Written Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential for stepping stone homes to help address youth homelessness in (a) Uxbridge and South Ruislip and (b) other areas with high levels o

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much expenditure has been incurred by her Department in connection with proposals to use Site A at MoD Bicester for asylum accommodation, broken down by category of expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what contracts have been awarded in connection with proposals to use Site A at MoD Bicester for asylum accommodation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to publish (a) the Urgent Crown Development application for MOD Bicester Site A, (b) the statement explaining why the proposed development is considered nationally

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many applications have been (a) submitted, (b) accepted and (c) determined under the Urgent Crown Development procedure since that procedure came into force.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Home Office's document entitled MoD Bicester (site A), Oxfordshire: factsheet, (a) which feasibility assessments remain outstanding, (b) when each assessmen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, what funding has been allocated to the (a) physical and (b) cyber protection of the data centres supporting defence artificial intelligenc

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 34 of the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, how much funding for AI is allocated within each of the (a) Digital Targeting Web, (b) Integrated Air and Missile Defence, (c)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 36 of the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, when he expects construction to start for the first large autonomous vessels of the Hybrid Navy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 36 of the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, how much he expects the Common Combat Vessels to cost per unit, and how many units does his department intend to procure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 45 of the Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, how much funding has been allocated to procuring the 12 F35As, and how much does he estimate the total cost of the nuclear-capa

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his department last conducted a review of the appropriate proportion of the UK’s official international reserves to be held in gold; and whether he will publish the conclusions of that review.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his department has modelled the a) financial and b) strategic implications of increasing UK official gold holdings to (i) 500 tonnes, (ii) 750 tonnes, (iii) 1,000 tonnes and (iiii) 1,500 tonnes.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his department has considered proposals since 1 January 2022 to increase the quantity or proportion of gold held in the UK’s official reserves.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Bank of England has provided advice to his department since 1 January 2022 on the appropriate level of gold held in the UK’s official reserves.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his department has made of the potential benefits and costs of holding an increased proportion of official reserves in assets that do not constitute liabilities of another sovereign state or financia

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has considered reducing the proportion of the official reserves invested in foreign sovereign debt and increasing the proportion held in monetary gold.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria does the Department use in considering whether an increase in the quantity of monetary gold held in the Exchange Equalisation Account is appropriate.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether geopolitical risk is explicitly considered when determining the strategic asset allocation of the Exchange Equalisation Account.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of fragmentation of the international financial system on the appropriate composition of the UK’s official reserves.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of a sustained depreciation in the US dollar on the value and resilience of the UK’s official reserves.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what stress tests his department applies to the Exchange Equalisation Account in respect of movements in (a) the US dollar, (b) the euro, (c) the yen, (d) interest rates and (e) the gold price.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his department has assessed the implications for UK reserve management of foreign sovereign assets having been frozen or otherwise restricted as a consequence of international sanctions since 2022.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential role of monetary gold in improving the resilience of the UK’s official reserves during periods of (a) financial market stress, (b) geopolitical conflict, (c)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his department has made of the counterparty-risk characteristics of monetary gold compared with foreign-currency securities held within the UK’s official reserves.