Written questions by Stainbank.

What engagement she has had with the Further Education sector in Scotland on the proposals in the Immigration White Paper to increase the standard qualifying period for permanent residence from five to ten years.

The reforms in the Immigration White Paper, including the proposed increase in the standard qualifying period for settlement, were agreed across Government at a Home and Economic Affairs Committee the previous Home Secretary attended prior to publication on 12 May 2025. We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year. All will be welcome to participate. We will provide details of how the scheme will work after that consultation.

What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for (a) Health and Social Care and (b) Work and Pensions on the (i) proposed increase in standard qualifying period for permanent residence and (ii) impact of that increase on workforce planning for their Departments.

The reforms in the Immigration White Paper, including the proposed increase in the standard qualifying period for settlement, were agreed across Government at a Home and Economic Affairs Committee the previous Home Secretary attended prior to publication on 12 May 2025. We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year. All will be welcome to participate. We will provide details of how the scheme will work after that consultation.

What steps her Department is taking to support (a) local authorities and (b) police forces to manage tensions around asylum seeker housing.

The Home Office works closely with police, security teams, local authorities and other partners to ensure all accommodation sites are managed safely and securely. These key stakeholders regularly attend Multi-Agency Forums to provide updates and address any concerns raised within local communities.

What steps her Department is taking to improve support for bereaved families during Fatal Accident Inquests.

Where an investigation into a death requires a public hearing, this takes the form of an inquest in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland, and a Fatal Accident Inquiry in Scotland.Responsibility for the death investigation process in Scotland, including any requirement for a Fatal Accident Inquiry in an individual case, lies with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

How many Fatal Accident Inquests are in progress.

Where an investigation into a death requires a public hearing, this takes the form of an inquest in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland, and a Fatal Accident Inquiry in Scotland.Responsibility for the death investigation process in Scotland, including any requirement for a Fatal Accident Inquiry in an individual case, lies with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

What steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken to commence Fatal Accident Inquests.

Where an investigation into a death requires a public hearing, this takes the form of an inquest in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland, and a Fatal Accident Inquiry in Scotland.Responsibility for the death investigation process in Scotland, including any requirement for a Fatal Accident Inquiry in an individual case, lies with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes by technology companies to data protection features available in their products on consumers; and what steps he is taking to protect consumers’ data privacy.

The UK’s data protection legislation applies to technology companies providing services to people in the UK, if they are processing personal data. The legislation sets out general rules on how such data should be processed and safeguarded. This includes ensuring that any processing is lawful, fair and transparent. Organisations must also carry out a data protection impact assessment, when processing activities involving new technologies that are likely to result in a high risk to individuals’ rights and freedoms. The legislation is independently regulated by the Information Commissioner's Office. We recently strengthened their powers in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 to help them investigate suspected breaches of the legislation.

What the average length of time is for the conclusion of a Fatal Accident Inquest.

Where an investigation into a death requires a public hearing, this takes the form of an inquest in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland, and a Fatal Accident Inquiry in Scotland.Responsibility for the death investigation process in Scotland, including any requirement for a Fatal Accident Inquiry in an individual case, lies with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of resources allocated to Coroners' Courts for Fatal Accident Inquests.

Where an investigation into a death requires a public hearing, this takes the form of an inquest in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland, and a Fatal Accident Inquiry in Scotland.Responsibility for the death investigation process in Scotland, including any requirement for a Fatal Accident Inquiry in an individual case, lies with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Whether she has had recent discussions with her counterpart in the Scottish government on the potential long-term impact of changes to PIP eligibility on (a) people in Scotland who are in receipt of Adult Disability Payment and (b) the interaction between reserved and devolved systems.

The government has launched a comprehensive review of the PIP assessment, to ensure it is fair and fit for the future. I shall lead the review, and it will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. We are committed to working closely with the devolved governments throughout the Timms review. In the course of my stakeholder engagement, I have spoken to disability stakeholders from Scotland, to draw on devolved government perspectives in designing the work of the review. We will continue to engage disability stakeholders from across the UK throughout the review.

Whether people in Scotland who transition from Employment Support Allowance to Universal Credit will be (a) considered as new claimants and (b) subject to the new rules under the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Bill when determining their eligibility for the Universal Credit health element.

We are rebalancing Universal Credit (UC) to fix a system which encourages people to claim health benefits and incentivises inactivity. It’s a targeted reform that protects those with the most serious, long-term conditions and existing claimants, while providing work, health and skills support to everyone who is affected by changes to LCWRA. Both Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and UC are entirely reserved so are assessed in the same way across England, Scotland and Wales. Customers who move to UC from ESA, with no gap between those awards, will not be treated as a new claimant.

Whether existing claimants of the Universal Credit health element will be considered as new claimants upon (a) periodic reassessment and (b) subsequent (i) appeal and (ii) reapplication.

Existing claimants of the Universal Credit (UC) health element will not be considered new claimants if they are reassessed and are still found to have Limited Capability for Work and Work-related Activity (LCWRA). Existing claimants who are not found to have LCWRA at reassessment but successfully appeal this decision would still be eligible for the higher rate. If a claimant is found not to have LCWRA and then reapplies at a later date, they will be considered a new claimant. From 6 April 2026, new UC Health claimants will receive the lower rate unless they meet the Severe Conditions Criteria or qualify under Special Rules for End of Life.

How many Border Security Command operations have taken place outside of the United Kingdom since July 2024.

The Border Security Command is committed to working with international partners to tackle shared migration challenges and is working in multiple countries and regions to reduce the impact of organised immigration crime into the UK.Our international work seeks commitment to deepen cooperation, including through upstream intervention with source and transit countries. The relationships we have strengthened and the new agreements we have formed will allow us to disrupt and deter the criminal gangs, as demonstrated by our landmark agreements with Iraq, our new pilot scheme with France, and through the Joint Communique with Vietnam.Further to this, the Border Security Command (BSC) is working strategically across the Border Security system, including with partners such as the National Crime Agency, Police, and intelligence agencies.Working with the BSC, the National Crime Agency led 347 disruptions of organised immigration crime networks in 2024/25 – its highest level on record and a 40 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

Whether she plans to consult on further safeguarding measures following the introduction of the Disclosure and Barring Service new manual ID guidance in April 2025.

As an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body of the Home Office, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is operationally independent and therefore responsible for its own identity assurance policy.The recent update cited is part of a broader move towards modernised and more accessible DBS processes and are not linked to any other safeguarding regime issues that may be considered by the Secretary of State.

Whether she has considered the potential merits of allocating funding to the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service.

The National Vehicle Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) is a national policing unit funded by industry, including finance and leasing companies, insurers and hauliers, to provide dedicated specialist intelligence and enforcement. NAVICS undertakes enforcement action at ports which are intelligence-led operations to tackle vehicle crime.Whilst the Government does not fund NaVCIS, we provided £250,000 last year to other law enforcement partners to help support enforcement at the ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad, including additional staff and specialist equipment.This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime. We are working with the automotive industry and police, including the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on the issue, to ensure the strongest response possible. I recently met the previous NPCC vehicle crime lead, ACC Jenny Sims, as well as other law enforcement representatives and representatives from industry, to discuss how we work together to tackle these damaging crimes.Via the recently established National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, we are focusing on prevention and deterrence of theft of and from vehicles. This includes training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles.In the Crime and Policing Bill we have banned electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing, importing and supplying them.

Whether any arms export licences held by Elbit Systems UK were suspended on 2 September 2024 following the review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law.

We suspended export licences for Israel where these relate to items for use in military operations in Gaza. This includes licences for components for fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones, naval systems and targeting equipment.Since the details of individual suspended licences contain sensitive information relevant to the individual exporter companies, the government is not providing further comment on them.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support compliance with International Humanitarian Law by the Israeli Government on the protection of journalists reporting on the conflicts in Gaza and the West Bank.

The UK strongly condemns all violence directed against journalists and media workers. Civilian reporters covering conflicts are afforded protection under international humanitarian law. We are therefore appalled by the extremely high number of fatalities, arrests and detentions of media workers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In a recent joint statement with 28 other countries, we called on the Israeli authorities and all other parties to make every effort to ensure that media workers in Gaza, Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem can conduct their work freely and safely. The statement also called for all attacks against media workers to be investigated and for those responsible to be prosecuted in compliance with national and international law.The UK has contributed £3 million to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Global Media Defence Fund, benefitting over 9,000 journalists, including time-sensitive emergency support to journalists and media experiencing sudden major crises in Ukraine, Sudan and Haiti. Earlier this year the UK provided funds to UNESCO's Special Fund for Gaza, supporting locally based journalists with vital equipment.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the protection of journalists in conflict zones.

The UK strongly condemns all violence directed against journalists and media workers. Civilian reporters covering conflicts are afforded protection under international humanitarian law. We are therefore appalled by the extremely high number of fatalities, arrests and detentions of media workers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In a recent joint statement with 28 other countries, we called on the Israeli authorities and all other parties to make every effort to ensure that media workers in Gaza, Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem can conduct their work freely and safely. The statement also called for all attacks against media workers to be investigated and for those responsible to be prosecuted in compliance with national and international law.The UK has contributed £3 million to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Global Media Defence Fund, benefitting over 9,000 journalists, including time-sensitive emergency support to journalists and media experiencing sudden major crises in Ukraine, Sudan and Haiti. Earlier this year the UK provided funds to UNESCO's Special Fund for Gaza, supporting locally based journalists with vital equipment.

Whether she plans to mandate a National Activities Safeguarding Framework for Children and Vulnerable Adults participating in extracurricular activities.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.The majority of out-of-school settings providers do a good job of delivering safe and enriching education and activities.These providers have a legal duty of care to ensure the safety of children that attend their setting and protect them from harm. Local authorities are also legally responsible for safeguarding children in their areas and, when there are concerns, we expect them to intervene using the wide range of powers available to them. Similarly, local authorities have a statutory duty to make enquiries about safeguarding concerns under the Care Act 2014. Statutory guidance for the Care Act 2014 makes clear that local authorities must ensure that the services they commission are safe, effective, and of high-quality.We have acted to improve sector safety by updating the safeguarding code of practice for out-of-school setting providers and accompanying guidance for parents and carers. We also published new e-learning for out-of-school providers and strengthened guidance for local authorities.We are seeking to further improve safeguarding standards and have published a call for evidence to help improve our understanding of safeguarding within the sector. This will help gather evidence required to inform potential approaches, such as a national framework, and enhance the safety of these settings.

What the maximum amount of money is the Scottish Government can spend through the Crown Commercial Service on a single contract.

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) provides public sector organisations with a range of commercial agreements, through which they can procure common goods and services, as well as offering commercial advice and procurement services. CCS does not set a limit on the amount that an individual organisation can spend on a single contract procured using CCS commercial agreements or services. It is the responsibility of each organisation, including the Scottish Government, to determine its own level of spend on each contract.