Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any Non-Legally Binding Instruments have been signed by her Department and its Arms Length Bodies since July 2024 other than those subject to sensitive diplomatic, security and defence interest provisions.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department does not hold a single central register of all non-legally binding instruments signed by Defra and its Arm's Length Bodies. Some non-legally binding instruments signed since July 2024 include environmental cooperation memoranda of understanding with China and Indonesia; a fertilisers cooperation memorandum with Brazil; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew memoranda with Chinese scientific and botanical institutions; a Defra-RBG Kew Seeds to Trees memorandum; a UK-China Food Safety, Animal and Plant Quarantine memorandum; and bilateral arrangements reached with Vietnam, Uruguay and Canada under Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in connection with establishing the UK’s independent WTO Goods Schedule.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2026 to Question 4161 on Government departments: marketing, how much has been spent on branded goods and merchandise by the Department since the Government Chief Commercial Officer letter was sent; and on what items.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) can confirm that it has incurred no expenditure on branded goods and events.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether any Non-Legally Binding Instruments have been signed by her Department and its Arms Length Bodies since July 2024 other than those subject to sensitive diplomatic, security and defence interest provisions.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
There is no consolidated list of the number of Non-Legally Binding Instruments across the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and its arm’s length bodies. We do not routinely publish or collate this information.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many headcount staff in her Department are (a) members of the Government Communication Network and (b) embedded communicators but are not counted as members of the Government Communication Network.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department's communications team comprises 53.7 FTE, all of whom are members of the Government Communication Service. The Department has no embedded communications staff.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Gambling Commission on a timetable for a new permanent appointment for its chief executive.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The timetable for appointing a permanent Chief Executive to the Gambling Commission is a matter for the Gambling Commission’s Board. Any appointment will be subject to the Secretary of State agreeing terms and conditions.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the answer of 17 April 2026 to Question 123653 on Gambling Commission: Staff, whether Gambling Commission staff are (a) civil and (b) crown servants.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Gambling Commission staff are neither civil nor crown servants. They are public servants who act on behalf of the Crown to regulate the commercial gambling industry.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much the National Gallery spend on the citizen's assembly provided by the Sortition Foundation.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The National Gallery report that the total budgeted cost for their Citizens Assembly is expected to be £250,000 over five years from 2025 to 2029. As part of this, the National Gallery contracted the Sortition Foundation to recruit a panel reflective of the UK population.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the National Gallery has planning permission to fly the Progress flag.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Government guidance published by MHCLG sets out that the provision of planning permission related to flag-flying is a matter for the relevant local authority.
As such, the Member should direct this question to Westminster City Council and the National Gallery.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the status is of the Certification Officer’s investigation into the Unite trade union and the hotel development.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Certification Officer has appointed an inspector to investigate the financial affairs of Unite the Union. The inspector's work is continuing and upon its conclusion, the Certification Officer will publish the report on the Certification Officer's website.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Areas of Research interest gov.uk page published by the Government Office for Science, what plans she has to update her Department's area of research interests, last published in February 2024.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is currently undertaking a refresh of its Areas of Research Interest (ARIs). The work is being led by the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser’s Office, and the updated ARIs are expected to be published on GOV.UK by autumn 2026.