Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the National Underground Asset Register on roadworks in Broxbourne constituency.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The DfT is supportive of the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) project. Strikes on cables and other underground assets are costly, lengthen the duration of roadworks and, most importantly, are a safety issue for those undertaking the works. Those excavating the public highway should already be taking all necessary measures to avoid strikes and safely plan their works, but anything that makes this process easier and reduces strikes can only be a benefit.

NUAR is improving the efficiency and safety of the way we install, maintain, operate and repair our buried infrastructure by providing secure access to data from public and private sector asset owners. These will include over 600 gas, water, electric and telecommunications companies and local authorities.

A specific analysis of the potential impacts of the NUAR on roadworks in the Broxbourne constituency has not been carried out. However, an impact assessment was delivered as part of the recent Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 which considered the impact of NUAR across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This assessment estimated the economic benefits of NUAR to be over £400m per year. This consists of benefits in efficiencies, reduced asset strikes and reduced delays to the public and businesses.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 59411, tabled on 12 June 2025.

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

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 July 2025 to Question 59411.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of barring illegal migrants from being eligible to apply for an HC2 certificate.

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

The Department has no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of barring illegal migrants from being eligible to apply for an HC2 certificate.

An HC2 certificate is for full help with health costs and is received via the NHS Low Income Scheme, which anyone, regardless of their immigration status, can apply for if they do not have savings or investments over a certain limit.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of foreign national offenders who have attempted to return to the UK after being deported.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 7 March to Question 35056.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to respond to the consultation on Lane rental scheme approval.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport consulted with stakeholders on lane rental scheme approval. This consultation concluded in January 2025. We plan to publish the response to this consultation in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of (a) emergency and (b) long-term accommodation has been allocated to (i) asylum seekers and (ii) foreign nationals in the last 12 months.

Answered by Rushanara Ali

The Home Office publishes data on individuals placed in accommodation in the gov.uk ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum seekers in receipt of support, individuals under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and those resettled via the Afghan Resettlement Programme, is published in table Reg_02 of the gov.uk ‘Regional and local authority data’, including breakdowns by accommodation type.

The department does not hold data on how many foreign nationals are accommodated in emergency or long-term accommodation.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of net zero policies on (a) energy security and (b) industrial competitiveness.

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

The transition to net zero will support both energy security and industrial competitiveness.

Switching to homegrown clean energy, including renewables and other clean technologies, offers security that fossil fuels simply cannot provide. And our Clean Power 2030 target is the key to long-term sustainable price reductions. Clean, homegrown energy is the best way to protect billpayers and boost Britain's energy independence.

The Government recognises the challenges in moving away from fossil fuels but is confident security of supply can be maintained throughout this transition. The recently published Clean Power 2030 Action Plan sets out our plans to secure critical supply chains in clean energy and foundational industries, such as steel and concrete.

Alongside measures to support the growth of these sectors, we are bringing energy costs for UK industries closer in line with other major economies, including through the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme. This will slash industrial electricity prices by around 20-25% from 2027, which could benefit over 7,000 manufacturing businesses, including carmakers and defence manufacturers – which employ over 300,000 skilled workers.

The Government will publish its updated carbon budget plan by October. This will set out the policy package to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037 for all sectors of the economy, and will include consideration of energy security and industrial competitiveness.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of political impartiality in the BBC’s news and current affairs output.

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

Under its Royal Charter, the BBC has a duty to deliver impartial and accurate news coverage and content, and the Government expects the BBC to uphold these standards. However, the government has not made an assessment of BBC impartiality as it is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of the BBC, to hold the BBC to account on this duty.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation services in the (i) courts and (ii) prison system in the last financial year.

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

The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users for whom English is not their first language and those who require visual and tactile services, under the provision of the Equality Act. Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

In FY 2024/25, the spend in the courts was £33,073,280.44 on interpretation (spoken) and £136,879.03 on translation (written).

In FY 2024/25, the contracted spend in the prisons was £105,849.83 on interpretation (spoken) and £1,707,440.07 on translation (written).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much she spent on providing (a) translation and (b) interpretation services for benefit claimants in the last year.

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

The spend in the period of January 2024 – December 2024:

a) Translation: £882,118

b) Interpreting: £6,774,336

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK are in receipt of (a) accommodation and (b) subsistence.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The latest data on the number of asylum seekers in receipt of asylum support can be found at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders are living in the UK and have received deportation orders.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office routinely publishes the number of FNOs subject to deportation proceedings and living in the community within its Immigration Enforcement quarterly transparency release. The latest release can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK, which shows up to the end of Q1 2025.

The Home Office works tirelessly to clear legal barriers, secure documentation or overcome other impediments to a return. Between 5 July 2024 and 18 May 2025, there were 4,436 enforced and voluntary returns of FNOs. This is an increase of 14% compared to the 3,879 FNO returns in the same period 12 months prior.

The Home Office also continues to work closely with HMPPS (HM Prisons and Probation Service) to focus on driving up the returns of FNOs direct from prison, delivering 2,274 early removal scheme (ERS) returns, which is an 11% increase compared with the 2,050 in the same period 12 months prior.

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 local authority housing allocations were made to households where the primary applicant was not a UK national in the last 12 months.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

People are generally eligible for social housing if they have leave to remain in the UK and have recourse to public funds. The Home Office decides whether persons from abroad have leave to remain in the UK and whether they have recourse to public funds.

Only individuals that are eligible can join housing registers and be given a social housing tenancy. For those who are eligible, housing needs will be considered on an equal basis in accordance with the relevant local authority’s housing allocation scheme.

According to the relevant 2021 Census extract, there were 796,000 households living in the social rented sector in England in March 2021 that were headed by someone who was not born in the UK. It is important to note that such households may contain UK nationals as well as non-UK national lead tenants.

My Department’s annual social housing lettings statistical series details the number of the new social housing lettings by the nationality of the lead tenant. It can be found on gov.uk here.

As per our pre-announced schedule, and in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, data for 2024/25 is currently being processed and quality assured and will be published in Winter 2025. Data for 2025/26 is currently being collected and will be published in Winter 2026.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to review (a) citizenship and (b) settlement criteria to place greater emphasis on (i) cultural integration and (ii) long-term contribution to the UK.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

We set out our plans to reform the settlement and citizenship rules in the white paper “Restoring Control over the Immigration System”. We will be consulting on the settlement and citizenship schemes later this year, and further details will be provided at that time.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential (a) economic and (b) social impact of uncontrolled migration on communities.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Home Office’s Immigration White paper, published on 12 May, sets out proposed reforms in a wide range of areas to restore control to the immigration system, after the chaos inherited from the previous government, when the level of net migration rose to more than 900,000 per year, and when 400 asylum hotels were in use across the country, at a cost of almost £9 million per day.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish revised guidance for schools on promoting British values.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools already embed British values through their statutory duty to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development. This is supported by statutory curriculum content, notably in citizenship and relationships education. The department has no current plans to publish revised guidance on promoting British values.

Schools have a good understanding of these values and integrate them well. However, through the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, we will ensure young people are provided with a balanced curriculum that develops the knowledge and skills they need to thrive as citizens, both in work and throughout life.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the data breach relating to the Afghan relocations and assistance policy on military spending.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

There has been no direct impact on military spending. Additional ringfenced funding was identified, initially from the Reserve and then funded as part of the Spending Review plans we set out in June.

Found: Current membership Florence Eshalomi (Labour; Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Chair) Lewis Cocking (Conservative

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Florence Eshalomi (Chair); Lewis Cocking; Chris Curtis; Mr Lee Dillon

Found: Lewis Cocking: Lewis Cocking, Broxbourne.Mr Mohindra: Gagan Mohindra, South West Hertfordshire.

Found: Smart Mike Martin Sir Gavin Williamson Freddie van Mierlo Dr Roz Savage Dr Danny Chambers Lewis Cocking

Found: Smart Mike Martin Sir Gavin Williamson Freddie van Mierlo Dr Roz Savage Dr Danny Chambers Lewis Cocking

Found: Smart Mike Martin Sir Gavin Williamson Freddie van Mierlo Dr Roz Savage Dr Danny Chambers Lewis Cocking

Found: Smart Mike Martin Sir Gavin Williamson Freddie van Mierlo Dr Roz Savage Dr Danny Chambers Lewis Cocking

Found: Mr Gagan Mohindra, Dr Ben Spencer, Sarah Bool, Alison Griffiths, Jack Rankin, Rebecca Paul, Lewis Cocking

Found: _18 Sir Gavin Williamson John Lamont Jack Rankin Bob Blackman Nick Timothy Rupert Lowe Lewis Cocking

Found: called_18 Sir Gavin Williamson John Lamont Jack Rankin Bob Blackman Nick Timothy Rupert Lowe Lewis Cocking

Found: _18 Sir Gavin Williamson John Lamont Jack Rankin Bob Blackman Nick Timothy Rupert Lowe Lewis Cocking

Found: _18 Sir Gavin Williamson John Lamont Jack Rankin Bob Blackman Nick Timothy Rupert Lowe Lewis Cocking

Found: _18 Sir Gavin Williamson John Lamont Jack Rankin Bob Blackman Nick Timothy Rupert Lowe Lewis Cocking

Found: _18 Sir Gavin Williamson John Lamont Jack Rankin Bob Blackman Nick Timothy Rupert Lowe Lewis Cocking