Written questions by Dhesi.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure a sufficient supply of epidural kits across the NHS.

There are no supply issues regarding epidural insertion kits, but there are supply issues impacting some of the usual medicines used to provide pain relief via epidural infusion. However, a range of licensed and unlicensed bags, including unlicensed imports, remain available, and the situation is being closely monitored.To ensure a system-wide co-ordinated approach on using these products and safe implementation, a National Patient Safety Alert was issued on 2 December 2025 with clear and comprehensive management guidance. The Department and NHS England have also worked with professional stakeholders to provide clinical advice for clinicians at hospital level to minimise potential disruption and maintain safe patient care, which is available at the following link:https://www.rcoa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/2025-12/Epidural%20infusions%20vFinal_0.pdf

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2025 to Question 99506 on Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), whether the upcoming PFAS Plan will commit to the Health & Safety Executive's (HSE’s) suggestions, following on from the RMOA and the HSE UK REACH Work Programme 2024-25, to restrict PFAS in wide dispersive uses and PFAS in consumer products.

The Government’s approach to PFAS includes consideration of appropriate regulatory interventions as well as other actions, and more details will be provided in the PFAS Plan when it is published. We recognise that PFAS is used in a wide range of contexts, including wide dispersive uses and in consumer products. Current work includes a 6 month HSE consultation on whether to restrict the wide dispersive use of PFAS in fire-fighting foams, as one of the largest sources of direct releases of PFAS to the environment.

Whether she has any plans to restrict UK insurance companies providing cover to vessels which ship Russian oil.

The UK already restricts UK firms from insuring Russian oil. The UK implements the G7+ Oil Price Cap (OPC) which prohibits G7+ companies from shipping, insuring or otherwise servicing Russian oil sold above a set price to put downward pressure on Russian revenues. The UK lowered the OPC for Russian seaborne crude in July: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-tightens-oil-price-cap-in-blow-to-putins-war-machine Additionally, the UK has sanctioned 520 vessels so far for carrying Russian oil. These sanctions include the prohibition of insurance provision to these vessels. The UK and our partners continue to consider strengthening sanctions on Russian energy exports, should Russia refuse to engage meaningfully in peace negotiations, building on the existing OPC and sanctions on all Russian oil majors.

What steps he is taking to ensure that military veterans can report sexual abuse to their local police force in the first instance, regardless of where the alleged abuse occurred in the UK.

A military veteran may report an alleged sexual offence to either their local police force in the UK or the Defence Serious Crime Command. Where it is an offence that may be dealt with in either the civilian criminal or Service Justice Systems, decisions are made on a case-by-case basis as to whether a civilian police force or the Defence Serious Crime Command should investigate the matter, taking into account the views of the victim.

What her Department's policy is for vessels identified within UK territorial waters as sailing under a false flag.

The United Kingdom recognises the importance of all vessels complying with international maritime law and we are concerned by the rise of ships without nationality. We are determined to continue to uphold international maritime law and to challenge abusive flag practices.

How much funding his Department has provided for Wexham Park Hospital since July 2024.

Wexham Park Hospital is managed by the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (NFT), which received funding from several national capital programmes in 2024/25, including £1.1 million as part of our Critical Infrastructure Risk funding to address backlog maintenance at Wrexham Park Hospital.In the current year 2025/26, the Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB) will receive £10.1 million from our £750 million Estates Safety Fund to address critical infrastructure and safety risks at Wexham Park Hospital and Frimley Park Hospital.The Frimley ICB has also been provisionally allocated £27.3 million from the Constitutional Standards Recovery Fund to support performance across secondary and emergency care, and £1.2 million from the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund for improvements in the primary care estate in 2025/26.Alongside funding for national capital programmes, the Frimley ICB and providers have been allocated £43.9 million in operational capital funding, including primary care business-as-usual capital, for 2025/26, to be prioritised according to local needs. For the 2026/27 to 2029/30 period, the Frimley Health NFT have been allocated £142.9 million in operational capital funding.

Who is the Chief Risk Officer for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.

HM Treasury is the Lead Government Department for Disruption to Financial Services, and the Principal Accounting Officer is primarily accountable to government for discharging that role. The PAO is also responsible for HMT’s contribution to the management of other national security risks where other departments are the lead government department.

Who is the Chief Risk Officer for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.

Secretaries of State and Accounting Officers are ultimately responsible for all risks a Department owns. Each risk in the National Risk Register (NRR) has a designated Risk Owner, working within the Lead Government Department which is responsible for designated risk areas.

Who is the Chief Risk Officer for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.

Each risk in the National Risk Register has a designated Risk Owner, working within the lead Government department which is responsible for designated risk areas.The Department’s roles and accountabilities in relation to overall risk, and responsibility for managing emergencies, are outlined on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care/about/our-governance

Whether her Department is taking steps to support self-employed people who require support to file their tax returns due to economic or health difficulties; and whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of reforming the penalty system, in particular for those who do not owe any tax.

The government has reformed penalties and at Budget 2025 confirmed the introduction of a new penalty regime for late filing of SA returns and late payment of income tax that will now apply to all SA customers from April 2027. This reform of late filing penalties will reduce the penalties a customer can accumulate for filing late and will introduce a further safeguard so people will not receive a financial penalty for a single failure to file on time. HMRC also has dedicated support in place for those facing personal difficulties and encourages anyone struggling to meet their obligations to make contact as soon as possible by phone or online.This includes:HMRC’s Extra Support Team provides support to customers with their tax affairs if they have a health condition or their personal circumstances make it difficult for them to contact HMRC.Where customers are struggling to pay their tax on time, they may be able to set up a payment plan online or a Budget Payment Plan instead The tax system contains obligations, set out in law, to ensure that HMRC can collect the correct tax to fund vital public services. HMRC is bound by law to apply penalties where customers do not meet these obligations. Penalties also help to reassure customers who comply with their obligations that HMRC are applying the rules fairly and consistently. Under Self Assessment (SA), HMRC requires information from customers in their tax returns to determine whether they have any liability to income tax. Even where a customer has no tax to pay, the information provided within their SA return ensures that taxpayers receive the benefits to which they are entitled, such as Tax-Free Childcare. Where HMRC charges a penalty, a customer can formally appeal. HMRC will cancel any penalties where they accept that a taxpayer had a reasonable excuse for not filing their return on time.

Media and Sport, who is the Chief Risk Officer for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.

At DCMS, the Chief Operating Officer is the Chief Risk Owner for National Security Risks.

What is the largest number of companies registered to a single individual acting in the role as an officer of those companies.

With the information currently available, the largest number of active officer appointments linked to a single individual is 1008. This information is available publicly through Companies House data products.That individual may have more appointments if they have used different appointment names and/or addresses with other companies. This will change when Companies House completes its implementation of mandatory identity verification. Having verified identities will ensure that Companies House can accurately determine how many companies an specific person is linked to. This will improve corporate transparency and deliver significant value to anyone considering transacting with a company.

What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of domestic solar panels, energy efficiency and home battery storage on civil preparedness and national energy security.

Civil preparedness and national energy security are central to the Government’s resilience agenda. As we transition to Net Zero, we are working with Cabinet colleagues and industry to ensure that technologies such as domestic solar panels, home battery storage and energy efficiency measures contribute to a secure, resilient energy system and support household preparedness. As set out in the National Security Strategy (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-security-strategy-2025-security-for-the-british-people-in-a-dangerous-world) and the Resilience Action Plan(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-government-resilience-action-plan) driving a conversation on risk and preparedness with the public is crucial. The forthcoming Energy Resilience Strategy will include proposals for how Government will work with wider society, in addition to the energy sector and partners in other critical sectors, to address the risks and challenges facing the energy system.

Who is the Chief Risk Officer for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not have a designated post of Chief Risk Officer. Instead, the role is assigned to the SCS who manage the departmental risk team and, therefore, are responsible for the development and implementation of department’s Risk and Issue Management Framework, in line with government’s Orange Book. The Permanent Secretary is responsible for the risks DESNZ owns in the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA). DESNZ is the Lead Government Department for 16 of the 122 risk scenarios in the current NSRA cycle.

What information he holds on annual expenditure over the last five years on payments to wind farm operators to curtail electricity generation.

The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero does not directly hold information on payments to wind farm operators to curtail electricity generation. NESO publishes annually a report on balancing costs. The 2025 Balancing cost report provides information on all balancing costs including constraints. In 2024/25, wind generators were paid a total of £370 million to turn down, i.e. to generate less power. Conversely, the cost of actions to turn-up gas plants to replace curtailed generation was £910 million.

With reference to National Highways press release on 15 December entitled Fix being rolled out after variable speed camera anomaly, whether money has been set aside to compensate affected drivers for a) any lost interest and b) any increase to their insurance premiums.

Data has been provided to the police forces to enable them to start contacting those drivers who were impacted by this anomaly and allow the process of redress to begin. While we expect the number of drivers impacted by this issue to be very small, all those notified by the police will receive details on how to contact National Highways, who will consider the details of each claim on a case by case basis.

Innovation and Technology, who is the Chief Risk Officer for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.

The Government identifies and assesses risks to the nation through the internal, classified National Security Risk Assessment, and the external National Risk Register, the most recent version of which was published in August As set out in the UK Government Resilience Framework, each risk in the National Security Risk Assessment is owned and managed within Lead Government Departments Where those risks, including national security risks, relate to the work of the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT), then they are managed through the department’s risk management processes. Within DSIT, risks are regularly reported to the department’s SLT, chaired by the Permanent Secretary, and then scrutinised by the Audit and Risk Committee (ARAC) on a regular basis.

With reference to National Highways press release entitled Fix being rolled out after variable speed camera anomaly, published on 15 December, whether she has any plans to (a) contact insurance companies of or (b) provide assistance in any other way to affected drivers to help obtain a reassessment of their current premiums.

Data has been provided to the police forces to enable them to start contacting those drivers who were impacted by this anomaly and allow the process of redress to begin. While we expect the number of drivers impacted by this issue to be very small, all those notified by the police will receive details on how to contact National Highways, who will consider the details of each claim on a case-by-case basis.

What steps he is taking to reduce constraint payments to renewable energy producers.

The majority of the costs of constraints are driven by turning on expensive gas plants to replace curtailed generation. The current extent of grid constraints reflects years of underinvestment, with new network infrastructure development having lagged the expansion of new generation. We are already taking action to reduce constraints, with the biggest upgrade to Great Britain’s electricity network in decades, which will also help deliver clean power by 2030.Upgrading the grid is not a choice, it needs to happen to make sure the grid stays resilient and to get power from where it is generated to where it is needed, so we can connect homes, businesses and industry to generate growth.

Who is the Chief Risk Officer for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.

Each risk in the National Risk Register assigned to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has a designated Risk Owner, working within the Department which is responsible for designated risk areas. The Secretary of State and the Permanent Secretary are ultimately responsible for all risks owned by DBT as the Lead Government Department.