Written questions by Snowden.

How much funding was allocated to the Civil Service LGBT Plus Network in each of the last five years.

I refer you to the response given by Minister Gould to PQ43014 in April of this year which asked what the cost to the public purse was of this employee network. The Civil Service LGBT+ staff network is a volunteer collaborative group of Civil Service staff. The LGBT+ network does not hold a budget, but a department can choose to provide support where there is a business case to do so. We are not aware of any such financial support. There has been no cost to the public purse of the LGBT+ network since 2020. We do not hold any records prior to this date. The LGBT+ network was created in 2003.

What guidance has been issued to help civil servants distinguish between acceptable network activity and activity that may breach impartiality rules.

The Staff Network Policy was launched on 23 September 2025 and is applicable to all cross-Civil Service Staff networks, from this date. Departments have been strongly encouraged to adopt or align to this policy for their own departmental networks. The policy establishes a consistent framework to ensure all staff networks operate effectively, in line with the Civil Service code.

What criteria will guide decisions on whether an overnight stay levy is “modest” and appropriate for local areas; and will there be a cap.

The precise design and scope of the power for Mayors to introduce a visitor levy is still under development. Mayors will decide whether to introduce a levy and, if so, consult on specific proposals. We expect Mayors to engage constructively with businesses and their communities to hear their concerns. This will inform their decisions regarding whether and how a levy will be applied and how any revenue is spent. Giving this power to local leaders who best understand their region enables them to tailor it to growing their local economies The Government has published a consultation running until 18 February 2026, so that the public, businesses, and local government can shape the design of the power to introduce a levy that will be devolved to local leaders. The consultation seeks views on whether there should be a cap on the rate.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the level of use of virtual private networks since July 2025.

The government and Ofcom continue to monitor the use of VPNs since the Child Safety Duties commenced in July.After these duties came into force, UK users of VPN apps temporarily doubled to around 1.5 million. Ofcom has since reported that VPN app usage dropped to around 900,000 by the end of November.There remains limited evidence on how many children use VPNs and the government is working to address this gap. We will ensure any future interventions are proportionate and driven by the evidence.

What assessment she has made of the prevalence of drug smuggling among illegal migrants who arrive in the UK via the Channel.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to questions 71052, 71053 and 71054 on 4th September.

How many staff in her Department are permitted to undertake diversity-related network time during core working hours; and what proportion of overall working time are they permitted to spend on such network activity.

Participation in staff networks is primarily voluntary and carried out in addition to an employee’s job role.

Communities and Local Government, which level of local authority will be responsible for collecting the proposed tourist tax; and what estimate his Department has made of the administrative costs of implementing and collecting the tax.

The design and scope of the new visitor levy power is still under development. The government is consulting on whether local authorities or a national authority should be responsible for administering the Visitor Levy in England. The administrative costs of implementing and collecting any levies will depend on the decisions taken by Mayors, including whether they choose to bring forward a levy in their area. We are proposing that, should the levy be locally-administered, a small proportion of levy income be used to cover administrative costs, including staffing, systems and compliance activity.

What assessment she has made of the comparative operational performance of publicly owned rail operators versus privately owned rail operators since December 2024.

The Department for Transport holds all the operators that it funds to account for delivering performance for passengers. The Rail Minister meets regularly with the Managing Directors of train operators and their Network Rail counterparts to address poor performance and demand immediate action to raise standards. The table below shows the most recent data on levels of reliability and punctuality for DfT funded services over the past year. This compares operators currently in public ownership and shows that reliability is higher for operators currently in public ownership under DfT Operator Ltd (DFTO) compared to private sector operators contracted by DfT. Year to end to of last confirmed rail periodOperators currently in public ownershipOperators currently in private ownershipCancellationsTime to 3 punctuality CancellationsTime to 3 punctuality 10 November 2024 - 8 November 20253.3%82.8%4.7%81.8% “Time to 3 punctuality” refers to the proportion of trains calling at stations within three minutes of schedule.

What mechanisms exist for healthcare professionals to report poverty in people with terminal illnesses to the Department for Work and Pensions.

The Department for Work and Pensions does not ask healthcare professionals to report a patient’s poverty status.The Government remains committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it. Support is available through the welfare system to those who are unable to work, are on a low income, or have additional costs as a consequence of a long-term health condition or disability but who are not eligible to pensioner benefits because of their age For those nearing the end of their life, the Government’s priority is to provide people with financial support quickly and compassionately. The main way this is applied is through the Special Rules for End of Life. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment or serve waiting periods, and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit.

How many staff in his Department are permitted to undertake diversity-related network time during core working hours; and what proportion of overall working time are they permitted to spend on such network activity.

DWP is transitioning its EDI Networks in line with the new Cabinet Office Guidance. Currently in DWP we have 8 Departmental EDI Networks. Each Network has 2 co-chairs who receive 25% time allowance and up to 10 committee members who receive 10%. When all roles are occupied (which is not the case currently) this equates to 12FTE. As of November 2025 DWP has an FTE of 84,699, so this equates to around 0.01% of working time. From April 2026, DWP will still have 8 Departmental EDI Networks. Each Network will have 2 co-chairs who receive 10% time allowance and up to 5 committee members who also receive 10%. EDI Community Network Chairs (of which we have 14) will also receive a 10% time allowance. If all roles are filled this will equate to 7FTE, a reduction of 5FTE.

Whether any train operator has failed to meet its performance benchmarks since entering public ownership.

Since April 2025, all operators funded by the Department - both public and private - have failed at least one performance benchmark. Performance is measured on a four-weekly basis against ambitious and realistic targets. We expect train operators to work consistently towards meeting these targets and delivering good performance for passengers. Recent data published by the Office for Road and Rail shows that reliability is higher for operators currently in public ownership under DfT Operator Ltd (DFTO) compared to private sector operators contracted by DfT.

How many illegal immigrants have been deported under the Dublin Convention.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of individuals transferred out of the UK under the Dublin regulation is published in the Dublin regulation detailed dataset (Dub_D01). Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The data relates up to the end of 2020, after which the UK was no longer subject to the Dublin regulation.

What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of Government support schemes on small business participation in Small Business Saturday.

I congratulate Small Business Britain on another excellent Small Business Saturday, during which the Government launched the new ‘Backing your Business’ campaign to drive uptake of the Business Growth Service and boost awareness of the Small Business Plan. We have been delivering on our promise to back SMEs across Britain. This includes work to tackle late payments and cut the administrative costs of regulation saving SME owners time and money so they can focus on running successful businesses and continue to participate in important campaigns such as Small Business Saturday.

What steps he is taking to ensure that the digital social care record system is designed and maintained to national security standards.

The Department has not designed a single digital social care record (DSCR) system. Rather, through the Digitising Social Care (DiSC) programme which ended in April 2025, the Government set standards for DSCRs and created a list of solutions that have been assured against those key standards and capabilities. This includes data, cybersecurity, and interoperability standards. There are now 21 assured solutions on the list. In partnership with NHS England, the Department has driven the adoption of DSCRs to 80% of Care Quality Commission registered care providers, benefiting 89% of people who draw on care. Most, but not all, care providers are using assured DSCRs. Building on the work of the DiSC programme, we have set an ambition for all care providers to be fully digitised by the end of this Parliament. A fully digitised care provider is a registered care provider that uses an assured DSCR and meets national data security standards as set out through the Data Security and Protection Toolkit. These standards protect people’s sensitive information and make sure systems can connect safely and securely across health and social care. In January 2025, the Department announced that it is investing in a new national data infrastructure for social care. This will lay the foundations for near real-time visibility of information from adult social care, such as DSCRs, and health care services. Data protection, privacy, and transparency, as well as the ethical use of data, will be central to the design of the infrastructure.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of water infrastructure.

A record £104 billion of investment is planned for the water sector in the next investment cycle. This will provide the water supply and wastewater capacity to secure future water supplies, including nine new reservoirs and several large-scale water transfer schemes.

Whether his Department plans to publish yearly progress reports on the implementation of the Single Patient Record.

The Department and NHS England will be monitoring the implementation of the single patient record and will provide regular updates on progress.

With reference to the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, what interim milestones will be used to track progress toward lifting 550,000 children out of poverty by the end of the Parliament.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out how we will track progress and evaluate success as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability and continued learning.We will use two complementary headline metrics, relative low income (after housing costs) and deep material poverty, as well as a comprehensive programme of analysis focusing on the drivers of child poverty and the impact of specific interventions.The Monitoring and Evaluation framework set out that a baseline report will be published in Summer 2026, reflecting the further development of plans and updated findings from the latest poverty statistics publications, with annual reporting on progress thereafter.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the economic impact of Small Business Saturday on high streets and local economies.

The Department has not done, and does not plan to do an assessment of the economic impact of Small Business Saturday on high streets and local economies.The Small Business Saturday campaign has done its own analysis; they suggest that Small Business Saturday could deliver a £5 billion boost for the sector. The Department has also launched its Backing Your Business campaign, designed to raise awareness of the support being provided to SMEs within the Small Business Plan, including on high streets and local economies.

Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 13 November 2025 to question 90762 on BBC: Royal Charters, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of perceived bias in the programme Question Time on the priorities of the new BBC Royal Charter.

The BBC is editorially and operationally independent from the Government and this is a crucial component of why people trust it. 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.It is then for Ofcom, as the independent regulator, to ensure the BBC is fulfilling its obligations to audiences, including on impartiality and accuracy, as outlined in the Charter.The forthcoming Charter Review will provide an opportunity for the Government to consider a range of issues and to set the BBC up for success long into the future.

Whether the Crown Prosecution Service has issued any recent guidance on the prosecution of offences related to illegal polygamous marriages conducted within the UK.

Bigamy is an offence contrary to section.57 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and is prosecuted as such. The CPS has not issued and has no plans to issue specific guidance.