Written questions by Jogee.

What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Norway.

The United Kingdom is committed to our strong trading relationship with Norway. The Prime Minister signed a Joint Declaration with Norway on our strategic partnership in December 2024. This declaration reaffirms our commitment to working together and using existing structures under the UK-EEA/EFTA Free Trade Agreement to identify further opportunities to increase the volume and value of our trade.The Secretary of State for Business and Trade recently met with his Norwegian counterpart, and officials held the third UK-EEA/EFTA Joint Committee trade meeting in December 2024 where they discussed how we can remove barriers and grow our trading relationship.

What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and France.

Reinvigorating the UK’s relationship with our European partners is a top priority for this Government. My officials regularly engage with counterparts in the French Government to identify opportunities to increase bilateral trade and investment, including the annual dialogue between DBT and France’s DG Entreprises, which last took place in November 2024. The Secretary of State met his counterpart at the G20 Trade Ministerial Meeting in October, to discuss improving bilateral trade flows and collaboration. My honourable friend, the Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports will also be travelling to France to support UK exporters later this month.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Disabled Facilities Grant.

Government recognises how important home adaptations are in enabling older and disabled people to live as independently as possible in a safe and suitable environment. This is why on 3 January 2025 government announced an immediate £86 million in-year uplift to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), taking the funding total to £711 million for 2024-25. This will allow 7,800 more eligible people to make vital improvements to their home allowing them to live more independent lives and reducing hospitalisations.Furthermore, government announced an £86 million additional investment in the DFG for the 2025-26 financial year at the Autumn Budget (bringing total funding for 2025-26 to £711 million).Government continues to keep all aspects of the DFG under consideration. As part of this process, we are reviewing the suitability of the current upper limit.Government does not hold data on how many people have received DFG funding. The table below sets out the number of completed grants for the (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire in each of the last 14 years, taken from voluntary, unaudited and incomplete data provided annually by local authorities in England. Due to changes in reporting mechanisms, completions data for financial year 2017-18 is not available.YearNumber of DFGs completed(a) Newcastle-under-Lyme(b)Staffordshire2010-20111309322011-201211610182012-2013Incomplete dataIncomplete data2013-201495Incomplete data2014-20151196832015-2016Incomplete dataIncomplete data2016-2017118Incomplete data2017-2018N/AN/A2018-20191207542019-2020756592020-2021605732021-20221357032022-2023878642023-202492984

Whether he has had recent discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the number of people on hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland.

Improving health outcomes across the UK is a priority mission for this Government. Although health is devolved in Northern Ireland, the Government wants to work with the Northern Ireland Executive to transform its public services and improve outcomes for people in Northern Ireland. The Government regularly engages with Executive Ministers, including the Northern Ireland Health Minister, to discuss plans to improve public services. I have engaged extensively with stakeholders across the Northern Ireland health service to discuss how the Government can work with the Executive to tackle its shared health challenges, including waiting lists.

Whether he has had recent discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the adequacy of road safety measures in Northern Ireland.

The Government regularly engages with the Northern Ireland Executive on the importance of infrastructure investment in Northern Ireland, including the road and transport network. Responsibility for road safety measures is devolved to Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure and I welcome the Minister for Infrastructure’s recent announcement that the upgrade of the A5, a vital artery of Northern Ireland’s road network where many lives have been lost over the years, will commence this year.

What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Department for Business and Trade is supporting UK businesses to access opportunities to grow trade with Trinidad and Tobago, including in areas such as critical infrastructure. In October 2024, UK Export Finance signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Finance in Trinidad and Tobago. This provides an avenue of financial support for projects in healthcare infrastructure and airport development, among other areas. And, later this month, the UK will meet Trinidad and Tobago for the Trade and Development Council under the CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement to discuss further opportunities to grow our trading relationship.

What steps she plans to take to increase the opportunities for young people at (a) school, (b) college and (c) university in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (ii) Staffordshire to visit museums, theatres and art galleries.

The department wants all children and young people to have access to a variety of enriching experiences as an important part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Educational visits are part of this ambition. The decision to undertake any educational visit is a matter for individual schools, colleges and higher education institutions to determine. As part of studying GCSE drama and A level drama and theatre studies, students are entitled to experience live theatre.More broadly, the government supports children and young people’s access to theatres, museums and galleries, for example through the Museums and Schools programme. The programme builds partnerships between schools and museums, including The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent. 79% of Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisations, which include theatres, museums and galleries, work with children and young people.

What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Botswana.

The Department for Business and Trade, and UK Export Finance, has officials throughout our Embassy network in Africa to support businesses where there are commercial opportunities. Additionally, the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, which entered into force in June 2023, makes it simpler and more beneficial for African countries (including Tanzania and Malawi) to export goods to the UK. The UK-Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique (SACUM) and UK-Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) are development-focused free trade agreements that underpin UK goods trade with Botswana, Namibia (SACUM) and Zimbabwe (ESA).

What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Tanzania.

The Department for Business and Trade, and UK Export Finance, has officials throughout our Embassy network in Africa to support businesses where there are commercial opportunities. Additionally, the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, which entered into force in June 2023, makes it simpler and more beneficial for African countries (including Tanzania and Malawi) to export goods to the UK. The UK-Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique (SACUM) and UK-Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) are development-focused free trade agreements that underpin UK goods trade with Botswana, Namibia (SACUM) and Zimbabwe (ESA).

What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Malawi.

The Department for Business and Trade, and UK Export Finance, has officials throughout our Embassy network in Africa to support businesses where there are commercial opportunities. Additionally, the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, which entered into force in June 2023, makes it simpler and more beneficial for African countries (including Tanzania and Malawi) to export goods to the UK. The UK-Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique (SACUM) and UK-Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) are development-focused free trade agreements that underpin UK goods trade with Botswana, Namibia (SACUM) and Zimbabwe (ESA).

What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Zimbabwe.

The Department for Business and Trade, and UK Export Finance, has officials throughout our Embassy network in Africa to support businesses where there are commercial opportunities. Additionally, the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, which entered into force in June 2023, makes it simpler and more beneficial for African countries (including Tanzania and Malawi) to export goods to the UK. The UK-Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique (SACUM) and UK-Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) are development-focused free trade agreements that underpin UK goods trade with Botswana, Namibia (SACUM) and Zimbabwe (ESA).

What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Japan.

We continue to discuss with Japan how to improve our bilateral trade, including through implementation and utilisation of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). For example, last year we secured Geographical Indication status protection for 76 additional British food and drink products in Japan.At the G20 Summit last November, the UK and Japan Prime Ministers also announced a new ministerial level Economic 2+2 dialogue to advance bilateral trade and discuss geopolitical issues which are vital to economic growth in both countries.

What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) volume and (b) value of trade between the UK and Namibia.

The Department for Business and Trade, and UK Export Finance, has officials throughout our Embassy network in Africa to support businesses where there are commercial opportunities. Additionally, the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, which entered into force in June 2023, makes it simpler and more beneficial for African countries (including Tanzania and Malawi) to export goods to the UK. The UK-Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique (SACUM) and UK-Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) are development-focused free trade agreements that underpin UK goods trade with Botswana, Namibia (SACUM) and Zimbabwe (ESA).

When he plans to appoint country-specific trade envoys.

The House will be notified of any Trade Envoy appointments in due course.

What steps she is taking to tackle organised immigration crime.

Since entering office, we have already launched the Border Security Command (BSC), led by Martin Hewitt CBE QPM, with £150m invested over this financial year and next.The Border Security Command will act as the system leader across HMG leveraging functions across policy, operations, international engagement and uplifted capabilities to tackle organised immigration crime, driven by outcome focussed, system-wide plans.Since the establishment of the Border Security Command, successes against organised immigration crime include:NCA’s continued successful operations and arrests against prolific people smugglersCommitment to up to 100 new specialist intelligence and investigations officers deployed to the NCAthe recent agreement with Iraq and the Kurdish Region of Iraq to target people smuggling gangs and strengthen border security co-operationthe joint action plan with Germany to collaboratively break the business model of people smuggling gangs.

What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the adequacy of the Disabled Facilities Grant.

My rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has meetings with Cabinet colleagues on a range of health and social care issues.We are giving older and disabled people more independence in their own homes through an immediate in-year uplift to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) of £86 million in 2024/25. This increase will provide around 7,800 additional home adaptations. This is on top of the £625 million paid to local authorities in May 2024. The Government also announced an £86 million additional investment in the DFG for 2025/26 at the Budget, bringing total funding for 2025/26 to £711 million also.To ensure the DFG is as effective as possible, we will continue to keep different aspects of the grant under consideration. As part of this, we are reviewing the suitability of the current upper limit and will set out further detail in due course.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using digitisation to speed up the conveyancing process.

The government recognises that the current home buying and selling process in England is slow, costly and stressful, and that conveyancing is one reason for this.Digitalisation can make the home buying and selling process more transparent and efficient for the conveyancing sector.His Majesty's Land Registry (HMLR) have already made progress on this issue through their Local Land Charges programme which will assist in providing quicker, more accurate responses to property search requests, potentially taking weeks off transaction times.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with the Land Registry on digitising the conveyancing process.

The government recognises that the current home buying and selling process in England is slow, costly and stressful, and that conveyancing is one reason for this.Digitalisation can make the home buying and selling process more transparent and efficient for the conveyancing sector.His Majesty's Land Registry (HMLR) have already made progress on this issue through their Local Land Charges programme which will assist in providing quicker, more accurate responses to property search requests, potentially taking weeks off transaction times.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the support given to people who have experienced a (a) severe adverse reaction and (b) bereavement after receiving a vaccine on levels of vaccine hesitancy.

The United Kingdom has one of the most extensive immunisation programmes in the world, with uptake rates amongst the highest globally.No specific assessment has been made of the impact of the support given to people who have experienced a severe adverse reaction or bereavement after receiving a vaccine on levels of vaccine hesitancy. However, to assess public confidence in vaccinations programmes more generally, the UK Health Security Agency undertakes research to understand how knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes towards immunisation, vaccine safety, and disease severity influence vaccine uptake. And to ensure that those being offered vaccines are aware of the potential benefits and side effects of vaccines, public-facing information is provided in multiple languages and accessible formats, with training standards provided for healthcare professionals who will support the consent process.The Government remains committed to addressing challenges around vaccine confidence and to improving vaccination uptake rates to fully protect the public from preventable diseases.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to improve outcomes in the conveyancing process.

The government recognises that the current home buying and selling process in England is slow, costly and stressful, and that conveyancing is one reason for this.Digitalisation can make the home buying and selling process more transparent and efficient for the conveyancing sector.His Majesty's Land Registry (HMLR) have already made progress on this issue through their Local Land Charges programme which will assist in providing quicker, more accurate responses to property search requests, potentially taking weeks off transaction times.