the appropriate United Kingdom healthcare regulator to be able to practise. Professionals who qualified outside of the UK must demonstrate that they have the necessary knowledge of English as part of the regulator’s assessment of their healthcare qualifications, knowledge, and skills. The process and accepted evidence for demonstrating English language proficiency varies according to regulator.
The healthcare regulators are independent of the Government, and it is for regulators to determine the required processes and thresholds in relation to English language competence for registrants. There may also be tests undertaken as part of the process of visa applications where these are applicable to staff. The Department does not hold information on the rate of success or failure of any of these tests.
Roles undertaken in the National Health Service by staff who are not required to be registered healthcare professionals may have language and communications skills defined and assessed locally as part of recruitment processes.
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 steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) agency staff, (b) overseas recruits and (c) other NHS staff can communicate effectively in English.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where legally required, healthcare professionals must be registered with the appropriate United Kingdom healthcare regulator to be able to practise. Professionals who qualified outside of the UK must demonstrate that they have the necessary knowledge of English. This process varies according to regulator, the healthcare role, and the circumstances of applicants
The healthcare regulators are independent of the Government, and it is for regulators to determine the required processes and thresholds in relation to English language competence for registrants.
General practitioners, dentists, and opticians delivering NHS primary care must also be on the relevant NHS performers list. Applicants’ ability to communicate effectively and safely with patients and colleagues is assessed as part of the performers list application process.
For the performers lists in England, it is NHS England policy that the required level of English language competence for admission to the list is the same as that required by the relevant healthcare regulator. If there are concerns about an applicant’s English language competence, they will be required to demonstrate competence by further assessment. This may be an oral exam with an NHS England assessor or with satisfactory completion of the International English Language Test System or the Occupational English Test.
In regard to care workers, since February 2022, the main route for care workers wishing to come to the UK has been through the Health and Care visa. To qualify for this visa, individuals must demonstrate that they meet the B1 standard of English language. On 14 October 2025, the Home Office laid rules changes to increase the English Language requirement to Level B2. These changes will come into effect from 8 January 2026.
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, whether his Department plans to introduce annual English language reassessments for NHS staff trained overseas.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where legally required, healthcare professionals must be registered with the appropriate United Kingdom healthcare regulator to be able to practise. Professionals who qualified outside of the UK must demonstrate that they have the necessary knowledge of English. This process varies according to regulator, the healthcare role, and the circumstances of applicants
The healthcare regulators are independent of the Government, and it is for regulators to determine the required processes and thresholds in relation to English language competence for registrants.
General practitioners, dentists, and opticians delivering NHS primary care must also be on the relevant NHS performers list. Applicants’ ability to communicate effectively and safely with patients and colleagues is assessed as part of the performers list application process.
For the performers lists in England, it is NHS England policy that the required level of English language competence for admission to the list is the same as that required by the relevant healthcare regulator. If there are concerns about an applicant’s English language competence, they will be required to demonstrate competence by further assessment. This may be an oral exam with an NHS England assessor or with satisfactory completion of the International English Language Test System or the Occupational English Test.
In regard to care workers, since February 2022, the main route for care workers wishing to come to the UK has been through the Health and Care visa. To qualify for this visa, individuals must demonstrate that they meet the B1 standard of English language. On 14 October 2025, the Home Office laid rules changes to increase the English Language requirement to Level B2. These changes will come into effect from 8 January 2026.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2025 to Question 83176 on Universal Credit, how many and what proportion of claims were made by people with the support of a paid interpreter; and what was the the total cost of (a) translation and (b) interpretation for supporting claimants in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not retain data on how many and what proportion of Universal Credit claims were made by people requiring the support of paid interpretation services. The breakdown of costs for translation and interpretation across all benefits including Universal Credit, from 2019/2020 to present is shown below. This data is not available prior to 2019.
| Translation Costs (including Pension Credit Customers) | Interpretation Costs |
2019/20 | £ 472,539 | £ 2,219,613 |
2020/21 | £ 398,270 | £ 3,537,872 |
2021/22 | £ 518,927 | £ 6,823,140 |
2022/23 | £ 641,747 | £ 5,668,822 |
2023/24 | £ 677,614 | £ 6,195,053 |
2024/25 | £ 919,390 | £ 8,676,773 |
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 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 Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Sensitivities exist around aspects of this spend which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has had discussions with the (a) Confederation of British Industry and (b) other trade associations on anti-white discrimination in workplace diversity schemes.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Equality Act 2010 provides protections in the workplace and in society which generally make it unlawful to discriminate against someone because of, or in relation to, their protected characteristics. For example, if an employer were to discriminate against someone because of their ethnicity, this would be unlawful discrimination on the basis of the protected characteristic of race.
The Equality Act 2010 does allow employers to take proportionate action that aims to reduce disadvantage, meet different needs and increase participation for groups of people who share a protected characteristic, where that is in order to level the playing field.
If an action treating a particular group more favourably does not meet the statutory requirements in the Equality Act 2010, then it is likely to be unlawful direct discrimination. Guidance to help employers understand the difference between positive action and positive discrimination is available on gov.uk at www.gov.uk/government/publications/positive-action-in-the-workplace-guidance-for-employers.
The Government engages closely with the CBI and a range of other trade bodies on numerous policy areas.