Written questions by Anderson.

Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with Ofcom on the protection of lawful free speech online.

The Online Safety Act ensures accountability for tech companies for the safety of their users while upholding freedom of expression online. Ofcom and social media platforms have freedom of expression duties for which they can be held accountable. The Act does not prevent adults from seeking out legal content, nor does it decide what legal content platforms should or should not allow for adults.The government works closely with Ofcom to ensure the framework is implemented effectively and proportionately, including in relation to freedom of expression. The government regularly engages with a wide range of organisations, including social media platforms, to support implementation.

What steps his Department is taking to help reduce waiting times for radiotherapy treatment.

Radiotherapy is vital in cancer care, and it remains a key priority for the Government to reduce radiotherapy waiting times and provide the highest quality of treatment available. This is why the Government has invested £70 million of central funding on 28 new radiotherapy machines across the country to replace older machines. These new machines are more efficient meaning that more patients can be seen more quickly. This will help to reduce waiting times for cancer patients.

If he will have discussions with retailers on the potential impact of trends in the level of business costs on (a) staffing levels and (b) lone working practices.

Staffing levels and business lone working policies are commercial matters for individual businesses to decide. An employer must identify the risks to lone workers and put control measures in place to protect them. It is for the employer to determine the best way to manage those risks taking account of the circumstances of their business and work activity. HSE provide guidance on lone working: Lone working: Protect those working alone - HSE.The government is protecting the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, more than half of employers see no change or gain overall from this package and employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.

If her Department will issue guidance to retailers on mitigating risks for lone workers.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has the policy lead for workplace health and safety in Great Britain. However, the primary responsibility for managing risk to health and safety lies with employers. An employer is the person or organisation that is legally responsible, under health and safety law, for managing and controlling risks created by their work activities. It is for the employer to determine the best way to manage those risks taking account of the circumstances of their business and work activity and to take appropriate action if employees report any health and safety concerns. Local authorities are responsible for the regulation of health and safety in most retail businesses. They can use criteria such as injury rates, trends, numbers and demographics of people at risk and implementation of effective control measures to inform their interventions, and ensure compliance with regulations. HSE does not collect this data centrally. There may be greater risks for lone workers without direct supervision or someone to help them if things go wrong, and an employer must identify the risks to lone workers and put control measures in place to protect them. HSE provide guidance on lone working: Lone working: Protect those working alone - HSE which includes advice on violence in the workplace. This guidance was updated in 2022 and remains fit for purpose. HSE has no plans to commission a review or discuss with retailers the safety of lone workers in stores.

What information her Department holds on the number of reported incidents of (a) assault and (b) abuse against lone retail workers in each of the last three years.

The Home Office publishes data on the number of incidents of violent crime and public order offences (including assaults and verbal abuse) recorded by the police in England and Wales. The latest data can be found here:Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UKIt is not currently possible to identify which of these incidents were committed against retail workers during the course of their work, as these incidents fall under categories of crime, such as assault.In the Crime and Policing Bill, we are bringing forward a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.The offence will be allocated a specific Home Office Crime Recording Rule, which will help provide a more complete picture of the problem, in turn informing future policy decisions and enabling the police to respond accordingly.The Home Office has also published estimates from the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) on the proportion of retail premises which experienced at least one incident of assault or threat. This data can be found here, and includes those premises which did not report the incident to the police: Crime against businesses statistics - GOV.UK

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to allow freeholding residents to (a) challenge and (b) replace estate management companies.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 61397 on 24 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 63017 on Housing Estates: Unadopted Roads, whether the public will be able to contribute to the consultation into new consumer protection provisions for residential freeholders.

As per the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), we will consult this year on implementing the LFRA consumer protection measures, and bring these into force as quickly as possible thereafter.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to require estate management companies to publish detailed financial records.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 61397 on 24 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to enable freeholding residents to seek binding changes to deeds when management falls below reasonable standards.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 61397 on 24 June 2025.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 63017 on Housing Estates: Unadopted Roads, when her Department plans to launch a consultation on new consumer protection provisions for residential freeholders.

As per the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244), we will consult this year on implementing the LFRA consumer protection measures, and bring these into force as quickly as possible thereafter.

For what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.

The tools available in HM Treasury include two secure Large Language Models (LLMs) which can be interacted with as you would a chatbot. There are a wide range of possible uses for these tools, including drafting, summarising and rewording text. The other available tool is a RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) tool, which retrieves information from a set of documents given to it. Clear guidance is given to staff that these tools are designed to assist with work, not to replace colleagues in decision making processes. The goal of these tools is to make work and processes more efficient. Further information about algorithmic tools that might be used to aid decisions can be found on the Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standards page on gov.uk.

For what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is included in the Government’s plan to support economic growth, change public service delivery, and influence living standards for people across the country. In the last year the Department for Work and Pensions have utilised AI to support them in delivering better outcomes for customers. This includes the use of AI to increase colleague productivity, improve back-office operations and processes, and to tackle fraud and error.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with stakeholders on ending farrowing crate usage for pigs.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Department has met with key stakeholders, as part of the development of our overarching approach to animal welfare, and a broad range of animal welfare issues have been discussed.

For what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.

As part of its delivery of the Transport AI Action Plan, the Department has established an internal AI programme to identify opportunities and roll out appropriate AI tools and processes to ensure the Department is delivering best value for the public. As well as ensuring access to Microsoft’s Co-Pilot tools to support everyday activities, targeted pilots are being run using AI for correspondence, consultation analysis, information retrieval and fraud detection, with plans for continuing expansion.

For what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.

Artificial Intelligence technologies offer the potential to transform all aspects of Defence - from the front lines to the back office - helping enhance operational effectiveness, improve productivity and maintain the UKs strategic advantage. Over 400 AI-related projects and programmes are currently underway, including predictive maintenance tools to help optimise equipment availability and reduce downtime, decision-support tools to enhance intelligence analysis and situational awareness, and projects to improve workforce efficiency by automating routine tasks and streamlining administrative processes.

What components of wind turbines are (a) supplied and (b) manufactured in the UK.

The Offshore Wind Regional Growth Prospectuses set out a range of current manufacturing and services capabilities in the UK, as well as growth opportunities, including in blade, foundation and cable manufacture; secondary steel components; cable installation; operations and maintenance activity; and environmental services. New facilities in development include cable manufacturing in Nigg and Blyth, and monopile construction in Teesside. Data collected via the Onshore Wind Taskforce indicates that UK content in domestic onshore windfarms can be between 50 and 70 percent, with high shares of jobs and investment in development, operations and maintenance, civil engineering and electrical works.

For what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has made use of artificial intelligence (AI) over the past year for a range of purposes including:Support to general corporate and administrative activities. For example, creating meeting notes, drafting and summarising documents.Information retrieval and presentation, including extracting data from multiple sources to produce straightforward guidance for common activities and develop tailored insights for policy planning and development.Data analysis and decision support, for example, researching and analysing economic trends in green industries and markets. AI is used in accordance with all relevant departmental and government guidelines, to ensure responsible and ethical use and data protection.

What recent discussions he has had with (a) NICE and (b) NHS England on the (i) availability of and (ii) access to new treatments for patients with secondary breast cancer.

Ministers and Department officials have regular discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England on a range of issues including access to new treatments.NICE makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether all new licensed medicines, including medicines for secondary breast cancer, should be routinely funded by the NHS. NHS England funds all NICE-recommended treatments for breast cancer with the funding available from the point of a positive draft NICE decision. Since 2018, NICE has recommended all but one of the treatments for breast cancer that it has assessed, including treatments for advanced breast cancer, such as Truqap and Korserdu, which are now available to eligible NHS patients. NICE recommended treatments are available to NHS patients in line with NICE’s recommendations.

For what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.

Officials have used two prototype tools in the last year which are only accessible by government employees: GCS Assist and Redbox. These tools harness the latest transformative artificial intelligence technology. Officials can “chat” securely with a Large Language Model and summarise or ask questions of documents.

For what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.

The Northern Ireland Office has used artificial intelligence in recent months to help us all work more efficiently by assisting with tasks like drafting emails, summarising documents and taking notes in meetings. The use of artificial intelligence aligns with our focus on using data and digital methods to deliver results and support the Prime Minister’s vision for the Civil Service.