Written questions by McMurdock.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that all schools have effective (a) fencing, (b) access control systems, (c) CCTV and (d) other perimeter security measures to prevent unauthorised access to school premises in (i) Essex and (ii) nationally.

Responsibility for the school estate lies with responsible bodies such as local authorities, academy trusts, or charitable trustees.The department’s 'Good estate management for schools' guidance, alongside more detailed 'Site security' guidance, outlines best practice for perimeter security and access control.Capital funding for school buildings will rise to £2.1 billion in 2025/26, increasing to around £2.3 billion by 2029/30. Essex County Council received £9.3 million for its maintained schools, with other responsible bodies also allocated funding. Smaller trusts and colleges may bid into the Condition Improvement Fund.The department’s ‘Protective security and preparedness for education settings’ and ‘School and college security’ guidance supports settings to assess vulnerabilities and ensure safe environments.Ofsted expects compliance with safeguarding but does not inspect site security specifically.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of unreliable child maintenance payments on child poverty.

We know that children in separated families are poorer and more likely to live in poverty than those in non-separated families. Child maintenance payment through both statutory and non-statutory arrangements keep approximately 120,000 children out of poverty each year. DWP estimates that streamlining the CMS into a single maintenance collection and transfer service in line with our current proposals for change could result in around 20,000 fewer children in poverty. The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will work hard to make sure parents pay in full and on time. Where parents fail to take responsibility for paying for their children, the CMS will not hesitate to use the range enforcement powers available. The CMS is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families. Our current proposals should result in securing money for children more quickly in many of these cases.

With reference to paragraph 3.16 of the report by the National Audit Office entitled Investigation into the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, published on 16 June 2025, HC 951, by when he expects fixed (a) innovation and (b) digitalisation milestones to be provided.

The government expects fixed (a) innovation and (b) digitalisation targets to be provided when Capita submits its continuous improvement strategy and, for each contract year, an annual continuous improvement plan, once the services have gone live (post December 2025).

Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to support newly formed councils inheriting debts from councils due to be abolished in local government reorganisation.

In general, as with previous rounds of local government reorganisation, there is no proposal for council debt to be addressed centrally or written off as part of reorganisation. However, the government accepts that Woking Borough Council and Thurrock Council hold significant and exceptional unsupported debt, related to capital practices, that cannot be managed locally in their entirety. The government has committed to providing debt repayment support for both these councils. Any support will need to consider what further action these councils can take locally within their capacity to reduce debt, and value for money for the national and local taxpayer. We will continue to work with both these councils and Best Value Commissioners on the issue of their unmanageable debt and provide further details in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to amend the first past the post voting system for local council elections in Essex following local government reorganisation.

The government has no plans to change the electoral system for local elections in England.

Communities and Local Government, whether shadow council elections in 2027 for new councils will utilise existing district magnitudes.

The government is committed to ending two-tier local government in England in this Parliament, and to move to new structures as soon as possible, including elections to new unitary councils in May 2027 in areas other than Surrey. The government has not yet made decisions on those elections. The first stage is for areas to prepare proposals for unitary councils. We received proposals from the six areas in the Devolution Priority Programme by 26 September and for the remaining 14 areas the deadline is 28 November. In the statutory invitations we asked councils to include councillor numbers in their proposals, and they may choose to include information about electoral arrangements. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (the Commission) have offered support with guidance and a series of webinars. Once Ministers have reached a decision on which proposal, if any, to implement, then electoral arrangements for the new councils will be included in the structural changes order that establishes any new councils. These will be built using a mixture of existing wards, divisions or, in some cases, parishes. The government expects to work closely with the relevant councils and the Commission to ensure these arrangements are fit for purpose for the first elections and have regard to the Commission’s criteria. The Commission then expects to carry out an electoral review of all newly established councils after their first elections and before their subsequent elections.

Communities and Local Government, whether shadow council elections will operate on existing ward boundaries.

The government is committed to ending two-tier local government in England in this Parliament, and to move to new structures as soon as possible, including elections to new unitary councils in May 2027 in areas other than Surrey. The government has not yet made decisions on those elections. The first stage is for areas to prepare proposals for unitary councils. We received proposals from the six areas in the Devolution Priority Programme by 26 September and for the remaining 14 areas the deadline is 28 November. In the statutory invitations we asked councils to include councillor numbers in their proposals, and they may choose to include information about electoral arrangements. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (the Commission) have offered support with guidance and a series of webinars. Once Ministers have reached a decision on which proposal, if any, to implement, then electoral arrangements for the new councils will be included in the structural changes order that establishes any new councils. These will be built using a mixture of existing wards, divisions or, in some cases, parishes. The government expects to work closely with the relevant councils and the Commission to ensure these arrangements are fit for purpose for the first elections and have regard to the Commission’s criteria. The Commission then expects to carry out an electoral review of all newly established councils after their first elections and before their subsequent elections.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to issue guidance to newly created local councils who inherit areas at different stages of the local plan-making process and have not adopted a local plan.

The government expects local planning authorities to work towards the adoption of an up-to-date local plan as soon as possible. Local government reorganisation should not hinder this essential work.The legal status of local plans is not impacted by local government reorganisation. Where reorganisation occurs, new unitary authorities are expected to promptly prepare a local plan covering the whole of their area. Until that new plan is adopted, existing constituent local plans remain in force as part of the development plan for their area. New unitary authorities will have the discretion to progress emerging constituent local plans. A new legal framework for local-plan making will be introduced later this year. Significant financial assistance has already been provided to eligible authorities to support plan-making and authorities should make the most of other support available through the Local Government Association’s Planning Advisory Service.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that newly created councils holding shadow elections in 2027 have newly drawn wards compliant with the Local Government Boundary Commission for England's criteria.

The government is committed to ending two-tier local government in England in this Parliament, and to move to new structures as soon as possible, including elections to new unitary councils in May 2027 in areas other than Surrey. The government has not yet made decisions on those elections. The first stage is for areas to prepare proposals for unitary councils. We received proposals from the six areas in the Devolution Priority Programme by 26 September and for the remaining 14 areas the deadline is 28 November. In the statutory invitations we asked councils to include councillor numbers in their proposals, and they may choose to include information about electoral arrangements. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (the Commission) have offered support with guidance and a series of webinars. Once Ministers have reached a decision on which proposal, if any, to implement, then electoral arrangements for the new councils will be included in the structural changes order that establishes any new councils. These will be built using a mixture of existing wards, divisions or, in some cases, parishes. The government expects to work closely with the relevant councils and the Commission to ensure these arrangements are fit for purpose for the first elections and have regard to the Commission’s criteria. The Commission then expects to carry out an electoral review of all newly established councils after their first elections and before their subsequent elections.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has issued guidance to local councils due to be reorganised encouraging the creation of joint committees to advise on measures to synchronise plans for provision of local services.

Unitary structures must prioritise the delivery of high quality and sustainable public services to citizens. As we set out in ‘Local government reorganisation: Considerations for partnership working in social care for new unitary authorities’ local government reorganisation and wider social care service reforms are a significant undertaking, and authorities will naturally want to collaborate to share knowledge, expertise and learning to maintain a focus on improving service delivery and supporting innovation.If, following consultation, the Secretary of State decides to implement a council’s proposal for unitary local government then secondary legislation, which will be subject to Parliamentary approval, will be required which will include appropriate transitional arrangements. This could include a joint committee to oversee the implementation plan ahead of any elections where appropriate locally. Government will work closely with councils as decisions are made with regard to these arrangements.

Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to issue guidance to newly created local councils inheriting different areas with and without adopted local plans in place.

The government expects local planning authorities to work towards the adoption of an up-to-date local plan as soon as possible. Local government reorganisation should not hinder this essential work.The legal status of local plans is not impacted by local government reorganisation. Where reorganisation occurs, new unitary authorities are expected to promptly prepare a local plan covering the whole of their area. Until that new plan is adopted, existing constituent local plans remain in force as part of the development plan for their area. New unitary authorities will have the discretion to progress emerging constituent local plans. A new legal framework for local-plan making will be introduced later this year. Significant financial assistance has already been provided to eligible authorities to support plan-making and authorities should make the most of other support available through the Local Government Association’s Planning Advisory Service.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of maintaining the personal tax allowance threshold on the number of pensioners living in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty in each of the next three years.

The Personal Allowance - the amount an individual can earn before paying tax - will continue to exceed the basic and full new State Pension in 2025/26. This means pensioners whose sole income is the full new State Pension or basic State Pension without any increments will not pay any income tax. The Government is committed to making sure older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve in retirement. The State Pension is the foundation of the support available to them. Over the course of this Parliament, the yearly amount of the full new State Pension is currently projected to go up by around £1,900 based on the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest forecast.

Whether her Department plans to review the personal tax allowance threshold to prevent pensioners paying income tax.

The Personal Allowance - the amount an individual can earn before paying tax - will continue to exceed the basic and full new State Pension in 2025/26. This means pensioners whose sole income is the full new State Pension or basic State Pension without any increments will not pay any income tax. The Government is committed to making sure older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve in retirement. The State Pension is the foundation of the support available to them. Over the course of this Parliament, the yearly amount of the full new State Pension is currently projected to go up by around £1,900 based on the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest forecast.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to seek the release of (a) Aung San Suu Kyi and (b) other political prisoners in Myanmar.

On 1 February, the former Foreign Secretary called for Aung San Suu Kyi's release and all those arbitrarily detained. In April, we co-sponsored the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Myanmar, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all those who have been arbitrarily detained, including Aung San Suu Kyi. On 19 June, to mark Aung San Suu Kyi's 80th birthday, the former Minister for the Indo-Pacific called for her release and for all those arbitrarily detained. Most recently, this month our Head of Mission in Yangon reiterated these concerns about arbitrary detention, including that of Aung San Suu Kyi, and encouraged the Myanmar military regime to grant access to Aung San Suu Kyi's family.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of aligning the licensing regime for Section 2 shotguns with that for Section 1 firearms.

We will be undertaking a public consultation later this year on the greater alignment of the controls on shotguns with other firearms.The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February this year, included a commitment to having a consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns. We will carefully consider the views put forward to the consultation in due course and this includes the possible impact of any changes.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of aligning Section 2 shotgun licensing with Section 1 high-powered firearms.

We will be undertaking a public consultation later this year on the greater alignment of the controls on shotguns with other firearms.The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February this year, included a commitment to having a consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns. We will carefully consider the views put forward to the consultation in due course and this includes the possible impact of any changes.

What steps her Department is taking to help (a) encourage and (b) support the recruitment of armed forces veterans into the police.

The Government is committed to ensuring police forces are supported to effectively tackle crime. We are clear that visible policing is essential to restoring public confidence in the police.We recognise that there are important opportunities for those leaving the military to join police forces. We value these people’s commitment to public service.Following the introduction of the Police Constable Entry Programme military veterans have a range of options to join the police depending on the qualifications they may hold and the resettlement credits available to them.Decisions about police recruitment, including how recruitment and selection processes are run, are a matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners and are therefore managed locally by forces.

Whether she plans to publish an analysis of (a) Higher Education Statistics Agency and (b) Office for National Statistics data on graduate employment to inform higher education (i) curriculum and (ii) skills policy.

The department publishes employment and earnings outcomes of graduates and postgraduates each year, based on data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Authority, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and the Department for Work and Pensions. The publication includes breakdowns by subject studied, as well as graduate characteristics, and detailed information about which industries graduates worked in after studying a particular subject and their movements between industries after graduation. The publication can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/leo-graduate-and-postgraduate-outcomes/2022-23#dataBlock-d7be0f33-0ec5-4b78-98ed-ba6f25dfb414-charts. This data has been available since 26 June 2025.The department also publishes graduate labour market statistics. This publication uses data from the Office for National Statistics’ Labour Force Survey to compare employment and earnings outcomes between graduates, postgraduates and non-graduates. The publication can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/graduate-labour-markets/2024. This data has been available since 5 June 2025.The department uses these publications as part of the evidence base to inform higher education and skills policy.

If her Department will take steps to encourage police forces to prioritise funding for frontline roles rather than spending on diversity, equality, and inclusion.

Police forces that reflect the communities they serve are crucial to tackling crime and maintain public trust and confidence in a modern diverse society.Decisions about police recruitment and the allocation of resources are a matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners and are therefore managed locally by forces. It is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions to make decisions based on their local knowledge and experience.The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of diversity, equality and inclusion roles in police forces, or on the amount spent by forces on these roles.

How many people are employed by the police in roles where the primary focus is on diversity, equality and inclusion.

Police forces that reflect the communities they serve are crucial to tackling crime and maintain public trust and confidence in a modern diverse society.Decisions about police recruitment and the allocation of resources are a matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners and are therefore managed locally by forces. It is for Chief Constables and directly elected PCCs, and Mayors with PCC functions to make decisions based on their local knowledge and experience.The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of diversity, equality and inclusion roles in police forces, or on the amount spent by forces on these roles.