Written questions by Thomas.

When she expects to (a) receive and (b) publish Part Two of the Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences.

The Government received the second and final report at the end of 2025 from Jonathan Fisher KC, Chair of the Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences.We are now carefully considering the Review’s findings and recommendations and will respond in due course.

How many prosecutions have there been for illegal lending in each of the last five years.

Illegal money lenders, commonly known as loan sharks, are dangerous criminals who inflict serious harm on their victims. The Government funds specialist Illegal Money Lending Teams (IMLTs) operating across the UK to tackle their crimes. These teams investigate and prosecute illegal lenders while providing crucial support to victims. Details of the teams’ work and case studies are available at the Stop Loan Sharks website: https://www.stoploansharks.co.uk/.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of measures to support the victims of theft of a driving licence.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring support is available for victims, so that those affected by crime, including theft, can access the help they need throughout the justice process.That is why, in total, the Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date.This includes annual grant funding to the 42 Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) areas across England and Wales, who commission local practical, emotional and therapeutic services based on an assessment of need in their area.Within this envelope, we will be increasing funding for victim support services year on year, from 2026 to 2029, recognising the need to meet the rising cost pressures of delivery.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many British citizens were murdered in overseas countries in each of the last five years by country .

Since 2021 we have supported bereaved families in approximately 250 cases of the murder or manslaughter of British nationals abroad. To protect the privacy of the bereaved, we do not publish country‑level figures where fewer than five cases are recorded. Fifteen countries recorded more than five such cases since 2021: Pakistan, Spain, the United States, South Africa, Israel, Australia, Jamaica, France, Thailand, Kenya, New Zealand, Mexico, Turkey, Barbados, and Trinidad & Tobago. All other countries recorded fewer than five cases individually over that time period.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate she has made of what the percentage of gross national income spent on overseas aid will be at the end of the current spending review period.

As things stand, and in line with the Government's stated policies, we expect spending on Official Development Assistance to be at 0.3 per cent of gross national income in the 2027 calendar year, and stay at that level until fiscal circumstances allow the UK to return to the 0.7 per cent target.

When the Outer London Allowance was last reviewed for (a) teachers, (b) police officers and (c) civil servants.

For teachers, the geographical areas covered by the different teacher pay ranges were defined some years ago to reflect a practical approach to compensate teachers working in London. The School Teachers’ Review Body has not recommended any changes to London pay ranges in recent years; however, the Department is currently considering what additional flexibilities should be built into the statutory pay and conditions framework as a result of our commitment on changes to pay and conditions through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and we will keep this matter under review. For police officers, there’s London Weighting and London Allowance. There’s not an inner and outer London rate – it’s the same across all of London. London Weighting and London Allowance were last reviewed by the Police Remuneration Review Body in the 2025/26 pay round. Decisions on pay, including London weighting, are delegated to individual departments for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS); departmental policies on London weighting are not collected centrally. The SCS pay framework is managed centrally and only operates a national pay range.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with Ofcom on tackling the spread of antisemitism and Islamophobia on social media.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ofcom about online safety matters. For example, in October, the Secretary of State wrote to Ofcom requesting an update on its implementation of the Online Safety Act, including work to ensure platforms tackle antisemitic and hateful content and abuse.Ofcom’s reply outlined the main themes of its work in tackling antisemitism and other forms of hate speech and abuse. This includes driving compliance through the Online Safety Act’s regulatory framework, building on its codes of practice, working with civil society to build its evidence base and targeted working with platforms during crises.

If she will hold discussions with exam boards on offering GCSEs in Tamil.

Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations – AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC – rather than by central government. These organisations have the freedom to create a Tamil GCSE based on the subject content for modern foreign languages set by the department. This decision would be informed by several factors, including the level of demand from schools and the proportion of the population in the UK speaking the language.

How many people attended Northwick Park Hospital A&E Department in each of the last 6 months.

NHS England began publishing data on accident and emergency attendances at the site-level from November 2025, and therefore only two months of data are currently available. The following table shows the number of type 1 and 2 accident and emergency attendances, as well as all attendances, at Northwick Park Hospital, for November and December of 2025:MonthType 1 and 2 attendancesAll type attendancesNovember 20259,93017,410December 20259,96017,055Source: A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions 2025-26 dataset, available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ae-attendances-and-emergency-admissions-2025-26/ Note: the data for December 2025 is provisional, and all figures have been rounded to the nearest five in line with data suppression rules.

How many non-military flights landed at (a) Heathrow (b) RAF Northolt in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Data on aircraft movements at UK airports is collected and published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). CAA aircraft movement data includes a ‘military’ category, but a split between arriving and departing flights is not provided.Although Royal Air Force (RAF) Northolt does handle some civil flight movements, this is an RAF establishment, and data on aircraft movements at RAF Northolt is not collected by the CAA.Data on the total number of aircraft movements at Heathrow, split by military and non-military, is provided in Table 03_1 of the annual CAA airport data publication and reproduced as Table 1 below. The last three complete years for which figures are available are 2022, 2023 and 2024.Table 1: Aircraft movements at Heathrow Airport split by military and non-militaryYearMilitaryNon-militaryTotal20220380,305380,30520237456,593456,60020245476,114476,119 Note: Non-military category includes commercial, test and training, private, official and business aviation movements.Source: https://www.caa.co.uk/data-and-analysis/uk-aviation-market/airports/uk-airport-data/

If she will visit a community development finance institution within the next six months.

Community development finance institutions (CDFIs) play an important role in supporting access to credit. My predecessor was pleased to chair a roundtable in July 2025 attended by banks and CDFIs, to discuss the barriers to achieving greater growth for CDFIs providing personal lending products. I am looking forward to a similarly productive discussion when I meet the Chief Executive of Responsible Finance later this Spring.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she will hold discussions with her Israeli counterpart on allowing (a) Medicines Sans Frontiers and (b) UNWRA to continue to provide aid in Gaza.

I refer the Hon Member to the statement to the House I made on 5 January, and to the joint statement issued by the Foreign Secretary and several of her counterparts on 30 December, available on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jointstatementon-the-gaza-humanitarian-response

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to stop goods produced in illegal settlements in the West Bank from entering the UK.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I provided on 15 October 2025 in response to Question 77510.

Communities and Local Government, if he will convene a meeting of ministers from relevant Departments to discuss the final report of the Independent Commission for neighbourhoods.

We continue to closely follow the work of the Commission which continues to make a strong case for investment in our most deprived neighbourhoods. The Pride in Place Programme, announced in September, demonstrates this Government’s firm commitment to backing neighbourhoods that have for too long been left behind and overlooked. This flagship programme will deliver up to £5bn funding and support to 244 of the most deprived places across Britain over the next decade, and our accompanying Pride in Place Strategy set out a broader plan for giving communities across the country the tools and powers they need to drive change in their neighbourhood. We will carefully consider the Commission’s findings once the final report is published which will inform our response on how we can build on this agenda to support the most in need neighbourhoods.

If she will ask the Financial Conduct Authority to assess whether the mission critical neighbourhoods, as identified by the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods, have an effective credit union or a community development finance institution providing access to affordable credit for local residents and businesses.

The Government recognises that credit, when provided responsibly, can be crucial for people facing unexpected expenses or managing their cash flow. The UK has a diverse landscape for credit provision to individuals and businesses, comprising traditional banks, challenger and specialist banks, and non-bank finance providers such as Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). In November, I published the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, which includes a focus on how to improve access to affordable credit.The Strategy includes a pilot scheme for small sum lending and measures to strengthen the community finance sector, including encouraging partnerships with mainstream financial firms. The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders to deliver on the interventions.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to encourage the take-up of sport by people aged over 70.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including older people, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities to stay fit and healthy.The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through DCMS’s Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Their ten-year Uniting the Movement strategy reinforces their commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for those from under-represented groups, including older people. Sport England has also ensured that each of its programmes impact directly on those with long-term health conditions, including older people, with initiatives like the 'We are Undefeatable' campaign.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of a third runway on communities close to Heathrow.

The Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) sets out the mitigations a promoter must provide to minimise the impact of the project on the environment and affected communities. The review of the ANPS will consider if any changes are required to the existing mitigations. We will consult on any proposed amendments to the ANPS in summer 2026, and communities will have the chance to express their views.

What information his Department holds on changes in the number of pawn shops in England and Wales since 2010.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 8th January is attached.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reductions to ODA on access to prevention tools such as long-acting PrEP; and what steps she is taking to (a) ensure equitable global access to those tools and (b) end AIDS.

The UK remains firmly committed to ending AIDS. We continue to support the organisations at forefront of the global response to HIV, including UNAIDS and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and our investments to Unitaid, CHAI and MedAccess have helped shape the market for new HIV innovations, including Lenacapavir. A formal Equality impact assessment of Official Development Assistance programme allocations for 2025 to 2026 was published on 2 September 2025, and is available on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-official-development-assistance-programme-allocations-2025-to-2026-equality-impact-assessment/equality-impact-assessment-of-official-development-assistance-oda-programme-allocations-for-2025-to-2026). Assessments of the impact of future funding allocations will be made in due course once those allocations are set.

Whether she will discuss access to finance for businesses based in areas of deprivation with the Chair of the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods.

HMT has engaged the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods and the Department continues to work with the Commission, including engaging with their recent report. I would welcome a discussion with the Chair on access to finance, should she think it helpful.