Written questions by MacDonald.

What steps he is taking to improve (a) military and (b) other defence cooperation with (i) Cyprus and (ii) France.

The UK is committed to deepening our bilateral relationships with both France and the Republic of Cyprus, as outlined in the Strategic Defence Review 2025.The UK continues to share a strong Defence relationship with the Republic of Cyprus, through which we cooperate on matters of shared interest. Bilateral cooperation involves a range of a range of multi-domain activities through training, capability development, and crisis planning, as well as collaborating on domestic and regional challenges. Recently, this included UK support to Republic of Cyprus firefighters using ground and aerial assets to combat wildfires. This united response helped protect 15 villages that were threatened by the flames.Lancaster House 2.0 marks a reboot of the UK-France defence and security relationship, building on the 2010 Lancaster House Treaties. The UK has committed to launching the Combined Joint Force (CJF), overhauling the existing Combined Joint Expeditionary Force to refocus it on the Euro-Atlantic and warfighting at scale to deter, placing it on an operational footing for the first time. Lancaster House 2.0 also sets out the deepening of the UK-France nuclear collaboration, with the first Nuclear Steering Group meeting in November, to co-ordinate deeper UK-France collaboration across nuclear policy, capabilities and operations. The UK agreed to embark upon an ‘Entente Industrielle’ with France, to enhance capability and industrial cooperation and progress is being made on key capability projects.

What steps he is taking to improve (a) military and (b) other defence cooperation with Italy.

Through regular meetings between our Defence Secretaries, our bilateral High-Level Military Dialogue, and interaction through other groupings such as NATO and E5 Defence Ministers Group, we continuously explore how the UK and Italy can better work together to address issues of shared strategic interest.In recent years, the relationship has been consolidated by our commitment to the Global Combat Air Programme alongside Japan which achieved Treaty Ratification in December 2024. Additionally, in February 2025, we signed the Statement of Intent for Capabilities and Complex Weapons which will enable deeper collaboration on defence exports and industry. Operationally, only two European nations with carrier-capable F-35B aircraft, we continue to deepen interoperability between our Carrier Strike Groups. This was clear to see during Ex MED STRIKE which took place during the UK Carrier Strike Group's transit of the Mediterranean earlier this year. During this exercise, the UK's Carrier Strike Group combined with the Italian Carrier Strike Group, conducting essential training together including on anti-submarine warfare and air defence tactics.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of diplomatic engagement with the Taliban on (a) the rights of women and girls and (b) other human rights issues.

The Government condemns the Taliban's appalling repression of Afghan women and girls. Officials regularly engage with the Taliban on UK Government priorities, including human rights. The Government is working with international partners to maintain collective pressure on the Taliban to reverse their inhuman restrictions.The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all countries as a matter of principle, and in all circumstances, including through UN and Human Rights Council resolutions.In October, the UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls and the UK Special Envoy to Afghanistan met Afghan women leaders. Upholding the human rights of all Afghans is not only a moral imperative, but essential for building a stable, inclusive, and prosperous country.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her international partners on taking steps to help (a) prevent the use of stoning as a punishment for adultery and (b) protect women’s rights in Afghanistan.

The Government condemns the Taliban's appalling repression of Afghan women and girls. Officials regularly engage with the Taliban on UK Government priorities, including human rights. The Government is working with international partners to maintain collective pressure on the Taliban to reverse their inhuman restrictions.The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all countries as a matter of principle, and in all circumstances, including through UN and Human Rights Council resolutions.In October, the UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls and the UK Special Envoy to Afghanistan met Afghan women leaders. Upholding the human rights of all Afghans is not only a moral imperative, but essential for building a stable, inclusive, and prosperous country.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

The Government condemns the Taliban's appalling repression of Afghan women and girls. Officials regularly engage with the Taliban on UK Government priorities, including human rights. The Government is working with international partners to maintain collective pressure on the Taliban to reverse their inhuman restrictions.The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all countries as a matter of principle, and in all circumstances, including through UN and Human Rights Council resolutions.In October, the UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls and the UK Special Envoy to Afghanistan met Afghan women leaders. Upholding the human rights of all Afghans is not only a moral imperative, but essential for building a stable, inclusive, and prosperous country.

Whether she has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of HMRC’s procedures for (a) identifying and (b) protecting people who are victims of crime.

The government takes the issue of fraud extremely seriously, recognising its impact on businesses and taxpayers. HMRC regularly reviews its approach to identifying and supporting customers who are victims of crime to ensure they are provided with support tailored to their individual circumstances. HMRC is committed to fulfilling its responsibilities under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime in England and Wales, and equivalent frameworks in Scotland and Northern Ireland, ensuring they are afforded the rights and entitlements set out in the Code. HMRC does this by ensuring guidance and training is in place for all advisors on how to identify taxpayers who need extra support and provide reasonable adjustments to meet their needs. For example, in certain circumstances HMRC can give an extension to a deadline or spend more time on the telephone to support an individual who needs extra help. Further information on this and other reasonable adjustments can be found at: Get help from HMRC if you need extra support: Help you can get - GOV.UK. In addition, HMRC’s Fraud Prevention Centre focuses on protecting, detecting and responding to identity-related security issues, developing this service with improvements aimed at aligning with industry best practice. HMRC has published its commitment to supporting customers in the HMRC Charter and the principles of support for customers who need extra help.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of urban gull populations on public (a) health and (b) safety.

The two large gull species frequently seen in urban areas are the lesser black-backed gull and herring gull. There is a long term decline in the breeding population of both, which is most acute in coastal, rural areas. At the same time as this decline, and notwithstanding that populations of these birds in towns and cities are problematic to estimate, urban populations may have increased in recent years. Defra has not made a recent assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of urban gull populations on public health and safety. All wild birds in England, including gulls, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The law allows for certain exemptions to this protection, such as to preserve public health and safety.

What information her Department holds on the number of people who were arrested at the protests in Parliament Square on 6 September 2025 who have since been (a) charged and (b) released without charge.

The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. Anyone expressing support for a proscribed organisation should expect to be investigated by the police.Charging decisions are a matter for the police and the CPS who are independent of Government. The CPS regularly publish information relating to Palestine Action related charges.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of (a) urban littering and (b) waste management on the behaviour of gull populations.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. The Government has not made a recent national assessment on the potential impact of urban littering and waste management on the behaviour of gull populations. The effective management of litter and waste are matters for local authorities in the areas in which they occur. All wild birds in England, including gulls, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and only in exceptional cases does the law allow for certain exemptions to this protection, such as to preserve public health and safety.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of legislative changes to require HMRC to prioritise investigations of (a) promoters and (b) perpetrators of fraudulent schemes over investigations of (i) professional footballers, (ii) loan charge victims and (c) other individuals misled into such schemes.

HMRC already takes action against those behind tax avoidance schemes by using a variety of legislation and tools to challenge promoters and others in the tax avoidance supply chain. HMRC also regularly publishes information on tax avoidance schemes, those who promote them and others connected to avoidance schemes, to help customers identify, avoid, and exit them. As of 4 September 2025, HMRC has published details of more than 170 tax avoidance schemes and named more than 170 promoters on GOV.UK The Government is determined to do more to close in on promoters of marketed tax avoidance and recently consulted on a package of measures to strengthen existing powers. This includes proposals to:expand the scope of the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) regime;introduce a Universal Stop Notice and Promoter Action Notice; introduce stronger information powers so HMRC can effectively tackle those who own and control promoter organisations; andtackle the small number of legal professionals designing or contributing to the promotion of avoidance schemes. Where individuals owe tax, HMRC seeks to take a supportive and proportionate approach to recovering the amount due, including providing extra support for individuals who need it and offering ‘Time to Pay’ instalment arrangements where appropriate.

What information her Department holds on the number of people who were arrested in relation to the protests in Parliament Square on 6 September 2025.

The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. Anyone expressing support for a proscribed organisation should expect to be investigated by the police.The Metropolitan Police Service has released statistics on the arrests made at the central London protests on 6 September 2025 which can be found here:https://news.met.police.uk/pressreleases/update-on-demonstration-in-support-of-palestine-action-3403168Operational decisions, including arrests, are a matter for the police, who are independent of Government.

Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of premises without access to gigabit-capable broadband in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.

Through its Open Market Review (OMR) process, Building Digital UK identifies premises in England and Wales with no gigabit network infrastructure and where none is likely to be developed within the next three years. This information is routinely published on the GOV.UK website. In Scotland, this process is carried out by the Scottish Government, who will hold the most up to date information on the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.Additionally, the independent website ThinkBroadband.com publishes its own information on broadband coverage at a constituency level. It reports that 67.6% of premises in the hon. Member’s constituency can access a gigabit-capable connection.

Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of households with copper-based broadband connections only in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.

Using Connected Nations 2025 Spring Update data published by Ofcom, we estimate that of the 52,930 residential properties in the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency, approximately 18,540 households (35%) are reliant on copper-based broadband connections, and 34,390 households have access to full fibre broadband. Most of these premises may also have recourse to connectivity through fixed wireless access.These figures are accurate as of January 2025. The figure for copper-based connections includes broadband delivered by mixed technologies such as fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) as well as solely copper-based technologies such as ADSL.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the number of mobile phone not-spots in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.

According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations Spring Update (8 May 2025), approximately 24% of the constituency of Inverness, Skye and West Ross-Shire has no 4G geographic coverage from any mobile network operator (MNO), and similarly around 20% of premises lack 5G coverage outside.The government is working closely with the MNOs on improving mobile coverage right across the UK, including in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-Shire. We recently upgraded and activated a Home Office mast near Kyle of Lochalsh for the Shared Rural Network and there will be further coverage improvements to come from that programme.Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030, and we are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition in the market.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of AI-driven detection technologies in preventing online child sexual abuse.

The Home Office, in collaboration with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Alan Turing Institute, and the Accelerated Capability Environment has led the Deepfake Detection Challenge. This initiative brought together experts to develop and evaluate detection tools, which are essential in addressing serious harms including online child sexual abuse. As offenders increasingly exploit AI, we must harness its potential for good.A key outcome has been the creation of a tool which enables scientific evaluation of detection technologies, offering actionable metrics to support informed procurement decisions and helping end users select the most effective solutions. This capability is now being considered as a potential global standard.The next phase of the Challenge will continue to identify and benchmark AI-driven solutions. The Government remains committed to investing in innovation to combat this appalling crime.The Home Office has also introduced world leading measures by becoming the first country in the world to criminalise the possession, creation and distribution of AI tools to generate child sexual abuse material, and criminalised the possession of paedophile manuals that teach others how to create tools for this purpose.

What recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on tackling livestreamed child sexual abuse.

The Government is unequivocal in its commitment to protecting children from all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse. This includes ensuring that we are working to combat livestreamed abuse and ensuring that offenders cannot use technology to harm children with impunity.The Home Office continues to invest in a network of Undercover Online Officers (UCOLs) in Regional Organised Crime Units. UCOLs deploy online to identify and pursue offenders seeking to sexually exploit children, including those who consume and facilitate livestreaming of child sexual abuse. Home Office funding supports the National Crime Agency to use its unique capabilities to disrupt high harm offenders, including those based overseas who seek to livestream abuse.The UK is leading the way in supporting the building and developing thematic knowledge and operational capabilities of other international law enforcement agencies to work together to pursue offenders and safeguard children. In addition, the NCA is leading a number of initiatives with industry and engagement with the financial sector, to specifically prevent and detect livestreaming offending. This includes work to build on the UK-supported report by the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) ‘Detecting, Disrupting and Investigating Online Child Sexual Exploitation’.The Online Safety Act introduces world-leading protections for children. It places robust duties on tech companies to prevent and swiftly remove illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, and to take proactive steps to protect children from harm. Ofcom, as the regulator, will have strong enforcement powers to ensure compliance.We also recognise the importance of device-level protections in preventing livestreaming abuse and we support the development and deployment of safety technologies that can help prevent abuse before it happens. This includes exploring the role of on-device tools that can detect and disrupt livestreamed abuse and other image-based harms, while respecting users’ privacy and maintaining end-to-end encryption.The Government continues to work closely with law enforcement, industry, and child protection experts to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of efforts to tackle online child sexual abuse.

If she will make an assessment of the adequacy of internet connectivity on long-distance rail services between Scotland and London.

An assessment was carried out as part of the spending review business case. This determined the Low Earth Orbit approach on all mainlines.As a result of the spending review, we secured funding to deliver low earth orbit satellite technology on all mainline trains to improve on train passenger wifi. This will include services between London and Scotland such as LNER and Avanti West Coast.However, we know satellite connectivity will not work in tunnels. The Department has also been working with Network Rail to deliver improved connectivity on the rail network. Project Reach, which will renew fibre optic cables and address 4G / 5G mobile signals in 57 key mainline tunnels and stations was signed 26 June 2025 between Network Rail, and telecoms companies, Neos Networks and Freshwave. Once the mobile operators are signed up, passengers will see a boost in their mobile connection in these tunnels.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to inheritance tax on the long-term financial viability of family farms.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free. The Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The Government published a tax information and impact note on the reforms on 21 July 2025. The note explains that the measure is not expected to have a material impact on food security and it is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforms-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to inheritance tax on levels of domestic food production.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free. The Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The Government published a tax information and impact note on the reforms on 21 July 2025. The note explains that the measure is not expected to have a material impact on food security and it is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforms-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that climate policies support a just transition for (a) workers and (b) communities.

The transition to net zero is the economic and industrial opportunity of the century. The government's approach is built on fairness and it is committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to access the benefits. The upcoming publication of the Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan and the Clean Energy Workforce Strategy will outline this approach further. This includes ongoing work supporting both rural and urban communities and working with Devolved Governments to ensure a prosperous and fair transition for all. In particular, the Clean Energy Workforce Strategy which will set out our approach to upskilling and reskilling the workforce into clean energy roles through initiatives including the Energy Skills Passport, in collaboration with industry. The skills system is delivering training for existing workers looking to retrain or upskill into clean energy.