Written questions by Hayes.

What steps his Department is taking to monitor the proportion of solar developments in Lincolnshire that incorporate biodiversity net gain requirements.

Officials closely monitor planning applications and examinations of such projects. Defra recently consulted on extending biodiversity net gain to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects in England, and confirmed it will apply from May 2026.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 74704 on Department for Transport: Social Media, how much her Department has spent on promotion through social media influencers since July 2024 by influencer.

As part of a 2025 THINK! campaign to reduce speeding among young men, the Department ran a media partnership with youth platform LADBible which involved working with two content creators as part of a wider partnership.  However, we are unable to provide a cost breakdown on influencers specifically due to commercial sensitivities which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.

How many dentists offering NHS treatment to adults there are per 1,000 people in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) the East Midlands.

In 2024/25, there were 0.36 dentists per 1,000 population in the NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB). This is compared to an average across ICBs of 0.42 dentists per 1,000 in England. Data is not held for the East Midlands.ICBs have also started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of National Health Service dentists. The Government’s ambition is to deliver fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.

What steps he is taking to support people living with arthritis in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), including NHS Lincolnshire ICB, which serves the South Holland and the Deepings constituency. The Department expects MSK services to be fully incorporated into integrated care system planning and decision-making.In Lincolnshire, arthritis patients at United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (ULTH) are seen as part of two cohorts, namely early inflammatory arthritis (EIA) or arthritis patients identified during grading of referrals and then put into ULTH’s general rheumatology urgent/routine cohort. For early inflammatory arthritis, ULTH works to a target of six weeks to treatment. This broadly necessitates patients having their first appointment at between two and three weeks. At present, most new patients referred today would be seen in clinic at approximately six to seven weeks and commence treatment within a few further weeks. Our recently published 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these will help deliver improvements to arthritis care in all parts of England. More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all support people to manage their long-term conditions, including arthritis, closer to home.

How many days the Union Flag was flown on her Department's main buildings in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.

The Union Flag was flown on the Department's main building (a) 366 days in 2024 and (b) 259 days to date in 2025.

What information his Department holds on the number of rooftop solar panels in use in Lincolnshire.

The Government does not have data for the number of rooftop solar panels in total by parliamentary constituency; however, we do hold figures for domestic solar installations across parliamentary constituencies, and these are available online. Our latest figures show that Lincolnshire, across all eight parliamentary constituencies, has 134MW of solar capacity across 34,060 domestic installations. Boston & Skegness is currently out in front with 23MW and 5,731 installs, and South Holland and The Deepings is not far behind with 18.9MW and 4,982 installs.

How many days the Union Flag was flown on his Department's main buildings in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.

The Northern Ireland Office is a tenant within two UK Government Hubs, one is located at Erskine House in Belfast, and the other at 1 Horse Guards Road London. Our Belfast office is managed by HM Revenue & Customs and our London office is managed by the Government Property Agency. As a tenant, the Northern Ireland Office does not hold information regarding flag flying in respect of these offices.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 73941 on Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Social Media, how much his Department has spent on social media influencers by influencer since July 2024.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has spent £490 since July 2024. Influencers can be effective in reaching audiences that the Government and traditional marketing channels find hard to reach.

With reference to the policy paper entitled UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy, published on 19 June 2025, how much funding her Department plans to provide for infrastructure projects in Lincolnshire in each of the next ten years.

UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy is core to delivering the government’s growth mission to boost living standards in every nation and region of the UK. The Strategy will fund at least £725 billion for infrastructure nationally over the next decade and transform how projects are planned and delivered. For example, the Strategy outlined how the Lincolnshire Reservoir has now been awarded ‘nationally significant’ status to accelerate the planning process.The Infrastructure Pipeline provides a forward look of infrastructure projects that are being progressed over the next decade, broken down by region. It will be updated regularly, initially every six months.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help improve access to sport for children from disadvantaged backgrounds in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Every child should have the opportunity to play sport and do regular physical activity including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.The Prime Minister recently announced a new School Sport Partnerships approach and a new Enrichment Framework for schools to ensure all young people have equal access to high-quality sport and extracurricular activity. The ongoing independent expert-led review of the curriculum will ensure that all children can engage with a broad range of subjects, including PE and sport.On 20 June 2025, the Culture Secretary announced that following the Spending Review, at least £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs, including for children and young people, and will then set out further plans.In the last financial year, 2024-25, Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for community sport, invested £43,803 into South Holland and the Deepings constituency and £1,924,805 into Lincolnshire to improve access to sport and physical activity.I met with Sir John Hayes and Deepings Leisure Centre Community Group in July this year to discuss grassroots sport and facilities provision in his constituency.

How many days the Union Flag was flown on his Department's main buildings in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.

The Scotland Office leases space in Dover House, London from the Government Property Agency (GPA) and Queen Elizabeth House, Edinburgh from HMRC. GPA and HMRC follow guidance issued by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) regarding the flying of flags at these buildings.

What fiscal steps she is taking to help improve small business confidence in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The government recommitted to the devolution agreement with Greater Lincolnshire in September 2024, meaning that Greater Lincolnshire is now receiving £24 million as Mayoral Investment Funding each year as per their devolution agreement.Through the Levelling Up Fund, the government is providing £10 million for ‘Thriving Gainsborough’, improving the marketplace and increasing footfall, investment and employment.More generally, the government recently published ‘Backing your business: our plan for small and medium-sized businesses’ which set out a long-term direction for the Government’s support for smaller firms across the country. This included going further than any previous government with the most significant package of legislative reforms in 25 years to tackle late payments, unlocking billions of pounds in finance to support businesses to invest, removing unnecessary red tape, revitalising the high street as a place to do business, and delivering growth boosting support with a new Business Growth Service to unlock business potential.

How much cryptocurrency her Department has seized from criminal activity in each of the last three years.

The Government does not currently publish the amount of cryptocurrency restrained / recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.The Home office is reviewing plans to publish new statistics on Crypto assets as part of future annual stats bulletins on asset recovery in response to the new powers that came into effect in April 2024.Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.

How many service leavers have accessed the Career Transition Partnership in Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.

Registration with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) is mandatory for all Service leavers. The most recent official statistics provided in Defence Statistics (published February 2025), states that 15,665 Armed Forces Service leavers were eligible for CTP for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. Since 1 October 2024 (the start of the current CTP contract and the earliest date at which such data is available) 1362 Service leavers have accessed the CTP through Cottesmore, the resettlement centre that services Lincolnshire.

With reference to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 74306 on Ministry of Justice: Social Media, how much his Department has spent on promotion through social media influencers since July 2024 broken down by influencer.

The Ministry of Justice uses social media, influencers and online advertising to support the department in delivering its key priorities. These priorities include our recruitment campaigns for prison officers, probation officers and magistrates which help to ensure our front-line services are safely resourced and able to deliver swift access to justice as well as our campaigns that support victims of crime access the support they need. Commercial sensitivities exist around aspects of this spend which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.

How many vacancies for prison officers there were in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) the East Midlands in the latest period for which figures are available.

We publish prison establishment level indicative vacancies in the HMPPS Workforce stats, table 4 of the Prison and Probation Officer Recruitment annex: HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly: June 2025 - GOV.UK.East Midlands and Lincolnshire data as below (further information and Notes explanation can be found at the above link).Table 4: Difference between Target Staffing (Full Time Equivalent) and Staff in Post(2) (Hours Adjusted FTE) for Band 3 to 5 Prison Officers(3), by HMPPS Public Sector Prison Establishment(12) Jun-25 GroupPrison EstablishmentStaff in Post(1)(2)(3)(14)(16) (FTE)Target Staffing(4)(10)(16) (FTE)Difference(5)(11)(13)(15)(16) (FTE)East MidlandsLeicester135139-4East MidlandsMorton Hall118125-6East MidlandsNottingham289300-11East MidlandsOnley182195-13East MidlandsRanby264271-7East MidlandsStocken269283-13East MidlandsWhatton1961924LincolnshireLincoln196201-4LincolnshireNorth Sea Camp5761-3

With reference to the Answer of 10 September to Question 74317 on Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Social Media, how much his Department has spent on promotion through social media influencers since July 2024 by influencer.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has spent money on social media influencers since July 2024. The information requested by the Rt hon Member includes commercially sensitive information received from contracted agencies (3rd Party Marketing Agencies). As such, we are unable to provide a breakdown of spend by influencer.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support available to people with Parkinson's disease in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

I refer the Rt.Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 September 2025 to Question UIN 72849.

Media and Sport, how many days the Union Flag was flown on her Department's main sites in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.

The Union Flag has flown every day from a flagpole on the 1 Horse Guards Road side of DCMS’ main site at Government Offices Great George Street throughout 2024 and to date in 2025.

How many days the Union Flag was flown on her Department's main sites in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.

At our main London headquarters building the Union Flag is flown every day. The only other main site where there is a flag pole is Spring Place in Southampton. The Red Ensign, and the Coastguard Flag, which have the Union Flag incorporated within it, are flown Monday to Friday every week at this site.