Written questions by McMahon.

Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with the university sector on research and development in universities; and what support her Department provides to help progress the commercialisation of research and development outcomes.

Recent engagement between the Department and university sector has focused on improving the sustainability of university research, improving the Research Excellence Framework, strengthening research and innovation partnerships and implementing recommendations from the 2023 spin-out review to accelerate commercialisation.The Department supports commercialisation with significant investment, including through the £280 million a year Higher Education Innovation Fund. Additional proof-of-concept funding of £40 million over five years helps researchers translate ideas into high-growth businesses, ensuring UK universities remain globally competitive in innovation and knowledge exchange.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the benefits of co-operative enterprise in international development.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 1 April to Question 39533.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the drivers of food and non-alcoholic drink price inflation and what steps are being taken to tackle them.

The Government monitors food prices closely. As outlined in the UK Food Security Report (December 2024), food price drivers are complex: global commodity prices influence domestic markets through trade and are affected by energy, labour, manufacturing costs, harvest quality, and Sterling exchange rates. On 19 November, our Secretary of State announced Defra’s collaboration with the Department for Business and Trade to launch a Food Inflation Gateway. This tool will assess the impact of new regulations on food businesses and prices, helping government coordinate and sequence policies to reduce costs, unlock investment, and apply downward pressure on prices. Alongside this, the Department’s Food Strategy aims to ensure access to affordable, nutritious food and strengthen resilience against short-term supply shocks and long-term risks, reducing the likelihood of future price spikes and supporting fair, stable prices for households.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of funding to national park authorities in England.

We recognise that the Defra core grant is vital to support England’s National Park Authorities. In the 25/26 financial year, the government is providing £45.2 million of core funding to the 10 National Park Authorities, with a capital uplift of up to £15 million to support their contribution to protecting 30% of land by 2030. We have also extended programmes such as Farming in Protected Landscapes, providing £30 million to support projects in our National Landscapes and National Parks, until March 2026. We are also committed to working with Protected Landscapes organisations to unleash other income sources. Defra has invested over £2m in a ‘Green Finance Accelerator’ comprised of National Parks Partnerships and the National Landscapes Association to provide the capacity, tools and expertise needed to increase private investment in nature. Funding beyond April 2026 is being determined through an ongoing internal business planning process.

What assessment has been made of the impact of social media algorithms on levels of extremism in the UK.

The Home Office invests resources in understanding extremism and radicalisation, including work with international partners and external academics. Through this we look closely at the impact of social media algorithms on levels of extremism in the UK, but it is difficult to prove empirically or universally. The Online Safety Act requires online platforms to consider, as part of their illegal content and child safety risk assessments, how their algorithms impact exposure to illegal content and content harmful to children.The Government is closely monitoring the implementation and effectiveness of the OSA and remains committed to strengthening our laws if it does not deliver the necessary protections to ensure a safer online environment.The Home Office is committed to countering extremism in all its forms where it divides communities and inflames tensions. Regardless of the worldview it draws from, if an ideology is causing harm by radicalising others into hatred, violence and extremism we will take action to prevent this and to safeguard susceptible individuals.

What assessment has been made of the effectiveness of checks on new company formation with Companies House.

Companies House has developed and is continuing to develop capabilities in data analysis and measures to prevent the registration of misleading information and to better understand what measures will prove effective in preventing the registration of misleading information.As of 31 October 2025, Companies has addressed 148,084 compliance issues involving 85,201 companies. Performance in this reporting period is on track to meet the ministerial target set out in Companies House’s 2025-2026 Business Plan to act against 150,000 companies.

Communities and Local Government, how many community assets were registered by local authorities for each year since 2015.

The assets of community scheme is administered by local authorities for their areas. Local authorities are responsible for maintaining and publishing their local list of assets of community value and the Government does not hold a central list of this information. You can find out information about your local scheme by contacting your local authority.

What assessment his Department has made of the impact of the closure of armed forces recruitment centres on enlistment in those areas.

Defence assesses that the wide variety of available recruitment engagement options it provides affords opportunity for candidates to enlist, regardless of the presence of an Armed Forces Careers Office (AFCO) in any given geographic location. The Armed Forces regularly review their recruiting activities and associated resource in accordance with the requirement. Whilst AFCOs continue to provide core support to the Armed Forces' national recruiting activities, their geographic footprint across the UK is complemented by dedicated call centres and online recruiting operations. This ensures that members of rural or isolated communities have the same opportunity to apply to the Armed Forces as anyone else. In addition, the Services conduct outreach engagement programmes across the whole of the UK, delivering events such as career fairs and roadshows, supported by online services and social media campaigns. These recruitment activities are further supported through strategic partnerships such as with JobCentrePlus, which provides additional face-to-face touchpoints with potential applicants.

How much funding has been allocated to (a) Greater Manchester (b) Oldham for the installation of retrofit renewable energy.

The government implemented the first Integrated Settlements for Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities at the start of the 2025-26 financial year, which includes cover for building retrofits. For buildings’ retrofit, Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities received the first allocation of their combined £302 million devolved retrofit funding in April 2025. This allocation draws from the Warm Homes: Local Grant, the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, and the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. Oldham forms part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of digital inclusion of children living in temporary accommodation in England.

We know that digital exclusion is a complex issue and disproportionately impacts certain demographics.That is why we launched the Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February, which sets out our immediate actions to boost digital inclusion across the UK. Alongside our actions to widen access to devices, drive digital upskilling, break down barriers to participation and get support to people in their own communities, we are also developing robust headline indicators to monitor progress and inform future digital inclusion interventions.

What was the cost to the public purse of installing new telephone systems in GP practices in England last year; and how many (a) systems (b) handsets were installed.

The Department does not hold data on the cost of installing new telephone systems in general practices, nor on how many systems and handsets were installed.As part of our ambition to end the 8:00am scramble, we want patients to contact their practice by phone, online, or by walking in, and for people to have an equitable experience across these access modes. Since 1 October 2025, practices are required to keep their online consultation tool open for the duration of core hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries, and admin requests.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in the Israeli government on the impact of food shortages on children in Gaza.

The UK is providing £78 million for humanitarian and early recovery support for Palestine this financial year. This includes £9.7 million to United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support provision of ready-to-use infant formula, water, sanitation and hygiene services, psychosocial services for children, and social protection to children.In October, the Foreign Secretary spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar about the importance of opening more crossings and removing restrictions on aid to allow food to be delivered to all those in need, and we continue to call on Israel to enable humanitarian relief to reach every child in need of nutritional support, shelter and healthcare.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the nutritional value of food and drinks available to school breakfast clubs in England.

The department supports the provision of nutritious food in schools to enable pupils to be well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and to concentrate and learn in school.The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014 regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day, including at free breakfast clubs, and are available here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made.Compliance with the school food standards is mandatory for maintained schools, academies and free schools. Alongside the school food standards practical guide, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools/school-food-standards-practical-guide. Our free breakfast clubs guidance includes examples of healthy breakfast offers to help support schools to provide a healthy, balanced breakfast offer to pupils. This guidance has been produced in collaboration with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities at the Department of Health and Social Care.

How many vehicles have been seized by the DVLA for not having valid vehicle excise duty in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham by vehicle class in each year since 2015.

The information requested is not available in the detail or format requested. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) officials will write to the honourable member with the relevant information that is available when it has been extracted and assured.

How many complaints of mis-selling of prepayment funeral plans have been made for each year from 2015 to date.

The regulation of pre-paid funeral plans is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Pre-paid funeral plans came under FCA regulation in July 2022, and so the FCA will not hold complaint data from before that date. The FCA will respond to the Honourable Member by letter with further detail, and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House of Commons.

How many illegal working enforcement visits have been undertaken in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham in each year since 2015.

To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.Our published data on illegal working visits is available as follows: Statistics relating to Illegal Migration - GOV.UK (January 2019 – March 2024) and Illegal working and enforcement activity to the end of September 2025 - GOV.UK (October 2023 – September 2025). Data prior to 2019 is not available.

How much the Government has spent on advertisements and subscriptions with (a) X, (b) Meta, (c) Tiktok and (d) Alphabet Inc. Google in each year since 2015.

The government uses paid advertising to communicate important government announcements and campaigns that affect the public. Please refer to the table below for Government spend on advertisements and subscriptions (please note - figures from 2015-2018 are not available): 2018*201920202021202220232024X£340,670.00£2,482,367.00£9,213,054.00£9,166,707.00£5,384,846.00£2,385,782.00£-Meta£1,916,697.00£18,711,558.00£31,824,185.00£33,354,026.00£20,630,493.00£20,332,721.00£17,195,792.00TikTok£-£-£1,850,770.00£3,489,387.00£618,346.00£96,268.00£204,553.00Alphabet (inc Google)£2,036,387.00£17,968,414.00£28,121,714.00£23,808,972.00£23,132,702.00£26,326,818.00£20,840,036.00 £4,293,754.00£39,162,339.00£71,009,723.00£69,819,092.00£49,766,387.00£49,141,589.00£38,240,381.00 *Please note the figures for 2018 are partial year spend due to contract changes.

Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with TV and film production companies who receive public funding or tax incentives on the inclusion of English regional dialects in their programmes.

[I] do not engage with TV and film production companies regarding editorial decisions relating to programming content due their independence from Government. However, we want British storytelling to reflect the full diversity of people, communities and experiences across the UK so that more people can see themselves reflected on screen and as part of our national story. We are committed to working with the sector to ensure the right framework, conditions and support are in place for this to happen.

How many (a) hate crime and (b) non hate crime arrests have taken place for social media posts, messages and interactions in England in each year since 2015.

The Home Office does not hold arrest data specific to social media posts, messages and interactions.

How many times gambling websites were visited by government system users in each year since 2015.

This information is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office. All users are bound by an ICT Acceptable Usage Policy which states that users must not undertake any form of gambling on Cabinet Office IT. Any breach is managed through the Cabinet Office’s disciplinary process.