Written questions by Rosindell.

What guidance her Department has issued on the use of bilingual street signs in England.

The Department for Transport has not issued guidance on the use of bilingual traffic signs as these are not permitted on roads in England.

What steps she is taking to increase the number of grammar school places in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.

There are no grammar schools in the Parliamentary constituency of Romford and the law prohibits new ones from opening. The department no plans to change this.The national funding formula, and wider education policies, support all state-funded schools equally, including grammar schools.

What steps she is taking to (a) promote and (b) support co-operation between the state and private education systems in England.

Around 70% of private schools affiliated with the Independent Schools Council hold charitable status. As charities, they are required to demonstrate public benefit and one way in which they do that is through partnerships with state schools. This activity should continue.

Media and Sport, how many meetings she has had with representatives from Christian denominations since 5 July 2024.

Details of Ministers' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly on GOV.UK.

Media and Sport, how many meetings she has had with representatives of Muslim communities since 5 July 2024.

Details of Ministers' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly on GOV.UK.

Media and Sport, how many public libraries have permanently closed since 5 July 2024.

The Department does not currently hold this data. The Arts Council England Libraries Location Dataset 2024 which will contain information on static library closures and changes to the model of delivery of static libraries as of 31 December 2024 is due to be published shortly.

Media and Sport, how many professional libraries have moved out of local authority control since 5 July 2024.

The Department does not currently hold this data. The Arts Council England Libraries Location Dataset 2024 which will contain information on static library closures and changes to the model of delivery of static libraries as of 31 December 2024 is due to be published shortly.

Media and Sport, how many public libraries she has visited since the start of this Parliament.

The Secretary of State's support of the public library sector was demonstrated in February 2025 when she announced a fourth round of the Libraries Improvement Fund worth £5.5 million to enable public library services across England to upgrade their physical and digital infrastructure to adapt to changing user needs.The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, Sir Chris Bryant MP, was the Minister with responsibility for libraries from 26 July 2024 to 31 March 2025. He contributed to the 25th anniversary of the Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge, as well as The British Library’s National StartUp Day.After a change in the ministerial portfolios within DCMS, from 1 April 2025, Baroness Twycross has now taken up the role as Minister with responsibilities for libraries and she recently visited Harlesden and Willesden Green libraries.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of imposing a levy on tourists visiting the UK.

Tourism is a significant economic, cultural and social asset to the UK. The sector is a powerful engine for economic growth and job creation across all regions. Tourism contributes not only economically, but also in creating pride in local communities and contributing to the UK's soft power.

Whether a government representative will visit Northern Ireland for the Orange Order parades on 12 July 2025.

For security reasons we do not share details of Northern Ireland Office Ministers’ itineraries in advance.

Media and Sport, whether her Department has a strategy for the development of the public library sector.

The Minister for Gambling and Heritage is meeting with library sector organisations and leaders to discuss the challenges faced by public libraries and their thoughts on what government support would be helpful. Following this, the Minister will consider her priority policy areas in this remit.Officials also meet regularly with a variety of organisations in the public and private sectors to support the sector strategically. This includes working with Arts Council England, the development agency for libraries in England, on such issues as the collection of national data and other programmes to support the sector so that it is better placed to respond to the changing ways people are using them. On 20th February, the Secretary of State also announced a further £5.5 million of the Libraries Improvement Fund for 2025/26. DCMS has also invested in research to investigate the main reasons why people do not use or engage with libraries and understand potential effective policy interventions that could be deployed by local or national government to promote library usage.

Media and Sport, if she has made an assessment of the potential impact of public library closures on the (a) educational and (b) social opportunities for local residents.

All local authorities have a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for determining how best to meet the needs of its communities and deliver its statutory duty within available resources.Where local authorities are proposing changes to its statutory library service provision, including closures, DCMS expects the local authority to be able to demonstrate that proposals are supported by an assessment of local needs, together with a rigorous analysis and assessment of the potential impact of their proposals and a demonstration of the steps to be taken to mitigate the impact.The Secretary of State has a statutory power to intervene by way of local inquiry if she considers that a local authority is not providing a comprehensive and efficient library service. She takes this role very seriously and should a complaint be received, Ministers will challenge the local council and carefully consider evidence before deciding if a local inquiry is needed.

Media and Sport, how many meetings she has had with representatives of Jewish communities since 5 July 2024.

Details of Ministers' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly on GOV.UK.

What steps she has taken to work with relevant authorities to reduce instances of car theft in (a) England and (b) Romford.

This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police, including working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on the issue, to ensure the strongest response possible to this damaging crime.Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced measures to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying them. This will support the changes manufacturers continue to make to prevent thefts.We also provided £250,000 funding in the last financial year to help support work at the ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad.Via the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, we are focusing on prevention and deterrence of theft of and from vehicles. This includes training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles.In recent weeks, the Security Minister and I have each met vehicle manufacturers to discuss these issues. Officials also regularly engage and work with industry to discuss workable solutions to help prevent vehicle theft.

What steps she has taken to support grammar schools in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.

There are no grammar schools in the Parliamentary constituency of Romford and the law prohibits new ones from opening. The department no plans to change this.The national funding formula, and wider education policies, support all state-funded schools equally, including grammar schools.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the tourism sector.

The British tourism industry is worth £58 billion to the economy and employs millions of people around the country. The Government is implementing a range of measures to support the sector and maximise its benefits for local economies, including working with VisitBritain to champion visits to Britain to a worldwide audience through its ‘Starring Great Britain’ campaign.Since 2022, DCMS has delivered significant reform of destination management devolving accountability to a regional and local level to promote regional growth. We now have a network of 41 Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) across England and two Regional Destination pilots in the North East and West Midlands. In March, we announced a £1.35 million funding boost to help the Destination pilots attract even more tourists and investment to the UK over the next year.The newly established Visitor Economy Advisory Council brings together industry leaders, regional voices and expert advisers to do far more that will attract overseas and overseas visitors and unlock growth. The Council will co-design and deliver a new growth strategy that will meet my ambition to welcome 50 million inbound visitors a year by 2030, as part of this Government’s Plan for Change.

What steps she has taken to work with relevant authorities to reduce instances of arson in (a) England and (b) Romford.

We are committed to ensuring fire services have the resources they need to do their vital work and to keep the public safe from fires, including those caused by arson. However, decisions on how resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each fire and rescue authority.As part of the National Fire Chiefs Council’s strategic role across fire and rescue services (FRSs), it supports partnership working to promote the consistent recording and investigation of deliberate fires by the Police and FRSs.

What steps she has taken to work with relevant authorities to reduce instances of sexual offences on public transport in (a) England and (b) Romford.

The Department is committed to ensuring everyone, including women and girls, is safe on the transport network. The Department is working across government and with partners, including the British Transport Police (BTP), the transport industry and local authorities to ensure that everyone feels and is safe when travelling. As part of the Government’s aims to reduce Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade, the Department has an ambitious, evidence-based programme of work to help tackle VAWG on transport. This includes proposals in the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill such as training on how to recognise and respond to incidents of criminal and anti-social behaviour. The Department supports BTP’s zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment and sexual offences. This includes using a range of policing techniques to pursue offenders on the rail network to ensure it remains a safe environment and encourage reporting of incidents via BTP’s 61016 text number or 999 in an emergency. Romford is currently part of Operation Cerium which sees proactive patrols from BTP officers across the underground and rail network in London to reduce the number of sexual offences and identify offenders swiftly.

Media and Sport, how many meetings she has had with representatives from the library sector since the start of this Parliament.

Ministers and officials have had a number of meetings with library sector representatives. Details of ministerial meetings are published on a quarterly basis.

How much Network Rail spends on renting commercial space outside London; and how much Network Rail commercial space is empty.

Network Rail does not hold the information centrally regarding it’s spend on renting commercial space outside of London. Across the 20 stations managed by Network Rail, the commercial vacancy rate is 3.2%.