Written questions by Costa.

What steps she has taken to encourage exam boards to offer the British Sign Language GCSE.

The government, working with the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual), has developed the content and assessment arrangements for a new British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE. Now that Ofqual’s final qualification rules have been published, exam boards are able to develop detailed specifications which will form the basis of course content to be taught in schools and colleges. Decisions on whether to develop qualification specifications are for exam boards, and any specifications developed by exam boards will need to be accredited by Ofqual before they are available to schools. I have written to the exam boards to encourage them to seize the opportunity to offer this important qualification.

Whether her Department has received proposals on improving the (a) reliability, (b) capacity and (c) frequency of services serving Narborough station from CrossCountry.

We expect operators to plan services balancing the need to meet expected passenger demand, improve train service performance, be affordable and provide value for money for taxpayers. Office of Rail and Road station statistics show that service reliability at Narborough has generally improved in the eight weeks to 13 September 2025. Officials monitor CrossCountry performance closely and will continue to hold them to account for delivery of the contractual performance benchmarks.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of service reliability on annual passenger footfall at Narborough Station since 2019.

Unreliable rail services disrupt passengers’ journeys and undermine passenger confidence. This is why we are taking steps to improve train service performance across the country to better deliver for passengers. Passenger numbers across all CrossCountry routes are similar to those that were seen in 2019. Office of Rail and Road figures show growth in demand at Narborough station, with an estimated 240,000 entries and exits in the 2023-24 financial year. This is an increase of 32,000 on the year before.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) reliability and (b) punctuality of CrossCountry services operating between Birmingham, Leicester and Stansted Airport.

CrossCountry train services were not reliable enough in 2024 and the operator was subject to a Remedial Plan from August 2024 to March 2025. Since January 2025, CrossCountry train service performance has generally improved, although issues remain on Sundays. The Rail Minister has met CrossCountry Directors who are well aware that there is more for them to do. A new senior management team at CrossCountry is taking steps to address underlying issues within the business. We expect to see improvements for passengers, and will continue to hold the operator to account for delivery of the contractual performance benchmarks.

What discussions he has had with CrossCountry on increasing capacity on (a) peak services between Leicester and Narborough and (b) the 17:18 weekday service from Leicester to Birmingham.

In December 2024, CrossCountry removed First Class accommodation from the trains used on the Birmingham to Stansted Airport route, increasing the number of seats available to all ticket holders. All operators are expected to plan capacity on individual services to best match the expected level of demand, whilst making efficient use of the train fleet and train crew resources available to them. Officials are working with CrossCountry to develop a business case to further expand their Inter-City train fleet.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to apply (a) disqualification, (b) premises bans and (c) other sanctions to councillors found to have engaged in serious misconduct.

In December 2024 the government launched a consultation seeking views on wide ranging reforms to the local government standards regime in England. The government response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing the detailed policies for implementation.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to amend section 27(3) of the Localism Act 2011 to include a statutory definition of bullying and harassment covering (a) persistent verbal abuse, (b) intimidation and (c) behaviour causing significant distress.

In December 2024 the government launched a consultation seeking views on wide ranging reforms to the local government standards regime in England. The government response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing the detailed policies for implementation.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to mandate standards committees with lay member involvement in principal authorities to ensure impartiality in misconduct cases.

In December 2024 the government launched a consultation seeking views on wide ranging reforms to the local government standards regime in England. The government response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing the detailed policies for implementation.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a mandatory code of conduct for local government in England.

In December 2024 the government launched a consultation seeking views on wide ranging reforms to the local government standards regime in England. The government response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing the detailed policies for implementation.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to bring forward proposals for the suspension of councillors for up to six months in cases of proven (a) bullying, (b) harassment and (c) serious misconduct.

In December 2024 the government launched a consultation seeking views on wide ranging reforms to the local government standards regime in England. The government response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing the detailed policies for implementation.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to legislate to provide principal authorities with powers to (a) investigate breaches of conduct and (b) impose meaningful sanctions on (i) parish and (ii) town councillors.

In December 2024 the government launched a consultation seeking views on wide ranging reforms to the local government standards regime in England. The government response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing the detailed policies for implementation.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential implications for its policies of the Committee on Standards in Public Life's report entitled Local Government Ethical Standards, published on 30 January 2019; and whether he plans to implement the recommendations on sanctions in that report.

In December 2024 the government launched a consultation seeking views on wide ranging reforms to the local government standards regime in England. The government response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing the detailed policies for implementation.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of (a) investigating and (b) sanctioning misconduct by (i) town and (ii) parish councillors.

In December 2024 the government launched a consultation seeking views on wide ranging reforms to the local government standards regime in England. The government response will be issued in due course. After its release, we will continue to work actively with local government on developing the detailed policies for implementation.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to ensure that interim officers in local government are held accountable for decisions made during their tenure.

Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management of their own workforces, including holding interim officers to account. Ministers have little remit to intervene in employment issues within local authorities, except where specific provision has been made in legislation.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that information on (a) settlement payments and (b) legal costs incurred by local authorities in cases of staff misconduct is shared with (i) relevant board members and (ii) the public.

Local authorities are independent employers responsible for the management of their own workforces and compliance with all relevant employment legislation. This includes responsibility for cases of staff misconduct.

Whether his Department plans to increase the number of police officers with expertise in tackling cyber crime in the next three years.

We are committed to ensuring we have the workforce needed to tackle the threat of cyber crime and protect our people and businesses. Since 2017, in partnership with local Police and Crime Commissioners, the Home Office has directly funded a national network of specialist officers trained to investigate cyber crime and support local communities in efforts to prevent crimes that occur online. In the financial year 2025/26, this has included funding of c.£30m.Across England and Wales, Regional Cyber Crime Units (RCCUs) operate in the Metropolitan Police and each Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU). Each of the 43 local police forces has a dedicated Force Cyber Crime Unit (FCCU). These teams have the specialist skills required to respond to cyber crime and are provided with ongoing training to ensure they can respond to the rapid pace of technological change and the increasingly complexity of cyber crime investigations.Close collaboration between the National Crime Agency (NCA) and wider policing is vital in ensuring an effective response. The NCA play an important role in leading and coordinating the cyber crime network, supported in policing by the City of London Police as the Lead Force for fraud and cyber crime. The NCA’s operational leadership is driven by statutory national governance structures that drive strategic coordination of the law enforcement response and strengthen the relationship between the NCA and wider policing to effectively respond to cyber crime incidents.The size of the cyber crime network is under constant review. The Home Office is currently in internal negotiations on the distribution of the departmental allocation provided as part of the recent Spending Review. As part of this process, we will consider the number of officers in policing required to tackle the challenge of cyber crime over the next three years.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of levels of contested parish council elections on accountability in local government.

Contested town and parish elections strengthen local accountability, by encouraging broader representation and democratic engagement. Town and parish councils rely on individuals stepping forward to serve their communities, and a greater number of candidates increases the likelihood of contested elections. We continue to value the role of town and parish councils in driving forward community priorities and delivering effective local services.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of collaboration between the National Crime Agency and local police forces in responding to cyber crime incidents.

We are committed to ensuring we have the workforce needed to tackle the threat of cyber crime and protect our people and businesses. Since 2017, in partnership with local Police and Crime Commissioners, the Home Office has directly funded a national network of specialist officers trained to investigate cyber crime and support local communities in efforts to prevent crimes that occur online. In the financial year 2025/26, this has included funding of c.£30m.Across England and Wales, Regional Cyber Crime Units (RCCUs) operate in the Metropolitan Police and each Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU). Each of the 43 local police forces has a dedicated Force Cyber Crime Unit (FCCU). These teams have the specialist skills required to respond to cyber crime and are provided with ongoing training to ensure they can respond to the rapid pace of technological change and the increasingly complexity of cyber crime investigations.Close collaboration between the National Crime Agency (NCA) and wider policing is vital in ensuring an effective response. The NCA play an important role in leading and coordinating the cyber crime network, supported in policing by the City of London Police as the Lead Force for fraud and cyber crime. The NCA’s operational leadership is driven by statutory national governance structures that drive strategic coordination of the law enforcement response and strengthen the relationship between the NCA and wider policing to effectively respond to cyber crime incidents.The size of the cyber crime network is under constant review. The Home Office is currently in internal negotiations on the distribution of the departmental allocation provided as part of the recent Spending Review. As part of this process, we will consider the number of officers in policing required to tackle the challenge of cyber crime over the next three years.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that every police force has specialist officers trained to investigate cyber crime.

We are committed to ensuring we have the workforce needed to tackle the threat of cyber crime and protect our people and businesses. Since 2017, in partnership with local Police and Crime Commissioners, the Home Office has directly funded a national network of specialist officers trained to investigate cyber crime and support local communities in efforts to prevent crimes that occur online. In the financial year 2025/26, this has included funding of c.£30m.Across England and Wales, Regional Cyber Crime Units (RCCUs) operate in the Metropolitan Police and each Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU). Each of the 43 local police forces has a dedicated Force Cyber Crime Unit (FCCU). These teams have the specialist skills required to respond to cyber crime and are provided with ongoing training to ensure they can respond to the rapid pace of technological change and the increasingly complexity of cyber crime investigations.Close collaboration between the National Crime Agency (NCA) and wider policing is vital in ensuring an effective response. The NCA play an important role in leading and coordinating the cyber crime network, supported in policing by the City of London Police as the Lead Force for fraud and cyber crime. The NCA’s operational leadership is driven by statutory national governance structures that drive strategic coordination of the law enforcement response and strengthen the relationship between the NCA and wider policing to effectively respond to cyber crime incidents.The size of the cyber crime network is under constant review. The Home Office is currently in internal negotiations on the distribution of the departmental allocation provided as part of the recent Spending Review. As part of this process, we will consider the number of officers in policing required to tackle the challenge of cyber crime over the next three years.

Whether forthcoming legislative proposals on the use of non-disclosure agreements would apply retrospectively.

Victims are always able to report crimes to the police under the common law, even if their Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) suggests otherwise and irrespective of when the NDA was entered into. However, since 1 October 2025, section 17 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 allows individuals who are victims of crime, or reasonably believe they are, to share information with specified parties for certain purposes related to the criminal conduct, even if their NDA appears to preclude them from doing so. Additionally, clause 24 of the Employment Rights Bill will void any provision in an agreement between a worker and their employer to the extent that it seeks to prevent a worker from speaking out about relevant harassment and discrimination, unless conditions for an “excepted agreement” to be set in regulations are met. This measure is not yet in force and is subject to the Bill gaining Royal Assent.Neither of these initiatives would apply retrospectively. They would not apply to NDAs entered into before the date on which the relevant legislation comes into force. This is in line with the rule of law principle that policy changes generally apply prospectively, to provide certainty for individuals and businesses about the rules governing their conduct.