Written questions by Lowe.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

In financial year 2024/25, HM Treasury spent £16,103.50 on a LinkedIn contract as part of the department’s advertisements of external job vacancies. There was no other HM Treasury spend on other LinkedIn fees or subscriptions.

For the total spend on (a) LinkedIn membership fees and (b) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

The department has no spend on LinkedIn membership fees, and has a total spend in 2024/25 of £4,322.00 on other subscriptions.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

We are unable to provide details on the total spend on LinkedIn membership fees and other subscriptions by the Department for Business and Trade in the last financial year. The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

Due to the way this information is stored in our systems, it would be difficult and incur disproportionate costs to extract subscriptions to LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

This information is not held centrally for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

The total expenditure by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) on (i) LinkedIn membership fees and (ii) other subscriptions for the financial year 2024/2025 was as follows: CategoryTotal Expenditure (£)(i) LinkedIn membership fees£0.00 (Nil Return)(ii) Other subscriptions (Media)£5,939.52

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold a specific membership with LinkedIn. However, our spend on LinkedIn for the financial year 2024/2025 was £155,247.65.Please note this cost covers multiple recruitment services and advertising that span across all our operationally critical frontline roles. For example, those in HMPPS and HMCTS. All our campaign activity is data driven to maximise our reach to our target audiences.The Department’s spend for other subscriptions in 2024/2025 is £628,213.00. These subscriptions/memberships cover things such as The Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Bar Council, and the Office for National Statistics and ensure we are able to operate compliantly and effectively.

Food and Rural Affairs, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

​​During the period of 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, the department spent £0.00 on LinkedIn membership fees.​During the same period, the department and its executive agencies spent £274,988.24 on services that fit the broad description of ‘subscription’.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

The Department’s total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees for the last financial year was nil and (ii) other similar membership subscriptions was nil.

Media and Sport, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

DCMS has spent £52,670.85 on Linkedin membership fees and £92,099 on other subscriptions in the financial year 24/25. Costs are exclusive of VAT.These costs are used to maintain access to the widest possible applicant base for job roles in the department, to increase visibility of the department’s employer brand, and to reach a diverse range of potential applicants.

Innovation and Technology, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

For FY24/25, DSIT spent £159,000 on LinkedIn subscriptions and £1,221,168 on other subscriptions. DSIT uses its LinkedIn subscription to support with recruitment efforts including role advertisement and usage of LinkedIn Insights which supports with strategic workforce planning. With more than 44 million registered users in the UK as of January 2025, LinkedIn offers DSIT the ability to promote live vacancies to as many potential external candidates as possible. This is particularly important for DSIT’s critical digital and data vacancies, whereby it is estimated that more than half of our applicants come from outside of the civil service market.

Communities and Local Government, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

The department does not hold information on LinkedIn membership fees and other subscriptions in the format requested, and this could only be collated at a disproportionate cost.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.

The Home Office spent £98,800 on 13 LinkedIn Corporate Recruiter licences in 2024-25. There was further spend on other Recruitment services. The Home Office does not pay for LinkedIn membership services for individual members of staff.By “other subscriptions” we are assuming that this is in relation to subscriptions to professional bodies. We do not hold readily available information on professional subscriptions as our financial systems do not have a specific marker for this type of expenditure. This level of detailed analysis could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost.

For the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.

There were no transactions (subscription costs or otherwise) identified with LinkedIn as a supplier in the 2024/25 financial year.The total subscription fees identified for the 2024/25 financial year was £832,046.14. This figure excludes membership of the World Health Organisation which is considered a subscription for accountancy purposes.The response relates to the core department only and does not include information relating to the department’s arm’s-length bodies.

Whether her Department provides guidance to officials on matters to draw to the attention of Ministers when drafting answers to Parliamentary Questions.

Guidance is provided to officials on how to answer Parliamentary Questions within the Home Office.The Cabinet Office's Guide to Parliamentary Work sets out the timelines and standards that departments should seek to meet. This can be found here:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/111

How many (a) foreign national offenders and (b) irregular migrants are in the total absconder pool by risk category, criminal history and nationality.

The information requested on the number of foreign national offenders (including the previous request under UIN 74872) and irregular migrants who are classified as absconders is not currently available from published statistics. Nor is the breakdown of those figures by risk category, criminal history and nationality.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, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.Whilst local management information is held on absconder numbers and updated in line with operational need, this is used only for local management purposes. This data has not been verified or checked for accuracy to a standard that would make it suitable for publication, or to be provided to Members of Parliament. Obtaining the detailed information that has been requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple Home Office systems and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.With regard to the question about foreign national offenders who have been either re-apprehended or deported, such individuals in these circumstances would no longer be classified as absconders on Home Office systems. Similarly, irregular migrants in the total absconder pool who have been located or removed from the UK would no longer be classified as absconders.With regard to the assessment of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool, joint working between Immigration Enforcement (IE), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) helps tackle threats posed by high-harm foreign national offenders within the community. This initiative is not directly linked to individuals who have absconded.This initiative has developed a harm score threat assessment to ensure that multiagency efforts are able to utilise a risk-based prioritisation approach. The release of the methods utilised to calculate these risks would prejudice ongoing operational activity and is therefore not considered to be in the public interest to disclose this methodology.

How many civil servants are assigned to locating absconded foreign national offenders and irregular migrants; and whether performance targets are in place for reducing the size of the absconder pool.

The cost of collating information on absconders will depend on a range of variable factors, including the level of detail required and where the information is held. Extracting information from multiple databases and datasets may also involve manual scrutiny of individual records. Given these variables, any general estimate would be unreliable with assessments instead being made in response to individual requests and the specific circumstances.The Home Office has a range of tools to trace those who abscond, the number of staff involved in tracing activity varies across Immigration Enforcement depending on operational need, with c.65 staff currently dedicated to tracing activities, aswell as resources elsewhere within the Migration and Borders System, who are responsible for recording information when individuals are found or come back into contact. The number of absconders recorded on Home Office systems can fluctuate and there are no formal targets linked to a reduction in the number. The Home Office works closely with the police, other government agencies, commercial companies and international partners to trace absconders and bring them back into contact. Where new contact details are found we will consider the most appropriate intervention for the person including arrest and detention.

When total absconder pool figures were first compiled; and how frequently those figures have been updated since.

The information requested on the number of foreign national offenders (including the previous request under UIN 74872) and irregular migrants who are classified as absconders is not currently available from published statistics. Nor is the breakdown of those figures by risk category, criminal history and nationality.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, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.Whilst local management information is held on absconder numbers and updated in line with operational need, this is used only for local management purposes. This data has not been verified or checked for accuracy to a standard that would make it suitable for publication, or to be provided to Members of Parliament. Obtaining the detailed information that has been requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple Home Office systems and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.With regard to the question about foreign national offenders who have been either re-apprehended or deported, such individuals in these circumstances would no longer be classified as absconders on Home Office systems. Similarly, irregular migrants in the total absconder pool who have been located or removed from the UK would no longer be classified as absconders.With regard to the assessment of the potential public safety risk posed by foreign national offenders and irregular migrants recorded in the total absconder pool, joint working between Immigration Enforcement (IE), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) helps tackle threats posed by high-harm foreign national offenders within the community. This initiative is not directly linked to individuals who have absconded.This initiative has developed a harm score threat assessment to ensure that multiagency efforts are able to utilise a risk-based prioritisation approach. The release of the methods utilised to calculate these risks would prejudice ongoing operational activity and is therefore not considered to be in the public interest to disclose this methodology.