Every parliamentary written question tabled by Suella Braverman this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 281–300 of 580 · this parliament
Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to (a) local authorities and (b) planning bodies on supporting leaseholders unable to sell homes due to unresolved disputes with freeholders.
Leaseholders involved in disputes may contact the government-funded Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) which provides free initial legal advice and information on leasehold, building safety, commonhold and park home issues for consumers.
What steps he has taken to ensure that all Civil Service Pension Scheme members that were affected by the Capita data breach have been (a) notified and (b) supported.
No members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme were affected by the Capita data breach as the scheme is administered by MyCSP. However, a small number of members of the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme were affected. All were notified and full support was provided by Capita.
Whether his Department had made an assessment of the adequacy of Capita’s cybersecurity protocols prior to the March 2023 data breach.
The Cabinet Office (CO), which is responsible for managing the contract with Capita for the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme (RMSPS), ensured the adequacy of Capita's cybersecurity protocols through a robust contractual framework. Capita is required to adhere to Government Security standards and the Security Schedule of the contract, which includes providing annual independent penetration testing by a National Cyber Security Centre-accredited team and maintaining security accreditations such as ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus. These standards and Capita’s security posture are overseen by CO Information Assurance professionals and captured via regular reporting and audits. It should be noted that all of the accredited RMSPS systems were not compromised during the Capita cyber attack and remained secure; however, a small number of scheme members were unfortunately impacted when some data was extracted from a separate Capita finance file related to compensation payments.
What steps he has taken to ensure transparency regarding the nature of the data compromised with the people affected by the Capita data breach.
Capita contacted all impacted members to inform them of the potential loss of data. Capita provided all impacted members with clear communications and also a subscription to Experian Plus that allowed members to monitor their online records for any signs of potential issues. Capita also initiated an independent full review of their systems to review security and to identify any further potential data exfiltration. Capita cooperated fully with investigations into the breach with the Information Commissioner's Office and with Cabinet office in assessing any potential risks to the membership of the scheme.
What steps his Department takes to ensure that employers share accurate (a) data and (b) instructions with Civil Service Pensions; and how often this is audited.
The Cabinet Office ensures employer data accuracy through a mandatory Interface Compliance Process, in place since 2018, which monitors the quality of all data and instructions against a 'right first time' standard. This process flags all Errors and Warnings on monthly submissions. The administrator, MyCSP, does not load the following month's data until all previous errors are corrected, ensuring a continuously maintained data quality. Compliance is audited weekly by the administrator, with summary reports provided to the Cabinet Office.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of freehold management practices on the ability of leaseholders to sell properties.
The government is committed to ensuring that those living in the rented and leasehold sectors are protected from abuse and poor service at the hands of unscrupulous property agents.Property agents must already belong to a government-approved redress scheme. This legislative requirement is currently enforced by local authorities and by the National Trading Standards’ Lettings and Estate Agency Team, who have the power to issue warnings and banning orders to rogue estate and letting agents.The redress schemes publish data on the number of complaints they receive, the amount awarded to consumers, and maintain a public list of agents that have been expelled from their respective schemes.Many leaseholders face persistent delays and high costs when trying to sell their properties. Currently, freeholders and managing agents are responsible for providing essential sales information, but they often have little incentive to do so efficiently. Homeowners living on private or mixed tenure estates, who contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of communal areas, can face similar challenges when trying to obtain relevant information from their estate manager. The government will take forward measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LFRA) which will speed up the provision of information for leaseholders and homeowners on private or mixed tenure estates who wish to sell their property, and protect sellers from unreasonable fees when requesting this information.The previous government committed to regulate the property agent sector in 2018 and asked a working group Chaired by Lord Best to advise them how to do it, yet it failed to respond to their findings from 2019. Managing agents play a key role in the maintenance of multi-occupancy buildings and freehold estates, and their importance will only increase as we transition toward a commonhold future, and so we are looking again at Lord Best’s 2019 report on regulating the property agent sector, particularly in light of the recommendations in the final Grenfell Inquiry report.On 4 July 2025, we launched a wide-ranging consultation on proposals to hold landlords and managing agents to account for the services they provide and the charges and fees they levy. This included a number of proposals recommended by Lord Best, including the introduction of mandatory qualifications for managing agents and estate managers on freehold estates. We are clear that this consultation is not the final step in the regulation of managing agents and we will continue to reflect on the various other recommendations made in the 2019 report.We will set out our full position on regulation of estate, letting and managing agents in due course.
What contingency plans he has in place if Capita is deemed unsuitable to continue administering civil service pensions.
Contingency plans are linked to contractual obligations placed on the pension administrator with several options available to the Cabinet Office in the event that a third party is unable to meet its contractual obligations. In the event of a catastrophic failure, the Cabinet Office has the right to step in to manage the contract.
If he will publish a national strategy for palliative and end of life care.
The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.Additionally, we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. I am pleased to confirm the continuation of circa £26 million, adjusted for inflation, for the next three financial years, 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive, to be distributed again via integrated care boards. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.
Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of supermarket pricing strategies on the long-term viability of UK farming businesses.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is responsible for investigating UK competition issues. The CMA updated its analysis of competition and profitability in the groceries sector in July 2024, which found no evidence of groceries inflation being driven by weak competition between retailers. The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) regulates the relationship between the UK’s largest grocery retailers and their direct suppliers by encouraging, monitoring and enforcing compliance with Groceries Code, a CMA owned competition measure. The Code covers interactions between retailers and direct suppliers which excludes most farmers. The Code does not regulate prices, which is a commercial negotiation.
What steps his Department is taking to ensure that air defence systems are equipped to respond to (a) cost-asymmetric threats and (b) drone swarms.
The Ministry of Defence continually monitors the threat posed to the UK. Integrated Air and Missile Defence, including the countering of the threat posed by Uncrewed Air Systems, will be prioritised appropriately as part of the future Integrated Force. Delivery of the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including investment in homeland Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be laid out in the Defence Investment Plan due to be published later this year. The Department is reviewing all options for the manufacture and deployment of anti-drone systems.
What discussions the UK has had with NATO allies on the sustainability of air defence ammunition stocks in the event of prolonged drone-based conflict.
The UK has regular and ongoing discussions with NATO allies on the sustainability of air defence ammunition stocks. This includes through the NATO Conference National Armament Directors (CNAD), which held an extraordinary meeting on air and missile defence on 23 January 2025, and the NATO Defence Industrial Production Board, which is currently addressing how we increase industrial capacity in Surface-Based Air and Missile Defence. The UK is also encouraging allies to consolidate future buys of air defence ammunition and support increased production capacity through our NATO Multinational Procurement Initiatives and NATO’s Reoccurring Process for Aggregating Demand Signal (REPEAD). The UK remains committed to working closely with NATO allies to ensure the sustainability of air defence ammunition stocks and to address the challenges posed by evolving threats, including drone-based warfare. The Government will continue to prioritise this issue and work with Allies to ensure that NATO remains prepared to respond to current and future security challenges.
What assessment he has made of the feasibility of equipping UK forces with improvised anti-drone vehicles using mounted machine guns and spotlights.
The Ministry of Defence continually monitors the threat posed to the UK. Integrated Air and Missile Defence, including the countering of the threat posed by Uncrewed Air Systems, will be prioritised appropriately as part of the future Integrated Force. Delivery of the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including investment in homeland Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be laid out in the Defence Investment Plan due to be published later this year. The Department is reviewing all options for the manufacture and deployment of anti-drone systems.
Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of deploying mobile, low-cost anti-drone units.
The Ministry of Defence continually monitors the threat posed to the UK. Integrated Air and Missile Defence, including the countering of the threat posed by Uncrewed Air Systems, will be prioritised appropriately as part of the future Integrated Force. Delivery of the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including investment in homeland Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be laid out in the Defence Investment Plan due to be published later this year. The Department is reviewing all options for the manufacture and deployment of anti-drone systems.
What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of low-cost drone swarms on (a) military and (b) civilian infrastructure.
The Department is aware of the threat posed by low-cost drones to military and civilian infrastructure. the Ministry of Defence supports the Home Office in its national response to this. The Strategic Defence Review announced an investment of £1 billion to enhance our homeland air and missile defence. This investment will be prioritised appropriately as part of the future Integrated Force. Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including on all aspects of the Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan to be published this year.
Whether the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers have been consulted on the potential to manufacture mobile anti-drone platforms for domestic defence.
The Ministry of Defence continually monitors the threat posed to the UK. Integrated Air and Missile Defence, including the countering of the threat posed by Uncrewed Air Systems, will be prioritised appropriately as part of the future Integrated Force. Delivery of the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including investment in homeland Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be laid out in the Defence Investment Plan due to be published later this year. The Department is reviewing all options for the manufacture and deployment of anti-drone systems.
Whether his Department has considered extending the remit of the Groceries Code Adjudicator to cover (a) farmers and (b) other indirect suppliers.
The government is currently undertaking the fourth statutory review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA). The review considers the GCA’s effectiveness in enforcing the Groceries Code between 31 March 2022 and 1 April 2025.The public consultation to the review additionally asked if there are unfair contractual practices in parts of the supply chain not covered by either the GCA or the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA). The ASCA enforces the Fair Dealing Regulations under the Agriculture Act 2020 which the government introduced to deal with the production end of the supply chain in specific sectors.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle (a) late cancellations and (b) unfair payment practices impacting farmers and growers in the UK.
The Government is clear that fair, equitable and transparent supply chain practices are essential to the long-term resilience and security of the UK food system. We remain committed to tackling any contractual unfairness that exists in the agri-food supply chain, including any practices related to cancellations and late payments. Both the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) and the sector-specific ‘Fair Dealing’ regulations made under the Agriculture Act 2020 are subject to statutory reviews, which will assess their effectiveness and inform any future developments. We maintain a regular dialogue on the relationship between the GCA and ASCA, to ensure that the system remains proportionate and fit for purpose.
Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Groceries Code Adjudicator and (b) the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator on improving protections for indirect suppliers.
The Government is clear that fair, equitable and transparent supply chain practices are essential to the long-term resilience and security of the UK food system. We remain committed to tackling any contractual unfairness that exists in the agri-food supply chain, including any practices related to cancellations and late payments. Both the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) and the sector-specific ‘Fair Dealing’ regulations made under the Agriculture Act 2020 are subject to statutory reviews, which will assess their effectiveness and inform any future developments. We maintain a regular dialogue on the relationship between the GCA and ASCA, to ensure that the system remains proportionate and fit for purpose.
Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on the (a) statutory review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator and (b) Farming Profitability Review.
The Government is currently undertaking the fourth statutory review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA). The review considers the GCA’s effectiveness in enforcing the Groceries Code between 31 March 2022 and 1 April 2025. The review commenced on 1 April and a consultation to gather stakeholder views and evidence was published on 13 May with a closing date of 5 August. The Government is currently analysing responses to the consultation and will publish a report as soon as practicable. On the Farming Profitability Review, Baroness Minette Batters (BMB) was appointed in April as the lead reviewer. Baroness Batters will submit her report to the Secretary of State for consideration shortly.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of equitable supply chain practices on long-term food security.
The Government is clear that fair, equitable and transparent supply chain practices are essential to the long-term resilience and security of the UK food system. We remain committed to tackling any contractual unfairness that exists in the agri-food supply chain, including any practices related to cancellations and late payments. Both the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) and the sector-specific ‘Fair Dealing’ regulations made under the Agriculture Act 2020 are subject to statutory reviews, which will assess their effectiveness and inform any future developments. We maintain a regular dialogue on the relationship between the GCA and ASCA, to ensure that the system remains proportionate and fit for purpose.