I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to Question UIN 51990 on 19 May 2025.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office for National Statistics.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

6 July 2026

Dear Lord Wigley,

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what is the latest estimate of population growth over the most recent five year period in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland and (4) Northern Ireland (HL1519).

The most recent available population estimates(1) for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for the five-year period between mid-2019 and mid-2024 can be found in table 1 below.

Population estimates are regularly revised to incorporate new data and methods and should not be taken to be accurate to the level of precision provided.

On 29 July 2026, we will be publishing population estimates for England and Wales for mid- 2025. On 14 July 2026 the National Records for Scotland will be publishing population estimates for Scotland for mid-2025. In September/October 2026, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency will publish population estimates for Northern Ireland for mid-2025.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/mid2024

Table 1: Population estimates for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland from Mid-2019 to Mid-2024

Source: Population estimates from the ONS, the National Records of Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

The UK Government aims to increase economic opportunity and boost resilience in underserved and underdeveloped regions. This includes supporting companies operating in secondary cities, rural supply chains, connective market infrastructure and trade opportunities to create jobs, boost incomes and mitigate economic displacement. We are supporting the transition to climate-resilient communities, economies and ecosystems, promoting climate‑resilient agricultural practices and healthy food systems whilst safeguarding and sustaining nature, including forests, oceans and coastal, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is also supporting the World Bank and other multilateral development banks to improve sustainable access to safe water supplies at scale. The World Bank alone aims to reach 250 million people with improved water supply and sanitation services by 2030.

Overall, as set out in our International Climate Finance Strategy 2026, we will deploy around £6 billion of Official Development Assistance alongside £6.7 billion of wider public finance to mobilise private capital at scale and drive systemic transformation across energy, resilience and nature outcomes. More information can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a3964dc0bea238415c9a417/ICF4-strategy-2026.pdf.

The Ministry of Defence does not collect information on the population of Gaza.

The way people across the UK use retail banking services has changed significantly, with many customers now choosing to bank online. In response, banks and building societies have reshaped their branch networks, reflecting changing customer preferences. However, the Government understands the importance of banking services to communities and high streets and is committed to supporting the financial services industry’s roll-out of 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament.

Over 275 hubs have been announced so far, and more than 235 are already open. Of these, 70 are temporary hubs. Temporary hubs offer the same services as permanent hubs.

LINK, the operator of the UK’s largest ATM network, is responsible for assessing a community’s access to cash needs and does not consider bank service provision. When asked to carry out a cash access assessment, LINK takes into consideration a wide range of criteria, including those unique to each location, such as the size and vulnerability of the population, existing and remaining cash access facilities and the number of shops. Specifically, LINK takes into consideration population demographics, seasonal population change, public transport times and cost, geographic barriers, and whether it is reasonable for people to travel to nearby facilities.

LINK uses a catchment area of 3 miles in rural locations and 1 mile in urban areas and considers if there is a significant impact on nearby towns. As part of its assessments, LINK will consider the available services in a community, including existing ATM provision, and recommend additional solutions if it is deemed necessary to ensure reasonable access to cash.

Where a hub is recommended by LINK following a planned branch closure, the branch cannot close until a suitable replacement service is in place. The average time to open a hub driven by the closure of the last bank in a town is under 12 months. Where a hub is recommended following a community request, Cash Access UK aims to provide a temporary solution within three months. FCA rules also require that, where additional services are needed, a solution must be put in place within 12 weeks, which may initially be a temporary service ahead of a permanent hub.

The provision of a bank’s services is a commercial decision for the firm, and the Government does not intervene in these decisions. However, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and put in place alternatives where reasonable.

In addition to bank branches and banking hubs, the Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance and pay bills at more than 10,500 Post Office branches across the UK. The Government protects the Post Office network by setting minimum access criteria. These include ensuring that 99 per cent of the UK population lives within three miles of a Post Office and 90 per cent of the population within one mile.

The Government is committed to ensuring that people who need in-person banking can continue to access essential services. That is why on 14 May the Government commissioned an independent Review into Access to Banking Services, to assess whether changes in access to in-person banking services are causing consumer detriment, the scale of any detriment, and who it affects. The Review will consider access to in-person banking services for both personal and business customers.

The Call for Evidence has been published on GOV.UK at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/access-to-banking-services-review-call-for-evidence. It will run for 6 weeks and will close on 20 July.

Responses to the Call for Evidence can be submitted online via: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/accesstobankingservices . Those wishing to submit via email, including supplementary evidence, research or data can do so at accesstobankingservices@hmtreasury.gov.uk.

The evidence collected by the Review will inform future decisions on whether further action is needed.

I am responding as the matter of Scotland's Rural Economy falls within my portfolio. I take the matter of sustainable rural development very seriously and I regularly discuss this matter with colleagues in the Scottish Government and Local Authorities, including in a visit to the Isle of Lewis shortly after my appointment as Minister.

The UK Government recognises the importance of tackling rural depopulation, and we are committed to supporting these communities by boosting investment and opportunities.

The UK Government is ensuring that up to 60,000 young people across Scotland have real pathways into work, whether that's in our growing renewables sector, in construction trades that are crying out for skilled workers, or in hospitality. The Government has also recently committed £10 million towards the creation of Defence Technical Excellence Colleges (DTECs) as part of the £50 million Scotland Defence Growth Deal. Defence is a key sector for providing skilled jobs across all parts of Scotland, from Faslane to Lossiemouth.

This UK Government’s Industrial Strategy sets out how we will grow our economy by doubling down on our national strengths, despite global uncertainty. This includes investing in Scotland’s huge contribution to the UK economy: in energy, defence, advanced manufacturing, life sciences and other sectors. We are also backing the world-class food and drink that so often originates in rural Scotland through our trade agreement with India and, shortly, the European Union.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) has now come to an end across the UK following a year of transition funding in 2025/26, and we are now providing new targeted investments to areas that need it most.

The UK Government is committed to supporting long-term economic growth and is investing £350m for projects that benefit remote rural and very remote rural areas. This includes: £60m for Community Regeneration Partnerships for Argyll & Bute, Scottish Borders, and the Western Isles; £47m to complete Local Regeneration Fund projects in rural areas, including the Fair Isle Ferry, and projects across Scottish Borders, Dumfries and Galloway and rural South Lanarkshire; £25m seed capital funding for the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport; £60m in Pride in Place Programme funding across Sutherland, Orkney, and Lewis; and £158m to complete delivery of the Inverness & Highland, Moray, Argyll & Bute, Borderlands, and Islands Growth Deals. This Government is backing rural Scotland.

It must be noted, however, that responsibility for many of the issues faced in rural Scotland - such as provision of housing, transport, infrastructure, digital connectivity, training and skills development - are devolved matters that come under the control of the Scottish Government. We will continue to work with them to ensure that the actions that both governments take will benefit all of the people of Scotland, including those in rural communities.

My Department is providing local authorities with £2.5 billion of capital funding to create mainstream school places. We encourage them to work with planning authorities and housing developers as we build 1.5 million homes to help families on to the housing ladder and to drive growth. Where school roll numbers are falling, we are making use of the extra space by opening Best Start school-based nurseries and special educational needs and disability inclusion bases.

What steps she is taking to increase the level of educational capacity in areas of increasing population.

My hon. Friend is a real champion for children and young people in Telford, as I saw when we had a tour of the town, including of the local school-based nursery, of brilliant schools such as the new Thomas Telford primary free school, and of the great further and higher education options. Labour is backing my hon. Friend’s ambition for Telford’s children through accessible and affordable childcare, schools at which every child can achieve and thrive, and the new free breakfast clubs that he opened just last week.

Telford is the third fastest growing town in the UK. The Government are investing in my town, and the Secretary of State saw the fruits of that investment during a recent visit. However, teachers and educational staff need us to go further by investing in new school places, bringing a new university campus to the heart of Telford and narrowing the attainment gap of children with SEND and on free school meals. What more will the Government do to invest in fast-growing places such as Telford, and will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss unlocking Telford’s potential?

I completely agree that there can be no place for antisemitism in our school and colleges, or indeed anywhere in our society. That is why I have asked Sir David Bell to lead an independent review to look at what more we need to do to root out antisemitism from our schools and colleges. I encourage the right hon. Gentleman to share any thoughts with Sir David as he takes forward that important work.

On the school that the right hon. Gentleman refers to, I encourage him and the school to work together with the local authority. However, I continue to believe that raising money to invest in our state schools is the right decision.

My constituency has a large and growing Jewish population, but because of Labour’s VAT hike, Immanuel college, a Jewish school in my constituency, announced last week that it was closing. At a time of rising antisemitism, and deep fear among the Jewish community, access to a Jewish education is more important than ever, but that announcement risks depriving many Jewish students in my constituency and the wider area of access to one. What assurances can the Secretary of State give those children and their parents about access to such an education, particularly when local Jewish state schools are enormously oversubscribed?