Written answers

Friday, 25 April 2025

  • Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    • Sports: Gender

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which official documents can be used to prove a person's sex to participate in single sex sports.

    • Sports: Young People

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on increasing youth engagement in sports outside school.

      Sports: Safety

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on the safety of rehydration clauses in combat sports.

      Television Licences

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on the number of TV license payers in each of the last five years.

      Press: Regulation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to consult on reforms to press regulation.

      Press: Misconduct

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that people affected by press wrongdoing have access to redress.

      Leisure Centres

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities to (a) maintain and (b) improve community leisure centres.

      Swimming

      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.

      Youth Services: Finance

      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...

      Cycling: Training

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 43255 on Cycling: Training, what her plans are for the future of British...

      Sports: Greater Manchester

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help improve access to sports facilities for disabled people in Greater Manchester.

      Football

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Football Association on increasing funding for Futsal to pre-pandemic levels.

      Press: Regulation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing a press regulator that is independent of (a)...

      Media: Privacy

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many newspapers have been (a) investigated and (b) fined by the Independent Press Standards Organisation since 2014.

      Prize Money

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to introduce further regulation for prize draws.

      Media: Privacy

      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.

      Tennis

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to renew funding for the Park Tennis Project.

      Rugby: Government Assistance

      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...

      Tennis

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help improve the availability of indoors tennis courts to the public.

      Veterans: Anniversaries

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that World War Two veterans are able to attend (a) VE day and (b) VJ day commemorative events (i) in...

      Veterans: Anniversaries

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has allocated separate funding to support World War Two veterans travelling overseas to attend (a) VE day and...

      Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Written Questions

      To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to answer Question 41236 on BBC Radio: Ireland.

  • House of Commons Commission

    • Winston Churchill: Artworks

      To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether any changes have been made to the display of (a) portraits and (b) busts of Winston...

  • Ministry of Justice

    • Electronic Tagging: Standards

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners released on home curfew were not tagged for the entirety of their monitoring period in the most recent period for which data is available.

    • Electronic Tagging

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to address the backlog in fitting offenders with electronic monitoring tags.

      Ministry of Justice: Resignations

      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.

      Pre-sentence Reports

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) standard delivery, (b) fast delivery, and (c) oral pre-sentence reports were produced in (i) Wales and (ii) England in 2024.

      Smuggling

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of smuggling prosecutions.

      Human Remains: Crime

      To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a separate criminal offence of desecration of a corpse.

  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    • Sites of Special Scientific Interest: Ebbsfleet

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 40908 on New Towns: Planning Permission, which rare (a) plant, (b) bird...

    • Solar Power: Lithium-ion Batteries

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has recent discussions with the Environment Agency on their inspection plans for the battery storage units at...

      Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39816 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which road links within...

      Tree Planting

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with relevant authorities to improve tree coverage in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.

      Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39816 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which localised hotspot is...

      Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39816 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, whether his answer is...

      Bourne Wood: Parking

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to encourage Forestry England to introduce disabled parking spaces in the Bourne Woods car park, Surrey.

      Sewers: Urban Areas

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the cost of (a) using sustainable urban drainage systems to manage...

      Internal Drainage Boards: Finance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 5 February 2025, HCWS417 on the Flood Investment Announcement, whether he...

      Water Treatment: Pollution Control

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve the regulation of wastewater treatment processes to reduce the levels of (a)...

      Rural Payments Agency: Apprentices

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Rural Payments Agency has offered apprenticeships in each year since 2010.

      Cats: Animal Breeding

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislation to ban deliberate breeding of...

      Meat: Smuggling

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to increase (a) funding and (b) other resources for enforcement agencies for the (i) detection...

      Honey: Standards

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) improve testing methods, (b) strengthen labelling regulations and (c) help tackle...

      Food Standards Agency

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent meetings he has had with the Food Standards Agency.

      National Food Strategy Expert Panel: Public Appointments

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to conduct a public consultation before finalising appointments to the Industry Expert Panel...

      Fisheries: USA

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of US tariffs on the UK fishing industry.

      Agriculture: Pollinators

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of declining bee and pollinator populations on UK food...

      Pets: Animal Welfare

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2025 to Question 42420 on Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, on how many occasions in the...

      Horticulture

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to publish a horticulture strategy.

      Horticulture: Ukraine

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the war in Ukraine on the horticulture sector.

      Horticulture: Government Assistance

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the House of Lords Hoticultural Sector Committee Report entitled Sowing the seeds: A blooming English...

      Food Supply

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2025 onto Question 40498 on Food Supply, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of...

      Farmers: Income

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of what the median income of farmers was in the 2023-24 financial year who will be affected by...

      Zoos: Nature Conservation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has had discussions with the zoo sector on the potential impact of the UK's decision to leave the...

      Food Supply

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights' publication Concluding observations on the...

      Livestock: Moorland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what evidential basis was used to underpin his Department's policy on Moorland grazing densities (grazing livestock units...

      Water and Sewerage (Conservation, Access and Recreation) (Code of Practice) Order 2000

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the water sector meets its obligations under the Water and Sewerage...

      Water and Sewerage (Conservation, Access and Recreation) (Code of Practice) Order 2000

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the compliance of water companies with the Water and Sewerage (Conservation,...

      Inland Waterways: Access

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to extend rights of responsible access to include more inland waters for recreational use.

      Nature Conservation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the delivery of local nature recovery strategies by responsible authorities.

      Glass: Recycling

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will review the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) cost allocation model for glass packaging.

      Countryside: Access

      To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to (a) improve responsible access to nature and (b) increase the right to roam.

  • Department for Business and Trade

    • Trade Agreements: China

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security held discussions on (a) UK-China trade relations, (b) economic security and (c)...

    • Steel Council

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans he has for the future composition of the Steel Council.

      Human Rights: China

      To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security had discussions with his international counterpart on (a) the detention of Jimmy...

  • Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

    • Turkey: Social Media

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on reports of social media and internet bans in that country.

    • Turkey: Politics and Government

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help protect democratic processes in Turkey.

      British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Chagossian diaspora in (a) the Seychelles, (b) Mauritius and (c) other...

      Hong Kong: British National (Overseas)

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether Hongkongers who (a) arrived in the UK on British National (Overseas) visas and (b) have subsequently...

      Disease Control: International Cooperation

      To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with his international counterparts to help tackle (a) tuberculosis and (b) other illnesses.

  • Department of Health and Social Care

    • Maternity Services

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43516: Maternity Services, whether he has set a deadline for (a) outcome and (b)...

    • Maternity Services

      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...

      Autism: Health Education

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve autism (a) awareness and (b) understanding among the adult population.

      Waste: Health Hazards

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41085 on Domestic Waste and Fly-tipping: Health Hazards, if he will publish the risk...

      Domestic Waste: Birmingham

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of uncollected rubbish in Birmingham on (a) public health and (b) levels of...

      Vitamin B12

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing over-the-counter sales of vitamin B12 injections in the UK.

      Postnatal Depression

      To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of postnatal depression involved (a) engagement with and (b) mental health assessment of the woman’s partner by the...

  • Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

    • Local Government: Finance

      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...

  • Home Office

    • Asylum: Housing

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure (a) safe, (b) healthy and (c) adequate living conditions for people seeking asylum in (i) initial and...

    • Asylum: Eritrea

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether people claim to be from Eritrea to improve their chances of asylum being granted.

      Asylum: Reigate

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigrants are housed in asylum hotels in Reigate constituency.

      Asylum and Undocumented Migrants: Deportation

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to prevent (a) repeat and (b) last-minute appeals from delaying the removal of (i) failed asylum seekers and (ii)...

      Undocumented Migrants: Deportation

      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...

      Asylum: Republic of Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been sent from the Republic of Ireland to the United Kingdom in each month since 4 July 2024.

      Asylum: Appeals

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases involving (a) failed asylum seekers and (b) people who have overstayed have reached the (i) Court of Appeal and (ii) Supreme...

      Immigration: Appeals

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the immigration appeal backlog including (a) housing, (b) legal aid and (c)...

      Border Security Command: Public Appointments

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether appointments to the Border Security Command will be included in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair...

      Asylum: Finance

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities in (a) London and (b) England on the adequacy of funding to support asylum seekers.

      Asylum: Legal Aid Scheme

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on increasing awareness of legal services for people entering into the...

      Metropolitan Police: Police Raids

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with the Metropolitan Police on the policing at the Quaker meeting house in Westminster on 27 March 2025.

      Pensions: Widowed People

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on police (a) widows, (b) widowers and (c) surviving partners losing deceased spouse pensions if they (i) remarry and...

      British Nationality: Fees and Charges

      To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the immigration fees for an Irish citizen seeking to gain British Citizenship through the British Nationality...

  • Ministry of Defence

    • China: Visits Abroad

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department (a) authorised and (b) requested the Chief of Defence staff's recent meeting with representatives of the Chinese People’s...

    • China: Visits Abroad

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Chief of Defence Staff discussed the Chagos Islands base during his recent visit to China.

      Waste Disposal: Birmingham

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential provision of military support in...

      Gaza: RAF Akrotiri

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37040 on Gaza: RAF Akrotiri, whether those flights continued during the ceasefire.

      Defence Equipment: Technology

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 42281 on Defence Equipment: Technology, what percentage of his Department's equipment procurement...

      Ministry of Defence: Written Questions

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to Question 41390 on British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty tabled by the hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford on 26...

      Boeing E-7: Radar

      To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to replace the Multi-role Electronically Scanned-Array radar on the E-7A Wedgetail fleet with a US-developed replacement.

  • Department for Transport

    • Railways: Greater Manchester

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of remodelling Manchester Oxford Road railway station on rail capacity.

    • Taxis: Vehicle Number Plates

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of (a) taxi and (b) private hire vehicles that use number plates that do not conform with...

      South Western Railway: Rolling Stock

      To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the additional time taken to introduce the South Western Railway Arterio rolling stock fleet.

  • Scotland Office

    • Scotland Office: ICT

      To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many (a) phones, (b) laptops and (c) other electronic devices have been lost by their Department since 5 July 2024.

  • Northern Ireland Office

    • Sovereignty: Northern Ireland

      To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what criteria he will use to assess the need for a border poll in Northern Ireland.

  • Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

    • Government Digital Service: Sex

      To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the section entitled Gender or sex in the Gov.uk Design System, if he will make it his policy to require...

    • Government Digital Service: Gender

      To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, for what reason the Gov.uk Design System section entitled Ask Users for Equality Information refers to gender identity rather...

      Video Games

      To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to ban the game entitled No Mercy.

  • Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

  • Attorney General

  • Department for Work and Pensions

    • Public Sector: Fraud

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's consultation Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, updated 7...

    • Winter Fuel Payment

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of correspondence to inform pensioners about changes to the winter fuel payment.

      Pensioners: Cost of Living

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what fiscal steps her Department is taking to support pensioners with the cost of living in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b)...

      Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has provided guidance to Personal Independence Payment assessors on the impact of surgical mesh on women's ability to work.

      Universal Credit: Health

      To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the potential financial impact of changing the eligibility to the health element of Universal Credit to...

  • Department for Education

    • Schools: Lincolnshire

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding she plans to provide for school infrastructure in (a) South Holland district and (b) South Kesteven district in each of the next...

    • Social Services: East Midlands

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of funding for councils in the East Midlands to provide (a) accessible and (b) integrated...

      School Support Staff Negotiating Body: Public Appointments

      To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her timetable is for appointing a new Chair of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.

  • Treasury

    • Bank of England

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the merits of the Bank of England paying interest on reserve accounts maintained by commercial banks.

    • Electronic Funds Transfer: Fraud

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Payment Systems Regulator on the enforcement of the Authorised Push Payment fraud reimbursement rules introduced on 7...

      Debts: Developing Countries

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of recent legislative changes at enhancing private sector participation in sovereign debt...

      Treasury: China

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) she and (b) her officials discussed the China audit with (i) Ministers and (ii) officials in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office...

      Economic Growth: Oxford-Cambridge Arc

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she plans to take to (a) develop and (b) implement growth corridor plans like the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor in other regions.

      Urban Areas: Government Assistance

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she plans to take to support cities outside London.

      Child Trust Fund

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Child Trust Funds past their maturity date have not been claimed.

      Air Passenger Duty

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increases to Air Passenger Duty in (a) 2025 and (b) 2026 on passenger demand.

      Aviation: Carbon Emissions

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s policies of section 7.6 of the Climate Change Committee's Seventh Carbon Budget...

      Taxation: Electronic Government

      To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Making Tax Digital; and what steps she is taking to improve customer service for businesses.

What is this?

The parliamentary question is a great way for MPs and Peers to discover information which the government may not wish to reveal. Ministers reply via written answers, a list of which gets published daily.

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