Written questions by McMurdock.

Innovation and Technology, what comparative assessment she has made of trends in the level of online harm experienced by (a) girls and (b) boys.

Making the online environment a safer place for children is a priority for this government.The Online Safety Act requires services to protect children from harmful and age-inappropriate content as well as proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls, including intimate image abuse.Ofcom has published guidance outlining steps services can take to make their platforms safer for women and girls online.We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the Act, the government announced a consultation and national conversation to understand how best we can build on these provisions to ensure children have positive, enriched digital lives.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of 3-5 year old children owning personal mobile devices and the implications for online safety.

Ofcom reported in 2025 that 17% of 3-5-year-olds have a smartphone. The Online Safety Act protects all children in UK Under the Act, services must protect children from illegal and age-inappropriate online content and conduct children’s risk assessments that consider age-specific risksWe recognise parents’ concerns about young children using devices. The Department for Education is developing screen time guidance for children under 5 which will be available in April. This will help parents understand how long their children should look at screens and alternative activities that are available.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer given to question 109756 on 4 February 2026, for what reason he will not publish the representations received.

On 23 February, the Secretary of State has now provided an update to the House on local elections: WMS HCWS1349.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department provides guidance to parents on the use of smartphones and internet-enabled devices by children of pre-school age.

The Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care are jointly working to produce and publish new practical, evidence informed guidance for parents on screentime for early years (0-5) by April 2026.An expert group of child health and development specialists has been convened to shape the guidance, which will also be informed by the perspectives of parents and carers. Details on the work of the group, including its membership can be found here.The group recently launched a call for evidence asking for evidence that will inform the development of new parental guidance on screen time and usage for early years (0 to 5-year-old) children. More information on the call for evidence can be found here.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has had discussions with the leader of Kent County Council on the potential impact of delays in asylum decision-making contribute on local authority social care costs.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 111400 answered on 12 February 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help reduce the concentration of asylum-related social care costs in a small number of local authorities.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 111400 answered on 12 February 2026.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to publish regular forecasts of asylum-related social care costs incurred by local authorities.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 111400 answered on 12 February 2026.

Whether her Department plans to fully reimburse local authorities for the costs of providing social care to asylum seekers.

The Home Office provides funding to local authorities, to assist with eligible expenditure costs of supporting asylum seekers in asylum accommodation in their areas, through the asylum dispersal grant. Expenditure for the funding may include, but not be limited to, social care costs. However, individual local authorities are free to determine how best to utilise the funding provided as long as they can demonstrate it has been used to support asylum seekers in their areas.Full details of the grant can be found here - Asylum Dispersal Grant: funding instruction - GOV.UK.

What steps she is taking to reduce the long-term reliance of asylum seekers on local authority social care services.

The Home Office provides funding to local authorities, to assist with eligible expenditure costs of supporting asylum seekers in asylum accommodation in their areas, through the asylum dispersal grant. Expenditure for the funding may include, but not be limited to, social care costs. However, individual local authorities are free to determine how best to utilise the funding provided as long as they can demonstrate it has been used to support asylum seekers in their areas.Full details of the grant can be found here - Asylum Dispersal Grant: funding instruction - GOV.UK.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of asylum-related social care costs on (a) council tax levels and (b) core service provision.

The government is committed to ensuring that funding is targeted effectively at the places and services that need it most. This includes committing to multi-year allocations for each council through the 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement and moving to a more up-to-date assessment of each council’s needs and resources. The final 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement will make available £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England in 2026-27, a 6.1% increase compared to 2025-26. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities. Local authorities report revenue expenditure and financing through the following data collection, which is publicly available and includes data from each financial year since 2019-20: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing - GOV.UK.

Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of local authority spending on asylum-related social care was reimbursed by central government in each financial year since 2019-20.

The government is committed to ensuring that funding is targeted effectively at the places and services that need it most. This includes committing to multi-year allocations for each council through the 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement and moving to a more up-to-date assessment of each council’s needs and resources. The final 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement will make available £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England in 2026-27, a 6.1% increase compared to 2025-26. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities. Local authorities report revenue expenditure and financing through the following data collection, which is publicly available and includes data from each financial year since 2019-20: Local authority revenue expenditure and financing - GOV.UK.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled UK lenders step up with £11 billion push to back British businesses, published on 26 January 2026, whether the £11 billion lending commitment represents new lending or includes existing lending facilities repackaged under this agreement.

The lending commitment facility is not time limited. We have not made a formal assessment of how much of the lending commitment is expected to be drawn down in each financial year. The support that the participating banks can offer to businesses hoping to export is not restricted to this lending package. The £11 billion commitment represents new lending, and does not included facilities extended before the announcement Businesses can apply for a lending facility directly with the participant banks. They can start by speaking to their high street lender or their local Export Finance Manager (EFM). The EFMs are UKEF’s regional representatives who provide local points of contact for exporters and businesses with export potential. Contact details for the EFMs around the whole of the UK can be found at: Find an Export Finance Manager - GOV.UK. Repayment of the loans will be managed by the respective banks, applying their regular criteria and processes. UKEF has robust legal agreements in place which set requirements regarding monitoring of potential defaults and making relevant recoveries.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled UK lenders step up with £11 billion push to back British businesses, published on 26 January 2026, over what time period the £11 billion lending commitment will be made available to businesses.

The lending commitment facility is not time limited. We have not made a formal assessment of how much of the lending commitment is expected to be drawn down in each financial year. The support that the participating banks can offer to businesses hoping to export is not restricted to this lending package. The £11 billion commitment represents new lending, and does not included facilities extended before the announcement Businesses can apply for a lending facility directly with the participant banks. They can start by speaking to their high street lender or their local Export Finance Manager (EFM). The EFMs are UKEF’s regional representatives who provide local points of contact for exporters and businesses with export potential. Contact details for the EFMs around the whole of the UK can be found at: Find an Export Finance Manager - GOV.UK. Repayment of the loans will be managed by the respective banks, applying their regular criteria and processes. UKEF has robust legal agreements in place which set requirements regarding monitoring of potential defaults and making relevant recoveries.

Pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled ‘UK lenders step up with £11 billion push to back British businesses’ published on 26 January 2026, what steps he is taking to ensure businesses with no prior exporting experience are aware of the new funding and are aware of the lending and advisory support available.

The lending commitment facility is not time limited. We have not made a formal assessment of how much of the lending commitment is expected to be drawn down in each financial year. The support that the participating banks can offer to businesses hoping to export is not restricted to this lending package. The £11 billion commitment represents new lending, and does not included facilities extended before the announcement Businesses can apply for a lending facility directly with the participant banks. They can start by speaking to their high street lender or their local Export Finance Manager (EFM). The EFMs are UKEF’s regional representatives who provide local points of contact for exporters and businesses with export potential. Contact details for the EFMs around the whole of the UK can be found at: Find an Export Finance Manager - GOV.UK. Repayment of the loans will be managed by the respective banks, applying their regular criteria and processes. UKEF has robust legal agreements in place which set requirements regarding monitoring of potential defaults and making relevant recoveries.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled UK lenders step up with £11 billion push to back British businesses, published on 26 January 2026, what assessment he has made of the level of default risk associated with loans guaranteed by UK Export Finance under this agreement.

The lending commitment facility is not time limited. We have not made a formal assessment of how much of the lending commitment is expected to be drawn down in each financial year. The support that the participating banks can offer to businesses hoping to export is not restricted to this lending package. The £11 billion commitment represents new lending, and does not included facilities extended before the announcement Businesses can apply for a lending facility directly with the participant banks. They can start by speaking to their high street lender or their local Export Finance Manager (EFM). The EFMs are UKEF’s regional representatives who provide local points of contact for exporters and businesses with export potential. Contact details for the EFMs around the whole of the UK can be found at: Find an Export Finance Manager - GOV.UK. Repayment of the loans will be managed by the respective banks, applying their regular criteria and processes. UKEF has robust legal agreements in place which set requirements regarding monitoring of potential defaults and making relevant recoveries.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled UK lenders step up with £11 billion push to back British businesses, published on 26 January 2026, how much of the £11 billion lending package is expected to be drawn down in each financial year.

The lending commitment facility is not time limited. We have not made a formal assessment of how much of the lending commitment is expected to be drawn down in each financial year. The support that the participating banks can offer to businesses hoping to export is not restricted to this lending package. The £11 billion commitment represents new lending, and does not included facilities extended before the announcement Businesses can apply for a lending facility directly with the participant banks. They can start by speaking to their high street lender or their local Export Finance Manager (EFM). The EFMs are UKEF’s regional representatives who provide local points of contact for exporters and businesses with export potential. Contact details for the EFMs around the whole of the UK can be found at: Find an Export Finance Manager - GOV.UK. Repayment of the loans will be managed by the respective banks, applying their regular criteria and processes. UKEF has robust legal agreements in place which set requirements regarding monitoring of potential defaults and making relevant recoveries.

What lessons his Department has learnt from other countries that have reduced curtailment while expanding renewables.

We use evidence from comparable countries to support our decision making and policy thinking on curtailment. Constraint payments are a natural part of operating an electricity system and are used in many countries such as Italy, Spain, Germany and Denmark. However, the current extent of grid constraints reflects years of underinvestment, with new network infrastructure development having lagged the expansion of new generation. We’re finally changing that, with the biggest upgrade to Great Britain’s electricity network in decades, which will minimise both curtailment and constraint costs, and help deliver clean power by 2030.

What assessment he has made of whether curtailment payments create incentives to locate generation in areas with insufficient grid capacity.

The revenue that generators can make from curtailment payments is regulated by Ofgem through the Transmission Constraint Licence Condition. This regulation limits the revenue generators can make from being curtailed to the value of the revenue lost through not being able to generate plus reasonable costs. Ofgem can and does take enforcement action against generators that it believes are not complying with this regulation.The Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) will optimise the siting of new sources of electricity generation across Great Britain. The Government’s Reformed National Pricing programme will have the SSEP at its heart, and reforms will be designed to ensure incentives for generation projects encourage siting and investment in areas that align with the SSEP.

How often gas-fired power stations were used to replace curtailed renewable generation in 2025.

The Department does not hold the requested information. It is owned by NESO and published on the Elexon data portal.

What recent assessment he has made of the role of battery storage in reducing renewable curtailment.

Electricity storage has an important role to play in decarbonising the power sector by helping to balance the electricity system at lower cost. Electricity storage achieves this by charging when electricity is abundant and discharging when it is scarcer, thereby mitigating the need for grid reinforcement and reducing the curtailment of renewable generation. Efficient use of storage therefore offers opportunities for reducing constraint costs. The Government, the National Energy System Operator (NESO) and the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) are currently investigating options aimed at maximising the benefits of storage technologies in reducing system costs.