Written questions by Downie.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he last met the Turkish ambassador to the UK; and what he discussed.

As a close friend and ally of Turkey, the Government is closely monitoring the situation following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and protests. Ekrem Imamoğlu is subject to an ongoing domestic Turkish legal process. The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international commitments and the rule of law, including through ensuring a swift and transparent judicial process. The Government has been engaging with the Turkish Government and the Foreign Secretary spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on 29 March and raised our expectation that Turkey upholds its international commitments and the rule of law, and that it protects the fundamental rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and media freedom. I have also raised these matters with counterparts. The UK is a staunch supporter of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across the world and will always support these fundamental rights.

What estimate he has made of the cost of Royal Navy shadowing of suspected Russian spy ships (a) in and (b) near UK territorial waters in each of the last five years.

The Royal Navy continuously monitors UK waters and are ready to respond to the presence of Russian vessels. Specific detail cannot be confirmed for reasons of safeguarding national security.

When he last reviewed defence export licenses in place for Turkey.

This Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world. This is an important lever for promoting both UK prosperity and national and global security. We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (the SELC). We review all new licence applications on this basis taking into account all current information available at the time including the situation in the end destination. We also keep all our extant licences (which typically last for two years) under continual review. The FCDO advises DBT on the situation in country and the risks this poses with respect to the UK’s export control responsibilities.

What representations he has received from the German Government on the sale of Eurofighter Typhoons to Turkey.

We hold regular discussions with Germany on a range of issues related to equipment and joint programmes. The UK is supportive of the prospective sale of Eurofighter Typhoon to Turkey, as its next fighter platform. We continue to discuss our ongoing bid for Turkey to procure Typhoon with the other Eurofighter Partner Nations, including Germany.

How many Royal Navy ships have shadowed suspected Russian spy ships (a) in and (b) near UK territorial waters in each of the last five years.

The Royal Navy continuously monitors UK waters and are ready to respond to the presence of Russian vessels. Specific detail cannot be confirmed for reasons of safeguarding national security.

What assessment he has made of the potential of recent political unrest in Turkey on the consideration of (a) existing and (b) new defence export licenses.

This Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world. This is an important lever for promoting both UK prosperity and national and global security. We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (the SELC). We review all new licence applications on this basis taking into account all current information available at the time including the situation in the end destination. We also keep all our extant licences (which typically last for two years) under continual review. The FCDO advises DBT on the situation in country and the risks this poses with respect to the UK’s export control responsibilities.

What defence export licenses to Turkey are under consideration.

We publish information on export licence outcomes as part of official statistics published on gov.uk by the Department for Business and Trade on behalf of the Export Control Joint Unit. The latest general statistics, which were classified as Official Statistics in Development, were published on 27 February 2025 and cover licence decisions to 30 September 2024. They are available to view on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. We do not routinely publish information about in progress licence applications. Hundreds of licensing decisions are taken each week so the precise number of applications in progress changes on a daily basis. Once an application has received an outcome, it will be published as official statistics in the Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. Information relating to export licensing decisions covering the period 1 October 2024 – 31 December 2024 will be published on 15 May 2025.

What defence export licences are in place for UK companies to Turkey.

We publish information on export licence outcomes as part of official statistics published on gov.uk by the Department for Business and Trade on behalf of the Export Control Joint Unit. The latest general statistics, which were classified as Official Statistics in Development, were published on 27 February 2025 and cover licence decisions to 30 September 2024. They are available to view on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. We do not routinely publish information about in progress licence applications. Hundreds of licensing decisions are taken each week so the precise number of applications in progress changes on a daily basis. Once an application has received an outcome, it will be published as official statistics in the Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. Information relating to export licensing decisions covering the period 1 October 2024 – 31 December 2024 will be published on 15 May 2025.

What support he provides for people with long term health conditions trying to access discounts on water charges when the supply is provided on behalf of his Department.

The Ministry of Defence does not provide additional support for people with long term health conditions to access discounts on water charges when the supply is provided on behalf of the Department.

When the new support hub for SMEs will be operational.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 March 2025 to the hon. Member for South Suffolk (James Cartlidge) to Question 34903.

What plans he has for when the next round of formal trade negotiations with Taiwan will take place.

The UK's longstanding position on Taiwan has not changed. The UK-Taiwan Trade Talks have taken place since 1991 and I look forward to co-chairing these this year. Under the UK and Taiwan Enhanced Trade Partnership we have committed to developing 'pillars' on Investment, Digital Trade and Renewable Energy and Net Zero. We are working with the Taiwanese authorities to develop and deliver these.UK-Taiwan Trade Talks and the Enhanced Trade Partnership will support our strong unofficial relationship with Taiwan, based on deep and growing ties in a range of areas, including trade and investment.

Pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40715 on Universal Credit: Disability, what steps she is taking to ensure that savings reinvested into (a) work support and (b) training opportunities impact recipients of Universal Credit health top up in (i) Dunfermline and Dollar constituency, (ii) Scotland and (iii) other devolved administrations.

We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work. This is backed up by £1 billion of new funding across the United Kingdom, with the share of funding for devolved governments calculated in the usual way. In Northern Ireland employment support is fully transferred. In Scotland and Wales, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Scottish and Welsh Governments have concurrent powers to deliver employment support, with some provision delivered and funded directly by DWP and some funding devolved through the block grant. As outlined in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we are committed to working in partnership with the Scottish and Welsh Governments on shared employment ambitions across devolved and reserved provision, which includes employment support measures in the Health and Disability Green Paper.

Pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40712, what the cost to the public purse was of the Disability Confidence Scheme in each of the last four years.

The Disability Confident scheme expenditure is not separately recorded within departmental budgets.

Whether he has discussions with international counterparts in NATO on the report entitled SkyShield: a practical security guarantee for Ukraine by CEPA, published on 17 March 2025.

The Defence Secretary regularly speaks with his NATO and international counterparts, including on our collective support to Ukraine's armed forces in response to Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion. With reference to the report entitled SkyShield, we are working with the Coalition of the Willing for potential security assurances for Ukraine.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Turkish Ambassador to the UK on the recent arrests in Istanbul on 19 March.

As a close friend and ally of Turkey the Government is closely monitoring the situation. Recent arrests are subject to ongoing domestic Turkish legal process. The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international commitments and the rule of law, including swift and transparent judicial processes. We regularly engage with the Turkish government and there has been Ministerial contact with counterparts in recent days to raise these issues. The UK supports democracy, human rights and the rule of law across the world and will always support the fundamental rights to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and peaceful protest. The next elections in Turkey are due to take place by May 2028.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has received a report from the British Embassy in Ankara on forthcoming Turkish elections.

As a close friend and ally of Turkey the Government is closely monitoring the situation. Recent arrests are subject to ongoing domestic Turkish legal process. The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international commitments and the rule of law, including swift and transparent judicial processes. We regularly engage with the Turkish government and there has been Ministerial contact with counterparts in recent days to raise these issues. The UK supports democracy, human rights and the rule of law across the world and will always support the fundamental rights to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and peaceful protest. The next elections in Turkey are due to take place by May 2028.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the management of the forthcoming Turkish elections.

As a close friend and ally of Turkey the Government is closely monitoring the situation. Recent arrests are subject to ongoing domestic Turkish legal process. The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international commitments and the rule of law, including swift and transparent judicial processes. We regularly engage with the Turkish government and there has been Ministerial contact with counterparts in recent days to raise these issues. The UK supports democracy, human rights and the rule of law across the world and will always support the fundamental rights to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and peaceful protest. The next elections in Turkey are due to take place by May 2028.

How many people under 22 in (a) Dunfermline and Dollar constituency, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK will be impacted by changes to the limited capability for work and work related activity element of Universal Credit.

No decision has been made on this policy. The key principle of our focus for 18-21 year olds should be helping them to be earning or learning, because of the long-term scarring effects for young people of a period of unemployment. That is why we are consulting on delaying access to the UC health top up until age 22 with savings reinvested into work support and training opportunities. Universal Credit Health caseload statistics are available on DWP Stat-Xplore and were most recently updated with December 2024 data.In December 2024, 13,650 and 68,350 16- to 21-year-olds in Great Britain were in the Limited Capability for Work (LCW) and Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) groups respectively. Table: 16–21-year-olds in (a) Dunfermline and Dollar, (b) Scotland and (c) Great Britain on the UC Health caseload (December 2024) LCWLCWRATotal(a) Dunfermline and Dollar20110130(b) Scotland1,3807,4608,830(c) Great Britain13,65068,35082,000 Statistical disclosure control has been applied to this table to avoid the release of confidential data and are rounded to the nearest 10.Totals may not sum due to this disclosure control and rounding.Figures are a count of the number of people on Universal Credit health on the second Thursday of the month.Figures are Experimental Official Statistics Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/ (opens in new window). An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.

How many people have used the Disability Confident Scheme.

In 2022, the department commissioned a survey to understand from members’ perspectives the impact that signing up to the scheme has had on their recruitment and retention attitudes and practices towards disabled people. The survey can be accessed on gov.uk using the following link: Disability Confident: survey of participating employers, May 2022 - GOV.UK There are currently over 19,000 employers signed up to the Disability Confident scheme. Collectively, these employers estimate over 12 million employees work in their organisations. It is not known how many of these employees are disabled, have a health condition, or are direct users of the scheme. No assessment has been made of the impact of the scheme on the ability of disabled people to find work. I have been discussing with stakeholders in Disability Confident ideas for making the scheme criteria more robust, and plan to bring forward proposals for this in due course.

With reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, how she plans to introduce more active (a) engagement and (b) support for new claims for Universal Credit health rate.

We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we would establish a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and people with health conditions claiming out of work benefits who want help to get into or return to work, backed up by £1 billion of new funding As the Green Paper notes, we are keen to engage widely on the design of this guarantee and the components needed to deliver it. To get this right, we will be seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders including devolved governments, local health systems, local government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities, private and voluntary sector providers, employers and potential users. We will confirm further details in due course after we have completed our consultation process. In addition, Help to Claim provides tailored practical support to anyone who needs it. It enables individuals requiring additional support to make and maintain their Universal Credit claim, up until their first correct Universal Credit payment. It is also available to those moving from legacy benefits because of managed migration, voluntary moves, or a change of circumstances.