Written Questions

Telecommunications Cables: Seas and Oceans

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 37 of his Department's document entitled Defence Investment plan, published 30 June 2026, if he will set out the novel funding mechanisms to increase the resilience and protection of critic

Prisoners: Religion

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will provide a breakdown of the religion of the prison population by ethnicity for each of the past four years.

Prisoners

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to limit the number of prison escapees and mistaken releases.

Great British Railways: Fares

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 28 May (HL40), whether they have now made an estimate of the capital and ongoing operating costs of developing, launching and maintaining the proposed Great B

Infrastructure: Planning Permission

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of local government reorganisation on infrastructure planning in local authority areas where emerging Local Plans have been de

Housing: Water Supply

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the risk of residential development being approved in areas where Local Plans have been delayed or withdrawn following Local Government Reorganisat

Juries

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department will make an assessment on the potential to utilise the Government's Tell Us Once service to avoid the unnecessary issuing of jury notices to the recently deceased.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Contracts

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether (a) Edaroth and (b) AtkinsRéalis has (i) bid for and (ii) received funding from (A) his Department or (B) Homes England since July 2024.

Shared Ownership Schemes

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what comparative assessment his Department has made of shared ownership residents’ liability for building safety and cladding costs with the liability of the underlying owner of

Diego Garcia: Military Bases

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the hearing of the Defence Committee on 7 July 2026, HC 530, whether his Department has made an assessment of the change in the threat posed by Iran to Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia.

National Savings and Investments: Standards

To ask His Majesty's Government, following National Savings and Investment (NS&I) notifying the Treasury in December 2025 of a failure to comprehensively trace accounts for some customers who died what assessment they have made of work by NS&I since Decem

Land: Taxation

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the impact of the introduction of a land value tax on (1) residents, (2) the local economy, and (3) house prices, in central London.

Business Rates

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to give councils more control over the funds generated from business rates from their respective areas.

Public Sector Debt

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Office for Budget Responsibility Fiscal risks and sustainability, published on 7 July, in particular its conclusion that the current trajectory for public debt is unsustai

Legal Profession: Artificial Intelligence

To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the legal statement on liability for AI harms by the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce made in July, what assessment they have made of expectations that legal professionals use artificial intelligence as part of

Deportation: Appeals

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average tribunal waiting time is for the deportation of foreign national child sex offenders whose criminal sentences have fully expired.

Deportation and Immigration: Appeals

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to fast-track immigration and deportation cases in which offenders have prolonged proceedings through appeals lasting more than three years.

Housing: Multiple Occupation

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what planning policy and guidance he has issued in relation to planning applications to convert a single dwelling into a House of Multiple Occupation.

Public Sector Debt

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Office for Budget Responsibility's projection that public sector debt could reach 300 per cent of GDP by 2075.

Business Rates

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing a hybrid business rate which combines a reduced property business rate with a modest digital business rate levied on online sales using the existing VAT system.

Affordable Housing: Greater London

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the answer of 24 April 2026 to Question 124786 on Affordable Housing: Greater London, whether there have been cases where (a) Homes England and (b) GLA schemes

Bus Services: Cycleways

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason her Department did not pause the installation of additional floating bus stops until further research on safety had been carried out in the context of the advice of the Disabled Persons Transpor

Electronic Government: Standards

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many central government websites and mobile applications do not currently meet the required public-sector accessibility standards; and what steps are being taken to remedy that.

Telecommunications: Infrastructure

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of targeted wholesale discounts by Openreach on alternative network providers' investment in full-fibre infrastructure.

Broadband: Prices

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on the potential impact of Openreach pricing on the Government’s strategic priorities for the telecoms sector.