Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many outstanding applications were there for security clearances for individuals working at airports in England as of A.) August 2024 B.) August 2025 C.) August 2026.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I can advise that National Security Vetting (NSV) undertaken by His Majesty’s Government, remains separate from concurrent industry background checks. Successful and assured NSV is underpinned by appropriately considered and robustly applied recruitment due diligence.
I can confirm that Accreditation Checks (AC), which is a level of National Secuity Vetting primarily used by the aviation industry, are being processed in a timely manner with no current delays.
The Cabinet Office acts as a service provider for NSV clearances only. For national security reasons I am unable to share processing times for security clearances as release would likely prejudice national security and undermine the robust protective measures used to safeguard His Majesty’s Government.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate has she made of the average time taken to process an application for an over 70s driving licence.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The information requested is not readily available and can only be extracted at disproportionate cost. To extract this information would require a manual interrogation of each driving licence renewal application to determine if the applicant was aged 70 or over.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has carried out an impact assessment into the a) risk and b) impact on UK based individuals of data breaches of technology firms who hold information related to age verification purposes.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The UK’s data protection legislation applies to organisations that process personal data, including age assurance services. The legislation requires personal data to be processed lawfully, fairly, transparently and securely. The Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO), the UK’s independent data protection regulator, is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the legislation and has powers to investigate concerns about the misuse or mishandling of personal data.
An impact assessment for the Online Safety Act was published in 2024, which considers impacts on privacy including from the Act’s age assurance requirements.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 11 October 2024 to Question 6277, what progress her Department has made on agreeing an exchange agreement with Kosovo.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) wrote to the Kosovan driver licensing authorities on 3 June 2026 to establish if any changes had been made to their testing and licensing regime since the previous assessment and to request additional information. Kosovo has provided the required information and the DVLA is working towards launching the legally required public consultation.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate has she made of the average waiting time for a security vetting application to be completed for individuals working at airports in England.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
In accordance with the long-standing policy of successive administrations, the Government does not disclose National Security Vetting (NSV) processing averages. Such a release would likely prejudice national security and undermine the robust protective measures used to safeguard His Majesty’s Government.
The level of NSV primarily used by the aviation industry is the Accreditation Check (AC). I can confirm that these checks are being processed in a timely manner with no current delays.
The Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of regulations for individuals working as Foot Health Practitioners.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is clear that the professions protected in law must be the right ones and that the level of regulatory oversight must be proportionate to the risks to the public.
The Department keeps the professions subject to regulation under review but has no current plans to extend statutory regulation to Foot Health Practitioners.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of consumer protections for older people buying leasehold properties in retirement homes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 22 June 2026 (HCWS132) and the answer given to Question UIN 4726 on 8 June 2026.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the information provided by a) Housing Associations and b) retirement homes to individuals who are purchasing leasehold flats.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 22 June 2026 (HCWS132) and the answer given to Question UIN 4726 on 8 June 2026.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of leaseholders over the age of 80 who hold the lease on properties in a) England and b) London.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department publishes a release entitled ‘Leasehold Dwellings’ which includes statistics on the number of leasehold dwellings in England by tenure, dwelling type, and region.
Statistics from 2024-25 can be found on gov.uk here. Annex table 2.4 shows that in 2024-25 there were 750,000 owner occupier leasehold households where the household reference person was aged 65 or over, the closest age group for which data is available.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many A.) prosecutions B.) convictions have been made since 2006 under Section 26(2) of the Firearms Act 1968 in relation to individuals purchasing firearms or ammunition with a false certificate.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Attorney General
Section 26(2) does not create an offence relating to the purchase or acquisition of firearms using a false certificate. The offence most closely associated with such conduct is section 3(5) of the Firearms Act (FA) 1968, where it is an offence to produce a false certificate with the view of purchasing or acquiring any firearm or ammunition. Depending on the facts of the case, however, the CPS may charge these cases as a possession offence under section 1 or section 5 FA 1968. There may also be other offences considered depending on what the individual who purchases the firearms does with it.
The CPS holds management information which shows the number of offences charged by way of Section 3(5), Section 1 and Section 5 FA 1968 in which a prosecution commenced. The table below shows the number of offences charged by Act and Section in which a prosecution commenced between 2006 and 2025. The CPS is unable to differentiate whether the offences charged under section 1 or section 5 FA 1968 involved the individual using a false certificate; therefore, the information in the table below is for all offences charged under those sections of the FA 1968.
| Section 1 FA 1968 | Section 5 FA 1968 | Section 5(1A) FA 1968 | Section 5(2A) FA 1968 | Criminal Attempts Act 1981 and section 5 FA 1968 | Section 3(5) FA1968 |
2006 | 967 | 2,100 | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2007 | 1,054 | 2,698 | 102 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2008 | 1,107 | 2,775 | 115 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2009 | 1,091 | 2,747 | 146 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2010 | 942 | 2,543 | 137 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2011 | 987 | 2,638 | 169 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
2012 | 891 | 2,219 | 134 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2013 | 739 | 1,912 | 168 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2014 | 660 | 1,874 | 227 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
2015 | 718 | 1,927 | 265 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
2016 | 647 | 1,959 | 420 | 25 | 1 | 0 |
2017 | 781 | 1,792 | 364 | 55 | 1 | 0 |
2018 | 788 | 1,733 | 326 | 61 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | 627 | 1,878 | 287 | 44 | 0 | 0 |
2020 | 451 | 1,613 | 118 | 51 | 0 | 0 |
2021 | 702 | 2,188 | 108 | 63 | 0 | 4 |
2022 | 687 | 1,695 | 54 | 90 | 2 | 1 |
2023 | 766 | 1,612 | 41 | 57 | 1 | 0 |
2024 | 890 | 1,712 | 57 | 80 | 0 | 1 |
2025 | 813 | 1,551 | 45 | 66 | 0 | 0 |
TOTAL | 16,308 | 41,166 | 3,373 | 595 | 9 | 6 |
The figures relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants prosecuted. It can be the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same complainant. No data is held showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation.
The CPS does not hold management information on convictions by Act and Section and is therefore unable to provide the requested conviction figures.