Written questions by Jermy.

How many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

The number of employees who have declared they are disabled as of 31 August 2025 in the department is 535.

How many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

There are currently 1,386 people employed in the department, including the Executive Agencies, who have declared that they have a disability.

How many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

As of the 31 July 2025, there are 5542 Home Office employees with a disability.Please be aware this is based on a self-declaration survey and not all Home Office employees have made a declaration either way. Therefore, figure above will not be a true representation of all disabled staff with the Home Office.

How many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025 Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026

How many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

As of 2 of September 2025, 481 individuals employed by the Department have declared that they have a disability.

Innovation and Technology, how many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025 Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

How many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Communities and Local Government, how many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025 Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

Latest figures show that 12.4 per cent of Senior Civil Servants (SCS) in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) have a disability. This is up from 7.5 per cent when the FCDO was formed in 2020. Reporting rates in the delegated grades has consistently been below 60 per cent, the threshold set by Cabinet Office/ONS to allow us to have data confidence. The FCDO is encouraging staff to share their disability data so we can better understand outcomes for our staff, however this is voluntary.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each Government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025 Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Media and Sport, how many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025.Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

How many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found in Table 29 of the statistical tables, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025.Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Innovation and Technology, what steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed.The Digital Inclusion Action Plan – First Steps, published in February 2025, sets out our first actions to tackle digital exclusion. While it outlines key demographic groups, it recognises that rural communities are also impacted.To ensure rural areas are not left behind and have access to digital infrastructure, we are continuing to deliver gigabit-capable broadband and 4G mobile coverage through Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network.

What steps she is taking to integrate health and employment support for people with (a) arthritis and (b) other long-term health conditions.

Good work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals, including people with arthritis and other long-term health conditions, to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. The Department also provides a range of support to help individuals to access, retain, and thrive in employment. This includes referrals to financial assistance, workplace adaptations, and personalised guidance. Our teams support customers with Access to Work to ensure customers have reasonable adjustment, specialist equipment, support workers and more to ensure that customers have all the necessary tools to get into and maintain work. It is also recognised that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the DWP and DHSC Joint Work & Health Directorate (JWHD) is facilitating “Keep Britain Working”, an independent review of the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025.Additionally, the JWHD has developed a digital information service for employers, continues to oversee the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health. Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched last November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. In our March Green Paper, we set-out our Pathways to Work Guarantee, backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by 2030 and a total of £2.2 billion by over four years. Our £2.2bn Pathways to Work investment brings our total investment in employment support for disabled people and those with health conditions to £3.8 billion over this Parliament. We will build towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits. We will further pilot the integration of employment advisers and work coaches into the neighbourhood health service, so that working age people with long term health conditions have an integrated public service offer. A patient’s employment goals will be part of care plans, to support more joined up service provision. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care have worked together on the 10 Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Health Plan will ensure a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. The Plan sets out the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs, including for disabled people.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle waste crime.

The Government is committed to tackling waste crime. We are preparing significant reforms and have increased the Environment Agency’s (EA) funding to continue to increase the pressure on illegal waste operators. We will reform the waste carriers, brokers and dealers regime and the waste permit exemptions regime. This will make it harder for rogue operators to find work in the sector and easier for regulators to take action against criminals. In addition, our planned digital waste tracking reforms will make it harder than ever to mis-identify waste or dispose of it inappropriately. We have increased the EA’s total budget for 2025-26, including the amount available to tackle waste crime. This will enable EA to increase its frontline criminal enforcement resource in the Joint Unit for Waste Crime and area environmental crime teams by 43FTE. This will be targeted at activities identified as waste crime priorities using enforcement activity data and criminal intelligence. These include tackling organised crime groups, increasing enforcement activity around specific areas of concern such as landfill sites, closing down illegal waste sites more quickly, using intelligence more effectively, and delivering successful major criminal investigations.

What steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas. Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed. Rural proofing is important because rural communities are an important part of the economy. Rural areas are home to around one-fifth of England’s population and half a million registered businesses. Policy outcomes in rural areas can be affected by economies of scale, distance, sparsity and demography. That is why it is important that government policies consider how they can be delivered in rural areas. Rural proofing ensures that these areas receive fair and equitable policy outcomes. Our department takes its obligation to rural proofing seriously and has published its Small Business Plan (Backing your Business) in July of this year, delivering the most comprehensive package of support for small and medium sized businesses in a generation. The plan outlines five ambitious actions on how we will make thriving small and medium sized businesses, including in rural areas, a reality across the UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many vehicles were seized for waste crime offences in (a) South West Norfolk constituency and (b) Norfolk in each of the last five years.

Local authorities in England are required to report fly-tipping incidents and enforcement actions, such as vehicle seizures, to Defra, which are published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england. This data isn't available at a constituency level and excludes the majority of private-land incidents. The Environment Agency also has the power to seize vehicles suspected of being used in waste crime. The Environment Agency has not seized a vehicle in Norfolk or the South West Norfolk constituency since 2020.

What steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

The Government recognises that different areas have different characteristics and needs for their local bus network. The Government has committed to delivering better buses, including in rural areas, and reforming bus funding to create a fairer and simpler system that takes into account local needs. The Government introduced the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill will put passenger needs, reliable services and local accountability at the heart of the industry by putting the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, including in our rural areas.We confirmed funding of £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London, including £712 million for local authorities. The Government took the first step towards a fairer allocation system by using a formula to determine allocations for 2025/26 based on need, including population, the distance that buses travel, and the levels of deprivation. Under this formula, Norfolk County Council was allocated £15.9 million. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers. We are currently reviewing this formula to ensure funding is allocated as fairly as possible in future years.The government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term in this Spending Review. On 11 June, the government confirmed additional £900m funding per year from 2026/27 to maintain and improve bus services, including taking forward franchising pilots and extending the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the financial impact of waste crime on (a) England, (b) Norfolk and (c) South West Norfolk constituency in the last five years.

It is estimated that waste crime costs the English economy about £1 billion per year and that 20% of waste in England, or 38 million tonnes per year is handled illegally. We do not have a further breakdown of these figures at county or constituency level.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 28814 on Lead: Paint, if he will make it his policy to issue updated guidance.

The Environmental Protection (Controls on Injurious Substances) Regulations 1992 banned the use of lead paint, except for certain specialist uses. Concerns over the presence of lead paint should be referred to a certified lead-based paint risk assessor, who can assist you in following the necessary steps, guidelines including safety protocols. The Government is not currently planning to release further guidance on lead paint.