We received the Hon. Member’s correspondence of 7 May 2026 and 10 June 2026 and will reply in due course.

The department apologises for the delay in responding to the Hon. Member on this occasion. A full response was sent on 10 July.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is an independent, non-government body, and is best placed to respond to this question. The FOS will reach out to the Honourable Member to address this.

A response was sent on 01 July 2026.

Please see ‘advanced notifications of redundancy’ received by the Redundancy Payments Service for the requested Period.

Mercosur countries are important partners for the UK. We are committed to strengthening our bilateral trading relationships to remove barriers to trade and help grow UK exports, which is why I visited Brazil soon after I took up post in 2025, where I signed agreements on customs, regulatory reform and export credit; and Argentina where I had meetings to further UK interests on whisky, financial services and air services. In addition, Uruguay has started its accession process to the CPTPP and Argentina has recently applied to join.

Any decision to seek to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with Mercosur will be communicated to the House in line with my department’s standard approach.

The UK concluded a Free Trade Agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on 20 May, which will strengthen trade and investment ties with all six member states.

The UK’s focus is working with the UAE and GCC towards signature and entry into force of the FTA, so that businesses can realise its benefits.

In addition, the UAE is seeking membership of the CPTPP, which the UK supports.

The UAE is the UK’s largest trading partner in the GCC, with total trade in goods and services worth £25 billion in 2025. The UK values this relationship and will continue to deepen cooperation in trade and investment.

Since 2022, there have been several rounds of properties purchased through the Local Authority Housing Fund. Round 1 (delivered between 2022- 24), Round 2 (delivered between 2023-25) and Round 3 (delivered between 2024-26).

Chichester has delivered 18 homes in Round 1 , 3 homes in Round 2 and 6 homes in Round 3. Horsham have delivered 3 homes in Round 1, 8 homes in Round 2, and 9 homes in Round 3. Arun has delivered 11 homes in Round 2 and 3 homes in Round 3. Across West Sussex, 33 homes were delivered in Round 1, 26 homes were delivered in Round 2, and 63 in Round 3. Overall, 125 homes have been delivered in West Sussex to date through the Local Authority Housing Fund to provide better quality accommodation for local homeless families, as well as safe and suitable resettlement accommodation for vulnerable families fleeing conflict in Ukraine and Afghanistan.

Approximately 6,490 premises in the Arundel and South Downs constituency were included in the initial scope of the Project Gigabit contract for East and West Sussex, which is being delivered by CityFibre.

Building Digital UK (BDUK) and CityFibre have since agreed not to progress with the later stages of the contract which are not yet in delivery. This is due to commercial coverage extending further than suppliers had previously indicated, meaning fewer premises now require public subsidy and therefore, the contract was redesigned to minimise overlap with commercial plans and ensure best use of public money.

Following this decision, approximately 5,890 premises in Arundel and South Downs have been descoped from the contract. Of the descoped premises, approximately 850 already have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection and around 890 are currently included in future commercial delivery plans.

As with other areas, BDUK is working to put in place alternative coverage solutions as soon as possible for the remaining premises which still require support. A market engagement consultation for suppliers was published on 1 June to confirm supplier interest in relation to the premises that still need coverage in the affected areas.

The Department of Business and Trade aims to respond to correspondence in 15 working days, but in some instances it can take longer. The Department has conducted a search of its records and has not identified the correspondence referred to, and will respond as soon as possible if it is received.

The Department is closely monitoring the impacts of the Middle East conflict on the medical supply chain, including on the supply of helium. We have engaged with industry and received assurance on the stability of continued helium supply through contingency planning and sourcing through multiple global routes. We will continue to monitor the supply of helium and other medical products to mitigate any potential impacts on patient care.

The letter of 14 April from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs is currently receiving urgent attention under reference MC2026/08512. HM Treasury will respond in due course.

The Government recognises the importance of reliable and affordable helium supplies for UK research. We are strengthening resilience across critical supply chains including through diversifying supply sources and supporting domestic capability, where appropriate.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) work closely with the research community and infrastructure providers to monitor emerging risks and is already starting to explore options for continued access to essential materials. Decisions on procurement and use of resources are taken locally by institutions, supported by UKRI funding, while Government continues to engage internationally and with partners to promote stable and sustainable global supply chains for critical research inputs.

In the specific context of Helium for a closed-loop cryoplant (the majority of the large scale cryoplants in use) only a very small fraction of Helium is lost; most of it is actually recycled. Top-up to the systems is therefore minimal.

A secure supply of critical minerals, like helium, is vital for the UK’s economic growth and security, industrial strategy, and clean energy transition

Through the 2025 UK Critical Minerals Strategy we are building will build strong partnerships with key markets to diversify production and processing and strengthen our supply chains, alongside working with key existing producers.

At present, in response to the Middle East situation, the Government is assessing supply chain risks and mitigations across a range of key supply chain inputs and the sectors in which they are used. This is an ongoing process and will remain in place if it is needed.

We encourage any business experiencing disruption to visit business.gov.uk to access support and guidance.

In March 2026 an adjustment was made to correctly reclassify £14.9m of 2025-26 costs from consultancy to professional services. In addition, there was a correction of a purchase order receipt which had incorrectly recorded £9.5m of consultancy costs in February 2026. These had the effect of artificially lowering the March 2026 consultancy costs. The underlying consultancy costs for March 2026 were £3,674,344.13.

The department holds data on students at UK higher education (HE) providers who receive Turing Scheme funding for overseas placements. The department does not hold data on student domicile and figures therefore include international students. Students can undertake both study and work placements, and the following information reflects both the overall number of HE placements in each country, with the number of study placements in brackets.

In 2021/22, 2,467 students undertook placements in the United States (of which 2,138 were study placements), 938 in Canada (841 study placements), and 342 in Australia (313 study placements). Fewer than five students went to New Zealand and so these numbers are suppressed.

In 2022/23, 1,900 students went to the United States (1,277 study placements), 948 to Canada (860 study placements), 1,012 to Australia (863 study placements), and 79 to New Zealand (27 study placements).

In 2023/24, 1,610 students went to the United States (1,127 study placements), 700 to Canada (590 study placements), 983 to Australia (775 study placements), and 142 to New Zealand (74 study placements).

The department holds data on students at UK higher education (HE) providers who receive Turing Scheme funding for overseas placements. The department does not hold data on student domicile and figures therefore include international students. Students can undertake both study and work placements, and the following information reflects both the overall number of HE placements in each country, with the number of study placements in brackets.

In 2021/22, 2,467 students undertook placements in the United States (of which 2,138 were study placements), 938 in Canada (841 study placements), and 342 in Australia (313 study placements). Fewer than five students went to New Zealand and so these numbers are suppressed.

In 2022/23, 1,900 students went to the United States (1,277 study placements), 948 to Canada (860 study placements), 1,012 to Australia (863 study placements), and 79 to New Zealand (27 study placements).

In 2023/24, 1,610 students went to the United States (1,127 study placements), 700 to Canada (590 study placements), 983 to Australia (775 study placements), and 142 to New Zealand (74 study placements).

The department holds data on students at UK higher education (HE) providers who receive Turing Scheme funding for overseas placements. The department does not hold data on student domicile and figures therefore include international students. Students can undertake both study and work placements, and the following information reflects both the overall number of HE placements in each country, with the number of study placements in brackets.

In 2021/22, 2,467 students undertook placements in the United States (of which 2,138 were study placements), 938 in Canada (841 study placements), and 342 in Australia (313 study placements). Fewer than five students went to New Zealand and so these numbers are suppressed.

In 2022/23, 1,900 students went to the United States (1,277 study placements), 948 to Canada (860 study placements), 1,012 to Australia (863 study placements), and 79 to New Zealand (27 study placements).

In 2023/24, 1,610 students went to the United States (1,127 study placements), 700 to Canada (590 study placements), 983 to Australia (775 study placements), and 142 to New Zealand (74 study placements).

The department holds data on students at UK higher education (HE) providers who receive Turing Scheme funding for overseas placements. The department does not hold data on student domicile and figures therefore include international students. Students can undertake both study and work placements, and the following information reflects both the overall number of HE placements in each country, with the number of study placements in brackets.

In 2021/22, 2,467 students undertook placements in the United States (of which 2,138 were study placements), 938 in Canada (841 study placements), and 342 in Australia (313 study placements). Fewer than five students went to New Zealand and so these numbers are suppressed.

In 2022/23, 1,900 students went to the United States (1,277 study placements), 948 to Canada (860 study placements), 1,012 to Australia (863 study placements), and 79 to New Zealand (27 study placements).

In 2023/24, 1,610 students went to the United States (1,127 study placements), 700 to Canada (590 study placements), 983 to Australia (775 study placements), and 142 to New Zealand (74 study placements).

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.