Written questions by McMurdock.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of police response times to rural crime by Essex Police.

I refer the Hon. Member to UIN 101709 answered on 9th January 2026.

What assessment she has made of trends in the level of a) injuries and b) fatalities where road surface defects were identified as a contributory factor in the last decade.

Statistics on reported road injuries and fatalities where a reporting police officer has assigned ‘Poor or defective road surface or deposits on road’ as a contributing road safety factor are published on gov.uk:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68d3d602e65dc716bfb1dd00/ras0701.odsNo further assessment of the trends in these figures has been made. The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local highway network, which is why the Government has announced a record of £7.3 billion investment for local highway maintenance over the next four years, bringing annual funding to over £2 billion annually by 2029/30. This investment to improve the condition of our roads will make journeys faster, smoother and safer. This builds on nearly £1.6 billion in capital funding that has been provided for local highways maintenance in England for the financial year 2025/26, a £500 million increase compared to the previous financial year.

Whether she plans to publish data on the potential correlation between road surface conditions and road safety outcomes for vulnerable road users.

There are currently no plans to publish data beyond the statistics on factors contributing to collisions that are already available (published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/reported-road-accidents-vehicles-and-casualties-tables-for-great-britain#factors-contributing-to-collisions-and-casualties-ras07). The Government recognises that defective road surfaces, including potholes, can present significant safety risks to vulnerable road users such as cyclists and motorcyclists. Local highway authorities have a statutory duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain their road networks and must consider the needs of vulnerable groups when planning and delivering maintenance programmes.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of reported personal injury road collisions involving defective road surfaces between 2022 and 2024.

Statistics on reported road collisions where a reporting police officer has assigned ‘Poor or defective road surface or deposits on road’ as a contributing road safety factor are published on gov.uk:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68d3d602e65dc716bfb1dd00/ras0701.odsNo further assessment of the trends in these figures has been made. The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local highway network, which is why the Government has announced a record of £7.3 billion investment for local highway maintenance over the next four years, bringing annual funding to over £2 billion annually by 2029/30. This investment to improve the condition of our roads will make journeys faster, smoother and safer. This builds on nearly £1.6 billion in capital funding that has been provided for local highways maintenance in England for the financial year 2025/26, a £500 million increase compared to the previous financial year.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee on police response times to time-sensitive incidents in rural villages, such as a) Bulphan, b) Orsett and c) Horndon-on-the-Hill in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee set out commitments for police forces to implement, by July 2025, and by the end of Parliament. Forces are now delivering on the Guarantee across England and Wales to ensure consistent and high-quality neighbourhood policing, including in rural areas.Forces now have named, contactable officers dedicated to tackling issues in their communities. Forces are also providing a guarantee of 72-hour response times to neighbourhood queries from communities.All reports into the police, either via telephone or online, are triaged by the local force control room and response type and timeliness will be determined by the nature of the report and availability of resources. The Home Office does not hold data on response times to time-sensitive incidents in rural villages, however, should an incident be time critical and requiring rapid response, the public are advised to call 999.Based on their £4,495,599 allocation from the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, Essex are projected to grow by 74 FTE NHP police officers in 2025-26.

Pursuant to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office's press release published on 12 January 2026 entitled UK and Ecuador join forces to tackle cocaine trade at source, what recent assessment has she made of the potential impact of bilateral cooperation with Ecuador to reduce the export of drugs to the UK on the level of criminal activity in the UK.

The Government is concerned by the impact that drug trafficking from South America, particularly cocaine trafficking, is having in the UK and its Overseas Territories. Tackling the supply of drugs remains a priority for this Government and will play a critical role in making our streets safer, including delivering our mission to halve knife crime over the next decade.Ecuador is a key smuggling route for cocaine ending up on UK streets, making joint action essential as part of the UK’s end-to-end approach, including working with law enforcement partners internationally, and at the UK border to tackle the gangs responsible for drug trafficking. Home Office International Operations and UK law enforcement are stationed in Ecuador with officers providing training, equipment and support to enhance the capabilities of Ecuadorian law enforcement – better preventing cocaine from reaching British borders.In 2024, in Ecuador alone, Home Office International supported the seizure of nearly 95 out of the 300 tonnes seized by police. In May 2025, the UK and Ecuador signed a memorandum of understanding, cementing both countries’ commitment to dismantling and disrupting violent criminal networks, which threaten the safety of communities in Britain and South America alike.Funding for UK law enforcement activity and support in Ecuador is provided via the Integrated Security Fund, Home Office Drug Strategy funding and law enforcement agency budgets.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2026 to Question 102432 on Council Housing: Basildon and Thurrock, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Government support on the number of additional council houses that will be constructed in (a) Basildon and (b) Thurrock in the next five years.

My Department does not carry out assessments of the impact of government support on the potential number of additional council houses that might be delivered in each local area.

With reference to the press release, published on 12 January 2026, entitled UK and Ecuador join forces to tackle cocaine trade at source, how many UK police officers supported the training of Ecuadorian police in 2025.

Home Office International Operations and UK law enforcement are stationed in Ecuador with officers providing training, equipment and support to enhance the capabilities of Ecuadorian law enforcement – better preventing cocaine from reaching British borders.Funding for UK law enforcement activity and support in Ecuador is provided via the Integrated Security Fund, Home Office budgetary allocations and law enforcement agency budgets.The Home Office does not comment on overseas operational deployments for security reasons.

With reference to the press release, published on 12 January 2026, entitled UK and Ecuador join forces to tackle cocaine trade at source, what the cost was of providing equipment to Ecuador to assist with preventing the export of drugs since 2020.

Home Office International Operations and UK law enforcement are stationed in Ecuador with officers providing training, equipment and support to enhance the capabilities of Ecuadorian law enforcement – better preventing cocaine from reaching British borders.Funding for UK law enforcement activity and support in Ecuador is provided via the Integrated Security Fund, Home Office budgetary allocations and law enforcement agency budgets.The Home Office does not comment on overseas operational deployments for security reasons.

Pursuant to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office's press release published on 12 January 2026 entitled UK and Ecuador join forces to tackle cocaine trade at source, what estimate has she made of the cost to UK police forces and other law enforcement organisations of providing training to Ecuador to prevent the export of drugs.

The Government is concerned by the impact that drug trafficking from South America, particularly cocaine trafficking, is having in the UK and its Overseas Territories. Tackling the supply of drugs remains a priority for this Government and will play a critical role in making our streets safer, including delivering our mission to halve knife crime over the next decade.Ecuador is a key smuggling route for cocaine ending up on UK streets, making joint action essential as part of the UK’s end-to-end approach, including working with law enforcement partners internationally, and at the UK border to tackle the gangs responsible for drug trafficking. Home Office International Operations and UK law enforcement are stationed in Ecuador with officers providing training, equipment and support to enhance the capabilities of Ecuadorian law enforcement – better preventing cocaine from reaching British borders.In 2024, in Ecuador alone, Home Office International supported the seizure of nearly 95 out of the 300 tonnes seized by police. In May 2025, the UK and Ecuador signed a memorandum of understanding, cementing both countries’ commitment to dismantling and disrupting violent criminal networks, which threaten the safety of communities in Britain and South America alike.Funding for UK law enforcement activity and support in Ecuador is provided via the Integrated Security Fund, Home Office Drug Strategy funding and law enforcement agency budgets.

Published on 12 January 2026, entitled UK and Ecuador join forces to tackle cocaine trade at source, what equipment has been provided by the UK to Ecuador to assist with the prevention of drug exports.

Home Office International Operations and UK law enforcement are stationed in Ecuador with officers providing training, equipment and support to enhance the capabilities of Ecuadorian law enforcement – better preventing cocaine from reaching British borders.Funding for UK law enforcement activity and support in Ecuador is provided via the Integrated Security Fund, Home Office budgetary allocations and law enforcement agency budgets.The Home Office does not comment on overseas operational deployments for security reasons.

How many enforcement actions or penalties have been issued for age discrimination in recruitment in each of the past three years.

Data on compensation and costs awarded for Employment Tribunal on age discrimination is published within the official statistics: Employment_and_EAT_2023_24.ods.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to reform the process for public consultations on redrawing local council electoral ward boundaries.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is responsible for delivering fair electoral and boundary arrangements for English councils. The Commission’s main focus is a rolling programme of electoral reviews, and they produce a range of guidance and resources which are available on their website, setting out the detail of how they conduct electoral reviews, including their process of consultation.As an independent body, responsible to Parliament, the process for public consultation on redrawing local council electoral ward boundaries is a matter for the Commission in line with its statutory duties. The Department has no plans to reform this.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of GCSE outcomes in (a) English and (b) Mathematics in South Basildon and East Thurrock compared with the national averages in 2024.

​​This government has committed £27.7 million this financial year to support and drive high and rising standards in reading. The department will introduce a new, statutory test of reading in year 8 to ensure a focus on reading in key stage 3, whether giving those struggling additional support or ensuring those doing well continue to succeed. Our network of 40 Maths Hubs is supporting local schools to improve their maths teaching, including Venn Essex Maths Hub led by St Thomas More’s Catholic Primary School in Colchester. Following the Curriculum and Assessment review, our new national curriculum and GCSEs will have improved coherence, specificity, sequencing and will be grounded in the most important knowledge and disciplinary skills, so that every child leaves school having mastered the subjects they have been taught and is able to pursue a career in their chosen field. In addition, schools in the constituency have access to the department’s Universal Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) programme, which is helping every school across the country to improve. Universal RISE is a sector-led approach which is connecting all schools to high quality school improvement resources.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the removal of advance ticket discounts on affordability on the c2c rail line.

c2c serves a mostly short distance turn up and go market, with around 95 per cent of all daily ticket sales made within a week of the date of travel. Affordability is therefore primarily determined by walk-up fares. c2c reduced its single fares in December 2023 to always be half the equivalent of a return fare, a change made in readiness for the roll out of contactless Pay As You Go (PAYG) ticketing. c2c is the first TOC in Britain to offer contactless PAYG ticketing on its whole network and advises that it has the lowest walk-up fares per mile of any train company in the southeast.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the British Embassy in Brussels' press release entitled Diplomat for a Day 2026 in Brussels: enter our competition' published on 9 January 2026, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to UK taxpayers of this initiative.

The work experience competition referred to by the Hon Member is in its fourth year in Belgium, run by the UK embassy alongside their counterparts from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Netherlands, and not only provides an outstanding opportunity for the young women selected to take part, but an important means for the embassies involved to engage with high schools across their host country, and cement our strong relationships in that country for the future. The competition is delivered at minimal cost, shared across the four embassies, and while the Hon Member may take a different view, we believe in increasing the opportunities available to young women all over the world to play their full part in public life.

If she will make an estimate of the cost to the logistics sector of transitioning to zero-emission vehicles by 2035.

We have launched an open consultation on potential options for a future regulatory framework to decarbonise HGVs in the UK and support delivery of phase out dates for new non-zero emission HGVs. This consultation closes on 17 March 2026.   We will publish a cost benefit analysis alongside any proposals for future legislation, which will assess the costs and benefits of transitioning to zero emission HGVs.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 January to Question 102676, on Government Departments: Social Media, how much the Government has spent on targeted advertising on social media platforms since 2024.

All government advertising on social media platforms is targeted.

Pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, how her Department calculated the £30 million per year saving in administrative costs by utilising the Education Records app.

The £30 million saving is based on reducing administrative processes in further education and apprenticeships. Extensive user research with colleges identified activities that could be eliminated or streamlined, including photocopying documentation, manually matching emails with applications, and reducing data entry and correction through improved quality. Other efficiencies include removing support time for paperwork, eliminating manual searches for unique learner numbers, and reducing checks on prior attainment to simplify enrolment for mathematics and English. These changes will also reduce delays caused by missing documentation and cut follow-up activities linked to incomplete records.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of excluding decapod crustaceans from the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 on the Government's approach to animal sentience.

The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 recognises decapod crustaceans as sentient beings. The Government remains committed to an evidence-based and proportionate approach to setting welfare standards for decapod crustaceans, both for those caught for human consumption and those used in scientific research.The Home Office is carefully considering next steps, in collaboration with other relevant departments, on whether decapod crustaceans should be brought within the scope of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.The Government is committed to non-animal alternatives in science and has published a strategy to support their development, validation and adoption. The strategy is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/replacing-animals-in-science-strategy/replacing-animals-in-science-a-strategy-to-support-the-development-validation-and-uptake-of-alternative-methods