Written questions by Dewhirst.

With reference to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's web page entitled Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: spending over £0, published on 10 October 2024, if he will publish a corresponding copy of the spending by his Department on (a) electronic purchasing cards and (b) Government procurement cards over £0 for August 2024 broken down by (i) expense type, (ii) supplier, (iii) item text, (iv) merchant category, (v) amount and (vi) date.

The guiding policy setting out the requirement to only publish GPC transactions over £500 remains in place. Guidance is available to all government departments on gov.uk at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e8b402686650c18ce2cb541/Procurement_Cards_-_Pan_Government_Policy_V4_06042020.pdfIn support of the Government’s Transparency agenda, the Cabinet Office publishes GPC spend data over £500 on gov.uk.

How much his Department has spent on carbon offsetting for Ministerial travel since 5 July 2024.

As was the case under the previous administration, the Cabinet Office does not offset business travel, choosing to reduce rather than offset carbon emissions. However, official Prime Ministerial flights are carbon offset as part of the contractual arrangement for the GBNI flight.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024, to Question 5280, on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, if he will list each of the (a) job titles and (b) associated unit of the Senior Civil Service roles that were not open to external candidates.

I refer the honourable member to the answer provided on 11 November. We are unable to provide a more detailed breakdown without individuals potentially being identifiable.

How many staff work in the mission delivery unit; and what its (a) function and (b) remit is.

The Mission Delivery Unit has c 30 FTE. The core purpose of the Mission Delivery Unit is to advise the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on the delivery of the five Missions.

How many of the reviews by Departments of public bodies in the financial year 2023/24 as part of the Public Bodies Review Programme (a) have been completed, (b) remain outstanding and (c) have been abandoned.

Of the 50 public body reviews planned for 2023/24, 34 were completed. Nine remain in progress and seven are currently paused as the team progresses other work to deliver value for money.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2024 to Question 8637 on Cabinet Office: Vacancies, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the length of the application window on the effectiveness the recruitment process.

The vacancy adhered to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles, which state: “the time allowed for advertising must be suitable for attracting a sufficiently strong and diverse field of applicants, taking account of the nature of the role and the relevant job market.”

With reference to his Department's publication entitled Special adviser data releases: numbers and costs, November 2024, published on 28 November 2024, for what reason his Department has not published the list of special adviser salaries for the current administration; and if he will publish the current list of special advisers before the end of the calendar year.

As was the case under the previous administration, annual reports on special advisers relate to the preceding financial year.The Annual Report on Special Advisers published on 28 November 2024, therefore relates to the 2023/24 financial year.The 2025 Annual Report on Special Advisers, which will relate to the 2024/25 financial year, will be published before the end of this year.

Whether (a) Downing Street and (b) his Department collates information on each (i) domestic and (ii) overseas flight undertaken by (A) the Prime Minister and (B) other Ministers.

Ministerial travel is undertaken using efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. Security considerations are also taken into account. As was the practice under the previous Government, information about official overseas ministerial travel will be published as part of the Cabinet Office transparency returns and made available on GOV.UK.

With reference to his Department's guidance entitled Public Bodies Handbook – Part 2: The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies, whether his Department's public bodies team assessed Great British Energy against the requirement that the creation of a new ALB should only be considered as a last resort; whether the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero provided evidence that alternative delivery models were considered; and which of the three tests in Chapter 2 of that guidance Great British Energy met.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is working through the approval process, in parallel with the passing of the Great British Energy Bill, to establish Great British Energy (GBE).

Whether he plans to include appointments to the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair appointment will be classified as a significant appointment.

The Industrial Strategy Advisory Council (ISAC) is an independent, non-statutory, expert committee and as such these appointments are not in scope for addition to the Order in Council or Significant Appointments under Cabinet Office guidance. We have committed to putting the Council on a statutory footing, and this will be reviewed after doing so.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support people affected by changes made to (a) agricultural property relief, (b) Business Property Relief and (c) capital grants at the Autu

From 6 April 2026, 0% inheritance tax will be due on the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. Above this amount, landowners will access 50% relief from inheritance tax and will pay inheritance tax at a reduced effective rate up...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the delinked basic payment scheme on the profitability of farming businesses.

The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26. Accelerating the phase out of Direct Payments will allow us to focus more of this funding on Environmental Land Manag...

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of accelerated changes to delinked payments on farming businesses.

The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26. Accelerating the phase out of Direct Payments will allow us to focus more of this funding on Environmental Land Manag...

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief on the profitability of farming businesses.

The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms. It is expected that up to around 2...

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department had with farmers before freezing the capital grant scheme.

The Capital Grants scheme has been closed to new agreements following unprecedented demand this Autumn, which would use all the available funding. We are forecast to spend more on capital grants this year than ever before. This is only possible because we...

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the development of large-scale solar farms.

As outlined in the clean power action plan last week, solar power will be vital to meeting our mission and bringing down energy bills for good. Solar is one of the cheapest and most-readily available sources of energy we have, and whilst rooftop and other...

Food and Rural Affairs, what the overall (a) capital and (b) running costs are of the Inland Border Facility at Sevington; and what the budget is for that facility.

This is commercially sensitive information and therefore may not be released. We are planning to publish some information regarding operating costs in the near future. The information will be published on GOV.UK.

What information her Department holds on the firearms licensing departments that have taken a year or more to process applications for (a) grants and (b) renewals in each of the last five years.

The issuing of firearms certificates and the efficiency of police forces is a matter for individual Chief Constables, who are held to account by Police and Crime Commissioners.However, the performance of forces in this space is being actively monitored by...

What information her Department holds on the number and proportion of GPs who have downloaded the IT update to allow the placement of markers on the medical notes of firearms certificate holders.

It is a requirement that all applicants for a firearms licence must provide relevant medical information to the police with their application, and this is supported by a new digital firearms marker which is placed on the patient/licence holder’s medical r...

Whether she has had meetings with representatives of (a) police, (b) gun control groups, (c) British Shooting Sports Council and (d) British Association for Shooting and Conservation to discuss firear

Home Office Ministers and officials meet with representatives of the police, the shooting community, gun control groups and others from time to time and will continue to do so.This helps to ensure that all relevant views are taken into account in ensuring...