Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on the Local Land Charges Programme.

HM Land Registry’s (HMLR’s) new national Local Land Charges search service went live for customers in 2018, the programme is making good progress in digitising this critical information on land and property, transforming how it is stored, searched and delivered. Since the launch of the programme, at the time of writing HMLR has transferred 8 million charges from 137 Local Authorities to the new service, and another 133 Local Authorities’ data is currently in the process of being digitised, ready for it to be transferred. So far, the new service has delivered over 1.9 million searches, which saves the average customer over £10 per search and approximately 12 days in waiting time. As a result, customer sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, with 74% of them rating the service as good to excellent.

Communities and Local Government, how much funding has been allocated from the Brownfield Infrastructure and Land fund to (a) Huntingdonshire District Council and (b) Cambridgeshire since the establishment of that programme.

No funding has been allocated to Huntingdonshire District Council from the Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land (BIL) programme. In Cambridgeshire, one BIL project is now in contract, for a £23.35m grant (alongside funding from the Cambridge City Deal) to support the relocation of the Waterbeach Village railway station which is a condition of the planning for the 4,500 home Waterbeach East New Town.

What assessment he has made of the future (a) structure, (b) role and (c) responsibilities of the Veterans’ Advisory and Pensions Committees.

We are reviewing the functions and activities of the Veterans Advisory Pension Commission in relation to wider departmental priorities for the Armed Forces Community. This includes the new VALOUR initiative and the Covenant Legal Duty Extension. The review aims to enhance and simplify the support provided to all members of the community.

With reference to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority Annual Report 2024-25, published on 11 August 2025, what the projects are that have been removed from the Government Major Products Portfolio since the 2023-24 financial year.

The projects which have been removed from the Government Major Projects Portfolio since the 2023-24 financial year are included in the 2023-24 IPA Annual Report, and the 2024-25 NISTA Annual Report.

With reference to page 117 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what progress he has made on seeking partners with which to develop the overhead, persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability needed for effective Integrated Air and Missile Defence in the Euro-Atlantic.

The Ministry of Defence regularly engages with our Euro-Atlantic partners to discuss air and missile threats. The development of an Integrated Air and Missile Defence capability set will be pursued both on a sovereign basis and through partner nation collaboration. The associated investment will be prioritised appropriately against the threat as part of the future Integrated Force. Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including on all aspects of the Integrated Air and Missile Defence, will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan to be published this year.

With reference to page 11 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the defence dividend on Huntingdon constituency.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to ensuring the increased investment in defence translates into more British jobs, increased skills and a stronger and more resilient defence industrial base, supported by major procurement reforms. We hope that all constituencies will benefit from increased defence investment including Huntington Investment decisions will be set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy which will be published later this year.

With reference to his Department's policy paper entitled AI action plan for justice, published on 31 July 2025, what progress he has made in strengthening partnerships with criminal justice partners on a collective response to AI-enabled criminality.

The Criminal Justice Action Group, chaired by the Ministry of Justice Permanent Secretary and attended by core criminal justice partners (the police, Home Office, AGO, CPS, Judicial Office, HMCTS and HMPPS), is actively considering the risks to the criminal justice system of AI-enabled criminality and a collective response. This is part of the Government’s wider response to tackling AI enabled crime and emerging risks from AI, working closely with the AI sector, law enforcement and international partners.

With reference to page 106 of the Strategic Defence Fund, updated on 8 July 2025, what modifications would be required to aircraft carriers in order to facilitate long-range precision missiles capable of being fired from the carrier deck.

Project VANTAGE has recently been established as the maritime element of the UK’s One Way Effectors (OWE) programme, which are long-range uncrewed systems. VANTAGE is an iterative programme, with the first phase focussed on demonstrating OWE launch from a Royal Navy vessel. If successful, VANTAGE will look to exploit the demonstration in a core programme from a range of Royal Navy Vessels, including the Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers. Subsequent phases of VANTAGE will focus on spiral development of the capability, keeping pace with evolving threats and counter OWE systems, as well as the potential of a modular construct, with interchangeable launchers, effectors, munitions and sensor packages which would require minimal change to shipping to accommodate OWE.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will list the local authorities his Department is working with in Cambridgeshire to deliver the NO2 Programme.

The Government is supporting 64 local authorities through the NO2 programme specifically to develop and implement measures to address their Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) exceedances in the shortest possible time. No local authorities in Cambridgeshire were identified as within scope of the NO2 programme.

With reference to page 134 of his Department's Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 2 June 2025, what locations are included within the Strategic Base.

A complete list of locations for the Strategic Base is not available at this time as this list is dependent on the detail in each specific outload’s requirements.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of people granted asylum who now reside in social housing since 5 July 2024.

My Department does not hold data on the number of people granted asylum who now reside in social housing since 5 July 2024.

What assessment he has made of the importance of identifying sources of critical minerals as a domain of strategic competition.

The government recognises that identifying sources of critical minerals is of growing strategic importance, as reflected in the UK’s Industrial and National Security Strategies published this year. According to estimates from the International Energy Agency, global demand for critical minerals for clean energy is set to quadruple by 2040. Securing resilient supplies is essential for economic growth, national security, and the clean energy transition. The government will launch a new Critical Minerals Strategy this year, working with industry and international partners to ensure the UK remains competitive. This will build on the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre’s updated Criticality Assessment for the UK published last year.

What assessment he has made of the potential capability of the proposed Lockheed Martin F-55.

The Strategic Defence Review set out that Typhoon will be replaced by a sixth-generation jet, to sustain UK interests in this specialist sector and exploit emerging technology through partnerships such as the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). We will develop a new Defence Investment Plan to take onboard the Review's vision and recommendations and turn them into a delivery plan.

With reference to page 25 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, whether she plans to add other countries to the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

As set out in the National Security Act 2023, the Secretary of State may make a specification under the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) where they consider it is reasonably necessary to do so to protect the safety or interests of the United Kingdom.On China, no decision has been made in relation to specifying this country on the enhanced tier of FIRS.

With reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on the 12-week consultation on updating definitions covering the 17 sensitive areas of the economy subject to mandatory notification under the National Security and Investment Act.

On 22 July 2025, the former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Rt Hon Pat McFadden MP, published a 12-week consultation on updating the definitions of the 17 sensitive areas of the economy subject to mandatory notification requirements under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 through the Notifiable Acquisition Regulations. The consultation closed on 14 October. The Government is currently considering the feedback received and will publish a consultation response summarising responses and setting out the proposals that will be taken forward, including possible secondary legislation, in due course.

If he will make an estimate of the potential impact of the Falcon programme using Integrated Corporate Services on costs to the public purse of that programme.

The Falcon Programme is facilitating the Cabinet Office's transition from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. The initial strategy, commenced under the previous administration, involved the Cabinet Office developing a bespoke IT system for this migration. Under this Government, the Cabinet Office has since identified and commenced the implementation of a more cost-effective strategy to deliver the Falcon Programme, entailing a move to the existing government service of Integrated Corporate Services. This will save over £20 million of public money compared to the strategy set under the previous administration.

Whether the Falcon programme will provide AI tools for use by his Department.

This Government is committed to harnessing Artificial Intelligence to increase productivity in Whitehall and across the public sector, so that it can better serve the public. As part of this, the Cabinet Office is actively working to include Artificial Intelligence provisions within the Falcon Programme.

What recent progress he has made on implementing the Falcon programme.

The Falcon Programme is facilitating the Cabinet Office's transition from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. Falcon has completed the design and build of the platform working with Microsoft and the Integrated Corporate Services, and is now progressing into the delivery phase. Full migration of the Cabinet Office and its Arms Length Bodies is anticipated in 2026. This is part of the drive to improve the productivity, security and efficiency of systems in the Cabinet Office and across Whitehall.

With reference to page 25 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, how many people have been denied visas on the grounds that they would spread discord in the last 12 months.

The information requested on visa data is not centrally held and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.The Home Office is committed to countering extremism in all its forms where it divides communities and inflames tensions. Regardless of the worldview it draws from, if an ideology is causing harm by radicalising others into hatred, violence and extremism we will take action to prevent this and to safeguard susceptible individuals.It is a privilege to participate in and be a part of UK society. The Government is improving our range of powers to ensure those who abuse this privilege will be penalised. We have introduced a pilot to improve our ability to stop those intent on promoting extreme ideologies from traveling to the UK from overseas, and we are currently drafting proposed secondary legislation to further strengthen the Charity Commission’s powers around disqualification and discretionary powers.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing specific funding for Hinchingbrooke School to maintain Hinchingbrooke House.

The government has given a long-term commitment for capital investment through to the 2034/35 financial year to improve the condition of schools and colleges across England. We are investing almost £3 billion per year by the 2034/35 financial year in capital maintenance and renewal to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.The Aces Academies Trust, the responsible body for Hinchingbrooke School, has been allocated £761,926 in capital funding for the 2025/26 financial year to decide how to invest across its schools, based on their own prioritisation of need. Future allocations will be confirmed in due course.The government has also announced almost £20 billion of investment for the School Rebuilding Programme through to the 2034/35 financial year, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years. We plan to set out further details about the process for selecting additional schools later this year.