Jeremy Corbyn

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Rt Hon. gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 26th February is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Rt Hon. gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 26th February is attached.

HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust export control regimes in the world.

We assess all export licence applications against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including Criterion 2 which requires us to consider the current human rights situation in the country which is the final destination of controlled exports, as well as respect by that country for international humanitarian law. The Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). We also keep extant licences under constant and continual review on this basis.

If a landlord fails to pay a rent repayment order, the order may be enforced by creditors using civil recovery action, such as pursuing a County Court judgment or ultimately petitioning for a winding-up order against the company. Should a winding-up order be made against the company, this would trigger an investigation by the Official Receiver into how the company's affairs have been conducted and to establish the cause of its insolvency.

Ministers and officials working in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly engage with press stakeholders on a range of issues.

The Government clearly laid out its priorities in the manifesto and in the King’s Speech.

We are revising the School Food Standards and engaging with stakeholders to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.

Further details on timelines for the publication and the implementation of these revisions will be available in due course.

The National Procurement Policy Statement, published in February, underscores the government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts. The department believes our high-quality British producers are well-placed to meet this. It is important that schools have flexibility in how they procure.

The Government expects companies to hold themselves accountable for their commitment to end Water Poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to this end.

We are clear as Government that we expect water companies to ensure their customers know what support schemes are available and how to access them if they need help. We expect water companies to put robust support in place for vulnerable customers and keep current support schemes under review to ensure vulnerable customers are supported and access the support they are entitled to.

The Government’s Water (Special Measures) Act provide the most significant increase in enforcement powers for the regulators in a decade, giving them the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies in the next investment period. The Act also enables the public to hold companies to account through introducing new, statutory reporting requirements for emergency overflows and pollution incidents.

As announced in July 2024, consumers will gain powers to hold water company bosses to account through powerful new customer panels. The Water (Special Measures) Act now provides Ofwat with the power to make rules on company governance, including rules which achieve having arrangements in place for involving consumers in decisions that are likely to have an impact on consumer matters. Ofwat will conduct a consultation this summer that will determine the new rule and allow for the establishment of the panels.

The Independent Commission published its results today. This can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-water-commission-review-of-the-water-sector.

Ministers are reviewing policies, which will be announced in the usual way, including the consultation on the Fur Market in Great Britain. Defra is continuing to build the evidence base on the fur sector. This includes commissioning our expert Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) on what constitutes responsible sourcing of fur. The report that they produce will support our understanding of the fur industry and help inform our next steps.

We have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and this Labour Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation.

The government committed in its manifesto to banning the import of hunting trophies.

We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and will work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.

Staffing matters are the formal responsibility of the Permanent Secretary and officials. As such, for the transfer of staff to DFTO on the 1^st April 2026, the constructive discussions with Trade Unions and staff were led by senior DfT officials. Informal engagement took place with Trade Unions from the earliest opportunity. Formal consultation was conducted in line with the TUPE regulations and with constructive engagement from Trade Unions, DFTO and DfT.

On 1 April 2026, an important milestone in delivering Great British Railways (GBR) was reached, as a significant part of the functions and staff responsible for the operational railway transferred from DfT to the DFT Operator (DFTO), the Government’s public sector rail owning group.

This move is a practical step towards creating a simpler, more accountable railway that delivers better outcomes for passengers, communities and taxpayers. It ensures the right capabilities sit in the right place now to maintain the strong progress we have already made to improve rail services. It also reduces the risk associated with simultaneous transfer of the organisations, functions, teams and operational capabilities that will form GBR in 2027.

Staff were transferred from DfT to DFTO on 1st April 2026. In terms of a) DFTO is a public corporation and therefore staff are Public Servants. This means staff transferred to DFTO have not retained Civil Servant status. Regarding b), Terms and Conditions of staff transferring to DFTO are protected by TUPE regulations. All relevant issues arising from DFTO on transferring employees’ Terms and Conditions were presented and consulted on formally with Trade Unions, as staff representatives, ahead of transfer. Regarding c), staff transferred to DFTO retained their membership of their existing pension scheme. This includes those who are members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme and Rail Pension Scheme.

Over financial year 2025/26, DfT(central) had an 8% headcount reduction target which was achieved by March 2026.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are annually reviewed, usually in the Autumn. At Autumn budget 2025, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed LHA and announced that rates would be maintained at their current levels for 2026/27. Rent levels across Great Britian were considered alongside other factors such as the challenging fiscal context and welfare priorities, including the removal of the two-child limit which will bring 450,000 children out of poverty.

Renters facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) from local authorities. From April 2026 DHPs for England will be incorporated into the Crisis and Resilience Fund.

Information on the average weekly amount of Housing Benefit paid to private landlords, by regions, is available on Stat-Xplore via the Housing Benefit official statistics (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/). The information can be found in the Housing Benefit – Data from April 2018 dataset and is currently available to August 2025.

Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest, and if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide.

The Department does not hold data on the health outcomes of people with an ethnicity of ‘Latino’.

Population health surveys and National Health Service data collections used for routine reporting of health outcomes by ethnic group, generally collect ethnicity using the same categories as those used in the decennial census in England. The census has never provided a ‘tick-box’ option related to ‘Latino’ ethnicity and therefore this information is not routinely available for reporting health outcomes.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/

The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start. The number of people on the scheme in March 2025 in Islington North was 1,763.

There is no individual prosecutable offence under section 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, failure to comply with Regulation 20(2)(a) and (3) Duty of Candour is an offence. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) can either issue a Fixed Penalty Notice administratively, or can prosecute the offence through the court. The following table shows the providers the CQC has successfully prosecuted over the last five years, for Regulation 20 Duty of Candour breaches:

There were no other Duty of Candour prosecutions prior to September 2020.

The funding allocation formula used to set budgets for integrated care boards includes an adjustment to reflect the impact of the excess finance costs that some trusts face due to the financing arrangements for some buildings constructed under historic Private Finance Initiative (PFI) arrangements.

The Department does not centrally provide funding to support trusts in paying for their PFI schemes. However, the Department, along with NHS England, is supporting National Health Service trusts to manage their PFI contracts, including looking for opportunities to deliver better value for money. This support is available to all trusts with a PFI contract.

The UK's longstanding position on these questions was set out by the previous government on 27 November 2023 in their answer to Question 2945, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:

"Israel has never declared a nuclear weapons programme. The UK Government continues to encourage Israel to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a Non-Nuclear Weapon State. We regularly monitor all global nuclear developments and will continue to work with international partners to strengthen the non-proliferation regime and advance multilateral nuclear disarmament. The UK Government closely follows the security situation in the Middle East and maintains a regular dialogue with international counterparts."

The UK's longstanding position on these questions was set out by the previous government on 27 November 2023 in their answer to Question 2945, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:

"Israel has never declared a nuclear weapons programme. The UK Government continues to encourage Israel to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a Non-Nuclear Weapon State. We regularly monitor all global nuclear developments and will continue to work with international partners to strengthen the non-proliferation regime and advance multilateral nuclear disarmament. The UK Government closely follows the security situation in the Middle East and maintains a regular dialogue with international counterparts."

The UK's longstanding position on these questions was set out by the previous government on 27 November 2023 in their answer to Question 2945, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:

"Israel has never declared a nuclear weapons programme. The UK Government continues to encourage Israel to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a Non-Nuclear Weapon State. We regularly monitor all global nuclear developments and will continue to work with international partners to strengthen the non-proliferation regime and advance multilateral nuclear disarmament. The UK Government closely follows the security situation in the Middle East and maintains a regular dialogue with international counterparts."

All export licence applications are assessed for the risk of diversion and are kept under careful and continual review. We have recently reviewed over 2,000 licences for the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The risk of diversion is complex and is the single biggest reason export licences are refused. We regularly refuse licences, including to the UAE, for this reason.

We carefully review any reports we receive, but to date, there is no evidence of UK weapons or ammunition being used in Sudan.

Tackling illegal settlement expansion and settler violence are vital to protecting a two-state solution.

Israel must stop settlement expansion and crack down on settler violence, which has reached record levels.

Alongside 26 international partners, we have condemned the E1 settlement plan and we condemn the recent steps to further that plan. We urge Israel to listen to the weight of international opinion on this issue, rather than lessen the prospects for long-term peace.

A UK-Israel military cooperation agreement, which incorporates a range of defence engagement activity, was signed in December 2020. Whilst the UK Ministry of Defence regularly reviews cooperation with Israel, the agreement remains extant.

The agreement allowing the US to use UK military bases is for specific and limited defensive action against missile facilities in Iran which were involved in launching strikes at regional allies and ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

For operational security reasons, we do not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations’ military operations.

For operational security reasons, we do not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations’ military operations.

Permissions to utilise UK military bases by foreign partners are considered on a case-by-case basis. All UK operational support to allies and partners is considered in terms of legality.

For operational security reasons, we do not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations’ military operations.

Permissions to utilise UK military bases by foreign partners are considered on a case-by-case basis. All UK operational support to allies and partners is considered in terms of legality.

There is no specific policy that requires this Government to withhold the number of United States personnel based within the UK, however as previously advised we are withholding this information in the interest of personal security. The number of United States personnel at United States Visiting Forces (USVF) sites was disclosed in 2024, however, we are in a new era of threat that remains more serious and less predictable.