Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much HM Courts and Tribunals Service has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested can be found in the table below.

Translation:

Interpreting:

The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users whom English is not their first language. Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers whilst maintaining high standards of service delivery.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much OFGEM has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Ofgem has compiled and shared the following information with the Department:

Financial year Spend (£) (nominal)

20/21 3,790.00

21/22 6,840.00

22/23 3,348.35

24/25 2,260.80

25/26 (to date) 7,214.28

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) single sex and (b) gender neutral bathroom facilities her Department provides in its main Whitehall building.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s main Whitehall building is 100 Parliament Street, housed within the Government Offices Great George Street (GOGGS). GOGGS is managed by the Government Property Agency (GPA) on behalf of the departments which occupy the building. It has 201 single sex cubicles, 80 urinals and 2 non-gendered universal toilets (individual self-contained lockable toilet rooms which contain a toilet, washbasin and hand-drying facilities). This is in addition to 40 wheelchair accessible toilets.

These figures come from an audit carried out by the GPA and therefore reflect the facilities across both 100 Parliament Street and 1 Horseguards Road.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much the Insolvency Service has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

In the last 5 years the Insolvency Service has committed the following expenditure to translation and interpretation services:

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the companies his Department has contracts with under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I am withholding the list of companies that the Ministry of Defence has contracts with under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) as its disclosure would prejudice the commercial interests of the Ministry of Defence; and the information is operationally sensitive in nature.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the UK Statistics Authority has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

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

A response to the Rt. Hon. gentleman Parliamentary Question of 17th November 2025 is attached.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase access to specialist wheelchairs for children in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services.

The Lincolnshire ICB and Lincolnshire County Council jointly commission an all-age wheelchair service. To support access to specialist wheelchairs, the Lincolnshire wheelchair service has a close working relationship with bespoke seating services who support with wheelchair fittings and assessments. In addition, the service also operates a personal wheelchair budget option that supports the provision of equipment outside of the standard service and that helps assess the equipment sourced to make sure it is appropriate and meets the patient’s needs.

NHS England is taking steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving intervention and equipment. This includes publishing a Wheelchair Quality Framework on the 9 April 2025 which sets out quality standards and statutory requirements for ICBs, such as offering personal wheelchair budgets. The framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/wheelchair-quality-framework/

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which countries she is discussing hosting return hubs for failed asylum seekers with.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

To support the UK Government’s commitment to controlled immigration, the Home Office is exploring the use of return hubs for failed asylum seekers with a number of countries.

We are not in a position to share further details that could prejudice discussions at this stage. However, the Government has been clear we will continue to work with international partners to tackle the global migration crisis.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the National Crime Agency has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The National Crime Agency has spent around the following amounts on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five financial years:

• 2020/21 – £0.9m
• 2021/22 – £0.9m
• 2022/23 – £1.2m
• 2023/24 – £1.4m

• 2024/25 – £1.3m

These figures include both translation and interpretation costs.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the Legal Aid Agency has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The requested information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the technology state schools require pupils to have.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department does not require pupils to own specific technology and does not hold information on individual pupil requirements. Our policy focuses on ensuring schools have the right infrastructure to support teaching and learning.

We have set six core digital and technology standards for schools and colleges to meet by 2030: broadband internet, wireless networks, network switches, digital leadership and governance, filtering and monitoring, and cyber security. These standards provide the foundations for safe and reliable connectivity at school and ensure safeguarding is a priority. Schools can use the ‘Plan technology for your school’ service to assess readiness and plan upgrades.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how much the Crown Prosecution Service has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

There has been a significant increase in demand, as well as costs for translation services post Covid. This has led to a necessary increase in expenditure on translation and interpretation services. We continue to regularly monitor expenditure to ensure best value for money for taxpayers.

Crown Prosecution Service has spent the following on translation and interpretation services over the last five financial years:

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how much the Government Legal Department has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Government Legal Department has not incurred any translation and interpretation services costs in the last five years.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Education and Skills Funding Agency has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

During the period of 01 January 2020 to 17 November 2025, the Education and Skills Funding Agency spent £0.00 on translation and interpretation services.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Revenue and Customs has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC spend on a) Translation and b) Interpretation for the last 5 years is set out below:

2020/2021 – a) £0.32m b) £0.50m

2021/2022 – a) £0.29m b) £0.53m

2022/2023 – a) £0.45m b) £0.63m

2023/2024 – a) £0.59m b) £0.59m

2024/2025 – a) £0.83m b) £0.30m

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people with ME in Lincolnshire.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Service is a specialist service which provides assessment and advice on myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), management strategies.

This service is available to adults and children. The ME/CFS service team consists of a wide range of skilled staff, including consultant clinical psychologists, assistant psychologists, specialist occupational therapists, and rehabilitation staff.

At a national level, the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan, which the Department published in July, includes an action for the Department and NHS England to explore whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for very severe ME/CFS. Officials from the Department have commenced discussions with NHS England on how best to take forward this action.

NHS England has also started its work on co-designing resources for systems to improve services for mild and moderate ME/CFS. It will meet a group of key stakeholders to progress this in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will list the titles of all the events organised by Civil Service networks in his Department since 2017.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much HM Prison and Probation Service has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The information requested can be found in the tables below.

Translation:

Interpreting:

The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users whom English is not their first language. Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers whilst maintaining high standards of service delivery.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of schools’ policies on mobile phones and learning disruption.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department’s guidance on mobile phones in schools, published in February 2024, is clear that schools should prohibit the use of devices with smart technology throughout the school day, including during lessons, transitions and breaks.

​The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.

​Research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools (99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools) already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The table below shows how much the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has spent on translation and interpretation services (including Welsh language and British Sign Language translations) in each of the last five years:

The increase over the last two financial years is due to the DVLA’s contact centre introducing a new video service for British Sign Language.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Office of Rail and Road has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The information is provided in the table below. Most of these costs related to ORR’s role and duties in respect of the Channel Tunnel.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department which regulates medicine, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion in the United Kingdom, with responsibility for ensuring medicines meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The following table shows how much the MHRA has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years:

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dentists were employed in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data for how many NHS dentists were employed in each of the last ten years in Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board, which includes South Holland and The Deepings constituency, is published annually. The latest 2024/25 data is published by the NHS Business Services Authority and is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202425

Figures prior to 2019/20 were published by NHS Digital and are available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics

We do not hold data on how many NHS dentists are employed at constituency level.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many vehicles were seized for fly-tipping offences in Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping enforcement actions, including vehicles seized, to Defra, which are published annually here. This data is not available at a constituency level. Data for the 2024/25 reporting year is still being collected.

The Environment Agency works with local authorities and other partners through the Lincolnshire Environmental Crime Partnership (ECP). The ECP has targeted “days of action” to tackle fly-tipping, with various sanctions available – including vehicle seizure – to prevent, disrupt and tackle waste related offences.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with stakeholders on improving access to all weather football pitches in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government’s recent announcement of £400 million to be invested in grassroots sports facilities across the UK over the next four years will ensure we can continue to deliver high-quality grass, artificial grass pitches and other multi-sport facilities in the areas that require them, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.

Following this announcement, we have been working in collaboration with the sports sector and local leaders to develop plans for delivering future funding.

We want to ensure these plans take a place-based approach to investment, using regional expertise across the country to deliver in line with demand in each area. Plans for future funding programmes will be confirmed in due course.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much the Charity Commission has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Charity Commission’s total spend on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years is detailed in the below table:

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to support the road haulage industry in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

National support for the road haulage industry includes joint investment with industry in lorry parking and driver welfare facilities of up to £35.7m, including Lincolnshire. This is in addition to up to £30 million joint investment by National Highways and industry to improve lorry parking on the strategic road network. Further National Highways funding is planned for the third road investment strategy (RIS3) as part of the Customer and Community Designated Funds, subject to confirmation of National Highways’ RIS3 settlement.

Support for the sector’s decarbonisation includes the Plug-in Truck Grant which provides a contribution to the upfront purchase costs of zero emission vehicles, the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme, which is now closed to new applicants, but is providing up to £200m to fund hundreds of ZE HGVs and their associated recharging and refuelling sites and the Depot Charging Scheme which closes on the 28 November 2025, and will support HGV, van and coach fleet operators with the cost of installing charging infrastructure at depot sites.

Qualifying Operators in Lincolnshire have had the opportunity to apply for national schemes.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Vehicle Certification Agency has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) has had no spend on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support patients with pulmonary fibrosis in Lincolnshire.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is for the Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board, working closely with National Health Service providers and other stakeholders, to commission services to meet the needs to their population and deliver value for the taxpayer.

I understand that a range of services, across primary and secondary care, are in place in Lincolnshire to support the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with pulmonary fibrosis, including at the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people use the Motability scheme in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

At the end of July 2025 (latest available data), 1,240 Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in South Holland and The Deepings constituency, and 9,510 PIP claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in Lincolnshire.

Data about Motability receipt based on other benefits such as Disability Living Allowance is not available centrally for analysis.

Notes:

- Values have been rounded to the nearest 10.

- Figures provided include both Normal Rules and Special Rules for End of Life claimants.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of patients in (1) Lincolnshire and (2) England have waited for (a) 90 and (b) 150 days for brain tumour test results in each of the last three years.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England publishes waiting time data from referral to being informed of a cancer diagnosis or having it ruled out for brain and central nervous system. This is the 28-day Faster Diagnosis Standard. This includes the waiting time data for patients in Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board and in England.

This data is publicly available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (1) individuals and (2) organisations have been (a) investigated and (b) prosecuted for fraud in relation to COVID-19 funds since 2020.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC have interpreted ‘COVID-19 funds’ as the ‘HMRC administered COVID-19 support schemes’, including Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), Eat Out to Help Out (EOHO), the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) (previously the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy until 2023) administered Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS).

Although you have requested the data be broken down into individuals and organisations, HMRC do not hold the data at that level of detail. SEISS claims relate to individuals, whereas CJRS involves payroll, however, CJRS may also fall within the Income Tax (IT) or Corporation Tax (CT) regime. To add complexity, all charges for recovery of overpayments on the HMRC schemes are raised under IT legislation.

By the end of March 2025, HMRC had opened 53 criminal investigations into suspected fraud within the schemes and made a total of 99 arrests. There have been 4 convictions so far. Further ongoing criminal investigation activity has yet to be concluded within the criminal justice system and is subject to those timescales.

In this timeframe, HMRC also carried out more than 47,000 compliance checks using civil powers, where the amount claimed was out of step with other information. The risk that the claim was incorrect may have been due to a range of reasons from an honest mistake through to fraud.

DBT has worked with enforcement partners to tackle fraud linked to COVID-19 loan schemes. This includes the National Investigation Service (NATIS) and the Insolvency Service (INSS). To date, the Insolvency Service has obtained disqualifications against 2,595 directors, bankruptcy restrictions against 381 individuals and 82 successful criminal convictions in respect of COVID-19 financial support scheme misconduct. The Agency has also helped to secure more than £6 million in compensation related to COVID-19 financial support scheme abuse. Since 2020, NATIS has opened a total of 254 investigations covering both individuals and organisations. NATIS has secured 14 convictions up to November 2025.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if civil servants in the Government Communications Service are tasked with monitoring social media posts.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government Communication Service (GCS) monitors publicly available media posts, under strict controls, to measure communication effectiveness, understand public narratives, and address potential mis/disinformation.

GCS does not access private information or monitor individuals, but collects, stores, and processes data from public social media posts.

Reports may include examples of high-performing public content relevant to government priorities, and adheres to a published Privacy Notice (link below) outlining the legal basis for monitoring.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/privacy-notice-social-and-digital-media-analysis/privacy-notice-social-and-digital-media-analysis

GCS uses commercially available automated and AI tools, such as Storyzy, procured via the civil service framework, for information environment analysis; no external contractors are used.

Collection and publication of nationality data by Government Departments