Written questions by Brickell.

Communities and Local Government, whether (a) the sprint review of security threats and (b) the Defending Democracy Task Force will consider risks created by weaknesses in (i) the UK’s laws on political finance laws and (ii) their enforcement.

Effective regulation and enforcement of political finance are crucial for maintaining public trust in our electoral systems and combatting the threat of foreign interference in our democracy. Which is why, as set out in our manifesto, the Government is committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections. As part of this, the Government intends to strengthen the rules around donations to political parties to protect our democracy. My department is developing proposals to give effect to this commitment, and we will continue to work closely with the Defending Democracy Taskforce, of which MHCLG is a member, and the national security community on this.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing young people in the secure estate to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

We value the contribution that the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme can make in enabling young people in custody to develop essential skills and discover new talents. In this way, they can learn to take responsibility for themselves and others. Those who gain the award will be able to point to a widely-respected achievement that can help them fulfil their potential after release. The scheme is currently available in HMYOI Wetherby, HMYOI Feltham A, HMYOI Parc and HMYOI Werrington, and management information shows that 36 young people from those establishments are currently enrolled on the scheme. Five children in one of our secure children’s homes are also taking part, and a number of other secure children’s homes, as well as Oakhill Secure Training Centre, are in the process of joining the scheme. The new Secure School in Kent also plans to offer the award, as part of a varied enrichment and education offer.

What steps she is taking to help support the enforcement of UK sanctions.

The Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) is responsible for civil enforcement of the UK’s financial sanctions regimes.OFSI is committed to ensuring that the UK has the strongest possible capability to implement and enforce the UK...

What her planned timetable is for publishing its response to the consultations on (a) reform of the UK’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervisory system, published on 30 June 2023, (b) Impro

Responses to these consultations have been invaluable in building the evidence base on potential reforms. Policy development is ongoing, and next steps will be set out as soon as possible.

How many businesses have been found criminally liable for failing to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion in the last 12 months.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of convictions for criminal offences, however, offences specifically relating to ‘failing to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion’ are not separately identifiable from information held centrally. This information may be held on court records, but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.

If she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the suspicious activity report programme.

Intelligence from Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) enable law enforcement to identify, disrupt, and recover hundreds of millions of pounds which underpin serious and organised crime in the UK and disrupt criminals. The SARs Reform Programme was established to make several improvements, which have been delivered. These are:UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU) capacity uplift: An additional 74 officers for UKFIU (doubling capacity).UKFIU Feedback and Engagement: Provide higher quality feedback and increased engagement events to the Anti-Money Laundering regulated sector. In FY22/23, the UKFIU delivered c.575 products and events, and achieved positive satisfaction scores, with 95% (of over 800 respondents) finding the new products/events useful.Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCU) Uplift: The creation of a new national capability, uplifting 22 ROCU investigators, dedicated to SARs analysis.Defence Against Money Laundering (DAML) SARs Review: Legislative changes delivered through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (2023) have been implemented, designed to reduce the volume of low value (from a law enforcement effectiveness perspective) DAML SAR reports.IT Transformation: A new SARs Digital Service (SDS) is being implemented to replace the existing SARs IT system. The programme delivered the first release of the new Digital Service in March 2023, enabling the 14 largest SARs Reporters (primarily banking) to submit SARs in bulk through a new interface, and the delivery of the new SARs Online Portal for the remaining reporting community to enable them to submit SARs (which 10,000 organisations have registered for). The National Crime Agency is continuing to develop and rollout the SARs Digital Service to the UKFIU and law enforcement over FY24/25 and FY25/26.

What recent assessment his Department has made of levels of prevalence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in the NHS estate.

The National Health Service in England has been surveying sites and undertaking Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) mitigation work since 2019. Once the presence of RAAC is confirmed at a hospital site, it joins NHS England’s national RAAC programme, which is backed by £954 million. This programme has delivered mitigation, safety, and eradication works across all NHS sites in England with confirmed RAAC, to keep facilities safe and open and, over time, remove RAAC fully from the NHS estate. The Department has published a full list of hospitals with confirmed RAAC, which will be updated periodically and is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-in-hospitals-management-informationAs of 29 February 2024, there were 54 NHS hospital sites with confirmed RAAC, and RAAC had been eradicated at four sites. Further eradication work has taken place since this date.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding the right to roam.

The Government does not believe the Scottish or Scandinavian models are the right approach in England. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 provides the public a right of access to areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land and coastal margin in England. We will be considering whether any changes are required to the current right to roam regime in due course.

What the average waiting time was for patients at the Royal Bolton Hospital Emergency Department in the latest period for which data is available.

This information is not available in the format requested. The latest published National Health Service data, from June 2024, shows that 61.8% of patients were admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.The Government is committed to supporting the NHS in reducing accident and emergency waiting times, and returning to the standards patients should expect as set out in the NHS Constitution.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of re-opening the public enquiry office at Horwich police station.

Decisions relating to the police estate, including the availability of public enquiry counters, are decisions for Chief Constables and democratically elected Police and Crime Commissioners, as they are best placed to make decisions about frontline policing and how resources are best deployed at a local level.I will write to the Hon Gentlemen with details of how he can make representations to the local police authorities about the facilities of Horwich police station.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of sewage discharges into watercourses in Bolton West constituency in the last 12 months.

The Environment Agency will publish the 2024 Event Duration Monitoring data, showing how long and how often storm overflows have been used, in March 2025. The data for previous years is available here. I would also refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by the Secretary of State on 18 July: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.