Written questions by Hayes.

What proportion of food procured by her Department is sourced in the UK.

To date the government has not held information on where publicly procured food is sourced from.Starting right away, for the first time ever, this government will review the food currently bought in the public sector to determine the standards that it is meeting, where it is bought from, and look to introduce monitoring for transparency and accountability within those supply chains to ultimately get the best food for the consumer.This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector catering contracts.

What steps he is taking to cut ophthalmology waiting lists in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) England.

Too many people are waiting too long for National Health Service treatment, with their personal and professional lives being put on hold. The current national waiting list for ophthalmology stands at 589,508, with 66.8% of those having waited 18 weeks or less. We have committed to ensuring that 92% of all patients, across specialties, wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment (RTT) by March 2029. As a first step, we have delivered a reduction in the waiting list of 160,000 pathways and provided over two million extra appointments, across all specialities, including ophthalmology.We are tackling waits nationally and in Lincolnshire. The Elective Reform Plan sets out actions to reform outpatient care which will significantly benefit ophthalmology, the largest outpatient specialty, with over 8.8 million outpatient attendances across 2023/24. We will improve the referral, triage, and management of patients between primary and secondary eyecare services to free up hospital appointments for those requiring specialist input. This includes delivering more care in the community.At the main hospital trust in Lincolnshire, the current wait in ophthalmology for a first appointment is 18 weeks, with the wait to first treatment at 19 weeks. This can be found on the national My Planned Care Portal, which is available at the following link: https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/mids/united-lincs/specialty/?sname=Ophthalmology

Media and Sport, what proportion of food procured by her Department is sourced in the UK.

To date the Government has not held information on where publicly procured food is sourced from.Starting right away, for the first time ever, this government will review the food currently bought in the public sector to determine the standards that it is meeting, where it is bought from and look to introduce monitoring for transparency and accountability within those supply chains to ultimately get the best food for the consumer.This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector food procurement policies as we want to help make it an equal playing field for British producers to bid into the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking tackle digital exclusion among older people in rural areas.

Tackling digital exclusion is a Government priority. We published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February 2025, identifying five target groups to benefit most from digital inclusion initiatives, including older people. The Action Plan outlines five immediate actions for Government, including launching the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund to support locally delivered digital inclusion initiatives. We are also upgrading broadband and mobile connectivity in rural areas through Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network and are exploring options for further support to connect very hard to reach areas.

What proportion of food procured by his Department is sourced in the UK.

The department does not procure any food directly. All accommodation, property, and facilities management services - including catering outlets - are provided to, and managed on behalf of, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) by the Government Property Agency (GPA).

Innovation and Technology, what proportion of food procured by his Department is sourced in the UK.

To date the Government has not held information on where publicly procured food is sourced from. Starting right away, for the first time ever, this government will review the food currently bought in the public sector to determine the standards that it is meeting, where it is bought from and look to introduce monitoring for transparency and accountability within those supply chains to ultimately get the best food for the consumer. This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector food procurement policies as we want to help make it an equal playing field for British producers to bid into the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

What proportion of food procured by her Department is sourced in the UK.

To date the Government has not held information on where publicly procured food is sourced from. For the first time ever, this government will review the food currently bought in the public sector to determine the standards that it is meeting, where it is bought from, and look to introduce monitoring for transparency and accountability within those supply chains to ultimately get the best food for the consumer. This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector food procurement policies as we want to help make it an equal playing field for British producers to bid into the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of food procured by his Department is sourced in the UK.

To date the Government has not held information on where publicly procured food is sourced from. Starting right away, for the first time ever, this government will review the food currently bought in the public sector to determine the standards that it is meeting, where it is bought from and look to introduce monitoring for transparency and accountability within those supply chains to ultimately get the best food for the consumer.This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector food procurement policies as we want to help make it an equal playing field for British producers to bid into the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

Communities and Local Government, what proportion of food procured by her Department is sourced in the UK.

As tenants in our offices, the management and procurement of food supplies is overseen by the Government Property Agency or the Landlord.To date the Government has not held information on where publicly procured food is sourced from. This Government is reviewing the food currently bought in the public sector to determine the standards that it is meeting, where it is bought from and look to introduce monitoring for transparency and accountability within those supply chains to ultimately get the best food for the consumer. This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector food procurement policies as we want to help make it an equal playing field for British producers to bid into the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of food procured by his Department is sourced in the UK.

Defra does not hold information on where food procured by the department is sourced from. However, for the first time ever, as announced in January and starting right away, the Government will review food currently bought in the public sector and where it is bought from. This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector food procurement policies and help make it an equal playing field for British farmers to bid into the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

What steps she plans to take to improve road safety in South Holland and the Deepings constituency in the 2025-2026 financial year.

The Government allocates Integrated Transport Block (ITB) funding to local authorities such as Lincolnshire County Council, which is used for a variety of local transport initiatives such as road safety improvements. ITB allocations for 2025/26 for Lincolnshire County Council and other authorities will be announced shortly. This will enable councils to decide how best to use the available funding; the Department does not get involved in local authority decision making of this sort.On local highway maintenance funding, all local authority allocations for highway maintenance block capital funding in 2025/26, including for Lincolnshire County Council, were announced by the Secretary of State for Transport on 20 December 2024 and are published on Gov.uk. Lincolnshire County Council will be receiving an uplift of over £16.2 million compared to the current financial year, taking its total funding for the year to over £60 million if they meet the incentive element requirements, due to be published shortly.

Representing the House of Commons Commission, how many heat pumps have been installed on the Parliamentary estate in each of the last three years.

The number of heat pumps installed on the Parliamentary estate over the past three years is as follows:2022: 10 heat pumps2023: 41 heat pumps2024: 18 heat pumpsMost of these heat pumps have been configured to provide cooling for comms rooms. A comms room (short for communications room) is a dedicated space within a building that houses critical networking and telecommunications equipment. Its primary purpose is to manage data exchange, connectivity, and communication infrastructure for an organisation. In Parliament we call these rooms Secondary Distribution Points (SDPs). Comms rooms are a common feature in most buildings with a reasonable level of IT infrastructure. Air conditioning (provided by a heat pump system) is often used to maintain stable temperatures to prevent overheating and malfunction of the IT equipment.Where heat pumps are proposed on the Parliamentary estate the system design is interrogated to ensure that the noise generated is not excessive and suitable for the context in which it is located.Like all other equipment, system components and machines on the estate, heat pumps consume electricity. The design of any proposed heat pump on the estate will be interrogated to confirm that the electrical supply proposed for the heat pump is suitable and can be met by the estate’s electrical infrastructure.

What estimate the UK Statistics Authority has made of the number of small businesses in South Holland and the Deepings constituency in each of the last five years.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 3rd March is attached.

Representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the potential impact of the installation of heat pumps on the parliamentary estate on (a) noise and (b) electricity consumption.

The number of heat pumps installed on the Parliamentary estate over the past three years is as follows:2022: 10 heat pumps2023: 41 heat pumps2024: 18 heat pumpsMost of these heat pumps have been configured to provide cooling for comms rooms. A comms room (short for communications room) is a dedicated space within a building that houses critical networking and telecommunications equipment. Its primary purpose is to manage data exchange, connectivity, and communication infrastructure for an organisation. In Parliament we call these rooms Secondary Distribution Points (SDPs). Comms rooms are a common feature in most buildings with a reasonable level of IT infrastructure. Air conditioning (provided by a heat pump system) is often used to maintain stable temperatures to prevent overheating and malfunction of the IT equipment.Where heat pumps are proposed on the Parliamentary estate the system design is interrogated to ensure that the noise generated is not excessive and suitable for the context in which it is located.Like all other equipment, system components and machines on the estate, heat pumps consume electricity. The design of any proposed heat pump on the estate will be interrogated to confirm that the electrical supply proposed for the heat pump is suitable and can be met by the estate’s electrical infrastructure.

What proportion of food procured by his Department is sourced in the UK.

To date the Government has not held information on where publicly procured food is sourced from. Starting right away, for the first time ever, this government will review the food currently bought in the public sector to determine the standards that it is meeting, where it is bought from and look to introduce monitoring for transparency and accountability within those supply chains to ultimately get the best food for the consumer. This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector food procurement policies as we want to help make it an equal playing field for British producers to bid into the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

How many pensioners are living in poverty in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Statistics on the number of pensioners living in relative and absolute poverty are not available at a constituency or county level. Statistics on the number of pensioners living in relative and absolute poverty are published annually in the Households Below Average Income statistics: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2023 - GOV.UK. These statistics include regional breakdowns.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the continued availability of in-person post office services in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The Government protects the sustainability of the branch network in South Holland and the Deepings and Lincolnshire, by providing funding on the basis that Post Office meets minimum access criteria to ensure that, across the country, 99% of the population live within three miles of their nearest Post Office. The Government works to ensure Post Office Limited maintains a minimum number of branches and a geographical spread of branches in line with the published access criteria. Along with the annual £50 million subsidy, we are providing a further £37.5 million this year to safeguard services in the uncommercial parts of the network.

How many people have been (a) charged and (b) prosecuted with communications offences under the Online Safety Act 2023 by offence.

The Online Safety Act introduced a number of communication offences, which were commenced in January 2024. These offences were introduced to criminalise cyberflashing, fake news intended to cause non-trivial harm and other online abuse.The Ministry of Justice publishes data on offenders prosecuted with communications offences under the Online Safety Act 2023. This is available in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.The number of prosecutions for communications offences can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Overall Volumes’ tab, and filtering the “HO offence code” drop down for:13852 – Send false communication with intent to cause harm00528 – Send communication threatening death or serious harm00529 – Send electronic communication with flashing images with intent to harm an individual

How many driving test instructors have left their position in each year since 2018.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) approves people to be driving instructors and motorcycle trainers. DVSA publishes driving instructor and motorcycle instructor register data on GOV.UK. This includes data on the numbers of approved driving instructors (ADI) and shows the number of ADIs joining or leaving the register, by reason, per financial year. The attached excel document shows how many ADIs left the ADI register for the financial year 2017/18 to the financial year to date, 2024/25. This includes data on ADIs whose licence lapsed, ADIs who resigned their licence, and ADIs who were removed from the register (Registrar's decision). The same document also includes how many ADIs were added to the ADI register for the same period. This includes data on new ADI registrations, ADIs who renewed their licence (renewals), and ADIs who re-registered after a period of time off the register (Re-registration).

What steps her Department is taking to support small businesses impacted by a reduction in in-person banking services in Lincolnshire.

The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to constituents and businesses in Lincolnshire and across the UK and is committed to championing sufficient access for all. This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 200 hubs have been announced so far, and over 100 are already open. FCA guidance expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and put in place alternatives where reasonable. This seeks to ensure that branch closures are implemented in a way that treats customers fairly. Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and via the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques. The Government protects the Post Office network by setting minimum access criteria. These include ensuring that 99% of the UK population lives within three miles of a Post Office and 90% of the population within one mile. To stimulate local economic growth the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with rateable values below half a million pounds from 2026 – 2027 and later this year, the Government will publish a Small Business Strategy, setting out our vision for small businesses. Taken together, these actions will support businesses in Lincolnshire and across the country to drive local economic growth.