Written questions by Campbell.

If she will review the criteria required to be met for the proposed introduction of banking hubs.

The Government continues to work closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 220 hubs have been announced so far. Any decisions on changes to LINK’s independent assessment criteria are a matter for LINK, the financial services sector, and the Financial Conduct Authority, which oversees the access to cash regime.

When he plans to announce a replacement for the Advanced Nuclear Fund.

Any announcements regarding funding for advanced nuclear power will be made in due course after the announcement of the Spending Review.

What steps he plans to take to increase the numbers of Army Cadets.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Katie White) on 9 April 2025 to Question 43391.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of sugar additives in soft drinks on the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in young people.

Scientific risk assessments and United Kingdom dietary recommendations are based on robust independent risk assessments by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN).The SACN has not carried out an assessment of the potential impact of sugar additives in soft drinks on the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in young people. However, the SACN has considered the risk of sugar consumption and non-sugar sweetener (NSS) consumption on health outcomes, including the risk of type 2 diabetes.In 2015, the SACN published its report on Carbohydrates and Health and recommended that “the consumption of sugars-sweetened beverages should be minimised in children and adults”. With respect to type 2 diabetes, the SACN noted that “a greater risk is associated with a higher intake of sugars-sweetened beverages”.With respect to children and adolescents, the SACN noted that “consumption of sugars-sweetened beverages, as compared with non-calorically sweetened beverages, results in greater weight gain and increases in body mass index”. Energy intakes that consistently exceed requirements lead to weight gain and obesity in the long term.On 2 April 2025, the SACN published its position statement on the World Health Organization’s guideline on NSS’. The SACN concluded that the evidence of the risk to health, including of type 2 diabetes, from consuming NSS’ is inconsistent. The SACN made a precautionary recommendation that the intake of NSS’ be minimised. With greater certainty of the impact of sugars on health, including type 2 diabetes, the SACN recommended that “swapping sugars for NSS may help reduce sugar intake from foods and drinks, and so reduce energy intake, at least in the short term. The long-term goal is to limit both sugar and NSS intake”.The SACN made a number of research recommendations and other recommendations to the Government.

How many Child Trust Funds past their maturity date have not been claimed.

Information on Child Trust Funds is available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2024

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to replace the Sustainable Farming Incentive in this financial year.

We will provide further details about the reformed SFI in summer 2025.

When he expects the Prostate Cancer UK-led Transform screening trial to reach any conclusions on future detection of the condition.

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests £1.6 billion each year in research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with cancer as the largest area of spend, at over £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. The NIHR funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research, including clinical research on prostate cancer.These investments are pivotal towards efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes. The TRANSFORM trial is an important example of this. On 19 November, the Government and Prostate Cancer UK (PCUK) announced the £42 million TRANSFORM screening trial, to find the best way to screen men for prostate cancer in order to find it before it becomes advanced and harder to treat. PCUK is leading the development of the trial, with the Government contributing £16 million through the Department.The first recruits to the trial are currently being invited to take part in the study, and the first point at which we will see significant new evidence will be approximately three years after the trial begins. The PCUK website outlines the interim points over the course of the TRANSFORM trial when findings will be shared, with further information available at the following link:https://prostatecanceruk.org/research/transform-trial

How many people have been detected as not having a valid Electronic Travel Authorisation in Northern Ireland since January 2025.

Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) were introduced in October 2023 to enhance our ability to screen travellers upstream, and stop those who pose a threat from travelling to the UK. They were more recently expanded to eligible non-European nationals (in November 2024) and European nationals (on 5 March this year). Data on the number of people not holding an ETA in Northern Ireland is unavailable. The Home Office will provide regular updates in the months and years ahead on how the ETA requirement is being implemented and enforced.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 43027 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, how many public charging devices for electric vehicles there were per head of population in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales, and (d) Northern Ireland as of 1 January 2025.

The below table shows public electric vehicle charging devices per 100,000 of the population in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as of 1 January 2025. EnglandScotlandWalesNorthern IrelandPublic electric vehicle charging devices per 100,000 of population111.0112.799.935.6 Data on public electric vehicle charging devices in the UK, held by the Department for Transport, are sourced from the electric vehicle charging platform Zapmap. Charging devices not recorded on Zapmap are not included and the true number of charging devices may be slightly higher than recorded in these figures.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2025 to Question 42420 on Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, on how many occasions in the last five years have people who had animals being kept in domestic settings been found to be in breach of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976.

This information may be held at local level by local authorities, but it is not information Defra collects or holds centrally.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 42419 on Foreign Investment in the UK: Northern Ireland, how many employees are specifically working with Invest NI to help promote investment (a) before and (b) during the Open Golf Championship at Royal Portrush in July 2025.

Promoting investment into Northern Ireland is a key priority for investment staff across the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Office for Investment, including the dedicated team of 10 based in Belfast (DBT NI). At present no dedicated member of staff is working specifically on The Open Golf Championship at Royal Portrush in July 2025, but staff are working on wider promotion of investment into Northern Ireland on an ongoing basis that seeks to take advantage of the focus that events like The Open can provide. DBT NI continues to work collaboratively with Invest Northern Ireland on a range of events and initiatives throughout the year.

If she will meet with representatives of the banking sector to discuss end of month payday payments.

The Government was concerned to hear of the issues impacting customers of several UK banks earlier this year, particularly given these coinciding with end-of-month payment cycles, but understands that services were quickly restored. Engagement with specific firms is a matter for the sector’s regulators, including the Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, who will continue to monitor the firms and the impact of the issues.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of police use of live facial recognition technology.

The Government supports the police use of live facial recognition technology and will continue to ensure the right balance is struck between ensuring public safety and safeguarding individuals’ rights.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Data (Use and Access) Bill on the development of artificial intelligence models.

Compliance, productivity and familiarisation costs savings of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning reforms in the Data (Use and Access) Bill have been considered and can be found in the indirect benefits and costs sections of the impact assessment (IA). The ethical assessment can also be found in the impact on individuals section. The assessment of the effect on different organisations by size and sector can be found in the small and micro business assessment section of the IA here (particularly, Table 14, 24, 25, 26 & 34).

Whether she has made an assessment of trends in the level of regional disparities in the number of public charging devices for electric vehicles by population.

The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of affordable and accessible charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle. Chargepoint availability is increasing everywhere with public charging device numbers increasing by 45% in rural areas of England in 2024.

When she plans to bring forward any legislative proposals from the first phase of the Pensions Investment Review.

The final report of the Pensions Investment Review, including the policy proposals to be legislated for, will be published in the Spring ahead of the introduction of the Pension Schemes Bill.

How he plans to implement the Tobacco and Vapes Bill across all parts of the United Kingdom.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is United Kingdom-wide, and has been developed in partnership with the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive.The Department of Health and Social Care in England will work with the devolved administrations to implement the measures in the bill, including future regulations, once the bill receives Royal Assent.

What steps she plans to take to reduce the number of car accidents among (a) recently-qualified and (b) young drivers.

We recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads. As work progresses on the new road safety strategy, we are exploring options to tackle the root causes of this without unfairly penalising young drivers. My Department’s THINK! campaign aims to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the roads in England and Wales, and is primarily focused on men aged 17-24. THINK! plays an important role in raising awareness of risky driving behaviours amongst young people. This has recently included campaigns on drink-driving and speeding on rural roads.

How many employees from the Trade and Investment Hub in Northern Ireland are working with Invest NI to promote investment before the Open Golf Championship at Royal Portrush in July 2025.

At end February 2025 DBT had 76 FTE from across the organisation based in our Belfast Hub. There are 10 people working in the trade and investment team, who all work collaboratively with Invest Northern Ireland on a range of events and initiatives throughout the year.

What meetings he has had Northern Ireland based businesses following the publication of guidance for businesses on the new General Product Safety Regulation.

My officials have been engaging regularly with businesses from across the UK on the updated General Product Safety Regulation in Northern Ireland. Since the guidance for businesses was published, officials have hosted numerous drop-in sessions for businesses, both before and after the Regulation took effect in Northern Ireland. The Department for Business and Trade will be publishing updates to the guidance to provide additional clarity to businesses, reflecting the queries and feedback we have received.