Written questions by Mayhew.

What evidence she has seen of financial services regulators adapting their approach as a result of the secondary objective on international competitiveness and economic growth.

Effective, proportionate regulation is key to a thriving UK economy and delivering the government’s mission to drive the inclusive growth and international competitiveness of the UK’s financial services sector. The government is working closely with the regulators to deliver the government’s vision for the sector, and ministers meet with the FCA and PRA regularly to engage on this. The government is required to write to the Prudential Regulation Committee and the FCA at least once in each Parliament, making recommendations about aspects of economic policy they should have regard to as they consider the advancement of the PRA’s and FCA’s objectives and the discharge of their duties. These letters must be laid before Parliament and published. The FCA and PRA are required to report to the Treasury on how they have advanced their competitiveness and growth objectives. They published the first reports in July, which set out how they have begun to adapt their approach in light of the new objectives. The reports can be found here: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/corporate/sicgo-report-2023-24.pdfhttps://beta.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/prudential-regulation/report/scgo-report.pdf The Chief Executive of the FCA and the Chief Executive of the PRA have recently given speeches setting out more details on how they are implementing the new objectives. These can be found here: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/speeches/growth-mission-possiblehttps://www.bankofengland.co.uk/speech/2024/october/sam-woods-speech-at-annual-city-banquet-at-mansion-house The government will continue to work closely with the FCA and PRA to ensure they continue to embed these secondary objectives, in support of the government’s wider growth mission.

What estimate he has made of the cost of replacing the Post Office Horizon IT system.

As part of the Spending Review 2021 Government provided Post Office with a total of £185m of funding to support investment activities, which included the ongoing maintenance and replacement of the Horizon IT system. In 2023 Government provided a further £103m to support with the costs of Horizon maintenance and replacement. Post Office is currently assessing the future costs of replacing the Horizon IT system. Further funding is to be allocated subject to the Spending Review process.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the response to issues arising from the failures of the Horizon IT System on his Department's capacity to deal with other issues.

No such assessment has been made, however tackling the legacy of the Horizon scandal is a major priority for the Department.

How many and what proportion of her Department’s full time equivalent staff have been allocated to working on its response to failures of the Horizon Post Office IT system in each month of the last two years.

The table below shows the number and proportion of the Department's Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) staff over the last 2 years working solely on its response to the Post Office Horizon Scandal. The figures do not include a further 15 vacant roles for which recruitment is under way and expert cases assessment teams which are contracted by DBT and are not civil servants. Also, further recruitment will follow as the Department implements plans to create an appeals mechanism for the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, as announced in September. FTE staff 2022 November14.75 December14.75 2023 January17.6 February21.6 March21.6 April21.6 May24.6 June25.6 July26.6 August22.6 September20.6 October20.6 November20.6 December21.6 2024 January27.6 February34.6 March34.6 April46.6 May50.6 June56.6 July65.6 August67.6 September67.6 October68.6

How many and what proportion of convicted postmasters has her Department contacted to inform them that their conviction has been quashed under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024.

I refer the honourable Member to our GOV.UK page where we now publish monthly management information on the progress of the Post Office Convictions casework team. This page can be found at: Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024: Quashed convictions management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).As of the end of September, we had assessed 459 individual cases and had written to 335 individuals or their appropriate contacts to inform them that they had one or more convictions quashed by the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024. A further update will be published in early November.We are unable to provide an assessment of what proportion of individuals with convictions this represents, as we may not hold records for all relevant individuals. I would actively encourage anyone who believes they have a conviction in scope of the legislation and has not heard from my Department to register for the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme on GOV.UK so their case can be considered.

When he plans to publish the impact assessment for the Employment Rights Bill.

On Monday 21 October, the Government published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill (http://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments).

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of introducing means-testing for the Winter Fuel Payment on hospital admissions.

This is not a decision any Government would want to make, but we inherited a £22 billion black hole in the nation’s finances. Difficult decisions are required.We continue to stand behind vulnerable households by:Increasing the state pension by around £460 for over 12 million pensioners in April, because of our commitment to protect the triple lock.Delivering the £150 Warm Home Discount for low-income households and providing £421 million to extend the Household Support Fund.We are encouraging pensioners to check their eligibility for Pension Credit to ensure as many people as possible have access to support they’re entitled to. We have seen a 152% increase in claims since announcement.An equality assessment was published by DWP on the 13th of September.

Communities and Local Government, whether it is her policy that there is to be a presumption against planning permission for solar farms that are not nationally significant infrastructure projects on best and most versatile land.

The Government places great importance upon our agriculture and food production, and this is reflected in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Framework is clear that local planning authorities should recognise the economic and other benefits of the best and most versatile agricultural land. Where significant development of agricultural land is shown to be necessary, including ground mounted solar, the planning authority should seek to use poorer quality land in preference to that of a higher quality.

How many full-time civil servants are working on informing postmasters and former postmasters that their conviction has been quashed under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024.

The Horizon scandal was an unprecedented miscarriage of justice and the Government is working to notify all postmasters whose convictions have been quashed as quickly as possible. This work is carried out through a specially trained casework team who assess each case and verify that a conviction has been quashed by the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024. The team must assess a wide variety of data sources including records from the Police National Computer, Post Office Limited, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Criminal Cases Review Commission. As some of these convictions are decades old, it can take time to retrieve crucial pieces of data such as court records which adds to the time taken to verify a conviction in scope of the Act.As of 8 October 2024, the Ministry of Justice has 22 civil servants working on the process of informing individuals who have had a conviction quashed by the Act. This number includes the dedicated Post Office convictions casework team as well as policy advisers, legal advisers, analysts and managerial oversight. The process to provide financial redress to postmasters is undertaken separately by the Department for Business and Trade with a separate team of civil servants, once a conviction has been overturned.

How many civil servants are working only on compensation for postmasters.

On the 30th of June, there were 45 FTE civil servants working within the Department for Business and Trade, as of the 30th of September, there are 56 full-time equivalent (FTE) civil servants working only on redress for postmasters, an increase of 11 FTE since July. The total excludes a further 15 roles for which recruitment is under way. This figure also excludes the expert cases assessment teams which are contracted by DBT and are not civil servants. Further recruitments will follow as the Department implements plans to create an appeals mechanism for the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, as announced in September.