Alongside government, industry plays an important role in communicating factual information on EVs and charging infrastructure to consumers. That is why in the Plan for Drivers, the Government committed to working with industry to address common misconceptions around electric vehicles (EVs) and communicate the many benefits of transitioning to EVs, both new and used.

In February, the Government published information on EVs, including used vehicles, and EV charging infrastructure. The Government is also taking proactive action to counter inaccurate information presented by the media on the subject of EVs, when this arises.

As with all taxes, the Government keeps the Expensive Car Supplement under review, and any changes will be announced at a future fiscal event.

Work continues to develop the closedown, remediation, and demobilisation plan for Phase 2. A further update will be provided in the next HS2 parliamentary report.

The Department does not hold and is not aware of a value engineering report of the proposed HS2 Handsacre Junction from 2018.

There have been no value engineering reports on Handsacre junction since Network North. Previous decisions to change the design of Handsacre junction were made to reduce costs and disruption for passengers on the West Coast Main Line during construction, which was value for money given the previous plan to deliver Phase 2a on an accelerated timeframe would have resulted in the use of the junction for more than 1 train per hour in each direction only for a very short period.

The UK has already made tremendous progress in securing investment in green technologies; recent figures indicate that there was £60 billion of investment in the UK in 2023, meaning that since 2010, the UK has had £300 billion of public and private investment in low-carbon sectors. Since I took office in September, we have put in place new policies and signed deals with different countries, and the investment has

continued to flow, with plans for around £24 billion of new investment in low-carbon sectors announced by the private sector.

The Ministry of Defence continues to stand ready to support the effort, led by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to pursue land, air and maritime routes to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid.

The procurement, safety risk assessment, and safe operation of the Hitachi AT300 rolling stock is the responsibility of the operator. When running rolling stock procurements, operators take account of factors such as what products are available to the market, reliability, operating cost, passenger capacity, comfort and environmental performance. Network Rail is currently upgrading infrastructure on parts of the West Coast Main Line to allow higher speed running with non-tilting trains. The Office of Rail and Road is responsible for ensuring the new trains meet rail safety regulatory requirements before they can operate on the mainline.

The Department is looking forward to the introduction of Avanti West Coast's brand new Hitachi rolling stock later this year which will replace its current diesel fleet in line with the Department's goal to run a more sustainable railway, resulting in a 61 per cent cut in carbon emissions, as well as offering more space and a quieter journey for passengers.

We are making significant progress on closing hotels, with 50 due to be closed by the end of January and more in the coming months. We are also working to move asylum seekers into alternative, cheaper accommodation and have successfully cleared the legacy backlog by deciding more than 112,000 cases, while maintaining the integrity of the system.

Last year we spent £1 billion on civil legal aid to support the most vulnerable, and we recognise the potential benefits of early legal advice in supporting people to resolve their problems earlier. For example, last year we launched a £10 million housing loss prevention advice service. We invested in advice for welfare benefits issues, and early legal advice is also available for victims of domestic abuse in private family law proceedings, subject to the relevant means and evidence requirements. We will continue to invest in legal aid where we can see a benefit.

In the autumn statement, the Chancellor announced an ambitious growth package that will boost business investment by making full expensing permanent, by removing barriers to business investment, by reforming our inefficient planning system, by speeding up electricity grid connection times and by making £4.5 billion available for strategic manufacturing sectors over the next five years, among other measures.

We are transforming skills through our local skills improvement plans, backed by £165 million and supported by business, further education and higher education, and though a £300 million investment in institutes of technology, which are collaborations between business, higher education and further education to revolutionise our tertiary education offering.

Since my last appearance at departmental questions in September, we have shown that Britain remains open for business. Through our announcement on AR6, we have taken the next steps towards 50 GW of offshore wind energy. We have announced £960 million of investment in advanced manufacturing for key net zero sectors, including offshore wind networks, carbon capture, usage and storage, hydrogen and nuclear. We have set out the most radical plans to update the grid since the 1950s. I have signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea to ensure closer co-operation on nuclear and offshore wind, bringing in £10 billion as well.

The Government have a plan to tackle illegal migration by means of a number of methods, and that plan is working. Small-boat crossings are down compared with those in other countries across Europe, where they are up. We are working closely with our international partners, including our nearest geographical neighbour France, we are dismantling the organised criminal gangs who are smuggling people, and we are taking action to reform the asylum system.

The Department for Business and Trade has not conducted assessments on these specific goods. The Government has established strategic partnerships with industry to maintain security of vaccine supply in the event of a pandemic. This includes our partnership with Moderna which is building an innovation and technology centre with capacity from 2025 to produce up to 250 million doses of mRNA vaccines annually onshore in the United Kingdom.

The UK Health Security Agency has also agreed an advanced purchase agreement with Seqirus UK Limited to access 100 million vaccines if a future influenza pandemic is declared. The manufacturing process will be based entirely in the UK, giving better security of access if global demand ever outweighs supply. As part of these contracts, the Government regularly assesses risks that may impact the performance of the contract.

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

Implantable cardiac monitors are used successfully by patients across England and within the Stoke-on-Trent South constituency. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidance in September 2020 on the use of implantable cardiac monitors. National Health Service trusts are currently using such devices in stroke prevention throughout England. It is for local integrated care systems to determine the appropriate cardiac monitoring devices for their populations’ commissioners.