Written questions by Holden.

How much funding her Department has provided to help support small and medium-sized enterprises to export in each of the last 15 years; and how much funding his Department has made available for this purpose in the 2024-25 financial year.

Given changes within the department and across government over the last 15 years further information on export specific funding cannot be provided without breaching the disproportionate cost limit.The cost of support for SMEs to export over the previous 7 years is 2018/19 at £47.1m, 2019/20 £45.9m, 2020/21 £45.0m, 2021/22 £45.6m, 2022/23 £49.3m, 2023/24 £44.2m and 2024/25 £31.8m. This includes funding for grant programmes that have now concluded such as the Tradeshow Access Programme, UK Tradeshow Programme, Overseas Business Network initiative, and Internationalisation Fund.

If he will make it his policy that (a) senior official and (b) special adviser transparency returns are published as frequently as those of Ministers.

The Government publishes a wide range of transparency data. Reporting requirements remain in place, with data regularly being published on GOV.UK. The Cabinet Office will publish, monthly, a Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2024 to Question 8436 on Government Departments: Disclosure of Information, if he will make it his policy that all transparency publications currently published quarterly will be published monthly.

The Government publishes a wide range of transparency data. Reporting requirements remain in place, with data regularly being published on GOV.UK. The Cabinet Office will publish, monthly, a Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality in due course.

When he plans to start monthly reporting of ministerial (a) gifts and (b) hospitality.

Work on the new register is progressing and further details will be published in due course.

What progress the Mission Delivery Boards have made.

The government has already made significant progress on its missions since July; fixing the foundations of the country and kicking off the first steps to deliver real change. This has included stabilising the economy, the launch of Great British Energy, investing an extra £22bn to build an NHS fit for the future, establishing a new Border Security Command that will smash the gangs and tackle small boat crossings, and an additional £1.8bn to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare and help more parents stay in and return to work.

What plans her Department has for the replacement of the overhead lines on the C2C train route.

The renewal of overhead lines on the c2c route will require significant investment. Network Rail is making plans to secure the funding in future control periods.

If she will hold discussions with the (a) Equality and Human Rights Commission and (b) the Cabinet Office on the potential merits of issuing guidance to political parties on whether they are able to discriminate on the basis of (i) political and (ii) philosophical belief.

It is for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to determine what guidance it issues to political parties. Equalities Ministers will have periodic discussions with their Cabinet Office colleagues on matters of mutual policy interest. 'Belief’ is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, meaning any religious or philosophical belief, rather than political opinion. As such, the issue of guidance on political belief discrimination that purportedly related to the Equality Act’s protected characteristics would be misleading.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department planned to provide to drainage boards [for the 2024-25 financial year] on (a) 1 July 2024 and (b) 20 November 2024.

Internal drainage boards (IDBs) are independent statutory public bodies that are locally funded. As a matter of course they are not funded by the Government but can apply for government grants to deliver specific outcomes. For example, funding under the government’s flood investment programme to deliver flood risk defences. Defra is providing a one-off £75 million IDB Fund, to accelerate IDBs’ recovery from the winter 2023-24 storms and to provide opportunities to modernise and upgrade assets. This funding will support greater resilience for farmers and rural communities in the long term. Under the previous Government, Defra planned to provide all the IDB Fund grants in 2024-25 and the IDBs would have to deliver their projects by 31 March 2025. The Government took the decision to extend the IDB Fund into 2025-26.

Whether the Government’s Mission Boards have quantifiable targets.

The five Missions are focused on delivering outcomes that offer real and tangible benefits to citizens: higher living standards, protection for energy billpayers with secure home-grown energy, safer streets, longer healthier lives, and a renewed confidence that the future will be better for our children.

With reference to the Written Statement of 6 November 2024 on Transparency and Accountability, HCWS198, whether special adviser salaries will increase in line with (a) senior and (b) junior civil service salaries.

Details of the special adviser pay award will be detailed in the relevant Annual Report on Special Advisers, published in line with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

What guidance his Department issues on (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers meeting lobbying firms which have made donations to hon. Members from the governing party.

There is longstanding guidance on meetings between ministers and external organisations which is set out in the Ministerial Code. Similar guidance for special advisers is set out in the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. Further guidance on ministers’ and special advisers’ transparency returns is published on GOV.UK.

Innovation and Technology, whether the One Login project is on (a) budget and (b) schedule.

The GOV.UK One Login programme is on budget and on schedule. It operates under the controls outlined in its Full Business Case, including Cabinet Office and HM Treasury spend controls, and independent assurance reviews conducted by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA). The IPA’s most recent review concluded that the programme is delivering effectively despite operating in an inherently complex environment, and remains on schedule.

Whether the Office for National Statistics has made an assessment of the causes of reductions in levels of fertility; and which Department is responsible for Government policy relating to the (a) size and (b) demographics of the UK population.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 26 November is attached.

What estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of the UK population that have migrated to the UK in the last two years.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 27 November is attached.

What recent assessment the Office for National Statistics has made of the accuracy of UK resident population statistics.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 27 November is attached.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 November to Question 15230 on 10 Downing Street: Government Art Collection, what the reference numbers are of Government Art Collection works that have been (a) added to and (b) removed from Downing Street since 5 July 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 31 October 2024, Official Report, PQ 8943.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the ability of employers to contact a (a) full-time and (b) part-time employee outside of their (i) normal and (ii) condensed working hours.

The right to switch off is not part of the Employment Rights Bill. It will be delivered through a statutory Code of Practice which will be the subject of a full public consultation in due course. The consultation will give interested parties the opportunity to comment on the specifics of the code and its approach to tackling work or work-related contact outside normal working hours. The responses will inform the final content of the Code.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the performance of the Government in providing answers to (a) correspondence and (b) written parliamentary questions since 4 July 2024.

Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account. We recognise there is room for improvement upon the record of the previous government, and we are committed to doing things differently. As Leader of the House, I have written to all members of Cabinet to remind Ministers of their responsibilities to provide helpful and timely responses to Members' PQs and correspondence.This Government has already taken steps to strengthen its approach to correspondence, with a Ministerial champion for correspondence in each department. Data on each Government department's correspondence performance in 2024 will be published on GOV.UK in the usual way (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers).As a member of the Procedure Committee, the hon. Member will be aware that the Committee monitors individual department’s PQ performance and that it recently launched an inquiry into performance in the 2023–24 Session. I look forward to working with the Committee on this and other matters.I would encourage hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself and my office.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing VAT from services provided by (a) psychotherapists and (b) counsellors.

Many services provided directly or supervised by registered health professionals are exempt from VAT, meaning no VAT is charged to the final consumer. However, this relief does not apply to professionals who do not have statutory registers. The UK’s approach of linking exemption to statutory registration is considered to be a clear and objective criterion for defining ‘health professionals’ for VAT purposes. We have no plans to make changes here.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2024 to Question 11270 on Special Advisers: Industrial Disputes, to which specific answer of 25 July 2024 he was seeking to refer to.

The answer referred to was PQ 1667.