Written questions by Stephenson.

What checks her Department undertakes to ensure that holders of (a) Religious Worker and (b) Minister of Religion visas are performing religious work.

The information regarding eligibility to sponsor religious workers or Ministers of Religion is not currently available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.Checks are carried out on visa applications to verify they meet the published requirements of the individual routes, genuineness of a role and compliance checks may be conducted as well to satisfy that the roles involve religious work.The Immigration Rules contain details on financial requirements for all visas and these are updated regularly.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the amount of Section 106 funding that was not drawn down and subsequently lost in each of the past ten years.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 54059 on 6 June 2025.

If she will make it her policy to publish the number of visas sponsored by each organisation on the register of licensed sponsors (workers) since 2021.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

With reference to the guidance entitled Register of licensed sponsors: workers, published on 26 September 2025, how many organisations on the register are eligible to sponsor (a) Religious Worker and (b) Minister of Religion visas by religion.

The information regarding eligibility to sponsor religious workers or Ministers of Religion is not currently available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.Checks are carried out on visa applications to verify they meet the published requirements of the individual routes, genuineness of a role and compliance checks may be conducted as well to satisfy that the roles involve religious work.The Immigration Rules contain details on financial requirements for all visas and these are updated regularly.

If she will make an estimate of the average salary earned by (a) all and (b) skilled worker visa holders.

An estimate of the average salary earned by all visa holders is not available, as the information is not held.HMRC and Home Office have introduced a data sharing process to match visa data to administrative tax data. The Home Office published a research report on 12 May on earnings, employment, and Income Tax liabilities of visa holders on Sponsored Work (Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, and Senior or Specialist Worker (Global Business Mobility)) and Family routes.The publication reports a median figure of £56,600 for the annual adjusted earnings of skilled worker entry clearance visa holders in financial year 2023 to 2024. Skilled worker extension of stay visa holders were found to have a median annual adjusted earnings figure of £56,300 over the same period.

With reference to the guidance entitled Register of licensed sponsors: workers, published on 26 September 2025, how often her Department communicates with organisations on the register in relation to visas they have sponsored.

Routine reviews of the register of licensed sponsors are undertaken to check that sponsors are still classified as active.It is normal practice to contact a sponsor if we have any concerns over any individuals they have sponsored or are seeking to sponsor however, we do not hold any published data on this.Essential updates and reminders are sent periodically to those licensed sponsors currently on the register.We do not hold any data on licensed sponsors in receipt of public funding.We do not routinely publish data on in-person inspections.

With reference to the guidance entitled Register of licensed sponsors: workers, published on 26 September 2025, how often her Department checks whether organisations on the register are still in operation.

Routine reviews of the register of licensed sponsors are undertaken to check that sponsors are still classified as active.It is normal practice to contact a sponsor if we have any concerns over any individuals they have sponsored or are seeking to sponsor however, we do not hold any published data on this.Essential updates and reminders are sent periodically to those licensed sponsors currently on the register.We do not hold any data on licensed sponsors in receipt of public funding.We do not routinely publish data on in-person inspections.

With reference to the guidance entitled Register of licensed sponsors: workers, published on 26 September 2025, how often her Department communicates with organisations on the register in relation to their legal requirements as sponsor organisations.

Routine reviews of the register of licensed sponsors are undertaken to check that sponsors are still classified as active.It is normal practice to contact a sponsor if we have any concerns over any individuals they have sponsored or are seeking to sponsor however, we do not hold any published data on this.Essential updates and reminders are sent periodically to those licensed sponsors currently on the register.We do not hold any data on licensed sponsors in receipt of public funding.We do not routinely publish data on in-person inspections.

What financial requirements there are to be granted a work visa related to religious work.

The information regarding eligibility to sponsor religious workers or Ministers of Religion is not currently available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.Checks are carried out on visa applications to verify they meet the published requirements of the individual routes, genuineness of a role and compliance checks may be conducted as well to satisfy that the roles involve religious work.The Immigration Rules contain details on financial requirements for all visas and these are updated regularly.

How many people have a (a) Religious Worker and (b) Minister of Religion visa.

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa route, including Religious Worker, and applicant type in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset.Please note that Religious Worker dependants are grouped into the 'Dependant - Temporary Worker' category.Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of June 2025.To calculate a refusal rate, we recommend that you take the number of refusals and divide by the total number of outcomes in a given period.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

How many people have dependent visas associated with a holder of a (a) Religious Worker and (b) Minister of Religion visa.

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa route, including Religious Worker, and applicant type in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset.Please note that Religious Worker dependants are grouped into the 'Dependant - Temporary Worker' category.Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of June 2025.To calculate a refusal rate, we recommend that you take the number of refusals and divide by the total number of outcomes in a given period.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

How many immigrants found to have been working illegally have been deported since 4 July 2024.

As set out in legislation, an individual is liable to removal from the UK if "the person requires leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom but does not have it". The Home Office does not routinely categorise immigration offenders by the manner in which they became irregular, including those who may have been found to be working in breach of visa conditions, and to do so could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.

If she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to to publish annual workforce totals for each organisation on the register of licensed sponsors (workers).

At present, there are no plans to publish this data, although we do keep such matters under review.

With reference to the guidance entitled Register of licensed sponsors: workers, published on 26 September 2025, how many organisations on the register are in receipt of public funding; and how many visas those organisations sponsor in total.

Routine reviews of the register of licensed sponsors are undertaken to check that sponsors are still classified as active.It is normal practice to contact a sponsor if we have any concerns over any individuals they have sponsored or are seeking to sponsor however, we do not hold any published data on this.Essential updates and reminders are sent periodically to those licensed sponsors currently on the register.We do not hold any data on licensed sponsors in receipt of public funding.We do not routinely publish data on in-person inspections.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 August 2025 to Question 62005 on Care Workers: Migrant Workers, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of collecting that information.

Home Office immigration statistics show the numbers of Health and Care Worker visas granted under this category for the ‘Caring Personal Services’ occupation group (613), which broadly covers occupations across social care, over time, and for the specific “care workers and home carers” occupation code (6135) from the fourth quarter of 2024. Not all visa grants will result in a worker travelling to the United Kingdom. Skills for Care collects data on the adult social care workforce from employers on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care, with the voluntary Adult Social Care Workforce Dataset data collection. From July 2024, it added a question about the Health and Care Worker visa status of employees, supplementing existing data on nationality and, for non-UK nationals, the year of entry to the UK. However, the uncertainty of any estimate of the total number of current workers with this status would depend on how many employers have chosen to respond to that question and whether their responses could be considered representative of the workforce in its entirety. Any estimate could not be directly compared to data on visa grants from the Home Office.

How many immigrants have been found to be working illegally since 4 July 2024.

The relevant statistical figures can be accessed via the official government website at the following link:Illegal working activity between 5 July 2024 and 28 June 2025 - GOV.UKThe government takes illegal working very seriously, and we are determined to clamp down on the employment of individuals with no right to work in the UK.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Millions more appointments as more than 2,000 extra GPs recruited, published on 24 July 2025, what proportion of additional GP appointments have been held in person.

Eight million more general practitioner (GP) appointments have been delivered this year compared to last.The General Practice Appointments Data (GPAD) does not enable us to attribute delivered appointments to individual GPs. As a result, it is not possible to determine how many of these additional appointments were delivered specifically by the 2,300 newly recruited GPs.The GPAD provides information on the total number of appointments delivered face to face, and similarly, but not specifically, how many face-to-face appointments are delivered by individual GPs, including the 2,300 newly recruited GPs. Appointment mode, whether face to face, telephone, or online, is determined by clinical need and patient preference, and is not inherently directly linked to the number of GPs recruited.

Innovation and Technology, whether the reported 95% coverage achieved by the Shared Rural Network will be reviewed using Ofcom’s forthcoming reporting methodology based on a 5 Mbps threshold.

I refer the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, to the answer of 25 July 2025 to Question 68570: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament

Communities and Local Government, how many social houses have begun construction since 4 July 2024 in (a) England, (b) the East of England and (c) Bedfordshire.

Data on new social and affordable housing supply, including starts, for the period between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 has been pre-announced for publication in November/December 2025 and can be found on gov.uk here. The pre-announcement will be updated with the release date soon, according to the code of practice for Statistics.The subset of that data relating to the delivery in the aforementioned period by Homes England and the Greater London Authority is already available at England level in Live Table 1012, available on gov.uk here.Data on affordable housing supply, including starts for the period between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026 has been pre-announced for publication in November/December 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here. This pre-announcement will be updated with the release date in due course and according to the code of practice for Statistics.

Communities and Local Government, what is his planned timetable for implementing local government re-organisation in Bedfordshire.

The English Devolution White Paper announced that we will facilitate a programme of local government reorganisation for two-tier areas, and for unitary councils where there is evidence of failure or where their size or boundaries may be hindering their ability to deliver sustainable and high-quality public services.On 5 February councils in all 21 two-tier areas together with small neighbouring unitary authorities were invited to submit proposals for unitary local government. The three councils in Bedfordshire were not included as part of this process. The Government is open to discussions with all areas where structural change will help them get onto a more sustainable footing.