Written questions by MacDonald.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Sweden.

The UK maintains strong and enduring ties with Sweden across a broad range of bilateral files. We work closely together as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) allies and Sweden was among the first countries the Foreign Secretary visited in July 2024. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary hosted Foreign Minister Stenergard on 1 May and the Prime Minister then hosted Prime Minister Kristersson at No 10 on 12 May. I also hosted State Secretary Hartelius and State Secretary Danielsson in March and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Nick Thomas Symonds, visited Stockholm the same month. We continue to engage our Swedish counterparts regularly at all levels.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help improve the UK’s relationship with Norway.

The UK maintains strong and historic ties with Norway across a broad range of bilateral files. We work closely together as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) allies, and our cooperation has deepened further following the Prime Minister signing the Norway-UK Strategic Partnership in Bergen on 16 December 2024. There have been several Ministerial visits between Norway and the UK, including two visits by the Foreign Secretary to Norway in September 2024 and May 2025, I visited in October 2024, and an inward visit by Foreign Minister Barth Eide took place in December 2024. A Green Industrial Partnership was also signed by Energy Ministers in May 2025.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps his Department has taken to help promote freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria.

The Government is deeply concerned about the ongoing violence in Nigeria's Middle Belt and we express our sincere concern for all those impacted. The root causes of intercommunal violence are complex and often linked to land disputes, historical tensions, and criminal activity. While religion is not a causal factor in these conflicts, the impacts are felt acutely by religious communities, including hindering people's ability to practice their faith freely. The UK supports all affected communities, regardless of faith or ethnicity, and is working through programmes like Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria and the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership to promote peace, strengthen local institutions, and protect civilians. The UK remains committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), with Nigeria a priority country under the new FoRB strategy, and we will continue to raise this issue in our engagements with Nigeria.

What recent discussions he has had with representatives of the hospitality sector on the impact of the current rate of VAT on small businesses.

The Department for Business and Trade regularly engages with representatives from the hospitality sector, including through the hospitality sector council to understand the challenges they face, including the impact of VAT on small businesses.VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Whilst there are no current plans to reduce VAT, HM Treasury keep all taxes under review.To support businesses, we are reforming the business rates system and plan to introduce permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with a rateable value under £500,000.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the devolved Administrations on coordinated approaches to monitoring puffin populations.

Defra provides funding through JNCC to the UK-wide Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP), and the JNCC-led Seabirds Count census which provide UK-wide monitoring for seabirds, including puffins. The results are publicly available and will inform future conservation actions. The most recent Seabirds Count census (2023) counted 474,679 pairs of puffins. Where comparable data were available, they indicated declines of 23% since 2000, reinforcing the importance of collaboration on seabird conservation. The devolved Governments are implementing their respective seabird conservation strategies, so we continue to work together to coordinate action and data sharing.

What discussions she has had with her Scottish counterpart on ensuring the sustainability of high-quality chemistry teaching.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has not had any discussions with her Scottish counterpart specifically regarding supporting teaching in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. However, Ministers have had valuable discussions at four nations meetings and officials maintain contact around issues of mutual interest, including STEM education.

What steps her Department is taking to protect HMRC-held personal data from unauthorised access.

HMRC have strict security standards, and have appropriate technical, physical and managerial procedures in place to safeguard and secure personal information. HMRC limit access to personal information to those persons, or agents who have a business or legal need to do so. For customer-facing services, this includes identity checking procedures and access controls, such as voice biometrics and multi-factor authentication. Fraudsters use the HMRC brand to target individuals with fake correspondence, phishing emails, text messages and telephone calls. We publish phishing and scams guidance on GOV.UK, showing how to recognise scams, report issues and stay safe online.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of safety protocols for beekeeping activity near (a) residential areas and (b) public rights of way.

Defra advises beekeepers that apiaries should be sited away from neighbours, footpaths or public areas to minimise the risk of members of the public being stung. It is possible for experienced beekeepers to safely manage bees in a garden area, although usual practice is to site them well away from neighbours and fence colonies in with a hedge or panelled fencing - this encourages bees to fly higher, above the heads of anyone nearby.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with France.

The Government is committed to strengthening its close partnership with France, a commitment that was reaffirmed during President Macron's State Visit on 8-10 July and the UK-France Summit with groundbreaking agreements on migration, defence, growth and culture. We are further enhancing foreign policy cooperation to increase pressure on Russia and support Ukraine, support stability in the Middle East, increase coordination in the Western Balkans, Moldova, and the Indo-Pacific, and combine efforts on development and global issues.I attended the UK-France Summit with the Prime Minister and President of France on 10 July. Please see the joint declaration (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-france-leaders-declaration) for further details.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has issued guidance to beekeepers on the use of (a) temporary signage and (b) other public warnings during hive inspections in areas accessible to the public.

Beekeepers generally keep their bees on their property and away from areas that are accessible to the public. Defra advises beekeepers that apiaries should be sited away from neighbours, footpaths or public areas to minimise the risk of members of the public being stung. Bees can be encouraged to fly above potential hazard areas by having high walls or hedges around an apiary to minimise interaction between bees and neighbours or farm animals. When Inspectors from the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit carry out hive inspections, they follow specific procedures and have a Risk Assessment that provides guidance, considerations, and control measures with regards to public health.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has had discussions with representatives of the beekeeping sector on improving public safety measures during hive management.

Ensuring public safety is of great importance to Defra and beekeeping groups. Defra and representatives of the beekeeping sector work closely to raise awareness of the safety measures that should be in place during hive management.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing minimum public safety requirements for beekeepers operating near (a) residential and (b) publicly accessible land.

Defra provides guidance to beekeepers advising that apiaries should be sited away from neighbours, footpaths or public areas to minimise the risk of members of the public being stung. Beekeeping groups also encourage beekeepers to work with their bees in such a way that risks to the general public are kept to a minimum.

What the total annual cost of aircraft leasing arrangements is; and how many such contracts involve offshore-registered companies.

The information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the the potential impact of digital identity systems on (a) policing and (b) other forms of law enforcement.

The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is working to enable the use of secure and trusted digital verification services across the UK economy for those who want to use them.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Portugal.

The UK maintains strong and enduring ties with Portugal across a broad range of bilateral files. The Foreign Secretary last met with his Portuguese counterpart Foreign Minister Rangel when he visited Lisbon in March earlier this year. I last met with my Portuguese counterpart Secretary of State Domingos when I visited Lisbon in January. Both visits discussed how we can continue to effectively implement the UK-Portugal Joint Declaration.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Poland.

The UK maintains strong and enduring ties with Poland across a broad range of bilateral files. During the Prime Minister's visit to Poland in January he and Polish Prime Minister Tusk announced the start of negotiations for an ambitious UK-Poland Defence and Security Treaty. The Foreign Secretary met with his Polish counterpart on 7 May in Warsaw where they discussed the threat to European security from Russia and our commitment to work together. I attended the Belvedere Forum in Warsaw on 16 June to discuss strengthening cooperation on security, growth, and migration. At the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) held in Italy on 10-11 July we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Poland on collaboration in support of Ukraine's recovery.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Spain.

The UK and Spain have a strong and wide-ranging relationship, particularly on people-to-people, trade, climate and energy, and security. The Foreign Secretary met his counterpart in Brussels on 11 June for Gibraltar negotiations and in the margins of the NATO summit in The Hague on 25 June. He visited Madrid on 31 March to attend Weimar+. The Minister for Development attended the Financing for Development Conference in Seville from 30 June to 1 July. I met with my Spanish counterpart Secretary of State Sampedro in Madrid on 7 May and on 11 June in Brussels. I also visited Spain on 21 February for a meeting on the Gibraltar negotiations and on 17 January for bilateral meetings.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on cross-government plans for digital identity systems.

The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is working to enable the use of secure and trusted digital verification services (DVS) across the UK economy for those who want to use them.OfDIA regularly engages with cross-government colleagues regarding DVS, including seeking feedback on the Government’s standards for digital identity and work to remove regulatory barriers to adoption in different use cases where these exist. OfDIA also facilitates technical working groups for cross-government collaboration.GOV.UK One Login is the government’s sign-in and identity verification solution, for accessing central government services. All major government departments have committed to onboarding their services to GOV.UK One Login, and are actively developing delivery plans. They are supported by an Onboarding and Engagement team to enable technical service teams to onboard their services smoothly.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has had discussions with the private sector on the use of digital identity for accessing financial services.

The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is working to enable the use of secure and trusted digital verification services across the UK economy for those who want to use them. OfDIA has engaged with organisations who are interested in adopting digital identity technology, including those within the financial services sector.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Denmark.

The UK maintains strong and enduring ties with Denmark across a broad range of bilateral files. We work closely together as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) allies, and cooperation has deepened further following Denmark's accession to the United Nations Security Council (2025-26). Most recently, the Prime Minister met Prime Minister Frederiksen in Oslo in May at the JEF Leaders' Summit; the Foreign Secretary met Foreign Minister Rasmussen at the NATO Informal in May; and I hosted Danish State Secretary Machon in March. We continue to engage our Danish counterparts regularly at all levels.