Written questions by Leishman.

When HMRC will publish full staffing projections for Managed Service Provider and HMRC customer services staff.

HMRC is currently in an initial proof‑of‑value phase for its use of MSPs, which is helping to inform longer‑term workforce planning. At this stage, HMRC has no plans to publish full staffing projections for either MSPs or HMRC customer services staff.Decisions about future staffing levels will be based on what is learned from the proof‑of‑value phase and will be taken through HMRC’s normal business planning and Spending Review processes.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will have discussions with her Moroccan counterpart on the suppression of protests and events supporting self-determination in occupied Western Sahara.

The UK remains firmly committed to the promotion and protection of human rights globally, including in Morocco and Western Sahara, as we regularly make clear to all relevant parties. At the most recent UK-Morocco Human Rights Dialogue in November 2025, senior officials discussed areas of mutual interest, including freedom of expression. The UK has endorsed Morocco's autonomy plan as the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting solution of the Western Sahara conflict. We continue to engage with all relevant parties in support of the UN-led process to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution, based on compromise, which conforms with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including the principle of respect for self-determination.

Pursuant to the Answers of 1 April 2025 to question 41654 on Trade: Occupied Territories and Western Sahara, if he will update that guidance to include the need for consent to comply with international law.

The UK keeps its overseas business risk guidance, available on gov.uk, relating to Western Sahara and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) under review and will update it as necessary to reflect relevant international law considerations. The UK is clear that Israel's illegal settlements and decisions designed to further them are a flagrant violation of international law. The business risk guidance on OPTs states there are clear risks to UK operators related to economic and financial activities in the settlements. We discourage such activity and advise that those contemplating any economic or financial involvement in settlements should seek appropriate legal advice.

What steps he is taking to help tackle inequalities in bowel cancer screening participation.

While uptake of bowel cancer screening has increased, some groups struggle with barriers to engagement, leaving them at risk. We are providing £200m funding for Cancer Alliances, to reduce inequalities in communities among groups where screening uptake is lower.To further increase coverage, NHS England:is delivering new approaches to communicating with people about screening through the NHS App;is incorporating the reasonable adjustment flag into screening to ensure people get information in the way they want and adjustments are made to support people at appointments;has recently updated the bowel cancer screening leaflets and are updating the bowel cancer screening letters to improve accessibility;and has made the bowel cancer screening FIT kit more accessible for people who are blind or partially sighted.We are also increasing the sensitivity of the screening test from 120ug/g to 80ug/g. By 2028 this will annually detect over 600 more cancers and prevent 2000 cancers by identifying and removing pre-cancerous polyps.

How HMRC will ensure that workforce planning decisions do not incentivise replacement of permanent staff with externally supplied labour.

Customer demand for HMRC services can fluctuate significantly, both seasonally and in response to external events. HMRC uses Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to provide additional, flexible capacity to help manage these types of variations and support performance on customer helplines. Incorporating MSPs into the overall resourcing mix helps HMRC maintain customer service standards, while retaining expertise within its workforce. This contract was procured through a Government Commercial Agency (previous Crown Commercial Service) framework and meets the stringent controls and standards set by the Agency for Government contracts. This includes ensuring all employment legislation, including National Minimum Wage and Employment Rights Act are adhered to. As Customer Service is skilled work, all suppliers must pay market rates to secure people with the appropriate skills to meet HMRC’s needs. HMRC are not privatising their services. HMRC will continue to deliver the majority of its customer services through its own customer service staff, and overall HMRC staffing levels are expected to increase over the Spending Review period. HMRC can only recruit to known average levels of customer demand or it risks not providing value for money to the taxpayer. Using mixed resourcing approaches, including MSPs, gives HMRC more flexibility to support customers. HMRC provides the initial training for the services covered by the MSPs, before approving suppliers to train subsequent cohorts of staff themselves. All operational guidance is developed, owned and updated by HMRC, and HMRC retains full decision‑making authority, with a dedicated team actively managing the partnership. HMRC is currently in an initial approximately 18 month ‘proof of value’ phase for its use of MSPs and has no plans to publish full staffing projections for MSPs or customer services staff at this stage. Overall the projected cost for 12 months was approximately £23m of resourcing spend. Future workforce decisions will be informed by the outcome of this phase and taken in line with normal business planning and Spending Review processes.

Whether Managed Service Provider staff and HMRC employees will have differing pay, terms, training and progression.

Customer demand for HMRC services can fluctuate significantly, both seasonally and in response to external events. HMRC uses Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to provide additional, flexible capacity to help manage these types of variations and support performance on customer helplines. Incorporating MSPs into the overall resourcing mix helps HMRC maintain customer service standards, while retaining expertise within its workforce. This contract was procured through a Government Commercial Agency (previous Crown Commercial Service) framework and meets the stringent controls and standards set by the Agency for Government contracts. This includes ensuring all employment legislation, including National Minimum Wage and Employment Rights Act are adhered to. As Customer Service is skilled work, all suppliers must pay market rates to secure people with the appropriate skills to meet HMRC’s needs. HMRC are not privatising their services. HMRC will continue to deliver the majority of its customer services through its own customer service staff, and overall HMRC staffing levels are expected to increase over the Spending Review period. HMRC can only recruit to known average levels of customer demand or it risks not providing value for money to the taxpayer. Using mixed resourcing approaches, including MSPs, gives HMRC more flexibility to support customers. HMRC provides the initial training for the services covered by the MSPs, before approving suppliers to train subsequent cohorts of staff themselves. All operational guidance is developed, owned and updated by HMRC, and HMRC retains full decision‑making authority, with a dedicated team actively managing the partnership. HMRC is currently in an initial approximately 18 month ‘proof of value’ phase for its use of MSPs and has no plans to publish full staffing projections for MSPs or customer services staff at this stage. Overall the projected cost for 12 months was approximately £23m of resourcing spend. Future workforce decisions will be informed by the outcome of this phase and taken in line with normal business planning and Spending Review processes.

When HMRC will publish full staffing projections for Managed Service Provider and HMRC customer services staff.

Customer demand for HMRC services can fluctuate significantly, both seasonally and in response to external events. HMRC uses Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to provide additional, flexible capacity to help manage these types of variations and support performance on customer helplines. Incorporating MSPs into the overall resourcing mix helps HMRC maintain customer service standards, while retaining expertise within its workforce. This contract was procured through a Government Commercial Agency (previous Crown Commercial Service) framework and meets the stringent controls and standards set by the Agency for Government contracts. This includes ensuring all employment legislation, including National Minimum Wage and Employment Rights Act are adhered to. As Customer Service is skilled work, all suppliers must pay market rates to secure people with the appropriate skills to meet HMRC’s needs. HMRC are not privatising their services. HMRC will continue to deliver the majority of its customer services through its own customer service staff, and overall HMRC staffing levels are expected to increase over the Spending Review period. HMRC can only recruit to known average levels of customer demand or it risks not providing value for money to the taxpayer. Using mixed resourcing approaches, including MSPs, gives HMRC more flexibility to support customers. HMRC provides the initial training for the services covered by the MSPs, before approving suppliers to train subsequent cohorts of staff themselves. All operational guidance is developed, owned and updated by HMRC, and HMRC retains full decision‑making authority, with a dedicated team actively managing the partnership. HMRC is currently in an initial approximately 18 month ‘proof of value’ phase for its use of MSPs and has no plans to publish full staffing projections for MSPs or customer services staff at this stage. Overall the projected cost for 12 months was approximately £23m of resourcing spend. Future workforce decisions will be informed by the outcome of this phase and taken in line with normal business planning and Spending Review processes.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to UK steel safeguarding measures and import quotas on small and medium‑sized enterprises that rely on a stable supply of imported steel; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that businesses such as Central Rebar in Alloa are not adversely affected by disruption to their supply chains.

The UK steel industry faces challenging global conditions due to overcapacity and trade deflection, which threatens the long‑term viability of domestic production. That is why last year the government amended the steel safeguard to ensure the overall effectiveness of the measure.The safeguard is due to expire in June 2025, and we are developing a new, robust trade measure to support resilient and secure supply chains. Officials are working closely with stakeholders across the sector, including trade associations representing SMEs, and we are assessing a full range of supply chain interests in designing the measure.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of utilising the undistributed surplus in the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme to fund a pension bonus to members in 2026-2027 financial year.

I recently met the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme Trustees and discussed the proposed changes that Trustees have put forward. Work is underway to assess the benefits and risks of the Trustees’ proposals. We are aiming to implement changes as swiftly as possible.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of removing the standstill feature from the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme.

I recently met the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme Trustees and discussed the proposed changes that Trustees have put forward. Work is underway to assess the benefits and risks of the Trustees’ proposals. We are aiming to implement changes as swiftly as possible.

If he will take steps to ensure that all of the future surpluses accrued by the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme can be used to increase the pensions of members of that Scheme.

I recently met the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme Trustees and discussed the proposed changes that Trustees have put forward. Work is underway to assess the benefits and risks of the Trustees’ proposals. We are aiming to implement changes as swiftly as possible.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to take steps to help ensure that the labelling of food originating in Western Sahara is not (a) mislabelled and (b) misleading.

The Government is committed to ensuring that UK consumers are not misled about the origin of the food they purchase. In accordance with assimilated EU Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, food labelling must not be misleading, including in relation to the origin or provenance of food. It is the UK position that where origin information is given for food products made or grown in the Western Sahara, it must give accurate origin information and cannot be labelled as Moroccan. Produce originating in Western Sahara that has been mislabelled as produce of Morocco would be considered misleading under food labelling regulations. Defra officials and the Food Standards Agency work closely with Local Authority Trading Standards Officers who enforce food labelling rules in the UK, including addressing labels that may be misleading or non-compliant.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her Moroccan counterpart on access to Western Sahara for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The UK remains firmly committed to the promotion and protection of human rights globally, including in Morocco and Western Sahara, as we regularly make clear to all relevant parties. Officials, including up to ambassador level, regularly engage on these issues with the Moroccan Government and authorities. At the most recent UK-Morocco Human Rights Dialogue in November 2025, officials discussed areas of mutual interest, including freedom of expression, rights of minorities, women's rights, media freedom, and judicial reforms.

With reference to the seizure of the Russian-flagged oil tanker Marinera and the removal of its captain and first officer from UK jurisdiction by United States Coast Guards, what engagement the Government received from the United States prior to that operation; on what basis the removal of those individuals from UK territorial waters was permitted; and what assessment he has made of the suitability of United States Coast Guards to (a) remove and (b) transfer individuals from UK territory.

Permissions to utilise UK military bases by foreign partners are considered on a case-by-case basis. This includes engagement with US partners on the nature and purpose of their activity. All UK support to allies for operational purposes considers the legal basis and policy rationale for any proposed activity. For operational security reasons, we do not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations' military operations.

What steps she is taking to promote modal shift of freight from road to sea; and when she last discussed this matter with counterparts in the Scottish Government.

The GB-wide Waterborne Freight Grant encourages new coastal or short sea shipping services and assists a company with the operating costs associated with running waterborne freight transport instead of road, where transport by water is more expensive. The grant can assist a company for up to three years. The application window for funding in the 2026/27 financial year is open until 15 February. Officials across the UK and Scottish Governments remain engaged on the ongoing administration and future of the scheme.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will outline the differences between the Border Control Post requirements in place for (a) exports and (b) imports at (i) Grangemouth, (ii) Rosyth, (iii) Burntisland and (iv) Methil ports.

Standards set out for Border Control Post (BCPs) are contained within a legislative framework and are dependent on what the BCP is approved to handle in relation to SPS goods, such as plants and plant products, or products or animal origin. A list of what a BCP is approved to handle can be found on GOV.UK

What recent discussions she has had with (a) the Scottish Government and (b) ferry operators on the crewing model that will be used on the vessels used to provide Roll-on Roll-off passenger and freight ferry services between Scotland and continental Europe; and whether conditions of maritime employment on those services will be covered by the Mandatory Seafarers Charter.

Maritime policy is devolved to Scotland and so it is for the Scottish Government to engage with ferry operators about any services from Scottish ports to mainland Europe. My officials regularly engage with the Scottish Government about maritime matters but Scotland have not raised any specific issues about crewing on services from Scotland to mainland Europe.We will be consulting on the regulations bringing into force the Mandatory Seafarers’ Charter in Spring 2026. This consultation will set out the proposed scope of the requirements.

Whether UK armed forces personnel are embedded in the US Gerald Ford carrier strike group in the Caribbean.

Personnel from His Majesty's Armed Forces routinely serve on long‑standing exchange programmes with NATO Allies and key international partners. These arrangements strengthen interoperability, enhance mutual understanding, and support our shared security aims.For reasons of operational and personnel security, the Ministry of Defence does not comment on the specific roles, locations, or units in which UK personnel may be embedded.

How many UK armed forces personnel are present in Guyana.

None.

Whether his Department has provided (a) training and (b) assistance to Guyana to protect its Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Ministry of Defence offers a range of training to global partners. Our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) course emphasises peacetime operations both ashore and afloat in support of activities in the EEZ. Personnel from Guyana’s Defence Force have attended this course.