The Westminster lensArchive · Written questions · 2,564 tabled · 2,457 answered

Written questions by Lowe.

Every parliamentary written question tabled by Rupert Lowe this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.

Department:All (2,564)Home Office (919)Department of Health and Social Care (276)Ministry of Justice (222)Department for Work and Pensions (147)Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (136)Department for Education (131)Treasury (122)Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (115)Cabinet Office (106)Department for Transport (93)Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (58)Ministry of Defence (54)

Showing 1,7611,780 of 2,564 · this parliament

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5 Feb 2025·Treasury·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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

5 Feb 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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.

5 Feb 2025·Department for Science, Innovation and Technology·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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

5 Feb 2025·Attorney General·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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.

5 Feb 2025·Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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.

5 Feb 2025·Department for Culture, Media and Sport·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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.

5 Feb 2025·Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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.

5 Feb 2025·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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

5 Feb 2025·Department for Education·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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.

3 Feb 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

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

Reply

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.

3 Feb 2025·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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

3 Feb 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

How much was spent on translation in Jobcentres in 2024.

Reply

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

3 Feb 2025·Department for Work and Pensions·Answered
Asked

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

Reply

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.

3 Feb 2025·Department for Transport·Answered
Asked

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

Reply

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.

3 Feb 2025·Department for Transport·Answered
Asked

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

Reply

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.

3 Feb 2025·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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

3 Feb 2025·Ministry of Justice·Answered
Asked

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

Reply

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.

3 Feb 2025·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
Asked

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

Reply

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.

3 Feb 2025·Department of Health and Social Care·Answered
Asked

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

Reply

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.

31 Jan 2025·Home Office·Answered
Asked

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.

Reply

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.

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