Written questions by Hayes.

What steps he is taking to ensure that patients released from hospital who need a wheelchair get one as soon as possible.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services. This includes both temporary wheelchair provision to support hospital discharge and National Health Service wheelchair services which support people of all ages with long-term mobility needs.NHS England supports ICBs to reduce delays and regional variation in the quality and provision of NHS wheelchairs. Since July 2015, NHS England has collected quarterly data from clinical commissioning groups, now ICBs, on wheelchair provision, including waiting times, to enable targeted action if improvement is required. On 9 April 2025, NHS England published the Wheelchair Quality Framework, which sets out quality standards and statutory requirements for ICBs, such as offering personal wheelchair budgets, and aims to tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience, and access. The framework is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/wheelchair-quality-framework/In October 2025, we published the NHS medium-term planning framework, requiring all ICBs and community health services to actively manage and reduce waits above 18 weeks and to develop a plan to eliminate all 52-week waits. The community health services situation report will be used to monitor ICB performance against waiting-time targets in 2026/27, and it currently monitors waiting times for children, young people and adults under “Wheelchair, orthotics, prosthetics and equipment”. These targets will guide systems to reduce longest waits and improvement initiatives to meet these targets may affect waits that are over 18 weeks and 52 weeks.

Communities and Local Government, how many households in Lincolnshire were successful in applications from the Disabled Facilities Grant in each of the last three years.

The total Disabled Facilities Grant allocation to Local Housing Authorities in Lincolnshire for the last three years is shown below. Disabled Facilities Grant Allocation 2023-20242024-20252025-2026Lincolnshire£7,585,253£8,656,686£9,265,453 This information is publicly available on the website of Foundations, the National Body for Disabled Facilities Grants and Home Improvement Agencies here: Disabled Facilities Grant Annual Allocations. It is for local authorities to decide how to spend their allocation and deliver adaptations to eligible disabled and older people. Government does not hold data on how many households have received Disabled Facilities Grant funding. This Government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. This is why we boosted Disabled Facilities Grant funding to £711 million for each of 2024-25 and 2025-26, with a further £50 million in year top up this year, bringing total funding for 2025-26 to £761 million.

Whether any civil servants hired by his Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

The Ministry of Defence does not recruit candidates on the basis of protected characteristics. All appointments are made on merit, in line with the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. Compliance with these principles is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission. Civil Service recruitment is governed by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, which requires that all appointments to the Civil Service are made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

If she will publish a list of serving police officers by nationality for each of the last ten years.

The Home Office does not collect information on the nationality of police officers.

What recent estimate he has made of the number of specialist Parkinson's nurses working in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The Department does not hold centrally a constituency‑level breakdown of specialist Parkinson’s nurse numbers. Specialist Parkinson’s nursing provision across Lincolnshire is delivered through locally commissioned neurology and community services, with integrated care boards (ICBs) responsible for ensuring that patients can access appropriate Parkinson’s specialist support.NHS England has advised that the NHS Lincolnshire ICB commissions the Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust to provide this service. There are currently four specialist nurses working with people with Parkinson’s across the county. The nurses work county-wide, which means that the ICB is unable to provide a breakdown for a specific constituency.The Department continues to work with NHS England to improve access to specialist neurology services, including for people living with Parkinson’s.

How many people aged 17 have applied to join the police in each of the last ten years.

The Home Office does not collect information on the number of individuals aged 17 years old who have applied to join the police service.

Communities and Local Government, whether any civil servants hired by his Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition. Compliance with CRaGA is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission, which publishes Recruitment Principles setting out the detailed rules departments must follow.

With reference to her Department’s report entitled The independent review into the application of sharia law in England and Wales of February 2018, if she will take steps to conduct an assessment into the number of sharia councils operating in the UK.

The independent review into the application of sharia law in England and Wales was published under the 2016 to 2018 May Conservative government.The Government is clear: Sharia law has no jurisdiction in England and Wales. Regardless of religious belief, we are all equal before the law. The Government has no intention of changing this position.Religious communities, including Muslim communities, can operate arbitration councils and boards which seek to resolve disputes. The overriding principle is that they must operate within the rule of law.The Government doesn’t prevent individuals from seeking to regulate their lives through religious beliefs and nothing in law prevents people abiding by Sharia principles, provided their actions don’t conflict with the law. If they do, rule of law prevails.The decisions of Sharia councils are not binding in law – they are not part of the court system in this country.

Media and Sport, how many libraries have (1) closed and (2) opened in Lincolnshire in each of the last ten years.

As the libraries development agency for England, Arts Council England collects and publishes data on library closures and openings in its annual English Public Libraries Location Dataset. The dataset can be found at the following link: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/supporting-arts-museums-and-libraries/supporting-libraries and will be updated in April 2026 with figures for 2025. The English Public Libraries Location Dataset 2024 shows the following for Lincolnshire: Calendar YearStatic Library ClosuresStatic Library Openings20160132017012018322019002020002021002022002023002024002025Data not yet availableData not yet available2026Data not yet availableData not yet available

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has held discussions with the Home Office on the increased use of Virtual Private Networks by criminals following the introduction of the Online Safety Act 2023.

Making the UK a safer place to be online is a priority for the Government, and the Online Safety Act is central to this. Officials from DSIT and the Home Office meet regularly to discuss the implementation of the Act and wider online safety issues.While there is currently no evidence that VPNs are being used more by criminals following the introduction of the Act, the Government continues to monitor the impact of circumvention techniques on the online environment. VPNs also have legitimate uses including protecting users’ privacy and supporting secure access to services.

Innovation and Technology, how much Innovate UK funding has been awarded to organisations based in Lincolnshire in each of the last three financial years.

Innovate UK’s grant funding database shows that during the most recent three full financial years, Innovate UK offered £26.8 million in grant awards to organisations registered in Lincolnshire. This is broken down by financial year as follows:Financial yearCommitted funding2022/23£11,783,5532023/24£8,618,0652024/25£6,444,029Total£26,845,647

Whether any civil servants hired by his Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

Civil Service recruitment is governed by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which requires that all appointments to the Civil Service are made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.The Department for Business and Trade does not recruit candidates on the basis of protected characteristics. All appointments are made on merit, in line with the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. Compliance with these principles is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission.

Whether any civil servants hired by his Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

The Ministry of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from everyone irrespective of background, identity, experience, or circumstance, and particularly those underrepresented in our workforce. The Department does not appoint candidates on the basis of protected characteristics. Appointments are made in merit order, in line with the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

Whether any civil servants hired by his Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition. Compliance with CRaGA is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission, which publishes Recruitment Principles setting out the detailed rules departments must follow. For departments who use Civil Service Jobs to manage their recruitment, applicants are asked to provide diversity data on a voluntary basis only and no details are shared with hiring managers. The positive action measures in the Equality Act 2010 allows employers to take proportionate action that aims to reduce disadvantage, meet different needs and increase participation. More information on this can be found on gov.uk.

Whether any civil servants hired by her Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

Appointments are made on merit following fair and open competition. As a Disability Confident employer, interviews are offered to disabled applicants who meet the minimum job criteria and reasonable adjustments are available to address the potential for disadvantage in recruitment.

If she will make an assessment of how many unregistered Islamic marriages there have been in the UK in each of the last ten years.

The Ministry of Justice does not collect data on the number of religious-only Islamic marriages that take place in the UK.The Government is aware of the differential treatment faced by groups that do not have a legally binding religious ceremony under the current law, and that some people, particularly women, can face serious financial problems as a result, if their relationship breaks down.That is why we have committed to weddings law reform that will make it more straightforward for religious groups to get legally married in accordance with their beliefs. We will be undertaking a consultation on the reform of weddings law in England and Wales, early this year.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether any civil servants hired by her Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office recruits on the basis of fair and open competition in line with the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles, as it did throughout the period of the previous administration. There has been no change to HR recruitment processes since the current Government took office. On the specific question asked by the Rt Hon Member, I refer him to the answer provided on 3 March to Question 114470.

Whether any civil servants hired by her Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition.Compliance with CRaGA is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission, which publishes recruitment principles setting out the detailed rules departments must follow.For departments who use Civil Service Jobs to manage their recruitment, applicants are asked to provide diversity data on a voluntary basis only and no details are shared with hiring managers.The positive action measures in the Equality Act 2010 allows employers to take proportionate action that aims to reduce disadvantage, meet different needs and increase participation.Employers who choose to use positive action can help people who share a particular protected characteristic to overcome certain barriers under the measures. However, employers need to ensure they do this in a way which does not unfairly disadvantage other groups as this could amount to ‘positive discrimination’, which is unlawful.

Whether any civil servants hired by her Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

Civil Service recruitment is governed by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which requires that all appointments to the Civil Service are made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. HM Treasury does not recruit candidates on the basis of protected characteristics. All appointments are made on merit, in line with the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. Compliance with these principles is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission.

Whether any civil servants hired by his Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition. Compliance with CRaGA is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission, which publishes Recruitment Principles setting out the detailed rules departments must follow. For departments who use Civil Service Jobs to manage their recruitment, applicants are asked to provide diversity data on a voluntary basis only and no details are shared with hiring managers. The positive action measures in the Equality Act 2010 allows employers to take proportionate action that aims to reduce disadvantage, meet different needs and increase participation. More information on this can be found on gov.uk. Employers who choose to use positive action can help people who share a particular protected characteristic to overcome certain barriers under the measures. However, employers need to ensure they do this in a way which does not unfairly disadvantage other groups as this could amount to ‘positive discrimination’, which is unlawful.