Written questions by McMahon.

What assessment her Department has made of the impact of “historic vehicle” status on preserving Britain's motoring heritage.

Classic and historic vehicles are a testament to British innovation and the Government is committed to supporting this sector. Following a call for evidence, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) worked closely with historic vehicle stakeholders and in August 2025 new policies were introduced to support vehicles that have been repaired, restored and modified. The new guidance supports historic vehicle keepers and the wider industry with clearer registration processes that reflect modern restoration and modification practices.The feedback from the historic and classic vehicle sector is that the new policies reflect a pragmatic approach and address the major issues raised. The new policy has alleviated many of the difficulties associated with the previous policies.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of import duties on goods entering the UK from the EU on inflation.

Latest data from the Department for Business and Trade shows that 94.9% of goods entering Great Britain from the EU did so tariff-free in 2023, broadly unchanged from 94.7% in 2022. This data is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/preference-utilisation-of-uk-trade-in-goods-2023/preference-utilisation-of-uk-goods-in-2023.The Government wants to find ways to make it easier for businesses to trade with our partners and so is seeking views on potential UK accession to the Pan-Euro Mediterranean Convention on Rules of Origin through a call for evidence led by the Department for Business and Trade. You can find this information here: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/pan-euro-mediterranean-convention-on-rules-of-origin-pemForecasting the economy, including the impact of Government policy decisions, is the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which published its latest forecast on 26 March 2025. HM Treasury does not produce forecasts for the UK economy and has not made an assessment of the impact of import duties on inflation.

Whether he plans to expand support for armed forces cadet units in England.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 September 2025 to Question 76173 to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Al Pinkerton).

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of rising energy costs on the viability of grassroots sporting clubs in England.

The Government is committed to supporting grassroots sport and ensuring everyone has access to high quality facilities. The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport in England through its Arm’s Length Body Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery Funding. They offer support to clubs impacted by increased energy costs. Sport England’s Movement Fund allocates 10% of the funding to clubs implementing measures to improve environmental sustainability and reduce energy costs. They also provide detailed guidance to sporting clubs on managing energy costs and making their facilities energy efficient.

How many gas safety certificates were verified by her Department's contractors for dispersed accommodation in (a) England, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham in each year since 2015.

The Home Office does not hold the information requested. The Home Office expects the highest standards from accommodation providers. A detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by accommodation providers and the standards we expect can be found in the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC) Statement of Requirements: AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdfAll Accommodation must comply with the relevant standards for Accommodation defined in Annex B, and the rules relating to sharing and relocations defined in Annex C of this Schedule 2. The AASC contracts include robust mechanisms for incentivising the provider to deliver on the contractual requirements set out therein. The Home Office also employs a dedicated contract assurance team whose conduct property inspections and assurance reviews.

How many council tax accounts her Department's contractors maintained for dispersed accommodation in (a) England (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham in each year since 2015.

The Home Office does not hold the information requested. The Home Office expects the highest standards from accommodation providers. A detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by accommodation providers and the standards we expect can be found in the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC) Statement of Requirements: AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdfAll Accommodation must comply with the relevant standards for Accommodation defined in Annex B, and the rules relating to sharing and relocations defined in Annex C of this Schedule 2. The AASC contracts include robust mechanisms for incentivising the provider to deliver on the contractual requirements set out therein. The Home Office also employs a dedicated contract assurance team whose conduct property inspections and assurance reviews.

Food and Rural Affairs, what is the total consumer debt outstanding for each water company in England and Wales for each year from 2015 to date.

Ofwat is the economic regulator for the water sector in England and Wales. In January 2025, Ofwat published a report analysing consumer debt that outlines key statistics on debt for household customers in England and Wales (please see page 49 for a summary of each water company). This information was not collected before 2023.

How much her Department's contractors have spent on repairs for dispersed accommodation in (a) England (b) Greater Manchester and (c) Oldham in each year since 2015.

The Home Office does not hold the information requested. The Home Office expects the highest standards from accommodation providers. A detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by accommodation providers and the standards we expect can be found in the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC) Statement of Requirements: AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdfAll Accommodation must comply with the relevant standards for Accommodation defined in Annex B, and the rules relating to sharing and relocations defined in Annex C of this Schedule 2. The AASC contracts include robust mechanisms for incentivising the provider to deliver on the contractual requirements set out therein. The Home Office also employs a dedicated contract assurance team whose conduct property inspections and assurance reviews.

What estimate has been made of the average age of (a) passenger carrier vehicle buses and coaches, (b) private hire taxis and (c) Hackney carriages in England for each year from 2015 to date.

The Department does not hold data on the average age of buses or coaches.However, the Department publishes data on the proportion of local buses by year of manufacture in the Annual Bus Statistics. Figures for the latest year are available in Table BUS06f, and data for previous years can be found in earlier publications: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus-statistics-data-tables#vehicles-operated-by-local-bus-operators-bus06. Prior to 2022 average age of the bus fleet was collected instead of year of manufacture.The Department also publishes data on the average age of taxis and private hire vehicles in the Taxi and Private Hire Statistics. Figures for the latest year are available in Table TAXI0116, and data for previous years can be found in earlier publications: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/taxi01-taxis-private-hire-vehilces-and-their-drivers. The Department does not hold these data for years prior to 2020.The Department does not hold data on the average age of Hackney carriages.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of consumer protections relating to private parking companies.

The Government is aware of motorist concerns regarding poor practice from some private parking operators and is determined to raise standards. In accordance with the Private Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, the government is preparing a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities. The government has recently consulted on its proposals for a new code of practice for private parking operators to follow. The consultation closed on 26 September, and the government will respond in due course.

How many (a) fines, (b) community punishments, (c) cautions and (d) custodial sentences have been administered for the illegal possession of nitrous oxide in England since November 2023.

The Home Office collects information on the number of notifiable offences, and their investigative outcomes, recorded by the police in England and Wales. This includes possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation and possession of nitrous oxide with intent to supply.Information on the number of the Cautions, Community resolutions and Penalty Notices for Disorder for these offences issued between 1st November 2023 and 30th June 2025 are shown in the table below.OutcomesNovember 2023 to June 2025Caution - adult and youths100Community resolution3,265Penalty Notices for Disorder23Source: Home Office Data Hub, Police Recorded Crime and OutcomesThe Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on court sentencing outcomes including for the illegal possession of nitrous oxide in England and Wales. The latest published statistics for the period between 1st December 2023 and the 30th June 2025 are presented in the table below.Sentence OutcomeDecember 2023 to June 2025Fine139Community Sentence20Immediate Custody4Suspended Sentence3Source: Outcomes by Offences data tool, which can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics

How many (a) mopeds, (b) motorbikes, including scramblers, (c) electric scooters, (d) electric bikes and (e) quad bikes; were seized and disposed of by (i) crushing or breaking and (ii) selling for reuse by police forces in England in the most recent year the data is available.

The Home Office does not hold data on the number of mopeds, motorbikes, electric scooters, electric bikes, or quad bikes that have been seized or disposed of by police in England and Wales.Decisions on the seizure and disposal of mopeds, motorbikes, electric scooters, electric bikes, or quad bikes are for police, who have the expertise and knowledge to make operational decisions.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies educational attainment of boys and girls by (a) ethnicity and (b) social class in (i) England, (ii) Greater Manchester and (iii) Oldham.

All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed. However, educational inequalities exist across the country and at every phase of education, particularly for white working-class children.These gaps, whether in Oldham or nationally, are not acceptable.Through the government’s Plan for Change, we are tackling these inequalities. The department will invest close to £1.5 billion over the next three years on improving family services and early years education to close gaps.The department is rolling out expanded government-funded childcare entitlements and creating thousands of school-based nurseries to increase the provision of quality childcare. We will fund Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority ensuring children and families needing support most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities, can access it. This includes building on the great work already done by Oldham’s seven family hubs funded in this financial year.We are expanding free school meals to all children on Universal Credit from September 2026 and have delivered record increases to early years pupil premium.This is alongside work to drive high and rising school standards, including regional improvement for standards and excellence attainment conferences with the North-West conference open to schools in Oldham.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of co-operative public service broadcasting in the UK.

Ahead of the upcoming Charter Review, the Secretary of State has said that, to maintain the BBC as an institution, it must be accountable to those who fund it - the British people. The Government intends to keep an open mind about how the BBC can achieve that aim.The Government has not made any wider assessment of the merits of co-operatives to the UK’s system of public service broadcasting.

Communities and Local Government, whether councillors in England are required to register unredacted (a) business and (b) commercial interests held (i) directly or (ii) through limited companies on their register of interests.

Under the Localism Act 2011, councillors must declare certain business and wider financial interests they might have, including all employment and any beneficial interest in companies if the interest is within the local authority area or if it exceeds a specified value. These details are published in full on the local authority’s register of interests unless the councillor and monitoring officer agree disclosure could expose the councillor or a connected person to violence or intimidation and class it is a ‘sensitive interest’. Government guidance on councillor interests is published online.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proceeds of crime funding in England directed towards tackling youth criminal exploitation and gangs.

Funds recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) are distributed under the Home Office’s Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS). The objective of ARIS is to drive asset recovery performance, by providing agencies with incentives to use POCA powers to recover more criminal assets, with the overall aim of cutting crime and delivering justice.Under the scheme, a proportion of the assets recovered using powers under POCA are redistributed to the agencies involved in the recovery, based on their relative contributions. The current allocation sees ARIS receipts split 50:50 between central government and operational partners.In the spirit of the Scheme, the Government encourages agencies to use ARIS funds to increase asset recovery and, where appropriate, fund local crime fighting priorities for the benefit of the community. However, the use of ARIS allocations/payments is a matter for each agency and is left to their discretion. Further information on ARIS and how funds are spent can be found here: Asset recovery statistics: financial years ending 2020 to 2025 - GOV.UK

How many prisoners were released to accommodation in each local authority area in each year since 2015.

This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. While data on prisoners released into accommodation is held centrally, that is not broken down by Local Authority.Performance statistics on housing and accommodation outcomes for people supervised by the Probation Service are published annually. These are broken down by probation region and can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-accommodation-outcome-statistics.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of youth councils on young people.

We recognise the important role youth councils can play in young people’s lives and youth services. This includes empowering them to propose ideas, connecting them with local decision-makers, and enhancing a sense of community belonging and connection. Each youth council is different to reflect the needs of the local area or setting. Youth councils assist government and local authorities in designing services and support that meet their needs. The best youth councils are invited to co-create youth provision or wider services focused on young people locally, ensuring public money is spent wisely in a way that addresses their needs. This year, DCMS is running the Local Youth Transformation Pilot which will support local authorities to build back capacity in the youth space and improve local youth offers. DCMS is committed to enabling effective youth empowerment, involving young people in decision making at all levels. We are co-producing the National Youth Strategy in partnership with young people, drawing together the voices of over 14,000 young people who engaged in the National Youth Strategy Survey. We will publish the National Youth Strategy later in the year.

What estimate his Department has made of the cost of Government procurement of (a) British and (b) non-British made vehicles in each of the last three years.

The Department has not made any estimates of these costs as internationally integrated supply chains make detailed comparative cost assessments highly complex.

What assessment has been made of the potential impact of hospital parking charges on (a) staff and (b) visitors to hospitals; and what information he holds on the total cost of such charges in the last 12 months.

No assessment has been made of the potential impact of hospital parking charges. Hospitals in England are permitted to charge users for car parking, but those charges must be reasonable and in line with local charges. The revenue from hospital car parking is used to maintain car park facilities and any surplus income is put back into the National Health Service. The following table shows the income from car parking from patients and visitors as well as staff in 2023/24 and 2022/23: Income from car parking - patients and visitorsIncome from car parking - staff2023/24£172,332,199£70,510,1102022/23£145,873,556£46,653,234 Data on the income from car parking charges is published annually through the NHS Estates Return Information Collection, which 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-2024-25In 2025/26, the Department is backing the NHS with over £4 billion in operational capital, enabling local NHS organisations to allocate funding to local priorities, which could include hospital car parking.