It does not, although you can open notes in iCloud via a browser, and I’m not acquainted with how that functions in the UK (and if it’s available), mostly because I don’t do it.
It most definitely does. If you're using your gmail account as your AppleID. You can find all your notes unencrypted under a Gmail label called Notes
You didn’t choose to E2E encrypt them. You can find your unencrypted notes there.