Written questions by Lowe.

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.

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.

If he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse for supporting the a:gender network in each of the last five years.

Data from the Equality, Diversity and Expenditure Review will be published in due course.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

Innovation and Technology, 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 Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is working with HM Treasury (HMT) on any additional funding that may be required to cover for costs associated with the Employer’s National Insurance Contributions (ERNIC) rule changes, announced at Autumn Budget 2024. This work is being undertaken under the auspices of the established Estimates process led by HMT, and which will conclude in the coming months.

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 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.

Media and Sport, 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 Exchequer-funded 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.

There is no additional cost to the Ministry of Defence. The Government will be supporting departments with the cost of additional employer national insurance contributions. This is in line with the Government’s usual approach to supporting the public sector, as was the case with the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy. The allocation for the Ministry of Defence, along with all other departments, will be set out in due course.

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.

For what reason there was an increase in the number of settlement grants for workers from 2022-2023.

The increase in individuals reaching the five-year qualifying threshold in 2023 will tend to reflect the increase in work visas issued five years previously, in 2018 under the previous administration. My Hon friend, the Home Secretary, addressed reasons for the latter increase in her statement to the House of Commons on 2 December 2024.

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.

Food and Rural 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.

How many posts there are in the NHS Muslim Network; what the job titles are of those posts; and what their cost to the public purse was in the last financial year.

The NHS Muslim Network is a voluntary staff network, so there are no paid roles. National Health Service staff networks can be an important mechanism of staff support, and help to shape organisational culture within the NHS, to create a fair and inclusive work environment.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a study of the impact of the dependency of universities on international students on the level of fees paid by such students.

The government remains committed to a United Kingdom that is outward looking and welcomes international students who make a positive contribution to the UK’s higher education (HE) sector, our economy and society as a whole.The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of English HE providers. As such, it is responsible for monitoring the financial sustainability of the sector. The department works closely with the OfS to understand the impact of the sector’s changing financial landscape. In its most recent report on the financial health of the HE sector (published November 2024), the OfS assessed the risks to provider financial sustainability and overreliance on recruitment of students from particular countries was noted as a particular concern. The report models the impacts of various scenarios on provider finances, including in relation to levels of international student recruitment.The OfS emphasised that the HE sector should be cautious of depending too much on international student fee income in their recruitment forecasts and urged institutions to have strong contingency plans to mitigate the financial risks of over-recruiting from a single country.All providers must continue to adapt to uncertainties and financial risks. As autonomous bodies independent of government, it is for providers to decide on effective business models and to how to manage their finances. The department will continue to work closely with the OfS in order to understand the ongoing impacts and changing landscape of financial sustainability in the sector.