Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prison officers, (b) probation officers, and (c) workers in her Department submitted their resignation in each of the past five years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The number of prison and probation officers who have resigned is published each quarter in the “HM Prison and Probation Service workforce statistics” publication.
The latest data, which goes back to the year ending March 2019, is available in Table 14b of this spreadsheet: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67b5c95fb56d8b0856c2fec9/hmpps-workforce-statistics-tables-dec-2024_final.ods.
The number of Ministry of Justice staff who have resigned each year is published as part of the Cabinet Office’s “Civil Service statistics” publication. The latest resignations data, for the year ending March 2024, is available in Table 42 of this spreadsheet: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66e1631138493bbcd79f4706/Statistical_tables_-_Civil_Service_Statistics_2024.ods.
Figures for previous years are available in earlier publications available here: www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking with local authorities to help improve swimming facilities in (a) Romford constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises that sports facilities, in communities up and down the country, help to support more people to get active wherever they live.
The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure swimming facilities lies at local authority level. We are committed to supporting Local Government, recognising the significant financial challenges faced by the sector and by ensuring that funding goes to the places that need it most through the Local Government Finance Settlement.
The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities (including swimming pools) for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities. This is complemented by the support and guidance available through the Government’s Arm’s Length Body, Sport England.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41541 on Youth Services: Finance, if she will issue new guidance to local authorities on the provision of youth services in the context of proposed changes to funding for those services.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
In 2023, DCMS published updated statutory guidance to support local authorities’ understanding of the existing statutory duty on the provision of youth services and how to deliver it. That duty, and therefore local authorities’ responsibilities, have not changed. As such, we have no plans to issue new guidance to local authorities at this time.
However, since 2023 we have been funding peer reviews to help Local Authorities learn from each other on the best approaches to youth service provision. The Local Youth Transformation pilot will also test a new way of working and supporting local authorities, providing a package of support to assess, improve and develop impactful local youth offers. We will launch the pilot in 2025/26 and further details will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 9 April 2025 to Question 43516: Maternity Services, if he will update the three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal care to include specific numerical targets.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, ending in March 2026, will not be updated to include specific numerical targets. The focus remains on delivering actions to drive the necessary improvements on the ground to ensure that all women, babies and families receive the high-quality care that they deserve. This includes both the actions set out in the current plan, as well as the further actions needed to tackle the key issues in maternity and neonatal services. It is essential that any targets set are evidence-based and women and baby-centred.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether funding allocated to Torbay to help tackle deprivation will be (a) protected and (b) ringfenced following local government reorganisation.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We remain committed to supporting the 75 places announced as part of the Plan for Neighbourhoods, including Torbay, throughout the reorganisation of local government.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Twentieth Report of the Committee of Public Accounts’ of Session 2024-25 on DCMS management of COVID-19 loans, HC 364, published on 2 April 2025, what steps her Department took to delegate Accounting Officer responsibility for the loans to top–tier rugby union clubs; and, with reference to paragraph 3.9.1 of HM Treasury's document entitled Managing public money, published on 4 May 2023, what assessment she has made of those steps' compatibility with that guidance.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
On appointment to the role in 2023, the Permanent Secretary declared her interests and these were recorded in the DCMS Annual Accounts. A conflict management plan was completed which deemed it appropriate that Accounting Officer responsibility for decisions regarding Rugby Union would be delegated. This included Loan Book decisions relating to Rugby Union.
As a result, DCMS’s Chief Finance Officer has delegated Accounting Officer responsibility for matters relating to Rugby Union. This is in line with HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money guidance which states that after declaring the conflict other individuals can have delegated responsibility to make decisions.
Asked by: Steve Witherden (Labour - Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to prevent (a) phone hacking and (b) press intrusion.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The press have a responsibility to behave ethically and they must also operate within the bounds of the law. Any illegal conduct such as phone hacking would be a matter for the police.
The Government does not intervene in or oversee the work of the UK’s independent press regulators. If a member of the public objects to practices of the press they can complain directly to the publication, or the relevant independent regulator, including Impress or the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).
These regulators enforce codes of conduct which provide guidelines on a range of areas, including discrimination, accuracy, privacy, and harassment. If they find that a newspaper has broken the code of conduct, they can order corrections. Both regulators also offer arbitration schemes for legal claims relating to defamation, privacy and harassment.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to renew funding for the Park Tennis Project.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
The Park Tennis Court Programme was a joint investment between the UK Government and Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) that started in 2022 and concluded in 2024.
All future funding of sports facilities will be considered as part of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of people who have entered the UK illegally lodge multiple appeals against their deportation; and what the average number of appeals is per person.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not centrally held and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign nationals have absconded while awaiting deportation after lodging legal appeals in each of the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not centrally held and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.