Written questions by Hayes.

If he will take steps to regularly monitor and report on dental access for cleft and other priority groups.

We recognise that certain groups of patients may be more vulnerable to oral health problems, including patients with clefts.NHS England commissions services for children, young people and adults with a cleft lip and/or palate. The patient pathway can start from pre-birth and continues into adulthood. Cleft services provide care through multi-disciplinary teams, and the comprehensive care pathway will include elements such as paediatric dentistry, restorative dentistry and orthodontics. More information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d07-cleft-lip.pdfThe Office of the Chief Dental Officer England is in ongoing discussions with members of the Cleft Llip and Palate Association to assess what measures can be taken to better understand and improve access to care for patients born with a cleft.The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards across England.

What steps he is taking to ensure people with cleft receive appropriate dental care.

We recognise that certain groups of patients may be more vulnerable to oral health problems, including patients with clefts.NHS England commissions services for children, young people and adults with a cleft lip and/or palate. The patient pathway can start from pre-birth and continues into adulthood. Cleft services provide care through multi-disciplinary teams, and the comprehensive care pathway will include elements such as paediatric dentistry, restorative dentistry and orthodontics. More information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d07-cleft-lip.pdfThe Office of the Chief Dental Officer England is in ongoing discussions with members of the Cleft Llip and Palate Association to assess what measures can be taken to better understand and improve access to care for patients born with a cleft.The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards across England.

What is the total cost to the public purse of money owed to HMRC in the form of unpaid (a) VAT and (b) corporation tax accrued since July 2024.

Our debt management workforce is deployed flexibly across all taxes to ensure efficient collection of debts owed and are not allocated to specific taxes. It is therefore not possible to provide a separate figure for staff working solely on VAT or corporation tax recovery. HMRC publishes information on VAT and corporation tax losses in its Annual Report and Accounts, of which the most recent can be found here: HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25. HMRC does not hold a separate breakdown of companies dissolved with unpaid VAT or corporation tax.

How many full time equivalent HMRC staff are working on unpaid (a) VAT and (b) corporation tax recovery.

Our debt management workforce is deployed flexibly across all taxes to ensure efficient collection of debts owed and are not allocated to specific taxes. It is therefore not possible to provide a separate figure for staff working solely on VAT or corporation tax recovery. HMRC publishes information on VAT and corporation tax losses in its Annual Report and Accounts, of which the most recent can be found here: HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25. HMRC does not hold a separate breakdown of companies dissolved with unpaid VAT or corporation tax.

How many companies owing unpaid (a) VAT and (b) corporation tax have been dissolved since July 2024.

Our debt management workforce is deployed flexibly across all taxes to ensure efficient collection of debts owed and are not allocated to specific taxes. It is therefore not possible to provide a separate figure for staff working solely on VAT or corporation tax recovery. HMRC publishes information on VAT and corporation tax losses in its Annual Report and Accounts, of which the most recent can be found here: HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25. HMRC does not hold a separate breakdown of companies dissolved with unpaid VAT or corporation tax.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support heritage assets in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

This Government takes our responsibility to the built historic environment seriously. For this year alone, my Department has committed nearly £60 million of funding for heritage, including £15m for Heritage at Risk.Funding is administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Arms-Length-Bodies. Since 1994, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £5,540,760 to 110 projects in South Holland and the Deepings.Historic England has also administered funding in South Holland and the Deepings. This has gone towards projects such as the 2024 - 2027 Lincolnshire Extended Urban Survey, which worked to underpin better decision making, archaeological understanding and design in the county’s towns, and received £211,000.There are currently 12 heritage assets on the Heritage at Risk Register in the area, and Historic England are actively engaged with all of them. These include conservation areas, listed buildings, and scheduled monuments.The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme gives grants towards VAT paid on repairs and renovations to the nation’s listed sites of worship across the UK. Since August 2022, 41 claims have been paid to 15 Listed Places of Worship based in the South Holland local authority area to a value of £78,125.6.

How many fake license plates were recorded in each of the last five years.

It is not possible to provide the full-time equivalent number of staff who deal with number plate issues. The staff involved do not exclusively work on number plate related issues and also investigate other types of cases. While on road enforcement of number plates issues is a matter for the police, the information in the table below shows the number of occasions where members of the public contacted the DVLA about correspondence, fines or penalties that they have been received from third parties about the use of vehicles which they do not recognise or accept responsibility for in the last five years. However, it is important to note that the misuse of a registration number or number plate is just one of the possible reasons why someone might receive such correspondence. A proportion of these cases will have been made as a result of errors, for example where a vehicle registration number has been entered incorrectly. Calendar YearNumber of reports20217,43020227,83720239,848202410,461202511,402

How many trading standards inspections of high street shops took place in South Holland and the Deepings constituency in each of the last three years.

The department does not hold this information.Local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales operate independently from central government. Local authorities are responsible for determining their enforcement activity across a wide range of enforcement responsibilities in accordance with the needs of the local electorate and local resourcing priorities.

How many full-time equivalent staff in her Department are tasked with tackling the use of fake license plates.

It is not possible to provide the full-time equivalent number of staff who deal with number plate issues. The staff involved do not exclusively work on number plate related issues and also investigate other types of cases. While on road enforcement of number plates issues is a matter for the police, the information in the table below shows the number of occasions where members of the public contacted the DVLA about correspondence, fines or penalties that they have been received from third parties about the use of vehicles which they do not recognise or accept responsibility for in the last five years. However, it is important to note that the misuse of a registration number or number plate is just one of the possible reasons why someone might receive such correspondence. A proportion of these cases will have been made as a result of errors, for example where a vehicle registration number has been entered incorrectly. Calendar YearNumber of reports20217,43020227,83720239,848202410,461202511,402

How many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.

Information on the number of civil servants employed on temporary contracts is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the accredited official statistics release Public Sector Employment, UK: September 2025. This can be accessed at: (Source: ONS Public Sector Employment reference tables – Table 8 HC, September 2025 edition; MoJ Workforce MI, September 2025)Public sector employment - Office for National Statistics As at September 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics Public Sector Employment statistics (Table 8 HC), and published 16 December 2025, 455 civil servants in the Ministry of Justice were on temporary or casual contracts, representing approximately 0.5% of the Department’s civil service headcount (total 96,715). Ministry of Justice Civil Service Headcount – September 2025Contract TypeMaleFemaleTotalPermanent40,63055,63096,260Temporary / Casual165290455Overall Headcount40,79555,92096,715 Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Ministry of Justice’s Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report for FY 2024/25 can be found at: Ministry of Justice – Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25(See Annex D: Off-payroll engagements, page 303). For clarity, consultants are not civil servants and are therefore not included in civil service headcount figures. The latest Ministry of Justice, Workforce Management Information (June 2025), publishes total cost of contractors, which is part of the department’s transparency data and can be accessed at: MoJ_headcount_and_payroll_data_for_June_2025_revised.ods

How many full-time equivalent staff in her Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the past three years.

Due to the difficulty of disaggregating the number of staff who are employed to produce social media content from staff who are employed to work on broader digital communications, it is not possible to report exact figures in response to this question.

How many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.

Information on the number of civil servants employed on temporary contracts is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Public Sector Employment statistics. Information can be accessed for September 2025 at the following web address:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/publicsectoremployment/september2025Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report for FY 2024/25 can be found at the following web address:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025

How many and what proportion of civil servants in her Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.

My Department does not employ any Civil Servants on temporary contracts and there are no consultants in my Department. Information on the number of civil servants employed on temporary contracts in my Department is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Public Sector Employment statistics. Information can be accessed for September 2025 at the following web address:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/publicsectoremployment/september2025 Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report for FY 2024/25 can be found at the following web address:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wales-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-25

How many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.

The Scotland Office does not have any civil servants that are on temporary contracts, nor does it employ any consultants.

How many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.

Information on the number of civil servants employed on temporary contracts is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Public Sector Employment statistics. Information can be accessed for September 2025 at the following:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/publicsectoremployment/september2025 Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report for FY 2024/25 can be found at the following web address:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/northern-ireland-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025

How many full-time equivalent staff in his Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the past three years.

Due to the difficulty of disaggregating the number of staff who are employed to produce social media content from staff who are employed to work on broader digital communications, it is not possible to report exact figures in response to this question.

How many and what proportion of civil servants in her Department are (a) on temporary contracts and are (b) consultants.

Information on the number of staff employed by the Law Officers’ Departments on temporary contracts is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Public Sector Employment statistics. Information can be accessed for September 2025 at the following web address:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/publicsectoremployment/september2025 Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report for FY 2024/25 can be found at the following web addresses.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/686f95fc10d550c668de3d9c/SFO_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2024-25.pdfhttps://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/publicsectoremployment/september2025Government Legal Department Annual Report and Accounts 2024–25 - GOV.UK

Communities and Local Government, how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the past three years.

Due to the difficulty of disaggregating the number of staff who are employed to produce social media content from staff who are employed to work on broader digital communications, it is not possible to report exact figures in response to this question.

What assessment has been made of the impact of recent changes to the dental contract on patients’ access to routine dental care.

The reforms will prioritise those with the greatest need, shifting care away from clinically unnecessary check-ups. An impact assessment will be published on the reforms from April 2026.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on recall intervals states that a healthy adult with good oral health needs to see a dentist once every two years, and a child once every year.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many full-time equivalent staff in her Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the last three years.

Due to the difficulty of disaggregating the number of staff who work on social media from staff who work on broader digital communications, it is not possible to provide the requested data in response to this question.