Written questions by Lowe.

If she will publish a breakdown of immigration enforcement visits by local authorities in 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to the Answer I gave him on the 10 February to Question 27935.

How many dedicated immigration enforcement teams there are.

The total number of people employed by The Home office is routinely published within the annual Home Office annual reports and accounts, available at: Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislative proposals to ensure that every line of foreign aid spending must be approved by Parliament.

All government spending is approved by Parliament in the Budget. There are no plans to introduce new legislation for ODA spending.To support effective programme delivery, the publicly available FCDO Programme Operating Framework sets out the mandatory rules and the principles, controls, roles, and responsibilities for programme teams. We ensure delivery represents value for money by measuring and assessing programmes throughout their lifecycle and will work with the Independent Commission for Aid Impact to apply the highest standards to our ODA spend, including robust measures of development effectiveness.

If he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in his Department in 2024.

The Ministry of Defence remains committed to making the step changes required to create a more inclusive environment, enabling everyone, irrespective of background, to deliver our Defence outputs, enhance our operational effectiveness, and better defend and represent the nation we serve. The requested information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Innovation and Technology, if he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

Under data transparency publications, the department publishes transactions over £25,000. As EDI spend is less than this, it won’t be published.

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

HM Treasury has spent £0 on diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in the calendar year 2024.

If he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in Cabinet Office in 2024 was £0.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the powers of train conductors to tackle avoidable disruptive behaviour on trains.

Train Operating Companies are already able to seek additional powers for their staff, to tackle incidents such as anti-social behaviour, via the Rail Safety Accreditation Scheme operated by the British Transport Police. The Department does not have any plans to increase the powers available through the existing scheme. Information on the scheme can be found here: Railway Safety Accreditation Scheme | British Transport Police.

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The Department for Transport provides an online training course entitled “Civil Service Expectations”. The course focuses on diversity and inclusion, The Equality Act 2010, Civil Service code, and Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. This course is provided by Government Campus and is free at the point of delivery.

If he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

This information can only be obtained at disproportionate cost, as we do not theme our learning records by diversity, equality and inclusion.

Media and Sport, if she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The only expenditure on D&I training in 2024 was £6,600 for a British Sign Language training programme of workshops for 12 staff in Manchester.

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

In the Department for Work and Pensions diversity with regard to employees is defined as valuing difference, diversity, and inclusion, ensuring fairness and opportunity for all. This includes promoting diversity, inclusion, and equality of opportunity, respecting differences and external experiences, and welcoming the views and challenges of others. DWP is committed to being an inclusive employer and is committed to creating an environment where everyone belongs and can be at their best, and our workforce is representative of the customers and communities that we serve. To support with these ambitions, we have invested a total of £69,198 in supporting our employees with specific equality and diversity related training needs and external memberships within the 2023-2024 financial year.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in his Department in 2024.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) does not have a centrally organised Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) training offer, instead we use courses provided via Civil Service Learning. A small discretionary budget is available to support EDI work in line with the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance and value for money, including to arrange training programmes according to evidenced needs. The FCDO will follow guidance from the Cabinet Office on publishing details of EDI expenditure.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) uses the Civil Service Learning Frameworks for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion training for our people. The financial information held by the department is limited to customer or supplier. The core department spent £1,246,267.27 with the Civil Service Learning Framework supplier. The department is not able identify how much the department has spent specifically on diversity, equality and inclusion training because our financial reports do not provide course titles.

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) remains committed to making the step changes required to create a more inclusive environment, enabling all staff, irrespective of background, to deliver high quality work at the Department.Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in learning and development training is understood to refer to anything with the objective of improving EDI in the AGO, regardless of whether it is called EDI or not.The AGO conducted a training course on bullying, discrimination and harassment in August 2024. Nine members of staff attended, and the cost of the course was £2,475.98. It referred to types of discrimination related to protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010 and employers’ responsibilities.

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The cost of training which covers the statutory obligations of civil servants under the Equality Act 2010 cannot be disaggregated from wider training costs because it often forms part of a wider learning package.The Cabinet Office last year audited the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities and in response to that audit, new guidance was published on Civil Service EDI Expenditure, including an end to all external spending on EDI activity, unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.

If he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

In 2024, DBT spent a total of £1,199.93 incl. VAT on D&I courses. This is based on the assumption that EDI training refers to training where awareness of EDI issues is the main theme of the training.

If she will make an estimate of revenue lost to train companies from fare avoidance in 2024.

The Rail Delivery Group estimated in 2014 that, £240 million a year is lost due to fare evasion on Great Britain’s railways. The Department is working with its industry partners to provide an updated figure and recognises the importance of reducing fraud.

If she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

Ministry of Justice Headquarters spent £2,101 in 2024 on a course which includes the awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in a leadership training series delivered via the Cabinet Office Learning Frameworks provision. All Ministry of Justice staff have the opportunity to complete the free, central Civil Service Expectations online training, which replaced several EDI courses in 2023

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024.

The total cost of centrally-funded EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) courses for MHCLG from January to December 2024 was £47,272.The figure above covers costs relating to centrally-funded L&D activity where training includes the awareness of diversity, equality or inclusion as the main theme of the training.This response covers all centrally funded activity that meets this definition. We do not have a central record of any training covered by this definition that may have been undertaken more locally by business areas; this information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost to the department.