Written questions by Cocking.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether swift bricks count towards biodiversity net gain.

No, expenditure on swift bricks cannot be counted towards biodiversity net gain (BNG) units which must be calculated using the main Statutory Biodiversity Net Gain metric or the small sites version of it.

Communities and Local Government, if she will hold discussions with the Chair of the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition on the potential merits of publishing all responses to the call for evidence.

As noted in the Terms of Reference, the advice provided to government by the independent Working Group will be private. Once the Government has had time to review the advice, it will consider its next steps.

Communities and Local Government, how many staff assigned to work for the Deputy Prime Minister are based in (a) 70 Whitehall and (b) 26 Whitehall.

The Deputy Prime Minister works from multiple locations, including an office in 70 Whitehall. The office in 70 Whitehall can accommodate up to 30 staff. No staff assigned to the Deputy Prime Minister are based in 26 Whitehall.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to ensure that Ministers who make decisions on (a) called-in planning applications, (b) recovered planning appeals and (c) Special Development Orders will be required to undertake the same training on planning as councillors.

On 28 May 2025, my Department published a technical consultation on proposals for reform of planning committees. It can be found on gov.uk here. We are currently reviewing the feedback received and will set out further details, including in relation to mandatory member training, in due course.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 63255 on Property Development: Repairs and Maintenance, whether the 2026-36 Affordable Homes Programme will allow a proportion of programme delivery to come from (a) acquisitions of existing (i) new build and (ii) second hand homes and (b) funding replacement homes on regeneration schemes.

The government’s new Social and Affordable Homes Programme will not have numerical targets for particular types of homes other than Social Rent nor will it have ringfenced budgets for particular regions or types of home beyond the portion allocated to the Greater London Authority.While the new programme will focus on the supply of new homes, it will also continue to support some regeneration schemes that provide a net increase in homes on a site. The programme will also allow for a limited number of acquisitions of existing housing stock,  to support wider delivery while more rapidly increasing the supply of social and affordable homes.We will allow bids for individual projects on an ongoing basis, and for Strategic Partnerships over the life of the programme, including bids for funds over the entire 10 years of starts with homes completing after 2036 also eligible. A competitive bidding round for Strategic Partnerships will launch this winter, followed by later opportunities.It is our intention to publish a full prospectus for the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme in autumn 2025 and open it for bids in the winter.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 62977 on Housing Construction, what financial guarantees for housing will be provided by her Department for 2025-26.

As of 30 June 2025, MHCLG has provided £270 million of financial guarantees for housing in the 2025-26 financial year.My Department’s guarantees schemes are demand-led and it is therefore not possible to estimate the total guarantees the Department will provide in the 2025-26 financial year.

If she will publish revised guidance for schools on promoting British values.

Schools already embed British values through their statutory duty to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development. This is supported by statutory curriculum content, notably in citizenship and relationships education. The department has no current plans to publish revised guidance on promoting British values.Schools have a good understanding of these values and integrate them well. However, through the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, we will ensure young people are provided with a balanced curriculum that develops the knowledge and skills they need to thrive as citizens, both in work and throughout life.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the data breach relating to the Afghan relocations and assistance policy on military spending.

There has been no direct impact on military spending. Additional ringfenced funding was identified, initially from the Reserve and then funded as part of the Spending Review plans we set out in June.

Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of political impartiality in the BBC’s news and current affairs output.

Under its Royal Charter, the BBC has a duty to deliver impartial and accurate news coverage and content, and the Government expects the BBC to uphold these standards. However, the government has not made an assessment of BBC impartiality as it is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of the BBC, to hold the BBC to account on this duty.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of net zero policies on (a) energy security and (b) industrial competitiveness.

The transition to net zero will support both energy security and industrial competitiveness. Switching to homegrown clean energy, including renewables and other clean technologies, offers security that fossil fuels simply cannot provide. And our Clean Power 2030 target is the key to long-term sustainable price reductions. Clean, homegrown energy is the best way to protect billpayers and boost Britain's energy independence. The Government recognises the challenges in moving away from fossil fuels but is confident security of supply can be maintained throughout this transition. The recently published Clean Power 2030 Action Plan sets out our plans to secure critical supply chains in clean energy and foundational industries, such as steel and concrete. Alongside measures to support the growth of these sectors, we are bringing energy costs for UK industries closer in line with other major economies, including through the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme. This will slash industrial electricity prices by around 20-25% from 2027, which could benefit over 7,000 manufacturing businesses, including carmakers and defence manufacturers – which employ over 300,000 skilled workers. The Government will publish its updated carbon budget plan by October. This will set out the policy package to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037 for all sectors of the economy, and will include consideration of energy security and industrial competitiveness.

How much she spent on providing (a) translation and (b) interpretation services for benefit claimants in the last year.

The spend in the period of January 2024 – December 2024: a) Translation: £882,118 b) Interpreting: £6,774,336

How much was spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation services in the (i) courts and (ii) prison system in the last financial year.

The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users for whom English is not their first language and those who require visual and tactile services, under the provision of the Equality Act. 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.In FY 2024/25, the spend in the courts was £33,073,280.44 on interpretation (spoken) and £136,879.03 on translation (written).In FY 2024/25, the contracted spend in the prisons was £105,849.83 on interpretation (spoken) and £1,707,440.07 on translation (written).

Communities and Local Government, what proportion of (a) emergency and (b) long-term accommodation has been allocated to (i) asylum seekers and (ii) foreign nationals in the last 12 months.

The Home Office publishes data on individuals placed in accommodation in the gov.uk ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum seekers in receipt of support, individuals under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and those resettled via the Afghan Resettlement Programme, is published in table Reg_02 of the gov.uk ‘Regional and local authority data’, including breakdowns by accommodation type.The department does not hold data on how many foreign nationals are accommodated in emergency or long-term accommodation.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential (a) economic and (b) social impact of uncontrolled migration on communities.

The Home Office’s Immigration White paper, published on 12 May, sets out proposed reforms in a wide range of areas to restore control to the immigration system, after the chaos inherited from the previous government, when the level of net migration rose to more than 900,000 per year, and when 400 asylum hotels were in use across the country, at a cost of almost £9 million per day.

How many foreign national offenders are living in the UK and have received deportation orders.

The Home Office routinely publishes the number of FNOs subject to deportation proceedings and living in the community within its Immigration Enforcement quarterly transparency release. The latest release can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK, which shows up to the end of Q1 2025.The Home Office works tirelessly to clear legal barriers, secure documentation or overcome other impediments to a return. Between 5 July 2024 and 18 May 2025, there were 4,436 enforced and voluntary returns of FNOs. This is an increase of 14% compared to the 3,879 FNO returns in the same period 12 months prior.The Home Office also continues to work closely with HMPPS (HM Prisons and Probation Service) to focus on driving up the returns of FNOs direct from prison, delivering 2,274 early removal scheme (ERS) returns, which is an 11% increase compared with the 2,050 in the same period 12 months prior.

Whether she plans to review (a) citizenship and (b) settlement criteria to place greater emphasis on (i) cultural integration and (ii) long-term contribution to the UK.

We set out our plans to reform the settlement and citizenship rules in the white paper “Restoring Control over the Immigration System”. We will be consulting on the settlement and citizenship schemes later this year, and further details will be provided at that time.

Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of local authority housing allocations were made to households where the primary applicant was not a UK national in the last 12 months.

People are generally eligible for social housing if they have leave to remain in the UK and have recourse to public funds. The Home Office decides whether persons from abroad have leave to remain in the UK and whether they have recourse to public funds.Only individuals that are eligible can join housing registers and be given a social housing tenancy. For those who are eligible, housing needs will be considered on an equal basis in accordance with the relevant local authority’s housing allocation scheme.According to the relevant 2021 Census extract, there were 796,000 households living in the social rented sector in England in March 2021 that were headed by someone who was not born in the UK. It is important to note that such households may contain UK nationals as well as non-UK national lead tenants.My Department’s annual social housing lettings statistical series details the number of the new social housing lettings by the nationality of the lead tenant. It can be found on gov.uk here.As per our pre-announced schedule, and in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, data for 2024/25 is currently being processed and quality assured and will be published in Winter 2025. Data for 2025/26 is currently being collected and will be published in Winter 2026.

How many individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK are in receipt of (a) accommodation and (b) subsistence.

The latest data on the number of asylum seekers in receipt of asylum support can be found at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

Whether she plans to respond to the consultation on Lane rental scheme approval.

The Department for Transport consulted with stakeholders on lane rental scheme approval. This consultation concluded in January 2025. We plan to publish the response to this consultation in due course.

When he plans to answer Question 59411, tabled on 12 June 2025.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 July 2025 to Question 59411.