Written questions by Rosindell.

What recent steps she has taken to prevent people that illegally enter the UK from being able to work.

The Government is leading a UK-wide crackdown on illegal working as part of a whole system approach to tackle illegal migration from every angle.The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill introduces tough new laws to clamp down on illegal working.  This means that for the very first time, right to work checks will be extended to cover businesses hiring gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors like construction, food delivery, beauty salons, courier services and warehousing.Home Office Immigration Enforcement teams are intensifying operational activity across the UK to stop businesses hiring people to work illegally.  Since this government came into power, there have been 10,031 illegal working visits to premises and 7,130 arrests have been made, an increase of 48% and 51% compared to the year before (5 July 2023 to 28 June 2024).  In that time, 2,105 civil penalty notices have been issued.Alongside the Department for Business and Trade, the Home Office is working closely with the major food delivery platforms, including Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat, to ensure they understand their responsibilities in using riders who have the right to work in the UK.Last month the Home Office commenced data sharing with leading food delivery firms. The agreement enables the Home Office to share sensitive location data of the locations of asylum hotels with the firms helping the companies detect and suspend accounts suspected of illegal working, particularly where delivery riders may be sharing accounts with individuals who do not have the legal right to work in the UK.Finally, the Government has announced the introduction of digital ID this parliament. It is clear that offering access to the UK labour market is part of the approach taken by unscrupulous criminals to profit from facilitating illegal migration. Providing a single system to prove a right to work, will simplify the process and drive-up compliance.

Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to help reduce levels of homelessness among children.

The Government is committed to getting back on track to ending all forms of homelessness across the country. Our cross-Government homelessness strategy will set out the actions needed across central and local government and the homelessness sector to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. The Government is supporting people at risk of and experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping across the country with more than £1 billion funding, a £316 million increase on last year. This includes £84 million new funding announced on 10 October 2025. Councils are able to use this funding to meet the needs of people in their area, and local authority allocations are published on gov.uk.

What steps he is taking to help increase the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of prison officers.

We know that sufficient and skilled frontline staffing is fundamental to delivering safe, secure, and rehabilitative prisons. We remain committed to ensuring prisons are sufficiently resourced and that we retain and build levels of experience.Substantive recruitment efforts will continue at all prisons where vacancies exist or are projected, with targeted interventions applied to those prisons with the most need. We closely monitor staffing levels across the estate and look to provide short-term support where needed.  All prison expansion projects, whether new prisons or smaller builds, are factored into our staffing forecasts to ensure we recruit on time and build up the experience needed to continue to deliver safe and secure regimes.To help increase retention, HMPPS has a retention strategy in place which is linked to wider activities around employee experience, employee lifecycle and staff engagement at work. Alongside the strategy a retention toolkit has been introduced which identifies local, regional and national interventions against the drivers of attrition, which are utilised by establishments to ensure that they are embedding individual Retention Plans.As part of our efforts to grow our new generation of leaders, and transform HMPPS into a world class organisation, we launched the Future Prison Leaders Programme on 4 April 2025. This competitive programme is recruiting around 30 talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, including successful graduates, and offers a clear career pathway to a senior leadership position in prisons.

If he will make it her policy to make 12 July 2027 a public holiday to mark the 1100th anniversary of the unification of England under King Athelstan.

The current pattern of bank and public holidays is well established and the Government has no plans to create a one-off bank holiday to mark the 1100th anniversary of the unification of England under King Athelstan.While an additional bank holiday may benefit some communities and sectors, the cost to the economy is considerable. The latest analysis estimates the cost to the UK economy for a one-off bank holiday to be around £2 billion.The National Lottery Heritage Fund has recently funded two projects that explore Athelstan and his history in Kingston and Malmesbury.

Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to help reduce levels of homelessness among women.

The Government is committed to getting back on track to ending all forms of homelessness across the country. Our cross-Government homelessness strategy will set out the actions needed across central and local government and the homelessness sector to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. The Government is supporting people at risk of and experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping across the country with more than £1 billion funding, a £316 million increase on last year. This includes £84 million new funding announced on 10 October 2025. Councils are able to use this funding to meet the needs of people in their area, and local authority allocations are published on gov.uk.

What steps she has taken to improve literacy rates in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.

High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.The English Hubs programme supports the teaching of phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Romford is served by New Vision English Hub.In the 2025/26 financial year, the government has committed £27.7 million to support and drive high and rising standards in reading. This funding will deliver a range of support for schools, including new training for primary schools, delivered through the English Hubs programme, to help children progress from the early stages of phonics through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school, and new support and training for secondary schools to support reading at key stage 3.The department also published a writing framework in July, which will support schools in delivering high quality writing provision across England.

What steps she is taking to work with relevant authorities to reduce fare evasion on public transport.

There are expectations for the rail industry to take forward initiatives and reduce fare evasion. The effectiveness of the measures employed by Train Operating Companies are evaluated by the Department for Transport through a range of surveys. British Transport Police is committed to working closely alongside the railway industry to tackle fare evasion and regularly support with high visibility patrols at known hotspot locations. Additionally, the Government’s Bus Services (No.2) Bill also provides Local Transport Authorities with the power to create byelaws and deploy officers who can deal with anti-social behaviour and fare evasion on the bus network. Officers will have the power to issue fines, ask people to leave the vehicle, bus station or shelter and, if necessary, to remove them if they refuse to do so.

What steps she has taken to help increase the number of pupils obtaining Level 4 qualifications in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.

The government has set an ambition for two-thirds of young people to participate in higher-level study (level 4+) by age 25.From September 2026, learners will be able to apply for Lifelong Learning Entitlement funding, that will support learners to take on courses and modular learning at levels 4-6, across universities, colleges and independent providers.The government will also reintroduce targeted, means-tested maintenance grants, which will offer vital financial support to eligible students from low-income households, helping more of these students to access and excel in higher education.The department is expanding Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs), which are quality-marked, occupation-focused level 4–5 courses available at universities, further education colleges, and independent providers. They offer flexible study options, such as part-time and distance learning, making them accessible to those with caring responsibilities or in work. 282 HTQs have been approved across 13 occupational routes.

What steps he is taking to help improve the provision of mental health services in the London Borough of Havering.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, improving access to Mental Health Support Teams, expanding talking therapies and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the National Health Service App. Nationally, the Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services.We are also delivering on our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers for children and adults by the end of this Parliament. We are more than halfway towards this target, which will help to ease pressure on busy mental health services.Responsibility for commissioning of mental health services sits with integrated care boards (ICBs). It is the role of local ICBs to consider what mental health services are needed for their populations and include the perspectives of healthcare professionals, patient advocacy groups and local authorities.

Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to support Christian communities in (a) urban and (b) rural areas in England.

This Government’s commitment to valuing the contribution which Christians make to society is evident through our engagement with a wide range of churches at national, regional and local levels. MHCLG funds several cohesion initiatives which directly support religiously diverse communities across England, including the Near Neighbours programme which is a delivery arm of the Church of England’s Church Urban Fund. Urban and rural Christian communities may also be the beneficiaries of other programmes across government, including the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme which provides VAT relief for repairs to our historic places of worship, including churches, which are central to both our local and national life.

What recent steps she has taken to improve numeracy rates in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.

To drive standards in mathematics, the department funds the Maths Hubs programme, supported by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. Local Maths Hubs provide school-to-school support focused on mathematics subject knowledge and pedagogy training for teachers in primary and secondary schools.The Romford constituency is served by the London North East Maths Hub. As of August 2024, Maths Hubs have worked with 85.5% of open primary schools (14,321) and 88.3% of open secondary schools (3,015) across the country since 2015/16.

Whether her Department is taking steps to increase funding for support for parents in disadvantaged areas.

​​The government has committed to provide funding for all local authorities to deliver Best Start Family Hubs, backed by over £500 million, to help families in every part of the country. The rollout will deliver up to 1,000 Best Start Family Hubs nationwide by 2028, reaching an estimated additional 500,000 children. Hubs will be open to all families but located in disadvantaged communities where support is most needed.​The government understands the distinct challenges faced by parents and, ahead of the publication of our Child Poverty Strategy, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty. This includes establishing a new Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact) through the Spending Review period to replace the Household Support Fund. This longer-term funding approach will enable local authorities to provide preventative support to families and communities.

If she will provide funding to encourage the consumption of healthy food in schools.

The government is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever and it is important that schools follow the latest nutritional guidance. To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, we are acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.The department spends over £1.5 billion annually delivering free meals to around 3.4 million pupils. We are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, lifting 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this parliament. We have set aside over £1 billion in funding over the multiyear spending review period to cover additional meal costs of the new entitlement. This is new money as opposed to funding within existing school budgets.

What steps she is talking to promote the education of animal welfare in schools.

The government recognises the importance of teaching children about animal welfare in schools and this topic can already be covered within science and citizenship. As with other subjects, the national curriculum in England provides a broad framework within which schools have the flexibility to develop the content of their own school curriculum.

If she will make it her policy to mandate the flying of the (a) Union flag and (b) Saint George's Cross at schools in England.

Schools in England are free to display the Union flag and the Saint George’s Cross, and it is a matter for individual schools to decide.

If her Department will consider designating the Cartel of the Suns as a Terrorist Organisation.

While the UK Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of recent attacks on Christian communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and what diplomatic steps she is taking to (a) protect the Christian community and (b) promote religious freedom in the country.

We condemn the horrifying attacks by Islamic State-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) on Christian communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We have raised the actions of the ADF in the UN repeatedly and have sanctioned them under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act. UK Ministers and senior officials, including our Ambassador in Kinshasa, regularly raise the importance of protecting civilians with the Government of DRC. We continue to remind all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law and stress that those who have committed human rights violations and abuses must be held accountable.  The UK Special Envoy for freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) plays a critical role in promoting FoRB, through global diplomatic engagement, our engagement in multilateral fora, and UK and programme funding. The UK will continue to work through UN bodies and other multilateral fora to promote and protect these rights in the DRC.

Whether external stakeholders will be invited to provide input into the UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group’s consideration of market access barriers.

The Working Group will meet this Autumn and will consist of officials from the UK and Canadian Governments.We are open to the views of any relevant businesses with an interest in UK-Canada trade.

What progress the UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group has made since its establishment.

The UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group will meet this Autumn in line with the commitment made between our Prime Ministers in June. Since this meeting, officials have been engaging with the government of Canada at all levels to explore ways to deepen our trading relationship further.Specifically, we intend to work together to address existing market access barriers, to expand existing arrangements into new areas, such as digital trade, and to explore cooperation in the development of critical minerals and sovereign artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the (a) US Department of State report entitled Venezuela 2024 Human Rights Report, published on 12 August 2025 and (b) UN Human Rights Council report entitled Detailed findings of the independent international factfinding mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, published on 14 October 2024.

The UK strongly condemns the continued erosion of human rights in Venezuela, and we have repeatedly called on the Venezuelan authorities to uphold human rights and cooperate fully with international mechanisms, including in our published statement to the Human Rights Council on 22 September.