Written questions by Lowe.

How many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

The Home Office has a clear policy on International Remote Working (IRW), which is only permitted in very limited circumstances, either on compassionate grounds for up to four weeks where an employee has a seriously ill relative abroad, or to enable an employee to accompany their spouse/partner on a Diplomatic or other Government posting abroad. No other IRW is permitted.Since January 2025 9 employees have been allowed a period of remote working on compassionate grounds. We also have 11 employees currently working remotely while they accompany their spouse/partner on an international posting.

How many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

Unless undertaking work in an official capacity, the department only permits overseas working in limited circumstances and for short periods of time. The department’s international remote working policy considers any country outside of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as overseas including all British Overseas Territories.In line with Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office guidance, the department has currently granted temporary permission to 24 staff to work outside the UK in the following countries: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Morocco, Spain, South Africa, and Turkey.

How many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

The Ministry of Justice uses the term international remote working (IRW) to describe working remotely outside the UK. IRW is defined as when an employee wants to undertake the full responsibilities of their role remotely from abroad, for a short-term and fixed period. Employees may request to work their full responsibilities from abroad in exceptional circumstances e.g. supporting a family member overseas who needs urgent and immediate help, for a maximum of 30 calendar days in a rolling 12-month period.On 3 July 2025, the Ministry of Justice had 11 employees who had permission to work remotely outside the UK. These are for the following countries:British Virgin IslandsGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyLithuaniaNetherlandsPolandRepublic of IrelandUnited States of America

How many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

We have provided a response based on the number of accepted requests via the Departments Working Remotely Overseas policy. This does not include staff working overseas on official business postings, with the Departments Working Remotely Overseas policy focusing on staff who are assigned to offices within the UK but have sought permission to temporarily work remotely overseas for exceptional reasons. The response to this question also only refers to DfT core, rather than wider group DfT. On 3rd July 2025, DfTc had 4 members of staff with permission through our Working Remotely Overseas Policy to temporarily work outside of the UK. These members of staff are working from the Netherlands, India, Malawi and the United States of America.

How many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

Cabinet Office staff may apply for permission to temporarily work remotely overseas in exceptional circumstances. Examples of this might include when accompanying a Civil Service or Armed Forces partner on an official posting. There are <5 staff registered on payroll whose permanent working location is abroad. On security and data protection grounds, we are not able to share their location/s. Separately, there is also a process for staff to request to take their IT overseas with them while on leave, for example if they believe they may need to be contacted during that time.

How many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

The Scotland Office has no staff working remotely from a non-UK location.

How many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

Standard DBT policy is that staff should not normally be allowed to work remotely overseas however the department do permit this under exceptional personal circumstances and following/preceding a period of annual leave when visiting family or friends overseas.As of 4th July there are 16 approved applications across DBT to temporarily work overseas for a set period of time. All 16 are contractually are based in the UK.

How many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

The Northern Ireland Office does not have any employees working remotely from outside the UK. All staff are based within the UK.

How many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) does not have any staff working permanently outside the UK.

How many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

HM Treasury's international remote working policy permits certain staff to work remotely overseas in order to accompany a partner posted abroad on HMG business. There are two members of staff who each have permission to work remotely from a European country. For UK GDPR purposes we are not able to share the countries where staff are located since they are there for personal circumstances.

Innovation and Technology, how many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

As at 2 July 2025, 7 DSIT employees, who are all UK-based, have exceptionally been given permission to work remotely outside of the UK for a limited period. The countries are: Ghana, United States of America, Italy, Belgium, Sweden and Germany. Permission was granted for various reasons, including to accompany a partner posted overseas on official government business.International remote working is separate from and does not include employees who are conducting official business abroad. DSIT’s international remote working policy allows staff to make an application to work remotely overseas for a short period of time for a number of limited reasons. Approval of such a request is subject to the employee having the legal right to work in the country and the necessary security and other clearances.

How many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

DWP has no employees who are temporarily working outside the UK. The DWP policy does not permit overseas homeworking as per our Contractual Homeworking Policy.

How many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

As at 2 July 2025, 10 DESNZ employees, who are all UK-based, have exceptionally been given permission to work remotely outside of the UK for a limited period. The countries are Thailand, Botswana, Barbados, India, Slovenia, United States of America, France, Belgium and Ireland. Permission is granted for various reasons, including to accompany a partner posted overseas on official government business. International remote working is separate from and does not include employees who are conducting official business abroad. DESNZ’s international remote working policy allows staff to make an application to work remotely overseas for a short period of time for a number of limited reasons. Approval of such a request is subject to the employee having the legal right to work in the country and the necessary security and other clearances.

Media and Sport, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

DCMS does not allow any staff to work remotely outside of the UK on a permanent basis. Staff may be given time-limited permission to work overseas. Short term overseas approval granted from 1st January - 4th July 2025 are as follows:Travelling for business reasons: 103 instancesAccompanying a spouse on an overseas military posting: 0 instancesOn-call during annual leave: 12 instancesTemporary short term remote working overseas: 9 instances

Communities and Local Government, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

In line with wider Government policy, the Department policy allows spouses of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials to work abroad when their spouses have been posted overseas. The Department allows working abroad when officials are overseas on official business, typically to support Ministers. If there is a clear business need, the Department allows officials to take equipment abroad to keep in touch whilst on leave. The Department also allows working overseas for up to two weeks for exceptional welfare reasons The numbers of staff with equipment oversees varies during the year. On 9 July, seven officials were working overseas on official business in Italy. 10 officials had equipment overseas allowing them to work if there was a need to keep in touch in, variously, Belgium, Bulgaria, France (three), Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States of America (three).

Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

Information on civil servants employed by Defra based overseas is publicly available.

How many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

The Department approves temporary international remote working for staff to work remotely overseas for short defined periods of time where there is critical business need or unforeseen personal circumstances that require immediate attention outside of the United Kingdom. The Department approved 73 cases of international remote working for Department staff between 4 July 2024 and 4 July 2025. The destinations that we have approved for international remote working cases are as follows Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and USA. The Department has no approved permanent postings outside of the UK.

⁠what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on checking for overseas criminal records for prospective (a) taxi and (b) private hire vehicle licence holders who were born overseas.

The Policing and Crime Act 2017 enables the Secretary of State for Transport to issue statutory guidance to licensing authorities on exercising their taxi and private hire vehicle licensing functions to protect children and vulnerable adults. Statutory guidance was published in 2020 under these powers. This statutory guidance includes a recommendation that when an applicant has previously spent an extended period living or working overseas (3 or more continuous months), licensing authorities should seek or require applicants to provide where possible criminal records information or a certificate of good character from overseas.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation or guidance to centralise data collection on licensed drivers' (a) immigration status and (b) criminal history.

The Immigration Act 2016 prevents illegal working in the taxi and private hire vehicle sector, as either a driver or an operator. Licensing authorities are prohibited from issuing a licence to anyone who is disqualified by reason of their immigration status, and they discharge their duty by conducting immigration checks. Being disqualified from holding a licence by reason of their immigration status means that the person is in the UK illegally, is not permitted to work, or is permitted to work, but is subject to a condition that prohibits them from holding a licence in this sector. The requirement to check the immigration status of licence applicants is in addition to the ‘fit and proper’ test. The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides access to criminal record information through its disclosure service. As at 1 April 2024, all authorities in England required an enhanced DBS security check for all drivers as part of their ‘fit and proper’ test. The statutory guidance issued by the Department for Transport to licensing authorities in 2020 recommends that when an individual has spent an extended period (3 or more continuous months) outside the UK, licensing authorities should seek or require applicants to provide where possible criminal records information or a certificate of good character from overseas to properly assess risk and support its decision-making process. This enables licensing authorities to make an informed decision when considering if a person is ‘fit and proper’ to hold a taxi or private hire vehicle driver.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to ensure all (a) taxis and (c) private hire vehicles are fitted with CCTV.

In response to Baroness Casey’s report on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, the Government committed to legislate to address the important issues raised, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We will work as quickly as possible and consider all options – including national standards – seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety. CCTV in vehicles will naturally be explored as part of these considerations.