Written questions by Lowe.

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 the 12 months from January 2024 to December 2024, the Department has not delivered any diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) courses centrally. This refers to any courses where the training includes awareness of DEI as the main theme of the training.All Departmental staff are required to complete the ‘Civil Service Expectations’ mandatory learning that includes aspects of DEI and is delivered centrally through Civil Service Learning at no additional cost to the Department. Since May 2024, the department has aligned itself with the Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance, which stipulates measures to enact greater control over DEI spend and activity across the Civil Service, providing assurance and alignment with Government priorities. The guidance is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-expenditure-guidance/civil-service-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-expenditure-guidance

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 spent £190,000 on diversity and inclusion learning and development courses in 2024, defined as courses where the main theme of the training is diversity, equality and inclusion.

How much was spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation for people contacting her Department in 2024.

A) The spend on translation for people contacting the Department in 2024 was £882,118. B) The spend on interpretation for people contacting the department in 2024 was £6,345,275. This includes access costs such as BSL etc.

How much was spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation in courts in 2024.

This question has been interpreted to mean spend for all language services, both translation and interpretation provided in a court setting, and for printed materials available in HMCTS buildings.Information is not held disaggregated as (a) translation and (b) interpretation but has been provided in total.In 2024/25 financial year, total spend to date (Apr-24 to Dec-24) by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service on translation and interpretation is:Financial Year to Date (Apr-24 to Dec-24)2024-25Total Cost£10,049,422These year to date figures for the current financial year are provisional and remain subject to change until the 2024-25 financial year concludes and the annual report and accounts have been audited.It is vital that victims, witnesses and defendants understand what is happening in court to ensure justice is done, and we will always take steps to ensure a qualified interpreter is provided when needed.

How much was spent on translation in Jobcentres in 2024.

The total spent on translation in Jobcentres in 2024 was £882,118. This figure includes International Pension Service.

How much was spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation by (i) NHS Trusts, (ii) James Paget University Hospitals Trust and (iii) the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust in 2024.

The information requested on spend on translation and interpretation services by National Health Service trusts is not held centrally, as data is held at integrated care board level.Across 2024, the Telephone Appointments Line team used third party translation services for 425 calls, or 0.04% of all answered calls. We are unable to provide a specific cost for this as it is delivered as part of the overall service specification for the provider. 101,431 letters, or 9.03% of all letters, were sent in a language other than English. There was no net cost for this as the translation had been paid for in previous years and the patients would have been sent a letter in English in the absence of a translated letter. The following table shows the total number of calls in a language other than English, what that language was, and the percentage it represents of all calls: TotalPercentage of total calls using language support in specified languageAlbanian30.71%Amharic10.24%Arabic6916.24%Bengali348.00%Bulgarian92.12%Cantonese51.18%Czech20.47%Dari30.71%Farsi204.71%French30.71%Gujarati20.47%Greek20.47%Hungarian61.41%Hindi81.88%Italian40.94%Kurmanji10.24%Lithuanian20.47%Mandarin51.18%Pashto102.35%Polish204.71%Portuguese153.53%Punjabi214.94%Portuguese Br.10.24%Romanian6014.12%Russian51.18%Somali51.18%Sorani266.12%Slovak51.18%Spanish112.59%Sylheti92.12%Tigrigna20.47%Turkish214.94%Ukrainian71.65%Urdu286.59%Total425 Total calls105,49420.04% of total calls used language support In addition, the following table shows the total number of letters in a language other than English, what that language was, and the percentage it represents of all letters: TotalPercentage of total letters sent in specified languageAlbanian1,7001.68%Arabian7,1897.09%Bengali9,0698.94%Chinese6520.64%French1,9171.89%Greek9350.92%Gujarati3,2073.16%Hindi1,9431.92%Hungarian9790.97%Italian1,9611.93%Kurdish2,2182.19%Lithuanian1,3471.33%Persian2,3802.35%Polish8,4138.29%Portuguese3,5383.49%Punjabi5,7605.68%Romanian5,4275.35%Russian1,7791.75%Slovak1,6801.66%Somali2,7872.75%Spanish3,4813.43%Tamil2,5432.51%Turkish3,9443.89%Urdu14,87614.67%Wolof260.03%Other languages11,68011.52%Total translated101,431 Total letters1,123,8299.03% of total letters sent were translatedSource: NHS England

What the average (a) waiting time for people calling and (b) time people spent on hold for her Department was in 2024.

The table below shows the Average Speed of Answer and Total Hold Time, in an hours, minutes and seconds (hh:mm:ss) format, for all people calling DWP during the calendar year, 2024. Calendar YearAverage Time to Answer (hh:mm:ss)Average Hold Time (hh:mm:ss)202400:07:3300:00:24 DISCLAIMER Please note this information is derived from the Department’s management information, designed solely for the purpose of helping the Department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.

What the (a) average waiting time for people phoning and (b) time people spent on hold for the DVLA was in 2024.

In the calendar year 2024, the average waiting time for someone telephoning the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to be connected to an advisor was 12 minutes 8 seconds.

How much was spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation for people contacting the DVLA in 2024.

In the financial year 2023-24 the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency spent a total of £28,403 on translation and interpretation services, including Welsh language and sign language translations.

Pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2024 to Question 14378 on NHS: Translation Services, what the (a) cost for translation of and (b) proportion of communications in each language was in e-Referral Service communication (i) calls and (ii) letters in 2024.

The information requested on spend on translation and interpretation services by National Health Service trusts is not held centrally, as data is held at integrated care board level.Across 2024, the Telephone Appointments Line team used third party translation services for 425 calls, or 0.04% of all answered calls. We are unable to provide a specific cost for this as it is delivered as part of the overall service specification for the provider. 101,431 letters, or 9.03% of all letters, were sent in a language other than English. There was no net cost for this as the translation had been paid for in previous years and the patients would have been sent a letter in English in the absence of a translated letter. The following table shows the total number of calls in a language other than English, what that language was, and the percentage it represents of all calls: TotalPercentage of total calls using language support in specified languageAlbanian30.71%Amharic10.24%Arabic6916.24%Bengali348.00%Bulgarian92.12%Cantonese51.18%Czech20.47%Dari30.71%Farsi204.71%French30.71%Gujarati20.47%Greek20.47%Hungarian61.41%Hindi81.88%Italian40.94%Kurmanji10.24%Lithuanian20.47%Mandarin51.18%Pashto102.35%Polish204.71%Portuguese153.53%Punjabi214.94%Portuguese Br.10.24%Romanian6014.12%Russian51.18%Somali51.18%Sorani266.12%Slovak51.18%Spanish112.59%Sylheti92.12%Tigrigna20.47%Turkish214.94%Ukrainian71.65%Urdu286.59%Total425 Total calls105,49420.04% of total calls used language support In addition, the following table shows the total number of letters in a language other than English, what that language was, and the percentage it represents of all letters: TotalPercentage of total letters sent in specified languageAlbanian1,7001.68%Arabian7,1897.09%Bengali9,0698.94%Chinese6520.64%French1,9171.89%Greek9350.92%Gujarati3,2073.16%Hindi1,9431.92%Hungarian9790.97%Italian1,9611.93%Kurdish2,2182.19%Lithuanian1,3471.33%Persian2,3802.35%Polish8,4138.29%Portuguese3,5383.49%Punjabi5,7605.68%Romanian5,4275.35%Russian1,7791.75%Slovak1,6801.66%Somali2,7872.75%Spanish3,4813.43%Tamil2,5432.51%Turkish3,9443.89%Urdu14,87614.67%Wolof260.03%Other languages11,68011.52%Total translated101,431 Total letters1,123,8299.03% of total letters sent were translatedSource: NHS England

How much his Department spent on (a) external tenders and (b) contracts for (i) translation and (ii) interpretation services in the NHS in 2024.

The Department’s expenditure with external suppliers of translation or interpretation services in the 2024 calendar year was £16,833. This was mainly for providing accessible, easy to understand versions of technical and legal documents for patients and the public.

How much was spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation on the 111 NHS contact number in 2024.

The NHS 111 service is nationally specified and locally commissioned. Each NHS 111 provider is responsible for procuring language interpretation services. The only centrally procured interpreting service is British Sign Language, as this is a seperate video relay channel not linked to the NHS 111 voice numberNHS England does not hold information relating to the cost of locally procured language interpretation services.

With reference to the Immigration system statistics data table entitled Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets, year ending September 2024, what information her Department holds on the location of the people who made implicit withdrawals between Q1 2020 and Q3 2024; and what estimate she has made of the number of these people who are still in the UK.

The information you have requested is not published. It has not been verified for publication and therefore cannot be released.Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.

With reference to her Department's transparency data entitled Small boat arrivals: last 7 days, last updated 31 January 2025, if she will make it her policy to include data on the number of small boat arrival deportations.

The Home Office publishes data on the return of small boat arrivals in the “Immigration System Statistics quarterly release”. Quarterly data on returns of small boat arrivals is published table Irr_02e of the “Irregular migration summary tables”. This covers the period 2018 to September 2024.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the cost to her Department of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions for financial year 2025-26.

The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments in the usual way, in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.

What estimate she has made of the cost to her Department of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions for financial year 2025-26.

The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments in the usual way, in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.

What estimate she has made of the cost to her Department of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions for financial year 2025-26.

The Government will provide support for Departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to Departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way, which is in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions for financial year 2025-26.

The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments in the usual way, in line with the approach taken under the previous Government's Health and Social Care Levy.

What estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions for financial year 2025-26.

The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments in the usual way, in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.

What estimate she has made of the cost to her Department of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions for financial year 2025-26.

The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs only.This funding will be allocated to departments in the usual way, in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.