Written questions by Pochin.

What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the soft drinks industry levy on reducing obesity and related illnesses.

Government data shows that sugar levels in drinks in scope of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) reduced by 47% between 2015 and 2024, removing approximately 57,000 tonnes of sugar from these drinks. This has had benefits across all socio-economic groups.The National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), an ongoing Government-funded survey of food consumption and nutrient status in the United Kingdom, shows that sugar intakes of older children and adolescents reduced between 2014 and 2019, and the amount of sugar coming from soft drinks reduced.Academic modelling papers suggest that the following benefits may have been realised as a result of the reductions in sugar seen in drinks in scope of the SDIL:prevented approximately 5,000 cases of obesity in girls aged ten to 11 years old, with a greater impact on those living in the most deprived areas, although the paper did not find any impact on girls in the younger age group, four to five years old, or in boys at either age;shown relative reductions in hospital admissions for dental caries related tooth extractions in children aged zero to four years old and five to nine years old of 28.6% and 5.5% respectively, with no change observed for older children, and reductions being observed in children living in most index of multiple deprivation areas regardless of deprivation; andshown a reduction in the incidence rates of child admissions to hospital for asthma related complications of 20.9% in those aged five to 18 years old, with reductions being similar across age-groups and deprivation quintiles.

With reference to the Autumn Budget 2024, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions on levels of private sector (a) jobs and (b) vacancies.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts. The Office for Budget Responsibility publishes the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances. With all policies considered, the OBR's March 2025 EFO forecasts the employment level to increase from 33.6 million in 2024 to 34.8 million in 2029.

How many additional rate taxpayers there were in the (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22, (c) 2022-23, (d) 2023-24 and (e) 2024-25 financial years.

Estimates of the number of additional rate taxpayers for the financial years 2020-21 to 2024-25 are published by HMRC in the Income Tax Liabilities Statistics. The latest available figures can be found in Table 2.1 of HMRC’s Income Tax Liabilities Statistics, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/number-of-individual-income-taxpayers-by-marginal-rate-gender-and-age

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle the misuse of ketamine.

Tackling the harms caused by the use of illicit drugs is critical to delivering the Government’s key missions on safer streets and improving health outcomes, as well as contributing to the opportunity and national growth missions. We are taking an end-to-end approach to disrupt illicit drug supply chains, including working with law enforcement partners upstream and at the UK border to tackle the gangs responsible for drug trafficking.Ketamine is a dangerous substance, which can cause irreversible bladder damage and in some cases death. Ministers are concerned about the harms ketamine causes and in January 2025 the Government asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to provide an updated harms assessment of ketamine, and advice on reducing those harms, and in particular whether ketamine should be moved from Class B to Class A within the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The ACMD carried out a public call for evidence in August and we expect to receive its report soon. We will then carefully consider its recommendations.This activity sits as part of our work across Government to monitor and respond to emerging trends and harms, including those related to ketamine use. For example, on 16 October 2025 the Department for Health and Social Care launched a campaign to alert young people to the dangers of this drug.

How many crimes where (a) e-scooters and (b) e-bikes were used by the perpetrator have been recorded by his Department by police force in the last 12 months.

The Home Office collects information on the number of notifiable offences recorded by the police in England and Wales but this does not include whether or not an offence was committed with the use of e-scooters or e-bikes.

Whether his Department is taking steps to prevent the sale of high-powered after-market batteries for (a) e-scooters and (b) e-bikes.

Under existing UK regulations, businesses must only place safe products, including batteries for e-bikes and e-scooters, on the market. In 2024, the Department published statutory guidelines for lithium-ion e-bike batteries, clarifying that they must protect against the risk of thermal runaway to be considered safe products. Regulators have powers to enforce these regulations. The Government has now introduced the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025, which will enable us to modernise and improve our product safety framework for products sold online and on the high street.E-bikes must meet legal speed and power limits to be used on the road.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of victims of grooming gangs who will have convictions for prostitution expunged.

The Home Office is setting up a disregards scheme for convictions and cautions issued to under 18s for persistently loitering or soliciting in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution, contrary to Section 1 of The Street Offences Act 1959.A preliminary search of centrally held digital records suggests that 352 individuals have been cautioned or convicted for this offence while under 18, since 1995. We are legislating in the Crime and Policing Bill to disregard and pardon these convictions and cautions.However, it is not possible to calculate the proportion of the 352 individuals who were the victim of group based child sexual exploitation.We are aware that victims of group based child sexual exploitation may have been convicted for other offences; the Ministry of Justice is working with the Criminal Cases Review Commission to ensure it is properly resourced to review the applications of victims of Child Sexual Exploitation who believe they were unjustly convicted when their position as a victim was not properly understood.

What (a) security and (b) criminal record checks are made by her Department when considering an application for asylum.

All asylum claimants undergo mandatory security checks to establish their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks - including war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism. To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted, details about them are not disclosed publicly.All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK at: Assessing credibility and refugee status: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Each assessment is made using relevant case law and the latest available country of origin information, which is based on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources. Our assessment of the situation of a given group in a given country, is set out in the relevant country policy and information note, which is available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-policy-and-information-notesUnder Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, we will deny protection to those who commit serious crimes or represent a threat to national security.

What steps she is taking to ensure that a person seeking asylum has not been involved in terrorism; and if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the application of these checks in the last five years.

All asylum claimants undergo mandatory security checks to establish their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks - including war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism. To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted, details about them are not disclosed publicly.All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK at: Assessing credibility and refugee status: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Each assessment is made using relevant case law and the latest available country of origin information, which is based on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources. Our assessment of the situation of a given group in a given country, is set out in the relevant country policy and information note, which is available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-policy-and-information-notesUnder Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, we will deny protection to those who commit serious crimes or represent a threat to national security.

How many prisoners who have been wrongly released have committed a crime before being brought back to prison in each of the last five years.

This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Whether translation (a) cards or (b) services are provided to foreign national prison officers to aid communication with prisoners.

Translation cards or services are not provided to any prison officers working in Public Sector Prisons (PSPs). The process for recruiting prison officers across all PSPs is the same for all applicants, both UK and non-UK nationals, with candidates being appointed to the role based on merit, in line with the fair and open Civil Service recruitment principles. The assessment process for prison officers includes assessments of spoken and written language skills, which will be to the same standard for all candidates, regardless of nationality, and fitness and medical checks.

Whether all asylum applications have been subject to the same consideration criteria in the last five years.

All asylum claimants undergo mandatory security checks to establish their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks - including war crimes, crimes against humanity and terrorism. To protect the integrity of the specific identity and security checking processes that are conducted, details about them are not disclosed publicly.All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK at: Assessing credibility and refugee status: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Each assessment is made using relevant case law and the latest available country of origin information, which is based on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources. Our assessment of the situation of a given group in a given country, is set out in the relevant country policy and information note, which is available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-policy-and-information-notesUnder Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, we will deny protection to those who commit serious crimes or represent a threat to national security.

How many asylum applications have been approved for people with a criminal record in the UK prior to the commencement of their asylum application.

The requested data on asylum applications from foreign national offenders is not currently published by the Home Office.As explained in this note published in April 2025, systems for collecting and compiling data related to foreign national offenders in the immigration system are currently undergoing a transition to improve the quality of information held by the department. The Home Office is currently working towards a release of this data. At this stage, we are not in a position to detail what this will contain or the exact timing of the release.

How many times police forces in England and Wales have used stop-and-search powers in each of the last five years.

The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of stop and searches undertaken by the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales and the British Transport Police, on a financial year basis. The latest data are available here: Stop and search, arrests, and mental health detentions, March 2025 - GOV.UKTable 1 below shows how many stop and searches were undertaken by police forces in England and Wales in each of the last five complete financial yearsTable 1 – stop and searches in England and Wales, 2020/21 to 2024/25Financial yearNumber of stop and searches2020/21714,9142021/22530,9702022/23547,0002023/24536,217

How many members of staff in her Department currently spend one or more days a week working from home.

On 24 October 2024 the Cabinet Office announced that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service. Senior managers will continue to be expected to be in the office more than 60% of the time and individual attendance requirement can be up to 100% based on business need.Details of the exact number of staff currently working from home one or more days per week are not held centrally.

Whether applications for asylum have been approved for people on the security services' watch list in the past 12 months.

The first priority of government is protecting national security.All applications for UK immigration status, including asylum claims, are subject to comprehensive security checks. Where an individual is assessed as presenting a risk to our country, we take swift and robust action.The Home Office uses various tools to detect and disrupt travel by individuals of national security interest and by individuals excluded from the UK; previously deported from the UK; or using lost, stolen or revoked documents and visas. This includes the use of domestic and international watchlists.It is longstanding policy not to discuss either the specific data held on the watchlist, the source of the data or how it is used, as to do so would be counterproductive and harmful to the national security of the UK.

How many asylum applications have been approved by her Department which have not had a Police National Computer check in the last five years.

We do not comment on security matters, however all asylum claimants are subject to robust, mandatory security checks and we will not compromise the integrity of the UK immigration system. These system and security database checks are completed during the asylum screening process and before a decision is made.

Whether her Department has approved any asylum applications without a Watchlist and Information Control Unit check being carried out in the last ten years.

We do not comment on security matters, however all asylum claimants are subject to robust, mandatory security checks and we will not compromise the integrity of the UK immigration system. These system and security database checks are completed during the asylum screening process and before a decision is made.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of net migration on public services.

The Home Office publishes a variety of analysis considering the impact of migration on public services. Home Office Impact Assessments and wider analysis can be found here: Migration analysis at the Home Office - GOV.UK

What the longest time was for an asylum application to reach a final resolution in the last ten years.

The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost. The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘asylum detailed datasets’ as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.Data on the number of claims awaiting an initial decision, by duration, is published in table Asy_D03. The latest data relates to as at 30 June 2025. For further information on the data, see the notes pages of the tables.Additionally, data on the number of cases in the asylum system, by case age, is published in table ASY_03 of the 'Migration transparency data'. The latest data relates to as at June 2024.