Written questions by Dewhirst.

Whether she has accepted the recommendations in the report by the Office for Value for Money entitled The OVfM report, published on 26 November 2025.

The government has accepted the recommendations set out by the Office for Value for Money. This was set out in paragraph 1.7 of the OVfM report: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-office-for-value-for-money-report.

For what reason the requirement to provide work experience is a key performance indicator for the HMRC's Unity Programme Delivery Partner contract with Accenture.

It is a requirement that social value should form a component of all central government major contracts, alongside a range of performance indicators. Under the Unity Delivery Partner contract, Accenture deliver a variety of social value initiatives including work experience opportunities for young people. In accordance with transparency reporting requirements, their performance in offering these opportunities is measured and published on GOV.uk. Work experience placements can offer younger people an insight into employment and can help enhance their skills and future employability.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2025, to Question 96894, on Treasury: Public Appointments, if she will publish the annual remuneration of each of the direct ministerial appointments listed.

Further to the Answer of 8 December 2025 to Question 96894, the annual remuneration of the paid direct ministerial appointments is: Alex Depledge, Entrepreneurship Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer – a daily rate of £565.50 for two days per week.David Sturrock, Economic Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and member of the Council of Economic Advisers – £117,362 per annum, full time. All other direct ministerial appointments listed are unpaid. Direct ministerial appointments are temporary appointments made to provide time limited advice and support to Ministers.

Pursuant to the answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78296 on Public Sector: Pay, which departments or public bodies had senior pay cases rejected outright.

Between July 2024 and October 2025, three cases were rejected through the senior pay approvals process. Individual salaries of senior civil servants are available through the annual reports and accounts of their employing body.

With reference to the National Audit Office report, Lessons learned: the government’s use of external consultants, HC: 1381, 21 November 2025, Figure 10, what specific data is collected on Government spending by (a) Oxygen Finance and (b) Jaggaer Spend.

Since 2010, Central Government departments publish expenditure above £25,000 on a monthly basis. Oxygen Finance aggregates this transparency data to provide reports on spending by a particular department or category. Jaggaer Spend relies on data generated by payments processed through public sector procurement systems, as opposed to published invoice data.

With reference to the Business appointment rules return - September 2025, published on 16 December 2025, for what reason the former Director of Financial Services was given a six month lobbying ban.

The Business Appointment rules are designed to uphold the core values in the Civil Service Code. The aim of the rules is that when a civil servant takes up an outside appointment or employment there should be no cause for justified public concern, criticism, or misinterpretation. These aims were considered in this case, and appropriate mitigations were put in place in line with standard HM Treasury practice and in accordance with the Business Appointment rules.

Whether she has determined the source of the leak of the policies within the Autumn Budget 2025 to the media.

As the Chancellor set out to the Treasury Select Committee on 10/12/25, a leak inquiry is underway. In addition, the Permanent Secretary of the Treasury is conducting a wider review of Budget security, which he aims to conclude in advance of the Spring Statement..

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure a regular supply of tomatoes in the UK.

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain that is well equipped to deal with any potential disruption. Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources including strong domestic production and imports through stable trade routes. Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains. The UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade, and recent developments.

What steps she is taking to tackle vulnerabilities in property transactions, particularly in the handling and movement of large sums during settlement, in the Economic Crime Plan.

The government’s Economic Crime Plan 2 has strengthened the UK’s defences against property‑related money laundering by enhancing transparency of land and overseas property ownership, improving data‑sharing and enforcement, and targeting higher‑risk activity in the property sector to better detect, disrupt and recover illicit assets. The government’s Money Laundering Regulations ensure that those sectors most at risk of being abused for money laundering have appropriate risk-based controls in place. The regulations apply to all financial, legal and estate agency firms involved in property transactions, whether directly with the purchase, securing the funds, or setting up structures to hold property. The government intends to develop a new public-private strategy focused on anti-money laundering and asset recovery in the coming months.

What discussions she has had with regulators and industry on updating the financial infrastructure that underpins the movement of funds during property transactions.

The Government regularly engages with lenders and regulators to discuss the housing market, including lenders’ mortgage lending practices which support property transactions. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is currently consulting on reforms to the home buying and selling process. The Government has made clear its objectives that reform should support faster, more reliable transactions and reduced fall throughs and risks.

What discussions her Department has had with regulators and industry on modernising the financial infrastructure related to property transactions.

The Government regularly engages with lenders and regulators to discuss the housing market, including lenders’ mortgage lending practices which support property transactions. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is currently consulting on reforms to the home buying and selling process. The Government has made clear its objectives that reform should support faster, more reliable transactions and reduced fall throughs and risks.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of fragmented payment processes in property transactions on levels of fraud risk.

The Government regularly engages with lenders and regulators to discuss the housing market, including lenders’ mortgage lending practices which support property transactions. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is currently consulting on reforms to the home buying and selling process. The Government has made clear its objectives that reform should support faster, more reliable transactions and reduced fall throughs and risks.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to establish accreditation for digital platforms in the property market that are capable of providing verified property data, secure settlement and automated registration of home sales and purchases.

On 6 October, my Department published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. They can be found on gov.uk here and here. As part of those consultations, we made clear our interest in ensuring digital data from trustworthy sources could be shared securely between professionals using data standards and trust frameworks. The consultations closed on 29 December 2025. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response shortly including any plans for trials or testing with the sector.

Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the Problem Gambling Severity Index score for players of (a) The National Lottery, (b) Society Lotteries, and (c) instant win scratch cards.

The Government is committed to tackling gambling-related harm. DCMS regularly reviews the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) from the Gambling Commission’s Gambling Survey of Great Britain and uses it as one of a range of sources of evidence.In 2024, the proportion of National Lottery players who experienced ‘problem gambling’ (a PGSI score of 8+) is 3.9% for draw games, 9.5% for instant win games, and 7.9% for scratchcards.The rate of Society Lottery PGSI 8+ scores is 4.9%.The rate of non-National Lottery scratchcards PGSI 8+ is 14.5%.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential savings to the public purse of reducing the annual expenditure by HM Land Registry on requisitions arising from manual or inconsistent submissions; and what the planned role is of property sector digitalisation in helping to achieve those savings.

For the year ending 31 March 2025, HM Land Registry (HMLR) estimated it had nearly 450,000 avoidable requisitions costing the conveyancing industry and HMLR up to £19m annually. HMLR is supporting the conveyancing industry to improve the quality of its applications through a number of measures: Using technology to validate data supplied in applications pre-submission;Providing avoidable requisition data to conveyancers to understand the error and correct these errors prior to submission to HMLR; andExtensive training and engagement activities with the property sector.HMLR has been sharing avoidable requisition data with conveyancers for the last six months and since December 2025 HM Land Registry has published avoidable requisition data on gov.uk here. This has resulted in over 29% of law firms reducing their avoidable requisition rate and 20% now have an avoidable requisition rate under 1%.

Media and Sport, with reference to the Voluntary Code for Prize Draws, updated on 17 December 2025, what steps his Department is taking to monitor compliance among operators.

The Voluntary Code for prize draw operators was launched on 20 November 2025. The Code aims to raise standards in the sector in the distinct areas of player protections, transparency, and accountability. Signatories have until 20 May 2026 to comply with the Code.The Government’s focus is on the successful implementation and adoption of the Voluntary Code, with operator signatories required to regularly review their compliance and swiftly rectify any issues if necessary. The Department will work closely with the sector on this during the implementation phase and periodically review the effectiveness of the Code and compliance to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure home buyers and sellers are protected through the expansion of digital conveyancing, particularly in terms of data verification, property information and the security of settlement funds.

On 6 October, my Department published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. They can be found on gov.uk here and here. As part of those consultations, we made clear our interest in ensuring digital data from trustworthy sources could be shared securely between professionals using data standards and trust frameworks. The consultations closed on 29 December 2025. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response shortly including any plans for trials or testing with the sector.

Communities and Local Government, what progress HM Land Registry has made in digitising the land register.

The Title (Land) Register consists of information held in a variety of formats, including paper documents, scanned images, and digital images. HM Land Registry (HMLR) is committed to digitising its data, while ensuring that data security, integrity and privacy remain paramount. Work is underway in three key areas to transform HMLR's register information into a fully digitised format: Digitising paper documents integral to the Register, such as Leases and Conveyances, making them accessible and easier to manage.Converting existing computerised data into a machine-interpretable format, facilitating seamless integration with modern digital systems.Converting spatial data into an open and shareable format, making spatial information more accessible and useful for HMLR's stakeholders. HMLR's longer term plans will integrate all its digitised information into a geospatial and fully digital Land Register that allows vital property information to be shared as spatial data. HMLR's Strategy 2025+, which is available on gov.uk here, sets out further details around its plans to support the property market and beyond with its data.

Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to test digital transaction flows in the home-buying process from upfront information to settlement and title registration.

On 6 October, my Department published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. They can be found on gov.uk here and here. As part of those consultations, we made clear our interest in ensuring digital data from trustworthy sources could be shared securely between professionals using data standards and trust frameworks. The consultations closed on 29 December 2025. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response shortly including any plans for trials or testing with the sector.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the combined effect of higher rateable values and reduced business rates relief on (a) the number of hospitality businesses and (b) vacancy rates on high streets over the next three years.

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base. At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest. More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties, including those on the high street. The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit. Treasury Ministers and officials engaged with a wide range of stakeholders across the pub and hospitality sector ahead of the Budget to discuss business rates.