Written questions by Campbell.

What estimate she has made of the number of banking hubs that will be operational at the end of each year to 2028.

Currently there are 190 banking hubs operational and Cash Access UK, who oversee banking hub rollout, expect 200 to be operational by the end of 2025. The UK banking sector has publicly committed to delivering 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament.As the timing of the roll-out of banking hubs is industry-driven, the Government does not make year-on-year estimates.

If she will hold discussions with the Metropolitan Police on the policing of non-contentious parades in central London.

This Government continues to work closely with the Metropolitan Police to ensure parades, protests and assemblies can take place whilst maintaining public safety.Operational matters are for individual forces, and Government ministers do not intervene in how the law is applied.

With reference to her Department's publication entitled Illegal working and enforcement activity to the end of September 2025, published on 28 October 2025, how many of people arrested under suspicion of working illegally in Northern Ireland within the past twelve months arrived illegally into the UK.

We do not routinely publish the information you have requested. We are unable to provide this information, as it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 77468 on Contactless Payments, if she will have discussions with the FCA on extending the closing deadline for responses to the consultation on unlimited contactless card payments.

On September 10, the FCA launched a consultation on its proposals to introduce a new risk-based approach to contactless payments, allowing payment service providers greater flexibility to determine their approach to contactless payments where they identify there is a low risk of fraud. This consultation closed on 15 October. Decisions on the consultation process on changes to the contactless limits are a matter for the FCA, which is independent of the Government.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the reduction in the qualifying age for bowel cancer screening on detection rates in the past five years.

The final roll out of this policy only concluded in April 2025. As such, NHS England has not yet made any formal assessment of the impact of lowering the age for bowel cancer screening down to 50 on detection rates.However, when making the recommendation to extend the screening age, from 60- to 74- year olds to 50- to 74- year olds, and to replace the faecal occult blood test with the faecal immunochemical test at the current test sensitivity threshold of 120 micrograms of haemoglobin per gram of faeces, these two activities combined were estimated to nearly double the number of colorectal cancer incidences detected and mortality reduced.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 84157 on Immigration Controls: Northern Ireland, what information her Department holds on the outcomes of Operation Gull; and what criteria she uses to evaluate the success of that operation.

To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication. Information about outcomes and criteria to evaluate the success of Operation Gull is not available in our published data. Our published national data on enforcement activity is available at the following link and includes data on detected irregular arrivals to the UK: Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2025 - GOV.UK

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2025 to Question 51813 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, whether her Department has had recent discussions with the Department of Infrastructure in Northern Ireland on the number of additional publicly available EV charging points that are due to be delivered following the extra funding provided in 2025.

In the 2025 Spending Review £400 million of capital funding was allocated to support the rollout of charging infrastructure in the four financial years from 2026/27 to 2029/30. Under prior On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) funding, 127 chargepoints are due to be installed across Northern Ireland.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84146 on Women against State Pension Inequality, whether he plans to meet with representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign within the next six months.

There are no plans to meet with any campaign groups.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure more widespread availability of the drug 2-HDP.

We are pleased to see promising results from the Queen's University Belfast study into the novel drug known as 2-Hydrazino-4,6-dimethylpyrimidine (2-HDP). This demonstrates the strength of the United Kingdom’s clinical research environment and the important role played by patient organisations such as Diabetes UK.This is early-stage research and further studies, including clinical trials, are required before it can be made available to patients. We look forward to seeing how it progresses.In the UK, medicines need to have a licence before they can be marketed. These are granted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Licences confirm the health condition the medicine should be used for and the recommended dosage. To get a licence, the manufacturer of the medicine has to provide evidence which shows that the medicine is safe and effective enough to be used for a specific condition and for a specific group of patients, and that they can manufacture the medicine to the required quality.The anticipated licensing timelines for 2-HDP are currently unknown, but the MHRA and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence liaise closely with pharmaceutical companies on their plans with respect to regulatory approval in the UK to support timely access to clinically and cost-effective licensed medicines for National Health Service patients.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2025 to Question 67823 on Overseas Trade: Germany, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the lighthouse projects agreed with Germany on economic growth in the UK in the next 12 months.

The Kensington Treaty signed between the UK and Germany commits the parties to mutually supporting economic growth, job creation, digital transition and innovation, working with our businesses and mobilising investment to grow our economies. As part of implementation, DBT is leading on the planned UK-Germany Business-Government Forum, which will draw on business insights to identify growth-driving opportunities. DBT is also supporting projects led by other Departments. A Strategic Science and Technology Partnership will create a framework to support the development of cutting-edge critical technology in areas including quantum, AI, space and clean energy. We will also work towards expanding North Sea Energy cooperation and developing infrastructure to generate greener, cheaper, more secure energy. Finally, we will move towards strengthening collaboration between UK and German public financial institutions to contribute to boosting investment in growth-driving sectors.

When she expects to receive the Payments Forward Plan under the National Payments Vision.

The Terms of Reference for the Payments Vision Delivery Committee set out the Payments Forward Plan will be published by the end of this year. This will set out a sequenced plan of initiatives across the wider UK payments ecosystem.

Whether her Department plans to review the National Road Traffic Projection before the end of 2026.

We continue to update our Transport Analysis Guidance at 6 month intervals for those preparing business cases; this includes regular updates to some of the parameters that affect transport including GDP and fuel prices. We will consider reviewing the NRTPs in the near future.

What differences there are between the (a) contact due to end in March 2027 and (b) the new contract for services provided by the Post Office.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's (DVLA) current contract with Post Office Ltd to provide a limited range of DVLA services ends in March 2027. A procurement for a new contract is being prepared, the requirements for which are still being considered. This will be an open competition and will be open to any eligible bidders in the market.

How many and what proportion of people aged 75 years and over have requested a bowel screening kit by phoning the free bowel cancer screening helpline in the last two years.

The National Health Service bowel cancer screening programme’s published data for 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2024 shows that 396,325 people self-referred or opted back into the programme within the year. This includes ‘over-age self-referrals’, those aged 75 years old and over who are not invited routinely, and also ‘late responder self-referrals’ who have not responded to the initial invitation but have later chosen to participate. This data cannot be disaggregated into each of the categories listed. This data is provided in the Bowel cancer screening standards data report 2022/23 and the Bowel cancer screening standards data report 2023/24, which are available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bowel-cancer-screening-annual-report-2022-to-2023/bowel-cancer-screening-standards-data-report-2022-23https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bowel-cancer-screening-annual-report-2023-to-2024/bowel-cancer-screening-standards-data-report-2023-24Additional unpublished data available to the programme shows that for this time period, from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2024, 224,665 requests were made for self-referrals from individuals who are aged 75 years old and over. We are unable to identify if all of these requests were made via the bowel screening helpline. The total number of people aged 75 years old and over is 5,736,072, sourced from the Patients Registered at a GP Practice, October 2025 dataset, which is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/patients-registered-at-a-gp-practice/october-2025

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2025 to Question 51109 on UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland, how many species are scheduled to have their prohibition lifted by 31 December 2025.

Defra has submitted technical dossiers to the European Commission seeking derogations for 45 species of plants from the EU's prohibitions on entry for high-risk plants. 35 of these have been successful to date, subject to specific conditions being met. The remaining 10 applications are under review by the Commission. Their up-to-date status can be found here: Export of high risk plants to the EU - UK Plant Health Information Portal

How many people have been (a) prosecuted, and (b) convicted as a result of Operation Gull in Northern Ireland since 2010.

To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication. Information about convictions as a result of Operation Gull is not available in our published data.Our published national data on enforcement activity is available at the following link and includes data on detected irregular arrivals to the UK Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2025 - GOV.UK

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will hold discussions with the UN on its estimate of the number of rocket attacks into Israel in the 12 months before and since 7 October 2023.

The UK Government has consistently condemned the rocket attacks launched by Hamas and other terror groups at civilian populations within Israel, both before and after the horrors of October 7 2023. Those attacks reinforce our determination that there will be no place for Hamas in the future governance of Palestine, as we continue working with international partners to support the US peace plan. We also condemn the Iranian attacks which saw Iran fire over 600 rockets, missiles and drones since October 7, leading to the deaths of 29 Israelis. I equally condemn the Houthi attacks, which have targeted Israeli civilians with over 100 ballistic missiles and drones.

Innovation and Technology, what assistance the Innovate UK Business Growth Delivery Programme offers to small businesses in Northern Ireland.

Innovate UK Business Growth supports innovation-driven businesses with high growth potential to reach scale in Northern Ireland - where it has supported 424 businesses to date - and across the UK by connecting a locally based innovation and growth specialist to act as a coach for suitable companies. By offering bespoke, sustained 1:1 support, Innovate UK Business Growth helps companies make faster progress towards their objectives as a business, and provides advice and access to the resources that can help them to grow and scale.

When he last met representatives of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.

The previous Minister for Pensions met with representatives from WASPI on 5th September 2024 to hear their experiences directly, the first Minister to do so in eight years.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it her Department's policy to utilise frozen Libyan assets to compensate victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA terrorism.

Libyan assets were frozen under United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973 to prevent their misuse, with the aim of preserving them for the future benefit of the Libyan people. Therefore, these frozen assets cannot be used to compensate victims of Qadhafi-sponsored IRA terrorism. The UK Government has profound sympathy for victims of Qadhafi-sponsored IRA terrorism and all victims of the Troubles, and will continue to look for opportunities to press the Libyan authorities to address the Libyan State's historic responsibility.