Written questions by Hayes.

If she will publish the list of training programmes used by civil servants in her Department since 2020.

There is no single authoritative source that captures all locally commissioned or bespoke training activity across the Department.

If he will publish a list of training programmes used by civil servants in his Department since 2020.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Media and Sport, if she will provide a list of training programmes used by civil servants in her department since 2020.

Since 2020, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has provided training programmes accessed via Civil Service Learning, Government campus and an internal curriculum. The offer includes the development of core skills, leadership and management, profession related training and accelerated-development programmes including apprenticeships and the Civil service Fast Stream programme. We do not hold a central list of all training that Civil Servants in DCMS have either attended or completed, as the training programmes are delivered by a cross-section of teams. This involves several groups including a central People development team, profession-specific learning teams, policy teams and individual Directorates sharing knowledge and best practice.

If she will provide a list of training programmes used by civil servants in her department since 2020.

The diverse nature of roles in HM Treasury means training is often provided at team-level rather than being centrally managed. As such, a list of all training courses is not readily available centrally and the information requested cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish a list of training programmes used by civil servants in her Department since 2020.

A list of training undertaken via the Civil-Service Learning Frameworks from January 2023 to March 2026, and course descriptors, are available via the Prospectus Online. Training data relating to the period prior to January 2023 is not accessible to the department. Training delivered internally or procured by the department outside of the Central Government Learning Frameworks over the last five years is not centrally available, and to obtain this information would result in disproportionate cost to the department; therefore this will not be published.

If she will provide a list of training programmes used by civil servants in her department since 2020.

The department offers a wide range of training and development opportunities to our employees across a broad curriculum. The majority of this training is delivered through the cross‑government Civil Service Learning platform, which can be accessed at Skills for Government here: https://prospectus.governmentcampus.co.uk/find-out-more/skills-for-government/.Core learning areas accessed by the department include:• Planning and delivery• Leadership• Communication• Working with Parliament and government• Grant management• Problem solving• Line management• Developing behaviours• Information, data and analysis• Change management and agility• Budget management• Contract management• Stakeholder and customer engagement• IT software skills• Artificial intelligence.In addition, directorates and professional functions across the department commission or access bespoke training where required to meet specialist, technical or role‑specific needs.

If he will publish a list of training programmes used by civil servants in his Department since 2020.

The Department’s approach to learning, development, and training programmes is designed to build a highly skilled, confident workforce. The Department has progressively strengthened its offer since 2020 through the introduction and iteration of the Core Skills Programme. The training programme focuses on developing profession specific and working in Government skills.In addition to departmental learning provisions, business areas are allocated devolved learning and development budgets, enabling them to prioritise training that addresses their own identified capability needs. These individual training requirements tend to be job-specific, personal development, technical, qualifications, or accreditation based, or subject matter expertise related, such as specific policy areas.A full list of departmental provision since 2020 is provided below, and this is in addition to courses that can be booked individually through Civil Service Learning, the cross Civil Service Learning Platform:- Management Fundamentals 2020;- New Manager Programme 2021;- Experienced Manager Programme 2021;- Foundation Management Programme 2023;- Practitioner Management Programme 2023;- Department of Health and Social Care Management Fundamentals 2023;- ACAS Line Manager training 2023;- Core Skills Programme 2023 to present, covering policy, digital, project delivery, commercial, analysis and finance, and working in Government skills;- the Department’s Management Academy, Managing Change Programme 2023 to 2024, to strengthen capability in leading people through organisational change;- People Policies Workshop 2025 to present, for line-management learning intervention focused on practical application of core people policies; and- Leadership Development Programme, which is ongoing.The Department also delivers a number of talent schemes which incorporate formal training and development programmes alongside on‑the‑job experience. These schemes are designed to build future capability in priority professions and leadership pipelines, supporting individuals at different career stages, including both delegated grades and Senior Civil Servants (SCS), through a combination of a defined learning curriculum, practical development, and coaching and mentoring. A list of departmental talent schemes that have delivered training programmes since 2020 is set out below. For delegated grade talent schemes, they are as follows: - Health Policy Fast Track Scheme;- Civil Service Fast Stream;- Future Leaders Scheme;- Beyond Boundaries;- Interdepartmental Talent Programme;- Summer Internship Programme;- Autism Exchange Internship Programme;- Care Leavers Internship Scheme; and- Civil Service Apprenticeship Programmes. And for SCS talent schemes, the programmes are as follows: - Senior Leaders Scheme;- Directors Leadership Programme;- Forward Institute Exchange Programme ;- Forward Institute Fellowship;- Individual Development Programme;- OpDel Exchange Programme;- Policy Fellowship for the Centre for Science and Policy;- Whitehall and Industry Group Senior Leaders Programme;- Whitehall and Industry Group Exchange Programme; and- High Potential Development Scheme.

What recent steps he has taken to reduce agricultural fatalities in Lincolnshire.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.

Artificial Intelligence tools are routinely used to assist with administrative tasks, subject research, and the arrangement of information into standard templates, but they are not used to draft policy advice, or to prepare draft legislation.

Whether his Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.

(a) The drafting of legislation is the responsibility of a large number of officials across government departments.A range of tools can be used to assist with this drafting, including AI which is most commonly used to check, critique, and otherwise interrogate drafts. Work is continuously underway to identify ways of improving the efficiency of this work, including collaboration between departments to share ideas and emerging practices.While AI can be used to assist with the drafting of legislation, the production of the draft remains the responsibility of human drafters to meet the high standards expected of Government legislation. The Scotland Office has not led primary legislation in the last 12 months.It is Parliament’s responsibility to scrutinise legislation as it sees necessary. (b) The drafting of policy documents and advice is the responsibility of a large number of officials across government departments. Scotland Office officials work closely with departments in policy development, and in producing advice to Ministers.While AI can be used to assist with the drafting of policy advice, the production of the draft remains the responsibility of a lead human policy advisor to ensure the advice is factual and meets the high standards expected of Government Ministers.

How many honours were awarded to people (a) living and (b) working in Lincolnshire in each of the last ten years; and what the level of each award was.

Transparency data is published alongside each New Year Honours List and King’s Birthday Honours List, giving an individual breakdown of recipients' names, level of award, their short citation and the city and country in which their correspondence address was located. Transparency data for each Honours List in each of the past five years can be found on gov.uk using the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/honours-reform-and-operation#honours-lists The Cabinet Office does not collect home or work addresses for honours recipients; the information published reflects the correspondence address provided by recipients. This data relates only to the main Prime Minister’s List and does not include data from the Defence List or the Overseas and International List, which are not administered by the Cabinet Office. Honours are awarded on merit basis. A key aim of the honours system is to ensure that it is more representative of the country as a whole and we will continue to encourage more nominations from every corner of the UK in future honours lists.

Whether her Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.

The drafting of policy and both primary and secondary legislation is the responsibility of a large number of officials across government departments. A range of tools are used to assist with this drafting, including AI which is most commonly used for research and to check, critique, and otherwise interrogate drafts. Work is continuously underway to identify ways of improving the efficiency of this work, including collaboration between departments to share ideas and emerging practices.Whilst AI can be used to assist with the drafting of policy and legislation, the production of the draft remains the responsibility of a lead human drafter to meet the high standards expected of Government.It is Parliament's responsibility to scrutinise and amend legislation as it sees necessary.

If she will take steps to reduce the number of illegal tobacco and vaping products on sale in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

The Government is committed to reducing the number of illicit tobacco and vaping products on sale nationally. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a robust strategy to tackle the illicit tobacco trade ‘Stubbing Out the Problem’. HMRC works closely with National and Local Trading Standards to disrupt the illicit tobacco trade at retail level through Operation CeCe, which has since it began in January 2021removed more than 74 million illicit cigarettes, 19,750kg of hand-rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale. HMRC has also introduced a strengthened sanctions regime for breaches of the UK Tobacco Track and Trace System to combat illicit tobacco sales. This granted new powers to Trading Standards, enabling them to refer cases to HMRC where they find evidence of high street retailers selling tobacco products that do not comply with the System. HMRC can then then investigate and issue civil sanctions, including penalties of up to £10,000. £100 million of new ‘smokefree’ funding has been allocated over 5 years to boost existing HMRC and Border Force enforcement capability.Between April 2023 and March 2024, HMRC and Border Force seized 1.36bn cigarettes and 92,435kg of hand-rolling tobacco. As with tobacco, there is a cross-government approach to reducing the number of illegal vapes. The vaping equivalent of Operation CeCe - Operation Joseph led to the seizure of over 1 million illegal vapes in 2023-24, the last full year for which statistics are available. HMRC are working closely with both Trading Standards and Border Force to develop a robust compliance approach for the introduction of Vaping Products Duty (VPD) on 1 October 2026. VPD is a new excise duty on vaping products, which will introduce additional compliance powers and controls across the vaping supply chain. This includes the introduction of a Vaping Duty Stamps (VDS) scheme, which will require highly secure stamps to be placed on all duty paid goods, supporting enforcement agencies and customers to identify illegal products. HMRC are recruiting over 300 staff to strengthen this compliance approach and deliver VPD.

How many prisoners were released early in Lincolnshire in the last 12 months.

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.Without the changes this Government made, courts would have had to halt trials and the police cancel arrests, undermining public safety and leading to a disastrous impact on public confidence in the criminal justice system.We regularly publish data on release from prison, including on forms of early release – for example we publish SDS40 data alongside the quarterly Offender Management statistics: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.Whilst measures like the SDS40 change provided the intended medium-term relief to the system, this was only ever a temporary change as a bridge to a more sustainable solution. That is why the Sentencing Act has now been passed, to ensure we never run out of prison space again and to deliver a more sustainable solution to the prison capacity crisis.

Whether his Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.

The drafting of primary and secondary legislation is the responsibility of a large number of officials across government departments. A range of tools are used to assist with this drafting, including AI which is most commonly used to check, critique, and otherwise interrogate drafts. Work is continuously underway to identify ways of improving the efficiency of this work, including collaboration between departments to share ideas and emerging practices. While AI can be used to assist with the drafting of legislation, the production of the draft remains the responsibility of a lead human drafter to meet the high standards expected of Government legislation. It is Parliament’s responsibility to scrutinise and amend legislation as it sees necessary. We have an internal operational framework in place for all NIO staff. While this a practical guide, it mandates that all AI use must align with the Civil Service Code and NIO’s security and data protection policies. This framework enforces strategic principles by referencing the UK Government’s AI Playbook and strictly restricting AI from making any final decisions that affect people, ensuring human control. All use of AI in the NIO must be checked by a human, including when used to support the development of policy.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What recent progress he has made on his review of the records of nuclear test veterans.

The records exercise is nearing completion, and I shall update the House in due course. In parallel, as part of wider work, over 19,300 historic nuclear testing records are now publicly accessible having been transferred to the National Archives from the Merlin database.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to boost flood defences in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

The Government is investing in flood risk management across South Holland and the Deepings through a combination of Flood Defence Grant in Aid and maintenance funding delivered by the Environment Agency and local partners. This funding supports the maintenance, repair and improvement of flood defence assets across the constituency. In 2026/27, £1.6 million of Flood Defence Grant in Aid was provided to the South Holland Internal Drainage Board for capital maintenance works to the Exeter Drain pipeline and channel in Spalding, and for improvements at the South Holland Main Drain outfall at Sutton Bridge Sluice. The Environment Agency continues to maintain flood defence infrastructure, including Surfleet Sluice, and is reviewing flood storage areas such as the Crowland and Cowbit Washes. In addition, Lincolnshire County Council received £7.18 million through Defra’s Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme to lead Project Groundwater, improving understanding of groundwater flood risk and community resilience.

Whether his Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.

Officials within the Department for Work and Pensions have access to artificial intelligence tools that may be used to support efficiency in their day‑to‑day work. However, responsibility for developing policy and legislative proposals remains with officials and all final decisions on substantive policy or legal issues continue to be taken by Ministers.

Whether her Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.

The department recognises the opportunities for productivity and efficiency enabled by effective deployment of artificial intelligence (AI). Any use of AI is undertaken in line with relevant government guidance on security and transparency, and under appropriate oversight. The department has made proportionate use of AI‑enabled tools to support tasks such as information retrieval and summarisation. These tools are used to assist officials and do not replace decision making or professional expertiseThe drafting of primary and secondary legislation is often the responsibility of a large number of officials across government departments. A range of tools are used to assist with this drafting, including AI which is most commonly used to check, critique, and otherwise interrogate drafts.While AI can be used to assist with the drafting of legislation, the production of the draft remains the responsibility of a lead human drafter to meet the high standards expected of government legislation.All secondary legislation is subject to established governance arrangements and are drafted and finalised under the responsibility of qualified lawyers.It is Parliament's responsibility to scrutinise and amend legislation as it sees necessary.