Written questions by Timothy.

What information his Department holds on the projected cost for spend on ultra-low carbon measures for NHS buildings in England by 2030.

The Department of Health and Social Care has not provided targeted funding for heat decarbonisation measures since 2015, nor does it hold a list of any net zero building contracts entered by individual National Health Service trusts. Since 2019, targeted funding for low carbon heating measures has been provided by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, where NHS trusts have secured £1.2 billion in grant funding. This scheme is funded and led by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.Alongside this, the Department of Health and Social Care has invested in reducing the NHS’s energy bills through the National Energy Efficiency Fund, with associated decarbonisation benefits. This has provided targeted funding for high-return measures, like LED lighting and building management systems, of £40 million in the 2023/24 financial year, and £95 million in the 2024/25 financial year. NHS England has also provided substantial guidance to the system on decarbonisation issues, including the 2023 Net Zero Health Building Standard, and the 2020 Delivering a Net Zero NHS report.Looking ahead to 2025/26, we are working with Great British Energy to invest £100 million in trusts’ renewable energy infrastructure across 196 NHS sites, where the average trust could save up to £45,000 on their yearly energy bills.Spending plans beyond 2025/26 will be determined through the forthcoming Spending Review.

How many benefit claimant households included people who have (a) not worked for (i) five, (ii) ten, (iii) twenty and (iv) more than twenty years and (b) never worked in each year since 2010 in the latest period for which data is available, broken down by local authority.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

What assessment he has made of the capacity of the Care Quality Commission to regulate sporting and cultural events.

Following the Manchester Arena Inquiry Volume Two report, the Government sought to make the necessary changes in the law to enable the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to regulate event healthcare at sporting venues and gymnasiums, and at temporary sporting and cultural events. The CQC will not be responsible for regulating sports and cultural events as a whole.The CQC has taken steps to ensure that any changes are implemented in a way that gives healthcare providers appropriate time to register with the CQC. This provides further reassurance to both event organisers and the public on the level of healthcare expected.In addition to the recent public consultation, the CQC will consult further on their approach to regulating these activities. The Government and the CQC continues to engage with stakeholders within the health, sports, and events sector regarding the changes in the regulations.

If he will list (a) the contracts signed by NHS trusts for (a) designing and (b) constructing new NHS buildings that are net zero in operation and (b) the value of each of those contracts.

The Department of Health and Social Care has not provided targeted funding for heat decarbonisation measures since 2015, nor does it hold a list of any net zero building contracts entered by individual National Health Service trusts. Since 2019, targeted funding for low carbon heating measures has been provided by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, where NHS trusts have secured £1.2 billion in grant funding. This scheme is funded and led by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.Alongside this, the Department of Health and Social Care has invested in reducing the NHS’s energy bills through the National Energy Efficiency Fund, with associated decarbonisation benefits. This has provided targeted funding for high-return measures, like LED lighting and building management systems, of £40 million in the 2023/24 financial year, and £95 million in the 2024/25 financial year. NHS England has also provided substantial guidance to the system on decarbonisation issues, including the 2023 Net Zero Health Building Standard, and the 2020 Delivering a Net Zero NHS report.Looking ahead to 2025/26, we are working with Great British Energy to invest £100 million in trusts’ renewable energy infrastructure across 196 NHS sites, where the average trust could save up to £45,000 on their yearly energy bills.Spending plans beyond 2025/26 will be determined through the forthcoming Spending Review.

How many ministerial visits he has made to Suffolk since 4 July 2025; and where those visits took place.

The Secretary of State and the Ministerial team conduct visits across the UK on a regular basis including in Suffolk. A central list of every visit conducted is not publicly available.

How many benefits claimant households received (a) Universal Credit, (b) New Style Jobseekers’ Allowance, (c) New Style Employment and Support Allowance, (d) Personal Independence Payment and (e) legacy benefits in each year since 2010, broken down by local authority.

Monthly statistics for the number of households on Universal Credit and Housing Benefit in Great Britain by local authority are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore.Universal Credit statistics are available from August 2015 to November 2024 in the Households on Universal Credit dataset.Housing Benefit statistics are available from November 2008 to March 2018 in the Housing Benefit – Data to March 2018 dataset and from April 2018 to November 2024 in the Housing Benefit - Data from April 2018 dataset.Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guideThe information requested for households receiving the other benefits is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

How many and what proportion of benefit claimant households had received welfare payments for (a) five, (b) ten, (c) twenty and (d) more than twenty years in each year since 2010 in the latest period for which data is available, broken down by local authority.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

If she will make an estimate of the average amount received in benefits by benefit claimant households in each year since 2010, broken down by local authority.

Monthly statistics for the number of households on Universal Credit and Housing Benefit in Great Britain by local authority are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore. Universal Credit statistics, by monthly average award amount, are available from August 2015 to November 2024 in the Households on Universal Credit dataset. Housing Benefit statistics, by weekly average award amount, are available from November 2008 to March 2018 in the Housing Benefit – Data to March 2018 dataset and from April 2018 to November 2024 in the Housing Benefit - Data from April 2018 dataset. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required. There is also a Universal Credit Official Statistics: Stat-Xplore user guide The information requested for households receiving other benefits is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

How many (a) petrol, (b) diesel, (c) hydrogen, (d) hybrid, (e) plug-in hybrid and (f) fully electric vehicles were purchased through Motability in each year since 2010.

The Department works closely with Motability Foundation and whilst we are responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme, we do not fund vehicles, be they electric or otherwise. Motability Foundation is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations. The Department does not hold data on the Motability fleet of cars. Questions about the operations of the Motability Foundation should be addressed to the Foundation.

How many Motability vehicles by (a) manufacturer, (b) annual cost and (c) age were leased in each year since 2010.

The Department works closely with Motability Foundation and whilst we are responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme, we do not fund vehicles, be they electric or otherwise. Motability Foundation is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations. The Department does not hold data on the Motability fleet of cars. Questions about the operations of the Motability Foundation should be addressed to the Foundation.

How many (a) petrol, (b) diesel, (c) hydrogen, (d) hybrid, (e) plug-in hybrid and (f) fully electric vehicles were leased by Motability in each year since 2010.

The Department works closely with Motability Foundation and whilst we are responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme, we do not fund vehicles, be they electric or otherwise. Motability Foundation is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations. The Department does not hold data on the Motability fleet of cars. Questions about the operations of the Motability Foundation should be addressed to the Foundation.

How many Motability vehicles were purchased in each year since 2010 by (a) manufacturer, (b) annual cost and (c) age.

The Department works closely with Motability Foundation and whilst we are responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme, we do not fund vehicles, be they electric or otherwise. Motability Foundation is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme, along with oversight of Motability Operations. The Department does not hold data on the Motability fleet of cars. Questions about the operations of the Motability Foundation should be addressed to the Foundation.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the number of arrests for fraud concerning packaging export recovery notes in each year since 2010.

Data related to prosecutions is published by the relevant regulators. https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-enforcement-action

How many asylum seekers arrived in the UK without appropriate documents in in each year since 2020.

The information requested is not 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 each NHS trust in England has spent on purchasing electric vehicles in each year since 2015.

Data on the costs of purchasing electric vehicles is not collected centrally by NHS England. This data is held by National Health Service organisations locally.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of splitting recycling targets for (a) packaging recovery notes and (b) packaging export recovery notes.

Defra will shortly be engaging with relevant stakeholders to better understand the merits of this and other potential enhancements to the Package Recovery Note system.

If he will make an estimate of the number of NHS trusts that have spent funding on (a) installing charge points and (b) upgrading the local distribution network in each year since 2015.

National Health Service trusts have submitted data on electric vehicle (EV) charging points through the annual Estates Return Information Collection since 2018/19, with further information available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collectionThe following table shows the number of trusts that have increased their number of EV charging points, each year from 2018/19 to 2023/24:YearNumber of trusts that have increased EV charging points2018/19472019/20482020/21592021/221042022/23872023/2481Please note that this data does not account for trust mergers, as, for example, a newly formed trust merged from two trusts with no change to the number of charging points will be recorded as an increase. There is no centrally collected data recording costs or differentiating whether the charging points are trust-funded or externally funded. NHS England does not collect data on distribution network upgrades relating to EV charger installation.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much abuse and fraud has been reported on the Packaging Export Recovery Note system since 2010.

This data is available on the National Packaging Waste Database – National Packaging Waste Database.

What steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for the Home Department to prevent the online sale of illegal e-bikes.

Product safety law requires that all consumer products placed on the UK market must be safe. The Office for Product Safety and Standards, in my Department, has a programme of work focused on tackling the sale of illegal e-bikes, making sure online platforms are aware of their responsibilities and working closely with Border Force on the issue at the UK Border. My officials work closely with counterparts across Government, including the Home Office on e-bike safety. The Product Safety and Metrology Bill will provide powers that can be used to place new duties on online marketplaces with regards to unsafe products.

What contracts have been agreed by her Department for (a) designing and (b) constructing new school buildings that are net zero in operation; and what the value was of each contract.

The department’s building projects are currently delivered through our £7 billion construction framework 2021 (CF21) which was published under the previous government. The specification for that framework requires buildings to be net zero carbon in operation. Signed contract values are published on GOV.UK, normally within 30 days of the contract being signed, and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.