Written questions by Dewhirst.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 August 2025 to Question HL9820 on Cryptocurrencies, whether the Government’s crypto-asset holdings are deemed to be held in the Consolidated Fund under the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866; and what the Government’s methodology is for valuing crypto-assets.

The Consolidated Fund is a sterling denominated fund and therefore does not hold cryptocurrencies. Departments are responsible for applying relevant accounting standards on a case by case basis to value any assets held.

With reference to the press release entitled Internship Scheme To Get More Working Class Students Into Civil Service, published on 1 August 2025, whether children of members of the armed forces will be able to apply for the Summer Internship Programme in his Department in 2026.

The Summer Internship Programme is a pan-Civil Service initiative designed to increase the representation of those from a working-class background into the Civil Service, and support opportunities to join the Fast Stream within this group. As such, it has a number of eligibility requirements, including socio-economic status. Children of Armed Forces personnel are subject to the same eligibility criteria as other applicants.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2025 to Question 68773 on Civil Service: Equality, if she will publish the (a) handouts and (b) presentations used at the conference.

The Crown Prosecution Service does not, as a matter of practice, publish materials used in internal conferences.

What estimate he has made of the amount of trade union facility time given to the BMA across the NHS.

This estimate has not been made. The Department for Health and Social Care does not collect data on trade union facility time given to the British Medical Association (BMA) across the NHS in England. The Cabinet Office routinely publishes overall public sector trade union facility data. However, data is not collected to the level of granularity requested. Data is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/public-sector-trade-union-facility-time-data

Whether the payment of armed forces pensions counts towards the 5% NATO defence spending target.

In line with the current NATO definition, spend on armed forces pensions is already included as part of core defence spending. This will continue to be the case against the 5% defence spending target.

Whether her Department has made payments to digital influencers since July 2024.

There has been no spend on influencer marketing within the time frame specified.

Further to page 142 of the Home Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published in July 2025, for what reason £30,000 of the exit payment to the Permanent Secretary was deemed non-taxable.

Decisions about Permanent Secretary exit payments are made by the Cabinet Office. In line with other exit payments, the first £30,000 of this payment was not taxable, and the remaining balance was taxable.Tax on termination payments: What you pay tax and National Insurance on - GOV.UK

If he will make it his policy to repeal the assimilated EU law of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1816 in relation to the classification of controversial weapons under the (a) UK Climate Transition Benchmarks and (b) UK Paris-aligned benchmarks to prevent divestment in (i) Trident renewal and (ii) sub-contractors who undertake Trident-related contracts.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the former Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Ms Reynolds) on 9 April 2025 to Questions 43043 and 43449 to the hon. Member for Salisbury (Mr Glen).

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the National Cyber Security Centre has issued guidance for (a) politicians and (b) the public on using Virtual Private Networks.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) provides advice and guidance for high risk individuals (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/defending-democracy/guidance-for-high-risk-individuals). NCSC also works closely with the Parliamentary Authorities on their advice and support to Members of both Houses of Parliament.Personal Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are not primarily used for cyber security purposes, and their use can introduce security risks to a user, not just mitigate them. As such NCSC neither recommend nor discourage the use of VPNs by private individuals.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether senior members of the Diplomatic Service are permitted to attend the Labour Party political conference.

All senior civil servants, including members of the Diplomatic Service, are subject to the Civil Service Management Code.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2025 to Question 66658 on Official Hospitality: Lancaster House, how much was spent on alcohol at the event.

£56 was spent on wine. All other drinks at the event were provided by sponsors.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what is the salary of the UK Ambassador to the US; and what the percentage employer contribution to his pension scheme is.

Details of all senior staff salaries are published in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Organograms of Staff Roles and Salaries (https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/73e0260a-0516-44ff-b4eb-ba9fec420c45/fcdo-organograms). All staff enrolled in the Civil Service pension scheme have an employer pension contribution calculated at 28.97 per cent of salary.

Whether the proposed socio-economic duty will apply to fiscal decisions made by her Department.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity in the Cabinet Office is currently working toward commencement of the duty. This includes drafting statutory guidance which will clarify how the duty can be applied effectively.

Whether NHS staff who are on strike are permitted to work for (a) non-NHS bodies, (b) other NHS trusts and (c) other NHS organisations during days of industrial action.

NHS staff who are on strike are allowed to work for non-NHS bodies and other NHS organisations including NHS trusts on days of industrial action, as long as they are not provided by an employment business to cover the work of striking workers. Some employment contracts may require employees to either declare to or seek permission from their employer before working for another employer.

Whether the Certification Officer has received the BDO auditor's report on the Unite trade union's hotel and conference centre development.

The Certification Officer has received the BDO auditor's report and is currently reviewing this.

Whether applicants for company directorships on the Companies House register can nominate Palestinian as their nationality.

‘Palestinian’ is included in the list of nationalities permitted for the purposes of company filings. The full list of nationalities and geographical names is available at the link below: Nationalities and countries for company filings - GOV.UK

What estimate he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of joining the European Defence Security Fund.

This Government has delivered an ambitious security and defence partnership with the European Union. The Strategic Defence Review will strengthen NATO, the cornerstone of the UK’s defence, and it will help grow the economy. It allows us to step up on Euro-Atlantic security together and ensures we are able to explore UK access to Security Action for Europe (SAFE). We are working with our European partners to understand how an arrangement might work. The exact detail of UK participation will be subject to discussions on the specific terms of a UK-EU bilateral participation agreement; we do not wish to pre-empt the outcome of any such negotiations. This Government wants the right deal on the right terms.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether Jonathan Powell was involved in the negotiation of the UK–Mauritius agreement on the Chagos Archipelago as National Security Adviser.

I refer the Hon. Member to the Answer given on 24 February 2025 to Question 30609.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's press release entitled New mapping tool launched to help bring healthy food to those who need it most, published on 8 July 2025, who will run the state-subsidised eateries in (a) Dundee and (b) Nottingham; and if he will publish the project (a) specification and (b) plan for the DISHED: co-designing innovative infrastructure for sustainable healthy and equitable diets’ piloting public restaurants scheme.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has funded six projects under its “Health inequalities in the food system” programme, announced on 8 July 2025. These projects aim to understand the causes of dietary health inequalities and explore interventions for equitable, healthy consumption. ‘DISHED: co-designing innovative infrastructure for sustainable healthy and equitable diets’ is a funded project within this programme, which will examine different models of public restaurants in Dundee and Nottingham to assess their feasibility in current UK contexts. The project is led by an academic principal investigator. Full grant details will be published on the UKRI Gateway to Research website in due course.

With reference to the Department's register of board members' interests 2024-2025, updated on 16 January 2025, whether Alan Milburn has recused himself from (a) discussions and (b) activity relating to NHS dentistry.

Mr Milburn has agreed to recuse himself from discussions and activity relating to National Health Service dentistry. Declarations of interest and any updates to them are published in the Register of Interests in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, and on the GOV.UK website, in alignment with Government policy.