Written questions by Hayes.

For what purposes the UK Statistics Authority has used AI in the last 12 months.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 24 January is attached.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to help tackle illegal waste in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The Environment Agency (EA) works with a range of professional partners to tackle all waste crime. In Lincolnshire the EA jointly chairs the Lincolnshire Environmental Crime Partnership made up of Local Authorities and professional partners like the Fire Service and NFU. The local EA enforcement team is currently investigating a site near Holbeach St Johns in South Holland, Lincolnshire where bales of shredded, wrapped landfill waste have been deposited and stored illegally.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the closure of bank branches on rural communities in (a) towns and (b) villages.

The Government understands the impact of bank branch closures on rural communities and the importance of face-to-face banking and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. 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. Furthermore, 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. As well as banking hubs, 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.

How many court clerks worked at Boston Magistrates' Court in each year since 2014 for which data is available.

Boston operates as a hearing venue only and has done since consultation in 2019. There are 2 members of staff based there, who operate as a back office to support the wider Cluster, taking work primarily from Lincoln County Court. The role of Court Clerk exists in two jurisdictions, Crown Court and County Court. The Crown Court does not sit in Boston. If required, County Court clerks travel over from Lincoln.

How many people entered the UK on a visa and overstayed in each of the last three years.

The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’.The specific data requested is not routinely published and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at a disproportionate cost.

Whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of fraudulent visa applications made in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

There are a wide range of circumstances which can lead to a visa application being classed as fraudulent, including the use of false documentation, or lying about the purpose of a visit, employment status or financial situation.Data on the total number of fraudulent visa applications is not readily available in accessible form and could only be collated and verified for the purpose of this question at a disproportionate cost.

How many people entered the UK through irregular means other than small boats in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of detected irregular arrivals to the UK across four routes of entry in the ‘Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’.Data on inadequately documented air arrivals, recorded detections at UK ports and recorded detections in the UK, alongside small boat arrivals and can be found in Irr_01 of the ‘Irregular migration summary tables’. This data covers the period 2018 to September 2024.Data covering the period of October to December 2024 is due to be published on 27th February 2025.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Media and Sport, if she will take steps to facilitate education on gambling-related harms for young people.

We are committed to protecting children and young people from gambling harm. Since 2020, children have been taught about the risks relating to gambling as part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum in England. The Gambling Commission also publishes an annual survey on children’s exposure to, and involvement in, all types of gambling to help us monitor gambling-related harm amongst children.We are introducing a statutory levy to be paid by gambling operators raising funding for research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. The levy will play an important part in the Government’s wider aim to have a better informed and protected public when it comes to gambling-related harms.

What estimate he had made of the number of additional urgent dental appointments there will be in Lincolnshire in each of the next four years.

The Government is committed to tackling the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care. We are working to ensure that patients can start to access the 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments as soon as possible, targeting the areas that need them most, including Lincolnshire.We will set out further information on this commitment, including how this will be measured, in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help protect seabird populations from offshore wind turbines.

The Government’s Offshore Wind Environmental Improvement Package’s aim is to support the acceleration of offshore wind consenting, while continuing to protect the marine environment. The package is setting out new approaches to delivering mitigation and compensation for the environmental impacts of offshore wind developments at a strategic level. As part of this, Defra is piloting innovative approaches to mitigation. This includes a turbine blade painting pilot looking at reducing the avian collision risk from offshore wind. Defra is also working collaboratively with Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies, environmental Non-Governmental Organisations, the offshore wind industry across the UK, and Devolved Governments to develop a range of strategic compensation measures for the habitats and species most likely to be affected by offshore wind impacts, including seabirds.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of public libraries in rural areas.

Public libraries play a vital role in sustaining community networks in rural areas, offering a range of activities and support services to meet local needs and bring people together.Local authorities in England have a statutory duty under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. They are responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.There is a network of over 2,500 static libraries in the statutory network across England, supported by a number of mobile and home library services. Public library services are found in all types of communities, urban and rural; and are used by all demographics of people.

What steps she is taking with relevant authorities to help tackle dangerous driving in (a) South Holland and The Deepings constituency and (b) other rural areas.

The Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. Since the general election, the Department has begun work on a new Road Safety Strategy, the first in over a decade. The Department will share more details in due course. The Government’s THINK! road safety campaign, aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads. THINK! launched a major new drink driving campaign in November, highlighting the risks of drinking even a little before driving. The campaign targeted men aged 17-24, who are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on the road than drivers aged 25 and over, and who are over-represented in drink drive casualties. Paid advertising ran across social media, online video and gaming sites, radio and podcasts. The campaign also featured roadside advertising near to pubs and bars and posters and beermats in venues across England and Wales. THINK! also joined forces with industry to launch THINK! 0%, encouraging drivers to always opt for alcohol-free options when getting behind the wheel via timely reminders at the point of purchase, and worked with police forces to support national drink and drug driving enforcement activity in the lead up to Christmas. The enforcement of road traffic law and how available resources are deployed in South Holland and The Deepings constituency, and other rural areas, is the responsibility of individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.

What steps she is taking to help tackle drink driving in rural areas.

The Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. Since the general election, the Department has begun work on a new Road Safety Strategy, the first in over a decade. The Department will share more details in due course. The Government’s THINK! road safety campaign, aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads. THINK! launched a major new drink driving campaign in November, highlighting the risks of drinking even a little before driving. The campaign targeted men aged 17-24, who are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on the road than drivers aged 25 and over, and who are over-represented in drink drive casualties. Paid advertising ran across social media, online video and gaming sites, radio and podcasts. The campaign also featured roadside advertising near to pubs and bars and posters and beermats in venues across England and Wales. THINK! also joined forces with industry to launch THINK! 0%, encouraging drivers to always opt for alcohol-free options when getting behind the wheel via timely reminders at the point of purchase, and worked with police forces to support national drink and drug driving enforcement activity in the lead up to Christmas. The enforcement of road traffic law and how available resources are deployed in South Holland and The Deepings constituency, and other rural areas, is the responsibility of individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.

How many properties are not connected to the national (a) gas and (b) electricity grid in South Holland and The Deepings constituency.

The Department publishes estimates of the number of domestic properties not connected to the gas network in Great Britain by constituency. In 2023, an estimated 12,000 domestic properties (23%) in South Holland and The Deepings constituency were not connected to the gas network. Equivalent figures for the electricity network are not published.

Media and Sport, how much was paid in bonuses to staff in her Department in 2023-24.

Departments are required to publish data related to non-consolidated performance payments on an annual basis. The publication date for the 2023/24 data is yet to be confirmed, but will happen over the coming months.

Whether he plans to take steps to allow up-to-date medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff in Lincolnshire.

At a national level, in partnership with NHS England, the Department is building the foundations for improved information sharing between care and health staff. Digital social care records, that contain a person’s care information, are now in use by more than 72% of Care Quality Commission-registered care providers, from a starting point of 41% in December 2021. In the recent announcement on short term reforms in adult social care, we set our ambition that all care providers will be fully digitised by the end of this Parliament.Within the coming months, all assured digital social care records will also enable medical information to be shared with social care providers through GP Connect, which provides a restricted view of a person’s general practice (GP) record to social care staff for direct care purposes, where there is consent for the data to be shared. Currently about 2,000 care providers use GP Connect to access medical information through digital social care records and next year we will be supporting wider adoption of this functionality. Access to this information improves the quality and safety of care and saves time, currently spent on the phone waiting to speak to GP surgeries.In Lincolnshire, the Lincolnshire Care Record enables medical information sharing for direct care purposes across health and social care. This initiative has been live for several years. There is not currently a consistent way for information held by social care providers to be shared, and from April 2025, we will begin work to establish a national shared platform that enables this essential information sharing and ensures health and care staff can access real-time social care, GP, and hospital data, providing access to essential medical information in a timely way. This could include when someone last took their medication, or whether there’s been a change to their care regimen. By linking up systems, National Health Service and care staff will have access to the latest information, speeding up and improving care both in health and in care settings.

How much grade (a) one and (b) two farm land has been replaced by ground mounted solar in England in the last five years.

Data on the land occupied by solar projects is contained in the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD). The Government does not currently categorise the data based on land type. However, work is underway to expand the REPD to include this feature.

If he will make it her policy to introduce Government-backed loans for (a) domestic, (b) community and (c) commercial rooftop solar panels.

As part of the Warm Homes Plan, the Government is considering the role that finance may play in supporting homeowners with the upfront costs of energy efficiency improvements, solar panels, and installing low carbon heating. Permitted development rights afford flexibilities and planning freedoms to new solar installations, whether residential, community or commercial. The Government also provides fiscal incentives to encourage businesses to install rooftop solar, through tax relief and business rate exemptions.

Whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to incentivise the owners of large (a) warehouse rooftops and (b) car parks to install solar panels.

The deployment of solar panels on commercial rooftops is central to our Clean Energy mission. Permitted development rights allow most rooftop projects to be installed without requiring an application for planning permission. This includes non-domestic rooftop projects of any size, and solar canopies in off-street, non-domestic car parks. New building standards will be introduced to ensure that all newly built commercial buildings are fit for a net zero future. We expect these standards to encourage the installation of solar panels on commercial roofs. Further measures to incentivise installations on commercial rooftops remain under active consideration, including a call for evidence about increasing solar generation in car parks.

What steps she is taking to increase recruitment of firefighters in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) other rural areas.

While the Government is committed to ensuring fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work, is it individual fire and rescue authorities that are responsible for recruitment and decisions around deployment of resources.Overall, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.87 billion in 2024/25. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £53.3m in 2025/26; this is an increase of 3 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25.