Written questions by McDonnell.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of funding that her Department provides to the British Library, in the context of its industrial dispute with the Public and Commercial Services Union.

As an arms-length body of the department, the British Library’s funding is considered in the round as part of Spending Review arrangements and departmental business planning.The British Library is operationally independent of government and the day to day management of the Library - including staff pay - is a matter for organisation to determine. DCMS is aware negotiations are taking place on this dispute and hopes for a speedy response.

Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s planned timeline is for responding to the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board's letter, dated 13 October 2025, requesting guidance on investments accused of being complicit in violations of international law.

The Department has received the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board's letter and will treat it in line with the Government’s usual approach to correspondence.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to local authorities administering Local Government Pension Scheme funds to assist them in ensuring their investments are compliant with the UK’s duty not to aid or assist serious breaches of international law.

Local Government Pension Scheme administering authorities set the investment strategies for their funds, and must include how social, environmental and corporate governance and responsible investment considerations are taken into account. Authorities must have regard to their fiduciary duty to scheme members and employers when setting their investment strategy and must follow relevant legislation and guidance. Administering authorities are legally required to comply with UK sanctions, including restrictions on dealings with designated individuals, entities, and countries.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to ensure that planned reforms to the Local Government Pension Scheme are compliant with not aiding or assisting serious breaches of international law.

Local Government Pension Scheme administering authorities set the investment strategies for their funds, and must include how social, environmental and corporate governance and responsible investment considerations are taken into account. Authorities must have regard to their fiduciary duty to scheme members and employers when setting their investment strategy and must follow relevant legislation and guidance. Administering authorities are legally required to comply with UK sanctions, including restrictions on dealings with designated individuals, entities, and countries.

Communities and Local Government, whether he is taking steps to ensure that Local Government Pension Scheme investments are compliant with the UK’s duty (a) not to aid and (b) assist serious breaches of international law.

Local Government Pension Scheme administering authorities set the investment strategies for their funds, and must include how social, environmental and corporate governance and responsible investment considerations are taken into account. Authorities must have regard to their fiduciary duty to scheme members and employers when setting their investment strategy and must follow relevant legislation and guidance. Administering authorities are legally required to comply with UK sanctions, including restrictions on dealings with designated individuals, entities, and countries.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department provides guidance to local authorities administering Local Government Pension Scheme on ensuring their investments are compliant with the UK’s duty (a) not to aid and (b) assist serious breaches of international law.

Local Government Pension Scheme administering authorities set the investment strategies for their funds, and must include how social, environmental and corporate governance and responsible investment considerations are taken into account. Authorities must have regard to their fiduciary duty to scheme members and employers when setting their investment strategy and must follow relevant legislation and guidance. Administering authorities are legally required to comply with UK sanctions, including restrictions on dealings with designated individuals, entities, and countries.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 83227 on Visas: Skilled Workers, what assessment she has made of the number of workers working under the skilled worker visa route who will find themselves ineligible to (a) extend their employment, (b) change employment and (c) apply for settled status in (i) 2026, (ii) 2027 and (iii) 2028, in the context of increases in income thresholds which came into effect on 22 July 2025.

Updates to the salary requirements on the route reflect the latest available UK pay data and do not contain any policy changes. We expect sponsored workers’ pay to progress similarly to other UK workers. Transitional arrangements exempt workers who are already in the Skilled Worker route from the increase to the skills threshold, however they will not be in place indefinitely and will be reviewed in due course. It is our intention to publish an Impact Assessment at the earliest opportunity. A technical annex (www.gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-white-paper/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-technical-annex) was published alongside the Immigration White Paper setting out the impact of some of the key policy changes.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 83230 on Skilled Workers: Visas, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the changes to income thresholds in the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules, HC 997, published on 1 July 2025, on the number of people employed on Skilled Worker Visas in the transport sector who no longer have leave to remain.

The Department for Transport has not produced a formal estimate of the number of individuals across the transport sector who may no longer have leave to remain as a result of the changes introduced in the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules (HC 997) on 1 July 2025.The changes to income thresholds only affect those in the Skilled Worker route when they next make an application to change employment, extend their stay, or settle. Until this happens, those who have been in the route since before 4 April 2024 continue to be subject to lower overall salary requirements.The Department is working with the transport sector and the Migration Advisory Committee to consider if any transport jobs should be included on the temporary shortage list.

With reference disabled people migrating to Universal Credit from Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), for what reason income that was disregarded for the purposes of ESA is considered to be income for the purposes of Universal Credit.

Universal Credit was not designed to replicate previous legacy benefits. Therefore, customers migrating to Universal Credit may be subject to different rules, including different treatment of income and how it is disregarded in assessing their benefit entitlement. Those moving from Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA(IR)) through the managed migration process will be assessed for Transitional Protection. Where benefit entitlement on claiming Universal Credit is lower than previous entitlement to ESA(IR), a Transitional Protection element will be applied. This element is determined prior to the application of any deductions. This ensures customers do not experience a reduction in their overall entitlement at the point of migration. However, the calculation does not replicate all legacy benefit rules, so previous disregards such as the permitted earnings disregard in ESA(IR), will not be applied on claiming Universal Credit. Instead, customers who have limited capability for work qualify for a work allowance – the amount they can earn before the UC award starts to be reduced. The current monthly work allowances are: £411 per month for those receiving support for housing costs; and£684 per month for those not receiving support for housing costs. Beyond the work allowance, we apply a single taper rate of 55% to net earnings. This means that for every £1 earned, customers keep 45p, helping them see a clear financial benefit from working.

Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with HM Treasury on increasing the grant-in-aid funding available to (a) cultural institutions, (b) museums and (c) galleries.

The Secretary of State has had constructive conversations with HM Treasury to secure grant-in-aid funding for our institutions. These successful conversations were borne out in February 2025, when we announced a £270m Arts Everywhere Investment package that included a 5% increase to the budgets of all national museums and galleries to support their financial resilience. And as per our most recent Spending Review settlement announced in June 2025, there is significant planned funding for the UK’s world-leading culture and heritage sector. We will be investing in celebrated institutions including national museums and galleries, as well as organisations like Arts Council England, which support local projects across the country and ensure that the best of British culture is accessible to all.

What the average time taken was for the Insolvency Service to investigate civil offences in the latest period for which data is available.

The average time taken by The Insolvency Service to investigate corporate civil misconduct, in the 6-months to 30 September 2025, was 188 days from allocation to an investigator to the investigation being completed.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of taking legislative steps to include IVF in the (a) Employment Rights Act 2010 and (b) Employment Rights Act 1996.

The government is committed to improving the wellbeing and work-life balance of all workers, including those navigating the difficult journey of fertility treatment. We are introducing measures through the employment rights bill to make flexible working available to more people, more easily. This change could help employees and employers agree arrangements that support attendance at medical appointments, including those for IVF.

What estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the changes to income thresholds in the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules, HC 997, published on 1 July 2025, on the number of people employed on Skilled Worker Visas who no longer have leave to remain.

On 12 May, we published our Immigration White Paper, outlining our future approach to legal migration routes. We made Immigration Rules changes bringing the first of these reforms into effect. The 22 July changes included raising the skills threshold to RQF 6 and a routine uplift of salary going rates.The salary uplift is based on changes in UK workers’ earnings, as recorded in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings conducted by the Office of National Statistics. This ensures that migrant workers are not used to undercut UK workers and are not exploited by being underpaid, which would create downward pressure on wages.Recent salary changes only affect those already in the Skilled Worker route when they next make an application to change employment, extend their stay, or settle. Sponsors are not required to increase salary in line with the new salary requirements for the duration of a worker’s existing permission. The changes only apply when they next make an application to change employment or extend their stay. This is in line with normal practice.Those who have been in the route since before 4 April 2024 continue to be subject to lower overall salary requirements.On 2 July we asked the Migration Advisory Committee to advise on future salary requirements for Skilled Worker visas and the Temporary Shortage List.

What estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the changes to income thresholds in the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules, HC 997, published on 1 July 2025, on the number of people employed on Skilled Worker Visas who no longer have leave to remain.

On 12 May, we published our Immigration White Paper, outlining our future approach to legal migration routes. We made Immigration Rules changes bringing the first of these reforms into effect. The 22 July changes included raising the skills threshold to RQF 6 and a routine uplift of salary going rates.The salary uplift is based on changes in UK workers’ earnings, as recorded in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings conducted by the Office of National Statistics. This ensures that migrant workers are not used to undercut UK workers and are not exploited by being underpaid, which would create downward pressure on wages.Recent salary changes only affect those already in the Skilled Worker route when they next make an application to change employment, extend their stay, or settle. Sponsors are not required to increase salary in line with the new salary requirements for the duration of a worker’s existing permission. The changes only apply when they next make an application to change employment or extend their stay. This is in line with normal practice.Those who have been in the route since before 4 April 2024 continue to be subject to lower overall salary requirements.On 2 July we asked the Migration Advisory Committee to advise on future salary requirements for Skilled Worker visas and the Temporary Shortage List.

What estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the changes to income thresholds in the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules, HC 997, published on 1 July 2025, on the number of people employed on Skilled Worker Visas who no longer have leave to remain.

The Department currently sponsors 26 staff on skilled worker visas.  As and when each sponsorship ends, we consider individuals on a case-by-case basis under the UK’s sponsorship rules.

What estimate his Department has made of the potential impact of the changes to income thresholds in the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules, HC 997, published on 1 July 2025, on the number of people employed on Skilled Worker Visas who no longer have leave to remain.

On 12 May, The Home Office published our Immigration White Paper, outlining our future approach to legal migration routes. The Home Office made Immigration Rules changes bringing the first of these reforms into effect. The 22 July changes included raising the skills threshold to RQF 6 and a routine uplift of salary going rates. The salary uplift is based on changes in UK workers’ earnings, as recorded in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings conducted by the Office of National Statistics. This ensures that migrant workers are not used to undercut UK workers and are not exploited by being underpaid, which would create downward pressure on wages. Recent salary changes only affect those already in the Skilled Worker route when they next make an application to change employment, extend their stay, or settle. Sponsors are not required to increase salary in line with the new salary requirements for the duration of a worker’s existing permission. The changes only apply when they next make an application to change employment or extend their stay. This is in line with normal practice. Those who have been in the route since before 4 April 2024 continue to be subject to lower overall salary requirements. On 2 July, The Home Office asked the Migration Advisory Committee to advise on future salary requirements for Skilled Worker visas and the Temporary Shortage List.

What estimate his Department has made of the potential impact of the changes to income thresholds in the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules, HC 997, published on 1 July 2025, on the number of people employed on Skilled Worker Visas who no longer have leave to remain.

The Immigration Rules, published on 1 July 2025, set out the wider salary changes across the Skilled Worker route. This increased salary requirement does not apply to the Health and Care Worker visa.From 9 April 2025, the minimum salary for the Health and Care Worker visa, which is part of the Skilled Worker route, increased to £25,000 per year. For healthcare roles that are eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa, the salary threshold is linked to national pay scales for the specific job, or the minimum of £25,000, whichever is higher.Entry level National Health Service Agenda for Change band 3 roles do not meet the new minimum salary threshold for a Health and Care Worker visa. However, Agenda for Change NHS pay band 3 staff currently on the Health and Care Worker visa are not required to meet the new minimum salary threshold until the point at which they need to renew their visa. At this point, we expect the majority of staff to have accrued two or more years’ experience and therefore be at the top of pay band 3, which is above the new minimum salary threshold.The Department continues to monitor trends in the size of the care workforce using a range of intelligence, including monthly tracking based on data collections from independent providers.

With reference to her policy paper entitled Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules: HC 1333, published on 14 October 2025, whether she has made an estimate of the number of workers currently employed on a Skilled Worker visa who will no longer have leave to remain.

The changes to the Immigration Rules in respect of English language requirements set out in HC1333 come into force on 8 January 2026 and do not affect the position of those given leave to remain as a Skilled Worker before that date. The changes to the Rules specify that a Skilled Worder previously given leave to remain on the basis of having met the previous requirement at B1 level will be able to extend their stay without needing to meet the new requirement.

Innovation and Technology, whether the criteria relating to (a) environmental sustainability, (b) energy delivery and (c) local economic benefit for assessing proposals to host AI Growth Zones have been formally agreed; and if he will publish these criteria to ensure transparency in the selection process.

The AI Opportunities Action Plan set out how the UK can lay the foundations for AI growth, including the creation of AI Growth Zones. To be considered, sites must be capable of delivering at least 500 MW of power for AI workloads by 2030, offer a minimum of 100 acres of land for development by 2028, and set out credible plans covering planning, delivery, and local economic benefits. These criteria were published on the government website as part of the AIGZ process earlier this year, which can be found here: AI Growth Zones: open for applications - GOV.UK

What steps he is taking to ensure that data relating to new civil service starters that is shared between Departments is based on formal trade union recognition rights and not general eligibility for union membership.

Data on new Civil Service starters is not routinely shared between departments. Trade union recognition rights within the Civil Service should be agreed by both the department and its recognised trade unions in the form of a framework agreement. This is delegated to departments to negotiate with their recognised trade unions.