Written questions by Lowe.

How many yellow card reports on covid-19 vaccines there were in 2024.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet the applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses the available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, the MHRA’s independent advisory committee, where appropriate, to inform regulatory decisions, which includes amending the product information.All COVID-19 vaccines used in the United Kingdom have been authorised by the MHRA after meeting the MHRA’s standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness. As with all vaccines and medicines, the safety of COVID-19 vaccines is continuously monitored, and benefits and possible risks remain under review. The MHRA has received a total of 6,912 spontaneous suspected side effects to COVID-19 vaccines in 2024 from over 15 million doses estimated to have been administered across the UK.When considering the above spontaneous data, it is important to be aware that a reported reaction does not necessarily mean it has been caused by the vaccine, medicine, or device, only that the reporter had a suspicion it may have been. The fact that the symptoms reported to the Yellow Card scheme occur after the use of a vaccine, medicine, or device does not in itself mean that they are proven to have been caused by it. Underlying or concurrent illnesses may be responsible, and such events can also be coincidental.It is also important to note that the number of reports received via the Yellow Card scheme does not directly equate to the number of people who suffered adverse reactions, and therefore they cannot be used to determine the incidence of a reaction or compare the safety profile of different vaccines, medicines, or devices. Adverse drug reactions and device incident reporting rates are influenced by the seriousness of the adverse reactions, their ease of recognition, and the extent of use of a particular medicine or device, and may also be stimulated by promotion and publicity. Reporting tends to be highest for newly introduced medicines during the first one to two years on the market, and then falls over time.

What the value was of student loans that were written off in 2024; and what this was as a proportion of all outstanding student loans.

The table below shows the amount that has been cancelled or written off during the most recent financial year, (2023/24) and the proportion that write offs or cancellations make out of the starting balance. 2023/24 Financial YearAmount cancelled or written off during the financial year (£ million) 101.1Percentage of those written off out of total amount outstanding 0.05%The reasons for cancelled or written off loans are the following: death of borrower, age of borrower, disability, trivial balances, losses through fraud, including phishing, and other.Write-offs do not include trivial balance write-offs. Trivial balance write-offs occur if there is a +/- balance on an account of £25 or less and no contact can be established with the borrower. Customers can request for this to be reversed. In the context of these figures, these borrowers are considered fully repaid and are therefore not included. Cancellations involve the clearance of the remaining debt in line with the terms of the loan, for example, when reaching a specific age or becoming permanently disabled. Write-offs for bankruptcy, Individual Voluntary Arrangement or a trust deed, are no longer allowed against Student Loans balances. Any figures arise from retrospective clear up exercises.These figures have been taken from Student Loans Company’s Student loans in England publication, which is updated in June each year. The publication, ‘Student loans in England: 2023 to 2024’ can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2023-to-2024.Information on the 2024/25 financial year will be available in the June 2025 publication.

With reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, whether payments to Mauritius for the continued lease of the Diego Garcia military base will be included in the announced increase in defence spending.

The terms of the treaty are still being finalised, once the treaty is finalised it will be put before Parliament for scrutiny in the usual way.

If she will publish a list of mental health conditions that qualify for the access to work scheme.

There is no list of mental health conditions that qualify for the Access to Work Scheme. Access to Work is available for all disabled people and those with a health condition who require workplace adjustments that go beyond what would normally be expected from an employer through their duty to provide reasonable adjustments as outlined in the Equality Act 2010.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 February 2025 to Question 30518 on Department for Work and Pensions: Translation Services, what the spend in social security benefits was on people receiving those interpretation services by language of interpretation.

This information is not collected by DWP, and thus is not available.

What proportion of interviews for the access to work scheme took place (a) remotely and (b) in person in 2024.

Customers applying for support from Access to Work can submit an online or written application. Interviews are only conducted for those customers requiring an assessment of their needs through one of our Holistic Assessment Providers. Customers are offered the choice of a virtual or face-to-face interview. In 2024, around 16,180 workplace assessments were held remotely and around 2,380 were held in person. Please note:The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of conducting a cost-benefit analysis of the Access to Work scheme.

The Department has not assessed the potential merits of conducting a cost-benefit analysis of the Access to Work scheme and currently does not have plans to do so.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31569 on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, if he will breakdown the programme of work to reduce excess PPE stock.

The programme to dispose of excess COVID-19 related personal protective equipment (PPE) stock through sales, donations, recycling and energy from waste concluded in January 2025.The storage costs for COVID-19 related PPE incurred in January 2025 were £300,000. In January 2024 and January 2023, the storage costs were £7,700,000 and £18,600,000 respectively.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31569 on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, if he will make an estimate of the (a) weekly and (b) total cost to the public purse of storing PPE related to Covid-19 in 2025.

The programme to dispose of excess COVID-19 related personal protective equipment (PPE) stock through sales, donations, recycling and energy from waste concluded in January 2025.The storage costs for COVID-19 related PPE incurred in January 2025 were £300,000. In January 2024 and January 2023, the storage costs were £7,700,000 and £18,600,000 respectively.

What his Department's timetable is for the completion of the James Paget Hospital rebuild.

The pre-construction activity for the James Paget Hospital scheme, which includes business case development and critical enabling works, is ongoing, with construction of the main hospital build expected to commence in 2027/28 as part of Wave 1 of the New Hospital Programme (NHP).The expected completion dates for all schemes will be confirmed following the approval of a Full Business Case as set out in the HM Treasury Green Book and is usual for large infrastructure projects.We have made clear that we will expediate reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) schemes in the NHP, including James Paget Hospital. To support this approach, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has commissioned an updated site by site report, due in summer 2025, to inform decisions on the delivery of the replacement hospitals. The site-by-site report on all seven RAAC hospitals will help inform individual development plans, which includes continued mitigation works as well as addressing the highest risk elements as early as possible through phasing of works. The report will be based on an up-to-date assessment of the safety of the hospital site now, and in future.

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

Train operating companies including their conductors can already use the Railway Byelaws to address disruptive levels of noise, and we have no plans to make changes to this currently. To ensure ease of travel and safety for everyone using the railway, the rules set out in Byelaws must be adhered to and enforcement action can be taken against those who do not comply with them.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision by Apple to withdraw its advanced data protection system in the UK on cybersecurity risks to (a) businesses, (b) journalists and (c) other people.

The Home Office does not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any notices. This has been the longstanding position of successive UK Governments for reasons of national security.The UK has a longstanding position of protecting people’s privacy whilst also ensuring action can be taken against child sexual abusers and terrorists.

How many meetings (a) she, (b) Ministers from her Department and (c) senior officials from her Department have had with Apple since 4 July 2024.

Home Office Ministers and senior officials regularly meet with key stakeholders, including technology companies, on a range of policies and issues.Details of ministerial meetings are published on a quarterly basis on gov.uk.

Whether Apple was directly instructed to disable its Advanced Data Protection encryption service for UK users.

The Home Office does not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any notices. This has been the longstanding position of successive UK Governments for reasons of national security.The UK has a longstanding position of protecting people’s privacy whilst also ensuring action can be taken against child sexual abusers and terrorists.

Whether her Department plans to request access to encrypted personal data from (a) TikTok, (b) Alphabet, (c) Meta, (d) Amazon and (e) Microsoft.

The Home Office does not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any notices. This has been the longstanding position of successive UK Governments for reasons of national security.The UK has a longstanding position of protecting people’s privacy whilst also ensuring action can be taken against child sexual abusers and terrorists.

For what reason her Department has requested access to Apple customers' personal data under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.

The Home Office does not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any notices. This has been the longstanding position of successive UK Governments for reasons of national security.The UK has a longstanding position of protecting people’s privacy whilst also ensuring action can be taken against child sexual abusers and terrorists.

What data her Department holds on the number of people affected by the removal of Apple's Advanced Data Protection.

The Home Office does not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any notices. This has been the longstanding position of successive UK Governments for reasons of national security.The UK has a longstanding position of protecting people’s privacy whilst also ensuring action can be taken against child sexual abusers and terrorists.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of introducing encryption backdoors for use by the Government on the risk of the exploitation of those backdoors by (a) foreign states and (b) cybercriminals.

The Home Office does not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any notices. This has been the longstanding position of successive UK Governments for reasons of national security.The UK has a longstanding position of protecting people’s privacy whilst also ensuring action can be taken against child sexual abusers and terrorists.

If she will take steps to publish regular transparency reports on the number of encryption-related demands her Department makes to (a) Apple and (b) other technology companies.

The Home Office does not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any notices. This has been the longstanding position of successive UK Governments for reasons of national security.The UK has a longstanding position of protecting people’s privacy whilst also ensuring action can be taken against child sexual abusers and terrorists.

How many Apple devices have been accessed by her Department under surveillance legislation in each of the last 10 years.

The Home Office does not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any notices. This has been the longstanding position of successive UK Governments for reasons of national security.The UK has a longstanding position of protecting people’s privacy whilst also ensuring action can be taken against child sexual abusers and terrorists.