Written questions by Powell.

Media and Sport, when Cumulative Impact Assessments for gambling licensing will be introduced.

The Government has now tabled an amendment to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill with the intention of introducing Gambling Impact Assessment (GIAs), formerly referred to as Cumulative Impact Assessments. The implementation date will be confirmed in due course.

Communities and Local Government, when he expects to respond to the home buying and selling reform consultation.

On 6 October, my Department published two consultations outlining reform proposals to transform home buying and selling. They can be found on gov.uk here and here. Both consultations closed on 29 December. We are now reviewing the feedback received. Subject to the outcomes of the analysis being undertaken, we will publish a roadmap setting out further details of our reforms later this year.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies on preventing (a) mass atrocities and (b) genocide of the violence perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces against civilians in (i) El Fasher and (ii) elsewhere in Darfur.

I refer the Hon. Member to the response provided to the Urgent Question on Sudan: Protection of Civilians on 30 October.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to protect communities vulnerable to flooding.

After 14 years of Conservative Government, we inherited England’s flood defences in their worst state on record. That is why this Government has announced the largest flooding programme in history to protect homes and businesses across the country. We will invest £7.9 billion over 10 years protecting 840,000 properties.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to consult on the valuation rates used to calculate the cost of enfranchisement premiums.

The 2024 Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act sets the method for calculating the price of a statutory lease extension or freehold acquisition, known as the valuation process. The Bill removes the requirement for marriage value to be paid, caps the treatment of ground rents in the valuation calculation at 0.1% of the freehold value, and allows government to prescribe the rates used to calculate the enfranchisement premium. Valuation rates will be set by the Secretary of State in secondary legislation, and we have made clear we intend to consult before determining what the rates should be. Last week the High Court heard challenges to some of the 2024 Act enfranchisement reforms. Leaseholders should be assured that the government is robustly defending those challenges. Following the outcome of the hearing, we will provide further update on the rates consultation. Once the consultation goes live, we want to hear views from a broad spectrum of stakeholders before making a decision, and we invite all who have an interest to feed these in.

How many offences were recorded for enforcement action against delivery e-bikes in the last 12 months.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on fixed penalty notices (FPNs) and other outcomes for motoring offences in England and Wales on an annual basis, as part of the ‘Police powers and procedures: Roads policing’ statistical bulletin. The most recent data, up to 2023, is available here: Police powers and procedures: Roads policing, to December 2023 - GOV.UKHowever, the Home Office does not centrally collect data on the type of vehicle involved in the offence.

How much her Department has spent on supporting refugees from Ukraine in the 2023-24 financial year.

The Home Office did not record the costs of supporting refugees from Ukraine in financial year 2023-24 separately from its wider work in this area, and the requested data could only be isolated and verified now for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans he has to publish the results of the UK and Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council on 19-21 November 2024.

The conclusions of the Joint Ministerial Council will be published through a communiqué jointly agreed by the UK and the Overseas Territories. We will also make a Written Ministerial Statement.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including publicly accessible trust data in the Register of Overseas Entities.

While the Government remains committed to enhancing transparency in relation to trusts within the Register of Overseas entities (ROE), we must carefully consider the privacy risks that come with it. The government will be laying regulations in due course to allow applications to be made for public access to unpublished trust information on the ROE in circumstances to be specified in the regulations. We are also currently reviewing responses to the public consultation on Transparency of Land Ownership Involving Trusts which provided a range of views and perspectives.

Innovation and Technology, what progress he has made on appointing a Ministerial lead for the UK's seat on the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee.

The responsibility for the interrelated areas of open government and open data is currently held in the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO). However, as part of a Machinery of Government change to create the Digital Centre of Government, CDDO has moved into the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) from the Cabinet Office. The ongoing work to design the digital centre will assess the suitability of the current arrangement and make recommendations for the future responsibility for the delivery of the principles of Open Government and the National Action Plan for Open Government and inform the Ministerial lead for the UK’s seat on the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure the safety of Hindus in Bangladesh.

The UK has a long-standing commitment to the protection of human rights. We are committed to Freedom of Religion or Belief for all. In July, the Foreign Secretary and I raised concerns publicly and privately about the unprecedented levels of violence and we urged for a de-escalation of the situation. The Interim Government in Bangladesh has the UK's full support as it works to restore peace and order. We welcome the Chief Advisor's recent comments on the need to support minority communities in Bangladesh, particularly in the lead up to Durga Puja.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the arbitrary detention of prisoners in Azerbaijan.

The UK remains concerned at the increased number of detentions of independent journalists, human rights defenders and civil society representatives over the last year, and we continue to urge Azerbaijan to improve human rights protections for all its citizens; Azerbaijan's hosting of COP29 in November provides the country with an opportunity to demonstrate meaningful action in this regard. The UK has consistently called on Azerbaijan to ensure that those in detention are afforded a fair trial and are provided safe conditions, in accordance with Azerbaijan's international obligations and commitments. British Embassy Baku regularly raises these issues with the Azerbaijani authorities at senior levels.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to commence Section 49 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

The Government intend to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. These include the provisions at Sections 49 and 64 of the Act. We will set out details in due course about the extensive programme of secondary legislation needed to bring the Act into force.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to commence Section 64 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

The Government intend to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. These include the provisions at Sections 49 and 64 of the Act. We will set out details in due course about the extensive programme of secondary legislation needed to bring the Act into force.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help protect people online.

In line with our Safer Streets Mission, the Online Safety Act brings much needed protections to the online world by protecting children from harmful and age-inappropriate content, tackling violence against women and girls, and taking down criminal activity. The new laws apply to search services and all companies that allow users to share and post content online or interact with each other, even if the companies providing them are outside the UK.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support free, fair and peaceful elections in Georgia.

On 9 October, I [Minister Doughty] made clear to Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili that Georgia's parliamentary elections must be held in accordance with international democratic standards. We have allocated £500,000 to support independent election monitoring in Georgia. The funding will enable the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) election observation mission and Georgian civil society groups to effectively monitor 26 October's parliamentary elections.

Communities and Local Government, when her Department plans to respond to the consultation entitled Modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases which closed on 17 January 2024.

Over the course of this Parliament, the Government will further reform the leasehold system. We will enact remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to enfranchisement and the Right to Manage, tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, reinvigorate commonhold through a comprehensive new legal framework, and ban the sale of new leasehold flats so commonhold becomes the default tenure.The Government has made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny. We will announce further details in due course.

What steps she plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to recover public money spent on contracts for goods and services that were not provided during the pandemic.

We are appointing a fixed-term Covid Fraud Commissioner through an open competition that is running now. The Commissioner will make sure that everything is done to return the money owed to the public purse, with a primary focus on pandemic PPE contracts. The Commissioner will report to the Chancellor, working with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and their report will be presented to Parliament for all Members to see.