Written questions by Lowe.

How much was spent by NHS Trusts on celebrating Pride Month in June (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

This information is not collected by NHS England.

What proportion of children in school in each constituency do not have English as their first language.

The information requested is in the attached table. Data for the proportion and number of children who do not have English as their first language can be found at school level in the school census publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics. A pupil is recorded to have English as an additional language if they are exposed to a language at home that is known or believed to be other than English. This measure is not a measure of English language proficiency nor a good proxy for recent immigration. As these figures are taken from the January 2024 school census, the Parliamentary constituencies are based on pre-election boundaries. 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.

How many staff in their Department work outside of the UK; where these staff work; and what the cost is of salaries for these staff.

The Department does not have any staff who work outside of the United Kingdom.

How many staff in their Departmental work outside of the UK; where these staff work; and what the cost is of salaries for these staff.

a) Total number of HM Treasury employees working overseas as at 30th October 2024. 51 b) Where these staff work. Australian TreasuryBritish Embassy, U.A.E.Canadian Finance MinistryFCDOGerman Finance MinistryInternational Monetary Fund, U.S.International Trade, IndiaMONEYVAL, Council of Europe, FranceNational Institute of Public Service, FranceNew Zealand TreasuryOrganisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, FranceMinistry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, FranceU.S. TreasuryUK Mission to the EU, BelgiumWorld Bank, U.S. c) Annual salary cost to HM Treasury for these staff £506,989

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of conducting a review into the food labelling system.

Defra is in the process of conducting a Post Implementation Review of the Food Information Regulations 2014 and the Country of Origin of Certain Meats Regulations 2015 to assess their success against their origin policy objectives. Furthermore, we plan to publish a summary of responses to a recent public consultation on fairer food labelling.

What the value was of student loans that were written off in each of the last five years; and what this was as a proportion of all outstanding student loans.

The table below shows the amount that has been cancelled or written off during each financial year requested, the total amount outstanding at the start of the financial year including interest and loans not yet due for repayment (after adjustments) and the proportion that write offs or cancellations make out of the starting balance.The reasons for cancelled or written off loans are the following: death of borrower, age of borrower, disability, trivial balances, losses through fraud (including phishing) and other.Please note that write-offs do not include trivial balance write-offs. Trivial balance write-offs occur if there is a +/- balance on an account of £25 or less and no contact can be established with the borrower (customers can request for this to be reversed). In the context of these figures these borrowers are considered fully repaid and are therefore not included. Cancellations involve the clearance of the remaining debt in line with the terms of the loan, for example when reaching a specific age or becoming permanently disabled. Write-offs for bankruptcy, Individual Voluntary Arrangement or a trust deed, are no longer allowed against Student Loans balances. Any figures arise from retrospective clear up exercises.These figures have been taken from Student Loans Company’s Student loans in England publication that is updated in June each year. The publication, ‘Student loans in England: 2023 to 2024’ can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2023-to-2024, and the figures were taken from ‘Table 1A’ here: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F6672d0e2f92bc4be25da7e13%2Fslcsp012024.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK.2019/202020/212021/222022/232023/24Amount cancelled or written off during the financial year (£m) 39.453.763.458.6101.1Total amount outstanding at the start of the financial year, including interest and loans not yet due for repayment (after adjustments) (£m)121,813.3140,092.8160,593.5181,612.3205,568.8Percentage of those written off out of total amount outstanding 0.03%0.04%0.04%0.03%0.05%

How much was paid to the EU in each year since 2021.

The UK continues to make payments to the EU in relation to the liabilities arising from the period of the UK’s membership under the legally binding Withdrawal Agreement. Between the UK’s departure from the EU on 30th January 2020 and the end of 2023, such payments amounted to £23.8bn (net of assets returned to the UK and estimated receipts to UK beneficiaries from the EU Budget).Further details of payments are set out are set out in the European Union Finances Statement (EUFS) 2023, available on Gov.uk and in the library of the House. These figures do not include payments to the EU for other purposes such as those in relation to continued UK association to certain EU programmes under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement; such payments are reported in the relevant departments’ annual accounts and as part of normal budgetary disclosures.

How much was spent by police forces on celebrating Pride Month in June (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

The Home Office does not hold this information.Decisions on how funding and resources are utilised are an operational matter for Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners, who are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience.

How many civil servants earn (a) over £100,000 and (b) more than the Prime Minister.

Civil Service Statistics (Table 35) provides information on the number of civil servants earning over £100,000 and in other bandings. The latest information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2024 The previous administration did not publish a 2023 list. The Cabinet Office will publish this in due course following the usual process.

How many staff in their Departmental work outside of the UK; where these staff work; and what the cost is of salaries for these staff.

None of the DWP’s employees work outside the UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the percentage of food served in canteens in his Department that is British.

Catering services at Defra are provided by our facilities management supplier, ISS. In the contract we require ISS to comply with Government Buying Standards (GBS) for food and catering services and ISS is encouraged to meet the best practice criteria of the GBS for food and catering services. The supplier is required to comply with the aims of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. ISS has confirmed that: The percentage of British products purchased by ISS, for use across the Defra locations where food is served in the UK, is estimated at 57.20%.This figure is based on the total value of food purchased for use across the Defra locations since April 2024. Data is only available from April 2024 from this supplier.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in their Department work outside of the UK; where those staff work; and what the cost is of salaries for those staff.

Information on civil servants employed by Defra working overseas and the median salary for overseas posts are available at the following link: https://civil-service-statistics.jdac.service.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/data_browser_2024/index.html Information on the precise location of staff working overseas is not published.

Food and Rural Affairs, what forms his Department requires farmers to complete each year; what the length of these forms are; and what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the administration burden on farmers.

The Government does not require the same forms annually, and therefore we cannot provide this information. However, we are committed to improving the services we offer to farmers. Through ongoing service design and research with farmers, we continue to optimise our farming schemes, including the administration they include, to make published content clear and by iterating form design, so they work efficiently for farmers, food security and the environment, especially for those that are too often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenanted farms. This is a priority for the new Government and we will announce more information in due course. In the meantime, the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) strategic programme is focused on enhancing and streamlining services, including customer communications, application processes, forms, and data collection. This initiative includes multiple projects aimed at understanding and alleviating the administrative load faced by farmers and other stakeholders. As part of this programme, APHA has already conducted extensive user research, engaging customers across various sectors to identify their challenges and pain points. By listening directly to those who use its services, APHA is gaining valuable insights that allow it to evaluate and test solutions to make interactions with APHA smoother and more efficient.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to allow independent lifeboat services to use (a) blue lights and (b) sirens on public highways.

Ministers are giving consideration to this matter. An update will be provided in due course.

If she will take steps to support local bus services in Great Yarmouth Constituency.

Improving local bus services is a key part of this government’s growth mission, and the government has set out plans to deliver better bus services, grow passenger numbers and drive opportunity to under-served regions. As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this session. This will put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in Great Yarmouth, to ensure networks meet the needs of the communities who rely on them. The Bill will seek to increase the powers available to local leaders to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership. In addition, the government has confirmed an additional £925 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London, bringing total bus investment at the Budget to over £1 billion. Local authorities can use the £925 million to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities. The government will continue working closely with local transport authorities including Norfolk County Council, and others, to deliver better bus and public transport services throughout England.

What estimate her Department has made of the total number of people of working age currently out of work.

Official statistics for the number of people unemployed and economically inactive are published each month by the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS), estimated using the Labour Force Survey. The ONS headline labour market statistics define working age as between 16 and 64 years old. The latest statistics show 10.61 million people are of working age currently out of work in the UK (June-August 2024) – 1.347 million who are unemployed and 9.263 million who are economically inactive. Of the 9.263 million who are economically inactive, 2.491 million are students and 1.674 million are looking after family/home. Unemployment (000's)1,347 Economic inactivity by reason (000's) Student2,491Looking after family / home1,674Temp sick201Long-term sick2,750Discouraged workers33Retired1,079Other1,035 Total (000's)10,610

What steps is the Minister taking to reduce the impact from cyclists using (a) strobe and (b) flashing lights on (i) motorists and (ii) other road users.

Standards for the fitment and use of bicycle lights are set out in the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 as amended. Front and rear flashing lights are only permitted on bicycles provided they do not cause undue dazzle or discomfort to other road users, have a constant flashing frequency of 1 to 4 hertz and, if they are the only lights fitted, an intensity of not less than four candelas.Enforcement of road traffic law is generally an operational matter for individual police forces and their officers can issue verbal warnings or fixed penalty notices, or report riders for formal prosecution.

How many drivers were caught driving without (a) a valid MOT, (b) car tax, (c) car insurance and (d) a driving licence by nationality in each of the last five years.

The Home Office does not hold all of the information requested.The Home Office collects and publishes data on fixed penalty notices and other outcomes for motoring offences as part of its annual ‘Police powers and procedures: Other PACE powers, England and Wales’ statistical release. The latest data is available here: Other PACE powers, year ending March 2023 (second edition) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and covers the calendar year ending December 2022.Data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued and other outcomes for “Driving licence-related offences”, “Vehicle insurance offences” and “Operator’s licence offences” is provided in table FPN_03 of the motoring offences data tables, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b7ae3cc5aacc0013a68463/fixed-penalty-notices-and-other-motoring-offences-statistics-police-powers-and-procedures-year-ending-31-dec-2022.ods.Information on “Miscellaneous motoring offences (excluding seat belt offences)” is also provided in table FPN_03 although it is not possible to break these offences down further.The Home Office does not hold information on the specific offences of driving without a valid MOT or car tax.Data on the nationality of driver’s licenses is not centrally held by the Home Office.

What the average waiting time was per driving test centre in (a) the UK and (b) Great Yarmouth constituency.

The average waiting time data per driving test centre (DTC) in the UK for September 2024 is contained within the attached document. The table below shows the national average waiting time, and those DTCs that serve the Great Yarmouth constituency. Driving test centreAverage Waiting time (September 2024)Lowestoft (Mobbs Way)9Norwich (Peachman Way)22.2Norwich (Jupiter Road)9.4National19

What information his Department holds on the number of emergency calls made by irregular migrants crossing the channel on the basis of information that is later found to be false for each year since 2018.

HM Coastguard does not hold information on the number of emergency calls made by irregular migrants crossing the channel on the basis of information that is later found to be false.