Written questions by Morris.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of prison officer salary levels on staff retention rates.

The 2024/25 Prison Service pay award delivered a pay rise of at 5% for all Band 3 – 5 Prison Officers on modernised terms and conditions. This brings the starting salary for an entry level officer (on the national rate, 39 hours with unsocial hours) from £32,851 to £34,494.As of 30 September 2024, there are 23,571 Band 3-5 Full Time Equivalent Prison Officers in post, and nationally across establishments we are at 99.5% of our Target Staffing Figure (when using hours adjusted FTE). We have seen indications of an improving retention picture in the past two years – as of September 2024, the resignation rate for Band 3-5 prison officers was 8.5%, which is an improvement of 3 percentage points since September 2022 (11.5%).When asked about their primary reason for leaving the prison service, Pay and Reward no longer consistently features in the top five reasons for leaving as cited by staff in exit interviews.

What recent estimate she has made of the level of pay rise required by prison officers for salaries to be at the same real-terms levels as they were in 2010.

Pay for Prison Officers is informed by independent recommendations made by the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB).HMPPS’ written evidence to the PSPRB for 2025/26 was published on 10 December 2025. This noted that the rate of economic growth since the global financial crisis of 2008 has been substantially lower than in previous decades. Annual real productivity growth (GDP per hour worked) fell by around 1.5% from an average of 2.1% in the decade prior to 2008, to 0.6% between 2010 and 2019. Higher productivity enables higher wages, and only sustained productivity growth over the medium-term can deliver sustainable long-run economic growth and real-terms wage rises.In making their independent recommendations, the PSPRB takes account of the written and oral evidence submitted by Government as well as evidence and representations made by the recognised Trade Unions, including the Prison Officers’ Association. The PSPRB considers a range of factors such as private sector wage growth, inflation, and future Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts.

What the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s annual budget was in each year between 2018-19 and 2024-25.

The MCA’s annual budget each year from 2018/19 – 2024/25 as follows: SourceResource Budget £Capital Budget £Total Budget £2024-2025Parliamentary Main Supply Estimate443,73521,842465,5772023-2024Parliamentary Supply Estimate416,59439,479456,0732022-2023Parliamentary Supply Estimate416,16838,401454,5692021-2022Parliamentary Supply Estimate389,89161,184451,0752020-2021Parliamentary Supply Estimate376,69343,171419,8642019-2020Parliamentary Supply Estimate365,27316,327381,6002018-2019Parliamentary Supply Estimate349,05511,866360,921

What recent discussions she has had with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on enforcement of the Seafarers Wages Act 2023.

Officials from the Department for Transport and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency have regular meetings to discuss enforcement of the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023. Department for Transport officials held a training session for Maritime and Coastguard Agency inspectors on the requirements of the legislation in November 2024.

What progress she has made on launching an inquiry into the events at Orgreave during the miners strike.

The Home Secretary and the Minister of State for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention have met with the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, and the Home Office is developing plans to deliver on the Government’s manifesto commitment to ensure, through an investigation or inquiry, that the truth about the events at Orgreave comes to light.

With reference to the document entitled UKCS Decommissioning Cost and Performance Update 2024, published on 16 June 2024, whether the estimates of the annual cost of decommissioning offshore oil and gas infrastructure are net of annual relief on corporation tax granted for decommissioning expenditure in the oil and gas sector.

The decommissioning cost estimates referred to, which are published by the North Sea Transition Authority, are pre-tax. Any annual relief on corporation tax granted for decommissioning expenditure in the oil and gas sector has not been applied.

When she expects the Marine Accident Investigation Branch to publish its report into the loss of a crew member on the Liberian flagged drill rig jack up vessel Valaris 121 on 22 January 2023.

The Liberian registered Valaris 121, a mobile drilling rig, was under tow outside United Kingdom territorial waters when the accident took place. In line with the International Maritime Organization’s Casualty Investigation Code (the Code), as the flag State of the vessel, the Liberian Registry’s Marine Investigations Department has commenced an investigation. As this accident involved a UK national, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch has declared itself a substantially interested state under the Code and has provided assistance to the Liberian investigation where required. Once their investigation is complete the Liberian authorities will publish a report into the accident.

If she will list the oil and gas fields that qualified for relief from corporation tax on decommissioning expenditure in the offshore oil and gas sector in each financial year between 2013-14 and 2024-25.

It is a long-standing convention that the government does not discuss individual taxpayers, and so the government cannot discuss the tax history of individual oil and gas fields. Companies operating oil and gas fields in the UK and on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) are required to decommission the wells and infrastructure at the end of a field’s life. Tax relief is a normal part of a corporate tax system where there are genuine costs to companies, and so providing tax relief on decommissioning recognises the heavy “end of life” cost for oil and gas projects. Estimates of the cost of tax reliefs used by oil and gas companies under the Ring Fence Corporation Tax (RFCT) and Petroleum Revenue Tax (PRT) regimes, including the costs of RFCT and PRT decommissioning tax reliefs, are published at tax relief statistics gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-relief-statistics). This publication contains non-disclosive estimates of number of claimants for each relief, where relevant data are available.

When she expects the Health and Safety Executive to publish its report into the loss of a crew member on the Liberian flagged drill rig jack up vessel Valaris 121 on 22 January 2023.

The Health and Safety Executive Energy Division, having completed their investigation, on 20 November 2024 submitted a report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Once the Procurator Fiscal has reviewed the report and due process has been followed, the factual findings around the incident will be available.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of jobs in the decommissioning sector of the offshore oil and gas industry in each financial year from 2013-14 and 2024-25.

No such estimates have been made. The planning and delivery of decommissioning is often integrated into the organisational capabilities of upstream oil and gas operators and supply chain companies. It is therefore difficult to determine how many of this workforce are, or have been, focused on decommissioning activities over the last 10 years.

When she plans to announce the ten pilot areas for the Kinship Care Allowance.

The department recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children, and the role local authorities have in supporting them.The government has recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new Kin...

Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of cases in which location data for out-of-area placements made while discharging a homelessness duty is (a) not recorded or (

Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating impact on those affected, especially children. Too many families are spending years in temporary accommodation, at a point in a child’s life when they need space to play and develop, nutrit...

What the non-standard occupation groups in his Department are.

Ministry of Defence (MOD) Non-Standard Occupational Groups (NSOG) are groups of staff for whom some aspects of their terms and conditions of service are different from the MOD broader-banded grade structure as aligned to civil service standard grades i.e....

When she plans to convene the next meeting of the Department for Transport’s Freight Council.

Our ambition is for the Freight Council to bring leaders from the freight and logistics sector together with government to agree priorities and actions, so that freight plays its full part in growing our economy. We have been considering the best Council ...

Pursuant to Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question12278 on Rolling Stock, whether a rolling stock strategy will be published before the establishment of Great British Railways.

The Department for Transport is developing a Rolling Stock Strategy. This will align with the wider objectives of the industry in ending the current variability in production rates and ensuring a stable pipeline of work for the rolling stock supply chain....

What recent estimate she has made of the prison maintenance backlog.

We will shortly be publishing an ad-hoc report on the prison estate conditions survey, which will contain information on the maintenance implications.HMPPS is investing up to £220 million on maintenance this financial year 2024/25. We will continue to inv...

What guidance her Department issues on the powers available to (a) local authorities and (b) the police to (i) remove and (ii) seize a vehicle parked on a public highway that does not have valid insurance.

The Government takes uninsured driving very seriously and is determined to see a reduction in this offence. Since 2005, the police have had the power to seize vehicles that are being driven without insurance and as of 2020, two million vehicles had been s...

What guidance her Department issues on the powers available to (a) local authorities and (b) the police to (i) remove and (ii) seize a vehicle parked on a public highway that does not have a valid MOT.

The Department for Transport does not issue such guidance. The police can check if a vehicle has a valid MOT by using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras and conducting random stops, and they are able to seize a vehicle without a valid MOT. ...

How many magistrates courts closed in each year since 2010.

The table below shows the number of Magistrates’ Courts that have permanently closed in each financial year (FY) since 2010/11. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proxi...

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2024 to Question 13192 on Homelessness, if she will publish her letter of 11 November 2024 addressed to all local authority Chief Executives

As set out in my answer to Question UIN 13192, on 11 November 2024 the Deputy Prime Minister wrote to all local authority Chief Executives in England about out-of-area accommodation placements, including temporary accommodation and housing offers to end a...