Written questions by Goldsborough.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to hep support the establishment and growth of video games studios in South Norfolk.

Awaiting answer.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC) to 53%.

Awaiting answer.

What steps she is taking to help expand access to work experience placements for young people interested in careers in the video games industry.

Awaiting answer.

Media and Sport, whether her department will review the effectiveness of the updated Standard Industrial Classification codes for the video games industry following their implementation.

Awaiting answer.

Media and Sport, how the UK Games Fund will be targeted to support early-stage video game studios.

Awaiting answer.

What steps she is taking to help ensure that careers guidance in schools promotes video-games careers to girls and young women.

Awaiting answer.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2026 to Question 7262, what proportion of taxpayers reporting a gross property income greater than £1,000 claimed property allowance, and at what cost to the treasury.

Awaiting answer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the human rights situation in Hong Kong.

On 26 March, the Foreign Secretary published the Government’s latest six-monthly report on Hong Kong, which repeated our concerns about the continued erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, in breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.Ministers an...

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 27 May 2026 to Questions 2585 and 2586, on what date will a National Listing system recognising precision bred seeds be available.

On 9 March, this Government published the legislation expected to be in scope of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement currently being negotiated with the EU. This includes legislation relating to plant varieties and seeds. As negotiations are on...

What the cost to her Department was of allowing incorporated landlords to deduct mortgage interest from rental properties when calculating taxable profits in the last year.

Estimates of the cost of allowing incorporated landlords to deduct mortgage interest from rental properties are not readily available since landlords subject to Corporation tax are not required to report separately their residential finance costs.

What the cost to her Department was of the Replacement of Domestic Items Relief for landlords in the last financial year.

Estimates of the Exchequer cost of the Replacement of Domestic Items Relief for landlords are not readily available.

What the cost to her Department was of tax relief for landlords of residential properties in the last financial year.

Unincorporated landlords receive basic rate relief through a tax reduction. The estimated cost of basic rate tax relief on finance costs for landlords of residential properties reporting in Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA) in 2023/24 (the latest availabl...

How many people reported a gross property income of greater than £1,000 to HMRC in the last financial year.

Estimates of the number of people reporting a gross property income of greater than £1,000 to HMRC for the latest available financial year are shown in the table below. Tax YearCategoryNo. of People Reporting Gross Property Income Greater Than £1,000 in ...

How many people in receipt of Universal Credit while in paid employment are employed (a) in the retail sector and (b) by supermarkets.

The Getting Britain Working: Labour Market Insights Publication contains an estimate of the proportion of people on Universal Credit who work in Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles sector, which can be found at https://www...

What is the annual cost of paying Universal Credit to people in paid employment.

The department publishes figures for expenditure on Universal Credit (UC) Expenditure here: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables - GOV.UK Universal Credit entitlement is calculated on a household basis. The requested breakdown of UC expenditure to peop...

What is the annual cost of paying legacy benefits such as working tax credits and earlier iterations of Universal Credit to people in paid employment.

Precursors to Universal Credit (UC) such as Working Tax Credits (WTC) have now migrated to UC, therefore legacy payments are no longer applicable. As a result, all associated costs are captured within UC payments. For other working age benefits where clai...

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Department has to implement a National Listing system to recognise precision bred seeds.

A consultation was held from 14 February to 17 April 2025 seeking feedback on a proposed plant varieties and seed framework for precision bred plant varieties. The proposal included a Precision Bred Plant Varieties List for England. The main agricultural ...

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Department will set out a date by which the sale of precision bred seeds will be made legal.

A consultation was held from 14 February to 17 April 2025 seeking feedback on a proposed plant varieties and seed framework for precision bred plant varieties. The proposal included a Precision Bred Plant Varieties List for England. The main agricultural ...

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will make an economic and environmental impact assessment on the alternatives to peat-free growing media.

This question has been interpreted as whether Defra will make an economic and environmental impact assessment on peat-free alternatives in growing media. This Government is committed to protecting our nature-rich habitats, including peat bogs and to this end, the Government has pledged to legislate for a ban on the sale of peat and peat-containing products when Parliamentary time allows. This commitment is embedded within our Carbon Budget planning and, most recently, reflected in the current version of the Environmental Improvement Plan. Whilst an Impact Assessment (IA) was prepared in support of the previous Government’s consultation on ending the sale of peat and peat containing products, IA procedures have changed and this Government would be required to carry out a new IA as part of any legislative process for a ban to end the sale of peat. Using the Responsible Sourcing Scheme for Growing Media methodology to assess the environmental impact of different types of growing media, it has been shown that whilst all materials have an environmental impact, for the most part, this is lower in peat-alternatives.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that heating failures on the secure estate are fixed promptly.

We continue to work with prison Governors to ensure appropriate contingency measures are in place to mitigate the impact of heating and hot water systems at a prison becoming inoperative.Contingency plans are in place with the Ministry of Justice’s Facilities Management providers to enable them to respond to any incidents that impact upon heating, hot water, or loss of critical services to site as a priority and these plans are regularly reviewed.