Written questions by Anderson.

If she will consider the potential merits of conducting a review of the legal aid policy.

The previous Government commissioned the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR), chaired by Lord Bellamy KC in 2021, to provide analysis of the criminal legal aid system and explore the ways in which the Government could support its long-term sustainability. This Government continues to keep the Review’s findings under consideration as we look at options for reform in the criminal legal aid sector. On 19 December 2024, we announced that criminal legal aid solicitors will receive up to £92 million more a year, subject to consultation, to help address the ongoing challenges in the criminal justice system. The consultation for this has now closed. Additionally, in November 2024, we announced our response to the Crime Lower consultation, confirming an uplift to the lowest police station fees, introducing a new Youth Court fee scheme, and paying for travel in certain circumstances. Together, these changes amounted to a £24 million investment for criminal legal aid providers.

Whether any convicted paedophiles have been released from prison through the early release scheme; and if she will make it her policy not to release convicted paedophiles through the early release scheme.

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe. On 10 September 2024, the Government therefore took the unavoidable step to move the release point for certain standard determinate sentences from 50% to 40% (‘SDS40’).All sex offences including those committed against a child are automatically excluded from SDS40.

What the cost to the public purse was for legal aid for cases in relation to immigration offences in each of the last five years.

The requested information relating to legal aid expenditure in respect of specific criminal offences could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

With reference to recommendation 8 of part 1 report of the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, published on 9 July 2025, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of adopting the recommendation on trends in the level of (a) theft and (b) drug dealing.

The Government will carefully consider Sir Brian’s recommendations in detail before setting out a full response to the report in the autumn.

What the cost to the public purse was of legal aid in each of the last five years.

Legal aid expenditure since 2010 is published as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s official statistics. The most recent publication can be viewed here [see table 1.0] and includes expenditure up to 31 March 2025.Information about legal aid expenditure in respect of foreign nationals is not centrally recorded.

How much was given in legal aid to foreign nationals in each of the last five years.

Legal aid expenditure since 2010 is published as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s official statistics. The most recent publication can be viewed here [see table 1.0] and includes expenditure up to 31 March 2025.Information about legal aid expenditure in respect of foreign nationals is not centrally recorded.

How much was given in legal aid to foreign nationals accused of (a) murder, (b) rape and (c) terrorism offences in each of the last five years.

The requested information relating to legal aid expenditure in respect of specific criminal offences could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

How many Iranian irregular migrants are currently being housed in hotel accommodation.

The Home Office publishes data on a quarterly basis on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation. The data, which can be broken down by nationality, UK region and accommodation type, is located within Asy_D09 tab of the Immigration statistics data tables - Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

What information her Department holds on where Iranian migrants are being housed in asylum hotels.

The Home Office publishes data on a quarterly basis on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation. The data, which can be broken down by nationality, UK region and accommodation type, is located within Asy_D09 tab of the Immigration statistics data tables - Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans he has to meet with his counterparts in (a) the EU and (b) Spain to discuss the status of Gibraltar.

We have no plans to meet with the EU, Spain, or any other party to discuss the status of Gibraltar. This Government is fully committed to the double lock: we will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another State against their freely and democratically expressed wishes. And we will never enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content. The Foreign Secretary and I continue, side by side with the Government of Gibraltar, to work with the EU and Spain to finalise a Treaty governing Gibraltar's relationship with the EU. Political agreement, including on a clause which safeguards Gibraltar's sovereignty, was reached on 11 June and all sides are working together to finalise the Treaty as soon as possible.

What data his department holds on how much health tourism has cost the NHS in each of the last 5 years.

The Department does not currently hold data on the overall cost to the National Health Service of treating complications arising from procedures carried out overseas. However, we are actively exploring ways to better understand the scale and impact of these costs on NHS services.

How much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

Spend: YearTotal2023£ 707,777.122024£ 882,118.002025£ 546,323.38 Languages: AlbanianHebrewCroatianAmharicTamilSomaliArabicUrduItalianBahasa IndonesiaNepaliCatalanBengaliFarsi (Persian)SwedishBSL (British Sign Language)SomaliPortuguese (Brazilian)BulgarianRomanianLithuanianCroatianJapaneseSerbianCzechNorwegianUkrainianDanishUkrainianNorwegianDariWelshEstonianDutchBulgarianFrenchEstonianTraditional ChineseThaiFarsi (Persian)BengaliFarsi (Persian)FinnishLatvian (Lettish)HungarianFrenchFrenchRomanianGermanGermanGermanGreekSwedishTurkishGujaratiPashtuBahasa IndonesiaHebrewDariDariHindiVietnameseVietnameseHungarianHungarianRussianIcelandicCatalanHebrewIndian PunjabiIcelandicGujaratiItalianItalianUrduJapaneseEstonianIndian PunjabiKoreanHindiWelshKurdish / Kurdish SoraniSinhaleseKoreanKurdish KurmanjiSlovenianGeorgianLatvian (Lettish)TurkishDanishLithuanianPortuguesePortugueseMacedonianBosnianOromo ( Afan)Malay (Malaysian)Kurdish / Kurdish SoraniAlbanianMalteseAmharicKazakhNorwegianDutchCzechOromo ( Afan)Bahasa IndonesiaKinyarwandaPakistani PunjabiIndian PunjabiPakistani PunjabiPashtuGujaratiMalay (Malaysian)PolishPolishPolishPortugueseLithuanianBulgarianPortuguese (Brazilian)Braille (Unified English)MacedonianRomanianDanishGreekRussianPortuguese (Brazilian)Traditional ChineseSerbianCastilianNepaliSimplified ChineseSimplified ChineseBosnianSinhaleseCroatianKurdish / Kurdish SoraniSlovakSlovakSlovakSomaliPakistani PunjabiPashtuSpanishSpanishSpanishSwedishGreekLatvian (Lettish)TamilBSL (British Sign Language)Simplified ChineseThaiRussianJapaneseTigrinyaEnglish (Easy Read)SlovenianTraditional ChineseThaiBengaliTurkishFinnishFinnishUkrainianArabicArabicUrduCzechDutchVietnameseSerbianSinhaleseWelshAlbanianBSL (British Sign Language) FlemishTagalog (Filipino) GalicianTamil KoreanTanzanian Swahili MacedonianUzbek Malay (Malaysian) Sindhi Spanish (LatAm) Tagalog (Filipino) Tanzanian Swahili Tigrinya

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) operates across 282 posts worldwide and has a wide range of translation and interpretation requirements across multiple foreign languages. While some translation services are specifically contracted, much of this work is likely to be part of larger programmes or ad hoc, making it very difficult to provide specific data in response to this question.The FCDO does however procure essential translation services from FCDO Services. In the financial year 2024-25, the FCDO spend with FCDO Services on translations from English into languages other than Welsh was £133,000 (in 2023-24, it was £118,000). These translation services were used for approximately 30 different languages, predominantly for translations into Arabic, French, Spanish and the Afghan languages - Dari and Pashto.In addition, the FCDO uses its own staff overseas or local suppliers to provide translation services when required. Machine translation, such as Google, and Artificial Intelligence are now also used.

How much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

The Department for Business and Trade does not routinely record the costs for translation of documents into other languages separately from other translation and interpretation costs. We can confirm the Department for Business and Trade spent £14,085.54 on translating documents into other languages from April 2023 - July 2025. Other expenses may be excluded from this as they are not recorded at this level of detail.As the department for economic growth, we support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. DBT employs teams based in priority markets around the world and those teams often use local language skills to help UK businesses access opportunities to export their goods and services globally. Likewise, they will use local language skills to promote the UK to a global audience, and in particular to attract high value investment to the UK.Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

Innovation and Technology, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have awarded two contracts for the total value of £97,848.94 since 2023 on translating documents into languages other than English and other native UK languages.These languages were: French, Korean, Arabic and MandarinThese translation services related to research on AI and Large Language Models and the material was not published.

Communities and Local Government, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

MHCLG has spent £76,995 on translating documents since 2023. The languages that documents were translated into are: Amharic, Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Italian, Pashto, Portuguese, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, Urdu and Vietnamese. Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

How much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

HMT cannot identify any costs relating to translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023.

Media and Sport, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

DCMS does not hold information to the level of detail requested within its finance system or procurement system.Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

How much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

How much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 61621.