Richard Holden MP: written questions
1068 published records · newest first.
Written questions
ISG Limited: AuditDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 10 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 36792More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions his Department had with ISG on its internal audit functions prior to that company going into administration; and what steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of (a) audit and (b) gov
Answer: The Government announced that it would publish a draft audit reform and corporate governance bill in the King’s Speech, which is expected to include extending enhanced Public Interest Entity audit requirements to very large private companies. The Governme...
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSexual Offences: Disclosure of InformationHome OfficeTabled 13 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31541More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take legislative steps to authorise the police to inform youth clubs when people (a) attending and (b) running them have received a police caution for sexual offences.
Answer: Ensuring the system for managing sex offenders and those who pose a risk is as robust as possible is a crucial part of preventing sexual violence and delivering our mission to halve violence against women and girls. The disclosure and barring regime prote...
Answered 28 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordEntry Clearances: Overseas StudentsHome OfficeTabled 13 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31540More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason international students from countries with Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results above the UK’s own in English are required to take additional English tests whe
Answer: The Government has no plans to weaken the UK’s immigration controls on English language requirements in the way suggested by the Honourable Member for Basildon and Billericay.To ensure that all those coming to the UK to study under the Student route are g...
Answered 24 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordElectronic CigarettesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31539More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 24256 on Electronic Cigarettes: Young People, whether the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will restrict the size of vape tanks.
Answer: Whilst nicotine vapes are already subject to tank size requirements, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill goes further and covers all types of vapes, both nicotine and non-nicotine, and consumer nicotine products.As stated in our previous answer, the bill provides ...
Answered 25 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordLocumsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31215More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a table of the number of (a) doctors, (b) registered nurses and (c) medical scientists were employed as locums in each (i) month and (ii) year since 2021 and what the total cost
Answer: The Department does not hold the information requested. NHS England publishes quarterly information on total agency and bank expenditure by National Health Service providers as part of financial reporting, which is available at the following link:https://...
Answered 25 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS: ExpenditureDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31214More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a table of the total amount spent on (a) primary, (b) secondary, (c) tertiary and (d) community care in the NHS in each of the last 5 financial years.
Answer: NHS England does not routinely collect expenditure data against the categories requested. However, the table attached shows the total spend in billions for specialised services, primary medical care, community services, continuing care, acute services, co...
Answered 24 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordGambling: RegulationDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 11 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30702More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her regulatory policies of the use of category C gaming tablets by high street casinos, in the context of regulations on combined nu
Answer: No more than 20% of the total number of gaming machines made available for use in an adult gaming centre or licensed bingo premises are permitted to be Category B machines. The other gaming machines made available for use must be Category C machines or Ca...
Answered 19 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific PartnershipDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 11 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30701More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had discussions with his counterparts in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on establishing a permanent secretariat for the CPTPP in the UK
Answer: Ministers and Senior Officials meet regularly with their counterparts to discuss CPTPP issues. In November last year, CPTPP Ministers, including the UK, agreed the Vancouver Statement, providing an interim report on the CPTPP General Review. This covered ...
Answered 24 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Business and Trade: StaffDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 11 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30700More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) predecessors to his Department have worked in roles relating to international trade in each of the last 27 years.
Answer: The information is not readily available or held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Answered 19 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordTrade AgreementsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 11 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30699More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has undertaken an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Trade Commissioners programme since it was established.
Answer: His Majesty’s Trade Commissioners (HMTCs) represent and promote the UK in markets across the world. They lead on export promotion, both inward and outward investment, and trade policy overseas on behalf of His Majesty’s Government (HMG). Their work includ...
Answered 27 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordSenior Civil Servants: RecruitmentCabinet OfficeTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30161More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2024 to Question 4669 on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, whether his policy on collation of data for Senior Civil Service appointments has changed since July 2024.
Answer: The policy on collation of data for senior civil service appointments across government remains the same as when the Rt Hon member was in Cabinet Office.
Answered 17 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordVettingCabinet OfficeTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30160More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of ending the vetting transformation programme on (a) national security and (b) staff recruitment delays.
Answer: The security of our people, assets and information is a Government priority.The Vetting Transformation Programme (VTP) was first announced in October 2020. The programme was subject of a number of reviews and audits under the previous administration, incl...
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordMinisters: Social MediaCabinet OfficeTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30159More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to amend paragraph 8.13 of the Ministerial Code, published on 6 November 2024, to provide guidance on whether meetings with social media organisations should be published on a quarterly bas
Answer: Details of ministers’ and senior officials’ official meetings with external individuals and organisations, including with social media organisations, are already published on a quarterly basis. Data for the period of July to September 2024 was published b...
Answered 17 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport: Official HospitalityDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30158More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to UK Music’s blog post entitled UK Music & Tik Tok Party at Labour Conference 2024, published in 2024, whether her attendance at the UK Music and Tik Tok party will be declared in
Answer: In accordance with the Ministers’ Transparency Guidance, Departments should not include hospitality received by ministers in their capacity as an MP in a constituency or party- political capacity in Ministers’ declarations.
Answered 18 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordHomelessness and Offences against ChildrenDepartment for EducationTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30157More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to (a) improve cross-Departmental working and (b) provide funding for multi-agency teams to help support (i) early interventions and (ii) other programmes for yo
Answer: The government is committed to tackling abuse, exploitation, and homelessness through cross-departmental working. The Department for Education, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Home Office, and the Department of Health and S...
Answered 20 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordGender Based Violence: Young Futures HubsHome OfficeTabled 10 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 30156More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking through (a) Young Futures Hubs and (b) Young Futures Prevention Partnerships to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Answer: The Government has set an ambitious target to halve VAWG in a decade. To achieve this, we must reduce the current levels of offending and reoffending but also prevent abuse from happening altogether.This focus on prevention also sits at the heart of the Y...
Answered 19 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport: TechnologyDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29559More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many large technology firms she has met since her appointment; and how many times she has met (a) small companies and (b) groups representing small challenger technology firms.
Answer: Details of ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational Needs: CoronavirusDepartment for EducationTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29558More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 26566 on Special Educational Needs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of lockdown restrictions during the covid-19 pandemic on the (a)
Answer: The UK Covid Inquiry was set up to examine the UK's response to and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to learn lessons for the future. The government is committed to learning from the findings of the Covid Inquiry, which will play a key role in informin...
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordAcademic FreedomDepartment for EducationTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29557More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recourse (a) academics and (b) other people will have who believe that they have had their free speech curtailed, in the context of her proposals for the implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of
Answer: For academics, staff, and external speakers, the amended Office for Students’ (OfS) complaints scheme will be a route of redress through which staff, external speakers and members who believe higher education (HE) providers have breached their duties will...
Answered 18 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordMarriage: RelativesMinistry of JusticeTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29556More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Justice on the potential merits of banning first cousin marriage.
Answer: As I stated in my answer of 5 February, the Government will consider existing marriage law, including the Law Commission’s 2022 wedding report, before publicly setting out a position on this important issue.
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordPrison AccommodationMinistry of JusticeTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29555More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 26918 on Prisons: Construction, what estimate he has made of the total operating capacity of prisons following the end of (a) the £2.3 billion for prison buil
Answer: On 11 December 2024, the Secretary of State published the 10-year Prison Capacity Strategy, alongside the Annual Statement regarding prison capacity. In the 10-year Prison Capacity Strategy, this Government has signalled plans to invest up to £2.3 billion...
Answered 14 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordPrison AccommodationMinistry of JusticeTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29554More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 26918 on Prisons: Construction, how many existing cells had additional beds installed to increase capacity between (a) May 1997 and May 2010 and (b) May 2010
Answer: Data on the number of cells which had additional beds installed is not held by the Ministry of Justice for the period requested. Prison crowding data is published annually in Annex 2 of the HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2023 to March 2024 - GOV.UK. This publ...
Answered 14 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordMarriage: RelativesMinistry of JusticeTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29552More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 902578 on Marriage: Relatives, what her Department's timetable is for the consideration of the Law Commission’s 2022 wedding report.
Answer: The Law Commission set out that its recommendations would provide greater choice for couples in deciding how and where they get married. Marriage will always be one of our most important institutions and we must consider any recommendations to change wedd...
Answered 11 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordCrown Court: TrialsMinistry of JusticeTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29551More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 26915 on Crown Court: Trials, when she plans to publish the data for each court since June 2024.
Answer: Published data presents a range of measures including open caseload volumes, trial effectiveness rates and timeliness. The maximum amount of possible court time and the actual court time used for each Crown Court as contained in the Answer of 5 February 2...
Answered 14 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordCoronavirus: Criminal ProceedingsMinistry of JusticeTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29550More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases relating to breaches of covid-19 laws are (a) awaiting and (b) ongoing in (i) Crown and (ii) magistrates courts.
Answer: According to the best available data from our live management information systems, there are 114 outstanding cases in the magistrates court under Coronavirus Offences as at 30 September 2024. There are no cases awaiting trial or sentencing at the Crown Co...
Answered 11 Feb 2025
Original Parliament record
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