Written questions by Campbell.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 42419 on Foreign Investment in the UK: Northern Ireland, how many employees are specifically working with Invest NI to help promote investment (a) before and (b) during the Open Golf Championship at Royal Portrush in July 2025.

Promoting investment into Northern Ireland is a key priority for investment staff across the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Office for Investment, including the dedicated team of 10 based in Belfast (DBT NI). At present no dedicated member of staff is working specifically on The Open Golf Championship at Royal Portrush in July 2025, but staff are working on wider promotion of investment into Northern Ireland on an ongoing basis that seeks to take advantage of the focus that events like The Open can provide. DBT NI continues to work collaboratively with Invest Northern Ireland on a range of events and initiatives throughout the year.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of police use of live facial recognition technology.

The Government supports the police use of live facial recognition technology and will continue to ensure the right balance is struck between ensuring public safety and safeguarding individuals’ rights.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Data (Use and Access) Bill on the development of artificial intelligence models.

Compliance, productivity and familiarisation costs savings of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning reforms in the Data (Use and Access) Bill have been considered and can be found in the indirect benefits and costs sections of the impact assessment (IA). The ethical assessment can also be found in the impact on individuals section. The assessment of the effect on different organisations by size and sector can be found in the small and micro business assessment section of the IA here (particularly, Table 14, 24, 25, 26 & 34).

Whether she has made an assessment of trends in the level of regional disparities in the number of public charging devices for electric vehicles by population.

The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of affordable and accessible charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle. Chargepoint availability is increasing everywhere with public charging device numbers increasing by 45% in rural areas of England in 2024.

When she plans to bring forward any legislative proposals from the first phase of the Pensions Investment Review.

The final report of the Pensions Investment Review, including the policy proposals to be legislated for, will be published in the Spring ahead of the introduction of the Pension Schemes Bill.

How he plans to implement the Tobacco and Vapes Bill across all parts of the United Kingdom.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is United Kingdom-wide, and has been developed in partnership with the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive.The Department of Health and Social Care in England will work with the devolved administrations to implement the measures in the bill, including future regulations, once the bill receives Royal Assent.

What steps she plans to take to reduce the number of car accidents among (a) recently-qualified and (b) young drivers.

We recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads. As work progresses on the new road safety strategy, we are exploring options to tackle the root causes of this without unfairly penalising young drivers. My Department’s THINK! campaign aims to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the roads in England and Wales, and is primarily focused on men aged 17-24. THINK! plays an important role in raising awareness of risky driving behaviours amongst young people. This has recently included campaigns on drink-driving and speeding on rural roads.

What meetings he has had Northern Ireland based businesses following the publication of guidance for businesses on the new General Product Safety Regulation.

My officials have been engaging regularly with businesses from across the UK on the updated General Product Safety Regulation in Northern Ireland. Since the guidance for businesses was published, officials have hosted numerous drop-in sessions for businesses, both before and after the Regulation took effect in Northern Ireland. The Department for Business and Trade will be publishing updates to the guidance to provide additional clarity to businesses, reflecting the queries and feedback we have received.

How many employees from the Trade and Investment Hub in Northern Ireland are working with Invest NI to promote investment before the Open Golf Championship at Royal Portrush in July 2025.

At end February 2025 DBT had 76 FTE from across the organisation based in our Belfast Hub. There are 10 people working in the trade and investment team, who all work collaboratively with Invest Northern Ireland on a range of events and initiatives throughout the year.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to change funding committed to the International Development Association.

The UK is strongly committed to the International Development Association and its centrality in development finance. The impacts of the decision to reduce UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent are still being worked through and we will be taking a rigorous approach to ensure all ODA delivers value for money. We will set out our spending plans following the completion of the Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is his policy to review the effectiveness of the implementation of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976.

The Government currently has no plans to review the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976.

How many asylum seekers were housed in dispersed accommodation in Northern Ireland on 31 December (a) 2022 and (b) 2024.

Only those individuals claiming asylum in Northern Ireland are accommodated there.Northern Ireland’s asylum population is proportionate to its population when compared to the UK. There were 1,853 asylum seekers in dispersal accommodation in Northern Ireland on 31 December 2022, and 2,285 on 31 December 2024.Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation and by local authority is published on a quarterly basis, the most recent statistics release available is for December 2024. Statistics are available on GOV.UK at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.

What guidance her Department has issued on (a) ascertaining a court judgement and (b) informing a relevant local authority in cases where someone who (i) is seeking asylum, (ii) is housed in hotel accommodation and (iii) has been convicted of an offence has been given a non-custodial sentence.

No specific guidance has been published for the scenario referenced, but the Home Office works closely with our contracted accommodation providers and law enforcement partners to deal with any cases of concern, and we will always do everything necessary to keep local communities safe.

How many times the Export Finance Manager responsible for Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland visited Northern Ireland in 2024.

UK Export Finance (UKEF) has a dedicated Export Finance Manager (EFM) based in, and visiting businesses all around, Northern Ireland since 2012, along with Regional Heads who oversee the work of clusters of EFMs. UKEF does not provide information about individual officials who are not senior civil servants.

Whether (a) she and (b) her officials have had discussions with Natwest Bank on fixed rate loans for small and medium-sized businesses taken out in the 2008 period.

The Government regularly engages with a range of stakeholders across the financial services landscape, and it is important that communication can take place in a free and frank way. Officials and Ministers frequently engage with NatWest, as one of the UK's largest banks on a range of topics, including matters relating to SME lending.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 38944, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of people aged over 66 years old working (a) part time and (b) full time who paid income tax in the last financial year.

The information is not available. HMRC does not hold complete information on hours worked in an employment.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 26424 on Cars: Credit, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of consumer credit debt relating to car purchases for the next five years.

The government believes it is vital that consumers have access to a thriving motor finance market to enable them to spread the cost of a vehicle in a way that is manageable and affordable.The government engages with a broad range of stakeholders such as the financial regulators, industry, debt advice charities and consumer groups to monitor trends in consumer debt and understand issues affecting consumers.

Whether her Department holds information on the dates of future meetings of the Global Sovereign Debt roundtable in 2025.

The Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR) meets at Principals (i.e., Finance Minister or equivalent) level during the IMF-World Bank Spring and Annual meetings, in April and October respectively. Technical and preparatory meetings, including open workshops, take place in the intervening months. As a participant in the GSDR, the UK is invited to all GSDR meetings when they are scheduled, and actively participates in the sessions.

What steps she is taking to raise awareness of the Blind Person's Allowance.

Blind Person's Allowance is an extra amount of tax-free allowance that can be added to an individual’s Personal Allowance, for those who are blind or severely sight impaired. Blind Person's Allowance is £3,070 for the tax year 2024-25. If the recipient does not pay tax or have enough taxable income to use their full BPA, the remainder of the allowance can be transferred to a spouse or civil partner.HMRC promotes the availability of Blind Person's Allowance through supporting and funding key charities, such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People, through dedicated communications partners and the 2024-27 HMRC Voluntary and Community Sector Grant Funding Programme. This ensures communications are accurate and reach the greatest number of eligible customers.Information on how to claim Blind Person's Allowance is available on the GOV.UK website and it can be claimed by telephone to HMRC. Blind Person’s Allowance is also signposted on the application form for registering any sight impairments with Local Authorities.HMRC follows comprehensive government accessibility standards. These include guidance on writing and producing braille developed by the Royal National Institute of Blind People and the Sensory Trust as well as making social media accessible.HMRC’s ongoing support for Blind Person's Allowance campaigns seeks to raise awareness of the eligibility criteria for the allowance, encourage take-up and educate customers on how to claim.

What recent estimate he has made of the number of people aged 66 and over who are in (a) full time employment and (b) part time employment.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 18th March is attached.