Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of civil servants in her Department were on permanent home working contracts in 2025.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
During the 2025 calendar year, 4,475 individuals were directly employed on the Department's payroll at some point. Of these, 147 (3.3%) were on home-working contracts.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people were employed in his department's equality, diversity and inclusion team in 2025 and what the cost to the public was of their total salaries.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
HM Treasury did not have a dedicated Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team during 2025. During 2025, no HM Treasury staff worked on a role that had equality, diversity, or inclusion for the department as the main or most substantial element of their role.
HM Treasury remains committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion and this is embedded across the department's people and leadership functions rather than being delivered through dedicated full-time EDI roles. The department continues to champion equality of opportunity and an inclusive workplace throughout its Vision and People Strategy, including delivery of the Gender Pay Gap action plan, monitoring workforce diversity data, and participation in schemes such as Disability Confident.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on interpreters and related translation services in 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In financial year 2025/26, Defra spent £12,546 on interpreters and related translation services.Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department spent on interpreters and related translation services in 2025.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
HM Treasury spent £4,316.17 on interpreters and related translation services in the 2025 calendar year.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her department is taking to ensure community pharmacy services in rural areas are accessible to patients with disabilities.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer your Hon member to the answer given on 16 April to Question 126407.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department were on permanent home working contracts in 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
No civil servants in my Department were on permanent home working contracts in 2025.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to encourage small businesses in rural areas to offer apprenticeships for young people.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy in England, backed by £1 billion of additional investment. This will support 50,000 more young people across the country, including in rural areas, into apprenticeships over the next three years.
We know that small businesses are more likely to offer apprenticeships to young people but recognise that they don’t have the economies of scale or HR resources of larger employers.
To support them, we are introducing a new apprenticeship hiring payment of £2,000 for non-levy paying employers (who are typically SMEs) when they take on 16–24-year-old apprentices as new employees. Employers hiring apprentices aged 18-24 who have been on Universal Credit for over six months will also be eligible for the new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant
This is on top of the £1,000 we provide to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19-to-24-year-old apprentices who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in care.
In addition, the government now fully funds apprenticeship training for all eligible under 25s at employers of all sizes, as we prioritise funding toward young people.
Alongside this, employers benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25, when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year.
The government also facilitates and funds the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN), which comprises around 3,000 employer and apprentice volunteers, to promote the benefits of apprenticeships. It operates across all parts of England through nine regional networks which provide buddying and mentoring support to small businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of civil servants in her Department were on permanent home working contracts in 2025.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Between January 2025 and December 2025, 138 Cabinet Office employees were contractual home workers (130 FTE). This represents 2.4% of the overall workforce.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much her Department spent on interpreters and related translation services in 2025.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office spent £335,074.59 on interpreters and translation services in 2025.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance is issued to police forces regarding protesters wearing (a) balaclavas, (b) niqabs and (c) burkas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The College of Policing issues guidance to police forces on the use of a broad range of public order powers. This includes guidance on the use of face coverings at protests.
Police decide when to use their powers, based on their assessment of the operational threats and risks for each situation they encounter.
Guidance is published online here: https://www.college.police.uk/app/public-order-public-safety and National protest operational advice