Written questions by McMurdock.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the reciprocal agreement with France in deterring repeat illegal entry attempts.

We are continuously monitoring and evaluating the agreement with France to ensure its effectiveness. There will be a full evaluation at the end of the pilot period.Any individual who re-enters the UK illegally may be detained and, where appropriate, we will seek to expedite removal.The system is working: two individuals who returned to the UK having already been removed were detected, detained, and their cases were expedited for return. We continue to work closely with our French counterparts to ensure that those who are returned under the agreement do not re-enter the UK illegally.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of UK financial aid is distributed via Cash and Voucher Assistance.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) conducts background checks and risk assessment of the UK's aid partners, and continually monitors all funding programmes to make sure money is spent as intended. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact reviewed the FCDO's system for managing aid in 2023, including the mandatory rules for FCDO programmes, calling it a credible and appropriate framework.

What estimate their Department has made of the number of collective action proceedings that have been delayed or discontinued as a result of the judgment in R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others [2023] UKSC 28 as of 26 July 2023.

The Department has not made such an estimate. Decisions to delay or discontinue collective action proceedings may be based on several factors, specific to each case.The Minister of State for Justice set out, in her written statement to the House on 17 December 2025, that the Government intends to take action to mitigate the impact of the 2023 Supreme Court judgment in PACCAR and implement proportionate regulation of third-party litigation funding agreements.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that financial aid to a) Yemen, b) Nigeria, c) Sudan and d) Palestine is not provided to proscribed terrorist organisations.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) conducts background checks and risk assessment of the UK's aid partners, and continually monitors all funding programmes to make sure money is spent as intended. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact reviewed the FCDO's system for managing aid in 2023, including the mandatory rules for FCDO programmes, calling it a credible and appropriate framework.

How much uncollected tax has been written off as unrecoverable by HMRC in each year since 2020.

HMRC publishes the amount of tax written off each year in its Annual Report and Accounts. This information is available on GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrcs-annual-report-and-accounts

What estimate her Department has made of the average cost to the public purse of deportations in each year since 2020.

The information you have requested about the average cost of deportations of foreign national offenders (FNOs) is not available from published statistics, as we do not publish these costs.The Home Office publishes all available information on expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts, which can be found here: Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.Over 7,000 FNOs have been returned from the UK under this government, and we will continue to do everything we can to remove these vile criminals from our streets.Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportation.The Home Office makes no apology for the fact that its priority will always be to keep our communities safe. As such, we are fully committed to making our communities safer by deporting foreign nationals who break our laws.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of protections for whistle blowers reporting concerns on foreign bribery.

Individuals can report foreign bribery through a range of channels, such as the Serious Fraud Office or National Crime Agency, and workers will be protected from retaliation as a whistleblower under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA) if certain conditions are met.The government recognises that the whistleblowing framework in the ERA may not be operating as effectively as it should and recently committed to explore opportunities for reform in the UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025.The government will continue to review its approach to whistleblowing and foreign bribery in line with the recommendations of the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how she a) identifies and b) conducts due diligence on third-party contractors used to distribute UK financial aid.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) conducts background checks and risk assessment of the UK's aid partners, and continually monitors all funding programmes to make sure money is spent as intended. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact reviewed the FCDO's system for managing aid in 2023, including the mandatory rules for FCDO programmes, calling it a credible and appropriate framework.

With reference to the press release entitled Northwood Declaration: 10 July 2025 (UK-France joint nuclear statement), what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of that declaration on the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent.

The United Kingdom and France remain two sovereign nuclear-weapon states. Our respective nuclear forces and decision-making processes are independent, while we each retain the ability to act independently of each other, we can co-ordinate our deterrents should the situation demand it. It will remain the case that only the Prime Minister can authorise the firing of the UK’s nuclear weapons. Deepening nuclear co-operation between the UK and France improves our ability to work together in times of crisis and strengthens our existing commitments to our Allies in an uncertain and dangerous world. The possibility of coordination between our independent centres of decision-making will enhance deterrence by further complicating the calculations of adversaries.

Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of a targeted online audience‑led approach to Government communications on data protection.

Data protection impact assessments are conducted by all departments running campaigns to build necessary privacy safeguards to ensure transparency, fairness and security.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of hybrid threats from the Russian Federation on defence policy.

The Strategic Defence Review highlights the breadth and depth of threats posed by hybrid activity. Russia remains the most pressing and immediate threat and it seeks to take advantage of the difficulty of attributing hybrid attacks through covert methods and proxies. Many hybrid threats are not military in nature and therefore a whole-of-Government and whole-of-society approach is essential. The Ministry of Defence works in close collaboration with other Government Departments and with our allies and partners to address shared threats below the threshold of armed conflict.

How many taxpayers received repayment interest from HMRC in each year since 2020.

The information is not held in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

If he will take steps to help tackle online job advertisements where the company has no intent to hire.

Job boards and employment businesses are already prohibited from advertising jobs that do not exist or lack proper authorisation to advertise, with state enforcement by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.Additional safeguards come from consumer protection and ASA codes, which address misleading or unfair adverts.Individuals misled by fake job postings may also have civil remedies, depending on the circumstances.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of One Login’s compliance with a) Secure by Design and b) the Cyber Assessment Framework.

GOV.UK One Login is engaging appropriately with the Secure by Design (SbD) assessment process, and SbD principles are already embedded into the service. GOV.UK One Login was assessed using GovAssure in 2024, the cyber security scheme for assessing government critical systems using the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) as part of the Government Cyber Security Strategy 2022-2030. GovAssure has multiple phases, which includes an assurance review by an independent assessor. The GOV.UK One Login programme works closely with NCSC to align with the requirements of the CAF.

What recent steps his Department has taken to ensure energy security in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.

Steps are being taken to improve our energy security , which will benefit local areas such as the South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency. Through Clean Power 2030, the Government is reducing dependency on fossil fuel markets by investing in clean, home-grown energy. Delivering the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan will require £40 billion of investment into generation and network projects per year, through significant upgrades to the grid system, ending delays by expanding the renewable auction process, and speeding up planning decisions to prioritise critical infrastructure.

How much repayment interest was paid by HMRC in each year since 2020.

The information is not held in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

If he will bring forward legislative proposals to require hiring organisations reply to job role applicants with a final verdict on their application.

There are currently no legislative plans to bring forward a requirement for hiring organisations to reply to applicants with an outcome on their application.

What estimates his Department holds for the number of power cuts affecting South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency in the last 3 years.

Great Britain has a highly resilient energy network. Government works closely with industry to improve and maintain the resilience of energy infrastructure, including UK Power Networks, the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) for South Basildon and East Thurrock. Whilst there is a high level of redundancy in the system, it is not immune from disruption. When incidents do occur, industry have well practiced plans to minimise impacts as quickly as possible.The Government does not hold information on constituency level power cuts. DNOs are incentivised by the independent regulator, Ofgem, to minimise customer supply disruptions, and must report to Ofgem on performance against annual targets.

With reference to his Department's news story entitled The evolving response to ethnic disproportionality in youth justice, published on 19 December 2025, what steps he is taking to ensure that data on ethnic disproportionality in youth justice is collected consistently across local authorities; and what assessment he has made of current data quality.

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is funding a ‘pathfinder’ pilot project in the West Midlands to better understand why interventions are achieving better outcomes for White children than for Black and Mixed heritage children. It was established in 2024 and its total cost is estimated at £750,000 over four years. The YJB has not yet provided the Ministry of Justice with evidence about the project’s early impact – the project is due to run until spring 2027 and be evaluated subsequently.The factors contributing to custodial remand outcomes are complex and multi-layered. Outcomes for children of different ethnic backgrounds show disparities. The YJB’s 2021 report ‘Ethnic Disproportionality Remand and Sentencing in the Youth Justice System’ outlines these in more detail. The report found that even after controlling for demographic and offence-related factors, children of Mixed ethnicity and Black children remained more likely to receive a custodial remand than White children. The Ministry of Justice recognises that remand outcomes reflect a combination of factors across the system, including assessments provided to the court and judicial discretion.All local authorities are required by the YJB’s Data Recording Requirements to submit data that includes consistent and accurate recording of ethnicity data, with quality regularly monitored. The YJB Data Recording Requirements require all YOTs to submit mandatory case level and summary level data to the YJB. This includes the requirements that:All YOTs need to accurately record the ethnicity of all children they are supervising and supporting. Ethnicity is self-identified by the child.YOTs must use the Government harmonised classifications for ethnicity so as to ensure consistency and comparability.

Communities and Local Government, with refence to his Department's oral statement of 18 December 2025 on Local Government Reorganisation, Official Report col 1132, what will happen to existing contracts for (a) council house construction, (b) social care provision, and (c) SEND provision in areas which will be reorganised before contracts are concluded.

There is a suite of general continuity regulations for local government reorganisation made under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 which ensure smooth transfer to new unitary councils. These general regulations provide transitional and supplementary arrangements, so that the councils can undertake specific functions to enable a successful move to the single tier of local government. These provisions relate to continuity of services and functions, staffing, local authority plans and schemes, and transfer of assets, property and liabilities, including contracts.This department does not hold information on the number of road repairs completed.