Written questions by Lowe.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) uses the Civil Service Learning Frameworks for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion training for our people. The financial information held by the department is limited to customer or supplier. The core department spent £1,246,267.27 with the Civil Service Learning Framework supplier. The department is not able identify how much the department has spent specifically on diversity, equality and inclusion training because our financial reports do not provide course titles.

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) remains committed to making the step changes required to create a more inclusive environment, enabling all staff, irrespective of background, to deliver high quality work at the Department.Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in learning and development training is understood to refer to anything with the objective of improving EDI in the AGO, regardless of whether it is called EDI or not.The AGO conducted a training course on bullying, discrimination and harassment in August 2024. Nine members of staff attended, and the cost of the course was £2,475.98. It referred to types of discrimination related to protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010 and employers’ responsibilities.

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The cost of training which covers the statutory obligations of civil servants under the Equality Act 2010 cannot be disaggregated from wider training costs because it often forms part of a wider learning package.The Cabinet Office last year audited the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities and in response to that audit, new guidance was published on Civil Service EDI Expenditure, including an end to all external spending on EDI activity, unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.

If he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

In 2024, DBT spent a total of £1,199.93 incl. VAT on D&I courses. This is based on the assumption that EDI training refers to training where awareness of EDI issues is the main theme of the training.

If she will make an estimate of revenue lost to train companies from fare avoidance in 2024.

The Rail Delivery Group estimated in 2014 that, £240 million a year is lost due to fare evasion on Great Britain’s railways. The Department is working with its industry partners to provide an updated figure and recognises the importance of reducing fraud.

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

Ministry of Justice Headquarters spent £2,101 in 2024 on a course which includes the awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in a leadership training series delivered via the Cabinet Office Learning Frameworks provision. All Ministry of Justice staff have the opportunity to complete the free, central Civil Service Expectations online training, which replaced several EDI courses in 2023

Innovation and Technology, if he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

Under data transparency publications, the department publishes transactions over £25,000. As EDI spend is less than this, it won’t be published.

If he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in Cabinet Office in 2024 was £0.

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

HM Treasury has spent £0 on diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in the calendar year 2024.

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

In the Department for Work and Pensions diversity with regard to employees is defined as valuing difference, diversity, and inclusion, ensuring fairness and opportunity for all. This includes promoting diversity, inclusion, and equality of opportunity, respecting differences and external experiences, and welcoming the views and challenges of others. DWP is committed to being an inclusive employer and is committed to creating an environment where everyone belongs and can be at their best, and our workforce is representative of the customers and communities that we serve. To support with these ambitions, we have invested a total of £69,198 in supporting our employees with specific equality and diversity related training needs and external memberships within the 2023-2024 financial year.

Media and Sport, if she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The only expenditure on D&I training in 2024 was £6,600 for a British Sign Language training programme of workshops for 12 staff in Manchester.

If he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

This information can only be obtained at disproportionate cost, as we do not theme our learning records by diversity, equality and inclusion.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the powers of train conductors to tackle avoidable disruptive behaviour on trains.

Train Operating Companies are already able to seek additional powers for their staff, to tackle incidents such as anti-social behaviour, via the Rail Safety Accreditation Scheme operated by the British Transport Police. The Department does not have any plans to increase the powers available through the existing scheme. Information on the scheme can be found here: Railway Safety Accreditation Scheme | British Transport Police.

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The total cost of centrally-funded EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) courses for MHCLG from January to December 2024 was £47,272.The figure above covers costs relating to centrally-funded L&D activity where training includes the awareness of diversity, equality or inclusion as the main theme of the training.This response covers all centrally funded activity that meets this definition. We do not have a central record of any training covered by this definition that may have been undertaken more locally by business areas; this information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost to the department.

If he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

In the 12 months from January 2024 to December 2024, the Department has not delivered any diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) courses centrally. This refers to any courses where the training includes awareness of DEI as the main theme of the training.All Departmental staff are required to complete the ‘Civil Service Expectations’ mandatory learning that includes aspects of DEI and is delivered centrally through Civil Service Learning at no additional cost to the Department. Since May 2024, the department has aligned itself with the Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance, which stipulates measures to enact greater control over DEI spend and activity across the Civil Service, providing assurance and alignment with Government priorities. The guidance is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-expenditure-guidance/civil-service-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-expenditure-guidance

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The department spent £190,000 on diversity and inclusion learning and development courses in 2024, defined as courses where the main theme of the training is diversity, equality and inclusion.

How much was spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation for people contacting her Department in 2024.

A) The spend on translation for people contacting the Department in 2024 was £882,118. B) The spend on interpretation for people contacting the department in 2024 was £6,345,275. This includes access costs such as BSL etc.

What the average (a) waiting time for people calling and (b) time people spent on hold for her Department was in 2024.

The table below shows the Average Speed of Answer and Total Hold Time, in an hours, minutes and seconds (hh:mm:ss) format, for all people calling DWP during the calendar year, 2024. Calendar YearAverage Time to Answer (hh:mm:ss)Average Hold Time (hh:mm:ss)202400:07:3300:00:24 DISCLAIMER Please note this information is derived from the Department’s management information, designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.

Pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2024 to Question 14378 on NHS: Translation Services, what the (a) cost for translation of and (b) proportion of communications in each language was in e-Referral Service communication (i) calls and (ii) letters in 2024.

The information requested on spend on translation and interpretation services by National Health Service trusts is not held centrally, as data is held at integrated care board level.Across 2024, the Telephone Appointments Line team used third party translation services for 425 calls, or 0.04% of all answered calls. We are unable to provide a specific cost for this as it is delivered as part of the overall service specification for the provider. 101,431 letters, or 9.03% of all letters, were sent in a language other than English. There was no net cost for this as the translation had been paid for in previous years and the patients would have been sent a letter in English in the absence of a translated letter. The following table shows the total number of calls in a language other than English, what that language was, and the percentage it represents of all calls: TotalPercentage of total calls using language support in specified languageAlbanian30.71%Amharic10.24%Arabic6916.24%Bengali348.00%Bulgarian92.12%Cantonese51.18%Czech20.47%Dari30.71%Farsi204.71%French30.71%Gujarati20.47%Greek20.47%Hungarian61.41%Hindi81.88%Italian40.94%Kurmanji10.24%Lithuanian20.47%Mandarin51.18%Pashto102.35%Polish204.71%Portuguese153.53%Punjabi214.94%Portuguese Br.10.24%Romanian6014.12%Russian51.18%Somali51.18%Sorani266.12%Slovak51.18%Spanish112.59%Sylheti92.12%Tigrigna20.47%Turkish214.94%Ukrainian71.65%Urdu286.59%Total425 Total calls105,49420.04% of total calls used language support In addition, the following table shows the total number of letters in a language other than English, what that language was, and the percentage it represents of all letters: TotalPercentage of total letters sent in specified languageAlbanian1,7001.68%Arabian7,1897.09%Bengali9,0698.94%Chinese6520.64%French1,9171.89%Greek9350.92%Gujarati3,2073.16%Hindi1,9431.92%Hungarian9790.97%Italian1,9611.93%Kurdish2,2182.19%Lithuanian1,3471.33%Persian2,3802.35%Polish8,4138.29%Portuguese3,5383.49%Punjabi5,7605.68%Romanian5,4275.35%Russian1,7791.75%Slovak1,6801.66%Somali2,7872.75%Spanish3,4813.43%Tamil2,5432.51%Turkish3,9443.89%Urdu14,87614.67%Wolof260.03%Other languages11,68011.52%Total translated101,431 Total letters1,123,8299.03% of total letters sent were translatedSource: NHS England

What the (a) average waiting time for people phoning and (b) time people spent on hold for the DVLA was in 2024.

In the calendar year 2024, the average waiting time for someone telephoning the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to be connected to an advisor was 12 minutes 8 seconds.