Written questions by Dewhirst.

Pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2026 to Question 106735 on DESNZ: Facilities Agreements, who authorised the use of paid trade union facility time for trade union activities; and on what date the authorisation was.

Requests for paid trade union facility time for trade union activities over the course of 2024-25 were considered and approved by local line management, by exception. HR can and do advise line managers on appropriate use of facility time and monitor levels, in line with departmental guidance.

If he will place in the Library a copy of the Freedom of Information Act disclosure, reference FOI2025/11799, of 10 September 2025.

I will arrange for a copy of the document requested to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Whether (a) Great British Energy and (b) Great British Energy – Nuclear are separate public bodies; what the statutory basis is of each; and whether those bodies share back offices, staff and premises.

Great British Energy (GBE) and Great British Energy-Nuclear (GBE-N) are separate public bodies. The Great British Energy Act 2025 provides the statutory basis for GBE and The Energy Act 2023 provides the statutory basis for GBE-N. GBE’s headquarters will be in Aberdeen and GBE-N's headquarters are in Warrington. The two entities do not share staff.

Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2026, to Question 107041, on DSIT: Public Appointments, and to the answer of 28 January 2026, to Question 106743, on DBT: Public Appointments, how many public appointments in DSIT made a declaration of political activity.

All Public Appointees complete a political activity form as part of the application process. If appointees declare any political activity, the detail is reviewed, assessed for risk and appropriate mitigations implemented where necessary.

Innovation and Technology, what the average period of time is for the Information Commissioner to decide whether to assign an Freedom of Information Internal Review request for investigation; and what is the average amount of time for any subsequent investigation and assessment to be take.

The ICO is dealing with an increase of over 30 percent in FOI cases submitted to them since April 2025. The ICO will continue to look at ways they can prioritise FOI casework and resources to ensure that case numbers can be adequately managed. Data on FOI complaints handling is available on the ICO’s website.

Pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2026, to Question 107050, on Stamp Advisory Committee, on what dates those five meetings of the Committee took place.

The five meetings of the Stamp Advisory Committee which were attended by an official from the Department for Business and Trade took place, respectively, on 21 November 2024; 23 January 2025; 10 July 2025; 11 September 2025; and 20 November 2025.Additionally, an official from the Department attended a Committee meeting on 22 January 2026.

Pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2025, to Question HL12107, on Trade Agreements: Maldives, if he will list every country currently within the Free Trade Agreement programme, where HM Government is looking to negotiate new or updated free trade agreements.

Negotiations with the Republic of Korea on an upgraded Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have concluded and both sides are preparing for signature later this year. FTA negotiations continue with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Switzerland, Turkey and Greenland. Discussions on the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD) also continue.In addition, the UK is engaged in Costa Rica and Uruguay's Accession Working Groups, as part of their accession process to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

With reference to the transparency data entitled the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts, Data for July to September 2025 for all departments, published on 25 December 2025, UK Export Finance, Workforce Solutions, Alexander Mann Solutions, what was the purpose of the "Social Value - The number of Social Value network events delivered to the supply chain in the financial year" as a KPI, and what were the topics and nature of the specific network events that were delivered.

Government Departments are required to apply at least 10% weighting to Social Value in tender evaluations, in line with the Social Value Model. Additionally, procurement regulations require that for all contracts worth more than £5 million, departments report and publish four Key Performance Indicators, including at least one relating to Social Value.The Social Value events delivered for UK Export Finance by Alexander Mann Solutions aimed to educate participants in the delivery of Social Value commitments and Government requirements.The event delivered in that quarter covered 'Wellbeing in the Workplace'.

Pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2025, to Question 71458, on Counter-terrorism: finance, if he will list how much was paid to each individual local authority for (a) local authority posts and (b) project delivery in 2024-25.

In 2024/25, the Home Office paid dedicated Prevent grant funds to the 30 highest threat priority area local authorities. A breakdown of the funding that was paid to local authorities via the Home Office Prevent grant for posts and projects is outlined in Table A.In addition, in 2024/25 all local authorities in England and Wales were able to apply for targeted Prevent projects, which were delivered through the Preventing Radicalisation Fund (PRF). The PRF is now available to local authorities in Scotland. These projects are delivered by trusted third sector organisations, including local civil society organisations. The funding for approved PRF projects was not paid to local authorities directly and was administered separately by a Grant Administrator. The funding that was allocated for PRF projects delivered in local authorities in 2024/25 is outlined in Table B.Please note that some priority areas in receipt of Home Office Prevent grant funding also applied for additional project funding via the PRF to support project delivery in other adjacent local authorities as part of regional activities. In addition, some local authorities teamed up to place joint PRF bids to support project delivery across multiple local authorities, and have been grouped together in Table B.Table A Local Authorities (Alphabetical order)Funds paid (£) for Posts (Home Office Grant) Funds paid (£) for Projects (Home Office Grant)1Birmingham351,324.81229,176.002Blackburn with Darwen267,925.0403Bradford223,230.8856,214.254Brent268,876.6011,000.005Bristol102,512.3106Calderdale170,554.6218,122.007Cardiff258,713.5187,020.458Croydon143,976.0709Derby211,942.0395,350.0010Ealing139,348.01011Enfield202,208.9233,105.0012Hackney137,053.60013Haringey142,757.1533,000.0014Kent246,595.05015Kirklees160,652.4746,905.0016Lambeth155,856.32017Leeds251,136.77186,453.4018Leicester186,792.29133,431.7519Liverpool295,107.657,047.0020Luton214,554.33134,624.5021Manchester392,184.44107,292.0022Newcastle upon Tyne102,390.73023Newham162,565.9359,233.8624Nottingham129,317.13025Redbridge193,073.69115,041.4526Sandwell149,199.99027Sheffield160,784.35028Tower Hamlets192,498.63100,074.2829Waltham Forest142,697.04030Westminster281,887.2530,000 Table B Local Authorities (Alphabetical order)Allocated Funds (£) for Projects (PRF)1Barnsley13,5002Cambridgeshire20,4303Coventry19,638.504Dorset24,4835East Midlands: Nottingham, Nottinghamshire60,6506Essex14,672.387Greater Manchester: Oldham, Trafford, Bolton, Wigan, Salford, Stockport, Rochdale40,7928Havering8,9739Humberside: Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire20,922.5010Isle of Wight13,70111Lancashire: Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Lancashire31,820.4012Merseyside: Liverpool, Halton, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, Wirral122,060.513Rotherham25,604.4014Solihull10,05015Southampton10,67516South London: Lambeth, Croydon & Wandsworth17,559.2017South West London: Kingston, Richmond & Wandsworth6,19518Thurrock19,988.2719Wakefield20,25020Wales: Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Powys34,646.4021Wales: Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Bridgend23,949.0022West London: Hammersmith & Fulham, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Ealing, Hillingdon, Richmond & Wandsworth, Hounslow, Merton43,42023West Midlands: Wolverhampton and Dudley8,275.0024Wiltshire26,303.60

With reference to the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme public register, how many registrations have been made since the introduction of the scheme which have not be publicly published; and for what reason there are no political influence registrations relating to countries on the enhanced tier.

As of the 5th of March, there are 11 registrations on the FIRS public register. We will not provide details of registrations beyond that which is on the public register as to do so could identify information not intended to be published and undermine the scheme’s objectives.Registrations under the enhanced tier will not be published, unless they relate to political influence activities. There are additionally circumstances where exceptions to publication may apply, for example where publication could create a risk to the safety or interests of the UK or to an individual or entity’s safety.The Government will be publishing an annual report setting out, among other things, the number of registrations across both tiers, number of information notices issued, the number of persons charged with an offence and the number of persons convicted of an offence. The first report will be published as soon as practicable after 30 June 2026.FIRS is a new scheme, and a published impact assessment sets out expected numbers of registrations in the first year (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-security-bill-overarching-documents/impact-assessment-foreign-influence-registration-scheme-accessible)Where there is evidence of a criminal offence having been committed, including failure to register with FIRS, the Government will refer the matter to the police.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to comply with the Cabinet Office’s guidance not to hire standalone EDI roles.

The Department is fully compliant with Cabinet Office guidance relating to standalone EDI roles.

Whether the Government will make additional financial contributions to the EU as a consequence of the agreement to ooperate in relation to drugs risks and threats.

No decisions have yet been taken as to whether the UK will make additional financial contributions to the European Union as a consequence of the new provisions set out in the Common Understanding of 19 May 2025 2025 to cooperate in relation to drugs risks and threats.Our position remains that we are prepared to make an appropriate financial contribution to support the relevant costs associated with the European Union's work in this policy area, for example to access EU agencies or databases. We will need to work through the details of this in further discussions with the EU.Any decisions on such matters will be assessed in accordance with Government Accounting Officer rules, including value for money.

Pursuant to the answer of 8 September 2025, to Question 71459, on Counter-terrorism: Finance, if she will list the individual quantitative and qualitative elements and metrics used by the Homeland Security Analysis and Insight team to determine the funding to individual councils.

Each year the Home Office conducts an annual prioritisation exercise to understand which Local Authorities (LAs) are facing the highest threat from radicalisation to terrorism. The process incorporates both quantitative and qualitative elements.The quantitative element of the model draws on counter-terrorism investigations data and arrests data for terrorism and terrorism-related offences; the number of cases that have been discussed at a Channel multi-agency panel or are being managed separately under the police-led process; community tension reports; hate crime data; Indices of Multiple Deprivation; and annual employment statistics. It is regularly reviewed and adapted to ensure that it provides a sound basis to make effective evidence-based decisions.As part of the qualitative element, we hold a series of regional roundtables with key Prevent delivery partners, which allows us to sense check the preliminary rankings and make adjustments by drawing on the knowledge and experience of front-line Prevent practitioners from across a range of sectors, including CT Policing; Department for Education; Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government; Health; and HM Prisons and Probation.Funding for posts and dedicated projects is allocated as part of an annual bidding process, with funding allocations informed by factors including the amount of funding available, the level of threat, the level of funding provided for Prevent posts in the previous financial year, and inflation-related increases.

Media and Sport, which trade unions are recognised by the British Library; and how much facility time is allocated to each expressed as (a) headcount and (b) FTE staff members, in the most recent period of time for which figures are available.

The British Library recognises three national Civil Service unions – FDA, Prospect and the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).The table below shows the facility time for each union expressed in headcount, FTE staff members and total hours. These figures are for the most recent period of time available, April 2024 to March 2025.UnionHeadcountFTETotal HoursPCS15131006.29Prospect1616564.78FDA000

Pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2026, to Question 107051, on DBT: Social Media, if he will name any other specific social media influencers who have been commissioned by the department or its contractors to undertake paid advertising for the department for any other campaigns or programmes since July 2024, including their social media handles.

Apart from the 2025 National Minimum and Living Wage campaign, no other social media influencers have been commissioned by the Department or its contractors to undertake paid advertising for other campaigns or programmes since July 2024.Influencer marketing is regarded as a credible promotional channel, which is considered for government advertising campaigns and can be an effective way to reach audiences that the Government and traditional marketing channels find hard to reach. The Department will look to draw on influencer marketing in future campaigns where this helps achieve campaign objectives.

Further to the answer of 13 October 2025, by Baroness Smith of Malvern, to Question HL10203, on LGBT+ People: Equality, whether any of those gender identities are recognised by government.

There is no list of gender identities recognised by the Government.

Pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2025, to Question 91946, on EU Files Forum, on what dates the EU Files Forum has met since July 2024.

The Department for Business and Trade hosted the first official-level EU Files Forum with key UK Business Representative Organisations on 5 June 2025. The Forum meets on a quarterly basis to facilitate a dialogue between government and the UK business community on evolving EU legislation.Since June, the Forum has met on the following dates:• 10 September 2025• 4 December 2025• 5 March 2026

Pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025, to Question 73334, on Internet: Security, what guidance has the National Protective Security Authority provided on using Virtual Private Networks to other organisations than DSIT.

A summary of the wide variety of guidance provided by the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) is available on their website at www.npsa.gov.uk.The national technical authority for cyber security is the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).Their website ww.ncsc.gov.uk provides a range of guidance on cyber security, including on the use of virtual private networks www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/device-security-guidance/infrastructure/virtual-private-networks

With reference to the gender pay gap guidance, "Preparing your data", updated 11 August 2025, what is the definition of a man and woman for the purposes of the reporting requirements.

The current gender pay gap reporting guidance was drafted in order to reduce the burden on business, and be mindful of variations in their data collection processes. We recognise that the terms “male”, “female”, “men” and “women” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a person’s biological sex, and that this has implications for the guidance provided on gender pay gap reporting. As currently set out on the “Preparing your data” guidance page, we are reviewing the relevant section of this guidance. Further updates on this will be provided shortly.

Media and Sport, if she will publish the new policy on copyright assertion.

We have published a progress update on our position on AI and copyright on 15 December 2025. By March 18 2026, we will publish a comprehensive report on the key issues and a full economic impact assessment, alongside the government’s response to the consultation.We remain committed to providing clarity for all stakeholders, and to ensuring that the UK’s copyright framework continues to support the success of our creative industries while fostering the benefits that AI can bring.