theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries she has visited since the start of this Parliament. \p Chris Bryant: The Secretary of State's support of the public library sector was demonstrated in February 2025 when she announced a fourth round of the Libraries Improvement Fund worth £5.5 million to enable public library services across England to upgrade their physical and digital infrastructure to adapt to changing user needs.

The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, Sir Chris Bryant MP, was the Minister with responsibility for libraries from 26 July 2024 to 31 March 2025. He contributed to the 25th anniversary of the Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge, as well as The British Library’s National StartUp Day.

After a change in the ministerial portfolios within DCMS, from 1 April 2025, Baroness Twycross has now taken up the role as Minister with responsibilities for libraries and she recently visited Harlesden and Willesden Green libraries.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many professional libraries have moved out of local authority control since 5 July 2024. \p Chris Bryant: The Department does not currently hold this data. The Arts Council England Libraries Location Dataset 2024 which will contain information on static library closures and changes to the model of delivery of static libraries as of 31 December 2024 is due to be published shortly.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has a strategy for the development of the public library sector. \p Chris Bryant: The Minister for Gambling and Heritage is meeting with library sector organisations and leaders to discuss the challenges faced by public libraries and their thoughts on what government support would be helpful. Following this, the Minister will consider her priority policy areas in this remit.

Officials also meet regularly with a variety of organisations in the public and private sectors to support the sector strategically. This includes working with Arts Council England, the development agency for libraries in England, on such issues as the collection of national data and other programmes to support the sector so that it is better placed to respond to the changing ways people are using them. On 20th February, the Secretary of State also announced a further £5.5 million of the Libraries Improvement Fund for 2025/26. DCMS has also invested in research to investigate the main reasons why people do not use or engage with libraries and understand potential effective policy interventions that could be deployed by local or national government to promote library usage.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many meetings she has had with representatives from the library sector since the start of this Parliament. \p Chris Bryant: Ministers and officials have had a number of meetings with library sector representatives. Details of ministerial meetings are published on a quarterly basis.
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Sir Iain Duncan Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made on the establishment of the gambling ombudsman. \p Stephanie Peacock: We are looking at options for improving Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provision for customers, including the establishment of a gambling ombudsman. The Minister for Gambling will confirm our plans in due course.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many meetings she has had with representatives of Jewish communities since 5 July 2024. \p Stephanie Peacock: Details of Ministers' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly on GOV.UK.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she has made an assessment of the potential impact of public library closures on the (a) educational and (b) social opportunities for local residents. \p Chris Bryant: All local authorities have a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for determining how best to meet the needs of its communities and deliver its statutory duty within available resources.

Where local authorities are proposing changes to its statutory library service provision, including closures, DCMS expects the local authority to be able to demonstrate that proposals are supported by an assessment of local needs, together with a rigorous analysis and assessment of the potential impact of their proposals and a demonstration of the steps to be taken to mitigate the impact.

The Secretary of State has a statutory power to intervene by way of local inquiry if she considers that a local authority is not providing a comprehensive and efficient library service. She takes this role very seriously and should a complaint be received, Ministers will challenge the local council and carefully consider evidence before deciding if a local inquiry is needed.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the tourism sector. \p Chris Bryant: The British tourism industry is worth £58 billion to the economy and employs millions of people around the country. The Government is implementing a range of measures to support the sector and maximise its benefits for local economies, including working with VisitBritain to champion visits to Britain to a worldwide audience through its ‘Starring Great Britain’ campaign.

Since 2022, DCMS has delivered significant reform of destination management devolving accountability to a regional and local level to promote regional growth. We now have a network of 41 Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) across England and two Regional Destination pilots in the North East and West Midlands. In March, we announced a £1.35 million funding boost to help the Destination pilots attract even more tourists and investment to the UK over the next year.

The newly established Visitor Economy Advisory Council brings together industry leaders, regional voices and expert advisers to do far more that will attract overseas and overseas visitors and unlock growth. The Council will co-design and deliver a new growth strategy that will meet my ambition to welcome 50 million inbound visitors a year by 2030, as part of this Government’s Plan for Change.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 42101 on Holiday Accommodation: Licensing, what her planned timetable is for her Department’s publication of the short-term rental registration scheme. \p Chris Bryant: The government has commenced the second phase of digital development for the short-term lets registration scheme legislated for in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. During this phase, DCMS will test the user interface with a small number of users to ensure our systems and processes are effective, with public testing planned to start within the next 9 months.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the (a) English Football League and (b) National League on equal opportunity for promotions to the football league for non-league clubs. \p Stephanie Peacock: We recognise the strength of feeling within the National League regarding promotion arrangements to the EFL and understand the desire for greater opportunities for clubs to progress through the football pyramid. The competitiveness and sustainability of the league system are important considerations, and we appreciate the views of all stakeholders on this issue.

While promotion and relegation structures are ultimately a matter for the leagues themselves, we remain engaged with the football authorities on broader discussions about the future of the game.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with the Lawn Tennis Association on the implementation of the 2024–2029 padel strategy. \p Stephanie Peacock: I have regular discussions with national governing bodies of sport, including the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), on a range of issues including padel, and I welcome their strategic ambition to grow padel by making it accessible, welcoming, enjoyable and inspiring.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have urgent discussions with the Director General of the BBC on recent reports that a journalist with links to Hamas was used by the BBC to report on events in Gaza. \p Stephanie Peacock: Under its Royal Charter, the BBC has a duty to provide accurate and impartial news and information. As the BBC is independent the Government does not intervene in the BBC’s day-to-day operational or editorial decisions.

The Secretary of State meets regularly with the BBC to discuss a range of topics and when she met with the BBC Director General in February, they discussed the importance of the BBC in meeting its duty to provide accurate and impartial news and information. In taking forward that duty, the Government believes that it is absolutely fundamental that stories about the events in Gaza are told and heard, but are done so with the utmost care, transparency and sensitivity. It is essential that the BBC in particular maintains the highest standards of reporting.

In addition, it is for Ofcom, the independent regulator, to ensure the BBC is fulfilling its obligations to audiences as outlined in the Charter.
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Zöe Franklin:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department's planned timeline is for (a) consulting on and (b) producing a youth strategy; and what engagement her Department has had with (i) faiths and (ii) faith-linked organisations on their experience of supporting young people. \p Stephanie Peacock: Since announcing plans for a National Youth Strategy in November 2024, DCMS has undertaken a range of engagement activities to hear directly from young people, including ministerial and MP roundtables, focus groups, workshops with young people, an online survey and digital postcards. Our engagement has included Muslim faith groups, Jewish Lads and Girls Clubs and Church of England representatives, among others. We have also sought representation of young people from different faiths including on the Expert and Youth Advisory Groups and through the National Youth Survey.

The interim report for the National Youth Strategy - Today’s Youth, Tomorrow’s Nation - will be published shortly. We plan to publish the National Youth Strategy in the summer.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the sustainability of local media. \p Stephanie Peacock: Sustainability of journalism across the country is an area of particular concern for this Government. We are developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, reporting on the issues that matter to communities, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story.

We are working across Government and with other stakeholders as the Strategy develops, and we recently held a roundtable discussion with local news editors from across the country to discuss our planned approach and explore further collaboration on the Strategy. We will announce further details in due course.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of potential barriers to access to UEFA coaching licence courses. \p Stephanie Peacock: Access to UEFA coaching licences is crucial to developing high-quality coaches and ensuring players across all levels of English football receive excellent training.

The Football Association (FA) sets the criteria for course access and fees. It is important to strike the right balance between maintaining coaching standards and broadening access. The FA, supported by Sport England, offers initiatives such as the Partially Funded Places Programme, which provides up to 85% discounts for underrepresented groups, including women, disabled people, those from minority ethnic backgrounds, and individuals from disadvantaged communities.

In May 2024, the FA, in partnership with UEFA and the PFA, launched the first all-female UEFA A Licence course, fully funded to support 17 current and former women's professional players. This initiative reflects a long-term commitment to providing tailored, accessible coaching development opportunities for women in the professional game. The Government welcomes these efforts and encourages ongoing assessment to identify and address any remaining barriers to participation.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to limit access to gambling advertising for people with a gambling addiction. \p Stephanie Peacock: This government recognises that while advertising is a legitimate advantage which licensed operators have over unlicensed gambling firms, increased exposure to gambling advertising can have an impact on gambling participation. Some forms of advertising can also have a disproportionate impact on particular groups, such as children and those who are already experiencing problems with their gambling.

There are existing robust rules in place to ensure that advertising and marketing, whenever it appears, is socially responsible. Licensed operators are prohibited from sending direct marketing to those showing strong indicators of harm and must be part of the GAMSTOP scheme. Individuals registered with the scheme are automatically removed from marketing lists of any gambling company they were registered with. The Gambling Commission is also introducing new requirements for operators to allow customers to have greater control over the direct marketing they receive, and measures to ensure that incentives such as free bets are constructed in a socially responsible manner.

However, we recognise that more can be done to improve protections. We have set the gambling industry a clear task to raise standards and this work will be monitored closely.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39118 on Prime Minister: Press Conferences, what his Department’s policy is on the use of political party (a) fittings and (b) furniture at official government events. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: I refer the Rt Hon Member to the Ministerial Code and Propriety and Ethics Guidance for Government Communicators, available on gov.uk.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2025 to Question 48553 on Prime Minister: Public Service, what the annual remuneration is for this appointment; and if he will publish the declaration of interests made by the appointee. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: It would not be appropriate to comment on individuals. The level of remuneration and the management of relevant outside interests for this role have been agreed in line with relevant guidance and processes.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many days each Minister in his Department has worked in (a) Departmental offices and (b) Government hubs outside London since 5 July 2024. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Cabinet Office does not hold specific information regarding how many days Cabinet Office Ministers have worked in departmental offices and government hubs outside of London since 5 July 2024.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of regulated public appointments are published on the Apply for a public appointment gov.uk page. \p Georgia Gould: All regulated public appointments that are made through open competition are advertised on the public appointments Apply for a Public Appointment webpage on Gov.uk.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) Crown Representatives and (b) Health Crown Representatives are required to make declarations of political activity when they are appointed. \p Georgia Gould: All Crown Representatives complete conflict of interest declarations on appointment and then every six months.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many full-time equivalent jobs there were in the low carbon and renewable energy economy in each year since 2015. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 13th May is attached.

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 97.4KB)
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate the number of high street job vacancies filled over the last 12 months. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 13th May is attached.

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 92.4KB)
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 48180 on 10 Downing Street: Flags, for what reason a NATO flag was not flown on NATO Day 2025. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: I refer the Rt Hon Member to my previous answer of 2 May 2025, Official Report, PQ 48180.
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Afzal Khan:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that public contracts are not awarded to companies which blacklist workers. \p Georgia Gould: The Government is committed to tackling misconduct in public procurement. All contracting authorities and suppliers are expected to act, and be seen to act, with integrity.

The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 prohibit the compilation, usage, sale or supply of blacklists. Contracting authorities may exclude suppliers for blacklisting offences under the exclusion regime in the Procurement Act, which came into force in February 2025, for example, on the grounds of professional misconduct. Those suppliers may also be added to a central debarment list by the Cabinet Office. We will not hesitate to make use of those powers where there is evidence of wrongdoing.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in his Department. \p Georgia Gould: We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.

Within the Cabinet Office, we are looking at every opportunity to increase apprenticeships. For example, last week we announced that this summer we will launch a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration. The ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA) will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026. In its first year, the CLA will offer roles in three city locations: Birmingham, London, and Manchester. By expanding into Birmingham and Manchester, the Civil Service is strengthening its presence in these growth areas, while still providing opportunities in London to meet workforce needs and priorities.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the return on investment of GREAT campaign funding in each year since it was introduced. \p Ellie Reeves: Since 2011, the GREAT campaign has developed a robust approach to evaluation, which has been validated by multiple external organisations, and consistently reported strong returns to the UK economy. The methodologies used continue to be reviewed and refined to support regular reporting, ensuring the campaign consistently drives good impact and value for money for the taxpayer.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 43230 on Prime Minister: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, whether his Department is (a) stopping future transactions being made on the Downing Street cards and (b) stopping the procurement of additional cards for Downing Street. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: All areas of the Cabinet Office have significantly reduced the number of cards held and strict processes are in place for new applications.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 1.41 of the Civil Superannuation Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24, HC481, which employers are part of the Civil Service Scheme. \p Georgia Gould: The requested information can be found in the attached document.

Civil Service Scheme employers list (xlsx, 11.4KB)
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with the Building Safety Regulator on (a) the adequacy of the (i) resources and (ii) technical capacity available to enable it to make timely determinations of Gateway applications and (b) its operational efficiency. \p Alex Norris: We recognise that there are delays to the Gateways process and that processing times need to improve. Delays have the potential to slow the delivery of new homes and may impact on investment decisions in high-rise projects. MHCLG are working urgently with the BSR to address the current challenges. This includes direct ministerial-level involvement to accelerate progress.

We continue to work closely with the BSR to understand their resource requirements, technical capacity and how processes can be improved. We have provided funding to the BSR to recruit an extra 30 frontline staff to bolster its capacity. On 14 May, BSR also launched a campaign to directly recruit Registered Building Inspectors (RBIs), with further recruitment planned in June 2025. We expect the impact of these new recruits on processing times to scale up in the coming months.

Whilst BSR and MHCLG are exploring all possible opportunities to strengthen the new Gateway process and guidance to industry, it is important to recognise that a significant volume of applications continue to be invalidated or rejected for not meeting the legislative requirements. These are buildings that, had they been constructed, might have placed residents at risk and/or living in housing that did not meet long-standing requirements. It is also important to note that additional information requests for missing details in applications can add between at least 4-6 weeks onto the process.

BSR continues to carry out extensive stakeholder engagement to support applicants to better understand and meet the new requirements. Since July 2024, BSR has held weekly meetings with the Construction Leadership Council and other industry bodies including the Home Builders Federation to address knowledge gaps and share lessons learned. BSR also issued new guidance in collaboration with the sector in March 2025 based on the findings of research with organisations submitting building control applications. BSR continues work to improve the way it interacts with applicants before and during the process.

BSR officials have provided Gateway 2 application data from October 2023 to date:

2,240 applications received to date

899 live applications

32% (430) - Approved

41% (552) - Invalidated at the initial stage as they did not contain the right information under Schedule 1.

11% (140) - Withdrawn

16% (219) - Rejected.

Many of the applications that remain undetermined have proved to be of poor quality and the BSR continues to work with applicants to ensure that applications properly demonstrate compliance with the minimum safety standards set out in the Building Regulations.
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Sarah Dyke:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to deliver devolution to councils that are not part of the Devolution Priority Programme. \p Alex Norris: We want to see all of England access devolved powers by establishing Strategic Authorities that can make the key decisions to drive economic growth. Our ultimate goal is to have all of England represented by a mayor who can take their seat at the Council of Nations and Regions.

That is why the government is currently delivering the Devolution Priority Programme, intending to see a new wave of Mayoral Strategic Authorities established in May 2026. Beyond that, our intention remains to continue to fill the map, extending devolution to all corners of England as soon as possible. The timings and process for future waves beyond the Devolution Priority Programme will be subject to further decisions, including at the upcoming Spending Review.
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Andy McDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) withholding and (b) removing access to Freeport policy benefits where there has been continued (i) non-compliance and (ii) non-delivery without an adequate reason. \p Alex Norris: Freeport areas are subject to the same laws and regulations safeguarding security as the rest of the UK. A Freeport customs site is a secure, enclosed zone within the wider Freeport geography. All Freeport customs sites are required to obtain AEO(S) or equivalent authorisation from HMRC, an international gold standard for safety and security, and remain subject to robust ongoing oversight from HMRC.

In addition to this, Freeports are required to put in place arrangements for overseeing relevant security arrangements across their geographies, to ensure effective coordination between relevant bodies and provisions. Given Freeports are subject to the same security regime as the rest of the UK, the purpose of these arrangements is coordination, not duplication.

In Spring 2024, these coordination arrangements in all English Freeports were audited by the Freeports Security Forum and recommendations were provided to relevant Freeports, to assist them in achieving best practice on security. The government departments represented on the Freeports Security Forum include Home Office, Border Force, HMRC, the Department for Transport, HMT, the National Crime Agency and Police. There are no plans to publish individual names of attendees on the Security Forum.

On 5 March 2025, the government decided not to conduct a further security audit as no new security risks associated with Freeport status, requiring further mitigation above and beyond the application of UK-wide security laws and regulations, had been identified. Risks associated with customs sites continue to be managed directly by central government through HMRC’s robust oversight arrangements.

Freeports must share information on local arrangements for coordinating security activity with government upon request and the government reserves the right to audit these as required.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether they will consider introducing a requirement for companies issuing parking tickets by post to use signed-for delivery services in order to provide proof of receipt. \p Alex Norris: The government is aware of concerns regarding the poor practises on some parking operators.

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the Government to prepare a Code of Practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities.

We will be launching a consultation in due course.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of promoting transparency from the Building Safety Regulator through the regular publication of performance data on application processing times. \p Alex Norris: The Department and the Building Safety Regulator recognise the value to the sector in providing performance data. From this quarter, BSR will be publishing quarterly data demonstrating the volumes of applications received, recorded outcomes and decision times for determination.

MHCLG and BSR jointly keep BSR’s operational set up under review as a departmental priority. We are working with the BSR to undertake a further programme of enhancements to improve application processing times which we recognise are too long. Enhancements to the service will continue to scale up in the coming months.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the time taken to process applications to the Building Safety Regulator. \p Alex Norris: The MHCLG and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) both recognise the impact of Gateway delays on the construction pipeline of high-rise projects and are taking action to address the current challenges.

The Department are working closely with the BSR to improve processing times and have already taken several actions. As a new function BSR has needed to refine and improve its processes. We have provided funding to the BSR to recruit an extra 30 frontline staff to bolster its capacity. On 14 May, BSR also launched a campaign to directly recruit Registered Building Inspectors (RBIs), with further recruitment planned in June 2025. BSR is carrying out extensive stakeholder engagement to support applicants to better understand and meet the new requirements. BSR also issued new guidance in March 2025 based on the findings of research with organisations submitting building control applications. MHCLG and BSR are also reviewing better ways to access specialist advice on multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) which assess applications to enable faster assessment times.

Whilst BSR and MHCLG are exploring all possible opportunities to strengthen the new Gateway process and guidance to industry, it is important to recognise that a significant volume of applications continue to be invalidated or rejected for not meeting the legislative requirements. These are buildings that, had they been constructed, might have placed residents at risk and/or living in housing that did not meet long-standing requirements. It is also important to note that additional information requests for missing details in applications can add between at least 4-6 weeks onto the process.

MHCLG are exploring all possible options with the BSR to ensure it is equipped for the high-demand of applications without compromising on quality assurance. In rejecting applications which are not up to standard, the BSR is ensuring the safety of future residents. Ministers continue to monitor the situation closely.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-21)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many permanent civil servants in her Department are staff without assigned posts; and how many are placed in an equivalent (a) people action team, (b) priority movers list, (c) redeployment register, (d) talent pool and (e) skills match hub in the most recent period for which data is available. \p Alex Norris: Less than 1% of the department are in a redeployment position within MHCLG.

There are currently 27 individuals in a redeployment position out of a workforce of c.3900 FTE.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-21)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 45706 on Client Earth, whether the (a) legal and (b) planning divisions of her Department engage with Client Earth. \p Alex Norris: We have not identified any such engagement. I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given to UIN 49404 on 12 May 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-21)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if they will make it their policy to not provide (a) translation and (b) interpretation for speakers of non-UK languages for services provided by their Department. \p Alex Norris: MHCLG uses language services to provide spoken and written translation services for those who are deaf, hard of hearing or do not speak English as a first language where required in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-21)

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Paula Barker:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to involve young people with lived experience of homelessness in the development of the cross-departmental homelessness strategy. \p Rushanara Ali: As part of the development of the cross-Government homelessness strategy the Government has engaged representatives from across the homelessness and rough sleeping sector, local and combined authorities and wider experts, including those who have lived experience.

The Government hosted a series of lived experience forums to ensure that the voices of those with lived experience are reflected in the strategy. Young people with lived experience of homelessness were included in this work.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-21)

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Shivani Raja:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency programme entitled Exploring Climate Cooling on levels of solar power generation. \p Feryal Clark: The Advanced Research and Invention Agency’s (ARIA) ‘Exploring Climate Cooling’ programme, backed by £56.8 million, has been designed to build an evidence base which will enable scientists to better understand and properly assess whether or not Earth cooling approaches could help to mitigate climate change safely.

ARIA is an independent research body, and they are conducting cautious, controlled research aimed at improving understanding of the risks and impacts of Solar Radiation Modification. This will produce important information for decisions around the world.

ARIA have put in place an independent oversight committee, made up of international experts, to support effective governance of outdoor experiments and communication of their findings. Projects with field trial components will be subjected to risk and impact assessment by an independent team of experts and subjected to a degree of co-design with local communities; the results of both exercises will be publicly available prior to any outdoor experiment taking place. An independent assessment will also take place on completion of any outdoor experiment, also to be made publicly available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-21)

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Euan Stainbank:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding his Department provides for solar radiation management experiments. \p Feryal Clark: The Advanced Research and Invention Agency’s (ARIA) ‘Exploring Climate Cooling’ programme, backed by £56.8 million, has been designed to build an evidence base which will enable scientists to better understand and properly assess whether or not Earth cooling approaches could help to mitigate climate change safely.

ARIA is an independent research body, and they are conducting cautious, controlled research aimed at improving understanding of the risks and impacts of Solar Radiation Modification. This will produce important information for decisions around the world.

ARIA have put in place an independent oversight committee, made up of international experts, to support effective governance of outdoor experiments and communication of their findings. Projects with field trial components will be subjected to risk and impact assessment by an independent team of experts and subjected to a degree of co-design with local communities; the results of both exercises will be publicly available prior to any outdoor experiment taking place. An independent assessment will also take place on completion of any outdoor experiment, also to be made publicly available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-21)

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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he expects Ofcom to publish updates on the (a) progress and (b) outcomes of the investigations conducted by the online safety small but risky taskforce. \p Feryal Clark: The Government has regular meetings with Ofcom on matters relating to online safety, including on how it will enforce against non-compliant providers.

Ofcom established the Small but Risky (SBR) task force to address the unique risks posed by these services. The task force sits in Ofcom’s Online Safety Group. Ofcom has previously stated that there are 202 full-time equivalent posts in that wider Group. Ofcom published details of the taskforce’s work, including its priorities, in a letter to the Secretary of State on 11 September 2024.

Ofcom started enforcing the Online Safety Act in March. Sections 149 and 150 of the Act require publication of enforcement action. As an independent regulator, Ofcom does not report directly to government but publishes bulletins of all enforcement actions. Ofcom has confirmed that some companies are currently under investigation and some small services with harmful content have voluntarily blocked access to their sites for UK users since the Act came into effect.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-21)

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Carla Lockhart:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology what safeguards are in place to ensure that his officials do not input (a) sensitive and (b) classified information into artificial intelligence tools. \p Feryal Clark: All civil servants are trained in appropriate information management practices for handling sensitive or classified information. We draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform our AI usage. For example the AI Playbook for the UK Government, the Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, and the generative AI framework on GOV.UK which includes a section on using generative AI safely and responsibly.

OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE information can safely be included in prompts to AI tools that are hosted within the DSIT IT eco-system, or by providers with whom the department has an agreement in place around the secure processing of such data. For example, DSIT has an enterprise agreement with Microsoft to provide all staff with secure access to Copilot Chat and 1,500 staff with licenses to the cross-government Microsoft 365 Copilot experiment. Additional tool-specific guidance is provided to individuals at the point-of-use.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-21)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help encourage investment into science and technology companies that are based outside of (a) Oxford, (b) Cambridge and (c) London. \p Feryal Clark: Increasing investment into science and technology firms across the UK will be critical to delivering growth.

In 2023-24, UKRI invested £4,614 million outside the Greater Southeast; over half its total investment. Specific programme supporting regional innovation include; £80 million for twelve Innovate UK Launchpads, £130 million for Innovation Accelerators in three pilot city-regions, and £316 million for twelve Strength in Places Fund programmes.

These are complemented by the British Business Bank’s programmes, including £660 million in northern England through its Nations and Regions Investment Funds.

As part of the Spending Review process, DSIT is working with regions across the UK to develop a new approach to growing high-potential clusters in all regions of the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-21)

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Mr Paul Foster:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to take steps to enable (a) constituents and (b) businesses in South Ribble constituency to become eligible Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. \p Chris Bryant: As part of Project Gigabit, Building Digital UK (BDUK) identifies the most appropriate intervention to deliver gigabit-capable broadband in areas that are unlikely to be reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout. For most homes and businesses in the South Ribble constituency, this will be through the Project Gigabit contract being delivered by Openreach across Lancashire.

BDUK is currently exploring if additional premises can be added to the scope of this contract. For any homes or businesses that cannot be added, and remain outside of commercial plans, BDUK will consider alternative interventions, which may include the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-21)

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Mr Paul Foster:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has alternative plans for reaching (a) premises and (b) communities that are deemed too expensive to reach through Project Gigabit. \p Chris Bryant: The vast majority of premises will be covered by commercial activity or Project Gigabit, but it will remain too expensive to build a gigabit capable connection to a very small proportion of premises on either a commercial or subsidised basis. The government is exploring options for the kind of support that might be required and appropriate to ensure sufficient, affordable and reliable connectivity in these cases.