Every parliamentary written question tabled by Jim McMahon this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 341–360 of 461 · this parliament
How many vehicle registration numbers are held on expired retention certificates; and what the estimated value of those registration numbers is.
While the information requested about expired retention certificates may be available, it would need to be extracted from different databases and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
What assessment he has made of the value for money of management and service charges paid by academy and free schools to related parties in England.
Academy trusts are permitted to use a proportion of their funding to pay for central services for their schools. This can be more efficient and cheaper than individual academies running or procuring the functions themselves. Where trusts top slice for central services, they must be transparent by disclosing in their annual accounts the services they deliver centrally and the trust’s charging policy.The ’Academy trust handbook’ sets out the requirements related party transactions (RPTs). The handbook requires that trusts must:Report all contracts and other agreements with related parties to the department in advance.Obtain approval for RPTs where the contract or agreement exceeds £40,000.Pay no more than ‘cost’ for goods or services provided by related parties.Agreements to supply goods and services are procured through an open and fair process.The handbook is available in full at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-handbook.The department has also published a guide on managing conflicts of interests and RPTs to support trusts, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/related-party-transactions-information-for-academy-trusts/managing-conflicts-of-interests-related-party-relationships-and-related-party-transactions-good-practice-guide.
How many government (a) mobile phones (b) laptops (c) tablets were reported lost or stolen for each year from 2015 to date.
This answer only provides information for the Cabinet Office, Government Digital Service (GDS) and the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) IT Provision. This answer is not inclusive of Number 10. It also only extends back to 3rd July 2018 as records before this date are not held centrally by the Cabinet Office. The table also lists reported equipment. Some of this equipment may have been recovered after having been reported. Also please note that GDS & CDDO moved to DSIT earlier this year and as such, their contribution to the metrics will have reduced.EquipmentYear20182019202020212022202320242025 (to date)Laptop68111625067577846Mobile101221118118147160171149Tablet00000032
How much the Government spent on office furniture in each year since 2015.
Spend by the Government on office furniture is a matter for each individual government department and is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.
How many trains were cancelled due to staff shortages in each year since 2015; and whether she has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of those cancellations.
The Department does not hold a complete historical dataset of cancellations specifically attributed to staff shortages dating back to 2015. However, Network Rail collects management information on the percentage of trains cancelled due to traincrew issues. Network Rail has granted permission for this data to be shared, and these figures are presented in Table 1 alongside the annual cancellations score for context. The ‘Annual cancellation score’ represents the average cancellation score for each year covering all causes of cancellations. The ‘Cancellations resulting from Traincrew issues’ represents the average cancellations specifically attributable to traincrew-related issues. Table 1: Annual Average of Train Cancellations and Cancellations as a result of Traincrew Issues in Great Britain (2014/15 to 2024/25)Financial YearAnnual Cancellations score (%)1Cancellations resulting from Traincrew issues (%)2014/15x0.3%2015/16x0.4%2016/17x0.7%2017/18x0.4%2018/19x0.6%2019/203.4%0.8%2020/212.1%0.3%2021/223.3%1.1%2022/233.8%1.1%2023/243.8%1.0%2024/254.1%1.2%Source: Network Rail and ORR Table 3124 Trains planned and cancellations by operator and cause (periodic) Notes:Comparable data for annual cancellations is only available from 2019/20.Figures exclude trains removed from the timetable due to industrial action.Figures are Moving Annual Average (MAA) which reflect the proportion of trains cancelled in the past 12 months. The Department has not made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of cancellations due to traincrew shortages. The Department has been working closely with the industry to increase the number of train drivers. Network Rail report that the proportion of trains cancelled because of traincrew issues has fallen from 1.19% in the year to January 2025 to 0.85% in the year to September (rail period 8). Network Rail report this is the lowest proportion of trains cancelled due to traincrew issues (MAA) in nearly 4 years.
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of tool thefts on lost working days to the economy.
This Government recognises that tradespeople are often targeted by criminals who seek to steal tools. We also recognise the deeply damaging impact on victims who rely on their tools to earn a living. Whilst we do not have an official estimate of the costs of tool theft, recent research commissioned by industry indicated that 9% of victims in their cohort lost over three days of work as a result. In the Government’s Small Business Plan, published on 31 July, we committed to working alongside industry and small business representatives to tackle the problem of tool theft. We are partnering with tradespeople’s representatives, policing and other partners, including retailers and manufacturers, to co-design actions Government and industry can take to encourage theft prevention. A key part of making acquisitive crime less attractive to criminals is making stolen goods harder to sell on. That is why we work closely with policing and academic leads to examine what more can be done to tackle the disposal markets for stolen goods and reduce the profit from acquisitive crime. We are providing £2m funding for the National Business Crime Centre over the next three financial years to help tackle the crimes most affecting businesses today, including tackling the sale of stolen goods. The Chancellor has announced a real terms increase in police spending power over the next three years and more detail on force funding allocations for 2026-27 will be set out at the forthcoming police funding settlement.The 2025-26 settlement represents a 6.4% cash increase and a 3.9% real terms increase in funding. The Police Funding Settlement of £200 million will support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood personnel.
How many hospital wards are not in active use in England; and what the patient capacity is of those wards.
Data for the occupancy and utilisation rates of clinical rooms in the NHS Estate for the latest period, which was 2023/24, published in December 2024, is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection/summary-page-and-dataset-for-eric-2023-24
What assessment her Department has made of effectiveness of the tax incentives available to increase the formation of Employee Ownership Trusts.
An evaluation of the Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) tax regime commissioned by HMRC and published in May 2025 found that the tax reliefs encourage company owners to transition their companies to employee ownership under the EOT model. This evaluation can be found at GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/qualitative-evaluation-of-employee-ownership-trusts However, the cost of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) relief has increased significantly in recent years. The original costing from 2013 suggested the entire EOT tax regime would cost less than £100m in 2018-19. The cost of the CGT relief alone reached £600m in 2021-22 and forecasts suggest it could rise to more than 20 times the original costing to £2 billion by 2028-29 without any action. The relief also allowed wealthy business owners to sell their shares without paying any CGT, with around half of the relief going to the largest 10% of disposals. At Budget 2025, the government announced that it will reduce the relief available on these disposals from 100% of the gain to 50%. This will retain a strong incentive for employee ownership whilst ensuring that business owners pay their fair share of tax. The relief remains more generous than alternative reliefs that individuals might use when disposing of their companies, such as Business Asset Disposal Relief.
How many mobile phones were stolen in the most recent year for which data is available; and how many of those were recovered.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides estimates of the number of people who were the victim of mobile phone theft. In the most recent year for which data is available (year ending March 2024), an estimated 235,000 people in England and Wales were the victim of mobile phone theft in the previous 12 months. Data for previous years is available as part of the Property crime tables (Table 13) published by the Office for National Statistics, at the link below:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/focusonpropertycrimeappendixtablesThe CSEW cannot provide an estimate of the number of stolen mobile phones which were later recovered.
How many reports of tool thefts in England have been made in each year since 2015.
The Home Office does not routinely collect data on the items stolen in theft offences which are reported to the police.The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides estimates of the proportion of theft offences reported to the survey where tools were stolen. This will include incidents which were not reported to the police but will exclude incidents which affected commercial premises.The most recently published data is presented in the table belowTable 1: Number of incidents and proportion where a tool was stolen, in year ending March 2024Crime Survey for England and Wales, Office for National StatisticsOffence typeNumber of incidentsProportion of incidents where a tool was stolenDomestic burglary in a dwelling74,0002%Domestic burglary in a non-connected building53,00025%Theft from outside a dwelling517,0003%Theft from a vehicle465,00012%Other theft of personal property446,00011%
What assessment has been made of police force forensic analysis capacity and completion times in England.
Forensic turnaround times currently vary with discipline. Time taken by forces to examine digital devices for example varies considerably, but urgent requests are always prioritised.Chief Constables, and ultimately Police and Crime Commissioners, are currently responsible for forensics procurement and delivery, with some regional coordination. We are exploring the creation of a specialist national capability for police forensics, within the proposed National Centre for Policing, and have recruited a Director of Forensic Services to stabilise and reform forensics in the meantime.
What estimate he has made of the number of community pharmacies in England relative to indices of multiple deprivation.
NHS Business Services Authority publishes quarterly consolidated NHS pharmaceutical lists with all community pharmacies in England. As of the end of September, there were twice as many pharmacies located in the lowest two deprivation deciles than there were in the top two.The data is available at the following link:https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/consolidated-pharmaceutical-list
How many knives and other weapons were confiscated in schools in England in the most recent year for which data is available.
Every child must be safe and the government is committed to making schools safer places for every child by tackling the root cause of serious violence.The department does not hold data on the number of knives and other weapons confiscated in schools in England. Confiscations are operational matters managed at school level and are not part of statutory data returns to the department. Guidance on searching, screening and confiscation is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62d1643e8fa8f50bfbefa55c/Searching__Screening_and_Confiscation_guidance_July_2022.pdf. However, findings from the School and College Panel survey indicate that in March 2024, 27% of secondary school leaders noted a known incident of weapon possession by a pupil on school premises since the beginning of the year, compared to only 2% of primary school leaders. The department also monitors a range of data related to children’s risk of violence, including education, social care and police national computer data. Our published dashboard can be accessed at: https://department-for-education.shinyapps.io/childrens-social-care-and-offending/.
What assessment he has made of the value for money of management and service charges paid by GP surgeries to related parties in England.
General practice surgeries are independent contractors, and as private businesses it is within their own remit to consider the value for money of management and service charges paid to related parties in England.
How many (a) plumbers, (b) electricians, (c) joiners, (d) bricklayers and (e) plasterers are forecast to leave and join the labour market in each year to 2030.
The Department does not hold up to date data on the numbers of (a) plumbers, (b) electricians, (c) joiners, (d) bricklayers and (e) plasterers leaving and joining the labour market. The CITB (Construction Industry Training Board) does produce the Construction Workforce Outlook for England which projects the growth in these occupations from 2024 to 2029 and is available here: https://www.citb.co.uk/cwo/reports/cwo_report_england.pdf.
How many vehicles (a) are taxed, (b) have Statutory Off Road Notifications, (c) are untaxed and (d) are undeclared as having Statutory Off Road Notifications by nation and region.
The information requested is shown in the table below. Please note the table includes vehicles for which there is a current registered keeper on record and where a postcode match was found:England regionsTaxed vehicles Vehicles for which a SORN has been made East Midlands3,230,522520,712East of England4,352,181668,578London3,008,654429,872North East1,509,315207,761North West4,503,390549,655South East6,883,503826,967South West4,353,614641,457West Midlands3,667,490609,163Yorkshire & The Humber3,335,460479,448Total for England34,844,1294,933,613 WalesScotlandNorthern IrelandTaxed vehicles 2,086,8613,218,5481,306,521Vehicles for which a SORN has been made410,187505,357357,610 The most recent information available shows that 98.7 per cent of vehicles across the UK were properly licensed. More detail can be found at the following link: gov.uk/government/statistics/vehicle-excise-duty-evasion-statistics-2023 Information is not available about vehicles which are being kept off the road but for which no SORN is in place.
What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of personal allowance threshold freezes on people in each income decile for each year from 2015 to date.
The previous government made the decision to freeze the income tax Personal Allowance at its current level of £12,570 until April 2028.The previous government published a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) setting out the impacts.
How many (a) fatal accidents, (b) serious accidents, (c) minor accidents and (d) near misses were recorded on smart motorways for each year from 2015 to date.
National Highways reports annually on smart motorway safety performance. The latest report was published in September 2025 using DfT’s most up to date validated STATS19 casualty dataset and annex A contains a breakdown of casualties by severity from 2015. The latest analysis continues to show that overall, smart motorways remain our safest roads in terms of deaths or serious injuries, but we have been clear that we will not build any new ones.
Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to introduce a fit and proper persons test for social media platform ownership.
The Online Safety Act enables senior management to be held to account. Action can be taken against senior managers who deliberately fail to ensure companies follow information requests from Ofcom. Ofcom will also be able to hold companies and senior managers (where they are at fault) liable if the provider fails to comply with Ofcom's enforcement notices in relation to specific child safety duties.
How many incidents of inoperable active lane signage were recorded on smart motorways in each year since 2015.
It is vital that roadside technology is working as intended to best support driver safety and confidence. Smart motorways have a system of inter-related features that work together to keep drivers moving safely and reduce reliance on one single feature.The Office of Rail and Road has reported on the availability of roadside technology assets on all lane running smart motorways in its three annual assessments of safety performance on the SRN. Between April 2022 and December 2024, monthly availability for signs has ranged from 88.4% to 92.4%, and from 92.3% to 97.4% for signals.National Highways is continuing to invest in upgrading roadside technology to further improve performance and availability.