Written questions by McMurdock.

With reference to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, published on 19 March 2026, whether similar return agreements are being negotiated with other countries.

On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.The Home Office pro-actively engages with key international partners to maintain, strengthen and improve returns cooperation and supporting processes. The UK uses a range of returns agreements and operational arrangements to support removals. It would not be appropriate to comment on discussions with individual countries, as this could undermine ongoing negotiations.All returns under the UK–Nigeria partnership are conducted in accordance with UK law and international obligations, with safeguarding considerations applied throughout the process. Existing protections for vulnerable individuals, including identification of potential victims of modern slavery, which includes women and children, continue to apply.The partnership streamlines the returns process, reducing processing and detention time, which in turn reduces operational costs. No additional resources have been allocated to Immigration Enforcement as a result of the UK–Nigeria partnership. The agreement is focused on improving efficiency and delivery within existing resources.

With reference to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, published on 19 March 2026, what measures the agreement contains to ensure the protection of Nigerian (a) women and (b) children at risk of exploitation.

On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.The Home Office pro-actively engages with key international partners to maintain, strengthen and improve returns cooperation and supporting processes. The UK uses a range of returns agreements and operational arrangements to support removals. It would not be appropriate to comment on discussions with individual countries, as this could undermine ongoing negotiations.All returns under the UK–Nigeria partnership are conducted in accordance with UK law and international obligations, with safeguarding considerations applied throughout the process. Existing protections for vulnerable individuals, including identification of potential victims of modern slavery, which includes women and children, continue to apply.The partnership streamlines the returns process, reducing processing and detention time, which in turn reduces operational costs. No additional resources have been allocated to Immigration Enforcement as a result of the UK–Nigeria partnership. The agreement is focused on improving efficiency and delivery within existing resources.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled New radar systems to unlock offshore wind, published on 20 March 2026, what the cost is of procuring the new air defence radar systems.

The Government has signed a £95m contract with BAE Systems to deliver a technologically advanced radar that secures the coexistence of air defence and offshore wind, supporting both national and energy security. These upgrades to the UK’s air defence radars will help unlock up to 10GW of offshore wind, £20bn in private investment and thousands of skilled jobs. The Ministry of Defence has agreed to fund this contract, with financial support from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, as part of a mission-led government. Funding was allocated at the Spending Review 2025 and has not been diverted from wider RAF or Air Defence budgets.

What plans he has to make compliance with the Model Emergency Department mandatory for NHS trusts.

The Model Emergency Department, published in February 2026, sets out a consistent national framework describing the core principles and pathways of high-performing emergency departments, including a national model for extended emergency medicine ambulatory care. The approach is intended to support improved patient flow, lower waiting times, and reduced overcrowding. The guidance provides a shared national model to support greater consistency and faster decision-making across urgent and emergency care pathways, while maintaining local decision-making.We do not plan to make the Model Emergency Department mandatory for National Health Service trusts. We have developed a Model Emergency Department in partnership with clinical experts to enable trusts to implement the urgent and emergency care pathways that we know improve the quality and timeliness of care. On this basis would expect those trusts who are able to implement, to do so without the requirement to mandate.NHS England has asked providers to begin developing improvement plans aligned with the guidance, including demand and capacity modelling, with the aim of supporting consistent implementation from 2026/27.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled New radar systems to unlock offshore wind, published on 20 March 2026, which offshore wind projects will be enabled by the radar upgrades.

By upgrading our air defence radars, this government will unlock up to 10GW of offshore wind capacity through projects in Scotland, East Anglia and North East England, £20bn in private investment and thousands of skilled jobs, supporting both national and energy security. The Government’s contract is with BAE Systems. Work will take place at BAE Systems’ facilities in Cowes, sustaining high quality engineering jobs in the Isle of Wight. Further commercial aspects of BAE Systems’ bid are commercial matters for the supplier. These new radars will be installed from 2029.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled New radar systems to unlock offshore wind, published on 20 March 2026, whether any elements of the radar systems will be manufactured outside the United Kingdom.

By upgrading our air defence radars, this government will unlock up to 10GW of offshore wind capacity through projects in Scotland, East Anglia and North East England, £20bn in private investment and thousands of skilled jobs, supporting both national and energy security. The Government’s contract is with BAE Systems. Work will take place at BAE Systems’ facilities in Cowes, sustaining high quality engineering jobs in the Isle of Wight. Further commercial aspects of BAE Systems’ bid are commercial matters for the supplier. These new radars will be installed from 2029.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled New radar systems to unlock offshore wind, published on 20 March 2026, which Department's budget the new radar systems will be sourced from.

The Government has signed a £95m contract with BAE Systems to deliver a technologically advanced radar that secures the coexistence of air defence and offshore wind, supporting both national and energy security. These upgrades to the UK’s air defence radars will help unlock up to 10GW of offshore wind, £20bn in private investment and thousands of skilled jobs. The Ministry of Defence has agreed to fund this contract, with financial support from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, as part of a mission-led government. Funding was allocated at the Spending Review 2025 and has not been diverted from wider RAF or Air Defence budgets.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled New radar systems to unlock offshore wind, published on 20 March 2026, what estimate he has made of the lifetime operating and maintenance costs of the new radar systems.

By upgrading our air defence radars, this government will unlock up to 10GW of offshore wind capacity through projects in Scotland, East Anglia and North East England, £20bn in private investment and thousands of skilled jobs, supporting both national and energy security. The Government’s contract is with BAE Systems. Work will take place at BAE Systems’ facilities in Cowes, sustaining high quality engineering jobs in the Isle of Wight. Further commercial aspects of BAE Systems’ bid are commercial matters for the supplier. These new radars will be installed from 2029.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled New radar systems to unlock offshore wind, published on 20 March 2026, what his planned timetable is for deployment of the new radar systems.

By upgrading our air defence radars, this government will unlock up to 10GW of offshore wind capacity through projects in Scotland, East Anglia and North East England, £20bn in private investment and thousands of skilled jobs, supporting both national and energy security. The Government’s contract is with BAE Systems. Work will take place at BAE Systems’ facilities in Cowes, sustaining high quality engineering jobs in the Isle of Wight. Further commercial aspects of BAE Systems’ bid are commercial matters for the supplier. These new radars will be installed from 2029.

How many prisoners have been released earlier than originally scheduled as a result of capacity pressures since 2024.

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.Without the changes this Government made, courts would have had to halt trials and the police cancel arrests, undermining public safety and leading to a disastrous impact on public confidence in the criminal justice system.We regularly publish data on release from prison, including on forms of early release – for example we publish SDS40 data alongside the quarterly Offender Management statistics: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.Whilst measures like the SDS40 change provided the intended medium-term relief to the system, this was only ever a temporary change as a bridge to a more sustainable solution. That is why the Sentencing Act has now been passed, to ensure we never run out of prison space again and to deliver a more sustainable solution to the prison capacity crisis.

What assessment he has made of the primary causes of care home closures in England.

The Department does not collect data on the causes of care home closures in England. Adult social care services are provided through a largely outsourced market of commercial organisations and charities. Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the care needs of their populations, and to develop and build local market capacity.Care providers entering and exiting is a normal part of a functioning market, and local authorities should have appropriate contingency plans in place depending on the services being provided. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities also have a temporary duty to ensure continuity of care in the event of business failure. This means that people continue to receive the care and support they need if their adult social care provider is no longer able to carry on delivering services.

What assessment he has made of the long-term adequacy of using early release measures to manage prison capacity.

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.Without the changes this Government made, courts would have had to halt trials and the police cancel arrests, undermining public safety and leading to a disastrous impact on public confidence in the criminal justice system.We regularly publish data on release from prison, including on forms of early release – for example we publish SDS40 data alongside the quarterly Offender Management statistics: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.Whilst measures like the SDS40 change provided the intended medium-term relief to the system, this was only ever a temporary change as a bridge to a more sustainable solution. That is why the Sentencing Act has now been passed, to ensure we never run out of prison space again and to deliver a more sustainable solution to the prison capacity crisis.

Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to require online platforms to publish data on the volume of fraudulent advertisements detected and removed.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology does not hold data relating to the number of fraudulent or scam adverts on social media or other regulated services.There are mechanisms in the Online Safety Act that allow Ofcom to collect information from categorised services on the incidence and dissemination of illegal content, which would include fraudulent advertising content. Ofcom is required under the Act to publish annual transparency reports.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department collects data on the number of fraud cases linked to specific online platforms such as social media platforms.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology does not hold data relating to the number of fraudulent or scam adverts on social media or other regulated services.There are mechanisms in the Online Safety Act that allow Ofcom to collect information from categorised services on the incidence and dissemination of illegal content, which would include fraudulent advertising content. Ofcom is required under the Act to publish annual transparency reports.

What estimate his Department has made of future demand for care home beds over the next ten years.

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population. That is why, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market and to commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people.In performing that duty, a local authority must have regard to current and likely future demand for such services and consider how providers might meet that demand.

With reference to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, published on 19 March 2026, what proportion of individuals returned to Nigeria are (a) visa overstayers, (b) failed asylum seekers and (c) foreign national offenders.

On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.

With reference to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, published on 19 March 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that agreement on the time taken to remove individuals with no right to remain.

On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.

Pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, how many additional Nigerian nationals above the current 1,150 annual returns rate has she estimated will be removed as a result of this agreement.

On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the risk of artificial intelligence increasing the scale and sophistication of online fraud.

AI has huge potential benefits, but can also bring new risks, including new opportunities for criminals. The OSA lists fraud as a priority offence and regulates AI-generated media in the same way as ‘real’ content, placing the same obligations on services to protect users. The Online Safety Act (OSA) lists certain fraud offences as ‘priority offences’, meaning regulated services must prevent users encountering fraudulent content, swiftly remove it if it appears, and mitigate and manage the risk of their services facilitating fraud. This would include, where appropriate, the use of emerging technologies to stifle criminal abuse of networks. To support compliance, Ofcom issues Codes of Practice advising services on how to be compliant with their regulatory obligations. We expect these Codes to evolve over time to include new technologies.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of whether further primary legislation is required to address online fraud facilitated by the use of large technology platforms.

The Online Safety Act (OSA) lists certain fraud offences as ‘priority offences’, meaning regulated services must prevent users encountering fraudulent content, swiftly remove it if it appears, and mitigate and manage the risk of their services facilitating fraud. Ofcom, the independent regulator, has robust powers to act where services are failing in these responsibilities. Measures under the OSA to specifically tackle fraudulent advertising are still being implemented. In the summer, Ofcom aim to publish a register of categorised services and to launch a consultation on additional duties for those designated as Category 1 or 2A to tackle paid-for fraudulent advertising.