Written Questions

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of appointments to the Senior Civil Service since 1 April 2026 have been made to candidates whose principal previous employment was (1) elsewhere in the Civil Service, (2) the wider public sector, and (3) th

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hermer on 27 April (HL16376), what specific criteria ministers are required to apply when determining whether a proposed reporting or consultation requirement meets the Government's “h

To ask His Majesty's Government whether departments are required to record formally how a proposed statutory reporting or consultation requirement has satisfied the Government's “higher bar”; and whether that assessment will be included in explanatory not

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Hermer on 27 April (HL16377), 1 June (HL59), and 1 July (HL58), how many reporting and consultation duties have been identified by the artificial intelligence tool developed by the Ca

To ask His Majesty's Government how many drivers were trained for C+E heavy goods licences at the Defence School of Transport in Leconfield in the last year.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the development of drought and heat tolerant varieties of crops for UK farmers.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to resume uranium conversion in the UK.

To ask His Majesty's Government how many online secondary schools there are.

To ask His Majesty's Government whether online secondary schools are required to be registered; if so, how many of these schools are registered.

To ask His Majesty's Government whether online secondary schools are inspected by Ofsted.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the grounds of the judicial review regarding the establishment of the Oak National Academy as an Arm’s Length Body.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of freely available resources by Oak National Academy on the commercial education publishing market.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support UK businesses to make greater use of artificial intelligence to develop new products and services.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen the cyber resilience of companies providing technology and digital services to the NHS.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the expansion of artificial intelligence data centres in the UK is supported by sufficient energy and grid capacity.

To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance is available to disabled individuals without capital and in receipt of Universal Credit who wish to join the home ownership for people with a long-term disability scheme.

To ask His Majesty's Government when the compensation scheme for workers who have suffered from silicosis by inhaling crystalline silica dust after cutting kitchen worktop stones will be published; and when they will open applications.

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Wales regarding restructuring accountability for the police service in Wales.

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effects of this summer's drought on the supply of potatoes grown in the UK; and what plans they have to ensure the adequate supply of potatoes over winter.

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have assessed the amount of additional water required to the meet the needs of AI and associated industries and services; and whether they have targets for additional supply of water for each of the regions of

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have they have, if any, to recognise chess as a sport in England.

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of the UK's support to the government of Ukraine in the current financial year.

Affordable Housing: Rural Areas

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure that rural communities have access to affordable housing.

Oxford-Cambridge Arc

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor.

Retail Trade: Erewash

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support high streets in Erewash.