Every parliamentary written question tabled by Richard Holden this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1,901–1,920 of 2,842 · this parliament
How many full time equivalent permanent staff were assigned to work in the Office for Investment in June (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.
The number of staff (FTE) in the Office for Investment (OfI) was approximately 30. The target operating model for the expanded OfI, which launched on the 5th of June 2025, includes approximately 230 FTE (including overseas OfI representatives). This will be subject to revisions in line with Government policy.
What steps her Department is taking with the (a) police and (b) Home Office to help tackle (i) unlicensed drivers obtaining vehicles though registration loopholes and (ii) vehicles disappearing from systems but still using the roads.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) takes the accuracy of its vehicle register seriously. It is crucial that registered keeper details are accurate for road safety and law enforcement purposes. The latest available data shows that more than 92 per cent of vehicle keepers are contactable and traceable from the information held on the DVLA’s records. Of the remainder, six per cent are in the motor trade which means that there will be no registered keeper details on the vehicle record. The DVLA works closely with a range of key stakeholders on these important issues. The DVLA gathers information and intelligence regarding illegal and improper conduct and will follow up any notifications of fraudulent activity with the relevant authorities. The DVLA also sends the police ‘vehicle of interest’ reports so that the police can use automatic number plate recognition cameras to identify potential offenders. These reports include vehicles which have no registered keeper details, no insurance or no valid MOT. Evidence of identity, which can be a passport, driving licence or utility bill, must be presented when a vehicle is being registered for the first time. However, to ensure that services remain both easy for customers to use and cost effective for taxpayers, there are no plans to introduce checks when a vehicle subsequently changes hands. It would be very difficult for ordinary members of the public to verify or authenticate the identity documents being provided to them when selling their vehicle privately. It is already an offence to provide false or misleading information or to use a vehicle on the road without a valid driving licence. The police have existing powers to seize vehicles which are not complying with legal requirements.
What estimate her Department has made of the number of vehicles that are using roads that have no known registered (a) keeper and (b) owner.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) takes the accuracy of its vehicle register seriously. It is crucial that registered keeper details are accurate for road safety and law enforcement purposes. The latest available data shows that more than 92 per cent of vehicle keepers are contactable and traceable from the information held on the DVLA’s records. Of the remainder, six per cent are in the motor trade which means that there will be no registered keeper details on the vehicle record. The DVLA works closely with a range of key stakeholders on these important issues. The DVLA gathers information and intelligence regarding illegal and improper conduct and will follow up any notifications of fraudulent activity with the relevant authorities. The DVLA also sends the police ‘vehicle of interest’ reports so that the police can use automatic number plate recognition cameras to identify potential offenders. These reports include vehicles which have no registered keeper details, no insurance or no valid MOT. Evidence of identity, which can be a passport, driving licence or utility bill, must be presented when a vehicle is being registered for the first time. However, to ensure that services remain both easy for customers to use and cost effective for taxpayers, there are no plans to introduce checks when a vehicle subsequently changes hands. It would be very difficult for ordinary members of the public to verify or authenticate the identity documents being provided to them when selling their vehicle privately. It is already an offence to provide false or misleading information or to use a vehicle on the road without a valid driving licence. The police have existing powers to seize vehicles which are not complying with legal requirements.
Whether she plans to use digital technologies in Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency services to improve driver identity verification during vehicle (a) registration and (b) ownership transfer.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) takes the accuracy of its vehicle register seriously. It is crucial that registered keeper details are accurate for road safety and law enforcement purposes. The latest available data shows that more than 92 per cent of vehicle keepers are contactable and traceable from the information held on the DVLA’s records. Of the remainder, six per cent are in the motor trade which means that there will be no registered keeper details on the vehicle record. The DVLA works closely with a range of key stakeholders on these important issues. The DVLA gathers information and intelligence regarding illegal and improper conduct and will follow up any notifications of fraudulent activity with the relevant authorities. The DVLA also sends the police ‘vehicle of interest’ reports so that the police can use automatic number plate recognition cameras to identify potential offenders. These reports include vehicles which have no registered keeper details, no insurance or no valid MOT. Evidence of identity, which can be a passport, driving licence or utility bill, must be presented when a vehicle is being registered for the first time. However, to ensure that services remain both easy for customers to use and cost effective for taxpayers, there are no plans to introduce checks when a vehicle subsequently changes hands. It would be very difficult for ordinary members of the public to verify or authenticate the identity documents being provided to them when selling their vehicle privately. It is already an offence to provide false or misleading information or to use a vehicle on the road without a valid driving licence. The police have existing powers to seize vehicles which are not complying with legal requirements.
What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of unlicensed drivers acquiring vehicles without mandatory (a) identity, (b) licence and (c) company checks during ownership transfers on risks to public safety.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) takes the accuracy of its vehicle register seriously. It is crucial that registered keeper details are accurate for road safety and law enforcement purposes. The latest available data shows that more than 92 per cent of vehicle keepers are contactable and traceable from the information held on the DVLA’s records. Of the remainder, six per cent are in the motor trade which means that there will be no registered keeper details on the vehicle record. The DVLA works closely with a range of key stakeholders on these important issues. The DVLA gathers information and intelligence regarding illegal and improper conduct and will follow up any notifications of fraudulent activity with the relevant authorities. The DVLA also sends the police ‘vehicle of interest’ reports so that the police can use automatic number plate recognition cameras to identify potential offenders. These reports include vehicles which have no registered keeper details, no insurance or no valid MOT. Evidence of identity, which can be a passport, driving licence or utility bill, must be presented when a vehicle is being registered for the first time. However, to ensure that services remain both easy for customers to use and cost effective for taxpayers, there are no plans to introduce checks when a vehicle subsequently changes hands. It would be very difficult for ordinary members of the public to verify or authenticate the identity documents being provided to them when selling their vehicle privately. It is already an offence to provide false or misleading information or to use a vehicle on the road without a valid driving licence. The police have existing powers to seize vehicles which are not complying with legal requirements.
Whether she plans to introduce mandatory verification of a (a) valid driving licence and (b) company number at the point of vehicle ownership registration.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) takes the accuracy of its vehicle register seriously. It is crucial that registered keeper details are accurate for road safety and law enforcement purposes. The latest available data shows that more than 92 per cent of vehicle keepers are contactable and traceable from the information held on the DVLA’s records. Of the remainder, six per cent are in the motor trade which means that there will be no registered keeper details on the vehicle record. The DVLA works closely with a range of key stakeholders on these important issues. The DVLA gathers information and intelligence regarding illegal and improper conduct and will follow up any notifications of fraudulent activity with the relevant authorities. The DVLA also sends the police ‘vehicle of interest’ reports so that the police can use automatic number plate recognition cameras to identify potential offenders. These reports include vehicles which have no registered keeper details, no insurance or no valid MOT. Evidence of identity, which can be a passport, driving licence or utility bill, must be presented when a vehicle is being registered for the first time. However, to ensure that services remain both easy for customers to use and cost effective for taxpayers, there are no plans to introduce checks when a vehicle subsequently changes hands. It would be very difficult for ordinary members of the public to verify or authenticate the identity documents being provided to them when selling their vehicle privately. It is already an offence to provide false or misleading information or to use a vehicle on the road without a valid driving licence. The police have existing powers to seize vehicles which are not complying with legal requirements.
What guidance she has issued on when there should be pre-legislative scrutiny of Bills that have constitutional implications.
Chapter 21 of the Guide to Making Legislation sets out the broad principles and process by which a bill is considered for publication in draft for pre-legislative scrutiny. Decisions in relation to whether a bill is published in draft are taken on a case by case basis in the broader context of the overall legislative programme.
Whether his Department provides (a) lectures, (b) reading lists and (c) other training on critical race theory for its staff.
The Cabinet Office centrally does not provide any lectures, reading lists or other training on Critical Race Theory for staff.
Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Councils to seize and crush fly-tipping vehicles to clean up Britain, published on 29 April 2025 whether the Cabinet Office propriety and ethics team was consulted on its publication.
Government departments do not comment on or share internal advice. Any announcements made during the pre-election period are carefully considered and taken in line with the principles set out under the Civil Service guidance.
What the evidential basis is for her assessment that schools can make efficiency savings within budgets without reducing headcount.
Overall school funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning the core school budget will total £65.3 billion. This is a 6% rise in cash terms, or a 3.3% increase in real terms, compared to 2024/25. We are providing schools with an additional £615 million in the 2025/26 financial year to support them with the 4% teacher pay award and 3.2% support staff pay offer.Schools will be expected play their part in driving productivity across the public sector and find approximately the first 1% of pay awards by ensuring resources are deployed to maximise support for teaching and learning.There is already evidence that schools are making savings and bringing down operating costs. For example, 400 schools participating in the department’s new energy offer are projected to save an average of 36% compared to previous contracts.We are also working to secure better banking solutions and provide services such as Get Help Buying for Schools and the Teaching Vacancies Service to reduce procurement and recruitment costs. This support has evolved from the School Resource Management Programme, which helped schools realise £1 billion of savings between 2018 and 2022.We know workforce deployment is the biggest component of school budgets. We will support schools to benefit fully from the tools we already offer to benchmark and integrate resourcing and curriculum planning, such as the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. We will also introduce a new toolkit to support schools to adopt evidence-based deployment models.
Whether his Department provides unconscious bias training; and whether his Department plans to provide unconscious bias training to staff from NHS England when that organisation is abolished.
The Department aligns itself to the Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion approach to learning and to the use of evidence led interventions. The Department does not provide unconscious bias training to its staff, and there are no current plans to provide unconscious bias training for NHS England staff.
If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] on legal professional privilege, in the context of Information Commissioner powers to review documents covered by legal professional privilege.
An assessment of the impact of all of the measures contained in the Bill, including legal professional privilege, was published [on the 24th October] Parliament website at: https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/56548/documents/5221 [prior to Second Reading in the Lords].The Government has no plans to carry out any further assessments of the impact of LPP, (on the Information Commissioner or any other body).
Innovation and Technology, whether the gov.uk One Login system’s certification with the register of digital verification services has been revoked.
In April 2025, GOV.UK One Login’s Trust Framework certification was suspended due to a supply chain issue where one supplier allowed their certification to lapse. This suspension is not due to any change in One Login’s product, approach, or security. GOV.UK One Login is working to recertify as a priority.
When she expects the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse to be published.
Baroness Louise Casey is currently completing her audit into the nature, scale and characteristics of grooming gangs offending.I updated the House on 2 June that Baroness Casey has requested a short extension to her work from the Home Secretary to allow her to speak directly to victims, fully access the scale of the issue, and submit meaningful evidence-based recommendations to further tackle this abhorrent criminality.We expect to receive the report very shortly. We will then set out a comprehensive response, as well as next steps on the action we have already announced.
Pursuant to the Answer of 19 May to Question 51955 on Electronic Cigarettes: Young People, what estimate he has made of the number of very high puff-count vaping devices which (a) are refillable and rechargeable and (b) contain a replaceable coil are available on the UK market.
The ban on the sale and supply of single-use vapes came into force on Sunday 1 June. It is therefore too early to make a reliable estimate of the number of high-puff count vaping devices which are refillable, reusable, and which contain a replaceable coil.However, we are aware of a number of high-puff count vapes that are not captured by the single-use vape ban. The Department is taking powers through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill that will enable regulation of any high puff vape that is not captured by the ban. The bill provides powers on product features that allows the Government to regulate the size of a tank or refill container, and the amount of liquid that can be included, as well as powers to standardise the size and shape of vapes, and to further restrict liquid availability. In addition, the bill contains powers that allow us to regulate the amount of nicotine in a puff, so the Government is able to restrict the nicotine not only in the tank, but also the nicotine that can be emitted in the vapour.The Government will consider this issue further as part of its secondary legislation programme after Royal Assent of the bill.
What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the continued operation of UK-registered charities with links to hostile foreign regimes on national security.
The Government's first duty is to protect our national security and keep our country safe. In concert with partners, we will continue to use all appropriate tools at our disposal to protect the UK, and its people, from state threats. We do not routinely comment on the detail of operational matters or specific threats.The Charity Commission for England and Wales has a statutory function to identify and investigate misconduct and mismanagement in charities. We are confident that it has the expertise to do so effectively.
What progress he has made towards launching an online public dashboard enabling people to monitor progress on policy targets.
The Government makes use of a number of internal dashboards that allow them to track progress against policy objectives.
Pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2025 to Question 51961 on Abellio Greater Anglia and c2c: Standards, if he will list the (a) metrics (b) incentives and (c) penalties applicable to public sector train operators.
Public sector operators will have to meet rigorous, bespoke performance standards and earn the right to be called Great British Railways. They will be held to account for their performance against metrics including punctuality, reliability, customer experience and satisfaction, service quality, financial performance, environmental performance and minimising rates of ticketless travel. Performance against metrics will be regularly reported to the Department and many metrics will also be published, including at train stations.
Pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 45917 on Armed Forces: Equality, if he will publish the training manuals and documentation prepared for each of those courses provided by the Defence Academy.
No. The course material is subject to Crown copyright. There are many companies that deliver ED&I training who could financially benefit from copying our course material.
Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has issued guidance to local authorities on interpreting the business tests under Part 1 of the Schedule of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 in cases in which animal rescue charities charge (a) standardised rehoming fees and (b) receive regular donations linked to adoptions.
The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 cover five licensable activities: selling animals as pets; providing or arranging boarding for cats or dogs; hiring out horses; breeding dogs; and keeping or training animals for exhibition. Defra issues supporting statutory guidance, which furnishes practical detail on how the regulations should be applied, including in relation to the business test. Local authorities must have regard to this statutory guidance. Defra regularly engages with a range of stakeholders across the animal welfare and charity sectors, including regulatory agencies. We continue to explore opportunities to improve coordination and information sharing where appropriate.