Written questions by Lowe.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to require that all fish caught in (a) UK territorial waters and (b) the UK exclusive economic zone are (i) landed and (ii) processed in the UK.

The Government is not considering the introduction of legislation that would require all fish caught within UK waters to be landed and processed in the UK. British fishing boats currently have the flexibility to land their fish into ports and markets which offer the best facilities and prices. They must also meet the economic link licence condition which ensures their activities provide a genuine economic benefit to the UK. It is not this Government’s intention to limit vessel owners from making these business decisions in their best interest.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the expiration of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement provisions on fishing on 30 June 2026.

The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement provides reciprocal access for UK and EU vessels during the fisheries adjustment period. The adjustment period ends in June 2026 after which access becomes a matter for annual negotiation as is typical between coastal states.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) limiting and (b) banning commercial trading of fishing licence quotas.

The Government is not planning any assessment on commercial trading of fishing licence quotas. Quota trading helps our fishing industry by allowing quota to flow to those who most need it. This helps maximise uptake and mitigate choke risks. It also provides important flexibilities for British businesses. For example, it allows fishermen to sell quotas when adverse weather, vessel failure or other problems mean quotas would otherwise go unused.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing (a) provenance and (b) tax tests to prevent vessels with foreign owners from flying a UK flag of convenience when commercial fishing in UK waters.

The Government is not considering the introduction of provenance and tax tests on owners of British fishing boats. These vessels are already required to provide genuine economic benefits to the UK through the economic link licence conditions.

What data his Department holds on the average class size at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Great Yarmouth constituency and (ii) England in each of the last twenty years.

The department holds data on average class sizes in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics. This publication holds average class size at national level, local authority and school level. School level data from before 2010 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-pupil-and-their-characteristics-2002-to-2009-data.Parliamentary constituencies are based on their boundaries at the time of the January school census each year. Therefore, the 2024 parliamentary boundaries do not reflect the changes made in the summer of 2024.Where statistics were published prior to the changes in parliamentary constituency boundaries, they will be updated to reflect the new boundaries in the next publication of statistics. This is expected to be in June 2025 for the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication.Class size data is published at school level. This can be combined with information from the Get Information About Schools (GIAS) website to identify parliamentary constituency, which is available here: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/. GIAS currently reflects the changes made following the general election parliamentary constituency changes. Updates to geographical data are made on a quarterly basis using data published by the Office for National Statistics.

Communities and Local Government, what the average length of time was for planning permission to be granted for (a) businesses and (b) residential properties in (i) Great Yarmouth constituency and (ii) England in each of the last 10 years.

We do not hold this information. However data on the number of permissions granted for residential and non-residential development and local planning authority performance in deciding planning applications can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-planning-application-statistics.

How many yellow card reports there have been on Covid-19 vaccines.

As of 4 November 2024, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has received a total of 489,991 spontaneous, suspected adverse reaction reports for COVID-19 vaccines in the United Kingdom.However, it is important to note that reporters are encouraged to submit Yellow Card reports even if they only have a suspicion that the vaccine may have caused the adverse reaction. Therefore, the existence of an adverse reaction report does not necessarily mean that the vaccine has caused the reaction.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will amend the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 in line with the Merchant Shipping Act 1988.

The Government is not planning to amend the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 in line with the repealed Merchant Shipping Act 1988.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will (a) introduce a licence fee for access to UK (a) territorial and (b) exclusive economic zone waters to foreign vessels granted permission to catch fish and (b) use that fee to invest in the UK fishing industry in 2026.

The licensing of UK vessels to fish in UK waters is a devolved matter. The licensing of foreign fishing vessels to access UK territorial waters and exclusive economic zone is reserved. Defra has no plans to introduce licence fees, although has powers to do so. Any fee would have to be non-discriminatory and apply to all vessels. Managing Public Money May 2023 would need to be taken into account. The general principle is that fees are to be used for cost recovery rather than investment. Government funding schemes such as the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme in England, and the UK Seafood Fund, have provided investment and support for the fishing and seafood industry.

Communities and Local Government, what proportion of voters are registered to vote by post in each parliamentary constituency.

The data is not held centrally. Electoral registers are maintained by local Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). EROs are the custodians of electoral registers, and this data is not held by central government.

How many dentists have closed in (a) Great Yarmouth constituency and (b) Norfolk since 2016.

Data is not held on how many dentists have closed in the Great Yarmouth constituency and Norfolk since 2016.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Prime Minister will have discussions with the Royal Household on issuing an invitation for a state visit to President-Elect Trump.

The Government does not comment on discussions with the Royal Household. The Prime Minister spoke to President-elect Donald Trump on 6 November to congratulate him on his historic victory. The Prime Minister said he looked forward to working closely with President-elect Trump across all areas of the UK-US special relationship.

If she will strengthen the procedure ensuring that patients meet the residency requirements for treatment on the NHS.

Relevant National Health Service bodies are legally required to identify, make, and recover charges from overseas visitors under the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, also known as the Charging Regulations. The Department is committed to working with NHS England to ensure effective implementation of the Charging Regulations.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning all foreign supertrawlers from UK waters.

If foreign vessels were prohibited from fishing in UK waters without clear evidence of their negative impacts, we could expect reciprocal action to be taken against UK vessels. For actions relating to the EU, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement sets out very clearly that measures should not be discriminatory..We are, however, taking a broader approach to improving the sustainability of our fisheries through our Marine Protected Area management policy and the introduction of Fisheries Management Plans.

What charges were issued to non-UK residents of what nationalities not entitled to free secondary healthcare by the James Paget NHS trust for each treatment in each of the last three financial years; and how much of that amount was recovered in each of those last three financial years.

The Department of Health and Social Care does not collect the information requested.

Whether her Department provides free English lessons for irregular migrants.

The Home Office does not provide English Language lessons as part of the provision of Asylum Support.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11207 on Habitual Residence Test, how many habitual residence tests related to Universal Credit assessments have been granted in each of the last five years.

The table below gives the number of Universal Credit (UC) Habitual Residence Test (HRT) assessments that resulted in a ‘pass’ decision in the past five years. Date Decision Entered on Admin SystemNumber of UC HRT 'Pass' DecisionsApril 2019 to March 2020381,000April 2020 to March 2021918,000April 2021 to March 20221,046,000April 2022 to March 2023555,000April 2023 to March 2024533,000April 2024 to September 2024322,000Source: DWP internal analysis of UC Dataworks tables) Notes:The Habitual Residence Test (HRT) is nationality blind. It is applied to British citizens returning from abroad to check for factual habitual residency in the UK, as well as to foreign nationals to check they have an immigration status permitting access to public funds and that they are factually habitually resident.All figures are rounded to the nearest thousand decisions.An individual may have multiple HRT assessments.These figures are not Official Statistics. These figures stem from administrative data and represent the best estimates using current methodologies and assumptions about the data. Future improvements in methodology may lead to different subsequent estimates.Figures are for the UK.

How many recipients of Universal Credit were born outside the UK in each of the last five years.

The Department does not collect data on the country of birth of individuals claiming Universal Credit. DWP policy responsibility lies in establishing a customer's eligibility to claim benefits. An individual's specific country of birth does not play a role in this and the Department therefore does not collect the country of birth information at the point of a Universal Credit claim.

How many irregular migrants were housed in hotels of each star rating in each year since 2018.

Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, by local authority and accommodation type, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent stats release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly, ensuring the best value for money for the British taxpayer.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2024 to Question 11395 on Undocumented Migrants: Offenders, if she will publish information on the proportion of irregular migrants who have (a) previous criminal convictions and (b) subsequently obtained a criminal record.

Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, as well as quality and availability of data.