Written questions by Wild.

When he plans to provide an answer to Question 82727 on National Security Adviser: China, tabled on 16 October 2025.

A response has been issued here.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2025 to Question 77620 Self-assessment: Fines, what the average response time was of HMRC’s dedicated support service to those facing personal difficulties over the latest 12 months for which data is available.

HMRC are committed to being aware of customers’ wider personal situations and will provide extra support if customers need it, as set out in the HMRC Charter. All HMRC advisers are given training and guidance on how to identify customers who need extra help and how to either provide tailored support themselves or refer the customer to HMRC’s specialist extra support provision. HMRC increased the size of its Extra Support Team (EST) by 28% over 2024 to 2025. In 2024 to 2025, HMRC’s dedicated Customer Service EST helped over 150,000 customers in vulnerable circumstances. The average response time for those contacting the EST in the past twelve months (October 2024- September 2025) was:Referrals via telephony - an average wait time of 44 seconds.Webchat - average wait time of 3 minutes and 14 seconds.Post - 81.18% of correspondence cleared within 15 working days.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2025 to Question 77620 on Self-assessment: Fines, if he will set out for (a) late-filing of Self Assessment forms and (b) late payment of Income Tax (i) how many penalties were cancelled, (ii) the average cost per cancellation, (iii) the average length of time taken by HMRC to cancel a penalty and (iv) the average value of penalties cancelled in each year since 2011.

Data on the average cost per cancellation and the average time to cancel penalties is not available.Final data on the late payment of income tax and the average value of penalties cancelled in each year since 2011 cannot be provided as returns continue to be issued, received and cancelled for several years after the filing return

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2025 to Question 77620 on Self-assessment: Fines, whether her Department plans to consult on the new penalty regime for the (a) late filing of Self Assessment returns and (b) late payment of Income Tax; and when she plan to introduce the new regimes.

The previous government held three public consultations between 2016 and 2018 on reforms to late filing and late payment penalties. Following this, penalty reform was introduced for VAT customers in 2023 as part of Making Tax Digital. The same approach will be extended to Income Tax Self Assessment customers as follows: From April 2026: businesses with qualifying income over £50,000From April 2027: businesses with qualifying income over £30,000From April 2028: businesses with qualifying income over £20,000 The government will confirm in due course when the remaining Income Tax Self Assessment customers will move to the new penalty approach.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of changing the guidance entitled PE and sport premium: conditions of grant 2024 to 2025, last updated on 23 April 2025, to permit capital expenditure on sports equipment.

As revenue funding, the PE and sport premium grant funding is unable to be used towards capital expenditure. Schools access capital funding through other funding streams.

What steps she is taking to help tackle the theft of farm machinery in rural areas.

We will be implementing the Equipment Theft Act, which is aimed at preventing equipment being stolen, making it harder for criminals to sell on stolen vehicles and equipment and assisting the police with identifying the owner.We published the Government Response to the Call for Evidence on 17 October which sets out the scope for the necessary secondary legislation to be introduced.The Act’s secondary legislation will require forensic marking to be applied to new All-Terrain Vehicles and for the details to be registered on a property database, for forensic marking to be applied to all new GPS units for use in agricultural and commercial settings, and for the details to be registered on a property databaseAdditionally, the Crime and Policing Bill introduces a new power for the police to enter and search premises to which items have been electronically tracked by GPS or other means, which will help the police in tackling stolen equipment and machinery.This financial year we are providing the first Home Office funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit. This funding will enable the Unit to continue to increase collaboration across police forces, harnessing the latest technology and data to target the serious organised crime groups involved in crimes like equipment theft from farms.

Pursuant to his oral contribution of 13 October 2025, Official Report, column 67 which (a) minister and (b) civil servant gave the Deputy National Security Adviser full freedom to provide evidence without interference.

The decision that the Deputy National Security Advisor would give evidence was taken under the last Government in 2023.When this government came into office in 2024, the Deputy National Security Advisor was a witness in a criminal prosecution. That is why, as this Government has repeatedly stated, that no Ministers or special advisors have played any role in the provision of evidence.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans her Department has for future UK contributions to the Global Coalition against Daesh.

The UK continues to work closely with our international partners to maintain a relentless assault on the organisation, financing, recruitment and terrorist activities of Daesh in all regions where they or their affiliates are operating. In June, UK officials took part in the latest small group meeting of the Global Coalition, hosted by the Spanish government, where these collective efforts were discussed. The official statement emerging from that meeting can be found here: https://theglobalcoalition.org/en/meeting-of-the-global-coalition-to-defeat-isis-small-group/.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) stabilisation and (b) counter-terrorism support measures she is pursing with international counterparts in West Africa in the context of Islamic State activity in the Sahel region.

The UK continues to work closely with our international partners to maintain a relentless assault on the organisation, financing, recruitment and terrorist activities of Daesh in all regions where they or their affiliates are operating. In June, UK officials took part in the latest small group meeting of the Global Coalition, hosted by the Spanish government, where these collective efforts were discussed. The official statement emerging from that meeting can be found here: https://theglobalcoalition.org/en/meeting-of-the-global-coalition-to-defeat-isis-small-group/.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the level of (a) presence and (b) activity of Daesh in (i) Iraq and (ii) Syria.

The UK continues to work closely with our international partners to maintain a relentless assault on the organisation, financing, recruitment and terrorist activities of Daesh in all regions where they or their affiliates are operating. In June, UK officials took part in the latest small group meeting of the Global Coalition, hosted by the Spanish government, where these collective efforts were discussed. The official statement emerging from that meeting can be found here: https://theglobalcoalition.org/en/meeting-of-the-global-coalition-to-defeat-isis-small-group/.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what training the UK armed forces (a) provide and (b) plan to provide in future to the Iraqi Security Forces.

The UK continues to work closely with our international partners to maintain a relentless assault on the organisation, financing, recruitment and terrorist activities of Daesh in all regions where they or their affiliates are operating. In June, UK officials took part in the latest small group meeting of the Global Coalition, hosted by the Spanish government, where these collective efforts were discussed. The official statement emerging from that meeting can be found here: https://theglobalcoalition.org/en/meeting-of-the-global-coalition-to-defeat-isis-small-group/.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to increase (a) intelligence-sharing and (b) border security cooperation with (i) central Asian partners and (ii) Türkiye, in the context of the level of threat posed by ISIS-K.

The UK continues to work closely with our international partners to maintain a relentless assault on the organisation, financing, recruitment and terrorist activities of Daesh in all regions where they or their affiliates are operating. In June, UK officials took part in the latest small group meeting of the Global Coalition, hosted by the Spanish government, where these collective efforts were discussed. The official statement emerging from that meeting can be found here: https://theglobalcoalition.org/en/meeting-of-the-global-coalition-to-defeat-isis-small-group/.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support (a) the Iraqi Security Forces, (b) the Kurdish Peshmerga, (c) the Syrian Democratic Forces and (d) other regional partners in the context of Islamic State activity.

The UK continues to work closely with our international partners to maintain a relentless assault on the organisation, financing, recruitment and terrorist activities of Daesh in all regions where they or their affiliates are operating. In June, UK officials took part in the latest small group meeting of the Global Coalition, hosted by the Spanish government, where these collective efforts were discussed. The official statement emerging from that meeting can be found here: https://theglobalcoalition.org/en/meeting-of-the-global-coalition-to-defeat-isis-small-group/.

If he will outline the (a) type and (b) length of sentences being served by foreign national offenders in prisons in England and Wales.

Details of sentences being served by foreign national offenders are published as part of the Ministry of Justice’s Offender Management Statistics Quarterly. The information requested can be found at Table 1_A_24 in the Annual Prison Population tables at the following link: prison-population-30-June-2025.ods.

How many foreign national offenders have (a) been deported more than once and (b) returned to the UK since being deported in each year since 2019.

The Home Office publishes data on FNO returns in the quarterly Immigration System Statistics release. Quarterly data on enforced, voluntary and port FNO returns (of which ‘deportations’ are a legal subset) are published in table Ret_D03 of the Returns detailed datasets accompanying the release.Information on FNOs who have been deported more than once, or who have returned to the UK after deportation, is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.A deportation order requires a person to leave the UK and prohibits them from lawfully entering the UK while it remains in force. Entering in breach of a deportation order is a criminal offence under section 24(1)(a) of the 1971 Act, with a maximum sentence of five years under section 40 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.

How many foreign national offenders are serving life sentences.

Details of sentences being served by foreign national offenders are published as part of the Ministry of Justice’s Offender Management Statistics Quarterly. The information requested can be found at Table 1_A_24 in the Annual Prison Population tables at the following link: prison-population-30-June-2025.ods.

Whether it is his policy that offenders to be deported under Clause 32 in the Sentencing Bill would be required to serve any custodial sentence in their home country.

The Sentencing Bill will amend the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) to allow eligible Foreign National Offenders (FNO) serving determinate sentences to be removed from prison for the purposes of immediate deportation any time after sentencing. FNOs removed under ERS are not subject to further imprisonment after they are removed from the UK but are barred from ever returning to the UK. If they return unlawfully, they will be liable to serve the rest of their sentence from the point they were deported.Those serving life and other indeterminate sentences are not eligible for removal under ERS. Offenders serving a terrorism or terrorism-connected offence are also excluded from removal. ERS can be refused by HMPPS in certain circumstances for example if there is serious evidence an offender is planning a further crime.Prisoner Transfer Agreements, where prisoners continue to serve their sentence in their home countries, will still be used in certain circumstances where we have an agreement in place and there is cooperation with the receiving country. Enhancing our prisoner transfer capability with partner countries remains important to the Ministry of Justice.

Whether the former Deputy Prime Minister has received a Ministerial severance payment.

On 21 July 2025, this Government announced reforms to Ministerial severance pay to ensure severance payments are proportionate and fair. These changes came into effect from 13 October. Before this, decisions as to whether a Minister accepted a severance payment were for the outgoing minister, in line with the practice of previous administrations. Details of ministerial severance payments are published in the relevant department’s annual report and accounts.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed higher business rates multiplier on employment in the retail sector.

The Government is creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century. As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with ratable values (RVs) below £500,000 from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so the Government will introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties in 2026/27 - those with RVs of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants. The final design, including the rates, for the new business rates multipliers will be announced at Budget 2025, so that the Government can factor the revaluation outcomes and broader economic and fiscal context into decision-making. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 25328 on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn, whether he has received a copy of the report; and, with reference to his Department policy paper entitled New Hospital Programme; plan for implementation, published on 20 January 2025, what his planned timetable is for the publication of the site-by-site report of the RAAC hospitals.

The safety of staff and patients at the seven predominantly reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) hospitals remains our utmost priority.The completion date for the report has been extended to ensure a detailed understanding of the complex data and issues considered, including the RAAC condition, planned and current mitigations, and the remaining expected life of the hospital sites. By building a better understanding, we can support each scheme to move forward more effectively. We expect the report will be complete this year. A decision has not yet been taken regarding the publication of the report.In the interim, the seven predominantly RAAC hospitals continue their programme of RAAC mitigation works and the plans for the replacement hospitals continue at pace.