Written questions by Swayne.

What estimate she has made of the level of fuel duty that is now outstanding following the closure of the the Lindsey oil refinery.

HMRC cannot comment on specific businesses due to taxpayer confidentiality.

If she will take steps to ensure that Pupil Premium Plus is not absorbed into school budgets but is spent spent specifically on adopted the children that qualified for the payment.

The pupil premium grant provides funding to schools to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. ‘Pupil premium plus’ (PP+) refers to the portion of the pupil premium grant for children who are looked after by the local authority or were previously looked after by a local authority or other state care.Pupil premium funding, including PP+, is not a personal budget for individual pupils. It is for schools to decide how to allocate the funding after assessing the needs of their disadvantaged cohort, including looked after and previously looked after children. Statutory guidance is clear that the school’s designated teacher should ensure the specific needs of the PP+ cohort are understood by the school’s staff and reflected in how the school uses PP+ to support these children. They should encourage parents and guardians’ involvement in deciding how the PP+ is used.Maintained schools and academies must publish strategy statements setting out their planned use of pupil premium.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she had had with her counterpart in Bangladesh on recent targeted attacks on St Mary’s Cathedral and St Joseph’s School in Dhaka; and what steps she is taking to help ensure the protection of Christians in Bangladesh.

We condemn all acts of violence in Bangladesh, including those on 7-8 November, and we regularly raise issues of justice, accountability and the protection of fundamental rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), with Bangladesh's Interim Government.In February 2025, the UK's Human Rights Ambassador, Eleanor Sanders, discussed these issues on her visit to Bangladesh, and during her visit on 13-14 November, the Minister of State for International Development and Africa highlighted to Chief Adviser Professor Yunus the importance of democratic transition, human rights and reconciliation.The UK's commitment to these issues is also reflected in our £27 million Collaborative, Accountable and Peaceful Politics programme in Bangladesh, which aims to protect civic space, foster inclusive dialogue and address tensions that can lead to violence.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions has he had with the Palestinian Authority on ensuring that content which promotes hatred is excluded from the Authority's school curriculum.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 29 October to question 79968.

What steps he is taking to replace the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.

I introduced the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill on 14 October – a significant step in fulfilling our commitment to repeal and replace the Legacy Act. The Bill received its Second Reading yesterday, and I look forward to continued debate and scrutiny as it progresses through Parliament.

Whether he plans to continue financial support for the Tropical Forests Forever Facility.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given on 11 November to my hon Friend the Member for Edmonton and Winchmore Hill (Kate Osamor) to Question UIN 87351.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, following the Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority of April 2025, what step she is taking to help to ensure that content which promotes (a) hatred and (b) is excluded from the Authority's school curriculum.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided to question 83047 on 29 October 2025.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with her counterpart in Nigeria on the detention of eight children from the Du Merci Christian orphanage; and whether she is taking diplomatic steps to secure their release.

The UK government welcomed the return of eight children to the custody of the Du Merci Centre. We are aware that a further eight children remain in the custody of Kano State authorities as court proceedings are ongoing. We have raised this case at senior official level with the Nigerian authorities and stressed the need to prioritise the welfare of the children involved. The enforcement of the court ruling is however a matter for the Nigerian authorities.

Innovation and Technology, if she will make it her policy to reduce the Passive Infrastructure Access charges to broadband providers installing their own cabling parallel to existing Openreach broadband infrastructure.

As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product. PIA rental charges are set by Ofcom and based on the total cost of the physical infrastructure that Openreach needs to recover. While we are engaging with Ofcom on this issue, it is for the regulator to assess the fair level of these rental charges and DSIT has not made any formal assessment with regard to PIA charges.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the murder of Christians in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria on 14 October 2025; and what discussions she has had with her Nigerian counterpart on taking steps to end targeted attacks on Christians.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer provided by Baroness Chapman to question HL10250 on 23 September.

What assessment he has made of recent trends in the length of NHS waiting lists.

Waiting lists have fallen by over 206,000 since we came to office, and we’ve delivered 5.2 million extra appointments in our first year – more than double what we promised.Our Elective Reform Plan sets out how we will return to the 18-week standard for elective care by the end of this Parliament, through a combination of investment and reform.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with her counterpart in Burkina Faso on violence towards Christian communities in that country; and what steps she is taking to promote religious freedom in Burkina Faso.

The UK is committed to supporting efforts to address the root causes of violence and discrimination in Burkina Faso.I also refer the Right Hon. Member to the answer Minister Falconer gave on 9 July to Question 63385, concerning UK calls for action on human rights abuses, the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to engage faith leaders and organisations who are unaware of the Civil Society Covenant framework launch.

The Civil Society Covenant Framework was launched in October 2024 and used as the basis for extensive engagement with over 1,200 organisations across government and civil society’s full diversity, including many faith and interfaith groups. These insights and experiences have helped ensure that the Covenant is inclusive of organisations of all purposes, sizes, geographical locations, and those that are led by underrepresented groups.The Civil Society Covenant was launched by the Prime Minister in July 2025 at a major civil society summit. As we move forward, we will continue to work with our government and civil society partners, including faith organisations, to raise awareness across their members and networks and drive engagement with the Covenant at national, local and grassroots levels. MPs are encouraged to make organisations in their constituencies aware of the Covenant.

What metrics are used to assess the efficiency of the Army recruitment system; and what estimate he has made of the most recent assessment of the efficiency of the Army recruitment system.

The efficiency of the British Army Recruitment pipeline is constantly measured on a daily, weekly and monthly basis through various key performance indicators (KPI) throughout the recruitment process to the end of basic training. These KPIs vary depending on stage of the process but make assessments based on numbers of registrations, Army briefings and their effectiveness, questionnaires, assessment centre attendance, individual career discussions and the success, fail, defer and conversion rates of basic training. The assessment process has recently helped enhance areas of the recruitment system including an improved and updated website and candidate portal, digitised collection of the primary health care records (PHCR) and the implementation of AI to scrutinise each PHCR. The British Army has a continuous early initiative to seek improvements of the process and system.

If he will publish (a) the long list of NHS trusts considered by the Chair for inclusion in the Independent Maternity and Neonatal Investigation and (b) the selection criteria used by the Investigation team to assess those trusts.

The 14 National Health Service trusts to be looked at in the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation were announced on 15 September 2025. There are no plans to publish the long list of NHS trusts considered by the Chair for inclusion in the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.The 14 NHS trusts were selected by the independent investigation based on a variety of factors, including results from the Care Quality Commission’s Maternity Patient Survey and Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK’s Perinatal Mortality Rates, in addition to variation in case mix, trust type, geographic coverage, provision of care to individuals from diverse backgrounds, and family feedback.Three of the trusts have been included due to their inclusion in previous investigations or reviews, these three trusts being the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

Who has been selected to represent (a) midwifery, (b) obstetrics and (c) neonatal care for his Independent Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.

The list of Expert Advisers supporting Baroness Amos is published in the terms of reference. They include:a) Professor Julia Sanders and Lesley Sharkey, both midwives.b) Professor Alex Heazell and Dr Christine Ekechi, both obstetricians.c) Dr Edile Murdoch and Dr Alison Bedford-Russell, both neonatologists.

What estimate her Department has made of the (a) staffing, (b) system, (c) compliance and (d) other costs of (i) implementing and (ii) administering the proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief; and if she will take steps to publish an estimate prior to the reforms taking effect in April 2026.

I refer to the answer given on 5 September 2025 at UIN 70546 :https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-08-29/70546

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the government in Myanmar on the destruction of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Kachin State in March 2025; and what diplomatic steps she is taking to help ensure that (a) places of worship are protected and (b) religious freedom is promoted in that country.

The UK is deeply concerned by reports of attacks on places of worship, including the destruction of St Patrick's Cathedral in Kachin State. We remain committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all communities in Myanmar, and consistently raise concerns about the treatment of religious minorities and their places of worship in international fora. In April this year, the UK co-sponsored a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Myanmar, calling for the military to fully respect and protect the human rights of all persons in Myanmar, including religious minorities.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to the Government of Israel regarding persistent attacks by Israeli settlers on Taybeh in the West Bank.

The UK Government condemns settler violence. We regularly raise settler violence with Israeli ministers and officials, and we are clear that the Israeli government must clamp down on settler violence and settlement expansion. The UK has taken action to hold perpetrators and supporters of settler violence to account. On 10 June, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions against Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in their personal capacity for inciting violence towards Palestinians. This was alongside action from our partners Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway. On 20 May, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions targeting individuals, illegal settler outposts and organisations supporting violence against Palestinian Communities in the West Bank.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has raised the religious persecution of Leah Sharibu in bilateral discussions with President Tinubu of Nigeria.

The UK strongly condemns Leah Sharibu's abduction and has repeatedly called for her release and the release of all those abducted by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa (ISWA). We have raised Leah's case with the Government of Nigeria, and the Minister for Africa will continue to do so in future engagements. More broadly, we continue to engage with the Government of Nigeria to support efforts to tackle insecurity and prevent further kidnappings, which includes support to Nigeria's anti-kidnap cell, through the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership.