Written questions by Pochin.

What her planned timetable is for the publication of interim and final findings of the national inquiry into grooming gangs; and whether those findings will be presented to Parliament.

The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is a statutory inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005, with full powers to compel evidence. Its purpose is to uncover systemic failings and ensure accountability at every level. The timetable of the Inquiry is to be determined by the Chair. The draft Terms of Reference make clear that the Inquiry will publish findings and recommendations for each local area reviewed. These local reports will be made publicly available and may be issued ahead of the final report, which will also be published. Local agencies and central government will carefully consider recommendations made by the Inquiry, and act to implement necessary reforms at both local and national levels. On 9 December, Baroness Anne Longfield was appointed as Chair of the Inquiry, supported by Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as panel members. Together, they bring extensive experience in championing children’s rights, deep knowledge of policing and local government, and, crucially, a proven ability to hold powerful institutions to account. Each was recommended by Baroness Casey following engagement with victims and survivors to understand the qualities they wished to see in a Chair.Baroness Longfield served under multiple governments and was appointed Children’s Commissioner by the previous Government in November 2014. She will relinquish the Labour whip and take a leave of absence from the Lords. More importantly, her record demonstrates an unwavering commitment to challenging authority, regardless of party, whenever children’s interests are at stake. The starting point for selecting a Chair was expertise and experience - particularly in child protection and in holding institutions to account. There are numerous examples of successful inquiries and investigations in this area led by non-judicial figures, including the work of Professor Alexis Jay in Rotherham and Baroness Casey in her National Audit. Baroness Longfield, together with Zoë Billingham and Eleanor Kelly, fully meet these requirements. Their appointment followed a thorough due diligence process. The Chair will establish a robust mechanism enabling victims and survivors to provide evidence safely and confidently. In line with the draft Terms of Reference, the Chair will publish a charter setting out how victims and survivors can participate and how their views, experiences, and testimony will inform and shape the Inquiry’s work. On 9 December 2025, as their first formal act, the Chair and panellists issued an open letter to victims and survivors, acknowledging that trust must be earned and committing to meet with groups of victims and survivors during the initial months of the Inquiry.

How many allegations of group-based child sexual exploitation were (a) not pursued or (b) discontinued by (i) police or (ii) prosecutors over the last ten years.

The Government does not currently hold information on the number of allegations of group-based child sexual exploitation that were not pursued or were discontinued by police or prosecutors in the last decade. We are taking action to review relevant closed cases under the oversight of the new National Police Operation, Operation Beaconport. For the first time, it brings together police forces, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Child Sexual Exploitation Policing Taskforce, the Tackling Organised Exploitation Programme and the National Crime Agency to ensure more perpetrators face justice. Operation Beaconport has already identified over 1,200 cases from police forces across England and Wales that were closed with ‘No Further Action’, and of these, over 200 cases have been prioritised for initial review due to allegations of rape. This was the result of a first tranche of data collected following the Home Secretary’s ask in January. The Operation’s second tranche data request, which is much wider in scope to identify all relevant closed cases, is progressing. On 10 December, the Home Office-funded Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce published data on cases of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse cases that are recorded by the police: Group-Based-Child-Sexual-Abuse-and-Exploitation-Data-12-months-of-data-from-January-December-2024-December-2025.pdf

What recent discussions she has had with local authorities regarding on the accumulation of Penalty Charge Notice related personal debts arising from the Mersey Gateway Bridge.

The operation of the Mersey Gateway crossings is the responsibility of Halton Borough Council. Over 97% of drivers using the two bridges pay the charge on time, and fewer than 0.5% neither pay on time nor the penalty charge within 42 days. It is a matter of fairness to the great majority of people who pay on time that the operator of the crossing seeks to collect the debt from those who do not do so. Anyone who receives a penalty charge should respond quickly, using the information on the notice.

Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has held with the BBC on the potential introduction of advertising on BBC services.

The Secretary of State is in regular discussion with the BBC about Charter Review and other BBC matters, including on the options for funding the BBC set out in the Charter Review Green Paper. DCMS officials also hold regular meetings with the BBC and Ofcom about Charter Review, including issues relating to BBC funding. The Government is developing its understanding of the impact of commercial options and will continue to build this throughout the Charter Review process, including through the public consultation and our engagement with stakeholders, including the BBC and Ofcom.

If her Department will collect and publish city-specific data on the number of grooming gangs identified by police forces.

Baroness Casey’s rapid national audit into group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse set out stark findings on the scale and nature of offending by grooming gangs. This government is committed to exposing the failures that have happened across the country and making sure that it can never happen again. We accepted all of Baroness Casey’s twelve recommendations and are working across government to implement these as quickly as possible.To improve our understanding of and response to these crimes, we fund a number of policing capabilities, including the Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) programme which uses data and intelligence to increase law enforcement’s capability to respond to organized exploitation. We also fund the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce to improve how the police investigate child sexual exploitation and abuse, with a focus on group-based offending, and bring more offenders to justice. They have created the Complex and Organised Child Abuse Database (COCAD) to improve our understanding of group-based child sexual exploitation cases. On 10 December 2025, the Taskforce published an annual data report for group-based offending in 2024, which can be found here: https://www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/publications/hydrant-publicationsThe Taskforce do not publish data on offending within specific cities.

What assessment his Department has made of the impact of Penalty Charge Notice enforcement practices associated with toll bridges on low income motorists.

The operation of each toll bridge is the responsibility of the body that owns it, in this case Halton Borough Council. Furthermore, most toll bridges collect payments at toll-booths which minimises the risk of non-payment. Where free-flow charging is used, as at the Mersey Gateway crossings, operators offer numerous ways to pay to maximise compliance rates. National regulations specify the maximum penalty charge that may be imposed for non-payment at the Dartford Crossing and the Mersey Gateway bridges. If penalty charges go unpaid, enforcement agents may be used to collect the debt. The EnforcementConduct Board provides independent oversight of the enforcement industry to ensure that all those who are subject to enforcement action are treated fairly.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of public sector pay awards agreed since July 2024 on expenditure over the Spending Review period.

No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent public sector pay settlements on trends in the level of public sector net borrowing in future financial years.

No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the long term affordability of public sector pay settlements agreed outside the recommendations of independent pay review bodies.

No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent public sector pay settlements on forecast productivity growth in relevant sectors.

No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.

What assessment his Department has made of the UK’s ability to defend against a large scale conventional military attack.

The National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence Review acknowledge that the UK and European allies face a new era of threat. Defence plays a key role in the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence Programme, a whole of Government endeavour, to enhance our national security, resilience and preparedness for crisis and conflict. Defence is central to this, combining its strengths with those of wider Government, industry and society. The department maintains plans in coordination with NATO and wider Government, with the Armed Forces continually exercising their capabilities to ensure they can respond rapidly and effectively to keep Britian safe.

What steps his Department is taking to tackle UK defence capability gaps.

The Ministry of Defence employs a rigorous approach to identify and mitigate risks arising from gaps in defence capability, ensuring the delivery of defence's strategic and operational objectives. The Strategic Defence Review sets out recommendations to enhance the agility and lethality of our armed forces, which will be implemented through the Defence Investment Plan. The Integration of our defence capabilities will be driven through the Integrated Force Plan, ensuring that capability remains coherent and aligned with national defence strategy.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the UK’s defence industrial base to support rapid mobilisation and sustained conflict.

The Department regularly assesses the Defence enterprise’s ability to respond swiftly to sustained conflict. Additional measures to support rapid mobilisation and sustained readiness were outlined in the Defence Industrial Strategy and the Strategic Defence Review. The current strategy prioritises resilience by developing integrated and assured supply chains, scalable production capacity, and an “always-on” munitions capability that can be rapidly expanded. Working across Government and with international partners, significant progress is already underway. Key initiatives include regular wargaming exercises with industry, reforms to commercial processes, establishing a dedicated scenario planning and modelling capability and developing potential legislative powers to remove barriers and accelerate delivery of critical projects.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent public sector pay settlements on departmental budgetary flexibility in future financial years.

No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent public sector pay settlements on the fiscal rules.

No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of taking fiscal steps to offset the potential impact of recent public sector pay agreements on the public finances.

No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.

What analysis her Department has undertaken of the distributional impact of recent public sector pay awards across income deciles.

No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that hate crime data reported by police forces is accurate and comparable across categories of characteristic.

Hate crime has no place in our society, and the Government is committed to ensuring it is recorded accurately and addressed effectively. The accuracy and consistency of crime recording, including hate crime, is the responsibility of individual police forces, who must comply with the Home Office Counting Rules. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) independently inspects, monitors and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of the police, including crime recording practices. However, HMICFRS does not publish annual compliance reports specifically on hate crime recording. Home Office statisticians work closely with forces to ensure accurate data is provided for the annual statistical publication on hate crime in England and Wales. The latest release, covering the year ending March 2025, is available on GOV.UK. Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2025 - GOV.UK The College of Policing sets national guidance and standards for policing, including Authorised Professional Practice on hate crime. The Home Office works closely with the College and other policing partners to review and update recording protocols as needed. This ensures forces have clear, consistent guidance for recording hate crime across all protected characteristics. The government is carefully considering the 34 recommendations made by the Law Commission in its 2021 review of hate crime legislation; this does not contain any formal recommendation on how police should record hate crimes.

What assessment his Department has made of recent trends in levels of Russian nuclear submarine and naval activity within the Arctic Circle and the implications for the security of the United Kingdom and NATO allies.

The Ministry of Defence keeps Russian military capabilities and investment under continuous review. We work closely with our NATO Allies to understand the implications of Russian military capability development for Alliance security. NATO is strengthening its deterrence and defence as a result of the increasing threat from Russia and will continue to adapt as necessary.

What steps the Government is taking to monitor and respond to changes in the military balance in the Arctic region, including Russia’s nuclear capabilities and posture, and what discussions he has held with NATO partners on this matter.

The Ministry of Defence keeps Russian military capabilities and investment under continuous review. We work closely with our NATO Allies to understand the implications of Russian military capability development for Alliance security. NATO is strengthening its deterrence and defence as a result of the increasing threat from Russia and will continue to adapt as necessary.