Written questions by Bedford.

Whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of appointing a Minister for men.

We are committed to making equality a reality for everyone. The Equality Act 2010 requires the interests of both men and women to be considered when making decisions or developing and implementing policies. This Government recognises that men can face specific challenges in today’s society and is taking steps to address these through work across Departments. For example, we announced earlier this year that we would develop England’s first ever men’s health strategy; and in the workplace, the landmark Employment Rights Bill will extend day one rights and support flexible working, so that fathers can better support their families and spend more time with their children if they choose.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of including financial education for (a) primary and (b) secondary education in the national curriculum.

I refer the hon. Member for Mid Leicestershire to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43513.

What estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of correcting cosmetic dental surgery undertaken by British nationals abroad in the last 12 months.

The Department does not hold data on the overall costs to the National Health Service of treating complications arising from cosmetic, including dental, procedures undertaken overseas. We are exploring ways to improve our understanding of the scale and impact of these costs on NHS services.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the number of public houses.

On Monday 21 October, the Government published a comprehensive package of analysis on the impact of the Employment Rights Bill [Employment Rights Bill: impact assessments - GOV.UK]. The majority of employees will benefit from new protections in the Bill. However, our assessment finds that workers in the low-paying sectors like hospitality, including public houses, will benefit the most from the Bill. The Bill will also deliver wider benefits for the business environment by improving wellbeing, incentivising higher productivity, and creating a more level playing field for good employers. This could have a positive knock-on impact on productivity and growth.

Communities and Local Government, when she plans to announce further proposals for local government reorganisation in Leicestershire.

On 5 February 2025, the government issued statutory invitations to two-tier authorities and small neighbouring unitary authorities to develop proposals for unitary local government. Accordingly, an invitation was sent to Blaby District Council, Charnwood Borough Council, Harborough District Council, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Leicestershire County Council, Melton Borough Council, North West Leicestershire District Council, Oadby and Wigston Borough Council, Leicester City Council and Rutland County Council. The invitation also asked areas to submit interim plans by 21 March 2025. We received interim plan responses from all areas and committed to providing feedback. Feedback will soon be provided to those all councils listed above to support them as they progress work on developing final proposals. Their final proposals are due by 28 November 2025. Once any final proposals are submitted it will be for the government to consult as required by statute before deciding which proposal, if any, to implement.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of disapplying the Human Rights Act on the removal of foreign national offenders from British prisons.

The Immigration White Paper, published on 12 May 2025, announced new measures on a wide range of issues, including the removal of foreign national offenders, further details of which will be set out in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of terrorist organisations impacted by India's Operation Sindoor.

The UK condemns all forms of terrorism and both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have expressed their outrage at the horrific attack in Pahalgam on 22 April. We are aware of India's actions under Operation Sindoor and the UK, along with our international partners, urged both India and Pakistan to de-escalate from military confrontation. The UK has not assessed the material impact of India's Operation Sindoor or Pakistan's Operation Bunyaan Marsous.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Money Claim Online in delivering civil remedies for small claims legal disputes.

Money Claim Online (MCOL) has provided claimants with an electronic means by which to make money claims online since 2002. Including claims made by bulk users, the system handles over 1 million claims per annum.As part of HMCTS Reform programme, HMCTS has created a new digital service – Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) – which enables users to issue, respond to and manage a claim digitally, including the ability to settle a claim without court intervention and uploading evidence for hearings. OCMC has been available since 2018 and handles around 120,000 claims per year. The OCMC service was recently evaluated with the findings published and available on the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/modern-justice-for-all-our-online-civil-money-claims-reformed-service-helps-more-people-settle-disputes-away-from-the-courtroom.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of requiring full-time office working in the civil service on public sector productivity.

In October 2024, Heads of Departments across government announced that guidance on office attendance will remain in place, with most civil servants expected to spend at least 60% of their time at a Government building or on official business, such as visiting stakeholders. Senior managers will continue to be expected to be in the office more than 60% of the time. This is the same expectation on office attendance as was introduced under the previous administration. The approach will allow teams and departments to maximise the benefits of hybrid working and getting the best from being together.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing electronic voting for divisions in the House of Commons.

This is a matter for the House to consider. The Hon. Member may wish to note that the Procedure Committee is currently undertaking an inquiry into electronic voting. The Government recently submitted written evidence to that inquiry (available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8885/electronic-voting/publications/written-evidence/) and he may wish to respond directly to the Committee's call for evidence.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of mandating 60 per cent office-working by departmental staff by September 2025 on productivity within her Department.

Civil Service Heads of Departments across government have agreed that the Civil Service is best able to deliver for the people it serves by taking a consistent approach to in office working. Heads of Departments agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service.The approach allows teams and departments to maximise the benefits of hybrid working and to get the best from being together. This also reflects the view of Civil Service leaders that there remain clear benefits to spending time working together face-to-face as the government delivers on the Missions commitments. The Civil Service approach is comparable to other large private and public sector employers.Whilst this decision was not directly linked to productivity, the Department closely monitors performance and will continue to do so following implementation of the change. In DWP, around 35% of colleagues spend 100% of their time working in the office, delivering face-to-face services to customers. Other colleagues are able to work in a hybrid way, spending part of their time in the office and part of their time working from home.Senior Civil Service colleagues are expected to work from the office (which includes face to face time with colleagues or partners on official business elsewhere) for more than 60% of their contracted hours, and the Department has now announced that colleagues at all other grades will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their contracted hours in the office from 1 September 2025.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of District Judges in hearing civil litigation cases.

I refer the honourable Member to the Department’s evidence to the Justice Select Committee into the work of the County Court, which explained the current capacity for civil cases: Work of the County Court - Committees - UK Parliament.

Which hotels are being used to house asylum seekers in Mid Leicestershire constituency; and how many asylum seekers there are in each hotel.

I refer the Hon Member to the Answer he received on the 14 January 2025 to UIN 22515.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the forthcoming Pensions Schemes Bill on the ability of Pension Scheme Administrators to support the the transfer of defined benefit pension schemes to insurance providers.

An Impact Assessment will be published alongside the Pension Schemes Bill.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Football Governance Bill on the financial health of non premier league football clubs.

Clubs across the football pyramid have suffered from the consequences of reckless spending, unmanaged debts and poor ownership. That is why the government has introduced the Football Governance Bill which aims to improve the financial sustainability of all clubs in scope, including clubs outside the Premier League, by addressing these key issues, improving the systemic financial resilience of the whole football pyramid.This Bill will take a proportionate and light touch approach to regulation to avoid undue burden and has been designed through extensive consultation with clubs across the football pyramid.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing income tax bands on economic productivity.

The Government is committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility and so, at our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds. This decision was reflected in the OBR’s spring 2025 forecast which can be found here: https://obr.uk/economic-and-fiscal-outlooks/.

What estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of correcting cosmetic surgery undertaken by British Nationals abroad.

The Department does not have data on the overall costs to the National Health Service for treating complications from cosmetic procedures conducted overseas. We are exploring ways to improve our understanding of the scale of the cost to the NHS.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of green levies on domestic energy bills.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the costs of the UK’s transition to Net Zero are fair and affordable for all energy consumers, and the potential impacts on policy costs on technologies and consumers are being fully considered. Policy costs, or levies, are added to energy bills to ensure a fair and transparent way to fund social and environmental policies, whilst easing the financial burden on taxpayers. By driving investment in renewables, they have significantly lowered the cost of renewable electricity production over time, leading to a more affordable and sustainable energy future. Securing funding for these policies in this way helps to build a secure, affordable, and low-carbon energy system. This shift to renewables is making energy cleaner, more stable, and cheaper in the long run. Ofgem, the energy regulator in Great Britain, administers low-carbon energy and social schemes on behalf of the government and ensures that policy targets are met in an economical and consumer conscious way.

What steps she is taking to deport people who have been living in the UK illegally for more than five years.

This government pledged to deliver the highest rate of removals since 2018 and this has been surpassed, with a surge in returns activity leading to over 24,000 people with no right to be in the UK being removed in the first nine months after the election.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential financial impact of the Football Governance Bill on the (a) administrative and (b) compliance activities of English football clubs.

The Regulator will work with clubs to ensure the new regulatory regime is light touch and streamlined. The government’s impact assessment estimates compliance costs to be between £22.8 million and £46.1million over ten years.The largest clubs in scope are expected to experience an increase of between 0.5 full-time equivalents (FTE) and 2.5 FTE, depending on existing levels of compliance. We anticipate the smallest clubs in scope are expected to experience a total increase of between 0.1 FTE and 0.5 FTE, depending on existing levels of compliance.Regulation will improve the financial sustainability of clubs and the same assessment estimated that the benefit of regulation would far offset the cost.