Written questions by Holden.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2024 to Question 19468 on Special Escort Group, on what statutory basis the police are able to (a) stop and direct traffic and (b) exceed speed limits in non-emergency situations.

Powers for police to stop and direct traffic are set out in sections 35, 37 and 163 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.The exemption for speed is set out in section 87(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. The exemption to speed does not require there to be an emergency to apply; the relevant requirements are that:The vehicle is being used for police purposes, andCompliance with the speed limit would be likely to hinder the purpose to which the vehicle is being put at the relevant time.

Communities and Local Government, how many people with citizenship of other countries can vote in UK elections; of which countries such people hold citizenship; which elections they are eligible to vote in; and whether these arrangements are reciprocal.

Electoral statistics are not available broken down by citizenship.The franchise for UK Parliamentary elections, Northern Ireland Assembly elections, local government elections in England and Northern Ireland and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales are reserved. This answer relates to reserved elections only.Irish citizens resident in the UK can vote in all elections. These rights are reciprocal. Commonwealth citizens lawfully resident in the UK can vote in all elections. These rights are not generally reciprocal.EU citizens resident in the UK before EU exit can in the main continue to vote in local elections. Post-Brexit migrants from some EU Member States (Poland, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal and Denmark), with whom the Government has agreed reciprocal arrangements, can vote in local elections.The franchise for devolved elections in Scotland and Wales is a matter for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

How many cases of gonorrhoea have been diagnosed in each of the last 30 years.

The following table shows the number of gonorrhoea diagnoses in sexual health services in England between 1994 and 2023:YearNumber of gonorrhoea diagnoses19949,63119959,890199611,828199712,332199812,457199915,450200020,297200122,198200224,123200323,346200420,669200517,632200617,191200717,119200814,985200916,141201016,839201121,090201226,909201331,200201437,150201541,290201636,545201744,839201856,690201971,133202050,678202149,321202279,268202385,223Source: UK Health Security Agency

Whether additional powers will be made available to law enforcement officers to penalise (a) barber shops, (b) off-licences, (c) bookmakers, (d) pubs and (e) other non-grocery and non-newsagent premises illegally selling tobacco products as a result of the implementation of a generational ban on tobacco sales.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will put us on track to a smoke-free United Kingdom, helping to reduce around 80,000 preventable deaths and reduce the burden on the National Health Service and on the taxpayer.Whilst the published impact assessment on the Bill makes no specific assessment of the potential impact on the illegal sale of tobacco products in non-grocery and non-newsagent premises, we expect most retailers who sell tobacco, regardless of the type of business, to comply with the new and existing measures in the Bill. Further impact assessments will be prepared in advance of secondary legislation, including for a future licensing scheme, which aims to crack down on rogue retailers.The Bill takes bold action to strengthen enforcement and crack down on rogue retailers who break the law regardless of the type of business. It introduces new £200 fixed penalty notices (FPNs), in England and Wales, to support Trading Standards Officers to take swifter enforcement action by issuing on-the-spot fines rather than needing to go through lengthy court processes. Trading Standards will be able to issue a £200 FPN for a range of offences, including to anyone who illegally sells tobacco products to someone underage.The Bill also provides powers for Ministers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco products, herbal smoking products, cigarette papers, vaping, and nicotine products. The licensing scheme will support legitimate businesses, act as a deterrent to rogue retailers and provide enforcement agencies with further opportunities to bring penalties against these retailers. We will consult on the details of the licensing scheme ahead of introducing regulations, including the types of business which may hold a licence and the licence conditions.

What guidance he has provided to Government departments on publishing details of individual Civil Service pensions for senior officials under (a) Financial Reporting requirements and (b) the Freedom of Information Act.

In relation to what guidance the Cabinet Office has provided to government departments on publishing details of individual Civil Service pensions for senior officials: (a) Financial Reporting requirements - The Cabinet Office issues an ‘Employer Pension Notice’ (EPN) to government departments each year, so they can provide the disclosure of Senior Civil Servants' pensions under their Financial Reporting requirements. (b) Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - I refer the right honourable member to the answer given in 15229 answered on 29 November 2024. The Cabinet Office has not issued either internal or external guidance on whether FOIA requests requesting information on senior civil servants should be disclosed. All requests are considered on their own merits in all circumstances.

With reference to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question HL2771 on Civil Servants: Recruitment and pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14502 on Gender: Equality, if she will issue guidance to public bodies to stop the practice of internship programmes which restrict applications on the basis of race or ethnicity.

The Equality Act 2010 (The Act) provides protections for people from discrimination in the workplace and in society. It makes it unlawful to treat someone unfairly or discriminate against anyone based on certain personal characteristics. This includes race and ethnicity.The Act also makes it unlawful for recruiters to hire by race, where the person is to be paid under a contract for services. Under certain conditions, a recruiter choosing between candidates of equal merit can hire the candidate from the more disadvantaged or lower-participating race or ethnicity. This is one type of ‘positive action’. Positive action can deliver better outcomes for particular groups in order to overcome or minimise a disadvantage arising from a protected characteristic.In April 2023, the previous government published guidance to help employers understand the difference between positive action and positive discrimination. The guidance is available on gov.uk at www.gov.uk/government/publications/positive-action-in-the-workplace-guidance-for-employers. Section 9 of this guidance explains the general positive action provision. Section 10.2 explains tie-breaking in more detail. With this considered, there are currently no plans to issue further guidance to public bodies on positive action.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2024 to Question 19416 on Maternity Services: Nurses, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of close relative marriage neonatal nurses there are in the NHS; and if he will publish this data.

The Department has no plans to make such an estimate.

Whether he plans to discuss the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in negotiations on changes to the EU-UK relationship.

There has been no change in the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice rulings in relation to the UK. We are also clear that we will not be re-joining the Single Market, the Customs Union or Freedom of Movement.

With reference to the Answer of 2 May 2023 to Question 182119 on Cabinet Office: Training, if he will take steps to encourage other public sector employers to phase out unconscious bias training.

The government is committed to an evidence based approach to training. In 2021 the previous administration published a report on the efficacy of unconscious bias training with recommendations on alternative approaches to support workforce equality. At the time other public sector organisations were encouraged to take account of this.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unconscious-bias-and-diversity-training-what-the-evidence-says There has been no change in the approach under this government

How many staff in his Department have undertaken two consecutive jobs without external competition since 3 July 2024.

The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department.

What information his Department holds on the (a) cost and (b) incidence of cousin marriage.

The Government has not carried out an assessment of health costs resulting from cousin marriage. The Department also does not hold data on the incidence of cousin marriage.

With reference to Question 70 of the oral evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 4 December 2024 on The work of the Cabinet Office, HC 463, what the (a) current and (b) target size is for the number of staff in the EU Relations Secretariat.

On 24 July 2024, the Prime Minister announced via a Written Ministerial Statement that responsibility for the UK’s relationship with the EU, including co-chairing the ministerial structures under the UK’s treaties with the EU, would move to the Cabinet Office. The EU Relations Secretariat was established in the Cabinet Office to give effect to the Government's manifesto commitments to reset the relationship with the EU, deliver on our commitments in the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement and Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and implement the Windsor Framework in good faith and protect the UK's internal market. The EU Relations Secretariat brings together civil servants who were already working on EU relations from across the government. The data on this headcount will be published in the usual way.

With reference to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question HL2999 on Ministers: Official Cars, to which Department each of the (a) electric and (b) hybrid cars was allocated.

Departments are allocated a combination of electric and hybrid vehicles based on operational and security requirements. However, details of the specific vehicles allocated to individual Ministers or departments are not disclosed. Sharing this information, particularly when combined with other publicly available details, could compromise the security of Ministers and their transport arrangements.

With reference to page 14 of his Department's report entitled Security and Intelligence Agencies Financial Statement 2023-24, published on 2 December 2024, if he will publish the (a) reasons for and (b) nature of the 870 losses and special payments; and what steps he is taking to help prevent such losses.

As has been the policy of successive governments, the government does not comment on matters relating to the intelligence agencies. The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament scrutinises the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of the intelligence agencies on behalf of Parliament.

Whether he plans to lay an Official Statistics Order to include Great British Energy.

The Department does not expect to amend the Official Statistics Order 2023 to include Great British Energy (GBE), because GBE will be an operationally independent energy company and we do not anticipate it will produce the sorts of statistics expected of bodies included in the order.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2024 to Question 17300 on Muslim Council of Britain, what her policy is on engagement with (a) Cage, (b) MEND and (c) the Muslim Association of Britain.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20228 on 24 December 2024.

Whether he plans to publish a prospectus to allow public bodies to bid for the Public Sector Reform and Innovation Fund.

The Test & Learns are a new way of working. The Cabinet office will be working across government and with local partners to codesign the detailed approach to the allocation of the Innovation Fund in early 2025.

With reference to Question 28 of the oral evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 4 December 2024 on The work of the Cabinet Office, HC 463, if he will publish a breakdown of the £105 million of potential savings; and which of those savings have been implemented.

The details of the savings identified by each public body review under the Public Bodies Review Programme are already published individually on gov.uk. Each department is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the relevant savings by its public bodies.

With reference to her Department’s publication entitled The Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt's schedule of taxable sources of income and gains, published on 9 February 2024, whether she plans to publish her tax return for 2023-24.

There is an established process in place for the declaration and management of interests held by ministers. This ensures that steps are taken to avoid or mitigate any actual or perceived conflicts of interest. As set out in the List of Ministers' Interests (November 2024), as part of the ministers' interests process, Ministers are asked to confirm that their tax affairs are up to date and that the arrangement of their affairs is consistent with their overarching duty to comply with the law. The List of Ministers' Interests is available on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-ministers-interests.

Whether she plans to support the BBC with the cost of employers’ National Insurance contributions.

The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs. This funding will be allocated to departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way. This will be in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy. Details of the funding set aside for 2025-26, including its allocation, will be published in due course.