Written questions by Dhesi.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Food and Rural Affairs, who is the Chief Risk Officer for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.

The Department does not have a formally designated Chief Risk Officer for national security risks. As with other Lead Government Departments, each Defra-owned risk in the National Risk Register (NRR) has a designated Risk Owner who is responsible for that risk area in the Department. These risks are discussed internally by the Executive Committee. The Secretary of State and accounting officers are ultimately responsible for all risks Defra owns.

Communities and Local Government, who is the Chief Risk Officer for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.

As part of its risk management activities, MHCLG monitors a range of national emergency and security risks, based broadly on those risks set out in the National Risk Register (NRR). Each risk in the NRR has a designated risk owner, working within the Lead Government Department (LGD) which is responsible for that designated risk. MHCLG is the LGD for several of the risks on the NRR. Our LGD risks are overseen collectively by a Resilience Board. Our Secretary of State and our Permanent Secretary (as the department’s accounting officer) are ultimately responsible for all risks owned by the department where it is the designated LGD.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of grouping Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in regulation.

PFAS represent a group of thousands of chemicals, with hundreds used commercially across many sectors of industry and society. The structural diversity of PFAS poses a challenge to grouping. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) published an “Analysis of the most appropriate regulatory management options (RMOA)” for PFAS in March 2023. This RMOA addresses PFAS, that are potentially on the GB market, by applying a grouping approach to improve manageability and help address the issue of regrettable substitution. HSE’s Restriction Report on PFAS in firefighting foams, published in August 2025, takes a group approach on this basis, using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD 2021) definition of PFAS.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent consular support has been provided to Jagtar Singh Johal.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 8 December in response to Question 97066.

What recent assessment has been made of adequacy of the (a) support and (b) guidance available for those who are unable to access their e-visas.

The Home Office has a robust support model in place that strives to ensure that all people, including the most vulnerable, are properly supported to access their eVisa and use the View and Prove service:We have delivered £4.4m of grant funding across 18 months to 72 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK to support customers who needed help transitioning from a physical document to an eVisa.People who need support can contact the UKVI Resolution Centre, which provides support via email and webchat to those creating their UKVI account, and telephone support to those using the online immigration status services. This includes supporting users through the online journey by:o helping them to access or recover their accounto helping them to update their personal detailso sharing status on behalf of users if they are unable to do so themselvesShould anyone find themselves needing support with creating their UKVI account or getting access to their eVisa, the latest updates and guidance can be found on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/evisa.Employers and landlords in England can use the Employer Checking Service (ECS) and Landlord Checking Service (LCS) to check the status of people who are having difficulty providing digital status evidence.An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was completed on the first phase of the roll out of eVisas to EEA nationals on 9 November 2020, which built on the Policy Equality Statement (PES) for the EUSS which was produced in 2017 and published on the gov.uk website on 18 November 2020:Policy equality statement: EU Settlement Scheme (accessible version) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).(opens in a new tab)A separate EIA considering equalities issues in relation to the use of digital only right to work and rent checks was published on gov.uk in June 2022:Digital only right to work and rent checks: equality impact assessment (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)We are also in the process of reviewing our eVisas EIA, setting out further analysis of the equalities issues to reflect the current stage in the roll out of eVisas, and we will continue to keep the issue under review.

What recent assessment he has made with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of the potential impact of Long Covid on levels of (a) employment and (b) long-term sickness.

The Government understands the scale of the issue at hand, particularly the impact of long COVID on employment and the economy.We are committed to ensuring that those with long COVID have timely access to a diagnosis and appropriate treatment and services, as well as workplace support.Across the National Health Service in England, there are services supporting people with post-COVID syndrome, also known as long COVID. These services offer physical, cognitive, and psychological assessment, and, where appropriate, refer patients onto existing services for treatment and rehabilitation. People with long COVID symptoms should see their general practitioner, who will be able to refer them to services depending on their clinical needs.The role of the health and care system in improving population health and in preventing health issues from becoming work issues is crucial to achieving the 80% employment rate and reducing the disability employment gap.We have a range of initiatives that integrate health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care, and WorkWell, as well as support through the Department for Work and Pensions from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants.The NHS 10-Year Health Plan builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising that good work is good for health. The plan also states our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment.

What recent discussions he has had with NHS trusts on the provision of (a) anti-racism and (b) unconscious bias training for NHS staff.

The Department and NHS England have been working together to announce a series of measures to tackle antisemitism and racism across the National Health Service, which includes the introduction of mandatory antisemitism and anti-racism training for all NHS staff.In terms of unconscious bias training, there is no national NHS-wide policy on this training in the NHS. Individual NHS organisations have responsibility for training their own staff and provide relevant training where appropriate.

What recent discussions he has had with local authorities on the level of (a) employment and (b) training support provided to job seekers.

The Get Britain Working White Paper, published in November 2024, outlined plans to deliver fundamental reform of our health, employment and skills system to help support people across all areas of England to get into work. Government’s English Devolution White Paper sets the direction of travel to continue to empower local areas to deliver our Plan for Change. It will give new and deeper levers to local areas, including some skills and employment support. Ministers and officials meet regularly with local areas to engage with them on issues each local area is facing. These meetings provide opportunities to share intelligence on employment, employment support and skills. On 2nd December 2025, the Minister for Employment met with councillors who sit on the Local Government Association's Inclusive Growth Committee as part of a standing series of meetings with Local Authorities. The Minister met with the Mayors Council on the 4th of December in Liverpool and also meets quarterly with Mayors to discuss local employment and skills challenges. DWP officials also engage regularly with both Mayoral Strategic Authorities and other local government.