Written questions by O'Brien.

Innovation and Technology, how many staff in (a) his Department and (b) UKRI and the Research Councils have job titles that include the words (i) equality, (ii) diversity, (iii) inclusion, (iv) gender, (v) LGBT and (vi) race.

(a) There are 4 staff within DSIT with one or more of the terms in their job title, the individual breakdowns are as follows - Equality: 0, Diversity: 0, Inclusion: 4, Race: 0, Gender: 0, LGBT: 0.(b) There are 20 staff within UKRI and its research councils with one or more of the terms in their job title, the individual breakdowns are as follows: (note: some staff have multiple terms in their job title, while some staff only have one term in their job title, so the numbers below are greater than 20) - Equality: 18, Diversity: 18, Inclusion: 19, Race: 1, Gender: 0, LGBT: 0

Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in the (a) Environment Agency and (b) Rural Payments Agency have job titles which include the words (i) equality, (ii) diversity, (iii) inclusion, (iv) gender, (v) LGBT and (vi) race.

This information is not held centrally.

What methodology her Department used to assess bid applications for the school-based nursery capital grant.

Bid applications for the school-based nursery capital grant were assessed on four key criteria: project overview and value for money, local need for childcare, approach to early years education and management of provision.

What estimate she has made of how many (a) weeks in the year and (b) hours each week recipients of the school-based nursery capital grant will be open.

The school-based nursery capital grant is capital funding awarded to schools to repurpose spare space in school buildings for the purpose of creating, or expanding, nursery provision.All schools, including those in receipt of the school-based nursery capital grant, will report termly through the school census details of all registered pupils who take up any of the funded entitlements to free education within that school. All schools are also required to report annually on the types of childcare offered, for example, before school, after school, holiday and under five. The information collected includes the opening and closing time as well as the number of weeks opened.

How much was spent in (a) cash and (b) real terms on Ofsted in each year since 1995.

This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

How many (a) general practices and (b) GP premises there were in each integrated care board area in each month since June 2024.

A table showing the number of general practices and premises in each current integrated care board (ICB) area in England, each month since June 2024, is attached.Opening and closing dates for both practices and branches were identified using data from the NHS Organisation Data Service. Locations have been mapped to current ICB boundaries. The locations sheet in the attached document includes both main and branch practices.

Representing the Church Commissioners, how many confirmations there were in each year since 1994.

Data for 2024 is still being analysed and is not yet available for publication.YearNumber of confirmations199448,024199543,667199642,768199740,881199839,926199937,469200036,387200133,367200233,425200331,797200430,425200529,833200629,380200727,926200826,972200925,028201022,349201122,242201222,540201319,883201418,028201516,723201615,917201715,253201814,475201913,35520202,16520216,388202210,876202310,715

How much funding was allocated to Ofsted in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each year since 1995.

This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

If she will make an estimate of the total cost to the public purse of universal credit payments to households where (a) one and (b) both claimants are refugees in each quarter since 2017.

The Department has no current plans to make such an estimate. However, the Department is exploring the feasibility of developing suitable official statistics related to the immigration status of non-UK / Irish Universal Credit customers.

If she will make an estimate of the total cost to the public purse of Employment and Support Allowance payments to households containing at least one claimant that passed a habitual residence test in each year since 2015.

The Department has no current plans to make such an estimate.

If she will make an estimate of the total cost to the public purse of universal credit payments to households containing at least one claimant with a non-Common Travel Area nationality that passed a habitual residence test in each year since 2015.

The Department has no current plans to make such an estimate.

If she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of (a) personal independence payments and (b) disability living allowance payments to households containing at least one claimant that passed a habitual residence test in each year since 2015.

The Department has no current plans to make such an estimate.

If she will make an estimate of the total cost to the public purse of universal credit payments to households containing at least one claimant that passed a habitual residence test in each year since 2015.

The Department has no current plans to make such an estimate.

Which higher education institutions have been made subject by the Office for Students to (a) enhanced monitoring, (b) investigation, (c) a quality assessment report and (d) other quality related interventions; and when these interventions took place.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the non-departmental public body responsible for higher education in England. It is independent of government.In 2022/23, the OfS opened investigations into the quality of business and management courses at eight providers and of computing courses at three providers. It also opened investigations into grade inflation concerns at three providers and opened a further 12 investigations into potential non-compliance with condition B3, which sets minimum thresholds for student outcomes. Quality assessments are conducted as part of the quality investigations.The OfS began publishing the subject-based investigation case reports in September 2023. Details of these, including decisions about any regulatory action, can be found here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/about/how-we-are-run/key-performance-measures/kpm-11-efficient-regulation/.The OfS also publishes information about enhanced monitoring of providers. The OfS does not tell the department which providers are subject to enhanced monitoring, but where that enhanced monitoring follows an investigation, it is included in the case reports. The published case reports show that the OfS has decided to conduct enhanced monitoring of the University of Bolton (the OfS has since approved a change of name for the University of Bolton to the University of Greater Manchester) and the University of Bedfordshire, until such a point at which it judges the risk of non-compliance with its quality conditions to have been acceptably minimised.The OfS began publishing the B3 investigation case reports in July 2023. Details of these can be found here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-providers/quality-and-standards/how-we-regulate-student-outcomes/assessment-reports/.The case reports for the investigations into grade inflation concerns have not yet been published.The OfS does not share details about open ongoing investigations with the department.

How much and what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools' expenditure was on staff in each of the last three years.

Overall core revenue funding for schools totals almost £61.6 billion for the 2024/25 financial year. At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 2024/25. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion in 2025/26. Each school has autonomy to allocate their budgets, including for their staff, to best meet the needs of their pupils to ensure they have the best opportunities in life.The latest three years of published data for schools’ spending relates to the 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years. Our estimates in the table below for the proportions of expenditure for teachers and support staff have been compiled by combining published expenditure data sets from academies, which budget by academic year, and local authority maintained schools, which budget by financial year. We have not included cash expenditure data as combining financial and academic year data on school expenditure for different types of schools is less robust for estimating expenditure amounts than it is for estimating proportions. The pattern of expenditure in both 2020/21 and 2021/22 was affected by COVID-19. Financial yearPrimary schoolsSecondary schoolsProportions of expenditure in 2020/21Teachers: 50.6% Support staff: 33.0%Teachers: 59.1% Support staff: 23.8%Proportions of expenditure in 2021/22Teachers: 49.0% Support staff: 32.8%Teachers: 57.4% Support staff: 23.8%Proportions of expenditure in 2022/23Teachers: 48.1% Support staff: 33.1%Teachers: 55.7% Support staff: 24.0% Further data on schools’ expenditure in the years following the 2022/23 financial year will be published in due course.

How many and what proportion of people starting an (a) F1 and (b) F2 placement were international medical graduates in each deanery in each year since 2015.

The attached table contains information published by the General Medical Council (GMC) on the place of qualification of all foundation programme doctors by their region. The tables cover the period since 2012 and illustrate the increase in international recruitment following decisions taken by the last government in 2020.This information is available at the following link as part of the GMC’s Data Explorer tool:https://gde.gmc-uk.org/postgraduate-training/postgraduate-trainees/country-of-primary-medical-qualification

Whether the new VAT legislation for private schools led to HMRC amending or redefining the scope of input tax recovery for business who made exempt supplies prior to registration.

VAT incurred prior to registration is not input tax. However, HMRC has discretion under the provisions of Regulation 111 of the VAT Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/2518) to allow such VAT to be treated as input tax, subject to the normal rules. There was therefore no need to amend or redefine the scope of input tax recovery following the introduction of VAT on private school fees.

What assessment she has made of the compatibility of changes to VAT legislation with the principal of fiscal neutrality.

Fiscal neutrality is a key feature of the VAT system, and helps to ensure market distortions are minimised by equalising the tax treatment of supplies which are identical or sufficiently similar from the point of view of the consumer. When changing VAT legislation the Government considers issues of fiscal neutrality as part of the policy making process.

For what reason the publication of new VAT guidance in October 2024 was following the Budget.

Since 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by private schools in the UK for a charge have been subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. Since the announcement of this policy, HMRC has taken action to support private schools through the change. On 10 October 2024, HMRC published bespoke guidance for private schools, which can be found here: Registering for VAT and Charging and Reclaiming VAT. HMRC published initial guidance ahead of the Budget to maximise the amount of time private schools had to prepare for this policy taking effect. This guidance was updated on 30 October 2024 to reflect the final policy design. Details of guidance updates are available on GOV.UK. As with all guidance, HMRC is keeping the guidance for private schools under review. HMRC continues to engage with private schools and the organisations that represent them.

Whether independent schools under the new interpretation of VAT entities following the Autumn Budget 2024 are their own class of business.

Taxpayers who are required to register for VAT can usually do so online. The ‘Business activity’ section of the VAT registration form requires a full description of all the taxpayer’s business activities, including the type of goods and/or services that they supply. HMRC guidance is for private schools to enter ‘Private Education Provider’ in this section. When registering for VAT, taxpayers are also required to provide Standard Industry Classification (SIC) codes that best describe their business activities. These will depend on their individual circumstances.