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Written Question
Senior Civil Servants: Career Development
Thursday 9th April 2026

Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many participants in the Directors Leaders Scheme a) enrolled, b) completed the full programme, c) withdrew before completion and d) were removed by programme administrators in each of the last three years.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Directors Leadership Programme cohort 4 is starting from 22 April and has 35 participants.

In the last three years:

  1. 109 people were enrolled.

  2. Everyone completed the programme

  3. Nobody withdrew from the programme

  4. Nobody was removed from the programme by the administration.


Written Question
Council Tax: Surcharges
Thursday 9th April 2026

Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Budget Policy Costing 2025, November 2025, page 51, on the High Value Council Tax Surcharge, what proportion of the (a) -£60 million impact in 2025-26, (b) -£120 million impact in 2026-27 and (c) -£155 million impact in 2027-28 is from (i) lower stamp duty, (ii) lower capital gain tax, (iii) lower inheritance tax and (iv) lower Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings receipts, in each case and year.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The OBR publishes a breakdown of the Budget 2025 policy costings here:

Policy costings - Office for Budget Responsibility


Written Question
Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment
Thursday 9th April 2026

Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2026 to Question 108235 on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, what the (a) departments and (b) job titles are of the 90 senior civil servants recruited internally.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer to my answer to UIN 108235 from 2 March 2026.


Written Question
Tim Allan
Thursday 9th April 2026

Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Tim Allan will receive a severance payment following his departure from Government as Director of Communications.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

It is a longstanding policy not to comment on individuals. The Model Contract for Special Advisers is published online and details the specific circumstances in which severance is payable.


Written Question
Asylum: Housing
Thursday 9th April 2026

Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff, broken down by grade, are in the Home Office adjudication team which considers matters relating to asylum accommodation and representations from local authorities.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office has a dedicated function responsible for assessing matters relating to asylum accommodation and for considering representations made by local authorities.

Staff involved in this activity work across a range of grades and responsibilities, and their work forms part of wider operational roles rather than a separately recorded staffing group. As such, the Home Office does not hold a discrete breakdown of staff numbers by grade for this specific function.

The Department keeps staffing levels under regular review to ensure it can respond effectively and proportionately to operational demand, including the handling of local authority representations.


Written Question
Deportation: Myanmar
Thursday 9th April 2026

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safety of Myanmar nationals deported back to their country; and whether it is their current policy to do so.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government keeps the situation in Myanmar under close review. The UK does not remove individuals where there is a real risk of persecution or serious harm, and all cases are considered on their individual merits.

We only seek to return those whose asylum claims have been unsuccessful, or who otherwise have no lawful right to remain in the UK. By definition, they do not need protection and are not at risk on return. Furthermore, we only seek to return those who have no lawful right to remain in the UK.

Returns are only conducted when it is safe and practical to do so.


Written Question
Defibrillators: Emergency Services
Thursday 9th April 2026

Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of police vehicles are currently equipped with defibrillators.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office does not collect data on the number of emergency police vehicles fitted with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Police forces are operationally independent from Government, and therefore decisions on the use of AEDs would be an operational matter for them.


Written Question
Defibrillators: Emergency Services
Thursday 9th April 2026

Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many emergency police vehicles are not currently fitted with a defibrillator.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office does not collect data on the number of emergency police vehicles fitted with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Police forces are operationally independent from Government, and therefore decisions on the use of AEDs would be an operational matter for them.


Written Question
Antisemitism: Hate Crime
Thursday 9th April 2026

Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many antisemitic hate crimes involving arson have been recorded in the last 12 months.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

In the year ending March 2025, the police forces in England and Wales recorded four arson offences that were identified as being religious hate crimes targeted at Jewish people.


Written Question
Iron and Steel: Imports
Thursday 9th April 2026

Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what volume of iron ore imports into the UK there was in each of the last three calendar years, broken down by (1) fines, (2) pellets, (3) lump ore and (4) other iron-bearing feedstocks, and by country of origin.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The data on imports of ferrous scrap is given in table 1.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an Accredited National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com ).

Table 1: UK import volumes (kg) of Iron ore per year, from 2023 to 2025

Country

2023

2024

2025

Sweden

944,860,000

650,899,243

909,881,920

Brazil

1,293,175,122

524,445,534

598,107,272

Canada

1,290,465,000

496,900,000

565,870,677

Norway

1,187,212,714

368,949,807

27,807,184

United States

596,604,115

492,035,282

215,978,363

South Africa

745,243,000

16,017,200

188,157,000

Mauritania

315,269,000

248,684,000

356,403,000

Liberia

379,172,000

243,407,200

India

127,150,000

71,500,000

Vatican City

158,257,000

Egypt

92,702,000

46,135,000

Uruguay

47,868,000

82,184,000

Libya

49,597,000

47,248,000

Netherlands

329,102

78,165,633

278,805

Trinidad:Tobago

43,061,000

Australia

35,718,811

Turkey

117,089

258,720

282,240

France

27,193

1,920

Germany

23,086

Spain

3,018

6,178

UK

2,397

3,560

1,550

Chile

450

Sierra Leone

233

Ukraine

203

Italy

95

Ireland

14

China

2

Grand Total

7,263,793,093

3,409,897,402

2,862,776,437

Source: HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics / UK TradeInfo.com

Notes

• Data for 2023-2025 are for calendar years

• HS8 26011100, 260112000, 26012000

• Import trade is on a country of origin basis

• 2025 is an open year and is therefore provisional and is subject to change

• Country of origin is not required on trade declared through the Intrastat system