Written questions by Dodds.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether human rights issues in Kyrgyzstan were discussed at the first meeting of the Kyrgyz-British Strategic Dialogue in February 2025.

I raised human rights issues with my Kyrgyz counterpart during the inaugural UK-Kyrgyz Strategic Dialogue in February 2025. We regularly raise human rights at ministerial level with Kyrgyzstan.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to carry out a comparative assessment of the potential impact of (a) disposable, (b) reusable and (c) other environmentally-friendly period products on the environment.

Defra has no plans to carry out a comparative assessment of the environmental impact of different types of period products.

What steps the Defending Democracy Taskforce (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to help tackle threats to democracy outside of election periods.

The Defending Democracy Taskforce is driving forward a programme of work to secure the democratic integrity of the UK from the full range of threats. Alongside its work to protect elections, since the General Election the Taskforce has:Conducted a wide-ranging review to understand how we can prevent and deter harassment and intimidation of anyone involved in our electoral institutions and processes and is now taking forward priority work to address this issue.Sponsored the National Cyber Security Centre to deliver an enhanced cyber security offer for elected representatives across the UK to help better protect them online.Concluded a comprehensive assessment of the UK’s response to Transnational Repression to understand the scale and nature of Transnational Repression in the UK, as well as Government’s response to the issue.Engaged with international partners to share lessons learnt and expertise to help tackle similar threats to our democracies.

Whether she has made an assessment of trends in the levels of transnational repression towards Sudanese diaspora peace activists in the UK.

The first duty of this Government is to keep the country safe. We are committed to addressing foreign interference, including those actions which amount to transnational repression (TNR). We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously. As I set out in my statement to the House on 14 May, and reiterated during my evidence session at the Joint Committee on Human Rights on 21 May, any attempt by any foreign state to intimidate, harass or harm individuals in the UK will not be tolerated, irrespective of the perpetrating country.The legislation and tools designed to detect and disrupt transnational repression are actor agnostic. Where we become aware of individual victims of TNR, we work to deploy a range of tailored support and security assistance mechanisms for their protection. This assistance is based on threat and varied in its scope and approach.In line with recommendations from the Defending Democracy Taskforce’s TNR Review, new guidance is available on GOV.UK to provide those who believe themselves to be at-risk of TNR with practical advice for their safety both physically and online. Anyone who thinks they might be a victim should report incidents or suspicious activity to the Police via 101, a local police station, or 999 in emergencies.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether human rights issues in Kyrgyzstan have been examined within the framework of the Developing Countries Trade Scheme.

The UK Government reserves the right to suspend preferences on particular goods, or to suspend a country from the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) if it finds that they have seriously and systemically breached international conventions in relation to human rights.When considering suspensions, the UK may assess, among other things, the impact on the beneficiary country's economic and development prospects, the impact on the country's most vulnerable people and the effectiveness of a suspension in bringing about change.The UK continues to encourage all states to uphold their international human rights obligations, and hold all those who violate or abuse human rights to account. Our Embassy in Bishkek actively monitors the human rights situation in Kyrgyzstan and ministers have raised concerns regarding human rights and media freedom with the Kyrgyz Government.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of trends in levels of suicide among women impacted by conflict in Sudan.

The human cost of the conflict in Sudan is appalling with the warring parties showing a total disregard for the wellbeing of civilians and women and girls bearing the brunt of the violence. Reports that survivors of sexual violence are said to be increasingly contemplating suicide is an indication of how desperate the context is. The UK is doing all it can to address and respond to such abuses. In February, Lord Collins chaired a UN Security Council Briefing on conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan, emphasising the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities. The UK has also led efforts at the Human Rights Council to establish and renew the mandate for the UN Fact-Finding Mission which is crucial for supporting future accountability efforts in Sudan. On 24 April, the Foreign Secretary issued a statement calling for the warring parties to adhere to their commitments under the Jeddah Declaration to protect civilians. This followed the UN Security Council statement, released on 16 April, condemning the escalation of violence and calling for the parties to urgently implement UN Security Council Resolution 2736.

Whether the Defending Democracy Taskforce has made an assessment of the potential implications for its policies of the report by Demos entitled Epistemic Security 2029: Protecting the UK’s information supply chain and strengthening democratic discourse for the next political era, published on 29 November 2024.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is a core member of the Defending Democracy Taskforce and is working to build information resilience and protect our democracy, including through key levers such as the Online Safety Act.My officials have been in touch with Demos to learn more about their work and consider any potential policy implications arising from their research.

What discussions the Defending Democracy Taskforce has had with civil society organisations.

The Defending Democracy Taskforce is driving forward a whole of Government response to the full range of threats to our democracy.Meetings of the Taskforce are complemented by private engagement with partners outside central Government and Parliament, including civil society organisations such as the Jo Cox foundation, on subjects relevant to the work of the Taskforce.

Communities and Local Government, what steps (a) her Department and (b) the Building Safety Regulator is taking to reduce decision times by the regulator for approving multi-storey residential blocks.

MHCLG and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) both recognise the impact of Gateway delays on the construction pipeline of high-rise projects and are taking action to address the current challenges. The Department is working closely with the BSR to improve processing times and has already taken several actions. As a new function, the BSR has needed to refine and improve its processes. We have provided funding to the BSR to recruit an extra 30 frontline staff to bolster its capacity. On 14 May, the BSR also launched a campaign to directly recruit Registered Building Inspectors (RBIs) with significant further recruitment planned in June 2025. The impact of these mitigations will scale up in the coming months as the BSR continues to clear applications. MHCLG and the BSR are also reviewing better ways to access specialist advice on multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) which assess applications to enable faster assessment times. Whilst the BSR and MHCLG are exploring all possible opportunities to strengthen the new Gateway process and guidance to industry, it is important to recognise that a significant volume of applications continue to be invalidated or rejected for not meeting the legislative requirements. These are buildings that, had they been constructed, might have placed residents at risk and/or living in housing that did not meet long-standing requirements. It is also important to note that additional information requests for missing details in applications can add between at least 4-6 weeks onto the process. In recognition of this, the BSR issued new guidance in March 2025 to assist applications in preparing high quality applications.

What steps the Defending Democracy Taskforce (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to help tackle threats to democracy arising from the lack of availability of high-quality local news.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport who are core members of the Defending Democracy Taskforce, are in the process of developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. Our vision is for a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, and thereby contributes to the UK’s democratic resilience.

Innovation and Technology, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of (a) children and (b) adults who access the internet through a virtual private network.

The Government does not hold this information. However, Ofcom’s Technology Tracker (2024) indicates that 30% of the UK’s population over 16 years old has connected to the internet using a virtual private network (VPN) for work, education or other purposes. This increases to 38% for 16-17 year olds. This data does not demonstrate how regularly respondents use VPNs to access the internet.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of online fundraising platforms' use of tipping sliders.

DCMS has not made an assessment at this time on the potential impact of online fundraising platforms' use of tipping sliders. DCMS will continue working with the Fundraising Regulator, charities, and online giving platforms to support best practice across all forms of charitable fundraising.Fundraising platforms are commercial organisations that provide an important service to charities and donors. Most platforms are registered with the Fundraising Regulator, which is the independent, non-statutory regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.The Fundraising Regulator’s new Code of Fundraising Practice, which will come into force on 1 November 2025, includes requirements for fundraising platforms to include information for donors about how fees, including any voluntary tips, are calculated. The information must be easy to find, and include details on how voluntary tips can be amended or removed altogether in a straightforward way.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of Social Housing Action Campaign's research entitled Tribunals Research Finds Overcharging in 70% of Cases as HA Service Charge Income Soars, published in February 2025; what assessment she has made of trends in the level of service charges being found unreasonable in law; and what steps her Department is taking to prevent unreasonable service charge decisions.

The government recognises the considerable financial strain that rising services charges place on leaseholders and tenants. The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on a range of factors, including the terms of a lease or tenancy agreement and the age and condition of a building. By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Overcharging through service charges is completely unacceptable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal. My Department does not hold data on the number of unreasonable service charge challenges that are upheld by the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). The Leasehold and Freeport Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable. Once commenced, these will ensure all leaseholders receive minimum key financial and non-financial information on a regular basis, including introducing a standardised service charge demand form and an annual report. The government is committed to acting quickly to implement the provisions of the Act. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on Thursday 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase the transparency of fees on online fundraising platforms.

Fundraising platforms are commercial organisations that provide an important service to charities and donors. Most platforms are registered with the Fundraising Regulator, which is the independent, non-statutory regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.The Fundraising Regulator’s new Code of Fundraising Practice, which will come into force on 1 November 2025, includes requirements for fundraising platforms to include information for donors about how fees, including any voluntary tips, are calculated. The information must be easy to find, and include details on how voluntary tips can be amended or removed altogether in a straightforward way.DCMS meets with the Fundraising Regulator regularly to discuss a range of issues and will continue working with them as well as charities and online giving platforms to support best practice across all forms of charitable fundraising.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Fundraising Regulator on the transparency of fees on online fundraising platforms.

Fundraising platforms are commercial organisations that provide an important service to charities and donors. Most platforms are registered with the Fundraising Regulator, which is the independent, non-statutory regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.The Fundraising Regulator’s new Code of Fundraising Practice, which will come into force on 1 November 2025, includes requirements for fundraising platforms to include information for donors about how fees, including any voluntary tips, are calculated. The information must be easy to find, and include details on how voluntary tips can be amended or removed altogether in a straightforward way.DCMS meets with the Fundraising Regulator regularly to discuss a range of issues and will continue working with them as well as charities and online giving platforms to support best practice across all forms of charitable fundraising.

What steps she is taking to ensure the full amount of Gift Aid claimed by online fundraising platforms reaches charities.

The Government recognises the vital role played by the charity sector and the generosity of the British public. We support charitable giving with over £1.6billion in Gift Aid each year.Charities have the flexibility to decide on their own strategy for fundraising and are free to partner with other organisations to process their Gift Aid claims. It will ultimately be a commercial decision on the part of a charity to work with a fundraising platform. If they do, any fee paid to the platform for processing gift aid claims may be calculated by reference to the amount claimed but is not itself gift aid.Fundraising platforms do not receive financial support from the government and their profits are taxable.Many of the fundraising platforms are voluntarily registered with the Fundraising Regulator which is the independent, non-statutory regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Fundraising Regulator can act if it believes standards have been breached.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Kyrgyz counterpart on human rights in Kyrgyzstan.

The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs raised his concerns regarding the conviction of several Kyrgyz journalists during a phone call with his Kyrgyz counterpart in October 2024.Our Embassy in Bishkek closely monitors media freedom and civic space in Kyrgyzstan and raises issues of concern with the Kyrgyz Government. I raised human rights with my Kyrgyz counterparts in February and April 2025, and Lord Collins, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State also raised it in February 2025. The UK made a number of recommendations on human rights during Kyrgyzstan's Universal Periodic Review in the UN Human Rights Council in April.

What assessment his Department has made of the value for money of the Energy Company Obligation scheme.

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) requires energy suppliers to fund energy efficiency and heating upgrades in eligible homes, with costs recovered through consumer bills. Since 2013, 4.2 million measures have been installed in 2.5 million homes. ECO4’s final impact assessment projected a positive net present value of £0.8 billion, underscoring the strong social impact and economic value of ECO.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his counterparts in Kyrgyzstan on legislation aimed at controlling so-called foreign representatives.

The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs has not made direct representations to his counterparts in Kyrgyzstan regarding the 'Law on Non-Commercial Organisations'.Our Embassy in Bishkek has however raised concerns about the impact of this law with the relevant authorities. The UK also made recommendations about this law during Kyrgyzstan's Universal Period Review in the UN Human Rights Council in April. The UK regularly encourages Kyrgyzstan to continue to allow civil society organisations to operate with independence and without harassment. I underlined the importance of respect for rights and freedoms with my Kyrgyz counterparts in April 2025 and raised human rights more broadly with the Kyrgyz during the inaugural UK-Kyrgyz Strategic Dialogue in February 2025.

What estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of treating patients who have contracted malaria in each of the last five years.

This information is not held centrally. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) holds data on all malaria cases diagnosed in the United Kingdom by the Malaria Reference Laboratory and Public Health Scotland. The UKHSA publishes annual reports on malaria in the UK, which are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/malaria-in-the-uk-annual-reportThe UKHSA does not collect data on the cost to the National Health Service of treating patients who have contracted malaria.NHS England captures and publishes aggregated costs, the average unit cost of providing defined services to NHS patients in England, and patient-level costs, a cost based on the specific interactions a patient has and the events related to their healthcare activity, with further information available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/costing-in-the-nhs/national-cost-collection/