Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of third party websites charging for government services that are otherwise free or low cost.

While the department has not made a formal assessment of the prevalence of third‑party websites that charge for government services which are otherwise free or low cost, it is reducing their impact through prevention, enhancing awareness and collaborating with partners.

This includes strengthening GOV.UK as a trusted and recognisable brand to help users identify official government services, and working with the National Cyber Security Centre, Action Fraud and search engine providers to find and remove misleading websites.

Responsibility for taking action against imitation websites relating to specific services primarily sits with the department that owns the service concerned.