Written questions by McMurdock.

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the average cost of deportations of foreign national offenders (FNOs) is not available from published statistics, as we do not publish these costs.The Home Office publishes all available information on expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts, which can be found here: Home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 planned closure of the University of Essex's Southend Campus, what discussions her Department has had with local authorities on education provision in (a) Essex, (b) Thurrock and (c) Southend.

The Office for Students (OfS), as regulator of the English higher education (HE) sector, is working with the University of Essex to ensure plans are in place to protect students and maintain learning continuity following the Southend campus closure. There is further work to be done by the OfS and the University to support students less able to move to other campuses. The department is monitoring the situation and is aware of concerns about local students’ access to HE provision. HE providers are responsible for managing their own finances and we expect them to take appropriate and necessary decisions to ensure their long-term sustainability. As we stated in the Post-16 education and skills white paper, we expect to see more consolidation and formal collaboration in the sector. This will help institutions be stronger and more financially sustainable, and provision might expand in areas currently under-served. As HE providers are independent, the government is not involved in workforce matters in the same way that it is in other education sectors. ​While the government understands that HE providers must make difficult business decisions to safeguard their financial sustainability, we encourage providers to work with their staff and with trade unions to develop sustainable models that retain talent and expertise and provide stability for the workforce and the institution. All efficiency measures taken by the sector should provide a better long-term future for staff, students and the country. The government welcomes international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK. Indeed, UK HE providers received an estimated £12.1 billion in tuition fee income from international students in the 2023/24 academic year, which supported the provision of places for domestic students as well as research and development. However, the OfS has identified reliance on international student fee income as a risk to HE providers’ sustainability. It has been clear that some providers may need to change their business models to protect their financial health, as a response to this risk and others.

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.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of running hybrid engagement processes for local plan consultations on councils.

Through my Department’s PropTech Innovation Fund, the government is funding local planning authorities to use digital citizen engagement tools, including interactive maps and 3D models, alongside leveraging AI to summarise consultation responses. Our case studies on Local Digital (see here) and gov.uk (see here) demonstrate how these can increase the quantity and quality of community engagement in respect of local plans and new developments, including reaching younger residents. My Department plans to launch a sixth round of the PropTech Innovation Fund in early 2026. The Fund is evaluated as a part of the Digital Planning Programme. Local planning authorities take a hybrid approach to public consultation, combining digital tools with traditional methods like in-person engagement, to ensure consultations are accessible and inclusively incorporate the views of those unable to participate in digital consultations. We have published guidance on gov.uk (see here) and a Digital Citizen Engagement toolkit (see here) to support authorities to adopt and use digital tools. Our Planning Capacity and Capability programme continues to develop its means of supporting authorities to ensure they have the skills they need both now and in the future. The new plan-making system that we are shortly commencing is designed not only to ensure that local plans are faster to prepare and simpler for end users to access and understand but to improve community engagement. We will publish further guidance and provide further support to help local planning authorities engage with communities effectively under the new system.

What plans he has to introduce routine collection and publication of reoffending data for immigration-related cases.

The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly statistics on proven reoffending of offenders which can be found here: Proven reoffending statistics - GOV.UK. These include reoffending rates presented in various breakdowns, such as by index offence.We do not currently have plans to introduce routine publication of reoffending data for immigration-related cases. We keep the contents of our Official Statistics under continuous review, to ensure their compliance with the three pillars of the Code of Practice for Statistics: trustworthiness, quality and value.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Nature Restoration Fund on planning decisions in relation to nutrient neutrality requirements.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act impact assessment can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Nature Restoration Fund on meeting housebuilding targets.

The Planning and Infrastructure Act impact assessment can be found on gov.uk here.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Housing Sec pledges to 'go further than ever before' to hit 1.5 million homes, published on 16 December 2025, how areas with development around train stations such as Pitsea and East Tilbury will be impacted.

The government is currently consulting on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The consultation sets out the details of the proposed approach to land around stations, including those that are defined as well-connected and those that are within and outside of settlements. It can be found on gov.uk here and will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026.